Barb, my advice to you is to go to a few Dr's, get a few opinions, have them make note of everything. Be sure to detail to them what you wrote here and type yourself up a health database in Word that lists Dr appts, main Dr's, Dr's consulted, medications, past medications (even if you've tried them & couldn't tolerate) any tests, as well as a detailed pain history - what brings it on, reaction to meds, side effects, and if you can, include pictures. You say arthritis in your hands- see if you can find some medical pics and edit them with a detailed legand like my & . Notice on the pics the marks are different colors, each color represents a different pain sensation (throbbing, stabbing, numbness). I have found that the Dr's I go to appreciate my pics & my detailed pain history chart. I just had my 2nd court hearing Nov 3rd. Yesterday I posted on another post in the health forum (link below). I hope that my fight will be over. One thing I had going for me was a few years back I had my neuro type a letter about how long I can sit or drive in a car. My Ex & I were arguing over where half-way was for a drop off point for my son. Even after mapping it, he still thought that since he couldn't take a direct route to get there that his time factored in. Anyway, at my last hearing, that letter along with a few others about my limitations may have gotten me disability since that vocational expert "found" jobs for me, like a bank teller,(ruled out due to medications) but since I couldn't walk fast, sit long, bend, those jobs were ruled out. He'd then suggest another list, which then got cut down from letter 2. Each letter's limitations were read, until we got to the last one. It was suggested I could be an "information clerk" (whatever that is) or an "order clerk". Information clerk was ruled out due to my divorce attorney asking where the jobs were located (he really rocked!), since they were out of my driving range, that went. The order clerk went after my attorney asked specifically what kind of store. He then ruled that out due to medications, & limitations. I'll say one thing, my disability attorney going on maternity leave might have been the best thing to happen to me. It just happened that my divorce attorney took on her work load for letters A through K. Since I know he can argue cases (haven't lost a case against the Ex) I wasn't worried going in there this time. I thanked him on the way out & told him how much better he was than her, he said she's a good attorney altho I haven't seen that. Punky, (((HUGS))) man, I could have written that post! I know all too well about emailing people, even people who also suffer from pain- they don't want to hear it either. I got an email from one "friend" who also suffers from pain. We used to vent to each other, I enjoyed chatting & emailing with her. One day, I made a post at another place about new problems (colon / stomach related) I was having. No one replied- I was shocked. They supposedly were my "friends" it was a rough time, I was at that place where you wonder why you stick around. We chatted & I mentioned no one replying, she then hit me with a wake up call, pretty much what you said. I don't remember if she even mentioned my new problems in that email, but I made a vow not to update everyone about my health. If someone emails asking, I'll say there is no change, or something to that effect but won;t get into it. I don't think anyone could prepare us for what this does to a marriage. This has to be the worst year for us, the 6 years we've been togather. He used to be patient & loving, now he's moody & loses his temper & throws things. Recently a "paver" came flying 2 ft to my right. It has been the worst year for my "dark cloud", I can't wait until 2005. Every time I turn around something else happens. I'm dealing with failed back surgery (fused Nov 2003), a daughter with problems in school due to ODD (funny, she's fine home), an Ex that blames me for her problems, a son who's father I fought & won for him to go to a really good art college, dropping out due to depression, my son then moving to CA to get away from it & having to move back for our next court battle against his "father" to enforce an order that he finish paying the loan he was ordered to pay. Unfortunatly he beat us to filing, & now my son is faced with the realization that his "father" cares more about $5,000 then him. Add to this my back problems got worse after surgery; all the 2nd opinions I went to said the fusion is fine, and my most recent colon / bowel / stomach problems. How much can a person take? I know there are people in much worse shape than me, but even knowing that doesn't help when hit with other things popping up that I don't need. I just want to be able to do things again, to go to work & have money to spend. I want to be able to go on an airplane & go on vacation. I want to take my daughter to the beach & swim in the ocean without worrying about the tide, or someone knocking into me. I want to take her to Great Adventure & ride a roller-coaster again. Heck, I'd be happy to walk the park! lol Who has $40 to rent a scooter? I'd love to bake & sew again & ride the Harley we bought right before I stopped working. Thankfully, there is gardening. The one place I can go & take my frustrations out on the dirt or prune the perennials down, or even rip them out when they get invasive. I save jobs like this for those bad mood days. I now pot up any invasive plants I pull out & will start selling them in the spring. I purchased a shelf / greenhouse from BJ's wholesale club & have it set up inside. I started trying to grow clematis from seed, it's actually coming up (let's hope it's not weeds). I also started a few rose cuttings, knock on wood, but so far they aren't dying- woohoo! I've been trying to root roses for years with no luck. I just harvested rose hips last weekend & will try to grow from seed. Hopefully, this will give me something to do in the winter months. This is the greenhouse I have if anyone is interested. I'm sure it can be found cheaper, I paid $25 for it. Best price I could find was $50, oh well, not allowed to mention the site here. On preview of post, it said this vendor not allowed. If anyone wants the link, email me. It is $49.99 with $2.95 shipping. I found a few on Ebay, but shipping kills you. You know, I'd really like to see a venting forum. Here is a link that might be useful: My responce on another post.

