I was telling Bob about this joke and added that it was even funnier because I could imagine some crazy old woman actually doing this. He said, yeah, he could too but then she got hit by the bread truck. He was talking about my mother, who after her stroke, insisted she was hit by a bread truck. Between the meds she was on and her stroke, her wires were pretty crossed ... heck they were braided! She told me she wanted to talk to an attorney about it. Bob (the smart aleck) asked her if the bread truck had yellow, blue and red balloons on the side (Wonder bread) and she said, how would she know, she didn't see it. I asked her how she knew it was a bread truck and she said it was because I told her it was. *rolls eyes* She refused to admit she had a stroke. We just played along with her story. But Bob should talk ... his mother was bitten by a tiger! When I asked her why she was so close to one, she said she was petting it. She got a scratch at the nursing home and somehow decided it was from a tiger bite. I told her she was lucky to live to tell about it. Our mothers have had such adventures in their nursing homes. Other than the bread truck incident, my mother said she was arrested. Bob's mother had a baby and was later in a plane crash. They will argue tooth and nail that what they are saying is true so I just learned to play along with them. Unfortunately my mother is too savvy and knows perfectly well what the "Hawaiian good luck" sign really means so I can't pull that fast one on her!

Wow. That belongs with the best of Bill V's posts... This will sound strange, but you know what has really helped me see this clearly: our cats. I didn't know my mom when she was a child of 5, etc...but as an adult (I wasn't allowed to have pets as a child) I have known my cats from kittenhood til old age and it's given me a much clearer sense of the whole arc of life. I'm glad that our daughter has known her cats too and seen them through disease, health, and even disease unto death. Kids who get to see this probably have a much clearer and probably more respectful sense of the journey we are all taking. When I saw my dear Bounder drag himself up on his last day of life, out of his hiding place (after a couple of years of administering fluids, cleaning up barf and excrement, doling out meds, taking him to the ER--all the kinds of stuff we do for our elders) and seek me out basically to put his head up against mine one last time, I could also see the little kitten I brought home from the shelter only a few years earlier, it seemed...and it's helped me to look at senior humans and see the kittens inside as well. Another gift our four-legged dear ones give us.

Hi OA ... I can't even remember how long I've had this 'old door' cabinet or it could be called a hutch .... over 10 yrs ... It is not a 'corner cabinet,' per say, but I wanted it made to use in a corner but not "built in"...so hubby used some old barnwood boards for the sides (11" ones ...I just went out & measured) ... we used a sheet of 'beadboard' thick paneling for the back. The door still has it's hinges & doorknow on & is attached to the 3-sided box piece. My regret now is that we did not 'hinge the door to open...but at the time, I didn't want that big old heavy door to open (so the bottom half is actually wasted space. I could use that for storage! LOL! We added another board for the top & added some more trim... I painted it a color called 'Navajo white' & it's been that way ever since...never re-painted. Most of the time I have my collection of Heisey 'Lariat' glassware here ... but I've been changing it out the last couple yrs for Fall & Christmas. ;-) Hope this helps. Jeanne S. (Here's 'Lariat' old pic)

I found the comment "you can't reason with a child that age" very interesting. Parenting books all tell you to reason with children. Unfortunately these pop psychologists forgot their child development and the FACTS that brain development does not enable reasoning until well into school age!! What Linda is going to learn the hard way, if she doesn't get to the parenting/authority ability to say "enough, go to your room" and have the child comply, when he is 13 this will not be cute. How a relationship plays out when they are young tells much about how it will work when they are older. Look out world another out of control teen is on the way!!