Oh man. I'm so sorry for your loss. Your dad sounds like he was a wonderful and loving human being. :grouphug:

This describes me too.

When I was younger I also only wanted to be a SAHM. We were hoping to have 4 kids. But then 4 turned into 5 and then 6. We actually wanted 7 or 8 by the time we had #5 but pregnancy #6 was my hardest pregnancy and we decided to be done. In hindsight I wish I had had my last closer to his next sibling (there's 5yrs between them). He's kind of like an only and he's lonely a lot. Watching all his older siblings go off to college has been heart wrenching. Now that he's 15, and has more friends at school, it's easier. Also, at 53, I feel pretty done with this phase in life but I still have a child at home. Even so, I do still miss having a housefull of children. I miss it all the time. I can't seem to make up my mind :laugh: I have gone back to school because I do regret not getting a college degree. No one seems to understand that the college degree IS my goal, not a career.

I'm glad you figured out why she didn't get back to you. I'm sorry about the fracturing of your extended family. I don't always believe there's two sides to every story. Sometimes people are just mean.

THanks!!!

Is there a way to keep people from inviting you to private events like parties and such? Is there a way to do this with specific people or would it include everyone on your friends list?

I've posted it with some goodies. It's in good shape and ready to weave on (that can often make a difference). Right now it's just on the FB weaving and fiberarts selling site. I'll move to Ravelry and some other sites later this month. I bought this one via Craigslist and I may put it back there too. I don't expect it to take too long, although it isn't one of the "in" looms.

It's a mixture of stuff we need to get rid of. I have a loom I'm selling, but that will do best on weaving sites. But, I'm thinking of things like a wheat mill & a juicer. Neither of which I've used for years. It may be too expensive to ship, especially for the juicer and all it's paraphernalia.

I have several things I'd like to sell that I think would be best to reach a larger audience. Is eBay still a good way to sell items that need shipping or are there other options? Thanks

I have been looking in that particular area for about 4 months. I've been looking in other areas close by too, but have zeroed in on that neighborhood because it fits our needs concerning commutes and the style neighborhood we like. For instance, if I move just 5 mins from this neighborhood the houses are way too big and expensive. We're trying to downsize too. We don't need a 3000sq ft mansion. :) We also want either a rancher (preferred) or split level. They are not as popular in this county so I'm limited that way too. There's a house in foreclosure in the neighborhood. I drove past it on Saturday. It has a big blue tarp on the roof, the yard & driveway is completely overgrown, and there were two abandoned cars in the driveway. Not exactly another possible option. I wish there was some way to read a neighborhood and find out if there are people there getting ready to go on the market. OTOH, since it seems obvious this particular seller isn't in a hurry to move her house, I can probably wait it out. It's still a little early in the season for my area. My realtor is going to call her and get a feel for her willingness to budge.

I have also wondered if we end up living in the house longer than we really think. That happened with our previous house. I thought we'd be there 10 or so years. We ended up there 19. But, we were raising kids and didn't want move away from their friends/neighbors, so we stayed. When we bought this house, we knew it was going to be "temporary". We thought we'd stay until our son grad. from high school. But, it hasn't turned out at all as we expected (too long to relate). I've been unhappy since before we moved, and things didn't improve after the move. It is in a very desirable neighborhood and an expensive zipcode. We won't have any trouble selling. We'll probably break even on the sale of this house.

yes, this is the plan. However, I just talked with my realtor and she said the last time anything sold in that neighborhood was in 2013. That's not a hopeful sign for me.

even if you're incredibly unhappy where you are? Is it worth it to suck it up? I'm really curious.. This is part of what we need to figure out.

Thank you! this is very helpful. Is it possible to get this information on a house one doesn't own? I had wondered about the location of the septic field in relation to my ideas. It may prove problematic.

Nice shape, size and location. It's nicely kept, but not like exceptionally done. Lawn mowed, hedges clipped, trees nicely spaced. That sort of thing.

Thanks for these replies with food for thought. The house is not located within city-limits but our county has lots of regulations. We'd have to do everything through them. From previous experience, some companies will do it all for us and just pass the cost on to us. My husband has said that he does not want to be handy-man. So if we do it it will be done by a contractor. Definitely will make it more expensive. We can afford to stay where we are while the major parts of the reno are being done. In about 3 months I will have much more time than I currently do. But, we're not in a big hurry to move on this particular house. It's been on the market for 3yrs!. It's priced about 50K more than it is worth, so getting her down will probably be impossible. It's for sale by owner and my realtor says the owner is not living in reality (it's her parents home). But, the neighborhood is pretty large and I'm willing to wait for another possibility to come up. It's just the yard... it really is wonderful. Not all the yards are this nice.

\ I thought the article alluded to possible mental illness in the son. As for the daughter, she said she'd been estranged from the family. That may not have been by her choice. Or she may have backed away for her own mental health or physical safety. She also believed her dad was safer in the UK, that is telling.

We're seriously considering moving again after 5yrs. I've never warmed up to where we live, the taxes are pretty high, and all our children have moved further East of us along the 95 corridor. They've all stated that they don't plan to ever move back to this county. So, we're looking at a house that would cost significantly less than our current house. Taxes are nearly half of what we pay here. Also, it's 10-15min. closer to our adult children without making my husband's commute worse. The closest child currently lives 30-35 mins from us. We'll be 6min from our youngest's school as apposed to 20min. So, it's a move but not a major move. We do eventually plan to move out of the area completely, but that isn't for at least another 8-10yrs. The house I'm currently looking at would need some major renovations. The kitchen is probably 30yrs old and a postage stamp... as is the dining room. There's animal pee smell in the flooring (wood and pergo). My thought is that I would like to do an addition to enlarge the kitchen and dining room area. I don't care that the bedrooms are small. There's really only two things I need a bedroom for ;) . But, since we like to have our growing family over as much as possible, I'd like the common areas to be bigger. I'd probably add some sunroof openings too. The windows aren't that big and it's rancher. The yard however, is perfect. I just love it. It's big and flat and is fenced in. There's several mature trees on the property. There's no HOA, so we can do what we want without all the hoops. How does one go about figuring out the cost of such things? How do we figure out if it's worth it in the long-run since we're not looking to stay 20yrs in one spot? We will probably be able to do some of the renovations before we move in.

wow. Just wow. I too wonder if Roger would have been better if the truth had never come out. But, what a sad, sad story.

I like Jim Butcher's writing. I've been slowly making my way through the "Harry Dresden Files" series.

I read the first book in the "Invisible Library" series and that has a bit of a Steampunk feel.

Just reading this. I'm so sorry. :grouphug:

We had great luck using hostels when we went as a family of 8 to Italy (including Rome). It's been over 10yrs though, so my information would be out of date. The hostel was friendly and clean and very hip. Lots of young travelers and us. LOL

I wouldn't be comfortable telling someone they hurt me either. Especially someone you have described. hugs. I know how hard it is when old wounds get opened up. Sorry she's hurting you all over again.

thinking of you today. hugs