Bebet, I got your email in reply to my public post here on the forum, but I choose to have very little private interaction with forum members. What I wish to say, I will say publicly. One thing I will say publicly is you need to stop apologizing for existing. In a three sentence email, you managed to say "sorry" four times. Nothing you said "offended" me - I was just trying to boost you into taking some action to help yourself. As with all public forums, you can take the advice or not. Especially on this forum, no one is trying to bully you. I still stand by what I said, though. This forum and its members can encourage you, but only you can change your life. I personally think living with someone who won't allow you to drive, controls all the money, complains over $10 spent on feminine hygiene - that's abusive. That was my point in the first thread. I stand by it. I would never allow anyone to treat me that way.

I'd love to be able to peruse the pictures that were in the gallery threads: Living rooms, paint colors etc. Where are they now that we've joined Houzz? Thanks for any helpful suggestions you can offer!

Someone above was wondering why chickens and not ducks on weather vanes. I really don't know, but I can put forth a guess. On US farms a century ago, most had chickens and roosters running loose (free range) but not many ducks. Ducks are water loving birds and will leave the barnyard if they find a pond or stream nearby. Chickens will range around the hen house, but always come back to the hen house to roost at night or for shelter during a storm. Its the Rooster that appears on weather vanes. His tail feathers are more ornate than the hen. Farmers observed the behavior of chickens as a weather forecaster. Chickens will head for shelter during a brief shower and wait for the rain to let up before venturing out again. An old saying was present in the community I once lived in. It was said that if the chickens came out in the rain, it will be a long rain lasting perhaps most of the day or more. By this, it would be natural to associate a weather cock with a wind vane. Wind vane? Its called a weather vane I do believe.

You're not the only one who finds Houzz a chore to navigate! If you look at the very top right hand side of the page you will see "Your Houzz". Click on it and your home page will come up. Under the banner with your name on it, in small print, it says Ideabook, Orders, MESSAGES and Activity. Click on the Messages and they should come up.