Elizabeth girl, you know if I could I'd be right there with you... You hang in there all will be fine. You are a strong willed person and you will make it through all of this. Glad it is looking up on baby's toe, I know how worried you were about that. I figured you were too busy to call and I was right, forgot you got the new house. Good luck with the move, sorry it is such a crazy time for you, but I know you well enough to know you will make it through all of this no matter how trying it feels. Don't lose hope, and don't let your self get down in the dumps over the move and David's appointments. Take one day at a time and if a box doesn't get cleaned out today then there is always tomorrow, or even next week. And ask for help! Don't let yourself get overwhelmed when you can get help. You have many thoughts and prays with you at this time. Take a deep breathe, get a Mt. Dew, sit down relax,or better yet go take a nap! You need to get some rest, it won't do anyone any good if you burnout trying to do it all all on your own. Happy belated Birthday, and remember you are only as old as you feel! Best wishes for you and yours! Call me when you get a new number! Fran

When I was a kid it was so easy. Mom and dad were still married and came from the same hometown. So a visit to the grandparents meant a trip to only one place. We would stay a few days with one side, and a few days with the other. It was great. When my parents got divorced it got more complicated. My brother and I had four Christmases one year: I drove home from college in Missouri to Florida for Christmas with Mom/granny; flew to Maryland for Dad/stepmom/stepbrothers; drove to PA for cousins; then on to Ohio for Dad's dad, then drove back to Maryland, flew back to Fla. and drove back to Mo. It was exhausting. Now I am married to DH, whose parents are also divorced. The four parents live in: California, Arkansas, Alabama and Florida. Oh, and his mom and dad can't be together. And my mom and stepmom can't be together. Then there are DH's kids and their own in-laws . . . it's like that riddle with the farmer trying to cross the river with a fox, a chicken and a sack of grain. Our Christmas solution? DH sees his dad about twice a year when he comes from CA to Ark. to visit his brothers and have a fishing trip. We used to go to DH's sister's (his mom lives on the sister's property) for Thanksgiving, but there was a huge family meltdown back in '04 that put a stop to all that. So now DH sees his mom on those same spring and fall trips to Ark. and we go out (with my mom) for Thanksgiving. My mom always gets the actual holidays, because she is single and, frankly, the most pitiful (I know, I know -- but it's true) and lives here in town. Dad and stepmom fit in where they can, usually coming up before or after Christmas. DH's boys are usually with their Mom on Christmas. We have DH's daughter and family over usually the week before or after Christmas, or meet them halfway for dinner -- and invite the boys to this. My brother comes in from Tx. some time around Christmas, but also goes to his girlfriends' folks in Ky. Whew! I'm tired already! There is no way the kitchen will be done in time for Christmas this year, so there will be a lot of eating out. There will also be liberal use made of hotels for visiting relatives, as my mother informs me that the cute little pull-out sofa-chairs I got from IKEA for the spare-bedroom-turned-home-office are not beds at all, and should be donated to the CIA for interrogation purposes.

gardenut - I don't see the age of Belle, is she a puppy? I would put her back in the crate to start with. Reinforce her training. If you haven't already done so, get a urine from her and take to your vet to analyze. More difficult with a female dog. Just take an old lid to a tupperware container and slip it under her from behind when she squats. Then put the sample in the container matching the lid you used. They don't need alot of urine to check it. My old girl has had UTI several times throughout her life. If she is leaking, she won't squat to do it. My oldest lab came with a zillion issues, one being that she has a leaky bladder. She just leaks if she doesn't take her PPA or Propalin, I am assuming this is what the poster above was referring to. My gal never squatted to pee in the house, I just noticed a small puddle when she would get up from lying/sitting down. Is it possible that she just isn't fully potty trained yet? I would be hesitant to give my dog a med before I ruled out the incidents just being accidents or UTI. My youngest lab had accidents for the entire first year we had him. I thought I was going to go out of my mind. I took him out regularly and did everything possible, but he was just hard to train. He is fully trained now thank the Lord above. He would look just look at the door, I would be right behind him to open the door and he would stand there and start to pee. Frustrating. I cleaned up more pee accidents in 2004 than I care to remember. He just didn't catch on, where everyone else had caught on fully by the third month at the latest. Usually having more than one dog helps, the puppy just follows the other dogs' behavior. I think sometimes they just forget and get caught short while in the house. How long have you had her? What kind of dog is she? My two boys go out for last call at around 9, if I am up late, I will put them out again after the news. My old gal is more like 7:30 p.m. She wants to get upstairs and go to bed! She's going to be 12 and when I say to her "do you want to go out", her ears perk up and she follows me to the door (of course, I have to speak loudly now since her hearing is going). She knows that after she goes out and does her business she will get to go upstairs and lie on her comfy dog bed. Everybody goes out around 5:30 or 6:00 a.m. on weekdays, sometimes not till 8 a.m. on weekends if am lucky. The go out first thing, then come in for breakfast and then back out about a 1/2 hr. later and then in till 2. I don't go out with them, we don't go to the park, we don't take long walks, etc. Of course, there have been incidents few and far between where somebody gets the runs and makes a mess. Different situation. But for the most part, on the days I go to the office they stay in the house from 7 until 2 with no potty breaks. Best of luck and keep us posted!

That's so cute, a2. OK. So, I first started making seriously "fancy" meals for friends in my early 20s. One night, I was having yet another large dinner party and asked a friend across the street to bring over some extra plates. I left the door open for her. This was the first night I tried to shuck oysters. I went in search of an oyster knife but couldn't find one, so I used a wooden paring knife. All was going well until the knife slipped and jabbed very deeply into the muscle between my thumb and forefinger--and broke. I got out most of it but a shard remained. Blood started spurting out. By spurting, I mean a geyser of blood erupted in exact time with my heartbeat. Erupted, and erupted, and erupted. I recall the odd visual image of the rear wall rising over my head, and wondered what that was about, until I realized I had done a "timber!" onto the back of my skull. Apparently I lost a significant amount of blood, so I don't really know how long I was laying there. Suddenly my friend showed up. She came into the kitchen, saying, "I've got the plates." I tilted up my head to look at her, and realized almost the entire kitchen floor was coated in blood. Diane was not good in emergencies. She looked around and said, "So. You need a hand, or?" Dinner was delicious, but we did lose an oyster. To this day, I still love the "or." Or what? Or are you totally fine bleeding out on the kitchen floor, no prob? WTF?