Hi Charlene, Welcome home from your "trip"! Great story! I bet that honeymoon suite hasn't seen too many couples there with their kids! LOL And glad you're safely back home. I feel so sorry for all the people that are still at DIA---and probably will be for days yet! I'm a flight attendant and had been getting really down because I've been stuck down here on the ground for over a month now because I had surgery on my elbow, but when the blizzard started for real, I was so happy to be "stuck down here on the ground!" It's WAY better than having gotten stuck at the airport and winding up sleeping on the floor up in the domicile---which happened to a whole lot of people (not me) during the March blizzard of '03! Here's my Thornton blizzard story! Since I'm off I didn't need to worry about going out in it, so on Wednesday I just watched the people at DIA on TV all day. Then late afternoon I went out to try to shovel the 12" of snow off my sidewalk thinking (mistakenly) that it would make it easier to shovel the next day. Since I'm not supposed to be lifting anymore than 1 lb. with my left hand, I shoveled it 95% using just my right hand. Never knew you could do that, but you can! Except---one time when I got the shovel full and bent over to pick it up to empty it, I got too much "twist" in it and did something BAD to my back, so I decided to go in the house for a little bit to rest, but when I tried to take a step it hurt too much so I just stood there till it felt a little bit better--and I could move again--and started shoveling again. On Thursday I discovered that blizzards are no respecters of shoveled sidewalks, and when the snow finally stopped around noon, there was 14-16" of snow on my "shoveled" sidewalk, so I put on my eskimo suit and went back out to do it again. My back and the muscles in my right arm were so sore from the day before, that I decided whether I was supposed to or not, I was going to have to use my left arm. The city requires that walks be shoveled within 24 hours, so I was planning to shovel a one shovel wide path down the walk---and that was all. Right after I started, the neighbor across the street who was shoveling his drive started talking to me, and I mentioned that I had had surgery and wasn't supposed to be using my arm---and he went in and got his BIG 15 year old son out and told him to shovel the walk for me. He had it finished in less than 10 minutes---it would have taken me at least an hour like it had the day before! The neighbor asked if I needed the (hip deep) snow on the driveway shoveled, and I told him I didn't--that I didn't need to leave for a week and was just going to wait for the sun to melt it off---this is Denver, after all, and my driveway faces south! Then, early this afternoon I was at my kitchen window--which faces the front of the house--when I noticed that the snow on top of my roses didn't look "smooth" anymore. I can't see my drive very well from inside the house, but I went in the living room where I can see part of it, and the whole drive had been shoveled! I couldn't believe it--and started to cry! I waited until I was sure they were home this evening and went over to verify that it was them---they have two BIG teen boys--and to thank them--and started to cry again! It was so-o nice of them, and was the nicest Christmas present anyone could have given me. It means so much when someone does you a random act of kindness! This summer I'm going to take them some perennials and some produce from my garden. I can hardly wait! I'm sorry you didn't get to Mazatlan, but it's great that you were able to have a fun time anyway. I hope you are able to get your trip refunded--I know United is offering full refunds to anyone who had their flite cancelled. Merry Christmas, Skybird/Dee

Here's my little snow bunny! I had to pull on boots over my bare feet and a coat over my PJs and go rescue her this morning. Later I shoveled a path for her and my other dog. Didn't lose power - yet. Some evergreen shrubs are split or laying on the ground covered with snow tho. :( Thank goodness I don't have to be anywhere and try to drive; but can never resist getting bundled up and taking a walk and look around after a big snow. Plus, it's still snowing! Tami, I don't remember the names of the grocery stores but they were right on the main drag through Lorain, mostly small family run stores. Had the greatest deli cases too with delicious Cuban, Puerto Rican or Mexican dishes all cooked and ready. We usually stopped at two or three before heading home.

Hi Vesters. So many things you wrote struck a chord with me as we experienced the same issues with my SD, who is now 14. We've had custody of her since she was 5, after gaining emergency and then full custody though a very nasty battle. After DH and his ex divorced SM moved SD hours away. SD began sleeping in her bed, showering with her, being completely dependent on her mom. BM thrived on this - it made her feel needed and important. SD couldn't (or wouldn't) do or try anything on her own. SD became BM's 'bff' and confidant - all at the mature age of 3. This continued until BM found a boyfriend, and then SD was kicked into her own bed in her own room on a different floor and told to go to sleep. Once that relationship ended SD was needed again and back in BM's bed, all the while hearing about BM's relationship woes. Fast forward a few years. We have custody, SD sees her mom EOW. She's still trying to have SD sleep with her (between boyfriends) and be dependent on her. The 'bff' behavior is worsening and we're hearing all about BM's love life from SD. SD is getting stomach aches right before visitations and worrying about how to take care of her mom. All so appropriate for a mother/daughter relationship. And then there was. . . "BM also used to say things to SD (right after I came on the scene) like, "I'd never let a man come between us" and "You're the only one I need" which sounds innocent enough, but it was very much meant as a "look at your father, moving on with his life, I'll never let that happen to us." I could have written that. BM is always saying this. . . in between the men in her life. But what SD figured out about 2 years ago is that her mom is full of sh@t. She started to see all these behaviors factored around her mom and what her mom needed on her mom's schedule. She was blinded by the 'my mom needs me' and 'my mom loves me best' until then, but with the help of her counselor and a little maturity she started to figure it out. I won't say she doesn't fall back into buying her mom's crud every now and again, but for the main part she can she the behavior for who it is really about - mom, not SD. I tell you all this so you know you are not alone, and also to give you hope. Your SD needs help, and she needs her dad to help her receive it, but she can recover from this. I will tell you one thing SD's counselor shared with us that was helpful for SD and for our tongues as we weren't biting them so hard. When you say "I'm always a little uncomfortable when she talks so openly about her BM with me (because I know the "real deal"), yet I'm always very careful to make sure I speak loving and positively about her ." you need to stop. This doesn't mean speak negatively, but you don't have to put a good spin on bad actions. Don't try to make mom's bad action ok. Don't make excuses for her. Listen to SD, let her know you understand why she would be upset, help her with generalized, non leading questions discover why she's upset, but don't then tell her it's all ok and mommy knows best. Later, when she figures out mommy doesn't, you will be seen as a liar. It's ok to say sometimes mommy's get confused, or mommy's make mistakes. This is likely better pronounced by DH at first, but you need to know that you don't have to be positive. Just don't be negative, if you get what I mean. :-) Good luck. Keep us updated, and keep your chin up. You are doing the right thing.

boxerpups, thanks for your info. I have to say that your kitchen is one of the first ones I saw, and I just love it so much! I am still going back and forth, but my current thinking is that I found that a sears outlet near us has tons of inventory. They have the bosch 50 floor model (seems to be the same size as their 800 series, but doesn't have a wine rack or door alarm but does have a child lock) for $1265. They have a kitchenaid that sounded really nice too for around $1300, but it's too tall for my existing cabinets and if I'd like to avoid moving them if possible. So I think the bosch in the kitchen, and then something in the basement, either getting a smaller top freezer (from the outlet or craigslist) or trying to fit our monster down there will work for us. I will likely go with the smaller one. Thanks so much for listening to me! My dh has officially told me to stop talking about refrigerators and says I am starting to sound like our 4 yr old daughter (who has autism and is particularly stuck right now talking about beds in hotels all the time)....that's probably funnier to us than how it sounds typed out. ; )