Having an adult son, now 47, who can't hold down a job and is constantly in trouble with the law, I have had to repeatedly tell him "no" everytime he wants to stay with us for "a few days". A few days would become forever.

And it's really important to make your wishes known about who gets what when you are gone. I went through a difficult situation a few years ago when my sister passed away.

She DID make a list and began giving a lot of things away before she got too sick--but her husband didn't care at all about respecting her wishes and there was a lot of fallout over that.

I hope to never encounter anything like that again. I have made one of my sons (no not the 47 yr old) my executor of my estate, such as it is, so that I am confident things will go to the family members I have designated.

Doreen's list is fantastic--I would add to it if I were not so muddleheaded this morning. lol.