aivilo

My father, age 70, recently divorced my mother, age 70, after almost 50 years of marriage. He left mom for another woman and now is marrying the new woman who is aged 65.

Mom got about 35-40% of everything in the divorce settlement, a small sum, but enough to live another 15 or so years comfortably. Dad has made it clear to his three children that his new wife's family is preferred in all ways. When he dies, he plans that the new wife will get everything, not his three children and four grandchildren. The amount is anticipate to be about $2M, not including four properties.

He is in poor health, I do not expect his to last five more years. I speak with my father weekly, see him every other month. I am surprised by this announcement, and feel that it is unjust. Do we, his children, have any claim to his estate when he dies or do we have to follow what his will states? One last comment, my nephew, a grandson of my father's, is severely handicapped and will need daily, around the clock care for the rest of his life. Mostly, I want that child provided for, something that my father had assured the entire family that he would take care of - until recently.

I am terrified to go to confession. I have never been to confession. I became a Christian and a Catholic as an adult. I took all the classes and was baptized and took communion on the same evening. Because of the adult baptism, apparently I was absolved of all my prior sins.

Well, I have sinned since then, I live with this daily on my mind. I have deep respect for the priest at my church; I cannot bring myself to tell him the sins that I am most ashamed of. I pray to God and to Jesus to forgive me. At mass every week, I have difficulty not reminding myself of these sins and I feel like a fraud.

If I do not go to confession with a priest, and I doomed to Hell? I honestly am terrified about this. It brings me to tears.

My worst sins were at a time that I was struggling with severe depression. Through my doctor, prescriptions and prayer, I feel that I am well again and wouldn't relapse to committing the same sins. This is not an excuse, rather just additional info.

Right now it is 5 F outside, well below freezing. We have cases of pop out in the garage, that is not heated nor well insulated, but they seem to not explode. When I open a can, the pop is indeed slushy and begins to overflow, but they have yet to explode.

There have been a few times in my life that I recall a pop can exploding in the freezer. Why does it explode in the freezer but not in my garage? Also, is it "safe" to bring that pop inside now that it has been outside in this frigid weather for weeks?

The house next door to us has been vacant for six months, the owners moved out of state and the house has not sold. I just discovered that it was foreclosed upon two days ago, but the realtor sign is still up.

What happens next to this property? The house was originally listed for $360k, last I checked it was down to $325k. Will it remain on the market or does it go to auction? If it goes to auction, how low can the price be? Does the bank have to maintain the property - such as mow the grass?

Thanks in advance for any information.

My daughter is about to lose her first tooth. She is a very, very light sleeper. Suggestions for helping out the Tooth Fairy would be greatly appreciated. We don't want to be caught in the middle of playing the part!

Also, what seems to be the going rate from the Tooth Fairy these days?

We aren't supposed to re-use water bottles because of bacteria; a dishwasher would remedy that. However, if I re-fill the bottle with filtered water and store it in the refrigerator, is it unsafe? Do chemicals actually leach into the water from the plastic more than they would if the bottle were brand new? I have read that Nalgene is now considered unsafe as well, for the same leaching reason.

It was in the early to mid 1970's, and I think it was made by Ralston Purina. Did it taste like Captain Crunch?