We've looked at lots of houses in the dark, and in bad weather. You look when you can. I don't LIKE looking in the dark, but sometimes there isn't a better option.

East Tennessee. That is where we are moving back to :D And we do have the option to live anywhere. It is just home, and I've never seen anywhere in the contintental US that is as beautiful (to me anyway)

Yes. It's more of a anal tick really. The pillow must be fluffed AND fipped over before getting into bed each night. Gotta get the head dent out.

Just bring it! Who's going to turn their nose up at extra food on Thanksgiving?

Thanksgiving weekend in a normal year. We have ours up early this year due to too many things going on over the next few weeks.

Mine went to public school until the oldest was in 6th and the younger two were in 3rd. If I had do-overs they wouldn't have ever gone.

Words with lots of R's trip me up. Actually a lot of words trip me up. My brain and my mouth don't co-operate well. So if you meet me in person and I sound like an un-educated hillbilly, know that it is just my mouth having a mind of its own :lol:

I'm so sorry :grouphug: I lost my mom 16 years ago to liver cancer. Most of all, I just wish I had slowed my life down a little and just spent time with her. I was young, married and lived far away, so I didn't see her much the last year of her life.

Shop around before you decide. Hit a few mom and pop cabinet places, not just the big box stores. We got a great deal from a small business a few years ago, they were $1000 less than Home Depot.

For us it looked a bit like this: Everyone up by 6:15. Trying to get breakfast down sleepy kids that didn't want to eat yet. Scrambling to get everyone dressed and cleaned up. Be ready for the bus by 6:45. Then I'd have a few hours to run errands/clean house on about half the days. The other half were spent at the school for various reasons: Volunteering (usually busy work like cutting paper because the school doesn't REALLY want you involved) or taking something to school the kids forgot, or picking up one of my children that vomited at least once a week, or picking up the other child because of asthma issues. Then around 3:30-4 extremely grumpy/hungry kids came home. Time was often spent consoling one dd or another over some drama with the other school kids. Then we would spend the evening doing homework/dinner/baths and prepping for the next day. Everyone in bed by 8 at the latest so we could do it all again the next day. Not to mention the money I spent on lunches, fundraisers, programs, field trips, book fairs, etc.

Don't mind it. But oh PLEASE don't ask me to actually put my neatly ironed or folded clothes AWAY. For some bizarre reason I don't mind the process of laundry, but I hate to actually put things away :lol:

Although I have an "office", our school stuff is kind of all over the house. We have had a classroom set up...and we never stayed there. As long as I have a home for all our books and a place to return completed work, I'm good. The kids prefer to do their work in their rooms anyway.

They had dh on Cipro after his colon rupture. He went kind of nuts on it too. He had severe anxiety, felt like he was dying, couldn't sleep. It was bad. He had to suffer through though because he's allergic to other things, and it was take them or die.

I found them all under my DD14's bed this morning :glare:

Pretty much since birth. It's a favorite around here.

No, I have the opposite problem for some reason. My twins think they are older than my dd14. They 'boss' her around and try to mother her all the time :glare: I think it is because they outnumber her :lol:

Our house was built in 1961, and has the original floors, including hardwood in the kitchen. It looks great, and it is super easy to clean. Just make sure you spend the extra up front for quality wood and a good finish and you shouldn't have to worry much about it.

We have hardwood throughout the downstairs (only the two bedrooms upstairs have carpet, and I wish it was hardwood as well) I love having it all wood. Easy to clean.

I have, but it was a teen party, and one of their good friends had just moved across the country.

I'm so out of the loop...I only knew who a couple of those guys were!

Thanks for all the replies. I would never tell her these things...she is a nice woman. And I admire her for putting up with my dad :lol: Just the fake familial bond thing gets to me sometimes. She's very lovey dovey online, but I have always gotten the impression that she doesn't like me very much in person. And this could be because of the fact that she came into my father's life at a time that I was struggling A LOT with my feelings toward him. My mother had just passed away and I was pregnant with my first child after 2 losses. I picked that time, wisely or not, to let my dad know exactly how I felt about his crummy fathering during my childhood. I'm sure that wasn't the best first impression of me. Eh, guess I'll just pass the virtual bean dip on FB, and keep things status quo in person.

My dd has had extensive allergy tests, both RAST and skin. She doesn't test allergic to any fruits, but has had reactions to them consistantly for years. Hers is oral allergy syndrome (as mentioned earlier) Our allergist said that it generally isn't a life threatening reaction, just uncomfortable. She still avoids them though. I would definitely see an allergist. My dd also tested allergic to about 8 different foods on the RAST test, but only 3 on the skin. She has consistantly tested allergic to peanuts for 10 years, without any reactions. We avoid them now though, just don't want to chance it. Anyway, the blood test can give you a good heads up, but isn't always indicative of your actual reactive allergies.

Is just awkward to deal with sometimes. This is really just a vent because I wouldn't say this to her directly. My dad remarried after being divorced from my mother for over 16 years. They divorced before I can even remember them being together. He wasn't a huge part of my life as a child. He got remarried after I was married and pregnant with my first child (and soon to be step-mom was pregnant with my half-brother). I've never been close to him, and the relationship has been down right disfunctional at times. The awkward part is dealing with said step-family. Step-mom has always been kind to me, but there is a bit of a cold distance between us. We don't see them often. We talk on FB :tongue_smilie:. Anyway, when she posts stuff to my wall about how much she loves her kids and grandbabies, it is just weird to me. Like today she posted one (on my wall) of those cheesy re-posts about how she hasn't always been the best mom, but she loves her kids. But a big part of me is going...what? You don't even know me?! You aren't my mom...and you haven't ever had an occasion to be motherly toward me. She's just someone attached to my family by marriage. I know she doesn't mean anything by it, but I just don't get warm fuzzies AT ALL when I think of her or my dad. And stuff like that just gets under my skin. My brain knows she's just trying to include me in the family. My heart just doesn't feel it and doesn't WANT to be included. :glare: ETA: My mother got remarried when I was very young. My step-dad and his extended family ARE my family. He was my DAD, IYKWIM. So, it just isn't a bias against step-family.

I've been there. It's hard and it DOES feel weird. It will for a while most likely. I hope the rest of your family is as supportive. My mother's family ripped my step-dad apart for moving on. :glare:

I had the 3 of mine in one room for over a year, last year. It worked fine and mine are a lot bigger than yours. (they were 13, 10 and 10 at the time) We had a futon bunk that we removed the futon from and put a queen bed in the space under the top bunk. The younger two shared the queen and the oldest was up top. It was tight (We didn't have an extra playroom area) but they survived. If there were a big area for all their junk it would have been even better! We may be going back to a similar arrangement after we move.