Thanks to each of you for all the kind responses and prayers. I managed to get some food delivered to my aunt today (Amazing what unlimited long distance and a credit card can do!). It wasn't a lot, and it wasn't fancy, but she has some healthy, nutritious, easy to heat (or not) meals and water now, probably enough for 10 days. That should hold her until she can get transport into town. Some of the phones are out again, and nephew, and one brother are still without power. Niece had power long enough to check her house (rented) and give the kids hot showers. She sounded "refreshed." She received a delayed Christmas $ gift from me, and immediately gave it to her parents (the fire victims.) She's my good girl. DB and SIL couldn't get the fire report until this afternoon, (volunteer fire departments and the members' phones were out again). The Red Cross provided his nebulizer and her blood pressure meds and gave them a small amount of emergency cash, for which they are very thankful. They left messages with the insurance company. Their home was a mobile home, but they were insured. I don't know yet if the contents were covered. I'll be posting on the "Emergency Preparedness" thread when I have more wits about me. Thanks again for all the kind posts, and please keep my family, and all the still-suffering storm victims, in your prayers.

I like it. Is it cutting edge trendy? Not even close, but I like it. It's homey and comfortable. If it were mine, I wouldn't paint. If you paint, you're going to have to paint not only the shelves, but the lower half of the walls and the ceiling beams ... and in the process you'd lose so much warmth and character. If you feel you MUST do something, I'd do the fireplace in a white wash -- a dirty white wash that'd allow a bit of color to show through. You could test this: Tape up some white paper on the fireplace and live with it a while. I wonder how much of your dissatisfaction has to do with lighting. I see you have several lamps burning. What if you could do something along the lines of in-cabinet lighting -- you know, like they do in kitchens -- in the shelves. Or what if you bring in color in your furniture? Instead of painting the room itself, bring in a RED sofa ... or paint the (completely removeable) table and TV stand a bright color.

yep. You can liven up the area without sacrificing the depth & warmth of that rich knotty pine paneling; replacing the cool-color carpet with warm wood flooring will be more harmonious. Once that's done, live with it a little while, & then you might think about doing something to the fireplace-I usually think red brick is too massive & dense for any building other than a school, & definitely too much for the interior of a home, so I'd probably lighten it up. Then you might think about replacing the cool-color paint on the walls with a warm color that would tie the room together rather than driving it apart. (yes, you are correct: I am incapable of doing just one thing & leaving other things alone!). It's a lovely room, & I hope you have fun with it!

I appreciate your comments and observations on the subject. I do see however, that I'm not the only one who suffers occasional thoughts about food offerings that are presented in group settings, as well as those line hogs who load their plates to overflowing leaving only bits and pieces for those in line behind them. I might also mention here that I have a special animosity for those trolls (of ANY age past toddler) who constantly hang around the serving table/line pre-serving time and continually snag a bit of this or that, maybe stuff a roll or biscuit with a piece of meat, etc. and if confronted, will try to explain it away with some flimsy excuse ("just thought I'd try it or my sugar was low and I had to eat something or I just wanted to see what it tasted like, etc.) It's even worse when they do it bare handed instead of using the service utensil provided. This includes those that visit the dessert table long before meal time to grab what they can, eat it and then go back for seconds after the meal. Yes, I'm weird that way and my wife constantly reminds me that just because we try to show off our "best" company manners in these situations, not everyone else does. We were invited to an annual Christmas party last week where everyone is invited to bring food. The selection is always eclectic to a degree with a plate of some meat and other dishes that range from vegetable to weird salad combinations. This time, the meat consisted of what appeared to be a very small plate of smoked turkey and from the fellow that apparently doesn't cook, two pepperoni pizzas. Some of the vegetable (?) dishes consisted of what appeared to be a lot of cheese, a grain or possibly rice with some unidentifiable green bits mixed in which was presumably broccoli. In any case, there were a lot more people than dishes so somebody(s) cheated and didn't bring anything. And just so I you won't think I'm bagging on others while not admitting to my own offerings, I brought tamales from a very good local Mexican restaurant in my area. Mind you, while I'll readily admit that I'm not usually the most adventuresome cook around, I always do try to provide a food offering that is rather benign in terms of weirdness, that is, a colorful green salad, some vegetable that's not drowning in cheese or an unnamed condensed soup, smoked ham, a seasonal fruit salsa and chips, etc. Again, thanks for your comments. Just glad to see that others suffer in silence at times just as I do. ;o)