I loved it, I shared it with George so he could tell it the next time he goes to have his blood work done. The ladies in the hospital are always asking him if he has any new jokes. Shoot, I'd pay the man $40 if he'd come clean my house. I certainly don't have time to do it like I'd like it done. LOL Thanks for the laughs. Marian

This is bringing tears to my eyes. I knew when I read Jane's post that something wasn't right. Luvs, thanks so much for letting us know Dear Dad went to be with his Savior. Karen, you should be a very proud daughter for the way you cared for your Dad. You will always miss him but have so many beautiful memories with him. Thanks so much for sharing your DD with all of us while he was with you. Please give his little dog lots of Hugs and Kisses from all of us too. Those we love don't go away, They walk beside us every day, Unseen, unheard, but always near, Still loved, still missed and very dear. Sharing Your Sorrow and Sending My Love, Punk

Wow, I had the most enjoyable night surfing through her blog. She is clever and fun and I love her wit. She also is refreshingly open and authentic about the dynamics of her marriage (and herself) and how these intersect the remodeling process. Perhaps my favorite "line" (okay, it's more like a mini-diatribe than a line) is in her post about staining the porch floor, in which she alleges she and her husband tried to kill each other: "There is something about Paul where he thinks that if he goes crazy first, he gets first dibs on it. And there will be none left for me. And I will be forced to take Option B - agreeing with him and slinking away quietly to appease his bad mood. WHY after EIGHT years of marriage he STILL thinks this is BEYOND me. I will see your bad mood. And I will raise it. And then I will steal all your cards and all your chips. And I will get you kicked out of the casino. And then I will go to the Chanel boutique and buy a new handbag. So LOOK OUT. Instead, I said "do whatever you want". And walked away. And I realized this: I have come so far. Even a year ago, I would have been ENRAGED at the suggestion of using a subpar color/product/stain/paint shade/sofa/toilet paper holder. But now? I donâÂÂt care. This house has killed my aesthetic martyr." This post was edited by Steph2000 on Wed, Jun 19, 13 at 14:07

Katie Kitty is safely back home! My neighbor was so upset (she is in her 70's) and she cried when she asked me to send out a mass email to everyone asking them to help find her cat, so I'm very happy to report that Katie Kitty found her way home! Cyn, my husband is a federal type as well and won't get any snow days because he telecommutes so they don't get to take snow days. He doesn't mind though, he'd rather be able to work from home most days then to get a snow day. Are you a teacher? We know several teachers in NoVa, one in Centreville and one out in Haymarket. Our schools are canceled for the week also! LOL Newhomebuilder, I feel like that often with my posts, I wish there was an edit feature on here! The couple who showed up said they thought about calling us to see if the party was canceled but I guess they just decided to forge ahead! I sent them an email apologizing again for making them come out in the cold and ice and they said they had a wonderful time, so it all worked out in the end. I sent them back home with their fruitcake and plate and they said they had a meatloaf in the oven for their daughter and grandson who live with them, so they were fine. Cooperbailey, we have not one but two 95+ year olds on our street! They are both in great shape. The 95 year old woman lives with her daughter, SIL, and grandchildren but she still comes to every event and is just a little hard of hearing, but otherwise doing really well. The other 96 year old is a man and lives on his own, but right next door to his son and his family. He is truly amazing! He still drives, and seems to be fine, has a beautiful garden which he dutifully tends and I think he even has a computer! He also takes his Dachshund to obedience training!!! I hope I'm just like him as I continue to get older, I'm 46 now. A funny story about him when we first moved in and he was a mere 94. One day we drove past and he was laying on his side in the ditch near his mailbox. We drove past and I said to my husband "GO BACK George has fallen!!!" and my husband said that he thought George was just pulling weeds or something. I said "honey, clearly he has fallen, look at him he's on his side, you don't pull weeds like that!" so he agreed and began backing up. When we got beside him I rolled down the window and said are you ok George? He looked puzzled, he didn't really know us since we'd just moved in, and said "I'm fine, I'm trimming" and sure enough he had those old handheld trimming shears that everyone used to have that looked like giant scissors! We left and he went back to trimming. My guess is that one day George will be helping us up rather than the other way around, he's my hero! Here are some pictures of our pups playing in the snow. They look so fierce when they play, yet they love one another dearly! Quinn, he's fast, but not quite as fast as our nearly 10 yr old BC, she is still faster! Quinn giving his "mom" some love! Kat :)