lollol I had a feeling Gizmo was going to make an appearance in this thread. Okay, so Mike (of London) posted a link to The Secret Life of Plants in a different thread, but my reactions had more to do with this topic, so I'm just going to link that thread below. First I'm glad I watched it because it helped me articulate something I failed to when I voiced that horrible question about choosing between pets and plants. (Which I always knew was as ridiculous as choosing between mums and dads) That is, although it certainly seems a lot easier (or faster, anyway) to bond with our animal friends, who rub and frolic and keep us warm, I feel a real communication/chemistry with my plant roommates. A relationship that (dare I say it) seems more MATURE than the one I have with that Zeno. Like my plants handle themselves like adults and get my music, whereas Zeno is a total kid. The other day I saw an Ikea plant (of the large palm variety) in the gross little closet that holds the apartment trash chute. It looked like it had lost most of its limbs and only had one green chute powering along. And it just made me sick, thinking of it dying there, slowly, shut off from light and water because some jerk had adopted it and then proceeded to suck as a friend. I guess it's thinking of THAT plant that made me struggle with the question, not a lack of total codependent bonding with Zeno. I hope you guys have all stopped pitying my stealthy black fuzzball now. :3 Second I think I might need to reassess the plant versus pet situation. I mean, if cabbages can identify perps in a lineup, presumably, my plants can recognize Zeno, and who am I to assume that they HATE him? It could be that all this time I was not just protecting them from his occassional nibbles and tippings, but I was also depriving them of his inquisitive sniffs and rubs. I mean, MOST of the time, he isn't intent on mangling them. Maybe they are sensing his positive energy as he noses around thinking: What's that interesting smell? That's YOU! And then the little streptocarpus stands up a little more proudly in its dish. I'm going to have to mull this over... That said, you guys are AWESOME! Lemon and netting. Check. And no one looks innocent except Denise's cats. Especially not that rascally pug. ^_~ Here is a link that might be useful: Thread w/ The Secret Life of Plants

As a follow up to my question, came home the other night, turned it out and it came on with a great picture. Well, at least it worked for that night.... now, can't get it to do anything except sound....no picture what so ever. When you cut it off, it does have a spot of light in the middle (little flash) and that's it.

I realize it's 5 years later, but I am posting my experiences for anyone else who may be reading this thread. I am a parent of a middle-school boy with attention-type ADHD. He was diagnosed in 4th grade and has been on medication since the last marking period of 4th grade. Yes, middle school teachers in general expect a student to turn in homework without being reminded. The students also have to take initiative to discover what work was missed during an absence (classwork and homework) and make up that work as well. All without teacher reminders. For my son, with ADHD and braces, who missed a lot of classes for dental appointments, this could have been a *disaster*. Medications can help. They can help enormously. And there are a whole class of stimulant medications that wear off by the end of the day, thus appetite returns and growth is not inhibited. Metadate is one; my son takes this with very positive results. Another thing that helps is ORGANIZATION. I have really got to hand it to our school system here in Maryland. Our 6th graders are assigned a binder system. The school has created a layout for how the 6th grade binder should look - where the notebook paper goes, how many tabbed dividers there should be and how they are labelled, where the pencil pouch should be and what is in it, sections for each school subject. Fantastic. They also are given an agenda book that they are required to fill in every day. It covers homework for each class and a section for brief notes or reminders. Our schools also have a program called AVID that begins in middle school. During AVID class, the binders are checked for neatness and adherence to the organizational system. Students are graded on their organization! The agendas are also checked to make sure they are being filled out properly and consistently. The kids are also taught how to take notes, how to study, and how to work through a problem that you don't understand, be it math or ancient Egypt. They work in small groups to work through these types of problems and answer each other's questions. I highly highly recommend it!

I am going to get flamed considering how the responses have gone but.... Architecturally, it is really hard to make one type of building into another. Your roofline is such that it maybe hard to push into the Craftsman detail and feel. You, however, can still use traditional molding with for example "shaker" style interior trim which will complement the exterior. If you are drawn to French doors because of the mullions, they will look absolutely rediculous in a house where no other windows have mullions, IMHO.... Which means that you will have to update all windows with mullions. You see how one thing leads to another. Even so, you already have slider type for your bedroom windows and they can look awful with mullions. If you get French doors with one large glass in the center, then the look is minimally different from the sliders. You are only chosing to have the option of opening both doors. There is not enough space to have the French doors open into your room. So the windows will have to open out. Is there enough space outdoors to accomodate that? Look at the roofline. That is one thing you cannot do much about. Craftsman houses often had hipped roofs or gabled roofs with BIG eaves with decorative rafters. This makes the building substantial and anchorded down to the ground. These are the details that give the building their "feel" or certain look. Unfortunately, it is the small eaves on your house that you will have a hard time working with. Because of the small eaves, the house has more "colonial/fedealist" feel, if you were to pick a traditional architecture. I have seen 60s nondecript ranch houses with relatively low pitched roofs with large eaves which have been given craftsman detail with a degree of sucess. They often change out all of the windows, resided using cedar shakes on the upper part of the building in addition to lower level lap siding, and entire house trim etc. These houses have had "major" over haul that cost BIG bucks and they look it. Not just a few things here and there. All in all, from the exterior, the small vertical windows are such that they will be very difficult to transition the house into more traditional look from the exterior. One thing you may consider is to change those windows out with wider double hung windows. (Again, expensive..) I suggest you really play with the decorative pieces on the house by drawing or using architectural software and see how they look before spending money. I agree with your realtor that you will have easier time making a "stunning" modern house versus a "stunning" craftsman with the same amount of money spent. For the interior, you can trim with more "substantial" apearing/larger baseboard, window casings and moulding, which will result in a mixed contemporary/traditional feel. Shaker style goes well as a transitional architectural element. Often, people find the lack of trimwork in contemporary houses hard to live with. You can put more detailed trim that has a contemrary feel and not make it necessarly craftsman..... For example, firsthouse mp with the sliders, has very contemporary feel to his room but he uses shaker/craftsman molding style. Notice the matching mullions on his windows and sliders. Try to imagine his large kitchen window as a vertical slider, rather than two side by side double hung. It would not look good in that room.