J F

It's his birthday in a few weeks. He's 51 going on 35, plays ice hockey, works out every day, and skates a lot. We've been dating 2 months and things are going very well. I want it to be special, but not over the top. I figure I'll keep it under $100.

I'm not big on crowds, but I like cities, I like the countryside, and I love coastal areas and small towns. I prefer small inns over big hotels. Any advice?

She's a short-haired cat.

I'd like to liven it up with out being too clashy. Can I get away with a pattern and if so, what sort? What colors?

that he's been divorced 3 times and has 3 adult children with the 1st two wives who don't talk to him. He's a nice guy - maybe a bit needy, but still nice and very smart and loving. This news is so contradictory to what I thought about him and I'm not sure how I feel. I was all set to get more serious with him and he tells me this. If he'd told me sooner I would not have even gone out with him. It feels like bait and switch. Do I spend time getting to know him more or do I cut my losses and shake him loose?

it's one thing to register for gifts for a wedding, but this is an invitiation to co-workers for a housewarming for a 40-something year old who has been living on her own for quite sometime. We know her, but we're not her "friends". Am I being too old fashioned to think this is crass?

Amy Winehouse comes to mind; all of the drug use, and now her racist video.

Then again, I guess we'd have to boycott quite a few artists. But I wonder what you all think.

I received this cat's mother over a year ago. A week after her birth she developed an upper respiratory infection and she almost died. Working with the vet, bottle feeding her, and supplementing her diet, I managed to bring her back to health. Everything was fine at first. She used the litter box with her litter mates. She ate, she thrived. The other two went off to the SPCA and were quickly adopted, but I kept her with me because she still had upper respiratory problems and I didn't want them to put her down...which I think they would have done. She was still a kitten and I could not bear it. I don't know what my plan was then, but not long after this she started to pee in inappropriate places. She ended up destroying 2 leather coaches and a chair. The furniture is gone and now she lives in a crate. I originally purchased the crate with the intent of "retraining" her. After 4 months I released her for a trial period. The 1st week was fine, but then she peed again on another chair...

The house is located in a neighborhood that I really like. It's a single family home, English tudor, 1931, beautiful lot, but questionable electric work, filthy 1970s kitchen, 2 1/2 baths, but only one that is usable, possible water damage in ceiling, leaky basement - likely just from neglect and rainwater.

Pluses: Hardwood floors, pretty archways, no sagging, fireplace, solid windows that just need stripping and painting

The house is listed at 225K. Other properties in area sell for over 300K - some as high as 700K.

What do you think?

The insulation in my roof is old, settled, and may even contain harmful materials. I'd like to have it removed. When I was doing some work in one of the areas, I vacuumed out some of it. I wonder if that can be done on a larger scale to remove all of it and replace it with something more environmentally friendly and more efficient?

Fortunately, I live in an inside row home so only a few of the walls are actually exterior walls. There is no insulation in those walls and really no linear space between the interior and exterior wall. How does one go about insulating a wall like that...is it even possible?

My bedroom is 19.5 x 16.5. It faces NE with two windows overlooking the street and the park. I get some light in the AM, but after that it's kinda dark and on the cool side - especially in the winter of course. I have hardwood floors and a pewter toned metal king sized bed. I'm thinking of going with light colors because it is so dark, but I can't find any inspiration. I'm not the neatest person and I read a lot in bed so there are always books and mags around.

Any thoughts on color schemes? Websites -other than HGTV?

I could really use some help here.

Do I need to strip the old paint off first? If so, what is the best way to go about this? Any thoughts on paint type?

Someone gave me tea in these very cool silky tea bags. I didn't think too much about it until the other day when I started wondering what the bags were actually made of...turns out they're a "food-grade" nylon.

So I wonder exactly what kind of impact these new bags have on the environment from production through disposal.

No doubt the paper ones had issues, I'm just curious about these imparticular.

Anyone?

I install a DVD into the machine and it searches and searches and then finally there is an error message. I used a cleaning disk and managed to watch one movie to completion before it started to stall and act up when we went to watch the extras. Now it won't even accept the cleaning disk.

Is there a simple solution or should I just go buy a new one?

I want to install a small home gym in a 9.5 x 11.5 room (8' ceiling) on my second floor. The purpose of this is two-fold: I need to lose weight, and I need to regain strength and flexibility.

I was thinking of installing a ballet bar or parallel bars and buying a new or used Total Gym (for pilates).

What do you all think? Anyone have experience with Total Gym? Any recommendations on an alternative piece of equipment?

In this situation, the person in question has issues with irrational jealousy. He got pretty drunk after an argument we had and then said a lot of very nasty things to me that were very hurtful. Later, he said he wished he could unsay what he said and that he was sorry, very sorry. I don't know whether to believe him. I think he believes the things he said and I'm finding it hard to forgive him for his words.

My tomoto plants grew nice and tall, produced some fruit and then leaves started turning brown.

It has come to the point where they are just a blur in my peripheral vision. I still hate them. Does anyone pay any attention to them?