Barb...both happy and sad....Happy he is moving forward with his life. Knowing he will go far as long as he stays focused on his studies, and learns to quit being so wasteful. Sad because he is moving on and we will be seeing very little of him in the next 4 years or so. We havent made any new life adventures yet. House needs some TLC. I suppose first we will get used to having a home with just us and the critters and go from there. Chell I used to be a dog and cat groomer. I loved it too. But my employer was a deedeedee. Never had the money to pay me each week and always "owed" me. And she never gave me my tips either.Then at the end of the year she reported more earnings for me than what I had really made.Fortunitly I kept records and proved my case and won, so make sure you don't let the same happen to you. I have kept my clippers, blades and accessories and still will do a neighbors dog or two once in awhile to keep my skills up.....but don't miss the hair stuck in places I did'nt know existed....lol. Love all the pictures the everyone post. Always enjoy seeing ya'lls babies. Regina

Hi Andi, I have 3 Ikeas within 2 hrs. of me and I've been to all 3. There are slight differences in their displays, I guess due to different demographics. I would suggest going on a weekday, if at all possible. Eat something beforehand, have some caffeine and a Tylenol. I can't stress that enough! The kitchen designers and sales staff were very helpful. You'll get a lot more boxes and bags than you would expect. One of my boxes looked damaged and one was re-taped, They replaced them on the spot. Later I noticed a couple of items were marked REA. I think they were returned- but seemed to be unopened and just fine. The instructions are all pictograms- only one word "CLICK". If you're good at jigsaw puzzles, you'll be fine. Once you get one together- you're an expert. One or two pieces weren't drilled exactly, and we had to come up with a couple of different screws to get things right, but all in all it was do-able. We were sold some extra pieces, about $50 for panels. No idea what they are for. The drainpipe pieces for the sink were plastic, so we replaced them with metal ones from a plumbing supply store. The next morning after installation, a small piece of an inside door panel appeared to be lifting. I know we didn't damage it, but I'm not sure they'll take it back since we attached the hardware. There's a slight ding on the counter that we may have caused by dropping a glass. So, we tried to intentionally damage a leftover scrap of counter with a hammer and it held up just fine. There's a tiny cut on drawer edge that's not noticeable. I just don't know if they'll hold up as well as the ones we replaced (25 yrs.) They do come with a 25 year guarantee though. But, I do LOVE the 30" drawer cabinet. The drawers work like a dream. They hold my pots and pans, so I no longer have to reach over a hot stove for them. And it's so easy to see everything. I wish I had gotten another one, but I'm going to keep small appliances in the other bottom cabinet and I thought the open space might be more flexible. The laminate counters we got have white on one side and reverse to dove grey on the other. They have a metal edge which is very nice. They have another which is black on one side, reversing to whitewashed wood grain. I went with the white so that it would be brighter. I figured I can always accessorize with other colors. I got hardware from Expo. Aqua beach-glass rectangles framed in stainless. I got matching square knobs for the upper cabinets. If I can figure out how, I'll send pix. Any further developments on the floor choices? The pass-through?

Those are very nice chairs, ML. I agree that they could go in the living room as easily as the dining room. I like the wavy "x" legs, especially. It gives them a little something extra. I have studied your diagrams and read your descriptions, finally. Ran around all day yesterday - went and got a Holter Monitor at the cardiologist's and then hit Salvation Army, where I got a sweet little bakers rack - solid metal, welded seams - for $35! Just needs a little 3M Rust Reformer. I think you have shown us the kitchen design before. I remember the sink across from the Bertazzoni, the big garden window, the baking area. I am not sure if you had the nice indentation there for the cook to have a safe zone, though. I do remember the sitting area outside the bedroom, though. It is neat to see the diagram of your home after all these years of seeing photos of little parts of it and imagining how it all fits together. The nosy neighbor, is he on the side with the clawfoot tub and your clothes closet? Is the new vestibule in the front new this time? I don't think I remember seeing that. I am also a bit surprised that you gave up on the storage/pantry units on either side of the window seats. I like your idea of base and wall cabinets with your favorite solid surface counter there, though. Does the table that you use in that space have extensions that you can use to fill the dining room if you have a large group? I am now struggling with an idea I have for my family room. We now have a nice (but huge) 1990s TV unit with the doors that slide out to shut the TV behind. Which I never do. The thing is 5 ft high, which is too high to place my gnome garden upon. I have my air plant garden up there, but it can hardly be seen. I want to ditch the furniture, get a larger wall-hung TV (old eyes can't see small print) and have a furniture piece that I can set things on and under. Craigslist had an beautiful console table for $230 that was under 2' deep at its smallest configuration that looked like a sofa table. It could be pulled out to 8' long! Yet it was only about 8" deep! I could set things on the floor underneath it, as well as on top. It did need a little restoration (it was from the 1930s), and I would not feel really comfortable putting a garden on it, as drips could happen. But since I made the entire kitchen into an island, I have no place for a table-height table, and thought I might want that option if I could ever talk DH into getting rid of the hunk o'oak that I once thought that I just had to have! I'd love to give it to someone to make into a nice play kitchen set like MamaGoose made! We could bring up dining chairs from the basement and have a sit-down meal if we wanted to. Currently, we eat at the island or sitting on family room furniture. I have a tea cart DH and I have used as a dining table, though. So I am imagining that you have the extending table that I wish I had! I hope that you are well by now, and that Marti is over her cold, too. I hear that both flu and colds are going around in Michigan, with Norovirus and RSV also hitting hard. We have been lucky, so far.

Another Pacific Northwester....whidbeykathy is right, we usually wear the same thing all year round. Just add more layers. I love living somewhere where most dress extremely casual and everyone has their own style. I remember when my good friend's sister came out to visit from Chicago and we were all out together and she mentioned how mortified she was by how people dressed in Seattle. hahahahahahaha! Speaking of...today I'm wearing a long skirt and almost knee high black rubber rain boots. :) I never where white anyway, because I'm too clutzy and wouldn't make it five minutes without spilling something on myself, but if did...I would certainly wear it whenever I wanted.