Yeah fished just North West of Ottawa in a small villiage within Quebec . A friend of mine invited me up to his Brother's Fishing Camp . It was an former Farm with a Diesel Generator for electricity and a Old Barn and Utility Bld which he used for storage of his Tractor and Quad . The farm hse was a 2-story conventional 7 bedroom farm house back when families were large lol . The lake was just over 2 miles long and about 1/4 mile wide . Only one entrance to the lake which was right past his homestead. The gate was always locked so the Pike and Bass (largemouth) and Perch (jumbo) where captive to us . What a Paradis for a fishing trip . This lake had absolutely no fishing pressure to speak of . Pike over 20 lbs and Bass around 8-12 lb where normal and Perch over 1-1/2 lbs routine . Nothing beats a Northern Spring fed lake for Great Fishing ! Unfortunately no Walleye . Did get some Big Eyes within the National Park just West of Valdor on the way up though , just casting from shore off Highway 11 lol .

We thought it would be compelling in DH's case because BM lived in a 2 bedroom house with her mother and shared one room with both of her girls (ages 7 & 10) and had her out of town boyfriend sleep over in the same room with her daughters. We found SD posing her Barbie dolls in sex positions 'like mommy' and talk about mommy kissing & stuff with her boyfriend when she thought SD was asleep. DH offered to help BM pay for an apartment so she (BM) would have her own room where SD wouldn't be subjected to that but BM refused. She was living with her mom rent free and didn't want to pay anything. So, DH asked for physical custody because he could provide SD with her own room in our house. The court stated that BM could not be penalized because she could not afford better housing and the allegations of her boyfriend staying over could not be proven, she wasn't even dating him anymore by then. The court kept the previous arrangement of 50/50 every other week schedule. Of course, three weeks later, she met a new man and moved 3 hours away and just handed over custody of SD to us. That's when things went from bad to worse. SD wanted to go with her mom or didn't understand why her mom left her. She was a wreck and it's been an uphill battle with her ever since. Especially since her mom feeds her a bunch of lies.. that we stole her... that we won't let her go live over there... that we want to cut her off completely from her mom. Anyone that has followed my posts knows that for the past two months, DH has basically had to force her to come get her daughter and for over a year, my biggest gripe is that she won't call or answer her phone.. she doesn't come to school stuff, sports or anything to do with SD's life here. She didn't even celebrate her daughter's birthday with her last year... she promised SD to celebrate on her weekend and then went out to a party with her BF, leaving SD with BF's parents to babysit. Then, told SD that she didn't get to celebrate her birthday because WE didn't invite her to the party at our house. My point is: The behavioral problems that a BM can create with telling a child things like this are immense. If your SD's BM is convinced now that you are trying to take her child away... she will forever convince (or try to) your SD that you are responsible for taking her away and she will be the victim with SD's loyal sympathy. Be very careful about what you wish for, it doesn't always end up the way you imagine. My advice to you is to document what you can. Contact the authorities and let them decide if an investigation is necessary. Be supportive of your SD and be a soft place for her to fall when she needs it and it never hurts to have your DH offer to keep SD if BM gets overwhelmed. Keep documenting and seek the advice of a counselor or neutral third party that isn't going to push you to jump in with guns drawn, but will advise you how to handle the situation. What one person is appalled at, another person doesn't think it's so bad. If you go on a witch hunt, you may end up looking like you are just out to get BM because you don't agree with her lifestyle. I agree, it's not a good role model for her kids.. she sounds like she has some problems but the question arises... Is it to a level that constitutes a change in custody? Then the custody of her other kids may be placed in question. If it's so bad for your SD, her other kids may be impacted. This will affect more than just your SD. Think long and hard at all possible consequences and then take action as necessary. The health & safety of the children is the primary concern.. not necessarily the morals of the mother.

I'm so pleased to have this feedback. Hi again, Rosie - such encouraging comments, and I really appreciate your remembering & being sensitive to our goals w/ respect to views. Actually, if I removed or narrowed that "spice pullout" to the right of the cooktop, we could shorten the island back from the traffic line - I'll definitely try that. And while the prep area no longer faces squarely through the living rm to the water, I think that it would be more-than-OK, given the glass expanse in doors to deck & your notion of the repeated happy encounters w/ the view as one moves w/in the work space. I did have a question for you from previous thread: you had mentioned a scary "close call" w/ a basement stairway - may I ask which side of the basement doorway (as one is standing in front of the door) would be best for the hinges to be on, in your experience/opinion? Thanks in advance for that and for all the times you've responded - you've been so helpful & supportive. And hello again to you, bmorepanic! Good questions about the microwave - it's been a pesky issue. Yes, I do frequently use our MW (22 yrs old & counting - guess we'll never bet on that lifespan again, from what I hear) to steam veggies, as well as to serve my coffee-reheating habit. One of the few efficient things about the layout of our existing kitchen is that the MW is on the counter right behind my chair at the table - I can reach back w/ my coffee mug, nuke, & retrieve w/out even standing up! Not that a little more excercise would be a bad thing - I will indeed consider your suggestion & would love to hear any others you have. JeannieMer, hello & again I'm SO thankful to you and others who take the time to read, consider, & then actually propose layout changes. In many homes, having the cleanup sink & DW where you've placed them would make lots of sense; our planning is self-complicated by the fact that we're trying to move the cleanup area away from that wall! Given that, I'd be grateful to see what else your obviously-logical approach to things could come up with - please post more ideas!

When I was a young adult and invited to a family wedding, I often contributed to a group gift from my family. When I was invited to the wedding of a peer, I often could not go because it involved travel, but when I did go I did bring a gift that was affordable but not insubstantial given my finances at the time which were fairly dismal. Same for showers. I probably gave modest but thoughtful gifts then, where now I am pretty much cash only except for the closest of friends/relatives. I think when I was young it was hard to remember that not being able to attend the wedding or some of the associated festivities wasn't grave insult but is just life. I'm now much more able to pick and choose the activities I want to attend without guilt. for those in more modest circumstances I don't think it's ever needed to cover your plate. I've been to weddings myself even recently where even $1000 wouldn't have been enough to cover our plates and we gifted much less than that. However I also think it is kind and generous for older people who are well-established to view a wedding as an opportunity to set a young couple up well in their future life together. This is how I now approach weddings of young people myself. I think the cover your plate guideline sort of helps the newlywed couple start out at less of a financial disadvantage particularly when their parents are not contributing substantially to the wedding. In our case we asked for donations to the food bank as one of our gift ideas and we certainly were not raking in the dough from our guests, my extended family is generally not wealthy and there are a ton of them, I would never expect them to cover their plates nor would they feel pressured to do so (some lovely thoughtful gifts from them of course).