cheyhorn's Profile

I think what most people object to about the suburbs is the boring, sameness of all the houses. If my house was beige and looked like every third one on my street, I don't think I could find it. My husband, daughter and I live in Central Austin. We stay in the city and rent because there are better public school options central. My husband and I want to move to Seattle eventually. We'd be open to a suburb like Issaquah Highlands mentioned earlier because it has an urban feel with urban conveniences. We have a similar development in Austin called the Mueller Development. It is in the city, though, in what was considered a dodgy area but is now up-and-coming. It has a great neighborhood feel with parks but also with urban conveniences within walking distance. We used to live adjacent to it and really enjoyed all it brought to the surrounding neighborhoods.

I started working from home after years of retail management. At first I found it a bit isolating. I try to get out of the house for lunch with friends at least once a week. That helps. Also, I travel for business frequently which I actually find very energizing. I am always glad to meet face-to-face when I can. Also, I do think you have to be fairly disciplined when you work from home. It helps me to define my workspace and work time. I leave my home office about the same time everyday, just like I would a real office. I make work/life balance a priority. That's not to say that I don't answer emails during the evening or the weekend occasionally!

Beware of renting from a first-time landlord! Especially one renting out his own house. When we moved in, we found he had left a car in the single car garage and expected us to store it. Part of the reason we rented the house was for the garage. We argued the point and he finally moved it a month after we moved in. I think he thought he was "letting us stay" in his house so he felt like he could do that. His "handyman" didn't know how to fix anything and when our A/C went out--we live in Central Texas, A/C is a requirement--it took him a week to get it replaced and he acted like we broke the 20 year old system. He did allow us to paint a few walls but prior to moving out, he would not call or email me back about what color to re-paint so we left it. He was so rude about it when we moved out! He kept our entire $2200 deposit and tried to charge us for things that were his responsibility as a homeowner and not stipulated by our lease. Never again.

Our landlord now has things fixed before we even ask sometimes. She also did not charge us a pet deposit and we have 4 cats! She owns several properties so she knows what she's doing. It's refreshing renting from someone who actually cares about her properties and her tenants. I will never rent from someone renting their own home out again!

I am so sorry about your dad! I hope he feels better soon. I had my own mishap this past weekend. I accidentally sliced my finger open with a handsaw while cutting lower branches off my Christmas tree. It bled like crazy but no stitches thankfully. I did, however, have to get a tetanus shot. I highly recommend getting a tree from someone who can cut the end and lower branches for you!

Thank you, hyzen! I completely agree! I am happy to hear from any of my friends and family, in any way they choose to communicate. My husband was laid off from his job the Friday after Election day so we're being very conservative this Christmas and sending e-cards rather than our usual paper cards, and giving DIY gifts. It's the thought that counts.

I do read reviews on Amazon and Expedia, as well as Cnet for electronics. However, I skip Yelp because I think it is mainly filled with haters and I don't like how their system works. Only "trusted" reviewers, i.e reviewers who post all the time, posts show up. Reviews by folks who post infrequently are not considered "trusted" are usually filtered out, whether they are good or bad. According to Yelp, it is supposed to filter out fake reviews. As a former retailer, I know first-hand that it filters legitimate reviews quite a lot.

Diny, I've never heard of movers not moving anything from Ikea! My movers didn't make me sign a waiver about moving anything. I'd choose different movers next time.

The coolest thing about my best friend's house, aside from it being two-story(!), was their massive collection of VHS movies. This was 1983 when not everyone even had VCRs. They had two and they had all their movies either in a book or on index cards. It was so cool!

You cannot bleach Dupioni silk and sunlight will degrade the fabric over time. I assume they are lined? If the company will not exchange them for you, either sell them or find a way to make the color work.

I just saw one today. I got a typical email that someone repinned one of my pins and mentioned me on another pin. When I clicked to look at their board, it was just advertisement for weight loss drugs or info. I hope Pinterest finds a way to let you report spam like that.