Ok folks, sorry I haven't posted an update on this swap yet BUT I have been so busy. I have been playing with seeds and dirt and blah, blah, blah and dreaming of masses of fields of green (veggies) and masses of blooms come this summer. I received one of my big swaps back yesterday and I am about to post my updated wanted list. I truly hope we have more people to participate but it isn't looking too good for this swap. I still have my fingers crossed. :) Aqua

Jena- I would do a couple of things. Firstly, I would email Lee directly. You can do this from their website. They respond quite quickly. I would ask them about additional dealers in your area... I know of at least three in my area that do not come up when I do a zip code search. I have spoken w/ Carole at Lee several times and she is very helpful. If you can locate more local dealers, go and sit and look through fabric samples. If you end up ordering through NC, previous posts from other folks have all noted the willingness of the sales associates to send samples. I have a box full of samples at this point! Your sales associate can request as many as you need from Lee. The Lee online library is quite large and worth browsing to get an idea of the range of fabrics, though it does not show older fabrics. I do not know what it means to not be in the slipcover program, but I do know that if you have a local dealer with samples, you can always call Alan Ferguson to see if the fabric you like is available in coveralls (slipcover)... Many are, but they have a different letter grade. (My C&B has a WALL of Lee samples; even if you do not order through them, their fabric library is a great resource.) Belle

How exciting! We started demo on 4/29 and are mostly done. I expected a delay for replacement doors and backsplash install, so aside from that we've been nearly finished for a couple if weeks. My advice for keeping your sanity: - pack well, and only keep a few essentials out to use (be realistic with what you will actually use, the rest will just be clutter) - buy several rolls of nonstick foil. Use in the toaster oven, on the grill, for packet dinners, to line any pans used (easy clean up) etc. For times when you want a double layer, use regular foil outside and nonstick for the inner layer. - pick your battles. Make peace with several things before you start. It will almost certainly take longer than you thought, as long as you are making progress (or can't avoid a delay), just take it in stride. There will be mistakes and setbacks, as long as they are remedied quickly just let it go. Expect to need something cabinetry related replaced, often doors/drawer fronts, and make that part of your mental schedule. It will be a nice surprise if it's all perfect! - make a master list of everything you need to pick out. Identify when in the process they are needed. Pick out anything needed early or with a longer order/lead time first and work your way through the list. The sooner the better, and as mentioned above inspect everything as it arrives. Make sure you know return windows. - if you can't have everything on site at the start, print spec sheets for each major item to have on hand for easy reference. - if something is detailed, complicated, or specific, write it down and/or draw a picture. I had some outlets that were being moved and some electrical stuff added, so I printed elevations of each wall and drew it all in with everything labelled as new, existing, or relocated so there was no question about what switches went where, or where the outlets were. Then all my switches got sticky notes to keep the dimmers straight. Sure my GC chuckled (he knows me well enough to half expect that), but he had those drawings in hand every day, along with my lighting schematic. - post any contact info in plain site, and check in regularly to see if there are any questions or if anything is needed (like once a day on average if you can) - if you are concerned about something, ask. And ask early so any changes can be addressed more easily. Just be nice about it and you shouldn't have any problems. - make sure you know when the crews will arrive so you can be prepared (I generally preferred to be showered and dressed) - plan on people needing to use a working bathroom. It's easier to put down a protective floor covering if needed ahead of work than fume about any damage after the fact. Put out clean, but not fancy towels that workers will be comfortable using (not your nice guest towels). Put out paper towels. Make sure you have plenty of soap on hand. - lock up any valuables you don't need to have on hand, like cash, real jewelry, expensive watches, cameras, etc. Don't forget to lock up controlled substances if prescribed, only keep enough out to get through the week, or less. You will have strangers in the house, and if you misplace something it's easy to accuse someone of taking it and causing tension. People also know you have lots of people around, and may take advantage of that fact to steal something. And the neighbors will get accustomed to seeing assorted people in and out all day and will likely not notice someone extra walking in (hopefully the work crew would notice, but if there are a lot of subs maybe not). - keep your favorite relaxing beverage on hand, partake regularly, but responsibly :-) I hope things go well for you! GW really helped me know what to expect and how to avoid panic. Post if you have questions!

The only way Chili's has your addresses is if you (or someone) gave them to them. If it's a legitimate Chili's email you're perfectly safe to use their unsubscribe link. But I'm not sure it's actually coming from Chili's from the limited description given. Hijacked address lists and such are usually from people who refuse to secure their computers and it makes it tougher for everyone else. This is why I quit using any email account but the freebie webmails (unless of course for work accounts). Then it's a simple matter to close it and set up a new one when people expose me to the hassles. Computers, like cars and, well, people for that matter, require some basic maintenance and protection. Spammers are getting creative and make things look legitimate and people get fooled easily, which the scammers and spammers count on to profit. People buy or just plain send money to them. It's profitable, which is why they do it. If nobody sent them money, they wouldn't bother. Plus when people forward everything, they're asking for trouble. They give a list of addresses without using bcc and not only expose themselves but everyone in the list. Then a bunch of those people hit the forward button too, refuse to use bcc and expose that many more, and so on and so on. The forward button is the cause of a lot of problems for a lot of people. I seldom even open forwarded emails, especially from certain people. Some are only sending dumb jokes I've heard before, "warnings" that are hoaxes and political rhetoric and false anyway or are silly chain emails purporting that if you love God, you'll spam everyone you know plus 100 people.... If people can't take ten seconds to set up a new email, bcc it and clean off the extraneous characters they're rude and inconsiderate and I don't care to try to decipher the email >>>>>though ::>>:all >>>the >>>>>garbage. Are you running a good firewall? Have you run antivirus *and* anti-malware programs lately? Secured your browser? Now's a good time to do it if you haven't. Most will run in the background and many can be set up to run automatically so effort is minimal.