Ok - we can all relax. I have at least! :) We met with builder #1 on the proposal and discussed all the items, etc. DH grilled him....but in a professional/respectful way. A few things he had down re: allowances for items I selected were listed at his cost, not what we identified/expected as the pricing/allowance. So, the items we selected were covered and there's no issue. (ex. - my hw floors, same vendor/floor but the vendor sells to the builder at a reduced price) So, all the drama over my hw floors was for nothing :) A few other items, he had alternative suggestions for because his contractors prefer certain brands, etc. However, he did say he was willing to put our selected brands in and not impact the total $ as it was negligible amount, and he hates paperwork and didn't want to figure the difference. :) Then there were some items we had not specified so he did a middle of the road pricing and told me to let him know what we wanted and he'd include it. And (how stupid do I feel) he also had with him a list of all the items a client selects. In there were my items to date and he said we will continue to fill in over the next month with additional items I select. Anything not selected will come from an allowance he'll update the contract with. We did not get through everything and have a follow up meeting scheduled for next week. Of course, it would have been nice to know this when we received the proposal. I would have spared everyone my "venting" thread, and I wouldn't have had this sick feeling in the pit of my stomach for a week. Which, I shared with him during our conversation. But, I do feel much better about the situation. So, all in all, DH & I decided builder #1 is horrendous with paperwork. And, I can deal with that issue various ways. We are going to wait to see what the final # comes in from him before making a final decision. The good thing that came out of it was a sanity check re: the 2 proposals and what builder #2 offered re: pricing. We aren't that far off (from what we can tell...it really is nearly imposssible without selecting every little thing). Oh, interesting note...we found out inadvertantly that builder #2 was the builder for a another friend of ours. Sent them an email asking about their experience...and all she replied with was "nothing I'd respond to via email, but happy to talk with you". I thought that was interesting! Given the misunderstanding on our end with builder #1, his references and the response from my friend on builder #2, we are leaning towards builder #1....

Never accuse anyone without proof, simply because you 'think' they may have done something. Years ago, I was missing money after a family party. I kept that to myself, because the only one I could think of doing such a thing was my 8 year old nephew--not because he was untrustworthy, but simply because he was the only child at the party, and I couldn't imagine adults doing something like that. Well, fast foward about 25 years--one of the other guests was proven to have stolen a quarter of a million $$$ from a disabled relative. I still don't know who took my money, but it's obvious that there was more than one possible suspect. Look, in the past few months, anything could have happened to those coins. Maybe you put them away someplace 'safe' and forgot about it--I've done things like that. Maybe a guest in your home took them. Or possibly you had someone in doing work (electrician/plumber/rug shampooer/chimney sweep). If your home is anything like mine, I don't know how you could assume that one person was the likely culprit--so many people come in and out of a person's home in a few months. Surely you have some record of the coins--I collect them, and keep a detailed log of what I have, when/where I bought it and for how much. You have to, to be able to have the proper documentation. Your husband almost certainly has those records someplace. I'd take a look around to see if you can find them. Lastly, I'd strongly recommend that if you have any other valuable items, take pictures of them for a record (and store the pictures away from the items themselves), and please, get yourself a safe and have it properly installed. With coins, you really do have to be so careful, because they're small, easy to hide/transport, hard to trace and easy to sell. Even so, I'd call the police and make a report. They will understand that if this was your husband's collection you may not have so many details--but you still need to report it, and who knows, something may just turn up. Sorry about yoru loss, good luck with working through the aftermath.

Raul_in_mexico: Well, I'd prefer to spay non-breeding dogs before first heat to reduce chance of breast cancer from 25% (spaying after 3rd heat cycle) to less than 1%. Although women with genetic markers for breast cancer DO elect prophylactic radical mastectomies and I for one don't see anything wrong with that. And in breeds with high incidence of hip dysplasia I'd screen them with a distraction view radiograph at ~14 weeks so we could discuss doing a juvenile pelvic symphysidesis before the dog had excruciating pain and lameness and required a total hip replacement or FHO. The point being that there is no good predictive test that allows a vet to determine that THIS dog will at some point have GDV and THIS dog will not as with hip dysplasia. I'd love that GSD study cindyxeus posted to help find something that vets could use to determine more accurately which specific dogs are at risk. But until then, all we have is family history when available and breed. You can either wait until the dog is presented as an emergency with all sorts of odd stacked against it (usually older dogs, electrolyte imbalances, +/- stomach necrosis, shock) or do a prophylactic gastropexy while the dog is young and healthy and prevent the whole problem in the first place. Of course, the prophy pexy would have to be based on risk, but until we get a handle on what the risk factors actually are, all we have is breed and family history. I think that if a vet here in the US did not discuss the risk of GDV in at-risk breeds and ALL the preventative options, that the vet can and would be successfully sued for malpractice should that dog bloat. And to respond to the "lining the pockets" comment, it is MUCH less expensive to do the pexy prophylactically than when the dog actually bloats. OTOH, with the numbers you gave it is clear to me why you don't think GDV is a problem. The vet school sees about 12 per month and the animal hospital where I worked in a small NC town had about 9-12 patients per year get GDV, although not all were seen at the hospital. So you are not seeing it nearly as much as we are for some reason. If we were seeing such low case numbers as you are, I doubt we would be even having this discussion because it would be pointless. But we are seeing GDV a LOT, and people with at-risk breeds are intested in preventing it rather than dealing with it, especially considering the suffering to the dog and expense to the owner. But I certainly see your point and if it was as rare here as it is in your practice, I'd 100% agree with you.

coralee., if your family & friends don't support you its usually because they don't want to face their own issues.... the more u do/eat what u want, they more they will get used to it. they might never approve/like it , roll their eyes, but that's their issues. you can't change anyone!! you have to take care of yourself b/c no one else will.!! i changed my diet life style and i will never go back to what i was doing before. lost 15lbs. i now weigh what i did in 1999!! my bloodwork is excellent. my doctor is thrilled with what i am eating, she said i am eating "pure". have a hypothyroidism, but lost weight and feel great!! more energy., happier overall, more positive., when u feel good, life is good!! i am not on diet. its a diet lifestyle. i think when u say, oh i am dieting, u think u can go off it and resume what u were doing before. i think that's what gets people into trouble. to really change permanently, you have to do it all the time. to go back, you will just wind up where u were before. find a lifestyle that works for you, some thing u can live with and just make the change. totally agree with what was said upthread: your diet is 80% and exercise is 20% of weight loss.