Congrats to both teams for getting there, and to the fans for getting there, too, with the crazy weather. I wasn't invested in either team until my brother, who called from Perth, said he was rooting more or less for the Packers out of fondness for our childhood watching Vince Lombardi and his team at the Icebowl. My memory was that we (meaning my Dad and me) were Greenbay fans back then. We lived in Casper, Wyo., so Dallas wasn't even a thought to us. My brother remembers rooting for a variety of teams. Anyway, it was a good game, but so-so commercials. They didn't have a clydesdale commercial, so I'm very disappointed. There was one commercial with a glimpse of the clydesdales, and it was just plain weird. Sally

First, Shicksal, great news. You're coming along really fast. Today is an odd day. At 6:30 this morning I went to Wal-Mart to put money on my debit card and buy a little hotdog roller for this job. My friend who is an electrician is here. I've got my two pendants over the peninsula hung, but learned somehow, the switch to them isn't powered, but the outlets next to them is. He's replaced two dimmers with regular switches. One of the benefits of doing this alone is the onus being off changing my mind. These dimmers just kinda made me crazy, so regular switches they're becoming. I gotta tell you. I'm a walking posterboard for Lutron. Now 15 dimmers, 12 motion sensors, and other fun stuff. Love 'em. He's also going to put in some outlets. Sad. I'll have to find other places to hang my laundry. He and another friend put a kitchen cabinet on the wall for me. I can hang 'em, but lifting these two onto cleats is way beyond my balance. Remember, I have to stand on the counter, press my head against the ceiling and screw things in. Lifting over a cleat and not falling off the counter backwards is something I don't want to attempt. But, getting this on the wall frees up a bunch of space. I can load it full of crap, then make doors. While he's working, I've put 4 handles on cabinets in my MBR. Got about 30 to go. I primed the two shelves for the cleat cabinets. They're an odd shape, W3624s. Custom, of course, from H4H and S.O.L.I.D. 3/4" maple. Minus shelves, so I cut those out of 3/4" MDF and will probably paint them a coral BM color I love. I've remudded the chewed up MBR wall. I've sanded and mudded yet again. I've gotten rid of 4 medium sized boxes of lighting materials, and a box of thrift store drawers I bought for their hardware and Blum release switches still attached. $2.00 a drawer box. Yeah man! I emptied the DW. Like to load it, hate to unload it. This was probably the greatest accomplishment of the day. Did a load of laundry/uniforms and got them into the dryer. Changed the cat litter. They're all happy with me. Arranged the MBR furniture and will bring the cabinets still in the kitchen back, since to paint I took a bunch down. I'm making room all over the place. I'll tell you. Lethargy, thy name is Christine. I hate this heat and incessant sun. This is more than I've accomplished all darned week, and it's only to kill time while someone else is working! Keep up the great work, all! You encourage me. Greenhaven, have a FUN time! Happy 4th, all!

Vaporvac, I was responding to your remark on dieback. You shouldn't be seeing any on a zone appropriate rambler, at least not for several years. BTW, the 'real' Seven Sisters is considered only hardy to zone 7. So it depends on whether or not you are getting that one, or an imposter like Tauschenschon. Dortmund is hardy, but not particularly large. It is also a 'modern' scarlet red, so doesn't particularly play well with OGR crimson reds, if that is a concern. Because of the (over)abundance of R. multiflora in the east, small, white cluster flowering ramblers are not usually a priority of garden owners. So getting real-world information on them isn't necessarily easy.

I would say that COLOUR has LESS STAYING power than the width. Gray is already on the down turn. The softer "white washing" floors are still showing well, but will be on their way out in the next 5 years. A wide plank product that is "natural" will have staying power...so long as you are working with a rustic or transitional decor that goes WITH the look of the floors. The colour you are showing in your link is pretty. It should offer you 5-7 years of fashionable flooring. If you are in a CONSERVATIVE area of the USA/Canada (where trends take a LOOOOOOONG time to move through) then you will easily reach 10 years of "fashionable" flooring. But if you are in a TRENDY area (think NYC, LA, Vancouver, Toronto) then these floors will be "cute" for 5 years - tops. The "white" look is already moving away from the MOST fashionable interiors. Thankfully "natural" is still HEAVILY used in all areas of the continent. And your floors will be well suited to bridge the gap between "white wood" and "natural wood". Again, location, location, location will dictate the longevity of a trend. Until we know (roughly) where you are, we can't comment on HOW LONG your floors will be in favour.