MaryPoppins;46598779 said:
Hi Friends,
Hoping everyone is okay from Sandy. I saw
Buffy, Samantha and CC are ok.
Hey
Dona and Christina (in NJ) .... how are you. Saying some prayers you are okay.
Sorry I haven't been on the thread! Just got busy with lots of home projects. Finally have my sons' rooms reorganized/decorated. My youngest son moved into my oldest son's room and had to patch walls/paint/change curtains .... My oldest son moved into the spare bedroom that was originally our nursery. It had an ABC quilt I had made hanging on the wall and my oldest said the "baby stuff" had to go!
My husband said his room looks too nice to let him live there when he comes home!
How nice to be getting projects done around the house! Isn't it a great feeling??
I didn't have school yesterday due to the storm. The weather actually wasn't that bad. I am not happy that we will be making up this day already in June and the winter weather is not here yet ....
We were off Monday and Tuesday and honestly I think they were both a total waste. The storm didn't even show its face here until after 2pm on Monday and other than some folks without power, our town wasn't at all affected by the storm. So we have already used up 2 of our 3 built-in snow days and it is only 11/1 !!
My middle son has been working on his college applications and has been accepted to two colleges so far. And on Monday, we got a notice that he is to be interviewed for a scholarship in early December. We have been working on his resume and gathering his recommendations. Say some prayers he gets it.
Definitely praying for all of that. DD has to have her Common App and such into her two top college choices by 11/15 for early (non-binding) decision. And of course, she wants to throw out some other apps as well, to a few reach schools and maybe another safety school. I've urged her to organize herself this weekend and get it all in order. I know that she is on top of things, but can tend to procrastinate.
Is your middle son a high school senior? If so, what kind of resume is he creating? I haven't heard of this for seniors and am just curious if DD should be working on something like this.
Pam .... I love your hair! I like the new length. And you should be so proud of DD's work with her SATs! And I am so sorry about the swimming situation.
Thanks.... still not used to the length. I am SUPER proud of DD's SAT scores. They beat anything DH and I did back in the dark ages! Swim situation seems to be settling down.... not really resolving in any great fashion, but she seems to be getting used to the "status quo" as it were.
I haven't been on track lately. I just can't seem to "get it together". I am running the Zoo 5K this Saturday. I haven't been running for a week due to the weather so I am sure it won't be a "pretty" run on Saturday.
But you will be beating every person who never got off their couch on Saturday! Go you!!
Do it for fun and exercise, rather than a time.
I am agreeing with Lisa, I think the BL thread is turning into a chat thread. Perhaps is will turn over in January. I remember there were a lot of people on the January BL thread. I do want to say THANK YOU to everyone who helps run this thread!
Have a great day everyone .... and may the weightloss fairy follow your every move!
I think our "core" group will probably need to chat and re-evaluate after 1/1 and see what kind of response we have. And I second your "thank you" to our fearless leaders and organizers!!
Hi everyone!!
I feel like I haven't been here in forever. Its been crazy busy around here the past few weeks. Today is pay day so its the usual grocery and bill paying. Then Friday we're going back to Tampa and picking up our meat market order. This amount of meat should cover us for a few months.
I also have to finish getting the house in order. We're heading to Sanford airport Saturday afternoon and picking up my friend. She'll be staying with us for a week. Alan is also taking tomorrow and going to making some calls to custom home builders. Long story short we'll be out of this house in a little over a year. Its a long story but basicaly boils down to that I was lied to by the builder and the HOA. We got behind one quarter on our HOA and they were threatening to put a lein on my house. I got it taken care of but that was the straw that broke the camel's back.
We're thinking about moving to Clermont and building a home out there. Its going to take some time to get the particulars worked out but I've finally decided that if I want a home I want it to my specifications, not a cookie cutter type. I know we'll possibly still run int the HOA headache. Unfortunately in all the looking I've been doing at houses in different areas you just can't get away from it here in the state of FL.
I'll have a better idea if I really wanna do this in the next few weeks. Yes, its going to mean having to move again and selling our TX house after our tenant's lease is up next year but I'm willing to do it. Paying taxes on two houses is a pain in the you know what.
I'm hoping another matter will be taken care of and resolved within the next few months that will also help us financially. I'm being optimistic right now.
Wow! Lots going on with you! Makes me double glad we didn't move into a neighborhood with a HOA! I think the rules, for the most part, would be nice, but I would hate the fees and the rules that I thought were silly.... like no clotheslines and such.
Best of luck building a new home. We built our home almost 20 years ago. Is is perfect? Nope. It was our first house and we just didn't know enough.... plus sometimes you have to live with something a while before deciding if it works or not. I did a poor job planning our kitchen layout (yes... the "experts" were telling me I wouldn't like it, but I didn't listen
) and so within 4 years we were doing a minor remodel that included ripping out and rebuilding a kitchen closet, changing over a corner of counter top and cabinets and adding a big island. Fortunately it wasn't too pricey at the time.
My biggest pieces of advise.... put your money into things that are difficult and expensive to change/upgrade later... like overall size of the house, kitchen layout
, number of bedrooms, doors and windows. And save money on things that are easy to replace later.... carpeting, light fixtures. In fact, if the mortgage company would have allowed it, I would have lived with plywood floors for the first year while we saved a bit more for hardwood floors. But the mortgage wouldn't go through on an "unfinished property" so we weren't able to do that.
We also were surprised at certain things that were NOT included in the builder's price and we had to add ourselves later.... but in the long run it worked out better.... we got exactly what we wanted and didn't have to rush on a decision during the building. Things like bathroom mirrors, towel rods, tp holder come to mind first... but we also got a corner shower stall in the master bathroom that didn't have an enclosure! Fortunately we also had a traditional tub/shower in another bathroom and we used that for a few months until we saved enough to have the shower done.
When it comes to electric.... add more!! More outlets, more recessed lights, more switches.... these are all a PITA to add later... and no one ever says "I wish my house was darker!"
Good luck!!
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Happy Thursday and Happy November friends!!
At work here again today with no students until 10:30 am!
Morning was a crazy rush, rush today and I forgot to put the meat in the crockpot AGAIN! I thought of it when I was making coffee and should have stopped then and done it, but got distracted by making breakfast and lunches. I am not usually so crazy in the morning, but my shorter hair is throwing me for a loop.... I am not used to it and not sure what to do with it! Plus DD is having some shoulder pain and needed me to do her kinesio taping this morning and that really takes some time. DH is home today.... I will call in a bit and have him put it in.
Got groceries in the house last night, so we won't starve over the weekend!
Tonight is pulled pork sandwiches, tomorrow night is hamburger soup. Still not sure about the swim schedule this weekend. I do not think that DD is registered for this meet, but she thinks that she is, so I need to investigate that. Will decide the weekend meals after that is settled.
Off to find a recipe to post here! I haven't posted one in about a week, so I think it is time! TTYL...............P
Prayers for fast healing... start pumping in the calcium and vitamin D!! The hardest part is going to be his patience at obeying the doctor's orders.
) and went as a Disney-lovin' fool! 
Hope you get some fun trick or treaters tonight. 
He may get a winter of bike riding or swimming. 
Your hair looks so pretty and full. I love the color, too. People pay a lot of money to have beautiful hair like yours! 
It was so funny though, we got back into town and he says to me, "Since we survived that trip, my parents want to invite you to Thanksgiving," and it was just so funny that he felt he had to wait til after the trip to ask that 
