You are probably a zone 7 on the USDA chart for winter hardiness zones. My mom and I want to see the state of Georgia. I saw it in a "drive by" kinda way enroute to Florida a couple years ago. My friends woke me up so I could see the Live oaks with moss on them all down the street we were driving down. I would love to get to visit Georgia, or even South Carolina. It sounds like you are in the more "country" part of Georgia. That would be great to see also. Well, If I ever had lots of money to just go where I wanted to, I would love to see all the east coast southern states, maybe even the Gulf coast states. I have seen enough of Florida already. I did love the town of Webster Fla. I just loved the "country-ness" of it. Lots of pastures of livestock, and old Live oaks for the cattle and horses to go under, a great fleamarket too. But, it is (like most of Florida) in a big sinkhole area, no thanks on that. I loved key West, but, it is expensive to find a home there, unless you decide to be a well....Hobo of sorts, not judging them, but, there are lots of homeless people there who get food from (guessing) nice folks who buy them a meal. Some have bikes, a couple have 3 wheeled little carts, and carry all their belongings on these carts. It is pretty interesting. I think a couple are veterans of the US armed forces, be they army, Navy, air force, or Marines. They get cared for somehow by nice people. I love Key West as a vacation spot, but it is a party place, and I am no Partier, lol. Poaky1

Hi Joanne, I am so sorry about the loss of your mother. I could have written your post a little more than three years ago. My mom had the same symptoms as your mom. She kept complaining about shoulder pain for months and even went for ortho surgery on her shoulder. After that she still didn't get better and her appetite was non-existent. When she was hospitalized for shortness of breath, the ER doctor ran a CT and found a mass in her lung. She was diagnosed with small cell lung cancer and passed away 3 weeks after her diagnosis. I wrote all this to tell you to be careful about your grief. I went thru a very hard time after my mother's death. I think part of the reason was the suddeness of her loss and being caught totally off guard and the guilt that I didn't realize how sick she was. My complicated grief evolved into a severe depression. I too tried to go through daily activities such as work, shopping, etc., but 6 months later I only felt more devestated and sad. I sought the help of a grief couselor who recogized the symptoms were more than just grief.You don't have to wait until you find you can't deal with it to get help. I believe a grief couselor is always helpful to guide you through a severe life trama that can result from losing a loved one. It will always be hard but you do get stronger and the joy will come back to your life. That's hard for you to believe but it will. I will keep you and your boys in my prayers. Hugs, Barbara

I researched this product for months trying to decide if it was the way to go. I have been able to ascertain (to my satisfaction anyway) that Konecto and the Allure (HD) product are by the same manufacturer. If you go to Home Depot and ask to rent the installation video (which BTW is really nothing more than the sales pitch for the product) you will see that the scenes in the video are identical for the most part to the scenes in the Konecto video you can see online. Same set, same floor, same actors.... We are nearing completion of a 500 sq. install of the HD grade and let me tell you it ain't as easy as they portray it to be. *IF* you are working with a sqaure or rectangular room of the right width and length it isn't too bad. However, our rooms sort of meandered from one to another with hallways, cabinets, differing length stem walls and differing room widths...Frankly, in this application it was a real PITA to get this stuff laid. I would strongly suggest anyone using this product in odd shaped rooms where continuity is important to plan on spending considerable time in planning. It can be done but you can end up in a pickle if you don't plan the entire project from the first strip to the last. We laid this product over plywood sub floor that two out of three conventional vinyl installers said they would lay vinyl over. However, the bids for laying sheet vinyl came in at between $3000 and $4500 for mid-grade vinyl. Even with a good floor you will want it smooth or the product *WILL* telegraph major imperfections. $995 for the Allure product was a much more affordable option for us. However, it was not a walk in the park and it a lot of time spent on you knees and scratching you head trying to figure out how to stagger joints using the 1/3, 2/3 cuts when working with 3 foot strip lengths in a 15.5 foot room. (can't be done as far as we can tell unless you manufacture your own splines)...Which while I am thinking of it is a suggestion I would make to anyone planning on using this product. Learn how to make a spline in the event you need to reverse lay or shorten a full strip to avoid ending up with a itty bitty fill piece. As to warranty- I would buy the product on the internet. Generally, warranties aren't worth the paper they are written on... And, I can tell you from personal experience that offering me all of my money back if the product fails wouldn't begin to cover the amount of work it has taken to get this floor down! Since I seem to be writing a book on the product I will add that I thought the Allure product looked cheap and ugly when we purchased it. Much to my surprise that phony looking grain pattern looks really, really beautiful when you get it on the floor. Distance improves this product! One last hint for the Allure product...Don't believe Home Depot when they say there isn't a variance in color. They repeatedly assured as that there was no need for matching lot numbers and they lied. Luckily, I didn't trust them so I pulled product from each lot and intermixed it. You can still see patchy color variances but it actually enhanced the look to appear even more like a real wood floor. And yes, it is a much quieter floor than laminates and even the existing vinyl that it is being laid over. Elise

