So I know the housing market is bad.....How many out there have sold a home lately? I have a couple of questions. 1. How long did it sit on the market? 2. Anybody carry two mortgages before your 1st house sold? 3. Would you do it again? 4. What would you do differently? 5. Anybody sold a house w/o a Realtor? Dh and I have a chance to buy a house. We were not looking into moving at all before Thursday. This house was once owned by my DH grandparents and parents (my husband grew up there). There are a lot of emotions involved. We are having a big meeting with DH parents and Grandpa today. We would be unable to get into the house by ourselves. They are VERY eager to help. I know a lot of people firmly believe that you should never borrow money from family. I really don't want to debate that idea. I'm interested in your experiences with in the last 6mo-1yr. Thank you in advance... Meli

Thank you to all who replied! You all had so many good ideas. We have a garden but we really don't produce enough "yet" to do a lot of preserving. We do have a local community of farmers most of them have "you pick"0 fruit and produce in the summer. I think that I need to get better at planning a head and really sticking to the plan. I think that I have been just too used to fixing whatever meal I want no matter the season! I must change my way of thinking. So I guess that my next question is. When starting to do this what have been your very first priorities? And How long has it taken you to make these changes? Meli

I just watch it and I loved it!!! Really made me want to strive for more local organic food. But for our brood of 6 on a really tight budget that isn't so easy. Anyone have any helpful hints? I tried a couple of months ago to buy all organic but we were out of money two weeks into the month. I make a lot of my food from scratch already. Any other helpful hints as I'm transitioning to more local organic foods would help. Meli

I should have included in my original post the story behind this question..... DD 6 lost her first tooth the other night. She is the oldest so this is all new to us. I was holding the tooth in my hand and I dropped it.......down it went, right down the heating vent! :lol: DD did not find it as funny as the rest of us did. DH went to bed early and I was left to play tooth fairy. I paid $3.00. When hubby found out the next day he had a cow! Looking back I think I was feeling bad that I lost it and I guess since she was the first one......well I can see now that that might be a bit over the top since we have 4 kids and how many more teeth to go...... So I was just on the phone with DH and I mentioned something I heard on the forum and he suggested I ask about the tooth fairy. Thanks for all your answers in advance Meli

How much does the Tooth Fairy pay at your house? Husband and I could not agree on a price =). Meli

So I have to admit I've turned into a total lurker.... I have loved reading post after post for months. I hardly ever post. But I've been in other forums and nothing can compare to the diversity and wealth of information here. Thank you ladies!! Just a little it of background. My husband really messed up about three years ago. He lost 2 jobs and some other huge consequences that affected every part of our life. I did think about leaving at times, but never seriously. I said till death do us part and really don't want to go through the consequences of a divorce. Well here it is three years later and he has grown by leaps and bounds and is still really working on it. But the problem now is me. I've lost my.......my....I don't know. I have a complete lack of motivation for the whole thing. I'm completely indifferent to him and sometime I really just can't stand him. I can really see that he is trying but I just don't care. Lately I've just really struggled with regret of ever even marrying him. If I step back I don't really think that it is all about him. We just started homeschooling this year. We have 4 little children. He works a lot. I think that I am struggling with mild depression. I have been very isolated lately. Oh the list could just go on and on. So here is my question......If any of you have ever survived a major life change and your marriage has suffered from it. Can you say that the love can return? In your opinion what does it take. I thank you for your time. Meli

Salt and pepper brown in a little oil on both sides a couple squeezes of maple syrup little mustard cover simmer until done Yum!!

Set a dollar amount for each person and do something meaningful for someone else (random or not so random acts of kindness). Then you can write a little story or present it in some creative way. It could be a little "pay it forward" show and tell. I hope this makes sense.....I think that it would be nice to use the money that would usually go into stockings and everyone try to help others outside the family. Examples: buy a homeless person lunch or maybe a gift card donate to a charity a gift for a shut in gift card for a single mom I hope to make this a part of our tradition someday. My kids are a little to small to really grasp the idea yet. Meli

This is a must try!!!! It is the best curry recipe I've tried. 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs (mine were frozen solid) 1 onion, sliced 6 garlic cloves, chopped 4 T butter 15 cardamom pods (sewn together!) 2 tsp curry 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper 2 tsp garam masala 1/2 tsp ground ginger 1 can coconut milk (I used light) 1 can (6 oz) tomato paste 2 T lemon juice 1 cup plain yogurt (to add at the end, I used fat free) Handful of chopped cilantro The Directions. Use a 5 quart or larger crockpot. Carefully sew together the cardamom pods using a needle and thread. You can put them in a little cheese cloth bundle, instead, if you have that in the house. Put chicken in crockpot, and add onion, garlic, and all of the dry spices. Plop in the butter and tomato paste. Add lemon juice and coconut milk. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours, or high for 4. The chicken should shred easily with 2 forks when fully cooked. Stir in plain yogurt 15 minutes before serving. Discard cardamom pods. Salt to taste, serve with white or brown basmati rice. Happy cooking Meli