Fascinating - thanks for sharing!

Congratulations to your daughter (and you)! If you really want to do something more reasonable than a traditional reception, think outside the box for venue ideas. We rented a local college cafeteria, that was not ugly...fortunately=) This allowed us to hire our own caterers to serve local gourmet ice-cream as a pretty spread with toppings in crystal and silver. It was elegant...and thrifty. Perhaps, you can find an atypical venue and do a meal with your own caterers more reasonably. At any rate, enjoy this fun, fleeting stage!

Empathy and a hug!

May your 'finally starting to feel better' continue! 💐

NOW, when you turn on the switch next to it, what happens? 😁 It looks great, btw!

Goodness, when I tell people that I am a Dave Ramsey fan, I didn't realize what I was saying. We watched his high school personal finance program as a family when they were all teens. They did the workbook, and I gave them a semester credit in a personal finance elective. It taught them to determine their simple financial needs, pay first for those budgeted items when getting paid, and save for big expenses. Even I got a lot out of that. Although we have, when we were first married, been stretched beyond our means at times, our way of dealing with that was simply to spend as little as possible and hope for the best. I had never really set up a budget. Setting up a simple budget for our more complicated lifestyle (and blessed situation) helped us send our first to college with relative ease and less pain. Now, following a budget, seems to make money come out of the woodwork. Now I read what many of you (who are more informed about DR's teachings) say about his long term advice on investing. Yikes - I wish I hadn't told so many how much we loved him.

Prayers offered for you and your family.

I keep a bottle of Gallo Extra Dry Vermouth next to my stovetop. Recommended by Cook’s Illustrated Magazine as their go-to for cooking. I use a splash of it in many items, and it gives them life! Perfect for deglazing pans when sautéing, added to most sauces, etc. If a recipe calls for Sherry, a sweet wine, I just use my vermouth with a few pinches of sugar added.

Yes, thank you and Happy New Year! What a blessing WTM has been to our family life for 20 years and going!!

Future. But, I have trained myself to live in the present. That's where the Grace is.

Dd made a cosmetic sized bag for my travels - I have said that I can never have enough small bags for incidentals. It is a very simple bag, but particularly special that despite relentless school and running her own fiber business, she found time to do this. Most happy that she hasn't lost her professional level sewing skills - I appreciate a well done zipper=)

Kitchen Catboxes Bathrooms Wrap, wrap, wrap Mail Christmas cards, go to bank, visit friend Dinner & movie with DD if I get enough wrapping accomplished ((Dawn))

May your dear daughter be well soon!

I am so sorry you are stressed, about to begin a challenging time, and have a difficult mother. I have walked almost exactly the same road. Do continue to set boundaries, especially for your time. I do not mean simply the time you spend helping, but the mental time. Be as generous as your stress level can tolerate, and as generous as your heart wants to be, but protect your mental time fiercely. When you are not with her or directly doing something for her or planning, let.it.go (easier said than done, but it took me a long time to realize that I needed to schedule my thinking about it as well as the work) ETA - you are doing a very loving thing for your mother.

I'm sorry for your loss, Dawn.

Yes, @Ausmumof3, that is a bit too much, stay safe!

@Ausmumof3 your heat sounds wonderful, I love it HOT! I should have set the bar higher today - not enough accomplished beyond basic daily housework & Godchild gifts. Realizing that I was low on the pieces needed (I order Fontanini for our Godchildren each year), I had to place an expensive Amazon order. It is not the time of year for eBay deals on Christmas items - Sigh! But, I also got my niece’s package mailed and went to evening Mass. Time for a late dinner.

If I finish my morning chores (9 mins left to make that deadline), and get the Godchildren's gifts figured out and ready to mail, I will be a happy woman. Praying for your son @TheReader

I thought I had chosen a pale apricot in a former living room. I stumbled in the LR as DH was working on it through the night (we were much younger=), and was shocked by its vibrancy - he had to cut it by half, adding the trim color to it and repainting.

I would renew the ivory, or maybe a very pale apricot, like you are thinking. I am partial to warm colors, In my experience with apricot, it had to be very pale so that the walls did not appear to be closing in on me. So, if you want to reflect the natural light and open up the room, choose pale ivory or very pale apricot. If you want a vibrant WOW, go with the apricot - it will add a contemporary feel to your traditional furnishings. BTW, I have the same lyre table!

Very amusing = thanks for sending it along!

Sweet - what fun!

First, congratulations on your anniversary! I love wedding reception stories; where did you have the cake/punch? Did you get a caterer, or just do it yourself?

DH built in fish tank in our basement in another home...huge tank...the next owners kept the platform as a bar. When we had chemo going on, we moved our birds to our basement, where they now reside. I am glad they have one another, but the cockatiel could use more conversation than my once a day visit affords him. I am certainly glad to no longer have the random feathers spewing out of the cage up in our main living space, though. When it was up here, I vacuumed it once/day, now only twice/week.

Two items that are small, yet annoy me frequently: Earrings: DH gave me a gift to pick out a new pair (I'm a one pair gal), so I purchased lovely pastel crystal blue/pink ones, passing by the (same design) classic black/crystal ones. Pastels just do not show up on me, so they are a flop. I look at them once in a while, but rarely wear them. As soon as I purchased the no-return policy earrings them, I knew I had made a mistake. I detest spending money on anything I will not use everyday/frequently. New kitchen faucet: Pro - pretty to look and doesn't leak. Cons - reaches too far out so gets you wet with splashes if turned on too high & difficult to adjust flow rate.