Believe me, you will. 24/7 of her is going to wear thin on him. He is putting up with it now because many men just don't want to get into. But there will come a breaking point, I truely believe and she will either have to change, or he will leave. That is what in my heart I feel will happen. Just do as Roo said. When you stand above it in Grace, her darkness of character will be even more insufferable. And, that is not your choice, that is her choice. She could choose to be kind and loving and she, thus far, has not.

When my grandmother came to America, her older siblings were here already, and had a drygoods store in NYC .. where the younger siblings worked. She said that when her sister wanted to talk to her in Yiddish or Polish in the store, she would tell her, "We're Americans now, we have to speak English! You don't want customers to think we're greenhorns, do you?" At home, they spoke a mixture of languages, especially after they all had families, depending on whether they wanted the children to understand or not (LOL). Bobbi - There's a discussion in my AARP singles group, about becoming an Ex-Pat to save money. I said I wouldn't want to live in a "compound" with Americans & other English-speakers, not feeling totally connected to everything going on around me.

My first apt. was a huge bachelor suite 5 minutes from the airport where I worked. It was bright and cheery with a big balcony. I filled the balcony with plants from the store. I had a ball talking across balconies and sharing my day and jokes with a kind, elderly man that was lonely. His wife had died and they didn't have any children. He liked to smoke on his balcony. He was kind of like an adopted grandpa after awhile and came and helped me with little things. I remember shortly after moving in I tried to bake banana bread for the first time, but it wasn't baking right. I couldn't figure out what the problem was. It was baking on top, but was still runny in the middle! Ernie came over and told me I needed a new element in the oven. He took the banana bread dough home. (He snuck it when I wasn't looking). Next day after work I arrived home to find a loaf of baked banana bread and a note by my door. Ernie had arranged for the landlady to have my oven fixed for me and had finished baking the loaf! So sweet. He got to know my schedule a bit and I got to know his. He liked to watch a regular tv show at night and then his light would go off. He would watch for my car to pull in and then wave at me. One day I went away for the weekend, but there wasn't a wave when I got back. Ernie died during the night. My apt. building was never quite the same after that. I'd still find myself checking to make sure Ernie's light was on.

Decoenthusiast- thank you! Good tips! I will be replacing the cornices with sheer drapes down the road but they’ll stay for now. You don’t like either of these styles or you don’t like the lamps on the table period? I guess I don’t have to have a sideboard table there at all but there’s very limited space for end tables with lamps - the only place would be where the tall plant is currently. The couch is a large sectional. If I removed the sideboard, I’d have to do away with the plant probably. I don’t love the idea of a table and lamp blocking the windows looking out to our pool, but also want a visually pleasing setup. Pinkmountain- thanks! I think you’re right. I just need to find a place to put the existing frames that are there. I hate not having any pictures of our kids in the living room. Those were previously on a mantle on either side of a TV. I’m sure I’ll find a place for them elsewhere. Wonder if I could get with a single picture frame there, or do you think get rid of them all? Suggestions for other things to put on there? I love plants in vases but with the large fiddle leaf tree in the corner already I don’t know how I’d like that. As I mentioned above, I’d be open to doing away with the sofa table and just having the art above the couch and a lamp on an end table…except the only place for it is the place where the tree is. Open to all suggestions!! Also I still really like this set… but I know a lot of feedback here has been to stay away from sets and stick with one large print.