saskatchewan, I got a better one. I had a drywall crew once who also owned a drywall delivery service. These guys were all from the same family, all ex-marines, and all were ex-professional 'wrestlers'. They were huge. I'm not small, but I'd get a crick in my neck looking up at them. 'Baby', the smallest, was 6' 5" tall and weighed in at 300 pounds; all muscle, no fat. Heck, even their grandfather, who made Jack Palance look like a floozy, worked on the jobs. When they drywalled a house, the crew would come out the night before to verify all the measurements, discuss any issues, problems, difficult areas, plan out their attack; and then....the next day they'd drywall and finish the house. All within 48 hours from bringing in the drywall to perfection. In 2001, I was building a house in what was an old cornfield. It was the old hunting grounds of this one guy, who every night, tooted by and screamed obscenities at us while we were doing F and F (foundation and framing), because it was his old (illegal), hunting grounds, and we ruined it. He drove this old, nasty pickup that had a beer can muffler and relied on grace, rather than mechanics, to make it run. He'd slow down, scream a drunken slur or two, then carefully rev it up and take off down the road. Well, I was standing out there with my drywall crew of huge ex-marines and WWF wrestlers, discussing the merits of Grabber vs. McFeely's drywall screws, when he went by one evening, and leaned out the window and yelled "You #######! If I had a liddle mur time, I'd kick evury one of yur azzes!" He must have had that extra, additional shot of encouragement at the Hilltop Tavern, because he also gave us a big long....er...."number 1 salute" with his middle finger. Then he gave that ol' truck just a little 'too' much gas, and stalled it. Right there on the road in front of little ol' me and five men who might have been extras in the movie '300'. I don't believe I've ever seen a more panicked look on a person's face at that moment, when the five drywall guys started to move towards his truck, one of them saying "what did you say......?"

Sorry....I can see the scenario....your MIL has been talking non stop about the new grandchild...to these friends you don't know....so they brought over gifts to her for her new grandchild.....theyw eren't thinking of you at all, these were gifts for her grandchild. And, naturally they wanted to see her reaction to the wonderful things they brought, so told her to open them, and she did. Then of course brought them to you. She thanked the giver, because of course they were really for her grand child, and thinks that's all that's necessary. But if it were me, I would write them a note saying how thoughtful they were to send a gift, and mention how thrilled Grandma was and delighted when she bropught them over. I am sure they won't expect a thank you....but it's the nice thing to do....and don't worry about who sent what, just mention a baby gift. And remember.....these were first of all gifts for your inlaw's new grand child, not necessarily your baby. Linda C

We've been in this house for 26 years and the original kitchen was small and poorly designed with 6 - yep that's right 6 doors or hallway openings. When the 5 of us sat down for meals only the 2 on the end could get up. So we ate in the dining room most nights on a plywood table that DH made until we renovated. Both of us cook and we enjoy having guests so we put on a large addition and at 30 x 18 my kitchen is the largest room in the house and we love it. It mimics our formal dining room with dark cherry cabinets and Oriental rugs on the ceramic. We usually have all our meals there. We've made lighting the candles and saying grace (or a few woods to mark the day's events) a ritual.But there's still nothing like sitting down as a family for meals in the dining room which now has a real table and china cabinet and using the silver and china. There's a different feeling to using the dining room that makes it special. But when we designed our vacation/retirement home in the mts. we made a large great room so it's a combination living - dining- kitchen area.

I've been retired for about 1 1/2 yrs. I worked an evening shift when I worked (3 pm to 11 pm) then had to "unwind" before going to bed about 12 or 1 am. Now -- I find I am a morning person - get up about 6:30 or 7:00, and yes, I do have a somewhat routine that just established itself, but I feel more at ease if there IS a routine (not schedule!). I put on coffee, clean up the kitchen, feed the animals, read the paper, and, because quilting is a major hobby with me, and I'm more productive in the morning, I spend mornings doing more active things, sewing, cleaning, shopping, yard work, etc. etc. I am a little surprised at how busy I find my days sometimes, and wonder how I did everything when I did work. Also - I find I'm cleaning and keeping up the house a little more than I did before - I'm definitely not a "neat freak" but just do like a fairly orderly, clean environment. I'm absolutely loving retirement - I think it is the chance to choose and control how my days' activities go, and I didn't have that before. DH is still working, but I'm pushing him to retire next summer when he turns 65.