Its probably just a pipe dream, but here it goes. WeÂve been talking and dreaming about buying a house ever since the hullabaloo began with the boys next door. They smoke (putting out cigarettes on our brand-new-paid-for-out-of-our-pockets swing and throw the butts all of the walkway and yard), party way too loud and generally disrupt our lives in very disrespectful ways. Plus, we get robbed once a year when the kids let out for school and are totally bored. I also miss my gardens that I canÂt have because the yard guy cuts down my beautiesÂand and and and and the list goes on. The two sides of the camp are, Ed wants to live in some suburb that is at least a thirty minute drive away from where I work so that we can get a bigger, nicer house for a smaller amount of money. I, on the other hand, would love to NEVER ever commute again, would pay dearly to stay where I am and have LF go to the best schools in Nashville. No compromise could be found. To top it all off, we ruined our credit a few years ago. Admittedly, weÂve been working on getting it straight for at least 18 months now (evidently it worked). Ed took it upon himself to ask about a house loan while at the bank one day a few weeks ago. We fought about it pretty hard because I really wanted to wait until the first of 2008 so that weÂd ironed out some of the wrinkles (like getting debt free, yes, weÂre that close again) and he didn't talk to me before he did it. I finally calmed down, did the math (including the taxes and insurance) and figured out we could afford a $XX house. IÂd decided that was my compromise. Talking to Ed, I agreed that I would move (even as early as tomorrow) if he could: A) find a house close to where we already lived, B) it was $X or less (but we could go higher if needed, IÂd just be happier if it was less), and C) did the legwork. Amazingly, the loan officer called and said that was the amount we were approved for a $XX, the exact amount I thought we could handle. I took it to be a sign. Last week, Ed was driving LF to camp through a territory close to work and saw a house for auction. He wanted to go badly. I encouraged him to go, warning, "You donÂt get to pay more than $XX". It sold for $X+70,000. BUT... he talked to the loan officer about what we could do since he's getting anxious, telling him we wanted a house that someone was dying to unload, could even be in bad shape (remember, we can do electricity (brother), plumbing (Ed), carpentry (Ed), carpeting (brother in law), landscaping (Robin)), but needed to be over on this side of town. The loan officer said he knew of a house in our price range, exactly as we described. We went to see the house all together after work last evening. When I met up with LF I told him what we'd been talking about, telling him it wasn't real, more like pretend playing and if he had a house what would like for it to be. He wanted a tree house and a club house. All boy. I told him I envisioned a covered back patio which attached the kitchen on the back of the house. I didn't tell him, I also envisioned a sunken patio that was also in the back yard because it was just plain weird. I couldn't explain why I thought it or have ever wanted something like that. It is in bad shape. You can tell no one has been there in a very long time. It is overgrown with shrubs and vines. There are cracks in the glass on the windows. Every window has a covering pulled completely down. The garage is filled to the ceiling with an old Cadillac sitting on flat tires, cases of bottles, junk in general. This appraisal site says Davidson County appraises its current worth at $XXX. I imagine we can get it for $XX if there's nothing too wrong with it. We can promise to take it as is for less and they won't have the headache, and we'll get to finish it like we want. When we rounded the back of the house, there was a screened in porch, covered with a roof, attached to the back door. How much you wanna bet it's the door to the kitchen? And, it had a smaller patio right next to it, with a 1 1/2 foot high wall around it. Not sunken, but felt that way. I was dumbfounded, but pleased to see that it fits even my imaginary ideas of what it should be. And it's on a road that has Robin in its name. Wonder what that means? It's all coming together, I hope!

Interesting flora - what I find online says zone 5-9 and none of the range maps I have found indicate it resides in Canada. Range is up to New York and Pennsylvania, though. It sure would not be a surprise to find it in Canada. Canadianplant, are you near the border around NY/Pennsylvania? John ps - and bboy is right about e. alatus being so invasive so that is, IMO, the most likely by default. A close up of twigs and foliage arrangement as well as bark might help the the more knowledgeable on here (like the two above that already responded) attain a positive ID

I wish I could help you, too! I remember those feelings in my 4th pregnancy. It was unexpected, we were moving from FL to TN, my other kids were 8, 5 and 2. Between pregnancies and nursing, I was starting to feel like a hormonal baby machine, no time to have my body to myself! DH was already in TN, so I was trying to keep a house ready to show and pack. All the while feeling miserable, including bad morning sickness. And getting big fast? LOL. I can tell you my first sign was NOT missing a period. Even before that, my pants would not button! ;o) Just popped right out there! Right from the start people asked if I was having twins. I was not much fun to live with at that time. I was the most tired I've ever been in my life, physically and emotionally. And the hormones just make it harder to cope. Rest! Rest! Rest! Don't push yourself. Maybe a sling for the baby would put his weight on your shoulders instead of your lower back/belly. If it helps to know that someone can relate... I feel your pain!!

violetwest Beware that you cannot remove the images you put in a post. You can however in the comments. So why can't you edit the images in a post? And if that's the case, why isn't it obvious. (it's not necessarily a common website or forum restriction.) There are still lots of people and lots of other reasons to make this available. And as it turns out it doesn't take much coding if any at all to add. I made a mistake when I posted and put images that I would have preferred remove once this post is no longer relevant. Why? Well, cause I should be able to do what I want with my images. (And yes I realize, I made the mistake.) Had I known the stipulations before hand or done any sleuthing I may have noticed and NEVER posted at all. Or simply swapped the images to the comments instead of posting them in the post with my question. But...I was excited to share and although I don't have an issue with the advice I got, it didn't need all the images I posted to get. I guess I'm just not like everyone else...I don't post pics of my belongings everywhere and was disappointed. I'm allowed to be. If you don't get it then don't beware.