Welcome Susan. I am actually more of a lurker than a poster because I really don't have much creativeness in my blood so I love to see what others do. And my dining room table is the hub for family activities so there are more items like laptops, coloring books, toys, etc. on it than dishes! We normally eat on one side and the rest are permanent fixtures on the other side! Except for special holidays when I go all out with setting a nice table for Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter when I am normally hosting those dinners. Gail

LOL Poohpup, I would be on board with that. Anyone who wants to sign up to cook, let me know :) dilly_ny and doc8404 we don't belong to a church. I guess we could call the closest church to us and see if they have any leads or allow job postings... oceangirl67, no it is a Miele. Does this disqualify me from hiring help? Is no one going to want to be my housekeeper now, LOL :( beekeeperswife I found two people who do the chef service and we may still go that route and have them do dinners at least. I just thought it would be nice to have one person who did everything. May not be possible or the best route to get the best food though... linelle, LOL, I've been eating raw cookie dough, brownie batter and cake batter for 20+ years now and I am still alive. I almost always have a bowl of batter or cookie dough in my fridge. My ex used to call it my "bacteria bowl." biochem101 we don't want to eat out. It is not very healthy. We want homecooked meals w/ all organic ingredients. We just don't want to make them! We also don't really have a lot of neighbors.The number of houses in our development is restricted and there are only 4 lots built on and they are large lots on acreage so it's not like just going up and ringing the neighbor's doorbell. We did ask our one neighbor next door who we met and she does her own cleaning. Thanks for the links lazygardens. We would need someone to specifically cook for us, not just a general delivery-of-meals b/c I'm very picky about foods I like and since DF is picky about ingredients and organic. But there are two people we found who customize the menus and come to the house to cook a week, or two weeks or a month worth of food at a time. It seems like that might be a better option but that leaves me to do breakfast (and maybe lunch) every day, which I didn't really want.

Just today I was reading Michael Chabon's new book of essays, "Manhood for Amateurs," and he was talking about the same issue! His essay is really funny, it's called "The Memory Hole." His technique is similar to what mine was when the kids were small. I would have areas of the house where artwork could be proudly displayed, and then I would tell them I was going to "put away for safe keeping" the older art projects, and I'd store them in a big plastic container in the basement. Then as time went by, I'd select the most meaningful items and transfer those to another container and the "practice items" would mysteriously disappear, ha! Long after they remembered they had labored so hard over a particular creation. (The storage went over OK because I told them that art curators do the same thing.) Of course, the age they are now, it's fun to bring forth some of those efforts and review them, especially when they bring a boyfriend over.

Hi Colleen! I would love to see pictures as you go through your master bath remodel! I'll eventually be remodeling my main bathroom and the 1/2 bath in the master. In the main bath I'm taking out the tub/shower surround and replacing with a "petite" claw foot tub, no shower. New toilet, new vanity/sink, and a small baker's rack for extra storage. Putting in a medicine cabinet/mirror, frosting the window so I don't need a window treatment, and a new towel rack. Also new flooring, paint, fan, light. I'm not sure what I'm doing in the 1/2 bath, except I know I'm stealing a little room from the bedroom to put in a walk-in shower. SO...I'd love to see your progress and hear about the whole experience! Do you have colors and flooring, etc. picked out yet? Haha! Cathy--so true about the garden tub. :-)