11 minutes ago, Caroline said:

 Across town there are a few of the open concept type homes that I always associate with the South. 

Interesting, the ones around here I associate with the west/southwest.  They are "cookie cutter" homes in planned neighborhoods. Every single house is the same - you can pick and choose which "features" you want, but all homes have to sort of match for whatever stupid HOA dystopian reason.  My house was remodeled into the "open kitchen" and I hate it so much. I want to be able to use my kitchen for cottage foods and sell my pickles/kimchi/salsa/tomato/bbq sauce out of my garage. But I can't, because I can't close the kitchen and prevent pet contamination. Even though the cats do not go on the counter, we clean everything, everything is temped and done correctly and we both have ServSafe and food handlers and alcohol handling cards. 

11 minutes ago, Caroline said:

I also prefer the intimacy of a more traditional home and I also don't want to spend a fortune heating or cooling the house.

I've found that windows are the biggest culprit. We keep our house pretty cool though. 

11 minutes ago, Caroline said:

If I'm not using a space I don't want to heat it. I am a fan of more than one bathroom though. When we renovated our house when we moved in 20 plus years ago I insisted we add another bathroom. One bathroom is never enough unless you live alone.  What if someone's sick? What if a toilet backs up? I need more than one for sure, and I don't mind cleaning in general, so that's not a problem. 

Same. Give me a bathroom for every bedroom, plus one for guests near the main area. We pay for a house cleaner though, because I would rather spend my time doing other things than trying to make my house as clean as I want it to be. 

11 minutes ago, Caroline said:

My other must-have for a house was a two car garage. We use the garage for its intended purpose and are lucky enough to have attic storage above it. I don't get people in our neighborhood who have a garage and don't use it, especially in winter. 

I live in what is arguably the most wintery of the winter states and so many people don't use garages as intended. Me included, because the garage is where I keep my kayak, paddleboard, bikes, and a bunch of other stuff.  I'd rather people park on the street and stash their stuff in garages than renting storage units.  Storage units are the worst waste of space for urban planning. 

1 hour ago, keepercjr said:

Right.  Art doesn't want to work.  Instead they want SSI so they don't have to work. 

 

They didn't get it because it was medically necessary.  They (the 2 of them) spend the majority of their day in bed so they wanted an adjustable one so they could sit up and work on their laptops. 

This is just so sad. I wish Art had a mother to barge in and remind them that they are way too young to live like this, and had things to offer the world. Or at least kick them into gear and get them to a real therapist, and have them follow through with treatment, which should absolutely include things like "shower once a day," "leave the house and get fresh air" and "take medication to treat underlying chemical imbalances. 

38 minutes ago, Ozlsn said:

I think the thing that makes me saddest about this is Chris Jeub is probably looking at all this and using it with the younger siblings as an example of why you should not defy him God because you'll end up like Art. 

Art has to be aware of this too and it makes you wonder why they haven't tried harder to attain even a modicum of "worldly" success--you would think it would be important to them to prove that despite their crappy upbringing they managed to achieve some measure of happiness/prosperity.  Like the protagonists in The Glass Castle or Educated, that we've mentioned before.  But it's all poor me, I had to change diapers and look after my gazillion siblings instead of going to school, thus I can never make anything of myself.      

17 hours ago, Maggie Mae said:

I hate open concept houses almost as much as I hate Abbie's cluttery "style." I hate that open concept became a trend and I feel like I've been screaming at clouds since like 2008 when it first started being "the trendy way." It seemed like at the time everyone wanted it so that they could see the TV from everywhere. But it's so impractical. Noise just bounces around. Ever go to a party at a house with just the big cavern with a kitchen in the corner? It get so noisy that people are shouting at each other. Vs a normal house, where people can go into other spaces to socialize in smaller groups - you can have some people in the kitchen, some in the living room, some in the family room. And it's just so frustrating when you need to find a way to close the kitchen to keep dogs and kids out. 

I also think braggie's fridge is dumb. It comes with a pitcher for water. Great. I can buy a $35 pitcher with a filter and fill it in the sink and get the same result. 

I live in a neighborhood of Cape Cod houses, raised ranch houses, and a few Raeside Dame houses. It's about 50 years old with lots of trees and vegetation, yards for kids to run around in lots between each house, and walking trails behind every home. It's a fun place for kids to safely explore the outdoors.

 Across town there are a few of the open concept type homes that I always associate with the South. Very large, all the rooms open to one another and the two story foyer must be a nightmare to heat in a cold climate like ours. That type of house isn't very typical where I live. I imagine they are quite loud. I just need more of a division between public and private spaces in a home.

I also prefer the intimacy of a more traditional home and I also don't want to spend a fortune heating or cooling the house. If I'm not using a space I don't want to heat it. I am a fan of more than one bathroom though. When we renovated our house when we moved in 20 plus years ago I insisted we add another bathroom. One bathroom is never enough unless you live alone.  What if someone's sick? What if a toilet backs up? I need more than one for sure, and I don't mind cleaning in general, so that's not a problem. 

My other must-have for a house was a two car garage. We use the garage for its intended purpose and are lucky enough to have attic storage above it. I don't get people in our neighborhood who have a garage and don't use it, especially in winter. 

My hair is a deep dark brown with gray streaking through. I had always dyed it, since my 20's. I would get highlights, lowlights, you name it. It always seemed to dye too warm and orange-ish, and I'd have to use blue shampoos and try and get it done ashier the next time. Well, as luck would have it, a few years ago I developed an allergy to several types of dye. I was so sad, because I was afraid my gray would make me look old. My hair is finally grown out and the original color is this super dark brown and the grays look like- ashy highlights! It's much more flattering with my skin tone and I'm about to be a grandma for the first time anyway so I'm at peace with the graying. All that money and effort, I wish I would've had the confidence to just be myself when I was younger.