HI GUYS! Well, the real estate agent I had over yesterday was SO nice. She said she really liked the house and we got along really well. So, my choice are narrowed to her and another lady. (There are mostly lady real estate agents in my area. In fact, no men have listed a house in this area in AGES.) Last night, I got an email from someone who was asking if my house was going on the market soon and then, this morning, I got a call from an agent who wants to preview it for a client. So she's coming on Tuesday. I'm ready to SELL and MOVE now! Today, I had to clean, pack, and have a visit from "V"'s social worker. The visit went well and she wants him to move with us to the the rock, so it's looking very promising. Please light a candle and send a positive thought that he stay with us through our move. Love has nothing to do with this move wher ethe state is concerned. It's all about visitation for the mom (who has not been heard from since just before Easter! The S/W's supervisor has the final say. Now, I'm off to pick up my DD (age 12) from school. She's been at a remote Eco-Camp this week--no communication, electronics, and no make-up! I wonder how it went! No doubt, she'll be re-working our house to make it "greener" now! After the move, I'm switching to cloth diapers. After NHSuzanne's info about them and my own reading, I am convinced it's the way to go! QOD: Saturday will bring the community recycling effort, where we can take all of our hard-to-recycle stuff (like monitors, TVs, batteries, motor oil, paint, and stuff) to the church lot and drop them off! I'm making a pile of this stuff and loading it in my truck. Then it's off to the granite place to choose a "bundle" of granite for my new countertops. After that, choose a sink. Yesterday, I bought a new SS cooktop and SS dishwasher. Sunday, the new appliances will be delivered so they can be templated for the countertops on Tuesday. Oh! And prom is this weekend. No rest for the WICKED! lol. Soon, we'll have picture of our home to post and then, hopefully, a SOLD sign will be in our yard! (Yet another candle, please.) Sounds like EVERYONE is busy! That's great! DeeMarie! I am very proud of your success on WW. I hope I can be JUST LIKE YOU! Right after this chocolate thumprint cookie, I'm going to get SERIOUS! :-) I miss Besh and Marci and Gretchen and Donna, JEN, and Maddie and of course, everyone's secret boyfriend, John...where are you guys?

Autumn, originally the draftsman had the door on that side. i moved it so it was closer to the bathroom. The way you have it now means a longer walk to the bathroom and a wrong turn means falling down the stairs. :) Oaktown, I'm not following. Are you agreeing with me that the door should be where I have it or are you saying it should be facing the closet? Aec, the upstairs will be Hardie siding or Hardie shake and downstairs will be stucco. The way I have it, it will be fine moving the furniture in.

These are great ideas - I should write them down so I remember them. Yesterday my adult kids came over for Father's Day and I can always count on my DD to bring something meaningful and heartfelt and usually on a budget. She had saved several empty spice bottles and made little flower arrangements in each and then tied them with a ribbon. She gave cornflowers to DH - they're one of his favorite flowers and then she made one with various colors of astilbe for me and my DIL got drift roses. I really liked this so for my luncheon I may copy her idea. I don't want to empty spice bottles at the moment but I have a Michael's, ACMoore, JoAnn fabrics etc. near so I think I'll pick up bud vases or something similar and use them.

We also were dirt poor so there were no elaborate dishes for us. Mom was a plain cook but she could do some things well - fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy (or potato salad) on Sunday. Sometimes we'd pack it up and take it to the "pasture" which was simply a cow pasture owned by Dad's boss and we'd spread our feast out on a blanket on the ground and eat. If Dad had an extra dollar, he'd stop on the way and buy a gallon of ice cream for 99 cents. If he was really feeling rich, a six-pack of Pepsi. Bottles, of course. After our feast, us kids would run up and down in the grass and wade in the creek. Mom could make a great goulash from hamburger, elbow macaroni and homegrown tomatoes, tall fluffy cinnamon rolls with lots of gooey brown sugar on the bottom and minimal icing, and a lemon meringue pie she was extremely proud of. After I watched her make the meringue once, I wouldn't eat it. But the lemon part was good and she was great with piecrust from scratch. My grandma, Dad's mother, was a very plain and unimaginative (English) cook. But her sugar cookies were wonderful. We lived with grandma and grandpa for a short while when I was a kid and when we got off the school bus and ran inside to smell her sugar cookies - bliss! I make her recipe now and it is probably my most memorable comfort food. Tall, soft and cakelike - she didn't use any icing, but I do!