Well, Toni, it's actually my father who has terminal oral cancer (diagnosed almost two months ago) and is talking about cancer treatment (oral and lymph node surgery, facial reconstruction, radiation, etc.). I don't feel it's appropriate to talk too much about for possible legal reasons, but like I've said...cancer is a horrid situation regardless of who in the family it is and what type of person he/she is, and it's a unique situation here, where the person diagnosed is rather hateful, and fairly broke. My dad's an ornery old coot, and always has been, and is of the opinion that a wife has no claim to anything financial if the husband has provided the income. His personality is impossible to describe. It's like, if you'd been with someone for thirty years, who has verbally abused you, quietly racked up credit card bills, never let you see a bill in that time and refused to give you any account information, and isn't quite all there mentally due to several strokes...and then after he's cut all insurance coverage, suddenly he has cancer and, with treatment, might live an extra year or two, you'd be caring for him, and you'd likely about go bankrupt in the process. It's very hard and very scary for my mom. Normally such things would be a family decision and with some consideration for the spouse, and with some more logic about the expense and the chances of survival. He's a mean old brute--an absolutely terrified one, yes, but still how he is. He's dying and not taking it well. You mentioned mood changes with cancer treatment...God, can't even imagine with him!! haha. I know families go through the expense and hardships of cancer treatment all the time. It's just, sigh, a weird household. I've certainly learned, know who you're marrying before you marry. And if this all progresses, we'll seek help. You're makin' me want to run out and buy some plants. ;) Such good news about your job, CG! I'm so happy to hear.

Annie, was thinking of someway for you to fill in a few days with something that might be of interest. If you travel a bit north from Harlingen you'll bump into San Antonio. SA is about a 3 1/2 hour drive north of Harlingen - pretty wide open driving and nothing to slow you down. The King Ranch owns most of the land along this route. About 1/2 way between Harlingen and SA is one of the best BBQ places in Texas. There are several Motel 6's in the SA area. You might find bargains on the Riverwalk this time of the year (off season) and maybe you'd be nearer many of the major attractions/history. There are many things of interest that would keep you moving and out of the motel several hours a day. There is a hop on - hop off trolley that's convenient and easy to use. Might be less expensive to stay downtown than parking and lot fees on a daily basis etc. Austin is about a 1 1/2 hour drive from San Antonio. If it appealed to you both and was an easy fix, you might choose to drive to SA, spend a couple of days then drive into Austin for a couple of days before picking up your return flight. A few sites below for you to check out for interest. http://www.segcity.com/ http://www.lsjunction.com/facts/missions.htm http://www.sanantonioriverwalk.com/photo.html http://www.sanantonioriverwalk.com/tourism.html http://www.buysanantoniotours.com/index.html I didn't include the museums, zoo etc. Included only what is unique to this area. The next address is of a very pretty cavern between SA and Austin - not a Carlsbad, but very pretty in it's own right. You could pick it up on your trip from SA to Austin for the return flight. http://www.buysanantoniotours.com/tours/sa-natural-bridge-caverns-north-cavern-tour.html I hope this gives you another option for those precious vacation days. Niene

I am so looking forward to having a morning kitchen in the next house. It's a big place and the kitchen is down a flight or two of stairs. I'm going to take out a bathroom (there are too many) between what are now two bedrooms. The one bedroom will become a big master suite closet with washer and dryer (for family use) and between that room and the master will be a passage way morning kitchen. Currently it's a closet converted to a bathroom, so I'll split it in two with the hallway, one side will have a small sink, fridge and items for after dinner drinks and wine (glasses etc). The other side will have a built in coffee maker and a single dish washer drawer. I can't claim to be the angel that amity is (and I mean that in sincerity! I love people who work their family into their lifes. It's the right thing to do) but I still love peace and sanity in a home with a small child. We have a lovely turret in the room and I can see myself getting up earlier than DS (I do that now) just for that hour of total peace and quiet, enjoying a lovely latte in my jammies :) And at night, the ability to have a glass of port after a long day is not to be sneezed at :) The ability to do it in peace is even better LOL To plan one in a small room though, just think like a hotel (I don't think that's a bad thing by the way). Get a lovely try to set a 2 cup coffee maker on with the acoutremants (spelled terribly dang it) of a pot of coffee with any necessary additives (do you do cream, etc?) If necessary, put a tiny refridgerator somewhere for that stuff, or use the stuff that does not need refridgeration. A couple cups is of course a must as well as a nice napkin and spoon. If you put this all on a tray, and then set that on a dresser or side table, or even in the bathroom if you have a larger counter, you can easily take it to the kitchen with you after your morning coffee time and clean and refill your supplies, then return it to the bedroom during the day after all is tidy, ready for the next morning. I'm sure before we start our remodel this will be my system :) I'm going to add this in our master closet in this house as soon as it's finished :) I have a nice big dresser top that will be free space (something I don't have much of now). By the way, I used to make these trays up for an inn, so I know that once you're used to doing it daily it's about a 2 min clean up and refill. The key being the tray that is always used to carry things back and forth.

I wonder if the link to the restaurant you posted above might be to a different one with the same name? The map link from your link points to a spot somewhere in the middle of Rio, pretty far from anything. A good guess would be that that location would be about an hour of driving from Sugarloaf, and looking more closely at that spot on the map shows that seems to be inside a large shopping mall, in a slightly questionable neighborhood. Another restaurant with the same name and logo is located on the edge of Barra da Tijuca where much of the new building for the Olympics took place. Do you remember if the front of the restaurant looked like this? and the view from outside included this dramatic bridge and the distinctive mountain in the background. If you will be only posting food-related photos here can you at least post a link here to you postings in other forums so interested Cooking forum can find them and follow along? I never went to either of the museums you mentioned, so I'd love to see pictures of what I missed. I have been in that area and saw the Municipal Theater, the National Library, the Metropolitan Cathedral of Rio de Janeiro, the Carioca Aqueduct and rode the trolley across it to Santa Teresa, and on my last trip found Selaron's Stairs, which were created over many years by a local artist I didn't go up the stairs because a couple people warned me that my large camera would make me an inviting target. After reviewing the photos later I discovered that it I had gone up the stairs, I could have met the artist who was sitting there surrounded be a group of people.