willowdecor: (at least you won and paid 1/2 for your countertops: that's a plus wow! (fyi: that is why we don't take american express! lol: customer always wins!) they should have NEVER charged your card 3 days before install! (I charge cc after I get a Job Completion sheet turned into me by customer stating ok to do so!) gaps: well: have had to deal with fixing terrible 1/2 installed jobs from installer who disappeared off the face of Earth leaving 1/2 installed kitchen. We "DOUBLE durrocked the wall: to fix gaps. They left a hugh mess: customer didn't have running water for 90 days in her kitchen. We installed within one day after she came to us. (went to stone yard same day she walked in our showroom: matched 3cm Portofino Gold as best as could be: moved it: fabricated it after measure same day and installed December 23rd 2007 for her 25 person Christmas party!) WOW! Right! (also: just to let some of you know: when we install: we usually rip out the sheetrock and countertops. then install countertop: granite is 99% level and even: Walls & cabinets and floors are not always level or even. So my tile installers who do the backsplash fix "problems" after the fact: to hide wall issues and CABINETS THAT ARE NOT ALWAYS LEVEL! I make customer sign a disclaimer regarding gaps when we are "not installing" their splash. When you keep existing splash: there might be problems with gaps due to countertop install) It's possible. Just giving heads up on issues that can happen during an install. ***If they cut your countertop wrong! Put your FOOT DOWN: don't let them glue the countertop to your cabinet and tell them to take it back! buy new slab and re-fabricate correctly: once countertop is glued: they are going to try and "talk" you into keeping it the way it is. (how can people stay in business: installing this way: they move around and change their names! LOL) Everyone makes mistakes, but a good installer/business will fix the problem correctly! MISTAKES COST MONEY and fabricator ends up doing a kitchen for FREE: that is why they are usually careful! Marble can be expensive and so are exotic granites! You want your kitchen to look great and have it look right! You deserve that!

Supra92 -- I just got an email from our fabricator (we used Alpha Granite, btw, and they did a great job -- we only had one seam but it's really well done) and they found a piece 24 x 48" that they're keeping for us -- they're even going to finish the edges so we could use it as a table top or something like that. We'll try oiling it when I get it next week and I'll post some pics. Now if I could just get my dishwasher and new range operational. The plumber showed today but not the electrician so we're still on hold with that til Monday. Is your kitchen actually finished and up and running now? If so, I envy you. And where, may I ask, are the pictures of your stone (and your kitchen)? I'm sure I'm not the only one who'd like to see it.

Wait a minute, plucky, I thought it was you who was supportive of me? Anyhow ... I'm glad it makes sense. Waxing may become a lost art if it's not passed on. And it DOES make a difference if you do it right -- a few coats of wax give you a nice, durable finish that's renewable and feels and looks SO good. There's nothing as lustrous as a real wax finish. I wish I knew more about chemistry and physics. I'm sure I could have a better explanation about how the molecules are excited from the energy introduced into the lipid and make a conformational change and line up differently ... but I took Italian instead! Ha! And now I can just order nicer things in restaurants. I admire laxsupermom's scientific approach. (But a wooden spoon to the head to her husband for not asking if he could clean it up. Sorry. Even my dad would.)

Lisa--so amazed you did it, and so proud of you for doing it! And am so thrilled it was good for you. I've had two other friends who did it, as well. Very rewarding for both, just to know. One of the friends and her family bonded and see each other. Wasn't as good an experience for the other, but she was grateful that she knew about it all, finally. The deer incident affected me more than I thought it would. First, the reality of it and how to handle it. How sad it was to see this creature in such distress. And how problematic it seemed to wonder about the appropriate way to deal with it. It's like we live in the country, with all the critters around us; and yet we live in the country with neighbors very near to us, save for the forest directly across the front of our immediate property and behind our immediate property. GDW felt strange, walking across the street and shooting the poor thing in view of whoever might be driving by or outside. I felt a little freaked when I went out to help him load her into the truck, and two vehicles drove by about that time. I don't think they saw the deer, who was in a bit of a ditch right next to the road, but I felt kind of like a criminal. Had push come to shove, we'd have felt fine about our actions had we been asked to explain. I suggested we call the game wardens, but GDW said the chances of them being able to come right out were slim; so that's when we loaded her into the truck to go to the burn pile. As it stands now, she is still in back of the truck; we will unload her tomorrow nearby, with the nice game warden's blessing. He said I might be surprised to know how many calls they get like ours. And he told me to thank my husband for him, in choosing to put her out of her suffering. And here was poor Garry, with one eye swollen shut! He waves it off, and any of the rest of us might, too. But he is definity hampered temporarily. Now if he was going to be like that from now on, he'd get used to it. We've been laughing about it today; I found myself thinking, "Let's see; if I lose an eye, which one would I prefer to lose. Definitely my left one." hahaha I've been loving binge-watching Anthony Bourdain's Parts Unknown series, connecting with people all around the world through food. I had only caught 2-3 of the shows when I had TV. Liked them, but not the way I do now. Eileen, it's your fault. How little I knew about Singapore! And now I know a LOT about that supercity/super country. (AND my new favorite, Asian foods and learning to fix them!) And it sort of lit me on fire with how little I know of other cultures. I won't be doing any traveling (not any more than necessary now), but I will travel through books and excellent documentaries. I am absolutely blown away by these journeys of Bourdain's, and the care and attention that team took, to present important and worthy shows that illustrate societies around the world and our commonality. And the sadness many of the countries have gone through, might even be going through now, and the buoyancy and resiliency of the people. And how he manages to bond/communicate with them in these episodes, and also to introduce the rest of us to these people all around the world, a bit of their history, and the common love of food. Great show, glad I finally am watching it all. And so with this great Asian way of cooking, it has ignited and changed to some extent, the way I want to grow veggies. I see a lot more greens in the future. Sigh. I hate salad. BUT when I watch or read about Asian cooking, greens look good and fun! LOL Thanks, Eileen. It's a little late to be planting some of what I want to, but have gone out on a limb with a few. But will be putting in a few more greens tomorrow. I got my garlic order in to SESE before they ran out; I got my coral honeysuckle order into Almost Eden (I had it in the cart and just remembered yesterday that I hadn't punched "Order.") So did that. And you guys know how it goes. Couldn't order JUST one thing, so also ordered some rainbow-kinda colored echinacea--a couple of them. That was because my present grown-from-seed ones have done so splendidly. I was so so ticked off today pulling Bermuda out of the front shop bed and the back Bermuda bed. I hate Bermuda. I'd rather have mud or dirt in our "lawn," or crabgrass, than Bermuda. YES, it's fairly easy to get out with my Hori Hori, but it's every brutal inch or two, and in the front bed today, some of it was 10 inches down. Thing is with those two beds, I didn't properly prep them in the first place and work to get it all out. Hmm. On the other hand, the soil is so much better now and deep enough, and loose enough, that it's easier to get out. So. I guess it's okay. My concern is the established plants. I may end up having to take them all out, just to get all the Bermuda. I hate Bermuda. Will sign off. Life is fragile, we must remember to appreciate every single day, even Bermuda grass days. Maybe especially Bermuda grass days. We're dealing with it, we're fixing it, inch by slow inch! And so far, I'm digging it up faster than it can grow . Diligence will produce victory.