Not a tile fan. Beautiful (especially Bill V's work! Gorgeous!) but not for me. I might put down stone tile on a floor but never a countertop. Just don't care for the look atop a cabinet, whereas we have several floors with vinyl slate-look tile or sheet, LOL. Had laminate kitchen counters (which replaced old worn tile; but we ran out of $$$), eventually replaced in 2003 with Swanstone which is similar to Corian. It's a neutral beige granite-look - more like beach sand color, actually - and love it. Two big corner seams in our U-shaped kitchen are INVISIBLE. The installers spent over 1/2 hour sanding on each one. Every once in a while I'm rolling out pre-purchased dough. Love being able to sprinkle flour all over the countertop and then scrape 98% off with a stainless hand scraper! So easy. Heatproof to 375 degrees. Being used to laminate, I toss a double-thick potholder down if I'm putting anything down that's over that temp. I love and needed the quiet of solid surface. Our kitchen is right above our MBR suite and I'm often in the kitchen in the early a.m. when DH is still asleep.

This is true sometimes, but not always. "The commission is split 4 ways between the seller's agent & seller's broker and the buyer's agent & the buyer's broker. An agent's cut would only be 1/4 or $4,375." If the buyer sees the home and goes to the listing agent to see the home, it is not spit 4 ways because 4 agents are not involved. Two at the most. And sometimes the broker/owner shows and lists the home and does get it all. 7% is still plenty high in our area split or not for no more work that is done on showing homes. Also a lot of broker/owners build spec homes in this area, which to me lessens their drive to show your home versus one they built. Obviously they would make more on their spec home. I know things are different everywhere, but that is the way it is where I live.

I prepare food for my parents that is easy to reheat and easy to eat also. Does she have any swallowing issues? Sometimes that can linger for a while after a stroke and softer foods are safer as well as easy for her to work with. I think Gardenlad has expressed some good ideas in a nice way about her being as independent as she is capable of. I do make a lot of chicken and package it up in slices or small pieces for them in a sauce. My Dad's arthritis makes it hard for him to cut the meat and my Mom has trouble with a knife too. So, I try to make it fork or spoon friendly, like your friend requires. Here are some other favorites of ours. I have a ton of ground meat recipes - its easy for them and we like it too. Various meatloaves by the dozen, LOL, Ginger's Porcupine Meatballs, meatloaf patties, meatloaf muffins, Ann T's Salisbury Steak, Greek Meatballs, Chili, Gaucho pie. I make pork tenderloin in several different ways, she can cut it with a fork or you could cut it into small pieces. Keilbasi pieces with sauerkraut and potatoes all cooked together. Sausage Marzetti is a big favorite - pork sausage meat with noodles. Octoberfest stirfry - sausage slices and chopped cabbage cooked in beer and beef broth. TUSCAN CHICKEN (cut the chicken into smaller pieces) Recipe courtesy Rachael Ray 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs 1 1/2 pounds chicken breast tenderloins Salt and pepper 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 6 cloves garlic, crushed 3 tablespoons white wine vinegar 2 tablespoons butter 2 shallots, chopped 6 sprigs fresh rosemary, finely chopped 2 tablespoons flour 1 cup dry white wine 2 cups beef broth (yes, beef broth) Heat a large, deep skillet over medium high heat. Season chicken with salt and pepper. Add 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, half the chicken pieces, and a couple of crushed cloves of garlic. Brown chicken 2 minutes on each side and remove from pan. Add remaining oil, another single turn of the pan, remaining chicken pieces and garlic. Brown chicken 2 minutes on each side and remove. Add vinegar to the pan. Let it cook off. Add butter, shallots, and rosemary to the pan and cook 2 minutes, add flour and cook 1 minute more. Whisk in wine, reduce 1 minute. Whisk in broth and bring liquids up to a bubble. Return chicken to the pan and simmer over moderate heat 7 to 8 minutes to finish cooking chicken through. There are innumerable chicken recipes - as long as it has something to keep it moist, chicken can be cut into small pieces and I think would be perfect. There are also tons of pasta dishes - I would stay away from long spaghetti type pastas but use farfalle or something easy to stab with a fork. Thick soups are easy to eat - pea soup, lentil soup, and if she's pretty adept with her left hand, other thin soups would be okay too, I suppose. I hate to bombard you with tons of recipes that you wouldn't want, so if you would like some recipes, please let me know and I'll be happy to post them for you. I wish your friend all the best, she has been through so much, how wonderful that she can still keep a smile on her face.

Socks, I have a thing for flashlights, but fortunately I don't need any right now. :-) I don't usually pay much attention to the so-called list price (in this case $99) because items rarely sell for that price. If I see a Woot deal that interests me I usually look to see what it sells for on Amazon or elsewhere, and I also read the Amazon reviews. If it hasn't been reviewed I tend to lose interest. Last week I bought this Tree Net Swing for $39.99 on Woot.