Hi Vesters. So many things you wrote struck a chord with me as we experienced the same issues with my SD, who is now 14. We've had custody of her since she was 5, after gaining emergency and then full custody though a very nasty battle. After DH and his ex divorced SM moved SD hours away. SD began sleeping in her bed, showering with her, being completely dependent on her mom. BM thrived on this - it made her feel needed and important. SD couldn't (or wouldn't) do or try anything on her own. SD became BM's 'bff' and confidant - all at the mature age of 3. This continued until BM found a boyfriend, and then SD was kicked into her own bed in her own room on a different floor and told to go to sleep. Once that relationship ended SD was needed again and back in BM's bed, all the while hearing about BM's relationship woes. Fast forward a few years. We have custody, SD sees her mom EOW. She's still trying to have SD sleep with her (between boyfriends) and be dependent on her. The 'bff' behavior is worsening and we're hearing all about BM's love life from SD. SD is getting stomach aches right before visitations and worrying about how to take care of her mom. All so appropriate for a mother/daughter relationship. And then there was. . . "BM also used to say things to SD (right after I came on the scene) like, "I'd never let a man come between us" and "You're the only one I need" which sounds innocent enough, but it was very much meant as a "look at your father, moving on with his life, I'll never let that happen to us." I could have written that. BM is always saying this. . . in between the men in her life. But what SD figured out about 2 years ago is that her mom is full of sh@t. She started to see all these behaviors factored around her mom and what her mom needed on her mom's schedule. She was blinded by the 'my mom needs me' and 'my mom loves me best' until then, but with the help of her counselor and a little maturity she started to figure it out. I won't say she doesn't fall back into buying her mom's crud every now and again, but for the main part she can she the behavior for who it is really about - mom, not SD. I tell you all this so you know you are not alone, and also to give you hope. Your SD needs help, and she needs her dad to help her receive it, but she can recover from this. I will tell you one thing SD's counselor shared with us that was helpful for SD and for our tongues as we weren't biting them so hard. When you say "I'm always a little uncomfortable when she talks so openly about her BM with me (because I know the "real deal"), yet I'm always very careful to make sure I speak loving and positively about her ." you need to stop. This doesn't mean speak negatively, but you don't have to put a good spin on bad actions. Don't try to make mom's bad action ok. Don't make excuses for her. Listen to SD, let her know you understand why she would be upset, help her with generalized, non leading questions discover why she's upset, but don't then tell her it's all ok and mommy knows best. Later, when she figures out mommy doesn't, you will be seen as a liar. It's ok to say sometimes mommy's get confused, or mommy's make mistakes. This is likely better pronounced by DH at first, but you need to know that you don't have to be positive. Just don't be negative, if you get what I mean. :-) Good luck. Keep us updated, and keep your chin up. You are doing the right thing.