After some web sleuthing it is possible that candied sweet cicely really is a treat. It supposedly has the flavor of sweetened anise or licorice. Candied would be like the English "All-Sorts". Yum. I am so looking forward to harvesting all the piece parts of this new herb - leaves, flowers, and roots. Every part is edible so how can you go wrong? Adventure in gardening continues. Thanks for sharing the seeds tamelask. And, this attached gourmet recipe popped up while surfing that just has to be totally over the top. Must try it just because no one else on the planet could have as tasty a use for this sweet herb than the people who live in Washington/Oregon. Besides, I think it is a really pretty lacy plant for part to full shade. Nancy the nancedar Here is a link that might be useful: Shrimp Cicely Tomato Rissoto

Good for you, Gibby, to allow yourself a little indulgence. You have attended to your security and seem to have a generous nature. What else is the money good for? And I agree with your lack of enthusiam for the financial services industry. I have worked with several different advisors over 25 years, staying with three to the bitter end (a relocation and two, count em, two corporate meltdowns and restructuring ended things.) IOW, it is not that I'm fickle; I'll stick. All were highly recommended, experienced and solid. And did seem genuinely sorry that somehow I kept managing to LOSE money as the stock market spiraled up. "This is so unusual..blah, blah, blah." Meanwhile over in the tax deferred accounts, that I managed over those same decades, we did very well in both good and bad markets. But hope springs eternal. In 2003 I was in a a similar situation to yours, and vetted a number of recommended advisors. The one affiliated with insurance said I neeeded more insurance (duh. I don't). The broker said I was overinsured and should look into these certain mutual funds (duh. all front loaded). And the fee-for-service guys couldn't really effectively address investing one piece of the pie without considering the whole pie, but would be MORE than happy to review everything for X thousand dollars and manage the works for X percent a year. Ugh. Frustrating waste of my time. I researched, made a clear plan and went with Vanguard. It has been fine. Fine enough that perhaps I'll take your lead and get neglected things done around this place!!

newbuyer2007, you're correct. Homebuyers often look at the tax assessment when deciding what to offer on a home. They erroneously believe that is what the property is worth. If they work with a Realtor, hopefully the Realtor has disabused them of that notion. There may be some states that are close in their tax assessment to the value of the property, but markets fluctuate and like everyone else has said, Market Value has nothing to do with the Tax Assessment. Home buyers and sellers should know that the fair market value of how much your home may sell for is generally based on comps of properties sold in the area, usually within the past 3 months or so. That also doesn't mean anything either. Buyers and agents often look at the price per sq foot of comps sold in area. I sold a house last year that I totally updated - new roof, a/c, bathrooms down to studs, new appliances, carpet. Home was practically a rebuild. My price for my home was in keeping with prices of homes for sale in the neighborhood, but my price per sq foot was higher than all the comps by $10-12 per sq foot. The other homes on the market helped sell my house. The other homes on the market were in bad shape, outdated, some filthy, but in a nice neighborhood and a coveted school district. My home with everything practically new sold in 8 days. The value of your property is what a buyer is willing to pay. With the current economy, there may be additional challenges with selling. I would suggest Vetting that you not remodel your home out of neighborhood and check out your competition. Depending on the market in your area, it may be best to wait out the market.

I posted this in a new thread, but it's prevalent to this as well, please answer these questions to the best of your knowledge, thank you: Hey all, so my manager calls me in today and tells me things are going slow for me as far as picking up on things that I should be picking up on, and I four weeks ago switched from MR/DD to Vet Assistant and now I completely feel like crap about it. I feel like I want to find a new job because in my mind, the worse thing before buying a home in a few months is to be fired. Here's the whole situation: I make 30k a year. My fiance 46k. I made 23k two years ago (first time working full time since I was doing temp work and not doing much with my life), and then 26k last year. This new job got us 4k more (but it's weird because hours aren't set, even though I make 14.50 an hour rather than 12.50, it's 35 hours due to being charged an hour for lunch break, and the hours change weekly) So, basically I want out. I have a job interview I did, $33k a year (around $15.50 an hour) but no benefits ($350 stipend towards Obamacare). Another open position at a day care center for $10.50 an hour) - $21,00 a year. I don't believe the position at the day care center is a smart move. Definitely not. I feel my days are numbered with this new job - I feel, what's the point of putting so much energy in if I'm just going to potentially get fired? Why learn more? It's not the type of job where they train you. See, this job was open because five people left in a row. I was hired, then a few others and I feel that maybe I'm the weak link. I have ADHD, I don't learn too well, but I am a hard worker. The manager basically said that she knows I'm engaged, and changed jobs and looking to start my life and that she understands that, etc. She didn't fire me, but I feel I'm on the firing line. Makes me feel like crap. I live at home, I plan on buying a home in 2016 (winter). I am curious if dropping down to let's say $12.00 an hour (roughly $1350-$1400 a month) from what I make now $14.50 is going to affect us getting a mortgage? I can ask my mortgage broker directly but I'd rather not. I wonder if we will be scrutinized and asked about it. When I spoke to my mortgage broker, we talked about down payments and we will be doing a $200-250k down payment so based upon 70k (the broker estimated at 6k less to round it out) he said with 200k down we can afford up to a $480k home) - We wouldn't even consider buying anything NEAR there, but it's good to see that 6k less (gross), which would be probably $11.50 an hour I would guess, would still net us a good pre-qualification. We are looking up to $420k home, pref something in the mid to late $300k). At times I wish I just had a simple, secure job. Something 9-5, full time, benefits. My new job has been crazy scheduling and weekends non stop. Sometimes I forget what day it is. It's a good change of pace from my old job, but not a forever job and I knew this. I do make half that money doing video work on a monthly basis so supplementing some extra money is helpful, as long as there's work and there has been for many years, so that's good. But it does concern me with the drop in pay if I decide to try not to get fired and to find something before getting fired. Is being fired and totally getting another career going to stop us from getting a home? Some people may say yes, some may say no. I will say that I am not completely happy with my job and the hours are 32-38 hours, varying and I want a full time set 40 hour work well. Or how would it look if I took a part time with benefits job and did that, and supplemented my money other way? For example $1,000 a month. So to go from $1,400 a month to $1,000 a month, will that stop us from getting a mortgage? I'm trying to figure out options here. My love is video but video jobs full time are in NYC and the cost of a train monthly is $400-500 bucks. It's insane. I've been thankful to work close to where I live and to be successful making consistent money every week with video work. It really helps and will help once we get a mortgage.So, I am interested in hearing everyones thoughts.