Same questions for me... although we've already started renovations. We were under the house yesterday and discovered a significant spot of rot in a spot under where the previous owner did not have a gutter. Ugh. If I may ask @mom@shiloh - a question. Did you get an architect in before you started? Did you have someone help you with design. I've started doing it piecemeal, but now I'm wondering if I should get someone in who sees the big picture for this house. I'd like to do some changes to the outside design.

I agree. That is so surprising. I've had mine for 3-4yrs and it's still working fine. My rubber rollers take a lot of beating with legos and mini dinos plus lots of my long hair . I think it must be a defect. I also have a Shark vacuum. I love both the Roomba and the Shark

I've enjoyed several episodes of Great News on Netflix My husband really enjoyed Spy with Melissa McCarthy. I haven't seen it yet. It's available at Amazon but not for free.

Thanks. I hope you have a better day tomorrow too.

I really appreciate the update. Today's been one of those "my life has no meaning" days. I feel like I'm wandering around waiting for death (morbid, I know).

Also, St. Tikhon's monastery in PA sells them from their own bees: http://www.saintsmaryandmarthaorthodoxmonastery.org/candles.html I've not personally used their candles though.

This monastery in SC supplies many Orthodox parishes. I'm not sure if that's where our parish gets them though. I've personally bought from them and love their tapered and tealights candles. http://www.saintsmaryandmarthaorthodoxmonastery.org/candles.html

This is exactly what I am going for. When we have the kids over they want to be in the kitchen and talk with me. This is the only spot available (I'm standing at the sink). I'll have 3-4 kids sitting on the stairs talking with me. You can see the edge of the lamp - the previous owner had a table there - but it completely blocked the flow between the sunroom, hallway, front of house. Very awkward. I can't wait until they knock out a wall and put in a sit-at island.

Wanted edit but decided to just put this here. It looks like masonry on the inside - at least around the firebox.

The spalling is about the top 10 feet or so. The previous owner added to the length of the chimney when he added a 2nd floor about 30yrs ago. It looks like that is the part that is spalling. But, I can see water damage down the length of the chimney brick. The chimney was not lined previously. It looks like the inside is masonry- but the house was built in 1960 - so I don't know what they were using then. The outside brick/mortar. Yes, there would be warmth generated by the other flue with the vented gas. I don't know if it would dry it. I live in a humid climate. I think I will get a 2nd opinion. I'm also worried about the extra weight from cement.

One of the reasons given was because it would deal with the obvious moisture issue that has caused the spalling. The flue ends probably where the other chimney's damper is. I actually don't know what is at the end - brick? Wood? Dunno. That is a good question to ask. I think the issue is, if I cap it off without filling it there is air and moisture trapped in there that doesn't escape easily. Also, because brick and mortar is somewhat porous, there could be more issues with moisture down the road. But, concrete seems so extreme - and not easily fixed if it's the wrong decision. Ugh.

I'm hoping someone here can help me with this question. We have a fireplace with two chimney caps. One is a dummy flue - it goes at least 1/2 way down the chimney. The other is for the wood-burning fireplace that we are converting to a vented gas fireplace insert. We also have a serious problem with spalling and water in the chimney. The previous owner never put a cap on the chimney 😡 We had to break the damper in order to get it open and clean out the debris that had accumulated. Fortunately, no animal carcasses. The chimney company that cleaned the flue and put the cap on in prep for the insert suggested we fill the dummy flue with concrete and fix the spalling. I'm trying to do research about filling a chimney with concrete but can't find anything associated with dummy flues. I don't want to make a bad problem worse.

I'm there with you on that too. Our previous house had a pretend balcony - or something I would call a pretend balcony. IT was a little alcove in the upstairs hallway that was open to the family room with the cathedral ceiling. I laughed when I saw that space. My dh used it for his "office"... we put a partition so we could hide his mess from the front door (it was right at the top of the stairs). We were able to utilize the space, but really it was such a wasted spot.

I'm coming to realize that there is a lot of wisdom in that concept for certain houses. Our previous house was big and open on the main floor. It also had cathedral ceilings. It was *cold* in the winter. I hated heating up the whole house just to stay warm in the 2-3 rooms I was in during the day. Our current house, which is smaller, has cold spots... like our Master bedroom. I put an electric fireplace in there and it works perfect for our needs. I'm rarely there during the day. I heat it up at night for about 45 min. Then I'm good to go for the rest of the night - usually. I also have a heating pad that will warm me up when it starts to get cold around 4am.

We're still waiting to start our kitchen reno and the final look sounds similar to this. We will knock down *one* wall to open up the kitchen to the front of the house (it's about 17') But we keep the wall (and actually close off a 2nd entrance) to our tv/family room. We also use our sunroom as a family/large dining room. It's also closed off. I definitely can't wait until the walls is gone from the kitchen, but I'm glad we're keeping the family room separate. The only downside is that the kitchen will be even more visible from the front door.

No, but I wish I had on at least 2 vehicles. Good luck. Glad your son was okay.

certainly if you compare old photos of grandparents with what grandparents look like today (that are roughly the same age) people *looked* older. It wasn't just the clothes.

I started school in '69/'70 - so not that far off from when the events actually occurred that I was probably taught this. I think the part about "old lady" may not have been taught, just implied... at least the "old" part. But, as an elementary child anyone over 20 was *old*. KWIM?

that was good. Yes, I did know that Rosa Parks was an activist and not a "tired grandma", although I didn't learn that until I was in my 40s. I didn't know about her grandfather and husband. I found what he said about White Fragility starting at about min 5:40 to be very interesting. It makes me want to take a step back and look at my own life and how I respond to it being challenged.

Dr. Dray says basically that is what is happening in one of her youtube videos Dr. Dray on Parabens: She has another one of sulfates too.

I like Laura Mercier pressed powder foundation. It does not have an spf though - so I have to add that. I hate that sticky sweaty feeling on my face, so I'm happy with Laura Mercier. I went to Ulta (or Sephora - can't remember) and tried on a few until I got a good match. It's called 'Smooth Finish Foundation Powder" I also have a mineral loose powder foundation but I much prefer the LM one. edited to add: I have no idea if it's non-toxic. I'm not sure what you're looking to avoid exactly.

I've been in both church choirs and community choirs. I've only worn a robe in one church choir. For community choirs they all had a set color scheme - long black skirts/pants and white blouse top. One had that combo and a black lacy cardigan style coverup that had a little sequins (not many). It was a nice addition that complimented the men, who were wearing formal jackets, except it was itchy. One we all had to buy the same blouse... but any black long skirt we wanted. Mainly you don't want your clothes to stand out from the other members. so, whatever you choose it should be fairly uniform. I would look up several community choir websites and see what they're wearing. Most of them should have a picture or two of the choir in performance attire on their website.

I hate to be the alarmist.... I would call your local public health official and speak directly with them and ask their opinion. I would call your doctor with this new info and ask their opinion. Then I would call the local animal control (*not* humane society) and ask them about it. Rabies is 100% fatal once symptoms occur. If she said the cat was up to date on shots but then oops, it's been 10yrs, why would you believe her when she says the cat "hardly gets out". The cat should be quarantined.

this makes perfect sense to me. In fact my sister and I were talking about this not long ago when I complaining about my contractor. We talked about how hard it can be to find someone you trust in your home... and esp. as a woman at home alone, someone you trust at home alone with you. I don't even want to think about starting all over with that. Hugs

BTW, they still haven't started on my kitchen. Sigh. Why does it take them SO long to get anything done??!!! And why, if they're a relationship based business, don't they communicate with their clients!!?? I'm frustrated too. Hugs.