Hi Guys! Well, after the light dusting of snow that we had yesterday. It snowed last night and it's sticking now. The little ones bundled up in snow pants and the rest and headed out. They got their fill of snow, had hot choc and brownies and are vegging out now. On Friday, we hosted the neighborhood teens for a couple of movies, pizza, dino-nuggets and chat about whatever teens like to talk about. Then we built a fire and roasted a few marshmallows. After driving everyone home, we enjoyed the fire until it burned out. Tikanas: How's the vegan meal planning coming along with DS? I have to check out the cooking forum, I guess. Saturday, I spent fixing up a leg-o-lamb for company. I served it with roasted peppers and onions, with a big greek salad on the side. Appetizers were yellow and orange peppers wrapped in prosciutto and Soppressata salami and Asiago cheese bundles. It was all yummers and then we had a few pistachios and tiny, tiny brownies for dessert, along with some homemade hot buttered rums-----HEY!- it IS winter time here! I have been good with my diet and exercise all week and am down a pound. I decided to have fun one day a week and not beat myself up about it. From the beginning of the year, I just made myself a deal that, during 6 days of the week, I'll pose the question, "Is this GOOD for my body?" before I eat anything. The 7th day, I don't have to ask the question or go traveling on a guilt trip. I am tired of spending the last 8 years on a diet and am seeing how this works for me. The winter snow brightness has brought DH's mood back out of the depressions he faces in the winter overcast here, so things around the house are cheerier for now. Besh -as Jimmy Buffet would say, "I WANNA GO WHERE IT'S WARM!" lol. Just some constant sunlight would be great! Raeanne~ I have to thank you for the card, you sweet thing. You always brighten my day. You are such a thoughtful gal. ((((((((((Love ya)))))))))) Thanks so much. I am here today; I have at least 12 loads of laundry to do. Our family company left and there are sheets, towels, bedding, etc, etc, etc. I wish I had a BIG table to fold on! Why are laundry rooms so durned small? Marci~ I am supposed to read some specific books for the Expressions in Writing class I'm taking. I'll pass them on to you if they're good. One I read this summer was Knight in Rusty Armor. It'd be good for lots of guys I know to read! It's very easy to read and cute and reflective. In other news, my ex has decided to marry the girl he left his most recent wife for. They keep getting younger. (((SIGH))) Anyway, almost exactly 1 year after he divorced the last one, he's marrying again. I fear he'll never settle down, but he is super committed to our 2 girls, and they to him, so that's the best I can hope for. Neither DD is big on marriage, though, and I can see why! NHSuzanne~ Sister Gift with Words - You paint a calm picture. Thank you for the vision. My thought on the birthday exchange is that it should be easy. We're all busy chicks and we want to stay connected with ease. But I'd love to have a b-day pal and then ANOTHER pal that I could send cards and trinkets to on and off over the year. Fun mail is FUN mail! I'll go with the flow as long as I don't have to organize it! ------- ((((THANKS MARCI and MADDIE for all you do!)))))) Joanne and Gretchen! LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU! Thanks for checking in! Well, I better get something done around here! PS: John, we miss you -- still.

Walnutcreek, what a cool lamp! Somehow I'm really seeing that on a buffet or a console table. It would be gorgeous! Suero, that table is lovely. You're right, it's way more than I want to spend, but it's absolutely beautiful, as are all the other things on their web site. I like all the choices of woods and finishes too. Well, the budget's a problem. As is my lack of ability to make a decision. I'm currently stuck between the West Elm nesting coffee table paired with the Ethan Allen end table with drawer; and the Crate & Barrel Sims coffee table & matching end table. (For the second end table in either case, I'm going with that little orange metal table.) I think the wood on the Crate & Barrel tables is much nicer, but the tables themselves are a little boring; in addition the West Elm + Ethan Allen (gads, how many people pair *those* brands together?!) are more practical since they give me a drawer and a de facto shelf or two. Have read not such good things about West Elm quality - not sure if that applies to this table, which is constructed differently from their usual furniture. And it irritates me that I'd have to pay $70 in shipping, for this table!!! (And it doesn't even come assembled!) I don't know - there's the style thing. Maybe I just don't know who I am. I want to project a slightly funkier image than what I think I'm coming up with... maybe it's the carpeting that's the problem. The carpet ain't funky. And the funky furniture on top of the carpet just don't go. The furniture that goes with the carpet ain't so funky. I am *not* a fuddy-duddy! I'm NOT!!! (Or am I???)

"You might do better living in these areas:" Why, because places where there have been rapid increases in valuations are less likely to have rapid descents? Here's a quick clip from a recent Business Week article: While a 25% decline is unprecedented in modern times, some economists are beginning to talk about it. "We now see potential for another 25% to 30% downside over the next two years," says David A. Rosenberg, North American economist for Merrill Lynch (MER), who until recently had expected a much smaller slide. Shocking though it might seem, a decline of 25% from here would merely reverse the market's spectacular appreciation during the boom. It would put the national price level right back on its long-term growth trend line, a surprisingly modest 0.4% a year after inflation. There's a recent model for this kind of return to normalcy after the bursting of a financial bubble. The stock market decline that began in 2000 erased most of the gains of the boom of the second half of the 1990s, leaving investors with ordinary-sized returns. I just noticed that Business Week has the Feb 11th issue titled "Housing Meltdown". I think I'm going to go pick up a copy.

We have a Gambrel Colonial (similar to Dutch but more often found here in New England.) Our living room dimensions are similar to yours. What I have done is to cluster a sitting area around the fireplace. At one end of the room is a piano, and the other end has a drop leaf desk. Yes to the beams! We have them in our home in both the family room and in the living room. I can see some nicely boxed in beams to match the wood in your living room. Have fun decorating! I agree with getting rid of that wallpaper and there's just too much "stuff". Will you be painting any of the woodwork white? If so, consider white beams if you add them.