Hi guys! This place is BUSY! I have been trying to catch up... Besh~ I am glad that the shower was a success. How is your son doing? Those were some very nice goodies from Milkdud. I know just what you mean about having your house in order and feeling under control. John~ Did you start kayaking again? The dating world sounds like a very scary thing. I'm not sure I'll EVER be up to it again. Hang in there. Zig~ From the Qod earlier this week, I'd love to be able to sing too! In my mind's eye, I sing like Martina McBride. Truth be told, I can't carry a tune in a bucket : ) I am another carb lover.... Marci~ What is the Paperback Swap? Tell me about The Reading Group... Take that cookie dough and pitch it right out into the yard! Hard to resist when it's calling your name... BJ~ You crack me up! No, you can't take it with you! And would you even WANT to?? Having downsized from a very large house to my temporary digs here, I can tell you that it is very cathartic to get rid of so much STUFF. Every once in awhile I will look for something and have to stop myself with an "oh yeah...I gave that away..." but for the most part, I am very content with less. NH Suzanne~ Any chance of getting some "chix pix"? I'd love to see them! My DD built an incubator and hatched 6 chicks as a science project one year. They all hatched on open house night at school. Guess who got an "A"? Raeanne~ How was the meditation group? How does that work anyway? I always think of meditation as a very private thing and was wondering about how a group setting would work. I know all about phone problems! I have Verizon here and have actually been very happy with the service. We have had a couple of equipment problems though, but they were quickly resolved. Would you share your recipe for cauliflower soup, please? I wouldn't piut that pot on the grill. I believe that would indeed ruin it... What's a "reward meal"? DeeMarie~ Thank you for the email! : ) I just broke down and bought a new computer. It is MADDENING when these things break. Funny how dependent I have become on it (speaking of being attached to possessions!) I could live on pasta and bread... How was the salon? Maddie~ Congrats on the job! I'd love to see where you'll be working... Cake stalagmites?? ROFLMAO! Donna~ Don't listen to Besh... go ahead and buy the shoes! You KNOW you want them! :) I am sorry to have been MIA. Thanks for the well wishes, emails and cyber hugs. It has been a perfectly terrible week and a half here. I have made an attitude adjustment and am ready to go! (I am truly my own worst enemy) It is over 100 degrees here for the fourth day in a row. I am having my upstairs air conditioner replaced (no central air here...) and it is too hot to sleep in my room till it's replaced tomorrow. I have been bunking very uncomfortably on the couch : ( Does anyone else have a terrible time in the heat?? I am just melting! I'm getting most of my busy work done as early as possible to avoid the heat and have taken to doing housework late at night!. I washed the kitchen floor the other night at 10:00 pm! I am feeling very positive about this new week. I have some paperwork to do today, but I have all day to do it in. I have scheduled some fun things to do into my week, which I think will keep me on track. In all things, it is important to remember that life is truly what we make of it. Love, Tikanas

Jerry, thanks for the input. Well, that's a bummer, but since this is going to be an DIY project, It doesn't make since to take additional risks (since the pros have reservations). I am going to go with the BR111 Triangulo 3/8 engineered Tigerwood instead. Doesn't quite look as nice, and is more expensive...but I guess that is life on a slab! Can you pls comment further on your sealer statement above. I plan on conducting a moisture test, but was planning on using a sealer anyway, just as an extra precaution. The BR111 installation instructions specifically mention approved sealers to use on concrete (prior to the appropriate adhesive). Franklin Titebond 531, Bostik MVP, Sika Primer, Dri Tack MC7000. Having said that, any recommendations on any of these approved brands for my application. Not too concerned about cost, as much as I am about quality, and ease of use/application for an amateaur. Thanks in advance, Larry

Thank you Phila_2009 for letting me know since one store told me that the area under the cabinets may never become the same color since I do not have a lot of light in my home office since my windows are only in the front of my office and are only opened at the top and bottom with the middle covered and really only the area in front of my desk gets natural sunlight. The rest of the room has chrome Fluorescent 300 wattage Torchiere Lamps with no other windows. All the cabinets (supply and file) are a light putty color). In the family room, I know the floor will look wonderful and get a lot of light with the 4 big windows that face the woods (but I usually keep the sheer horizontal blinds closed to let in light and have privacy and the room never gets hot so maybe I do not get a lot of sun there with all the big trees shading the area) and I plan to not have a carpet or rug in that room with just the beige sofa and recliner and glass end tables and coffee table. The Oak TV stand is on wheels so I can move it around. What I am worried about is the four 5-drawer 42" wide file cabinets that will be on the home office floors (my living room and dining room I made into my home office) & three 42" wide 2-drawer file cabinets and two 30" wide two drawer file cabinets in the two room home office that has also a desk, computer desk and a credenza. I also have two supply cabinets in the dining room part blocking another desk for a part-time worker. It is amazing how much furniture I have in the two room home office. Maybe I shouldn't worry and when I move, I will just have to explain to buyers why the floor is two different colors with more of the floor light that was covered than dark that was exposed? I don't plan on moving soon but life is full of surprises and if I meet someone and we want to move to a bigger place, I worry about the color change. For now I do love my townhouse that is the size I need and is in a great beautiful location. The Brazilian Cherry floors go so well with the different woods I have in my home especially the cherry office furniture and the cherry legs on the glass tables in the family room. My kitchen has oak cabinets open to the family room and my stair way has a walnut railing. My walls are all light and so are my blinds.

Weedyacres, I agree that a good tile installer does a dry layout first to assess the best way to install the tiles to create as little cuts as possible. If the tile installer would have started the diamond design at my door next to the rug area and worked his way forward so that at least the door area had tiles right up against it and most of the rug area did also, the window area would have no gaps and there would only be a 2" gap by the wall opposite the door. That gap would have been covered up by a 1 7/8th diamond cut of the tile in a few areas leaving the 1/8th width between the other tiles. The tile would have not fell out after being glued and having a quarter round on top. The installer started in the middle of the floor and then told me if he did not due the border I would waste so many tiles since he would have to put tiny pieces about 1/4th to 3/4th all along the edges. After he was done, I only saw spaces of 1 3/8th to 1 1/2 spaces at the door so he was wrong. He also forgot about the other wall on the other side of the door not having to have the tiles 1/8th from the wall since a quarter round would be covering the area. He tried so hard and I know I could have never cut those tiles so I feel very bad but in person, the problems were more noticeable. I also did not want a border in such a little area and I had shown him a picture of what I wanted and he told me 1/8th width was no problem for him with the spacers. I wish when the installer asked me where we should start the tiles, I wish I would have told him, let's lay them all out first and then we shall see how they fit and then I would have realized the tiles should start at the door. I was busy with ear plugs on trying to work but I could not work once he started the border since it was upsetting me. If I had a bigger foyer area, the border would have been nice if it was straight. Once the quarter rounds would have been put back on the sides of the wall, the tiles would have not looked centered anyway and the 3" wide X 12" boards would have not been the same size any more as on the other two walls without the quarter rounds. I now have no tiles and only cement floors blocked by gates but I could not let him do the middle foyer that had 4 doors since I do not feel he knew how to handle doors. Here is a link that might be useful: Album with some pics of the uneven grout lines mainly due to putting a border in that I did not want that created more cuts of the tile making it busier