I wanted to slap her. Although the books were amusing. Same with Pippi, although the books were less amusing.

I suspect that the people that are saying they never heard of the movie or book are younger than 52. For example, I'd be shocked if someone my age, 52, had never heard of the ET movie. My mind would immediately go to "Where did they grow up?" and assume it wasn't America. But, I knew my daughter would have no clue, so we watched that movie (and others) to prepare for our Universal Studios Florida vacation. I also think that it is really rare for people to have no awareness of cultural things going on from say 15-25, or until they have kids whichever comes first. I asked my mom once about her impressions of something huge, I think it was the moon landing. She said that they were so focused on me in her belly, Dad getting out of the army, moving back to America from being stationed in Germany and they didn't have a TV. They weren't even aware that it had happened until after.

Next time tell him, "Never judge a book by its movie."

I am pretty ignorant of music from this century since I don't listen to the radio. Is the 5-person acapella group becoming its own genre? I stumbled onto Pentatonix listening to youtube Christmas music. BTW, they totally own Mary, Did You Know.

Well, since she clearly was more interested in spending time with one son over anyone in BIL's family, she shouldn't have stayed in OP's home. The OP's family probably wouldn't have minded if she had done some of what she did. But staying in someone's home and then making it clear that you'd rather spend all your time with someone else? That is hurtful. Spending time in her room alone with BIL is a slap in the face to OP's family. I think that is where people are getting the personality disorder idea. That she seems to really truly not care.

I agree on the repair costs having gone up quite a lot post-lockdown. Shortly before the lockdown we got a quote for a new driveway around 12K. We didn't have the money then. Now we do. Latest quote was 26K. DH has been watching the lumber prices for the last 10+ years. He said lumber won't get any cheaper than it is now. DH is doubling the size of our house, so we use a lot of lumber. I agree about roofs. We recently looked into getting a mortgage on our house to pay for the additions. The guy that came out said we needed to replace the roof. The roof is half the 10-year roof, and the addition has a metal roof. Not the most attractive at the moment, but perfectly fine. If you buy House A, you might want to start haunting Habitat's Restore stores. They get some really nice stuff. You can't go in and plan on buying X and know they have X. But 6 months ago they probably had a really awesome X. So, you go in thinking of everything you will replace in the next couple of years. My personal housebuying tips: 1) Talk to the neighbors. They know every last little thing about the house. Also a good way to find out if they are turds. They'll also tell you about the neighborhood. 2) Also inspect the house yourself. Particularly the attic! Get in that attic with a flashlight. If there had been a leak you will see it in the attic. I assume basements are also important, but I'd have no clue what to look for. I'd be more likely to buy a used car without opening the hood, then buying a house without going into the attic.

Yes, this is why I was clear on his age. I'd expect any American in the 15-25 age range when the song came out to recognize it, at least after the explanation. I knew because my Dad was a fan. I've heard these things can be problems in relationships with big age gaps.

I agree with you. The publicity about the movie got me to read the book. I am 52. I had a similar experience. It was an older guy, so he would have been in his 20's when Johnny Cash had the Folsom Prison Blues hit. We were visiting Reno and DH made a joke where he pointed to Folsom Prison and said, "That is where I shot a man just to watch him die." The guy reacted like he was sitting next to a Pyscho. DH explained the reference. I can understand why someone wouldn't immediately get the connection, but Cash and Folsom Prison didn't trigger any memories for him. After that the guy stayed away from DH and I think he thinks DH is a murderer. ETA: There also wasn't that much choice in TV viewing. I think TV and movies were discussed more then because many people were watching the same thing as you.

I think it was particularly hard on my parents because this was HER mother, so she was crushed too. My dad suppresses his natural desire of a protective husband and father to give back to evil grandma what they deserved. So, he stayed quiet a lot and backed up my mom as needed.

My parents tried. They did better than what people generally suggest in that situation, which is try to shield the child. I never told them my thoughts because "I am unlovable" is too horrible of a thought to voice. In fact I didn't voice them until someone was describing a similar situation and they were the parent. I reacted ... strongly to the idea of them trying to preserve a relationship. The good news is that I had suicide immunity after that. Some time later I had a really wonderful day. I remember thinking, if the suicide had succeeded, I wouldn't be having this wonderful day. After that it became unthinkable.

No question A. My first house was similar to your A. Although the outside was crap too. But then I got it super-duper cheap. The thing I loved was that as I replaced stuff, it was precisely to my tastes, and I knew it was done right. I felt such a connection to that house that when I discovered a shoddy repair job, I was personally offended. I complained to my boss about it. He said, "You know that wasn't your house then." Without thinking I said, "It was mine when it was built when I was 6. These other people were just taking care of it for me."

That is an OK response from the victim but not the guilty party. I think that is why people find it particularly galling. The person that did something horrible is then pretending like they are the bigger person for ignoring the non-existent horrible thing that the victim did.

