Oh, KYgirl--Big hugs coming from me, too. I haven't been on his forum in a while because I've been dealing with our own build from He$$, and I didn't read all the responses in this thread, but I did read your original post. We've just gone through something very, very similar--different problems, but similar in scope, jerk of a builder, almost no on-site supervision, several horrible subs, lots of stress and tears. It has been horrible. We ended up moving into our house ten days ago while it was still unfinished because of having to be out of our rental, reaching our bank deadline for closing, etc. I just wrote you a long post, but realized that it ended up being about me, not you--and this is your thread! So, I guess I just want to say that I sympathize with you, and I think I understand a lot of what you must be feeling. It's a good day if I haven't cried more than once before 9 a.m.! This has been the most stressful, unpleasant experience of our lives. Friends will say, "Oh, you must be so excited to be in your house," and I feel like a spoiled brat if I don't respond positively. It has been a nightmare. There's still lots to be done here, dh and I are doing and/or redoing stuff that we've already paid contractors to do, but they either did a crappy job or haven't been showing up. It just sucks. As badly as I feel for you, reading your post at least made me feel as though I'm not the only one who has gone through this and I thought you might want to know you're not alone. The old misery loves company routine, I guess! Take care of yourself, and try not to let it get you down--I know how hard it is, but if we don't look at the positive side, we'll go completely crazy. Although, at least you could then plead insanity when you're charged with killing Mr. Peanut!

I brought back truffle oil, garden seeds, olive oil and wine. Italian seed packets are huge. Also, they add nothing to the weight and bulk of your luggage. The olive oil and wine were from a vineyard/olive grove tour. Four bottles were packaged for travel. Bologna is the main objective for my next trip to Italy. From what I've learned, it has the food I would most enjoy in all of Italy. That should be quite wonderful, since all the food I ate on my trip to the region around Florence was wonderful. For a month after that trip, I tried to duplicate those dishes on a daily basis. I did quite well for a while but now the memory needs refreshing. I need another trip. Mementos to bring home would be a low priority for me. The live experience is what's important -- the meals, the wine, the sights, the creature comforts which are abundant and essential to Italian life. They can't be packaged. The glass and pottery are beautiful though. I would probably shop for one of those serving bowls. Also, Italian shoes are the finest. Have a great trip. Jim

I miss the good old days when we had regularly scheduled chats, twice a week. DH told friends and family that I couldn't be disturbed cuz I was at a "hen party". It hurts that so many wonderful friends have left the table because of a few mean-spirited people. I guess their mothers never told them "if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything"...or they never learned the Golden Rule. I'm staying right here, and hope that someday the bad guys will leave and the good guys will come back.

SS had his physical yesterday. I had ds9 with me and didn't want to discuss with the dr while both boys could hear. So I didn't really get to discuss this with her. I plan to call the nurse and talk to her about it soon. SS seems to be doing ok right now though. Yesterday I took them all to get baseball equipment. I don't know why but ss asked me how much support his mom is behind. I told him it didn't matter. He then told me that "well, she gripes about you guys all the time and says it's all your fault that the paperwork got screwed up and she shouldn't have to pay you at all and what she does pay you is way too much and you don't use it for me at all" , so you may as well say what you want, she does." This makes me so mad!! The court order is screwed up but that's not our fault and in fact, I'm the one who found the error and pointed it out to her to fix. I will NEVER help her out again. This is what I get for being nice and honest. And I know.... you all know that the $56 per week she pays isn't really enough to raise this child. LOL!! It's kinda funny though you know..... we paid her $58 and it wasn't near enough to pay for him when she had him and of course every dime went to him. But now that it's turned around we are horrible awful people who are taking her to the bank. It's also very hypocritical that during the custody battle she countered it with trying to get her support raised. What do we do though? She's obviously filling his little brain with all kinds of stuff. Last night she called him and we could hear her. She told him he is to have his phone charged and on ALL the time and he is to call her EVERYDAY! She only talked to him once in the last month before this all happened. Then before she hung up.... he was barely talking.... she told him to just call her in the morning. I don't trust her. Yes, he is absolutely able to speak to his mother... whenever, but she's not stable right now and she's not healthy for him with what she's filling his head with. Yesterday he had a bout with low blood sugar so I got him a snack. He said the "hot" flashes happen when he cries too like the other night and that didn't have anything to do with low blood sugar. I said no, you were just upset, and I just reiterated that I told him the truth (This was about his ex-step dad NEVER saying he wanted to kill him like bm told him) SS very calmly looked up to me and said "I know, I trust you" he's been hugging me very tight everyday. I've been staying calm with him and just loving him back. I feel so horrible for him. He knows his mom is a liar but he still has to be her son. There isn't anything around that and I don't know how to get the proof needed to get supervised visits. Also, I needed to go into their room last night and noticed ss still didn't put his phone on the charger. He moved it but didn't plug it in. It's almost like he did it on purpose. He was asleep so I didn't mention anything.