Debrak - she has a sister and I think has a very good relationship with her. She periodically comes up to visit. She also has a nephew but he is not ok. Lives in a group home. He certainly can't support her in any way. She's not speaking to me because of an incident with her dog. She can't lift the baby due to her back so plays with her on the floor. They both just LOVE each other and have great fun. But she has a big dog who is rambunctious and bounces around the floor while our infant is down there. I thought I saw him step on her, she told me I was wrong, I picked up the baby, she got mad at me. The thing is she is so hurt that I don't trust her to protect the baby, but if he didn't step on her he was within half an inch and I am just not comfortable with such a big bouncy dog landing within half an inch of our baby on the floor. Serious damage could be done if he accidentally stepped on her and he seems incapable of just sitting or going down while 'his Mom' plays with the baby. He gets clingy and has to be right next to her.... ie right on top of the baby. Anyway this isn't something I can back down on. I usually just brush off annoying things which happen, but not this. I offered to discuss it with her but apparently her feelings are so hurt that she's not yet ready. It's sad. : (

Well, I'm a big fan of green kitchens (I like that vintage pea green color that my mother shudders and calls "hospital green"). But on my monitor, it doesn't look very green. It looks more yellow/gold, with a greenish tinge to it. So I see what you mean. I do like the color, but I disagree with your painter's opinion that it was a great choice for the cabinets. (Except that I never saw it in real life, as he did.) Do make sure it is the right color. That said, I think you should move on to other things. It is fresh paint! That is a good thing. I agree that something dramatic above the windows or on the walls would be great. Your buyer will probably repaint everything! In our previous house, we frantically repainted lots of rooms before selling. Neutral colors. The new owners immediately hired painters b/c our colors were too boring (except they kept the pea green kitchen)! But here is the one that got my goat: Our bedroom was painted in a very pale shade of pink. The furniture was dark brown antique. The bedding and sheers were plain white. The main artwork was Chagall (with some pinks in it). Anyone who has passed through Restoration Hardware lately has seen the coupling of pink and brown. It can look very elegant. I loved it! Well, we moved out, and the realtor/stager moved in. She totally "pinked up" our room--floral bedding and pillows, lacy curtains and matching shower curtain, etc. etc. etc. It looked like a pink explosion!! When I asked her if the buyers liked all the paint colors we had chosen, she specifically said, "I think they'll change the bedroom first--it was a little too pink for them." Ok, I'm babbling. It is fine! It is clean and fresh. Move on to the next thing! :-) Francy

How would you have handled this situation? is a good question but can be tough to answer. Without being in the situation makes it more difficult to say. Would I physically confront them, slap them in cuffs, lynch them or the like, well no. But I'd *like* to think I would have spoken up then and there in some manner, whether I'd clear my throat, say WHAT THE??? or something. Guess it's a had to be there thing. And really, if for some reason I felt threatened in a store, I think I'd have been leaving the store before the incident anyway. Why would I stay where I don't feel safe? I certainly can shop stores where I feel safe. I don't judge what you did or didn't do with the exception of applauding that you did call later. It may have helped. Good for you. The reality is that there's a good chance that at least one of those jars went home with someone. Hopefully they used it right away since I doubt many people would pay any attention to whether it had a tight seal. I'm generally one here who says let's get the whole story, more facts or something before jumping to conclusions on a lot of things but on this one, I too cut them no slack. Theft is theft. Vandalism is vandalism. And their vandalism could affect other people. Most things in a grocery store are not guaranteed sale items meaning the store buys it and can't return it for credit so any broken jar, stolen jar or opened one that has to be written off is a cost to the store, which means a cost to every customer since those losses are simply passed on. I know these things go on in stores. What people do is often so disgusting. People open up boxes of things, switch them then seal it up and head to the checkouts. I always check the seals on jars and I check boxes and bags. I'll often open the top on a jar with inner seal to see it's intact. I also check that the eggs aren't cracked! And I generally make a wide path around those self-serve bulk bins where people are so often grazing! On a different note, what bugs me more is when people hide behind the lines like "You never know what they'll do" or "They might____". It's code for "I don't want to get involved" and that's why some criminals walk free, some thieves go unpunished, taxes go higher, insurance prices soar and other costs go up. I feel we often have a responsibility to stand up for what's right. If we witness something, do something, watch out for your neighbors' homes. The "everyone for themself" is long obsolete. Cops can't be everywhere. We have to be their eyes and ears. What each person can physically do of course varies. As far as the cameras, so what? Yeah they have cameras but are they really going to be expected to take security personnel, sit them down to watch video and try to find the incident? What are they supposed to do then? Launch a search for them? It's a petty theft so it's not worth the cost for the store to waste the time of doing this. The time to do something is when it's happening. Then all that really would be done is to ask them to leave. And casually telling a cashier on the way out is effectively worthless too. At least take the time to go to customer service. At that rate, even calling them later was a far better option than mentioning it to a cashier on the way out. A cashier is too busy to stop checking people out to go alert Customer Service, which is what they'd need to do and then hopefully they were able to get the info from you accurately, which could be questionable if they're concentrating on cashiering (or other things job or non-job related). Telling a cashier would be fine in a convenience store but not a mega store. It's been a long long time since I've shopped in a Walmart. Do they have any customer service call buttons or phones scattered as do some stores? That could be a possibility. I keep a digital notetaker in a case on my belt at all times. I take notes on it often, record phone calls, conversations etc since my memory is getting challenged more as I age. When I'm driving and remember I need to do something I don't have to fumble for pen and paper to make a note for later. You could have used this to get a description of the people, time, details etc. About 2 weeks ago I was at a target and just getting ready to leave when I saw a woman pull in to a parking space in the next row. It caught my eye because she was *so* far over instead of being centered in the lines. Then I saw the vehicle next to her sort of "shake". Obviously she hit it. She got out of her car and I was by then recording the vehicle description, her description and the 2 digits of the plate that I could see. She got back into her car, backed out and drove off. I decided I couldn't live with myself to let this go so I followed her but all she did was move down 2 rows and park way at the end. I got her full license number, better vehicle description and then debated what to do. Didn't want to wait so I decided to leave a note on the affected vehicle. When I got over there I couldn't see any damage. Where she had to have hit it had the side guards which apparently is what she hit. I even got out and took a close look and there was no damage so I let it go. But I felt good that I did what I did. I look at it this way, if I won't get involved, why should someone get involved if something happens to me? BTW, the lids on many jars have instructions to tell how to check the seal.

You're not a wife, or even a stepmother, but a live-in maid and sex slave. No one deserves to be treated like that and to me the miracle is that you've put up with it for so long. As has been said- get your affairs in order, and leave. Take with you info on bank accounts, insurance policies etc to assist with division of property in the divorce. Then find someone who will cherish you as it should be in a marriage. Your husband may be a preacher and attend a church, but if that is the way he behaves he is no Christian in my opinion and is a very poor role model for other Christians.