I haven't really dived (dove?) in full-force to this yet, but I am a new mom who just went back to work and needed to streamline dinner, too. The first things I've done so far are: 1) never make 1 of anything. If ever you are cooking something, make a double batch so you can freeze or refrigerate one for another night. Very little extra work, but a whole extra night's dinner 2) I love doing "packet cooking" in the crock pot. Put chicken breasts with some veggies and some kind of liquid (seasoned chicken broth, bottled or homemade marinade, lemon juice, you name it) on a piece of foil and seal tightly. Wrap a few baking potatoes in foil and seal tightly. Put all these foil bundles in the crock pot on low before you leave for work and you'll have a great meal waiting for you. Add a tossed salad and dinner's ready in 5 min! I also like to have "spaghetti week". I make a big pot of homemade spaghetti sauce on sunday and put it in several 1-meal sized containers in the fridge or freezer. When I don't have time for anything else, I can boil up spaghetti and use the sauce, or make ravioli, or baked mostaccoli/ziti by layering cooked noodles, sauce, mozz. and parmesan cheese in a casserole and baking until cheese is melted. All your basic pasta and red sauce, but a little different each night.

You need to make it a little better than its competition, whatever you decide. If it's an as-is, it should be the best as-is in the area. If it's a fixed-up ranch house, it should be the best fixed up ranch house in the area. I personally prefer to fix places up before I sell them. There's value in any work you do. You can figure out what a house like that would sell for in its current state, and then what it would sell for if you painted it, refinished the hardwood floors, fixed the bathrooms. I bet it would be worth fixing. If you could post pictures, we could give you ideas. I agree with what someone said about painting the paneling creamy white, not builder's white. I've painted paneling before and used a warm cream color. It looked fantastic. Do a careful job on the paneling otherwise it will look like cheap painted paneling. Use the right primer. What state are you in?

Her mother is only fifty two, not exactly a candidate for senior housing. Capital gains are not going to be an issue unless the poster is setting out to make PROFIT off her mother. It's about helping a parent who would probably do the very same thing for her child if the situation were reversed. It's about making her as happy as possible and her life as normal as possible, because it is within your power to do so. It's OK to CYA to make sure you don't get burnt, because it can happen in family situations, but if you can't make an exception for a parent in fiscal matters, you can't expect to be treated any differently by your own children when/if the time comes.

I can send you seeds. I'm going to follow this with a lot of advice and I'll probably sound bossy, but I don't mean to. If you'll set up your Messaging and send me your address I'll mail you seeds. I have mostly flower seeds, but I can get you started. 1. Go to your settings and set up Messaging. When you click on my username it will open to my page and itn the upper right corner it says "Message". That's how we talk to each other privately so we don't share private information like addresses with the world. You'll need to get your Messaging set up. There's a post closer to the top of this thread for Newbies. 2. Edit your username. If you'll notice, behind our username there's a number. Example: val (MA z6) . That means Val lives in USDA hardiness zone 6. That helps us know what plants will grow in her area. I'm in zone 4/5 in Nebraska. Edit your username and put your zone. You get a bonus point for putting it in your message! Good job! That's how we match people up and it's easier for you to make connections that are most productive. 3. Go to your Ideabook Wishlist and put down a few things. You can be general (any annuals for zone 6) or very specific (Tagetes patula 'Joker'). The more information you put down the better it is for us who want to send you seeds that make you happy and thrive. You can say things like, "Cottage Flowers" "Red and Yellow Flowers" "Fruit and Veggie Seeds for zone 9" 4. If you'd like, check out the Round Robin Forum. There are groups that have monthly swaps. Also--fall is when several swaps come up like the Secret Santa Swap. We send each other Christmas Cards with seeds in them. Welcome to the club! I'll look for your message. Heidi