Hi back at you all! Regarding Cinco de Mayo tables, if anyone else wants to do one along with OA and myself, let's look at that first week in May. Luvs, yes, it really is a week-long reunion . . . and it's wonderful! I'm the oldest of nine "kids" in a very close family. I'm also the executor of an inherited trust fund designed exclusively to fund annual reunions for my immediate family. My parents are eighty, in good shape and, of course, they come as well. They live in Florida on the Gulf most of the year, but have a summer place in Michigan where we were all born and raised. Six of my siblings still live in the area. So, with the trust fund money, we rent an entire small resort on Lake Huron in Michigan every summer for a week. It's actually just a group of wonderful cottages with our own private beach. Each family has it's own cottage (small, cute, very clean but not fancy by any means). And, since it's private and gated, our children (and now 2 great-grandkids) can safely run back and forth with their cousins. BTW, my folks have 23 grandkids, although by now they range from 31 down to age seven. Our aunts, uncles and cousins are invited for cookouts or afternoon visits, but this is really just a week for my immediate family, our spouses, kids and grandkids to get together by ourselves. It's a wonderful week, and more so because we all get along so well. No family feuds or bad apples . . . thank goodness! My job in organizing it, other than paying the bills for the resort, food, etc., is mainly planning day outings, golf outings and family dinners. We all eat together every evening on long picnic tables under the trees out back. We spend our mornings visiting back and forth, shopping in the little resort town nearby and golfing. Afternoons are always spent on our beach. We have a huge bonfire every night and take turns making appetizers to pass around, being a family with a number of chefs and a LOT of foodies. Yikes, I got carried away talking about it, sorry. It's just a special week each year that we all look forward to a lot.

It was fun reading all these titles, so many of which are favorites of mine. And one un-favorite: I hated Memoirs of a Geisha so much, I wanted to write to the publisher and demand my time back. I can forgive a lot of things, but not bad writing! It prompted me to send out an email to my friends and relatives asking them what book they hated to the point of outrage. (Clear winner: The Celestine Prophesy -- boy, do people hate that book!) I adore Bryson. I am just finishing A Brief History of Nearly Everything, and I love love love it. I won't repeat the ones others have mentioned. Here are a few you may not have heard of that are absolutely wonderful: A Lesson Before Dying New York Trilogy (read them as one book) The Metaphysical Club (don't let the name fool you) Defining the Wind (beautiful writing and hilarious) The first two are novels, the other two are sort of history of ideas. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay Don't give up on War and Peace! It's just long, not hard, and it's terrific. He LOVES people -- if you like Ann Tyler, you'll like Tolstoy. The only tricky part is the names. One edition of W&P even comes with a bookmark that keeps them straight, or you can keep your own chart. But new translations of Tolstoy simplify the names as a matter of translation, which made Anna Karenina very easy to read. Reread Charlotte's Web now that you are an adult and can appreciate what an incredible piece of writing and philosophy it is. Some book!

Hi sweeby - I think my quality of life would only be improved if I was sure to leave myself enough room to get out of the car since the fence would be on MY left! If it's too big a project to scoot over to the right a bit (e.g. if paving over a little bit of my yard is too big a project), then yes, it could end up not worth it. But they often park right next to me and I still manage to get out, albeit somewhat carefully. But I tell you, if building a fence *would* actually leave me room to get out easily, I would also love having a fence there (I'm now thinking only the length of my car or a bit longer...but I'm no longer thinking about the whole driveway yet just in case I can't terminate the easement - which I don't know yet)...because it would mean I wouldn't have to see them so much when in my front yard or sitting on my stoop. When I see them my hearts sinks. It's always very awkward. Even before the drama they never said hi. It's just yuck yuck yuck. They're the only ones cutting off noses (that would be MY nose - or my car's nose at any rate) I promise. ;)

I think a lot of the reason SD's mom and I have reached the point we are at (which has stepped back from the sharing a hide-a-bed days, but is still okay) is because of this forum. I learned to see things more from her point of view. I was able to see all that she has missed out on (caused by her own choices and actions, but I digress) and how that could turn her into the person she is now. I think of how hard I fought to gain custody of SD and then imagine what it would be like to loose it. . . then I multiply that by 100 and imagine if I were her bio-mom. I learned that as bad a mom I may think her, there are others who make her look like Mom of the Year. I realized that I wasn't alone and not a Horrible Person for the thoughts I had about her. I was able to let go of a lot of my hatred and re-direct it as sympathy and understanding, for it is usually the miserable that aim to make others miserable. You don't see a lot of truly happy people trying to make life difficult for everyone around them. I learned that considering myself a failure because I couldn't make this woman like me was about the dumbest thing I'd ever done - if I dislike her on so many levels and for so many reasons, why in God's name would I want her as a friend?!? Truly, I owe this board credit for a bit of my newly found sanity. Now we'll see how long it lasts.