Get out your towels..its cryin' time! My trip to the Salvation Army yesterday netted me nothing. Next stop was Goodwill...and I found the Perfect dress...unfortunately it wasn't the perfect size. I was so disappointed when I tried it on! It was a deep cherry-red, short sleeves, with a fullish skirt that fell in soft pleats. The top had the look of a vest, yet dressy looking, it was attached, buttoned down the front and made of some kind of material that looked almost like crochet, but wasn't. It would have been PERFECT! I noted the label "peri petite" and googled it hoping to find that same dress. It was a size 10; I could wear that dress in a size 12. "Peri petite" lead me to a list of scores of places that sell petites, but nowhere did I find that dress. Sizes are screwy anyhow. I have always joked that I can wear a petite, if it is BIG enough. At Penneys etc I can sometimes find a petite14, but not often. I'm short-waisted, narrow shoulders, with the obligatory gut and hips. I looked through my closets and I do have two pairs of nice pants that fit, one sage and the other blue. I have a light rose colored dressy blouse that I can wear with the sage. I'm going out again on Monday to keep looking. Sue, thanks for posting the link; my brain was deflummoxed. Jane, I live in Augusta County, about an hour and a half from Richmond;.I really don't want to tackle that trip and the "big city" right now. Also, my DD doesn't have another day off til this coming Wednesday, and I don't drive distances any more. Thanks for the link to Woman Within. I saw some things there that I liked and they have a petite plus category. I'll go back when I have time and check it out better. Anne, thanks for the offer, that was really sweet. Lu, we don't have a Jonathan Richards here. Lisa, I'll go back to Ross in hopes they have gotten in some new things. You have all been kind and sympathetic, and I appreciate all the suggestions. Keep your fingers crossed. I haven't given up! I will be at the wedding even if I have to go looking like a bag woman!! Sue

This is the first time the boys are going without the whole family to visit GM. It really wasn't double UM fee was $100 each so for a few extra $$ I got my own ticket so they wouldn't fly alone ... Mainly because BM is trying to convince everyone that SS11 is bi-polar and has anxiety too. I didn't want there to be any confusion about him so I thought I would go to and save some stress all around. As for what BM is doing to her children ... granted my SC can be stubborn when they want to be and they have lots of sibling rivalry at her home ... it has basically stopped here there is no competition here (IMO) at mom's they have to compete for her attention so it seems the one who can behave the worse gets the most attention. The boys were fighting with each other over the XBOX at her home so after she hollered and screamed at them for 45 minutes she began flailing her arms and hit both of them multiple times. (gee I wonder why they hit each other when they get frustrated) SS11 was pushed out the door with only sweatpants on in 22 degree weather after he threatened to run away so she told to get the f&*( out and stay out. She told the boys your dad has custody of you so if you never come back here I don't give a F^&* ... SD screaming she wanted to come here and BM told her no daddy has no rights to you if I say you can't see him you won't. (mom has sole custody of SD) BM screaming she doesn't even know why she had children if she knew they would turn out like this she would have never had any kids. SS13 was told you're my first born I thought I could love you more than the others I should have never had you. SD during all this had an "anxiety attack" mom told her to take a fu&%ing pill and get over it. They had an I hate you more contest. Screaming at each other who hates who more ... Most of this occurred on a wed night between 8:30PM and 10:30PM. They called here multiple times through the course of the 2 hours. And because hubby will not make waves or even call her and tell her to stop they continued to call .... no action on his part ... even though I was prompting him to go get them, get her on the phone, or call the police he took no action. When they came home this Sunday at 3:30pm from mom's all 3 were in the same clothes they had on friday when left for school... all came in starving I asked didn't you have lunch no mom left early this morning so we didn't get breakfast or lunch she came home and got us to bring us here. I said I know you all are quite capable of making yourselves something to eat they then rambled off how there wasn't any milk or bread nothing easy only oven food ... and they are not allowed to use the oven with out an adult around. We have had DSS involved in our lives since July when mom called because we didn't take SD's anxiety issues seriously and we didn't allow her to contact her mother.... DSS meets with mom bi-weekly because of her parenting skills and we meet monthly with them because hubby has sole custody of the boys. In Aug 2 days before they went to court .... SS11 was flipping out because hubby wouldn't him play xbox so he put him in his room he called his mom 2 hours later (big ordeal) mom came and picked SS11 up and took him to the police station to file an abuse report against hubby because he physically put SS in his room. Then she filed an Ex-parte order saying SS11 was "terrified" of his father and shouldn't have to return home ... judge granted hubby sole custody of SS's. So we asked SS11 if he wanted to file a police report against mom he said no ... I said well why did you against daddy he said mommy said he wouldn't get in trouble and she said he wouldn't be able to hit him anymore ... I said so its ok for mom to hit you but not daddy? he said yeah she's my mom she can hit me. I said no one should be hitting you when they are angry. No bruises but emotional abuse doesn't leave visible wounds. So after I calmed down and talked with hubby again we decided to sit the boys down and told them if you do not want to go there don't ... no one has the right to put their hands on you (but she's our mom she can hit us). Hubby and I decided next time they call here like that he is to send the police there and also head out and pick them up ... if there is any hesitation on his part I will just be his wife I will step back completely from them and uninvest any emotional attachment I have to them ... (this was my decision) I have to save myself before I can save them.

I guess you could really say it is JASDIP!!! Hope you feel better soon. I brought a cold back with me from California and am feeling pretty crummy myself so I can empathize.

Ann, you need a (((((((BIG HUG)))))))). I thought it happened to me only. 7 yrs. ago, I went through almost the same thing. I was also office manager and +++++ duties. I was so devasted when found out that the owner, my boss, disappeared. His family couldn't even find him. He got into drugs & alcohol and hopped from one motel to another so we couldn't tracked him down. Then, he was using company money on his hotel living & drugs & alcohol. The bank account would be empty as soon as I deposited some checks that we collect for the business. When we were able to track him down, he would signed several checks and disappeared again. After a couple of times, his brother got smart and had him signed several blank checks before he did the disappearing act again. I got smart and as soon as I collected some money for the company, I'd deposit them and cashed my paycheck at the same time before it went empty. Not only I had to take care of the business but his family too! I had to comfort his wife and took her to take care of business. He normally took care of financial things so his wife had no clue what to do, even paying a bill! After several months, he finally went to rehab and got back with the company. While, he was at rehab, I went to look for another job. Fortunately, I found another job just in time of him getting back with the business. I later found out that I was hired due to my reputation of holding up the company until the owner got back. It was 4 months of hell so I understand what you're going through! If your husband is disabled and you're paying mortgage, you may want to checkout the link below to see if there's any assistant that could help you. I've read somewhere about reverse mortgage that you may want to check out too. Here's a link that is for Houston but it explains what it is: http://www.hud.gov/offices/hsg/sfh/hecm/rmtopten.cfm You may want to do a Google search and see if there's one for your area. Also, does your county have a disability homestead for your residential property tax? I'm disabled and live in Houston. We have that discount for disabled homeowner which cuts my tax in 1/2 just about. If I find anything else, I'll let you know. Wish you lots of love and kindness toward this rough season and the new year coming. Here is a link that might be useful: Disability Info.