I understand how your kids feel. When I was 8.5 years old we moved 1000 miles away. For my 9th birthday my maternal grandparents came to visit. They were retired and were here for two weeks, planned at least. Their visit included the week of my Spring Break and my birthday and Easter. First week I was still in school and had homework, etc. My mom had taken the second (Spring Break) week off but was working the first week. So, I had homework, mom had work (home office) and Dad went to work during the day. Thursday of the first week, my Dad and Grandfather were watching a movie. My Grandmother suggested to them that we all play a game. They said that would be a great idea, but the movie had 15 minutes left and they'd like to finish it. This was before we had a VCR. She stomped off and said to my mom, "I want to play a game with everyone." My mom said, "That sounds great. What do the guys think?" Grandmother said, "We are leaving and going home right now." They called a cab and slept at the airport. I was totally crushed. I'd been so happy and then *Bam* they left in a snit. It helped that my parents explained some things that I hadn't known. Like that she'd told the cops that Dad had kidnapped my Mom back when they were dating. Cops took it seriously and setup a roadblock. Fortunately they weren't idiots. It really shook me though. Lots of people think that any grandparent time is better than no grandparent time. Those people have grandparents that were reasonable people. Even a small child knows that grandparents are supposed to love you unconditionally, if anyone does. I remember thinking, "I must be a really horrible person if my grandparents don't love me." I actually tried suicide a few months later. Fortunately really really badly and no one even knew. Eventually I wrapped my mind around the idea that she was just Evil. In fact that is how I think of her, Evil Grandmother. One idea for you for the future. Next time she wants to visit, tell her to stay with BIL and come over when she wants to visit. That way when she's absent, there won't be a hole.

I get it. Also, for us our trash pickup has a max size. DH had to take a chainsaw to a Full-size mattress to get them to take it. Be prepared for people to expect delivery

Never make lasagna with store-bought ricotta. Homemade takes lasagna to the next level. Also, the microwave is handy for this. No scalding on the pan since it cooks evenly.

This sounds interesting. For us it would be a supplement but DD loves audiobooks.

That is sooo me. Sourdough waffles, mmm mmm. I didn't replace my bread maker for that reason also. Plus, why toss any starter? Might as well use it.

The milk thing could have been a mistake. I remember I once grabbed evaporated milk for sauce because I wasn't paying attention. The result wasn't edible.

This was the dog oil that we used. Also, she seemed to like the taste. She'd go first for the food with the oil on it. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07QV1J8LV/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I was thinking regular size. Then I could use regular pegboard accessories. Your mention of IKEA reminded of something I didn't mention. The next addition will be adding two rooms, my sewing/crafts room and DH's Lego room. The wall between will actually be PAX. I think it will be 5 of them and 1-2 will face DH's side. So, stuff like fabric can go in the PAX. Stuff like thread, ribbon and sewing tools can go on the pegboards.

We don't have the room yet, but it is the next addition so there has been lots of thought given. I wouldn't say decorating exactly. It will be the Sewing and Crafts room. Most of the walls will be pegboard painted with white enamel. So that stuff can be stored on the walls. There will be a Queen-sized guest bed. Instead of it being a Murphy-bed, we will make a Murphy table to cover it when it isn't in use. I will also make a really large ironing board to place on top of the table when needed.

I enjoy it. In fact, vacation planning is my happy place. One summer was stressful. Nothing unusual but we sold a house and bought a house that summer. The other parties were horrible in both cases. In fact Real Estate Agent agreed the buyers were the worst he'd ever seen. So I spent lots of time in my happy place. The following Feb we spent a week at Universal Florida. At one point we were chatting with a Team Member there, he commented that I must have been coming for awhile (because of my knowledge) he quirked an eyebrow when we said it was our first time. I can also very relax on vacation. We all hate cattle-air travel and Dh prefers to do the driving. The stress comes when I'm not able to plan, One trip I had everything but dining figured out and then life got frantic and I couldn't plan that. At one point, DH looked at me and said, "Where are we eating?" I had to shrug and say, "No clue." I hated that.

That is what we do generally. I love planning vacations so I have everything planned out. It helps that we like basically the same things. Sometimes if I have a decision to make, particularly involving driving, I'll ask. At some point, I usually force him to listen to the itinerary. But otherwise we do/go where I say. The family is happy. Every vacation they have said "This is the best vacation yet." The last one was two-weeks staying in a condo and going to Disney World. I told them, "I don't think I can top this."

Mayo, but maybe I needed to wait for our hens first. But making it myself I can use Avocado Oil rather than the horrible Soybean oil. Super easy with a stick blender. Frosting. It is literally easier to make than buy in the store. I love the flavored vodka too. Particularly when I'm eating a lot of oranges, since I can use the zest. Back when I worked in the office, they had free fruit in the breakroom. I kept a small bottle of vodka in the my desk drawer and would dump the zest into it. I just bought some vodka to make chocolate vodka.

I think we all need one of these. https://www.amazon.com/StirChef-SAUCEPAN-STIRRER-HandsFree-StoveTop/dp/B0000TPBYG Note, I don't have this. But your post made me think, "There has to be a gizmo for that"