"The restoration company put me up in a hotel (that insurance would reimburse)." Did you get it in writing? Hope you don't get stuck with the hotel bill. Whose name is in? If it is in your name you are legally responsible to pay it in full if you contracted for the room. Don't rely on a verbal promise from the restoration company. Also check your insurance policy to see IF they even pay for hotel expenses and/or if there is a cap on the total amount they will pay up to. Stay in contact with your insurance company. Call them daily. Find out the lease laws in your area to see if you are released from your obligation. There must be a landlord tenant group in your area to call for quick info. No one here can tell you anything specific without knowing the laws in your city/state.

Yoo hoo golddust ~ Welcome to the other side LOL. I'm Nora from mid New York State. I've been married for 20 years and we have a 26 yo DS. DH and I got together when Eli was a little over 4 years old and we married when he was six. There is definitely truth in nurture vs. nature because they are like two peas in a pod ;o) We live on 7 idyllic acres in a small hamlet in southern Dutchess County with our pug, Tootie, and kitties Bitsy and Bundles. DS and his GF live in a cottage on our property, which is a blessing. We love to renovate anything that isn't nailed down and it seems that we're in a constant state of flux (no pun intended considering your metier). We also love to garden, which we do with fervor, though not always with as much success as we'd like. The earth tells us what it needs and most of the time we pay attention. But when we don't we learn early on that we should have listened to Mother Nature. Welcome!!

I had a recurring dream in my teens, that happened half a dozen times a year, until a 'grand finale' dream finally ended it's recurrence. I dreamt I was babysitting my younger siblings one night and had put them to bed. I notice a light from my parents bedroom, so went in to shut it off. But I see the lid of the cedar chest at the foot of their bed is open, so I sit down on the bed. Inside it they kept (same in real life) my father's police marksmanship trophies, and containers of loose family photos that weren't yet put into albums. I pick up a container and start taking out photos, one at a time. The first photos I pull out are the latest ones taken, so they are in colour. As I continue taking them out, the colour begins to fade on each successive photo, until they are simply black and white, as they are now depicting (real) events/family from before I was born. The dream ends with me picking up a photo by the back, and starting to turn it over to see the actual picture. I never get to turn the photo around, before I either wake up, or simply morph into a different dream. It became very annoying, having this same dream for almost 14 years, and never getting to see what was on the front side of that dang photo! The good news is, when I was almost 30, and pregnant with my first child, I had the dream one night and finally got to turn over the photo and see what was on it! The bad news is, it made no difference. The photo was only a picture of me, starting to turn over a photo! I'm about 16 in the pic, which is the same age I was when I first started having this dream, and I am in my parents' old bedroom, pulling the photo out of their open cedar chest. I have never had that dream again, so I guess my subconscious considered the dream 'concluded' just because I got to turn over the photo. But it still annoys me that I never got to see the actual picture, lol!

On the topic of thrifty, I saw a commercial yesterday that I had to back up and watch it again to make sure I heard it correctly. It was recommending everyone should pee in the shower thereby saving water, no need to flush if you just pee in the shower. Never mind that you are standing in your pee. I am OK with an extra flush personally but feel free to pee in the shower if that's your thing. Lol The commercial actually showed a person in the shower from about the knees down, suddenly bright yellow water filled the bottom of the shower and the feet were standing in a big puddle of pee, pretty gross. Our shower is slow draining it would become a lake of pee. Ick I looked it up on Google it's real because I thought sure at first it was a spoof, joke etc. Does it really have to be on TV...