Misty is definitely not keen on her 'treads'! That picture was the funniest and may eventually end up in a frame. When we first put the booties on, we put them on her first and then put our winter coats on. I went to close the closet door and it didn't close properly. When I looked down to see what the problem was, this is what I saw: The kitchen is usually NOT neat :-) In the original house, where the kitchen table is now was the dining portion of an L shaped living room/dining room. There was a window where you can see the doorway on the right side behind the chair and the main kitchen window looking into the backyard started above where you can see the dishwasher by the stove. The addition we put on runs behind that side, so the window to the right of the table became the doorway to the pantry and the window above the dishwasher and sink is an opening looking into the living room. The original living room became the dining room after we put up the wall - and doorway to the dining room - on the left side of the table. That left a long, narrow kitchen that would have had no windows! So the window you see there now had to be knocked through the outer wall as part of the renovation. That gave it a nice wide windowsill that is perfect for plants! There are counters and cabinets on both sides of the kitchen, with the counters on the left side being short - 30" tall - and the ones on the right 36" tall. The shorter counter makes it easy for me to sit to work at the counter if need be. There are sinks on both sides too - as well as one in the pantry. And there is a fridge in both the kitchen and the pantry. The pantry has a long counter on one side with no base cabinets to make it really easy to use that surface as a work space - that's where I did all the drawing work for the course I took last winter. When I planned the kitchen, my intent was to make it as efficient and usable as possible for as long as possible given the many unknowns about where my health issues will go. So far it's worked quite well. We did think, when we moved in, 'At last, lots of storage space in the kitchen' but we could still use more space....:-) One of the odd things in the kitchen is that the floor is uneven just about where the picture starts. The old stairs to the basement went down under the cabinets at the entrance to the kitchen. The new stairs go down outside the kitchen and, when the old stairway was filled in with new joists, it became very obvious that the original house had sunk on one side because the joists would not meet on the level! So there's a funny dip in the kitchen floor...

Snookums - Thanks! I was amazed at how they made the stairs.. no forms or anything... they just shot a pile of gunite in that area and did the rest with a shovel and a squeegie thing-a-mabob... from time to time they'd shovel more gunite on top and then level it out again... I'm happy with them, but in retrospect wish I had made the first step a little wider to accomodate a little chair, but no biggie. If our backyard was bigger I would have gone for a baja shelf, but didn't want to sacrifice the play and swimming area. We're in Lake Forest. Overall, I'm happy with Mission so far, except for one guy (Our first P.M.). He seemed a little disinterested to me, and not so "customer friendly". I was on the verge of letting the management know about it, when voila - The manager showed up at my house to look at our progress and let me know that our P.M had been fired because they received one too many customer complaints about him. Anyway, they (Mission Pools) have more than made things up to me, and now the new PM is just what I expected from them.. I know that Mission has the rep of being a little more than other companies, but in reality their bid came very close to the other ones we got (Swan and California), and Mission's design was better (especially the hardscape plan - fireplace, ret walls). I toured about seven or eight of their projects nearby (Nellie Gail, Bear Brand, Mission Viejo) and was very impressed, especially with their mason that does rock-work.... Longwinded, sorry... but so far so good.. I'll keep you posted. Next step is for the mason to come in and start the grottos! -Pags

Thanks for all the compliments! mrtahiti, I don't think your question is rude at all, that is what this forum is all about. The pool is 30 X 14 at its widest. The paperwork is not easy to reach, so the amount isn't exact, but I believe it was around $5,500. We did pay a little extra to have extra abalone shells added, love the way they sparkle in the sun! I was so unsure of all of our decisions along the way, but we are very happy with how it turned out. We have a small yard and didn't have much flexibility in the shape of the pool. Thanks to everyone who posted pictures that helped us in choosing the pavers and the Pebble Tec color! :)

If you do go to the front for a blessing, make sure to cross your arms over your chest (think putting your hands on the opposite shoulders) as a sign that you aren't receiving communion. Even Catholics do that at times if they aren't going to receive communion at that time. And a small gift would be appropriate. If you've never been to a Catholic mass, it's gonna be a little different! When DH was an altar boy serving at a funeral (the priest picked a couple of boys out of class) and he hadn't served at a funeral before, my DH asked the priest, "What do I do?" The priest told him....Fold your hands and look holy. LOL Can ya look holy? rofl I'm sure you're gonna have fun.