I have shutters painted the color of my trim work (I have custom wood shutters, but could do this plastic shutters from Lowe''s, Home Depot by using paint for the trim the color of the shutters), and my fireplace, cabinets in bathroom, laundry room and kitchen are all same color of soft taupe. My walls are a little darker. My drapers are in between the two colors of the walls and the shutters. It gives variations of the same colors and keeps the house from looking disjointed and that way, I can choose a more liberal pallete for the rooms off the pubic area. Basically, neutral wood work throughout and neutral of same hue but a little dinking with the shades on walls, trim, cabinetry and draperies.

My husband went through the same thing a few years ago. Not a shift change just a change in responsibilities and expectations at work that were way over his head. He's not a cop but the situation is very similar. He also had mood swings , problems sleeping, he would smoke to relax and have a drink. Lose his temper with his two kids. I mean the same way you described! i would be sitting at the dinner table eating. and if his son didn't eat fast enough or at way too slow after 5 minutes he's be telling him off and nagging him to death to eat his plate. My SS would bow his head , wouldn't enjoy his meal and my husband would be telling him 'well you'll be left alone again cause you are not eating.' It got to the point i got pissed. so one night i turned around during meal time and nagged him. ' oh your not eating those veggies, oh you haven't touched them yet. why haven't you finished. ? its been 5 minutes?...you dont like my cooking? come on hurry up! we've going to miss our program, you eat too slow! what are you a cow? do you have several stomachs to digest? ; well needless to say i got the dirty looks, I smiled and left to clean the dishes. next time he did it again, i told him in front of his kids that i will not have dinner or lunch or breakfast while you badger your son. You have problems deal with them and dont take it out on the kids. This issue was early inthe relationship. So i spoke with him about work and found out his stresses and gave him soem ideas to change. Work finally changed and so did his attitude. Sorry for the long story. But i honestly think that your husband has stress from work. Either a traumatic experience that caused him to change his shift and of course the simple shift change cause sleep deprivation until his body acclimatizes to the time zone. But hes taken up cigarettes...which is not good for his nerves and his daily routine with you have changed. You have to find a middle ground to work together. If he doens't change his shift back to waht he did before you 'll need to make new time together. Some couciling is a good idea. As well, if he did go through a traumatic experience then your husband definetly needs counciling.

Holly K. Think about a travel trailer...you take your own comfortable bed with you. (we are saving up for one!) This is a very interesting topic. We downsized last year from the home where we raised our kids to a "no mow, no snow" house, that is newer, but actually the same size as our old house. A better layout for adult kids, as there are 3 full baths, offering more privacy. And we will be able to have single level living (with potential for a caregiver living space) once we are really old. Some of our friends thought our moving was so daring and bold...it did require us to be open to change. And the home is newer and more open, so fewer things. We got rid of a lot, which I found very freeing. As to decor and clothes and technology. In my opinion, keeping current with things that are a part of you interacting with the world, especially like phones and computers, are essential to being a person who is engaged and informed. Keeping "current" with fashion and decorating is more toward the hobby/special interest end of the spectrum. Though to be sure, ones appearance may fall more to the being engaged in the world end(in particular if one is working it can be quite important to keep up to date, or at least to blend in/look appropriate). And there are some occupations where home entertainment is part of the job. In that case I do think that keeping up current decor is important. Aside from that, I think that generally as I get older, I am more confident to say I want to do this, and I really don't want to do that. (For example, want to have my hair look really up to date; won't wear high heels anymore). (Want to have gray walls, No Chevrons Please!) But I really enjoy knowing what is new/stylish/on trend,even if I won't buy into the style. Enough to read the magazines when I get my hair done, and some online mags, and weekend newspapers.

pillog, I hear ya about the real political candidates. Fools, bullies, and jerks. Not all, but seriously, is this the best we can do? I agree that Alicia is no worse by a long shot, but really, besides being the real power (and charisma) between her and Peter, she's just a very beautiful face. Those early years were fantastic when she was recovering from Peter's betrayals and coming up through the ranks of Lockhart/Gardner. And Will. My friend thought he was a rat, but I loved him. So did Alicia. And now that she's risen to the top and beyond, what's left that's plausible? The quirky judges and courtroom scenes are fun, but the drama's gone. It happened to The West Wing and I hate to see it happening here. Although that new guy, the one who took Kalinda's place, is really cute.