I mainly do a little sugar and a bit of heavy cream. The other stuff sounds good, but I wouldn't likely do that with my morning coffee.

My mom did this a lot over the last couple years of her life. She just said things she never would've said (my sisters and I say we are afraid of what we will be like when we lose our filters - scary). I think I would just explain it to your boys, and just plan to make a comment if she says something really off-base. Every once and a while if my mom would start to go on a tangent about something she was misunderstanding, I would just say, "Mom I don't think you heard what they said correctly," or, "Maybe you misunderstood what they said. They said ... ." She was usually fine with that. I am very sympathetic to what you're dealing with. My mom lived on our property and we took care of her a lot over the years, but the last couple, when she started to lose some mental faculties, were really tough. Now that she's gone though, I can honestly say I'm thankful I, and my children and grandchildren, had the opportunity to be with her as much as we did.

When I say I want my walls flush, it is because the tub that's in there now is just a big fiberglass one you put in as one piece. It was too short for the space it's in, so they bumped out the sheetrock from the walls on either end in order to make it fit. We want to go back flush all the way around the bathroom with the Sheetrock then put a clawfoot in the little alcove area (I may have to wind up doing an alcove tub if our flooring won't cooperate). I just don't know what size tubs I can look at because I'm not sure if the measurements I'm seeing are the overall length/width, or the actual tub area.

Lots of awesome ideas!! I'm definitely gonna have to limit myself to the one yummy cappucino daily since I am putting sugar AND whipping cream in it (plus I can't have more than one caffeinated beverage or I bounce off the walls). I figure if it's my one splurge daily, it should be okay (I don't normally do sugar). I'll have to keep my cold press decaf on hand for my "healthier" coffee; I do homemade almond milk and a little honey (maybe a teaspoon and a half) in a quart, and it lasts two days.

Well we have a 5 bedroom, 2 bath that's 2000 sq feet (so I realize it's not your square footage), with 5 acres (would need some freshening, but mostly paint and such) and it just appraised for $234,000 (we bought it for 95K 18 years ago). My guess is your exact specs in our area would run $300-400K depending on whether it was an acre or 5.

If I'm looking to select a tub, are the measurements I see online from the largest point of the tub, or are they usually just the tub itself? Also, if my space is a little bigger than the tub, and I wind up doing an alcove versus a clawfoot (due to possibly not having matching tile to finish under the clawfoot), what do I do if I can't find one to fit my space exactly? I really don't want to have to bump out sheetrock because that's how it is now and it looks awful. I want all the walls to be flush. Any input from those who have dealt with this?

Or low sugar. ;-p

Well that makes me happy!! I hope I love it! Have you programmed an amount for your standard espresso shot, and, if so, about how much is it? For your long coffee? And do you do 1, 2 or 3 bean shots? I'm just trying to think of a starting point...

My husband is very much so, and he will be doing a lot of the stuff himself.

My daughter did these. They didn't find them to be very sturdy. They droop forward even without much weight in them.

Now THAT is interesting...

I appreciate all the input! I think I'm gonna shoot for going a little more moderate in the bathrooms (or at least in my husband's), so I can do more things. I really do believe that I'm going to be frustrated if my bathrooms are perfect, but I haven't been able to touch any of the other annoyances. That wall-wall playroom thing is huge for me, and something I've wanted to do for a very long time. I've wanted to do doors and fixtures for a lot of years as well. The thing is, when we bought this place, we nearly gutted it, but we were on a tight budget and raising 4 kids on one income, so we really had to buy the least expensive of almost everything. Eighteen years later, it's just time to do some nicer stuff! Since we have to address a plumbing issue in the wall between the bathrooms, now is the perfect time. I'll have to try and remember to take some before and after pics and share them. It'll probably be at least a couple months before we complete much of anything (we have to do dh's bathroom first because of the way the plumbing is set up), but I'm gonna try to remember to post some pics!

No fiesta ware here, but I'm assuming that is just a stoneware type cup? I think I'm going to order the Bodum glass insulated ones (or something similar). I just need to be sure I don't get a size that won't fit under the spout of my machine. I know it has a lower clearance than some others, but it looked like it can use a regular size mug (maybe 10-12 ounces). The little insulated espresso ones are precious, but I'm never going to just have a single shot of espresso. I'm excited that the Brera will do long coffee and I can program it to do the amount of water I want for that, so I should be able to do something for my weirdo guests (like my sister) that don't really care for cappucinos. ;-p Okay, so if I'm programming to do about how much water I want per shot of espresso or for a long coffee (it'll store both of those in the memory), about how many ounces of water is typical?

Wow! I think I'll have to try that with some decaf and have it after dinner! A friend of mine does homemade frappucinos with chilled, strong coffee, ice cream, and a little cinnamon or cocoa - very yummy!! ETA - not sure if you're a beer drinker, and I know this may sound disgusting to many, but if you like dark beer, get a mocha or coffee based stout or porter (Young's double chocolate stout is a good one, but I love the coffee ones too), get it really cold and drop in some vanilla ice cream. VERY delicious!

