I love beets. Especially ones fresh from the garden then roasted. Then there's Harvard Beets and pickled beets. I've been craving roasted brussels sprouts, but neither husband nor dd like them...dd used to, but now she's so anti-mom she's sworn off lots of stuff she used to like. Grits I learned to like when I was in Grad school in Billsburg, VA. I liked to go to the Chickahominy House to have a Virginian breakfast: eggs over easy, a slice of Virginia ham and grits, with a buttermilk biscuit. You could have redeye gravy, but I preferred to smush my eggs into the grits. Then there's egg/cheese/grits casserole. Cornbread is best slathered with butter, or drizzled with honey. I rarely do both anymore, but I used to. I brought rolls for the trip to MI to have Thanksgiving. I was up until 2:00 am on Thursday making them. I intended to make whole wheat "brown and serve" rolls, but I didn't hear the timer ding, and so in a panic, I baked them completely so I could taste test and make sure they were edible (they were, although some were big enough to be hamburger buns). For the young fry I made PIllsbury crescent rolls...as I know that dd and others prefer those. On the way home today she was munching on one and said "Oh, what is is that makes crescent rolls so yummy." "in a word," I said, "lots of fat." I have to say that driving up to Hastings, MI on Thursday morning was wonderful. A typical Michigan Thanksgiving day--misc. flurries and the sun breaking through glowering clouds over golden and russet fields which had been lightly frosted with a diamond dust. Breathtaking.

"At the risk of getting flamed, if you are going to be a SAHM, I think you have to accept the childcare duties." To a point, I agree with you. however, I keep reiterating--I WORKED FULL TIME until the end of this last school year and I STILL was primarily responsible for STBSS. NOTHING has changed with the plan for me to not go back to work--except I have put my foot down and said I will not be getting involved in any of the school transportation. I was picking him up at school every day we had him last year and watching him all day every other Saturday, as well. Those Saturdays really used to irritate me because, after a long work week, I was anxious to have some time to unwind myself, even if that meant getting a babysitter for my own daughter for a couple hours. BUT my fiance would never allow me to get a babysitter (even though the girl we use for my own DD is a responsible, highschool junior--senior now--who lives 4 houses down) when his son was there. He was always afraid of upsetting BM. My point is--I was expected to do the bulk of the care for STBSS even when I WAS working. There is no difference now, and, even if I did decide to go back to teaching, because I am able to leave work earlier, he would STILL expect me to do the bulk of care. NOW--in a perfect world, yes, everything would be fine, and I would do for STBSS what I do for my DD. BUT the problem is right now, STBSS is NOT listening to me and watching him is a tremendous burden for me. I also have no real *authority* with STBSS. Fiance is slowly working on that with him and the last few DAYS has been trying to impress upon his son that he MUST listen to me. But we are now having to undo 6 years of his BM telling him the opposite-that he does NOT have to listen to or respect me. That is an uphill battle. If they were both my children, I wouldn't be dealing with these kinds of issues--so being responsible for childcare wouldn't be an issue.

For people who are concerned about their items not being appreciated at a thrift store, I live in a rather crummy area of the country and even our Good Wills and Salvation Armies have appraisers who come in and volunteer on all sorts of things from furniture to jewelry. If you are curious, go on into a few thrift stores in your area and see if they have a "boutique" area or a lot of glass counters to display items away from hands, or cordoned off shelves near the register. You might be surprised at what they have on display... Be careful not to find any new treasures though. For those of you who enjoy your stuff, KEEP IT! Enjoy it and love it. That's the whole point. I talked about my Dad having items that we knew he loved because he had so few and was obviously choosy, but one thing I didn't mention was the stuff that he kept in excess that could not have provided much value to him or anyone else. We hauled off so many old magazines, household chemicals and products that were so old that they had gone bad, old paperwork that he didn't need to keep, cardboard boxes, old broken tools, etc. For those not interested in getting rid of sentimental items, at least do your family members a favor and organize/toss the type of stuff mentioned above. I'm constantly surprised at how much outdated stuff I find in my own house (this morning a box of old paint cans- it was good when it was put away a few years ago, now not so much). It can be hard to see even when it is right in front of your eyes. Interesting thought about designating items to people in your will. My father was not a person who had much of $$ value, but he had listed a few items in his will to go to certain people. They were things that obviously meant a lot to him, but when the executor tried to hand those items over to people, nobody wanted any of the listed items. That left the executor a little bent out of shape because he felt Dad's will wasn't being honored. That's a double edged blade as well. Then also consider that Dad did not designate even one item specifically for me... my feelings aren't too badly hurt, but for some people designations could be very devastating.

I found this thread interesting and maybe helpful in getting a perspective. I didn't find it judgemental at all. I think most people are basically explaining why they feel something is important to them or not. It started me thinking and I am fixating that I think I have no apple products at all. I did have an ipod way back when but I have not recollection of what happened to it. ( Uh oh.... can't remember!)