Thank you so much for all the input. I have some wording I’m going to print out on paper and put on little craft paper-style cards to add with the invitation. If we wind up with some stuff that’s too large anyway, we will just return it for credit here and she can pick it up at her Babies R Us up there. BTW, for those who don’t know, I though it might be worth a mention - if you do a registry at Babies R Us, you get a percentage of everything bought for you from your registry given to you in a gift card after your baby is born. My niece had twins last year and wound up with over $300 on a gift card. Of course it may not always be that much, but how nice for the mom to have that little something extra in the beginning to pick up things she didn’t realize she might need.

Thank you for all the input. I have the invitations already, but thought about doing a little insert in the cards where maybe we weren’t sure if the people would think about the travel issue. I know MY family knows and will ship stuff, and the other grandma is going to tell HER close family as well, but I worry about younger friends of my dd’s who may just not think about it. I think I can do it in a tactful way. ETA - it just dawned on me that maybe what I could do is put a little insert that says something like, “for those purchasing items that won’t fit in mom’s suitcase, you can have it shipped directly to _____†Would that be too obnoxious? I can word it a little better I’m sure.

I can’t really offer too much in the way of advice. My kids were really young when my father died, and all adults when my mother died. We do talk a LOT about my mom to my grandkids, a couple of whom were old enough to really know her (plus they saw her almost daily). When she died we just made them part of the process. They saw us grieving and they also hear us talk about her a lot. I’m very sorry for your loss.

Thank you all. I cannot fathom what she is and will be going through. I am grateful that her children didn’t lose both their parents yesterday. If any positive can come from such a situation, I think that has to be it. The community is going to suffer greatly; everyone knows/loves this family. :(

There’s a family we know, mostly from just social stuff; running into them at our local Mexican restaurant, etc. They were always out together with their children. Today, the couple, the wife’s sister, the wife’s sister’s 9yo son, and their dog, were out in a lake nearby duck hunting. Apparently (and there has been no definite clarification), the blind flipped and pinned all but the wife under the blind in 49 degree water. She made it to the nearest land and survived, but her husband, sister, nephew and dog all died. Can I please get some prayers for the families affected, and especially for the lady involved? She is a friend of my niece and sister, and an acquaintance of mine. I cannot fathom what she is and will be going through in the weeks and months to come. She will still have to parent her children in the midst of all this, as they deal with the losses as well. My heart is just breaking for this family. :(

Thanks for the ideas. I’m not technically giving the shower; her sisters and a few others are, but it’s going to be at the other grandma’s house, and I was just trying to keep it all simple in my original questions.

Thanks for the suggestions, and yeah, I don’t mind shipping some stuff, or bringing it when I go, but I am buying my fair share of stuff too, so I’m hoping to not have to spend a ridiculous amount for shipping items. I’m also gonna be traveling there for a month, so I have to consider my travel costs and expenditures for while I’m there on top of things I’ve purchased/paid for. I mean I hope her friends would think about this, but they are younger and may not. I just wondered if there would be a nice way to remind folks of the situation.

Is there a tactful way to say either bring a gift card or small gift? My daughter will be in town for a wedding, and we are throwing her a baby shower while she’s here. She lives in WA state, but we are in Louisiana, so she’ll be flying home, and of course, she’ll be limited to what she can bring with her. Is there a tactful way to include, with a shower invitation, a little note saying to either bring gift cards or have items shipped directly to her? I mean it’s not really gonna be beneficial for her to have to pay to ship a bunch of stuff or pay for extra suitcases to get stuff back home. Please tell me there is a tactful way to do this?

I’m doing a luxury vinyl plank - looks like wood/laminate, but it’s waterproof and has a lifetime warranty. I wanted something I could put everywhere. Our downstairs has been slate ceramic tile (it’s what we put when we moved in), and, though I LOVE how great of a floor it has been, the colors in it have really hindered my decorating over the years. I love that this “wood†will be much more neutral and allow me to do a lot of different things. Our upstairs was carpeted (we did that more for insulation when all the kids were living at home), so this is gonna be an amazing change for up there!

I absolutely LOVE my Shun 8†chef’s knife. I also LOVE my Cutco bread knife, and my Cutco steak knives are okay as well. I was not at all impressed with how the Cutco chef knife held up; it is so dull compared to my Shun, and it has been sharpened. I have been wanting to get a good paring knife, so I’m definitely gonna check this little guy out!

We are in the middle of a HUGE remodel that has been a long time coming. This morning, my husband and a couple of neighbors are installing the new flooring upstairs. SO excited to see how my new paint color actually looks with the floors (really hard to tell down here where we have sample walls painted because of the interference from the old, bright wall color and the slate floors). Phase 1 is almost complete!!

Awww how precious!! Congratulations!

Coming late to the party, but if there was a teacher singling out my child in front of other students repeatedly, I’d have a problem. She is being ridiculous and overly pushy about something that really doesn’t make sense. Your dd wears loose leggings under her skirt and the modesty/activity is NOT an issue. I would absolutely be talking with this teacher in person about this.

