We usually go to house parties in our neighborhood. - NM

• Onto NY Eve - do we go out, host a party, or play it dull - and stay home? :) nm Sleeping Thru It!
  • Staying at home and sleeping it in. Have to be at work at - Wannie
  • We are going to the dog track with friends. sm - trose
  • Dull one here, daughter having a freind stay the night - sm -
  • Going to Ruth Chris in Coral Gables and probably walking around - Miracle Mile. Just excitment.
    • Love Ruth's Chris....I go to the one in NMB - North Miami Beach.....Have fun!! n/m
  • going out - marilyn
  • I'll be celebrating! - Misha
    • Good for you. Enjoy yourself. - DS
  • We usually go to house parties in our neighborhood. - NM - LinK
  • We usually stay home but this year we are renting a room downtown (sm) - Me

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and it's like we know everyone in the world! We are booking this place that can hold a lot of kids, so it's not like I'm paying by head count. He's turning 6, so I wasn't going to invite "girls" but ended up inviting both because I know that some parents would get their feelings hurt.  Do you tend to do that? Like invite so and so because so and so knows so and so and if you don't invite so and so, so and so might get offended? LOL

I just sent out the invites and 5 families are invited who have kids that don't really play with my son but I know that if they "found out" we had a party and their kids weren't invited they would be hurt.....

Ahh, the trial and relationships of life! Okay, so why did I do it? Because I hate hurting people's feelings and I don't do it if it is in my power not to do it.  So there.

SEQUIM, Wash. -- It's mostly lavender, with fuchsia trim.

It's safe to say the neighbors don't like this garage/apartment in Sequim.

"It has become the focus of the community," said Brian Juel, who's view now includes the purple building. "Instead of looking at this view we're looking at this house."

But instead of letting it be, they're taking their dislike to a whole new level. Blame the bad economy or the poor housing market -- two dozen neighbors claim all the purple is driving down the value of their homes.

They've signed a petition asking the Clallam County assessor to give them a break on their property taxes because of the boldly colored home nearby.

Andrea Taylor lives next door and every day she opens her curtains and there it is.

"It's taken away from the whole character of the neighborhood," she said of the home. "When we look out and see the pristine, calm quiet and your eyes are just drawn to this purple blob."

Juel said he hasn't had much luck talking with the owners of the purple home.

"Basically it's a one-way discussion -- they haven't returned my e-mails," he said. "We've talked about individual rights but, you know, the rights of the community are kind of trespassed here, also."

Neighbors say the owners live in California and decided to style the exterior after victorian row houses in San Francisco. The owners also plan to build a new victorian home next door in a few years.

No one has moved in and the owners could not be reached for comment.

No covenants exist in this community to force the owners to change their decor. And, after all, beauty is in the eye of - in this case - the owner.

Getting the county assessor to reassess the land in the area could be very difficult to do. Even if the assessor agrees to evaluate the properties, it may not happen until 2010.

in fair condition about 10 years ago, got into some medical problems, and have just now paid off the mortgage.  Hubby and I agreed we would do nothing to the house for remodeling because we wanted to pay it off first, then the medical bills.  I need to know of some websites/magazines/books to start researching for how to go about this.  These will be major repairs - roof, septic, basement, windows, pretty much everything except wiring.  Where do we start?  Maybe hire a general contractor just to do an evaluation and give us recommendations?  Hubby is a handyman but cant seem to get a handle on where to begin.  We would like to do as much of the work ourselves as possible - labor of love and all that...   

Thanks for any and all kind suggestions!

I definitely agree that she should take the dog inside, but if she absolutely refuses maybe you could buy her a well-insulated doghouse so at least the animal will have some protection from the cold.  Animals have survived cold temperatures for years, but they need a place that shelters them from the cold, and she needs to provide that for them!!

I feel for you - vegetarian here :)  One of the big reasons I lost respect for my ex-best friend was the way she treated her animals.  She was always buying dogs and cats and then leaving them at the pound or pawning them off on people.  It really made me think less of her, because what kind of person does that! She also won't admit she did anything wrong!  arrrrgh! It drives me crazy when people don't take proper care of their animals.  They are a big responsibility - not just a cute puppy to show off when it's convenient.  I hope your daughter straightens up, but again, if she doesn't I highly recommend purchasing a good doghouse for the poor dog!

Girls, has your hubby ever gotten you a "practical" gift that you did not appreciate?  This video will put a smile on your face!  Enjoy the lighthearted fun. 

http://bewareofthedoghouse.com/video.aspx

I chuckled reading your post. I have 9 - yes 9 - cats, three of whom are kittens in the range of 7 months old.  I got them all about a week apart and they're each about a month apart in age.  They are refugees from the neighbors really bad decisions.

Nothing in the house is safe any more.  All of my bigger plants are now in hooks on the ceiling - the smaller plants were already there.  It looks silly, but it works.  There is nothing left on any flat surface.  It cracks me up when they get going and chasing each other.   My house is very cat friendly at this point.  I made the choice to put the good furniture in storage for now and I have washable furniture.   There are cat beds everywhere.  My office shelving unit is more cat bed than it is storage and I have 2 beds on the desk beside my computer.

Yes, I am the crazy cat lady. 

Rotel tomatos

Velveeta cheese

taco-seasoned ground beef

Brown ground beef and add taco seasoning (as in making tacos). Melt Velveeta and Rotel in microwave; add meat mixture. I transfer to a crockpot to keep it hot.  Serve with corn chips. This recipe is made with 1 lb ground beef, 1 packet taco seasoning, 1 small can Rotel, and half of a big block of Velveeta. Of course, you can vary it to the amount you need to serve.

the people who lived here before us had a rabbit that got out of the hutch and they couldn't get it back in, so it lived in our yard.  One nice warm evening I took our house cat out with me while I was outside.  I looked away for a minute and in the blink of an eye, the male rabbit was...um...having nonconsensual relations with my poor, terrified female cat.  I could not believe my eyes. Needless to say, my cat stayed in the house after that.  

My 16-year-old daughter was also smoking on and off since last summer.  When her dad actually caught her red-handed, she was grounded indefinitely - no phone or computer and no friends.  She had exercise-induced asthma as a child and I thought I had drilled it into her from little on up how stoopid (censor wouldn't let me spell it right)   smoking would be.  Not to mention that my parents both smoked and mom has severe asthma and dad has the start of emphysema as well as many other health problems. 

Anyway, she started again and finally, I went through her purse and found 2 packs of cigarettes, which I took and she was grounded from seeing the boyfriend, which was far worse than the phone, I think.  She threw a fit because her older brother also smoked in high school, but he was already 18, so not much we could really do about it.  She's only 17.  Plus the fact that she just started oral contraceptives and her doctor told her right to her face no smoking. 

But, I think we are on the right track at the moment.  Good luck to you because this sure isn't fun.