I like the rug you are now buying, I actually prefer it over the first choice. All Fed ex orders have tracking and I know from personal experience when something doesn't get delivered, Fed ex investigates, esp with something worth $1500. In my case, it was tires for Dh's corvette, about $1200 for 2 tires. I had calls from fed ex and then a fed ex rep who showed up at my door to get a statement- there were multiple cases of lost deliverys that week in my neighborhood. Anyway, a neighbor 4 streets over found our tires along with a few other packages at a house where the residents were out of town (well, deployed and wife went to her parents). So, I let fed ex know because they were cutting my check the following day. TUrns out there was a substitute driver who just wanted to be done for the day so he started dumping packages wherever so he could return (they are supposed to come back with an empty truck). I would stay on top of this next rug. I would want tracking info asap. How long does your cc allow you to file? It would probably be be based on your original charge, not todays date since you were not refunded and then charged anew. I hope you bring us good news and pictures of the rug in your dining/reading room.

Beverly--thanks for the input. What do you mean by "Kind of brutal in its details," concerning the light I was considering for the entry? I like the center left light you have shown, but I don't believe it would work in our entry as the ceiling is two stories tall. Need something that will hang from a chain. The RH pendant I choice for over the island would be the smallest at 7" diameter, 11 3/4" high. Our island is approximately 103"x50" with 8' ceilings. I would go with 2 pendants. The next size up is 13" x 21". Thinking that would be too large. Not feeling the RH pendant for the dining room. DH and I went to light store this afternoon. We were told that for a 10' ceiling, the fixture should be at least 30" tall. Width depends on the width of the table. Ours is 42" wide, so they said fixture should be around 24". We went through catalogs and ended up fining one in the showroom that appealed to both of us, was at the right price, height was correct, but width was too wide. They suggested hanging at 35" above table rather than 30". What do you think of this one? It's from Artcraft. Think I will continue to look...

Oh, gosh, the pics of all your former-dining-rooms-turned libraries are wonderful! I, too, think that it's a great idea . . . if you're not using your present dining room. Repurposing space to fit your needs is so darn practical. For us, though, it wouldn't work. We eat every dinner in our dining room and our weekend breakfasts, too. And, I ENJOY having sit-down dinners with friends and family. Most are fairly casual, but I enjoy sitting around the table for a good couple of hours, chatting and enjoying food, friends and family. I'm not Italian or Spanish, but I do admire their dedication to that time you spend eating and enjoying the company of each other . . . and we're not overweight or over-eating because of it, either ;^D. We just had a big taco party here the other night and I loved having so many people laughing and talking around my table. We have a kitchen peninsula with very comfy stools, but I prefer looking at my family while we eat . . . instead of the tv or the kitchen cabs (LOL!), so we limit it to occasional quick lunches or snacks. But, getting back to dining-rooms-turned-libraries, I agree that if you're not into entertaining around a dinner table or you have a table in your kitchen for family dinners, this sounds like the ideal solution. Now I'm off to see Justgotabme's slide show! Lynn

Well this thread has almost reached its end. I think that dianalo and lax have so many good points. Lots of others also but I can't go back again and make note of all of them. For the most part the parents are trying so hard and are doing the best they know how. I don't know how anyone can ask or want more. I made a point of saying we ate dinner together every night. We did. And that it didn't matter where you ate together ...in a tent or where ever. We talked and laughed and cried and sometimes I yelled and stormed at the kids too. It was not all perfect and rose colored. My DH and I did the best we knew how given the patterns we grew up with .I think we did a great job. Our kids are well into adult-hood now. They have a range of behaviors that are full spectrum from in/out of jail and mental illness to productive well-adjusted employed to alcoholic to sweetest and kindest to most self-centered impossible out of control anger...this is the same person...all in this one family...it is also parts of the other 2 children. We all ate at the same table and loved and learned together. All of the children have told us in recent weeks how much we mean to them and how much they love us...while one or another was exhibiting the above behaviors in the past months . As parents there is simply no job that is harder or more heartbreaking or more rewarding. Most of us try to do our best. We ate together and I am the first to admit that sometimes we would have been better off being in separate rooms. So be it. We did the best we could and the kids know this. I know this...I still feel guilty every day for the times that I made big mistakes. I am trying to let that guilt go. But when the phone rings in the middle of the night...it all comes back. This started as a conversation about the DR. Yes we have had one since 1979. Has it made a difference in my life or DH's or our children's ? No. Has the time we have spent with them reading stories in their room ? Yes...more than any other time ever ever spent they still all talk about the books that we read them. Time spent and the love generated in that time... still none of it is a guarantee . c