Awww... she's adorable. Welcome to the world, little one. My Mother's Day baby was born 23 years ago yesterday.

I agree! Hugs betty. :grouphug:

ooh, thanks for your recommendations. I'll probably repeat a few here: Germany: Lives of Others France: Intouchables Return of Martin Guerre (my first foreign film and I fell :001_wub: ) Jean de Florette / Manon of the Spring (they're a duet) Blue Camille Claudel Girl on the Bridge Seraphine Chorus Australian: Gallipoli Muriel's Wedding Cosi Strictly Ballroom Welcome to Whoop whoop Adventures of Priscilla Queen of the Desert Chinese: The Shower Mongolian: Cave of the Yellow Dog (almost like a documentary - they used real nomads rather than actors) The Story of the Weeping Camel Mongolian Ping Pong Russian: Burnt by the Sun Ostrov (the Island) Russian Ark Israel: Ushpizin Okay, gotta run... there's more I'm sure but, there's always more :P

I agree with Sparkly.

I'm so sorry, Rosie. How awful.

What a sweet thing for your daughter to do. Happy birthday!

Middle Earth - however, I would love Narnia too. But, a chance to see Rivendell & meet Ents wins out. I love trees.

I feel your pain.. it is hard in this area. It's why most of my friends and family have moved away and they've never come back. I wish the gov/t officials would take notice. But, there's just too many people coming to the area for the jobs to have that ever change.

Fantastic news!! :party:

I had my college aged boys paint most of our old house before we moved out. We paid them money to do it during break. No, they didn't do a perfect job, but they did it well enough for selling - and certainly WAY less than the professional painter. I went around and fixed a few mistakes - but that's way easier than painting the whole room. I hate painting, so I was willing to pay. Ditto, on the drop clothes and taping.

Kathryn, you're about to have a baby. Give yourself some distance and don't open the letter. :grouphug: I wish we lived closer, I'd come over and cook you dinner or something so you can have a rest. Really, you don't need this kind of stress right now.

sounds like your mom got a friend of hers to be her therapist?. I would definitely ask her to stop texting you... and I'd tell her you'll be checking into the appropriate authorities to report her. She is way out of line.

congratulations! That's wonderful.

I think it would depend on how far away from the beltway you'd be willing to go. Property taxes are very high the closer you get to DC. Heck, we just moved from one side of 270 to the other and our property taxes went up significantly! I think if you lived away from the immediate counties (Mont. Co/PG/Balti/Loudin/Fairfax) then you'd probably see a drop. I have friends that keep moving further towards West.MD to get away from the high COL and property taxes. Of coures, then there's the awful commute - but I assume you're talking about retirement (?) I also love the idea of living in WV... there's much to like.

Cheese-It's and Nutella - not together though.

I agree (I hate outdoor music too)... I wish people would should a little common courtesy ... maybe then we wouldn't need so many laws & hoa rules.

I would definitely check into this. Nudity that can publicly seen should have some kind of ordinance. If, as you say, outdoor tvs are very popular where you are, then I bet you are not the only person around who is concerned/frustrated by this.

zoobie - I hope you share a photo when you're done. The one in the link looks so cute and simple too. Ameena - it will be interesting to see how you can make something that can come apart for laundering. But, I think it would be hard for something that will get a lot of wear/tear. Mothersweets - It was fun, except I spent far too long wasting time at the Spinning/Weaving Auction. I had a few things on my list to bid on, but after almost 2hrs of them not coming up (there was a lot of stuff), I gave up. There were *a lot* of people too - so I don't think I would have gotten any fabulous deals. I only added about 4-5 yarns to my stash and I bought a handwoven shirt from a vender I really like. I can't figure out how to share a photo. Flickr has changed :glare: and now I can't post photos the way I used to do it. It was a beautiful day... I could have stayed at least another hour or more (we were there from 11-4), but my daughters wanted to leave. I warned them before they came, but I don't think they realized how long I really wanted to stay. There were so many venders - and I found it overwhelming between the crowds and all the stuff to look at. Definitely got stimulation overload. :laugh: Next year I think I may add some of my stuff to the auction.

I haven't started a new thread since March! :blushing: April was a bit of a blur. I haven't done much in the crafting department since March. I still have one thing on my loom, that's been there FOREVER. I did go to the Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival and saw some wonderful things... and added a bit to my stash.. So, inspire me! What has everyone been working on? What have you completed? Is anyone taking up a new hobby/craft?

Congratulations on getting your license. I really like and appreciate your attitude but I'm sorry that Plan A isn't working.

I feel the same way sometimes too. It's a hard call OP... because music is so important and when it's badly done, it can be very distracting. It does sound like you've got a lot of good things about your church, but it would be a hard call over something as important as the music. Is there any way you can talk with the pastor or choir director?

me 3! I guess I do have something. :)

oh my goodness.. .both your parents??!! How awful. Who did you go to live with afterwards and how was it decided? Did you get a say in who it would be (or could you change your mind as you grew older?)

okay, I'll bite. How hard was it to go through the approval process to become a single adoptive mom. What aspect of being a SAM surprised you the most. Okay, so what exactly is a family that doesn't match?? I'm still scratching my head over that one.

me either...I live a very boring life.