Vortex, have you been to/tried Stew Leonard's for your grocery needs, yet? My mother used to go to the Danbury store, and my cousin was a chef there before opening his own business in CT, but they may have the meat you need.

We rolled into the driveway at 3:45 a.m., Monday, and I had to be to work at 8. And with the time change form west to east coast, and DST, I have one confused kid.

The Stew Leonard's in Norwalk was IMPRESSIVE from my memory.

It was all true, but maybe not very nice or kind.

Stephanie, it was all true. The court, and the father of your children should deal with the facts whether kind or not. I'm sorry that the process is so painful.

billytea and Juliana, thank you for bringing in the joy!

sumi, my sister has had diverticulitis for years. Mostly she watches her diet and takes medication.

Hil, I hope you were able to finally get some pain free rest.

I can't remember if I said this last night, but billytea, I love watching your beautiful boy grow. He is clearly such a delight to you and Wallybee, and he's so delightful he delights those of us on the other side of the world.

Erin! Been thinking about you, love! I figured you must be sick. Are you feeling better now?

Earplugs + Xanax = prettty damn good sleep. Just a little groggy this morning.

Hil, I hope you got some sleep last night.

Yay, Maria!

The Stew Leonard's in Norwalk was IMPRESSIVE from my memory.

oh my, yes. Was a highlight when visiting my sister who lived in Norwalk at the time.

smonster, you doing HG today? Where are they HQ-ing?

I am not - they have a job trailer on Andry next to the Global Green houses.

Nora, a clarification to the taxability of mortgage cancellation of date--at this point it ends 12/31/2012. Obama has proposed an extension through 2015 in his FY13 budget, but nothing has been approved. If you are thinking about doing something, my accountant's advice to me was to consult a real estate attorney ASAP.

The relevant legislation is called the Mortgage Debt Relief Act of 2007. I apologize for giving you misinformation earlier.

That's OK, Maria! No need to apologize. I've brought my credit union into the loop and hopefully we can get this done by the end of the year anyway. They seem supportive, but I suspect them of being nice on the phone but dragging this out to get as much money as possible from us.

Banks are evil. I haven't discussed it because it is just crazy making, but I have been going through mortgage ordeals for about 3 years now. We got behind back in 2008. When we were able to make payments again, they wouldn't take them. They said we had to apply for a modification. Over the last 2-1/2 years we have jumped through every hoop they have put in front of us. We have gone through 6 modification applications. Always turned down for some reason. We make too much; we make too little; the latest one was because we are not under water.

We went to mediation yesterday. The lawyers and mediator present were all surprised for some reason, but I wasn't. Wells Fargo was only at mediation because it is required by law. Since my house is worth more than I owe they want the house. Period. At this point they consider the arrears to be over $100,000. The only thing I can do is battle the NPV calculation, which is what I am trying now. We have been ready, willing, and able to make mortgage payments for 3 years, but they want the house. When I finally do get a modification I have to explore suing the bank for all the 10s of thousands in bogus charges that have been tossed in the balance. They have refused to give us any accounting or even a pay off figure.

They bring out the rage in me unlike anything else in my life.