Cindee - and Dennis, too Thanks for hosting and opening your home for that wonderful party! Larry and I really appreciated having such a great time and getting to eat the delicious grilled dogs and burgers. (We don't get out much....) Your gardens and all the plants displayed around your pool are better than eye candy....more like soul candy. You done good, Little Friend. And meeting you and all the other kids was the best part. What an incredible bunch of people we got here on the GW. Thanks again! Love Ya...... Susie

Good Saturday afternoon from wet/rainy and cool (54 F.) Texas. I was up at 4:30 this morning, out of the house by 5:15, and heading to the Houston Zoo at 6:30 for St. Jude's 1st annual Thanks & Give walk. We had 300 of the 500 registered people show up in the pouring rain today to walk for St. Jude. I was shivering and shaking working registration, but it warmed my heart to see so many turn out and turn in huge amounts of money they'd raised for walking. I met Emmanuel, a precious 8-yr. old boy who lost his left eye to neuroblastoma last year. His 'fan club' was there to walk with him and they all dedicated their walk to him. I worked the bib dedication table where people filled out their "I am thankful for....." bib before pinning it on for the walk, and I was really touched by many of the dedications. Afterwards, the volunteers moved everything over to the 'after-party' where everyone ended up to have breakfast and receive their incentives for walking. I think a nap is in my near future, but I had to check online before doing that. Donna, I hope you can start posting more often. Pray for 'uneventful' vibes! Suzanne, maybe you'll sneak in a ride today after finishing your chores? And, what a cute message from hubby! Hey, BJ! I've been missing you. Hurry back and get the wonderful support you've been needing. Maddie, you howl the HB song better than anyone I know, girl! Well, a nice warm bed is calling me, so y'all be good!

Ah yes, we quilters are likely suspects for TSA searches. The last time I flew (late April) they actually went through MY HAIR! I don't cut it, and it is long enough to sit on, and I had it neatly pulled back in a bun. When I got out of the security check, it looked like a bird's nest after the babies had fledged. Good Lord, I had just been through a full body scan. You should have seen the commotion I caused when I brought a small butter churn back from England because they're hard to find here. The took me off to a seperate section to open the baggage and you should have seen the relief on the agent's face when it did actually turn out to be a churn. It did look wicked on the X-rays. LOL all those metal gears.

Ok...these are Lowe's knock-offs of DriCore. The identical dricore panels are $1.67/sf....so the $1.40/sf is better than the originals. The "fun" part of these panels is you STILL NEED the concrete subfloor to be dealt with. If I'm correct and the installation instructions allow you to use shims (as does DriCore...which is why I'm making this assumption) then you can "fix" small variations in the concrete. To a maximum of 1/4" (6mm). That's it. If you have a wonky subfloor, you will still need to pay someone to deal with flattening the concrete to the point where you can use the shims. If you must use the shims, you will need to use some tools to anchor these things. I know it says "no tools needed" but that is for a PERFECT subfloor. And most basements in Canada are HORRIBLE. That's why carpet was used in the first place. It was cheap and easy and did NOT require the wonky concrete slabs to be fixed. Just roll it out, glue it down and off you go. Cheap and cheerful. As soon as you use something that is rigid (laminate, DriCore, etc) you still need to flatten the concrete. That can be at a price of $1.50 - $4.50/sf. With these types of panels you can "get away" with the cheaper fix....but it still needs to be fixed. As for "cheaper and better" or easier to use...no. There aren't very many options out there other than DriCore and the Lowe's knock-offs. First things first: rip out the carpet and check to see the level/flatness of that concrete slab. Look for obvious signs that the concrete needs work. Now check your own personal DIY skills. Can you grind down concrete? Can you pour and level concrete? If you have a BEAUTIFUL slab (no work needed) it is *possible you can work with Delta FL. It is cheaper (less than $1/sf) but it does NOT like to work with laminate floors that have underpad (either attached or added as an extra purchase). A regular laminate (no pad or foam underneath) is allowed to go straight over top of the Delta FL membrane. It is not very warm...but it is dry. But it NEEDS a beautiful concrete slab. It needs more work than the subfloor panels you have found. Carpet is sounding pretty good right now isn't it?