OH grandmabonnie, I know a few salesmen at work who surely could use this Xmas gift and if I have time I will make it for them..lol This will be great.. I just love to get those guys with something they have never gotten before.. and this is one of them.. Thanks.. Huggy

I've had the same low pile and loop put in twice due to flood. First time carpet was installed all the seams were invisible. After flood the exact same type of carpet was installed by different installers and you could see every seem and tape line underneath. They went away a bit within the year after install, but you could still plainly see them.

Hi Harriet, You're paying 8.25%, deductible, on your HELOC. You're talking about investing at 5% ... taxable. Which will produce what rate, after-tax? Why do you need to worry about an emergency fund? Your HELOC is almost certainly for a larger amount that you owe currently, so if you pay most (or all) of the $20,000. down on the loan, you'll have that much more available should you need it in the HELOC, won't you? Keep paying at your current rate on the loan, so it'll be paid off sooner. I can't give any advice on Roth stuff, for I know nothing about it (being a furriner). We have retirement accounts here in Canada and most financial advisors say that every person earning employment income who's a taxpayer should use them, but some of us disagree - for reasons that relate largely to the varying tax situation that affects various kinds of income, when it's applied and the fact that every dollar of proceeds of one's retirement fund is fully taxable, on withdrawal. By the way - maybe you should arrange a HELOC here in Canada. I have one fully secured by securities and they recently quoted about 6.25%. I'm waiting for a market correction to draw on it again - the market's too high, right now. And precarious. An investment group that meets monthly that I've attended for half a dozen years or so were rather largely antsy about the market at last month's meeting. Hope you make the decision that's wisest for you folks. ole joyful

and I think to a degree they are forgiving. I don't hate my mom, I understand better, the things she says and does and I choose not to have a close relationship with her because I don't like the things she does. I don't know if I can forgive her because she continues to do those things, but we definitely are not estranged. I feel sorry for her because she hasn't been able to move on and get over the pain from her past. She will never be at peace with herself and lives with resentment (over choices she made or feels she was wronged) and regret. It's sad to me. I have made mistakes and done things that perhaps others feel that I should regret. I could wallow in regret because of my past, or I can take responsibility and move on. But it can't be changed and I have learned from it. My kids forgive me when I make mistakes, but the difference is when I admit I did wrong and change. If a parent doesn't learn from the mistakes they make, and continue to make the same mistakes that continue to hurt the children, then eventually the kids won't be forgiving. I don't know the specifics of your situation, but my comments are general. My situation is not the same as yours and my opinions are derived from my personal experiences. Yours are from yours. My mom had four kids. Only one lives near her but hardly calls her. I think it is sad that her kids don't see her much, but she has brought it on by her actions. She expected us to take sides when they divorced and I was the one that took her side. It was very damaging to my relationship with her, that she spoke badly about my dad. I didn't have much of a relationship with my dad while I lived with her because it would upset her. I didn't get to have a closer relationship with my dad until I was in my mid 20's. It wasn't until I was in my early 30's, that I realized that she kept me from having a good relationship with my dad when I was a teenager, by the things she would say about him and making me feel guilty for seeing him & his current wife. So, when I suggest to you that things you or TOS say today (if you speak badly about your X's), may affect your relationship with your children in the future, it doesn't mean next week or next year. It may never happen with your kids, not all kids are the same. But there is a reason that it's written into many custody orders to not say anything negative about the other parent.