Board election is next month. Not much of choice but get on the board if I can. They did absolutely nothing to help me out all year long with the trees at the park that I planted last fall (asked by previous board). The current board pretty much ignored my requests all year long such as asking for the access to the sprinkler system, etc. Forced me to drag my hose there and water each tree myself. I asked for mulch but never heard back so I called around looking for wood chips. Hauled most of mulch there from my driveway with some help from my neighbor. They just didn't seem to have a clue how things should be done at the park. They think 3 times a week watering is the right way to go. I told them since the clay holds a lot of moisture, I suggested twice a month of deep watering about 2 inches worth to saturate 12 inches of ground. That would benefit trees and bermuda grass because thats where the roots are and help cut down weed growth. I don't know why the president is so obsessed with the weeds at the park when trees should be top priority if we want shade at the park. They are doing everything backwards. I tried to help out but they didnt want to listen to me so for that reason, I'm going to get on the board and care for the park the right way with less chemical usage like Integrated Pest Management. Plenty of parks do not even use chemicals so I'm going to look into that and see how they do that.

SPAM

Mona and Deborah nailed it. You still haven't told your husband about her behavior with boys, have you? I don't know what the "sensitivity" is about not telling him, but your daughter's behavior trumps that. I cannot stress enough that he MUST know now. I don't care if he screams at the top of his lungs, hits his fist through a wall or throws something, he'll calm down and think rationally once he gets over the shock. lol If she were my daughter, she'd be grounded for the summer. I too had raging hormones at 12, and they were totally out of control. Thankfully I didn't have sex but I sure did like to kiss boys! All it took was for my dad finding me and a boy together at 12 years old kissing him. It scared the pee out of me! lol. Oh, he was mad alright but I changed right then and there. Shannon, you're trying too hard to make your daughter happy right now. Nix all suggestive clothing. It's time she dressed and behave like a young LADY. Tell her she will be greatly respected behaving like a lady instead of an "easy" girl. I think it would be fine if GIRLfriends came over to visit, chaperoned, and if she goes to a GIRLfriends house chaperoned with parents you approve of. I wouldn't allow her to walk anywhere. Or go shopping alone either. Someone needs to have the "Come to Jesus" talk with her ASAP or it will be way too late.

take out the wall between dining and kitchen.When you close up the door and get a window in,create a run along front wall that jogs around the support beam by brick zone, but does not make a 90 degree turn.Instead you'll pass thru to hearth room where the turn of counters was. Create a small L consisting of fridge/cooktop wall and perpindicular out from current fridge location.The fridge gets shifted over and recessed to where cooktop is- back into some sq footage of washer area[get a stackable setup for W/D in space remaining.] The other arm of the L could house a sink or possibly below counter oven-can you get the sink and cooktop along front wall? I see kids-the hearth room side of L can have stools/overhang. The house needs some flow-with the tight dining room and now removal of wall it will be more inviting and yet the living room still has that dividing wall for some separation. You'll get a visual"through" effect so the marginal view out the kitchen window will be minimized. When coming thru to hearth room,instead of the island in the middle of it all, you can do comfy chairs around brick/and the peninsula part of the L will have stools: you keep different uses for the hearth room - instead of all kitchen and all island taking over. Your linear feet available for these runs isn't really clear from your sketch-have to figure that out, of course. If you don't want complete elimination of wall between kitchen/dining-at least cut it back significantly...pretty much similar effect.You can keep the nifty original hallway storage setup behind the kitchen-don't you think that means less worry about storage in the kitchen and you can streamline the kitchen with a compact L and a long run at the front? Unless you gut your house,the kitchen is basically a pass through area-but by opening to dining and on through to hearth area and actually placing furniture at that end of the room,you connect the spaces in an inviting way....this would not be super expensive....I think you'd have budget money left for an outdoor kitchen.