dulci I'm so happy for you, yes the Lord will lead you though. I'm not on the site very much anymore because I just don't have the time. But was looking around today and saw your wonderful porch. (before) and then read your story. God can always find someone worse off them myself and your story has just inspired and renew me. (I guess I was setting here at work feeling sorry for myself) I too have a wonderful Daughter and three grandchildren but her choice of men has not been the best so I moved them into my home. Seems all I pay for is Attoney fee for her and now one for the grandchildren. Ex is really bad man, But I know that God will find and end to this 2 year battle where we all can be happy in the end. Sorry. Just wanted to say God Bless you and please keep the pictures coming. I so enjoy watching your progress. I agree with Seamommy on the PURPLE DOOR AWARD God bless Betty from Indiana

You're only suppose to use the print postage for the day it is being mailed. If you print postage for the box you are sending and then print postage for the same amount to include for your return the PO can and probably will refuse it. I had someone send me preprinted postage sticker dated for the day they purchased it and I asked the Postmaster if I could use the stamp to send it package back, they told me no and the reason is: if you purchase the postage preprinted their way of thinking is that it is THEN used because it is supposed to only be good the day of purchase. It is best to send stamps in the amount you need, the have all different ones: 3.95, 4.95, up to I THINK they told me 16.95. OR you could just get 1.00 ones then add the smaller amounts to get the total you need. Tammy, Carmen, Amy....I am sorry but I am such a ditzoid. You know how when you tell yourself NOT to forget something over and over and over, and THEN you usually forget anyway? Well when I was packing plants Monday all day I kept telling myself NOT to forget the Thalia, well I was out watering today and I realized I forgot the Thalia. SOOOOOO if we are in another swap together I will remember I owe you all some and include it then, even if we get partnered in a swap or something I will remember to include it. I am sorry, I haven't been feeling well and I wanted to make sure I got that package shipped Monday and I busted my hinny off to do it and my SO even helped me this time which just does NOT happen. It just slipped my mind by the time I had the box what I thought was ready to ship, UPS closes at 6:30 and I got there about 6:10 so I was pushing it. I KNOW I had till Wednesday to ship but I needed to do it Monday. OK, don't hurt me, I really do try so hard sometimes. :/ Fran

My impression is that most are happy with the Freedom fridges from what I've read here for a while. I was hoping to hear from an owner. Thankx lascatx for the feedback. It's a huge ticket item, even going with Liebherr. And then there's the inevitable removal and install drama. Panels vs no panels. Will new panels match the old kitchen. What if I want to reno eventually, why lock that in, etc. At 10 what's the life expectancy? 5 more? Unclear since I think this was one of the early units built by Amana when Viking fist acquired them. If so, and it's bascially a souped up Amana, it could have many more years of service. But if a new control board is $1500 vs $6K for a Liebherr $8K for a Freedom it's still a tough call. One of the SZs would be ideal but after hearing a repair guy make a crack about all the blown SZ controller boards after an outage in the "fancy" neighborhood across the river some years ago I'd really like some RL experiences before I decide to go there.

Jannie, not all 20 year olds are irresponsible ;) I always, always, ALWAYS make sure my cats are in my sight as I walk out the door if I'm leaving them for any considerable amount of time. I call them both, and go on a hunt if one doesn't come. I make sure they have a ton of food, and any and all water that is available for them to drink (including toilets) are available and accesible, incase something should happen and we don't make it back when we think we will. I always have someone on stand-by to go check in if by chance we are gone longer than a weekend unplanned. If we leave longer than a weekend, we get someone to come in for sure, though. And I always call in and check, I'm like an over-protective mother that way. I always check on my animals when we're out of town. I call the friends watching the dogs, to make sure they're behaving and not causing them too much trouble, and I call the cat sitter to make sure they're eating and haven't gotten into anything at home. I think we'd be royally hooped for vacations if we didn't have friends around to watch the furkids. I'm too untrusting of people, even a petsitter. Unless I've been around them and seen them interact with their own animals on a few occasions, I'm uncomfortable with leaving my little furry ones in their care, because really, who knows. God forbid the day I have kids and it's time for them to go to school, lol. I'm going to be wreck.