If you're thinking Arts & Crafts bungalow, you can always look to some of the originals, many of which now have painted trims (though honestly I *wish* more of them still had their original stained trim, ours included!) It was also very common to paint trim and cabinetry (and thus use "lower grade" wood, which in those days meant redwood or fir instead of oak) in the kitchen, bath, and bedrooms and have stained trim and casework in the dining and living rooms, and that worked fine. That might be a way to manage costs while still getting the look you love. And I've seen some gorgeous kitchen remodels using cherry or fir cabinets with painted white trim and white built-ins that mix it up a bit in houses where the trim had already been painted but people didn't want white kitchens (and didn't want the cost of replacing original trim!) Fir in particular is one of my faves with soapstone, though it is a soft wood so it will ding. We also have a painted gray and white kitchen, which mixes it up a bit in a different way. There's no rule that painted cabs must be white---and honestly, a lot of the reason that listings for houses of that age have painted cabinets (especially white) is that it's a very easy way to clean up and "modernize" older cabinets for resale. (At least, that happens a lot where we live---people paint and put on new counters to sell an older kitchen.) Some of those were probably put in as stained kitchens, but had woods that aren't "trendy" these days and thus dated the kitchens. I love our painted kitchen, but if we'd had the resources, we would have seriously considered QS oak or fir (even the fir was far more costly than our paint-grade poplar). I'd be sure you're okay with the tradeoff before switching gears.

Oh, he learned to pace himself 25 years ago with his first 4 heart bypasses at age 43. Breakfast is never a missed meal and he takes a break to do a blood sugar every 2 hours when he is working hard like this. Karen, the plans were discussed with the township, and this is allowed. It is the only option here as we have no storm sewers...the edge of the road is higher by about a foot than where the drain comes out and there is a shallow ditch between the road and the drain to channel run off water. It really doesn't seem right to me either, but the 'powers that be' say it is. A cute story that goes with this...A 9 year old next door neighbor boy (John was recently diagnosed with Aspergers Autism) when hearing of the upcoming dig that would start on Saturday, was really excited and announced that he was going to help with the digging. The start was delayed till Saturday afternoon due to DH's birthday breakfast out with DD and then we all did the Charity Heart Walk together. When we got home, there was a message on the answering machine from John wanting to know when the digging would start. He was waiting out in the yard with his shovel, a hoe and 2 12" inch rulers since 7 am! His Mother said that she couldn't keep him in the house, because he was sure that he would miss the whole thing if he went in. John did get to help. DH gave him a 5 foot strip to work in that was too tight for the tractor and he was delighted...for about 2 hours. It was hard work and his Mother said that is the longest he has stuck with anything that she could remember

I might have gone down the rabbit hole with the following plan, but I was thinking--how cool would it be to have the clean-up zone on the peninsula, m/l as originally drawn, so that dirty dishes could be handed directly from the table in the smaller DR, to the counter? The DR is small--but when the kids have grown enough to need more dining space, the porch can be converted, and everything will still be convenient to the new DR. And nothing will need to be done to the kitchen, except removing the current sliding door and sliding window, and casing the openings. The smaller DR could then become a study area for the kids, sitting area for you, a breakfast area with a smaller table for you and your DH when the kids are grown and gone, or the older kids' table for extended family dinners. (A few years ago we added a 24'x12' room off the kitchen, which is used daily as a play room, but doubles as a dining room when we have the whole family over--with up to 20 seated at three 6' tables placed end-to-end, and up to 6 older kids at the regular DR table. Once in a while we have to add a drop-leaf table to the LR (visible from the play room), to seat 4 more. You could extend the porch to accommodate your kids and their future families in much the same way. I'm imagining a dessert buffet and coffee service set up on the counter under the big sliding window.) In the meantime, a parent can sit in the seat on the end, convenient for retrieving forgotten items, and the other parent can sit beside the baby. The dish pantry is full height, and can house pantry items in the lower and upper shelves, with dishes on a level that's easy for the kids to reach, and it's completely separate from the prep and cooking zones. The clean-up zone could also be used for extra prep, and with a cutting board that covers the sink, can be used for counter space/buffet serving. I drew a short backsplash (3-4"?), to help contain drips and splashes--if you're using stone or solid surface material, the back side of the backsplash strip can be polished, and the edge finished, to match the front. That leaves a wider prep zone between the other sink and the cooktop--the larger sink can still be used for hand wash items, especially mixing bowls and pots and pans, which will be generated in the prep/cooking zones anyway. I drew a blind corner with a 16" cabinet (not counting the corner cavity), and a door that swings left-to-right--the width of the door can be adjusted to make sure it clears the oven handle. The corner cavity can be voided (or partially voided), but I'd include it and store seldom used items there--send a kid in after them. Ana White--Build a blind corner cabinet. The cooktop is not as protected as it would be in the original plan, but since the dividing wall extends past the point where the cook will be standing, and there is plenty of space to pass behind, I think it's safe. (Unless the kids all head for the porch/DR en masse, like a herd of cattle. ;) There are compromises in both of these last two plans, and I guessed at the size and exact location of the large window on the left, so neither plan might be possible without altering the window. I seem to be verbose today (I'm goofing off, and putting off transplanting strawberry runners--I spent most of yesterday afternoon transplanting, too), but one thing I was thinking as I described the seating arrangements for our family dinners is this--I wish we'd added that room when my kids were small, even if we'd had to use a HELOC to finance it. The ability to gather the whole family, with minimum hassle and upheaval, has been a blessing--not buying/doing anything that wasn't essential while the remodel was in progress (including vacations, clothes, shoes, etc.,--a promise I made to myself), was worth every sacrifice. To have four generations of both sides of our family present is very special--for my kids, and for me.