First time I've seen this -- it's clever and funny!

Don't you just love this?? After my parents passed I found a box of letters and tapes that my mom and her 2 sisters wrote to each other over the years. Some of these letter are as old as 60 years old when my sisters were babies. The things they wrote about are so funny. Someday I am going to scan them all and send them to my brothers and sisters, then put them on cd's for safe keeping. Times were so different back then and I have so much fun reading about the family and getting a feel for what it was like back then. The cassettes I found are in more recent years when cassettes were the thing to use....they all used to tape to each other instead of writing and I am so glad they did...so nice to hear their voices too! Treasures for sure!

June: You just reminded me of those early days. My DH, too, would often try to shove us all together, thinking we'd see in one another what he sees in each of us, and that we couldn't help but bond and genuinely love one another. I don't think his plan worked, lol. How could it? The BM lied about me being the reason they didn't work it all out. I wouldn't be accepting of TOW, either. Later, when she 'fessed up, too many hurts had occurred - it was several years later, sadly. Cawfe: You're right in that I don't want to go where I'm not wanted. I don't want to be w/o my boys, who definitely not wanted, either. If I have to ask my parents to stay w/ the kids, I'd MUCH prefer to use it for a nice dinner out w/ DH alone or another movie as other than Sat, it's been YEARS since we've seen a non-kids flick. And, DH is supposed to relieve mom on Wed. afternoons, but it has yet to happen. I think I'm telling her to go for PT on Wed. afternoons for her shoulder... If I ever tried to stick Dh w/ something for the kids, he'd just miserably fail. Even now, he's supposed to be helping w/ the nighttime routine per counselor. Some nights he's OK, some I do it alone, but if he's tired and I'm not done w/ the older two, he just plops the 3 y.o. in our bed and goes to sleep. Well, that's NOT really doing the bedtime routine, you know? Or his other stunt is letting them stay up really late watching a movie in bed til they fall asleep from exhaustion...grrrr! I could never trust him to do this routine during school! Southern: I, too, was a fan of Jackie's. Ironically, I believe she and Christina had a very strained relationship. I felt for both sides and I was just a kid back then! But, regardless, Jackie handled herself w/ class - no doubt about that...and no one can criticize one's grace under pressure, right? Oh well, the 'date' is hours away. OSD must be so excited - probably having a pedicure over her lunch hour... Thanks for all the support and advice! I just needed to bat this thing around - will post more when I know what transpires tonight. Oh, and I'm thinking of bagging up all the junk in her room w/ the laptop and handed it to DH as he heads out to get them tonight. She never came to clean up - I know you're all shocked beyond belief, lol. Oh, yeah, Jackie might not be this tacky - but I have a feeling if Christina had wanted anything she left behind, it'd be in the land fill by now....lol. Dana

Raynag - Your 'splash looks perfect, like it's always been there which always says to me that it's just right. Must make you feel great. Shannon -- Thanks for the kind words about my kitchen. We just had it repainted as I wasn't loving the original wall color over time. One detail about wall color which may be useful to someone (though I know yellow kitchens are not as hot as gray right now): my cabinets are Plain & Fancy Lemon Chiffon (painted). The Farrow and Ball House White paint is nearly a dead on match. I had everything repainted in that color and I feel it improved the look of the kitchen since the walls and cabinets blend seamlessly. I know many folks want a contrasting wall color. But my thought is that with a kitchen where the cabinet runs are broken up, or there is not an overall "cabinet look," and where there are colored cabinets that lend themselves to this (or small install errors to minimize), the blending in of the walls and cabinets really helps pull things together.