Hey to all. Tanya, going to Warrenton this April was my first time ever to go. I had been hearing about it for years, but by the time I heard about it, it was over. Well this time I marked my calendar and went. Great exercise. When I would tell a merchant it was my first time they would ask, "have you been to Marburger?" I'd say no, can't afford to even get in the gate. There is a July 4th sale in Carmine I think. Some kind of auction I want to go to. Actually it's the Saturday after July 4th. Neat stuff.

It is my understanding that cats and foxes do fine together. But not coyotes or fishercats which are pretty darn vicious and will tear cats into fluff balls. What I cannot understand, since New England and other north eastern locations are long settled areas, is why there is such a deer and coyote population inside the small towns and city suburbs. Down here, of course, we have no problem of deer in the towns. If they showed up, some Cajun would be boiling rice and it would be on the table for supper. Most we find are the smaller wildlife creatures, like possums and coons, squirrels and a few rabbits, and of course snakes and a few alligators. Rats? well, they hang out in clumps of bamboo. Since they feel safer at night, the owls are helpful in controlling their numbers. With the movie Ratatouille I had a dilemma because the "hero" was a rat....not a mouse, which seems more acceptable .... but an animated RAT. It was a good story though.

He was cool towards my son prior to our marriage and I almost postponed the wedding. He has promised me repeatedly to work on this issue and usually does for a short period of time. While we were dating and even prior to that, my son was a tremendous handful! In fact, I was exhausted by the time I met my husband from the constant demands my son's high energy that wore me down. After we were married we did work together with my son, who continued to be an extreme challenge. To add to that, my son was having to learn to share me, had to go to a new school where he did poorly, and quickly alienated all of the kids on our block! After exhausting our combined efforts to help my son, we finally had him evaluated for ADHD. He was "diagnoised" but we still waited to see how his last marking period went. (the teacher obviously grew weary of working with us and stopped sending behaviorial and academic reports home!) He almost failed 3rd grade! Right after school was out, he went balistic, behaviorially so we started him on Concerta, a time-released form of Ritalin. From that point on, my son has completely turned his life around. He's made new, longer-standing friends, gets along better at home and in school, has excelled on the swim team, is getting the best grades he's ever had, and is growin confident from his continued successes! My husband, however, still judges my son based on his old issues that were obviously not mine or my son's fault. My husband is going back to the counsellor alone at thie time because I'm too angry with him. He is trying, and deeply saddened by our deteriating relationship/family, but I'm not sure I can trust his ability to completely change who he obviously is...I'm so sad...thanks for your reply...

Jill, thanks for the solidarity - definitely a puppy! Aren't back rubs part of your marriage vows? OB2B, he's not much on tile, but he's very appreciative of me :-) The delays could fill a whole new thread, but they basically go like this: I'll have a couple days next month. No I said the month after that. Eight months of this nonsense, then the New contractor broke his foot. Says he'll be back any day now, but then I've heard that before... Crl, yay indeed! Thanks for the love. Katrina, I'm so glad it all went well in the end. Cp, yeah, go ahead :-) Thanks! Zelly, I get it. Good luck! And it's true, people don't always communicate that well. I know there's life After a reno, but I'm finally happy to report there's life During a reno too.