Hi damccoy, Thanks so very much for responding! I was trying to download from: http://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/download/?installer=Flash_Player_10.1_for_Windows_Internet_Explorer&p=Google_Toolbar_6.5&d=McAfee_Security_Scan_Plus&os=XP&browser=ie&type=activex I made sure it was a download for Windows XP. Made sure I had enough room to download it. I am using IE8. I only use my AOL for email because I've had it set up since 1997 and I am too lazy to go around changing my email addy with all that have it for social and business. So I wanted the flash player to load for IE8 as that's the browser I use for all my searches/internet activity. I did just recently add service pack 3 to my computer and the first time I tried to download it I had problems. That's the first time my friend told me about this site here at GW. I ended up being able to get the service pack 3 on my second try. I tried a second time with Adobe Flash 10 and then again a third time but even though I get the message box that says it's been downloaded, I see that it's nowhere in the Add/Remove section. Again, thank you!

Farm chic, I like the overall shape of that table, but white would not work in this room. There is literally nothing white in this room, not even the ceiling! Kkay, you know, I saw a trunk/chest in a store last weekend and I was really drawn to it but it was just a little too small. If I could find the one I saw in a bigger size, I think it might be a candidate. Funky -- I think you and I could be friends for life. I have looked (online) at that RH table a few times!! It is so cool looking. I wondered how the metal would hold up, ie would it scratch easily. I should go look at it in the store. We had a round table in this room way back when... That's still a possibility although right now I'm thinking a long table so everyone can put their feet up, and probably putting the round red ottoman elsewhere. I'm not sure about the aesthetics of a round table, plus a round ottoman, plus the square ottoman that goes with the leather chair... Finally, abundant blessings, I knew someone would mention the position of that chair. I know it's not great, but the reality of this room is that we sit on that chair and that end of the sofa to watch TV. Also, if I pull the chair out and angle it more, it gets too tight with the end table and that end of the sofa (I've done it) and ends up looking more awkward. Eventually I'm going to slide the sofa down the wall a few inches in the other direction, but that entails moving the artwork, etc...so I've been procrastinating. That might help but probably not that much. Same problem with the red ottoman -- that's for the feet of whoever is sitting at that end of the sofa (don't get me started -- DH and DS seem physically unable to sit there without putting their feet up on something). But if I had a longer table, the ottoman would go elsewhere.

Hi Dreamgoddess, glad to hear you are practicing. No, it is not as easy as she makes it look--but it does get easier the more you do it. When you are watching the video--pay attention to how she holds the brush and what position it is in. Rewind and watch again. You will see that she grips the brush fairly close to the metal part and holds it straight up. Now press and stroke the first "wiggle" two or three times to spread your bristles on your brush, then continue the rest of the wiggle strokes for that petal. Lift your brush, tip it in your two colors again and do the same thing for the next stroke. Does that make any sense? If you watch her closely , you will see that she picks up more paint frequently. Don't give up, all of a sudden it will just "happen" and then you will wonder why you thought it was so hard! At least that is how it was for me. Now I am trying to learn to paint one stroke bows, and really struggling with the "flip the brush over" part. I'm sure I will finally "get it", but like you said--Not as easy as it looks. ;o) Luvs

mtn, we in the maritimes are REALLY familiar with Japanese tourists' love of Anne of Green Gables. The most adorable national obsession ever. Cute story, we were in Nagasaki last year (BEAUTIFUL place! I had no idea what to expect and I absolutely loved it). We did touristy stuff during the day. At sunset I convinced my husband to stop by a waterfront park to observe locals before getting back aboard. An older lady approached us asking if we were from the ship and where we were from. On hearing Canada she got pretty excited to talk about Anne of Green Gables and concluded by saying that for Japanese, even the older ones, "there's a little bit of Anne in all of us." Fave shots from the park More Nagasaki anecdotes: I was excited to see my first REAL Japanese garden in JAPAN so I dragged husband to this vaunted garden near the ship. Little did I know it was the oldest European-style garden in Japan! Then we spent about 20 minutes looking for the Glover Skyway, which I thought would be a scenic hillside road but was in fact an elevator. So then we followed these signs that said "Mountain Observatory - 400m" (btw there is little English in Nagasaki so we had to get a lot of pointing help from locals) and ended up going up MANY hundreds of stairs to the very top of the nearest mountain. But the path was very cool, going through backyard gardens and a beautiful forest full of informal shinto shrines. So it was worth it even though we both almost died. To make this slightly relevant, your bedding looks kind of Japanese, you could do a sort of upscale japonisme room.