[BarbMazz]

Ouch, Greg! You haven't been having fun, have you?!

As far as the house-hunting goes, good luck! We built the house we're in. John acted as General, and he did a really fabulous job. However, it was a lot of work. Until you do a project like this you really don't appreciate the amount of detail and decision-making that goes into a new home. I wouldn't trade the experience for the world, but I might pause before doing it again.

DIY for house stuff is such a good skill to have. As you know, a TON of money is saved that way. John and I have done so many DIY house things I think I couldn't even count them. The house we moved from was 125 years old, and it was originally a boarding house.... you might be able to imagine the amount of work that went into that... we lived for a month walking on rafters in the dining room at one point, and the bath tub was the kitchen sink for another month. Lots of good stories there!

Hopefully, you've had "The Talk" with your daughter about what is flushable and what isn't! Even though our old house had city sewers, the plumbing in the house left something to be desired, and we had more than one sewer backup in the cellar due to "unflushables" being flushed. The point had to be made several times before it sunk in!!

How exciting that you'll be getting a new house! I hope you have luck looking. The real estate market here is really awful...for sellers, but buyers have a good go of it.

I'll look forward to reading what you decide! I am able to get RS on my Blackberry so I'll be reading while I'm gone.