Actually let's not YOU go there. I wish to God that the people who email me privately who are sick to death of you would tell you to your face. Believe me you'd be shocked. Why they won't I'll never know, but you need to know that the way you act is NOT acceptable and has made this forum a bad place for alot of the oldies to visit. I made a generous and honest offer, and YOU had to start something with all of your snide comments. A very simple, no thanks would have worked wouldn't it, but no you just HAD to start it up again. How DARE you accuse me of anything, when it's you who can't seem to forgive or forget, but sit in your little bitter world hurling accusations and talking behind people's backs. For a while there you even had a SECOND Gardenweb name and would come on here and argue with people, did everyone know that ? Now STOP IT !!!!!! I talk with Cheryl and have with Brandon on occasion about very pleasant gardening topics, but You just hold onto your bitter ways. I feel sorry for you, I truely do that you can't get over it and move on. You showed your true self when you posted that hateful response to my offer. It was an honest offer, and as you know many people from here have met me in person and know I'm a good friend to have. You and I might have gotten off to a bad start, but so many times I tried and tried to make things right with you, but you seem to delight in the suffering of others. It's over, I'm finished with you. You're hopeless.

There truly are a lot of seeds here, and this is only half. It's still two weeks until the Dec.15 mailing deadline. Now that Thanksgiving is over, I can spread out upstairs and start dropping seeds in everyone's bags. That is the fun part. Then comes the more challenging part: deciding what to put in the bags of those who did not receive as much as they sent. I hope everyone had an enjoyable holiday and is ready to tackle the Christmas season. I've tossed a couple of Christmas pillows on the sofa, and that may be all the decorating I do. With six in and out cats, including three young ones, not many decorations can survive their curiosity and rambunctiousness. One year I bought silk balls that would not break. They do ravel, however, and strings of white silk were all over the house. The cats had a great time, and the mess was not too difficult to clean up.

I think it's a regional thing. In Alabama, it's very unusual for the listing agent to be present. The Buyer's agent handles the whole showing. The exception could possibly be the upper bracket homes where the showing isn't even allowed unless there is some sort of a prequalification for the potential buyer. They want to keep the looki-lous out. As Graywings said, you can always list with another agent who says he/she will always be present at a showing. But then you're dealing with one other person when scheduling a showing. Many times showings are on short notice. If your listing agent is across town, in a closing, showing another house, at the dentist, etc., she simply can't drop everything to be at a quick showing for you. So you miss out on that showing for a buyer who might already be in the neighborhood looking at houses similar to yours. Maybe there is a real estate "team" in your area that could be closer to what you want (though still no guarantee). A husband-wife-daughter type of thing where they all work together on the same listings.

We both work full time...my DS at a less demanding 9-5pm job at a university, me at a 50-60hr week + travel management consulting firm. We're remodeling our entire home interior--every room. Plus massive plumbing, electrical, and HVAC upgrades. We hired an architect to draw up the plans, and a GC is doing all the work. I am personally playing the role of interior designer/finish chooser. That being said this project has been a 40 hour a week second job. To make it easier we: 1) MOVED OUT. I can't even imagine how naive we were thinking "oh we could stay and they could move room to room." It would have taken far longer to complete it and would have ruined our life (no exaggeration). 2) PLANNED EXTENSIVELY. There are so many decisions you have to make in a remodel and so many surprises. To keep these items to a manageable level, think out everything in advance that you can and make sure it's in the budget. It will cut down on the mistakes, stress, and change orders. The idea of some people who don't know whatcounter top they want until they put in their cabinets--I couldn't operate that way. 3) ACCEPTED THE AFFECTS ON MY CAREER. I'll be honest with you all--I got a middling mid-year performance review last month. "You don't seem engaged." "Your not selling enough new business" "you haven't done anything 'extra' this year" -- you just have to be at peace with the fact that a major reno has side affects in a lot of areas of your life, including your career. I was willing to sacrifice a better raise and add another year to my promotion timeline because there is no way you can add a 40 hour a week second job and not have it affect your first one. I honestly can't wait to get back my job and try to make up for my distraction this year--I was excited about this project when we started but I am so sick of going to Home Depot and the tile store all the time. I know I know, we're going to love it. TWO MORE WEEKS!