Hoping you have better luck on getting good prices on your repairs. Tradespeople are going crazy lately with their prices. We are lucky that my husband has a lot of connections, but we are still looking for painters. Every single one we have contacted wants 3 to 4 times the going rate from one month ago. The bad thing is that December is generally a slow month, and contractors are hungry, so they usually lower prices. I guess they have decided to try to make a month's worth of money with one or two jobs. We will do it ourselves before we pay those outrageous prices. We had some pretty high prices for other things also, but we were able to find people who are still asking normal prices for most of it. We had one guy who wanted $29,000.00 to install a new AC unit, and we provide the unit. NEXT! All the ducts and wiring are already done; the unit just needs to be set, hooked up, and coolant added. It is less than an hour of work, and we know what it usually costs. He kept saying, "But I'm really good." I know it is frustrating, but keep shopping.

I really enjoy Love, Actually every year.

I am glad that you were able to change your tickets to get in the opera you want to see. I hope you have good luck with Dulles.