I have two pine benches that I have now told DH might be good January projects for him....he is not really annoyed, I think he is rather pleased. My walls are pale green Woody. They are nice but after 6 years I am getting a little edgy about the colour. But painting something this large (living/dining area, hallway, laundry room) is kind of a gumption trap. I do have a bathroom to do... Norma I don't play solitaire on line, it was already on my laptop. If you have an Options thing you can change it there. You can go up to four different suits I think. I am scoring at 11% with the two..... The cats are cute - that photo in the dryer is so funny! Kathy, DD wants to paint her whole house; She is going to paint one dining room wall a kind of red. She will start with some kind of pumpkin colour I think, then fade it out as she progresses through the house. DS is giving her an Orange card for Christmas, and we just bought about $100 worth of stuff so she can get started. She is getting a painted house for Christmas!! Norma did you post a photo of Joey? or did I see that on FB? TCS's school concert was tonight and it was terrific. I don't know when I have enjoyed a kids concert as much. He attends a Catholic school so the theme was the "true meaning of Christmas" but it was a light and funny program. Each class did a musical interlude during the play, and the teachers wrote the play and the music. Terrific. Cheers, Julie

Cynic- I was searching forums to read what people were saying. I've since read more. A number of people were saying their system crashes all the time with Opera. Then others agreed and advised against mixing the too. The funny thing or frustrating thing, mine is freezing up constantly with IE7. I've only been using it for three days now, but was also having that problem recently before the switch. I have DSL and, as of three days ago, have a brand new and MUCH faster desk top. So I'm not really sure what the problem is. My connection seems fine. Of all the reading I've done (which really isn't all that much) there really seems to be an equal number of people that either prefer Opera or FF. With a scattered few that still really like IE7 (compared to IE6). I'll keep doing my homework. Thanks :o)

Hi everybody! I have been waiting all summer for it to cool off. It seems that the heat makes my dizziness and nausea worse. I have lost about 15 lbs with being too sick to eat throughout the summer. I just this week got my helper here to help me clean the garage and then I moved the vanity out there and sanded it a bit in the easy places, and got it up on a table. I got the brass floor protectors pried off the bottom of the legs and was pleased to find no holes have been drilled in them. That means that I can drill holes for the feet I bought. I have adjustable feet that will give the vanity an extra 1/2" of height, and that can be screwed up to give another 1/2" if we want. That would make the legs appear to float way too high in the air, so I don't think it will work. the extra 1/2" will have to suffice, with the ability to make the vanity level so that the sink will drain properly. I have also decided that the bail-type handles that came with it are not going to work for us. I can't see us fumbling around trying to grab the bail that has recessed back into the grooves of the handle around it, standing there with water or soap in our eyes. A knob is much easier to use. I had Hubby try using the bail and he vetoed it on the first try and said, "replace 'em!" I am using these on doors of a set of shallow cupboards that will be recessed into the closet of the the neighboring bedroom. I figured they were a sure bet for the six drawers, too. I am not going to use the center drawer anymore, what with all the plumbing going on above it, so I will just fill in those holes. I need to cut away the bottom of the drawer space, then move the drawer support piece to the left or right. It is at dead center right now, and the sink's drain will need to go there. I just have to sand down the fluted areas of the vanity table, then it will be ready to be primed and painted. I am still leaning toward painting it the violet Peace and Happiness. I have purchased more components for the plumbing. I have all of the shower controls and the rain shower head and regular shower head. Still need to get the hand-held and some safety hand-hold bars for the shower area. I still have not finalized a wall tile (looking at fake Cararra tile for the room's walls) or floor tile or the surface for the top of the vanity. We HAVE concluded, though, that we cannot get this job done until Toby, our ever-more-confused beagle/golden retriever mix, dies. He will be 16 at the end of this month. He has spinal arthritis and began vomiting every time he was given his Tramadol or his glucosamine/chondroitin pills, then quit taking them. He had to go on prednisone to control the pain. He is peeing a lot in the house, always on a rug or quilted mattress pad put down for him. The bathroom is his main place to pee. I will not have my new floor grout saturated with dog pee. I don't think the poor guy would cope well with the construction, either. He is now blind in one eye and somewhat deaf. It would be too confusing for him to do all that construction. So even though I can't get Jim over here to do the work, if I could, I would not be able to do it until Toby passes on. So, instead, we are getting new gutters and trim, and getting our four remaining windows replaced. We did the other three windows when we remodeled the kitchen and made the living room into the library/music room. I am in the process of cleaning and decluttering so the window guys can get in to measure!

I just finished the audio version of Lady in Waiting: My Extraordinary Life in the Shadow of the Crown by Anne Glenconner, actually Lady Glenconner. It's a book that proves that truth is stranger than fiction. Glenconner is from an aristocratic family in England and as a child, played with contemporaries Queen Elizabeth and Princess Margaret. When she was older, she was a Maid of Honor at the coronation of Queen Elizabeth and Lady in Waiting to Princess Margaret for many years. Because as a female she wasn't going to inherit the family estate, she had to marry well and in fact married a very wealthy individual. He was extremely eccentric, having violent temper tantrums without regard to who was nearby. Once when they were in St. Petersburg, Russia, he became angry and lay down in the middle of the street in a fetal position. Their children, like most children of their "set," went to boarding school which they disliked intensely and would cry when being left there. Glenconner and her husband developed the island of Mustique which became a vacation destination for the rich and famous. The book describes their extravagant lives and a way of life that most of us (thankfully!) will never experience. I would give it a 5 out of 5 for its colorful events and characters but wouldn't recommend the audio version since the author narrates and her frequent smacking noises are distracting.