My fave recipe (and it's in the other thread so probably unnecessary to post here). 4 frozen boneless, skinless chicken breasts (sprinkle with salt, pepper, garlic, bit of cumin) 1 jar salsa (TJ's basic salsa autentica is my preference) 1/4 c water (I put it in the salsa jar, and shake it up to get the last bits of salsa with it) 1 bunch cilantro leaves, chopped (actually I wash it then cut it directly into the instant pot with scissors) Manual for 35 minutes, let sit 15-20 then open and shred. Use for tacos, burritos, salads, putting in sweet potato, etc. I said in the other thread and I still say, if I used my Instant Pot for nothing else, this would make it worth the money for me. I make a batch of this at least once/week. This recipe could most certainly be adapted to making shredded bbq chicken for sandwiches as well. I'd season the breasts (no cumin though), put maybe 1-1 1/2 c of bbq sauce, a little water, a little slab of butter, cook the same amount of time. BBQ is also great stuck in a sweet potato if you're not wanting a lot of carbs. We put everything in sweet potatoes!

It is AMAZING how well eggs peel after cooking in the Instant Pot! Do you put them on the rack with water underneath? I think I do mine for 4 minutes on manual, and the peelings all but fall off! Also, those small Yukon golds are awesome; that's what we had last night. I do several recipes similar to yours here and I swear by the Instant Pot if only for those things!

I did a whole chicken last night. I seasoned the outside with my preferred seasonings (salt, pepper, garlic, a little thyme and paprika), put a cup or so liquid in the bottom of the pot, put the rack in, put my chicken and did manual for 25 minutes. After that I deboned it and we just had fresh roasted chicken with sautéed garlic asparagus and baked potatoes. I added the bones back into the instant pot (rack removed), added water, salt, celery stalks and a bell pepper chunk, turned it to slow cook and set it for 16 hours. It has 4 hours left to go on the bone broth at which point I'll probably turn it to keep warm and let it sit until this evening when I will strain it and add lots of veggies and make some sort of soup. ETA: The chicken was a local, grass-fed, organic bird. I don't do bone broth with commercially raised birds. I just figured I'd mention that.

Did you put water in the bottom and put it on the rack? I've done corn that way and had much success and I feel like it was for about that amount of time.

I have a friend who makes wonderful kombucha at home. I have tried to follow her instruction on multiple occasions only to fail mightily. Depressing since hers is SOOOO much better than any I've ever had from a store.

I've ordered my superautomatic espresso maker, but in the meantime I'm grinding beans and making coffee with my French press. Yesterday I realized I had a little battery powered frother wand from Ikea, so I made a little fresh whipped cream with my grass-fed heavy cream. This morning I have a fresh brewed cup of coffee with a little sugar and cream topped with some fresh whipped cream and it is quite delightful. What's your coffee splurge? Do you do it daily? I know this isn't good for me since I rarely have sugar and don't do much dairy at all, but I figure if it's my one splurge - gosh it's yummy!

What area of Texas? I have a good bit of family in Texas. Maybe I could at least get you connected with someone that could help you get familiar with the area. My niece is a teacher, and my cousin is a retired teacher. If you would happen to be anywhere near either of them, they might be able to offer some insight.

Packing up and moving is tough, but it seems like you're getting close to having it behind you! Wishing you the best as you get this all wrapped up and praying for safe travels to your new location!

I wanted to order one to give dd and her hubby for Christmas, but my oldest dd and I "share" a Prime account and she ordered one (there is apparently a limit of 1) so waaaahhh! Really at that price I'd get another for myself so I could have one doing the main course and another doing rice or making bone broth for 24 hours or whatever. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE my Instant Pot!!

Well crap! I wish I would've read this first. I did order one pound of that espresso blend. I asked her if it was oily and she said it wasn't and that they use it all the time in all their machines. She also said it was really only the equivalent of a medium roast. We shall see. I also ordered the New Guinea and their Camano Island signature blend in decaf. I am so excited for it all to arrive!! Hey any suggestions on good cups? My nephew had some insulated glass ones that were really cool, but I wondered if anyone had favorites they'd like to share. And also, storage for beans. If I only get a monthly shipment, I know I'll want a good storage option for my beans.

I'm hopeful it'll be a decent machine. I don't expect perfection for that price, but I think it'll be a good opportunity to give it a shot. ;-p Also I just got myself a coffee subscription through Camano and I'm pretty pumped! Great coffee isn't gonna hurt the cause. Hey if anyone wants to try the subscription thing out, use this link - http://j.mp/29OjhQc - you'Il get $20 off your first order (amazing deal even if you cancel), and I'll get a $20 credit on my next order. Win-win. ;-p Oops, you might have to enter my name on there as a referral so if you want to sign up for the trial, PM me! ;-p