Hi all, I'm still here too. Inspite of the ammount of food I ate this week, I am another pound down. This is a psychological breakthrough for me as it puts me in the 40's. Knowing I have to fight to keep it will hopefully give me incentive to say no to the little extras I let slip in. McPeg being idle is hard. I don't know where you work. Could you bring something to keep you fingers busy like quilt squarers, needlepoint or a crossword? It helps me that I made a rule that I cannot eat anything while doing something else. Reading,television,at the computer,outside, talking on the phone....if I eat I must focus on that alone unless dining out with others of course. Otherwise I would be thoughtlessy inhaling my food. Erica, hope things perk-up for you DH (and you) soon. Kathy, use your time with DH gone to do something nice for yourself. Oh how we love them, but sometimes I dream of how easy it would be to be single. Then reality hits and I realize how much we both need each other in so many different ways. Fortunately we are both ones who need alone time and understand that. Alice I just discovered Diet Rite sodas are now made with Splenda and have no calories or sodium. It sounds like you really like your gym. Which do you belong to? I would like to go but I don't like the way most are run today. Everyone have a great holiday weekend. Be safe, eat as healthy as you can and play hard.

Lets not forget that vacations are also much more liberal there too. My husband is from Europe and when he came here to live, he was shocked to see that we only get an average of 2 weeks vacation. In Russia, the minimum was 4 weeks and in Sweden they get 5! I would say do what's right for you and your family first. If DH can (and wants) to go on his own during his business trip, great but if not, then that is a huge amount of money to spend for one night and a lot for your in-laws to expect from you and your husband. After all, MIL wasn't willing to pay for it once she saw how much it cost, why should she expect you to? It's not reasonable. I have to add that last January, my mother also turned 80 and also wanted all the family together for her special day. She's in California so a lot closer but we're in Michigan and I have a sister in Texas. Rather than put any of us on the spot, she paid for all of us (7 total) to fly to California to celebrate her day. On her 75th birthday, we missed a surprise party the sisters in California gave her. Once I said we couldn't afford it, she was very understanding, more so than my sisters were. :c) So I've sort of been in those shoes and can totally understand the duress you're feeling; I hope it ends well and they finally understand your side of things. If not, ask them if they'd be willing to split the bill with you so you can afford to go. When I said that to one of my sisters, she backed off fairly quick. :c)

Thanks everyone for your answers and ideas, and especially to those who are being so supportive with the encouraging words. I just got off the phone with my son. Let me see if I can answer some of your questions. I did tell him -- and I'm sure he knows -- that I've certainly made paint booboos before, and that everyone has. No biggie. I asked him a lot of questions. He owns the house. We are in the greater Seattle area, so 9 mos. of the year it's grey and rainy. He says when he saw the gold he just kept thinking of the green and that he LOVES that green and loved how good the "fake wood" hall doors look with it. He's not happy with the blue paint, and wasn't as soon as it was done. He keeps saying he can't afford to replace the ugly blue tile right now, and I know he doesn't want to do the work. Decorpas & Funkyart, I've read you can paint tiles, but that it's a bad idea in an area that sees a lot of water and use. I looked into that too. He says he knows the kitchen is going to look bad until the tiles are gone. Funkyart, have the tiles worn well for your friend who did it? Can you please find out more? Like products? Sealer? Did she paint her grout too? I think either black or some shade of tan/brown would look good on the counters. I ran the dishwasher panel by him but he says his is so old he's not putting a dime into it. He owns the brown loveseat, bought it himself a few years ago. He owns the chair -- it's a hand-me-down antique from his dad's side of the family. It's theadbare and then some -- a pale aqua color. But he won't part with it (sentimental). The red color on the chair (which he wants) and the pillows and the draperies were my addition with the mockup; they aren't there IRL. The little rocker to the right of that one pic was left behind by a renter and he thinks she's going to come get it one of these days. The lace curtains were left by the PO. I've asked him about them and he says he likes them and wants to keep them. Go figure. He likes antiques. He dislikes modern decor. Funny, he's always been a Navajo White kind of guy in the past, so this burst of color really surprised me. I think he surprised himself, too. His LR/DR and Kitch all flow together. Like, you come up stairs from the front door (split entry) and the LR is on your right, the hallway on your left, with the kitch straight ahead. The LR opens to the DR, and the DR opens to the kitch. The wall you see painted green is the wall that separates the kitch from the LR. What you see painted blue in the above first pic is the kitch's shared wall with the DR. So at this point he says he wants to keep the gold in the LR and the half of the DR as it is (LR and DR share a common wall). He really likes my mockup and still wants to do that, and wants the green down the hallway as he has it now, and intends to paint that green in the kitchen as well. He still wants to accent with red... leaning toward the rust tone, not toward burgandy. So do you have any comments, ideas as to how to pull that off without making it look like a Christmas explosion? That green really threw me for a loop.

Happy Belated Birthday!!! That is one beautiful board. There is a store in the DC area called Appalachian Spring that would probably be happy to carry his work. I can only imagine a kitchen made with home made cabinets. Talk about custom!! Teak is great wood - choice of most boat builders for its durability and ability to hold up to sun. We had it on our sail boat and it was great. A little oiling and it looked new. It gets lighter as it bakes in the sun. We had it in the galley and it wore beautifully even though it got really wet at times. We have a relative who makes cabinets and furniture in his spare time. His kitchen cabinets are about 11 years old now. They are really beautiful and quite sturdy. His are made of a very light oak. Kudos to the hubby and buy him any tools he needs to encourage that habit!!