Thanks for the food for thought. I think I have figured what we COULD do if I put an alcove; now to decide if I want an alcove or a clawfoot. I’M TIRED OF REMODEL DECISION-MAKING!! I am SO excited about the remodel because my house is going to look like a brand new, totally different, house, but the decisions are killing me.

I had never seen that - very cool! I was thinking there had to be something, too, that we could paint on wood and exterior paint would make sense, then possibly a couple coats of polyurethane, or other waterproof sealer. I mean why couldn’t that work? Does anyone have any input regarding clawfoot over alcove style? I had always really wanted a clawfoot, but overall I’m not sure it’s gonna be as practical long-term, and my ultimate goal is really just a deep soaking tub, although I have a look in mind. I do think I can achieve the look with an alcove, plus it’ll allow the tub to be perfectly centered in the space, which I’m not sure I’ll get from a clawfoot since it’ll have to be near the wall if I want a wall-mount faucet.

Well I have a tub with surround and I am getting rid of that. If I put an alcove tub in, I obviously have to have something on the wall. What I really want is just the sheetrock or a beaded board or other such thing. I’m wondering if I could put a finish to make any of that water resistant. I will NOT have a shower, so that won’t be an issue - just a deep tub, and most of the time it’ll just be me bathing in it.

Can you please share what it is? We are doing a huge remodel, and my bathroom is finally getting done. I have a certain look I want (and it involved a clawfoot but I changed my mind), but I don’t know if I can achieve it with an alcove-style tub. Can you share what you have around your tub if it isn’t tile?

I figured the climate would be similar to ours here in Louisiana. We aren’t really much farther south - pretty straight shot over there. I’m super excited they’ll be there as opposed to WA state! I LOVE WA, but this grandbaby needs to be a MUCH shorter drive (or flight) away! I’m also pretty pumped because I am pretty Disney obsessed, and this is gonna allow us to make some short Disney trips more often. She’s only gonna be about 3 hours away. I can see squeezing in a day or two at Disney every few months when I visit her! Yeah, my brain has been working already!!

Would you mind PMing me so I could ask you some more questions?

Thanks! Just getting back to this - been a busy year so far! I’m not positive, but I’m sure anything within an hour, although they’ll likely want to be closer just for commuting purposes.

Anything you can share about the area? Looks like my daughter and her boyfriend may be relocating there with the navy.

I LOVE my Young Living oils. I don’t sell though. I joined because the kit is really a great deal, and I do the auto ship every month so I earn free oils, which I love. The longer you stay on auto ship (and you can change the order every month, so I am just building my stash), the more points you get toward free oils. My daughter has been doing it a while and she gets a LOT of goodies (she doesn’t really sell either, although she does have some in-laws that regularly add to her wholesale order which helps her meet goals I rarely meet). I know there are other quality oils out there, but YL has some blends and rollerballs (deep relief is a winner for sure) I am obsessed with, and I know they are really careful with where they source their oils. I also like other products they sell.

I haven’t read all the replies, and I know you have gotten some good suggestions. The one thing I would say in defense of having a Keurig is you don’t really have to know much about making coffee, or trying to get a good cup or measuring grounds or storing grounds for a long time (they will get funky in the freezer unless bagged up extra well to keep from picking up freezer odors or getting stale tasting). You buy the keurig, keep some pods on hand, and you’re good to go. Keurig does have some decent coffee in the pods. There’s a Columbian fair trade select by Green Mountain that makes a good cup. Of course there are all the fun flavors too. The nice thing is you can get some packs of 3 pods at some places so you could have a few different kinds on hand, and you can still get sampler type boxes that have multiple types. It’s really a great option if you only need coffee occasionally, and especially if you aren’t really big into making it. Sometimes getting the right measurements for a good cup can be really tricky, depending on the coffee. Also, this time of year, I can’t imagine you can pick up a decent keurig (even the little single cup ones that don’t have the big water reservoir would work perfectly for you) for well under $100. ETA - I have owned Keurigs in the past, then regular brewers and/or french press, then superautomatic espresso maker, then back to french press and now I love a pour over, but sometimes I do wish I could just throw a pod in and be done with it - coffee snobbery be damned.

Well, for anyone that isn’t totally bored with my dilemma, I have made a decision. I am gonna go with a freestanding Kitchen Aid with double ovens and the matching microwave. I visited one of the old, family owned appliance stores around here today, and he had some great things to say about the Kitchen Aids. They actually do have a lot better reviews than some of the others, so I’m feeling pretty good about my decision. Sadly, they don’t make a matching 18†dishwasher, so I’ll have to go with the super quiet Bosch model for that. I told my husband he couldn’t complain about the $900 half-dishwasher since I’m “saving†us over $1000 by going with the freestanding range. At least I’m over this hurdle. I KNOW it won’t be the last.