I cleaned out MIL's house, it has certainly motivated me. Should have gotten DH to help, he might have learned something. I admit I am the hoarder but I have realised that he has contributed in more subtle ways. He certainly doesn't have a flexible mind and it's taken me a long time to understand how much that has affected us. I asked teenage DS the other day if he could remember DH ever being the driving force behind sorting through something or getting a new bookshelf or replacing a broken piece of equipment or anything at all. No. In fact we've ended up with bigger problems, and major arguments, because he never wants to do anything. Having a well-functioning organised comfortable home is an ongoing process. (Yes, and a hard balancing act.) DH doesn't get that. Marie, in MIL's case some of the stuff was just things she needed that we didn't. We all have plenty of dishes, nobody needed hers as well. She had an excess of some things. A huge amount of old blankets. That surprised me as she'd lived most of her life in warm climates. Some things hadn't been looked after properly. I didn't want more stuff cluttering up my house just because it had the potential to be cleaned or fixed. I took a box of deteriorating photos though and knowing I'll have to deal with that sometime is causing me stress. Some things she hoarded. Sheet sets still in their packaging, which I suspect were bingo winnings. Pantyhose still in its packaging, which DH bought her for every birthday and Mother's Day and Christmas. He used to choose a main present but he always added a few bits and pieces as well, including the pantyhose. Finding it all in the drawers in the second bedroom unopened was probably the biggest shock.

I have an 8 year old Boxer, Millie, that had her first seizure just over a year ago. It was long and violent and tortuous to watch lasting well over 3 minutes. I immediately took her to the vet and he started her on Phenobarbital and Valium. She had several more smaller ones until the levels were where they needed to be. In the year since she's had dozens, some worse than others, and we've added Potassium Bromide to the mix. She continues to have small focal seizures lasting a few seconds almost daily. She was hospitalized last month with Pancreatitis. While there she had one larger and one smaller seizure. Since she's come home she seems to be deteriorating. She sleeps most of the days away. She has difficulty walking, stumbles or falls when she stands still for more than a few seconds, bumps into things and has fallen down the stairs. She seems to be losing control or strength in her hind legs. Last night she fell asleep at my feet and then couldn't stand or walk for a couple of minutes when she woke. This morning, on the other hand, she came as close to running as she has in a while to go outside and potty and play for a moment. It was brief. She's eating well, looks and sounds a good as ever which makes it that much harder to wonder "How much is enough for her?" I guess that's what I'm looking for, advice on "enough". She is our absolute favorite person in the world and is loved beyond measure. As terrified as I am about her leaving us, I am more afraid that she's suffering as she is. I've never had to even consider this for a pet so I'm lost to the rationale of it. How do you know when they've had enough?

Oh no, marcolo, what did I say?! Whatever, I'm sure it wasn't intended as a swipe and I do apologize, any and everyone!... the "group think" I was referring to was part of this sentence: "What I was referring to was the KD-group think that insisted I had to have a box around the fridge and I had to have a conference about it and insist and put my foot down and say no and then worry about it for months and months: 'what do I know that the KD doesn't know'? Did I make a mistake being so insistent....' That sort of misery. " I was referring to how unpleasant things felt for me regarding this stupid little potential wall next to the refrigerator. It was something I had to fight hard for, not having. My KD (no one on here) ... actually, I should say the person who sold me the cabinets as she had almost zero planning input - but she is a designer and I valued her design sense (in the absence of any formal training here). Anyway, this person told me, in a completely shocked voice "Oh there is no way I would ever build a kitchen without a box for the refrigerator. It just doesn't look good". I hadn't really even realized she'd included it in the plan; I hadn't in what I'd asked for. But this was during a meeting with her boss where we were trying to save some money (!) and it came to light that this massive hunk of wood was planned. Her point was also that it was required additionally for structural reasons. But her boss, a (former, I should think) carpenter, waived this away and said structurally it wasn't necessary as there were two walls. It was evidently a very expensive part of the bill as the piece of wood is large, requiring stitching together and much finishing. But that left me wondering what she knows that I don't know. Thus I came here with this question, wondering why I was so crass as to imagine such an installation different from the requirement of the "KD-group". Obviously, many many haven't boxed. Moreover many who do, do so wisely and serenely (as David and others point out). My swipe was at the way I was made to feel it was utterly unthinkable to do what I wanted to do, when in fact many have and do and there is good reason to; as it turned out my kitchen was just one such one. But I couldn't see that confronted with an angry person insisting I was doing the completely wrong thing way back when! This thread was really instructive for me first of all seeing so many boxed-in fridges that looked terrific, so many that not only looked terrific but necessary, and many more that really didn't need it; as well as articulating some of the reasons, in both directions, people have for going one way or another, reasons quite apart from design considerations. It's my impression that this is one decision that is squarely and flatly in the middle ground where reasonable minds can completely disagree, or also that reasonably different kitchens converge to the same solution and conversely, similar kitchens reasonably conclude with a different solution. The 'group think' I was objecting to was that evidently somewhere in KD-world is the rule that One Shalt Not Box. It flustered me! Apologies for: (1) the persnickety, overly-long explanation and (2) any residual unintentional insult I may have implied. Marcolo - thanks for noticing about the grain. That's something that was a new 'articulation' for me. That is, I've always loved the grain of wood I saw that some doors had more than others (I also love that clear open aspect that sometimes comes that it may have been Buehl? forget who - who pointed me to a great explanation of in another thread about how this arises when you sever certain plants cells at an angle). When we got a sample of the door my husband pointed out that it had a seam down the middle disrupting the wood grain. This was evidently required with "solid wood", a high-end upgrade. But this observation let to realizing that veneer might actually be preferable from some perspectives, like this one. He wanted an uninterrupted stretch of wood grain (I agreed) so these doors are all veneered. I really love it. And I would never have noticed or realized quite why some doors look better than others. If you want to see the wood grain and it's not too expensive (it was cheaper for us actually), I highly recommend this option. For some reason I haev associated 'veneer' with 'less-good', but I think I've been all wrong. It's quite a nifty technique. Silly prejudice again; not sure where it all comes from! Anna, you're cute. A bunch of people have asked about the Rainforest Green slab. I have noticed it's hard to get a good picture of the - I think it's sandstone and not marble? Not sure... whatever it is, it's shiny and moves and varies tremendously; hard conditions for a good picture. Oee of these years I'll get a good series of pictures. In the meantime if you're thinking of using it, you might want to know I think it can be difficult for the fabricator to work with. I think it's quite popular and therefore often thought not to be so difficult. But I think there's more to it. I'll gather my thoughts on it some more at another time. If someone's in a hurry, let me know. Thx!

When we moved from Colorado, the movers laid some type of clear plastic material that stuck to the hardwood floors to "protect them". I was skeptical and asked if they would pay to refinish the floors if it was damaged. They said of course, but not to worry because they used this stuff all the time. Well, when they pulled that stuff off the floor, it took the finish right off. $$$$$$$ I'm always careful now with anything sticky on my floors. They are protected with 3 coats of Glitsa, but you still need to be cautious.