Candy, I showed your photos to a professional artist friend of mine and she was blown away by what you did! Actually I showed them to a number of my friends, LOL. I've really been bragging on you. But....I can't find my mother's boot. Its been in a storage bin in the closet for years! Acckkkk, I can't believe I would have donated it. Noooooooo. I don't remember doing so, and pray its just one more thing I've MISplaced. I'm awfully good at losing things in the house, just ask Mr Oblivious. EACH holiday when I pull out decorations, he hears me say something is missing. I've checked all the places I could think for her boot, and no luck. Please cross your fingers its here in the house somewhere!!! I finally know how to decorate it and it goes missing. arrrggghhh. hugs, Karen

I watched it last night and I thought it was a very good show. Vick was sentenced to 23 months in Federal Prison. He is bankrupt and the state can still press charges against him. He had to pay money to help house and rehabilitate his dogs. The show didn't cut him any slack except to say it is thought he was raised around dog fighting as a kid. Out of 66 dogs rescued 55 were pit bull terriers.They only had to put down 2 of the dogs. Only one because he was too vicious and one female that was too sick. A pit bull rescue group called Bad Rap took the others and many of them were driven to the west coast and all of them have been placed with loving families. One is a gentle therapy dog that visits hospitals. He is so big and so sweet and gentle. The rescuers were shocked that the dogs were so docile and actually scared of them at first because of no socialization. The dogs are very anxious to please and fight because of the encouragement of the dog fighters encouraging them and saying good dog when they are aggressive. It was a really interesting show. The dog on the Little Rascals show, Petey, was a pit bull and Helen Keller's dog was a pit bull. There were a lot of other interesting stories about them rescuing people. There were short shots of videos of dog fighting but I would recommend watching the show when it comes on again.

Hardwood throughout my entire first floor, including the kitchen and all entry areas. Residents don't wear shoes in the house. Human residents, nor furry ones. :) Visitors are not given any rules upon arrival. :) Most people see you walking around in bare feet, or socks, or slippers, and immediately move to take off their shoes. Depending upon who they are and why they are there, I often tell them don't bother. For instance, if it's the HVAC guy and he's going to work in the cellar, I couldn't care less if he keeps his shoes on. As someone noted upthread, the nice thing about hardwood is that it does clean up very easily. I prefer the residents keep shoes off the floor b/c it does keep the floors cleaner, but there is no way I would ever make a guest remove their shoes. As far as damage - most of the damage to my floor comes from the toenails of the 20 pound furry lunatics who share my home. Yes I keep them short - no lectures on appropriate dog nail procedures please! They are young and love to run and play - nails dig in on cornering no matter how short they are. :) However there has been some damage from people in shoes who had rocks stuck in the treads. Most of it from the early days when the house was under construction because sadly my GC was an inconsiderate moron regarding things like this. TL:DR. It's hardwood. It dents. I do what I can to keep the dents to a minimum but don't stay up at night about it either.

Martina, I wear the 6. Technically one foot is 5 1/2 the other a bit shorter. Both feet are wide with one wider than other. I have such a hard time finding shoes that are comfortable and look good. I usually have to get wide width. So I was thrilled to find these. I would only buy a shoe that fit comfortably as soon as I put them on. Never, ever with the thought of how it would stretch. Wear them around the house. You will know if they feel too tight after your foot starts to expand. Mine were comfortable from the minute I put them on. I have not worn them walking all day as a tourist. But I have worn them to shopping mall, so walking around for few hours.