Yuck....classes starting!!! I'm still trying to get our TA budget so we can see if 3 of our classes (developmental math) can be covered by TAs or are we going to have to assign them to tenured faculty! To make it more fun - they have sent the call out for the Spring 2007 schedule to be submitted by Sept.8....yeah, sure. We have a new President, VPAA/Provost, and my department head. This place is playing "fruit basket turn over", and all the new upper admin are bringing in their own ideas (which isn't always bad) but they are implementing them immediately and requesting reports and other things with really minimal lead times (5:30 p.m. request due before 10:30 a.m. next day). With one faculty out for bone marrow transplant this semester and another one going to be out on maternity leave next semester, and the mess we are going through with SACS rule of "18 graduate hours of classes in the teaching field" for the TAs before they can teach any class (including developmental), we are pulling our hair out. Sometimes makes we wish I had already retired and gone back to being a nurse!! Oh well, it will all come out in the wash, even if the water gets a little dirty..(grin). Good luck everyone on your teaching adventures this fall. A special congrats to Endorphinjunkie on obtaining full Professor status and Kathy for completing her doctorate. Mary

There are several things to consider when deciding which table and chairs to buy : --oval, rectangular, round ( I have one of each, and prefer the rectangular) --trestle, pedestal, 4 legs (I have one of each, and prefer the trestle. Legs limit how many chairs go down the sides, and pedestals with leaves can be tippy if someone leans heavily on the end--my elderly grandfather slid the entire contents from the table onto the floor one Thanksgiving!) --width of the front of the chair (with my oval table with 4 legs, I can only have 8 chairs comfortably with three 12" leaves. 10 chairs fit, but not comfortably.) --do chairs have arms (only get them for the 2 ends of a rectangular or oval table, otherwise it's too hard for people to get in and out; be sure the arms will fit UNDER the table top. Mine don't, so I could only use 2 leaves in my 64" long table in my old 12' long dining room.) --slant of back of the chair (almost straight up & down barely works ok with 30" from table edge to wall; slanted needs 36" from table edge to wall) --how many leaves and their sizes --width and length of table before leaves are added --how many dishes of food to be served are usually on the table, and how many dishes are used at each place setting. (I had 22 people at 3 tables for a sit down pot luck at Thanksgiving, using both good and inexpensive china. I didn't want them clearing and stacking the dishes, since the last time I did that some pieces were chipped. This time I had them keep their finished soup bowls, salad plates, and dinner plates on the table. There were no serving dishes or center pieces on the tables. At Christmas I had lots of serving dishes in the center of the table. So think about how you are likely to entertain family and friends. I have found that a 42" wide ~5' long rectangular (with slightly rounded corners so no one gets hurt) trestle table with 3-12" leaves covers most of my needs best. Anne

I'd vote for option 1 or 2, with at least 300 total combined wattage lights, and a dimmer switch so that you can adjust total light output based on the seated area. That's what I've done in a similar situation and it's worked well.

Check out Rejuvenation -- we got a really pretty semi-flushmount Mission two light for over our sink (the Bernard). They have many, many different options, and you can customize finish and shades on many of them. I don't think lights in the two different rooms need to be matchy-matchy, although you'll want something Arts&Crafts-inspired for both rooms, and maybe use the same finish. Here is a link that might be useful: Rejuvenation Lighting