HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BRENDA!! I'd post a pix but my camera is in the kitchen and I don't want to wake the 'baby' up! Can't wait to hear about your princess day. Eden, the Brug Charles Grimaldi you have me is blooming and has lots of other buds this year. Yeah! Also, the double white finally has 2 buds on it. I can't wait to see it bloom for the first time! Thanks, you guys, for all the support. I feel like a whiner, tho, compared to Chelone and others dealing with such adversity. Re DD, she hasn't always made good choices and she's had bad things happen. I guess as a parent you always want the best for them and it's frustrating and dishartening when they choose not to achieve what they're capable of. This saga will be ongoing, but thankfully DD is feeling better from both the flu and Shingles. Last night, my DB phoned and woke me up b/c Mom called him about DS and her antics. He's beside himself over what DS is doing and how Mom's handling it. They both love the negative attention so it just perpetuates. I just can't wait for Sat. DB is having us over for fresh-picked corn from his garden. I'm sure Mom will recount all the antics for the entire visit. Oh joy. Oh, and by the way, my DB tells me that if you cook corn within 15 min. of picking it, it's sweeter b/c the sugar hasn't had a chance to turn to starch. I'm sure Michelle and Brenda know this, but I didn't! Yesterday I was just at my wits end with Missy. I was commiserating with my neighbor who has a Bouvier puppy the same age as Missy. She looked as haggard at 9 am as I did. What scared and frightened me is Missy testing her growl and lowering the tone of her bark. After thinking about what we're doing, I realized that we've been inadvertently encouraging aggressiveness in her. Also, I think she's picked up on my stress and frustration over other things. Luckily, I've read that dogs forget your mistakes and it's just to pick up from here and go forward. First, it was a huge mistake to get Missy a tug-of-war toy. So I trashed those. We play fetch instead. Also, I've realized that when I've been reprimanding her she's perceived it as my getting aggressive and has escalated her bad behaviour. So this am, I'm trying new tactics. My interaction is calm and soft with lots of scratching her belly and talking softly to her. I'm using a pop can filled with marbles that I shake loudly when I reprimand her for barking. It gets her attention and she stops. So, so far so good. Tomorrow am I have a special session with the trainer and hopefully I can pick up some pointers. I just have to find the 'right' parenting skills for this baby. Marian, I'm so sorry to hear about the bacterial infection on your chin. I hope the antibiotics take hold quickly and the itching diminishes. When you get a chance, please post a pic of your new kitty. I need a kitty fix! Babs, it sounds like the results of Chris's tests is good news! I'm so very glad to hear that. About getting a puppy, puppy training was much easier last time. The puppy was 4 mo. old and we had a fenced in yard. It is just like having another 'baby' in the house and is a lot of work. Cindy, I meant to comment earlier that I so admire your offering your friend safe haven from the domestic violence situation. Hopefully, she'll be able to pick-up her life and not seek out another relationship with someone similar. It would be great if you encouraged her to get some counseling, if it's available in your area. Kathy, that's great you can find your way around LA. I don't mind the driving per se, it's figuring out where the heck I am. I can't navigate out there for some reason. We're going to meet up with friends for dinner tonite. Can't wait. We haven't been able to get the whole group together for 8 months! So it'll be great to see everyone. And I get to wear something other than a ratty ole t-shirt and jeans. Hmmm, I have to take a pic in my garden for Sue. I have similar acoutriments, tho not as large, as that photo of her that was circulated, lol. OK, here's some good news. DH just phoned and he put together a report that shows that if they keep he and his partner instead of laying them off and disposing of that part of the business, they'll net $19.5 mil. in profit/yr. Altho it's no guarantee mgmt won't do something stupid, we're hoping they'll decide to transition these two jobs into the new reorganized co. We'll see. Hope Mary has a safe fun trip; that Sue is feeling better; that all these paver projects come out exactly as you hope them to; and a big Hi to everyone else I missed! It's all I can remember for now. Missy is awake and it's time for a walk! TTYL, Honey

There are several systems available for repairing a failed installation. However, We found that Cinclips are the fastest way to install or repair a failed sink! Laying on you back inside a cabinet is one of the least desirable places to be! With Cinclips that time is at a minimum, Most of the time you don't even need to lie on your back. No epoxy to let setup, No holes to drill, No wires to mess with and nothing sharp to cut you! I personally love the look and ease of cleanup that an undermount sink provides, especially if the bowl hole is cut right and there is a positive reveal for the sink lip! Trebruchet, I recommend the use of Denatured Alcohol to clean up the silicon with, it dries faster and also has far less water in it! One more thing, Watch the Cinclips video below and remember home owners my not have a clamp nor do they need to remove the drain strainers from the sink if you follow the video. Taping is actually easier than clamping a sink up! Try it, you might just like it! For Handy men and installers alike, nothing beats a clamping system like the New Abaco Sink Lock System, Its fast and easy too! Gran Quartz and Braxton-Bragg sell them for around $100.00

Wow! All of you have been so kind to respond with such interesting recipes and information, especially at this very busy time. Wish we could do a sort of "pub crawl" -- a tour of various Cooking forum members' kitchens and dining tables. That would be so interesting and delectable. Clearly, I'm going to have to try more than one recipe! They all sound so delicious. I am supposed to not partake of so many yummy foods and additions -- like sodium, saturated fats, oils, carbohydrates, yadda yadda. A few holidays can be exceptions, I hope. I dearly love cheeses, carmelized anything, salt, fats, just about any food (include desserts and drinks). I love the idea of cooking the turnips - rutabaga (begge) with apples, cheese, butter and freshly grated nutmeg. And when I hear the descriptor "chips" or "tempura," I melt. Lars, we must talk tempura sometime. A few years ago I played around with trying out tempura-like batters. I could tempura my fingernails and find them delicious. There are a few Asian and Vietnamese restaurants around that serve calimari in a sort of rice flour based tempura batter -- fried! Then served with a high sodium sauce or vinaigrette or "salad." I was getting close to being able to duplicate some of these, when some doc put a flea in my ear and suggested I desist. And I'd just discovered an affordable restaurant that served fantastic peppercorn calimari -- salt and pepper tender fried calimari on a fragrant picant salad of shredded greens and tomatoes. I took a photo of it (Yes, I'm one of those). C'mon, I bet a lot of us eat, take photos and notes, run yummy dishes through a yum-spectrometer in an attempt to duplicate it back home. I will let you know how I decided to prepare the rutabaga. Meanwhile, a household member talked me into making Chinese ravioli - "potstickers" with soy-ginger-green onion dipping sauce for a Thanksgiving appetizer. Personally, I don't think it adds anything and is better for New Years. But the pot luck is a post-Thanksgiving, play it again, Sam event. Always too much food. Yum. I'll have to let out my slacks before I leave home. Thanks again, and Happy Stuffing, everyone! photos: local turkeys and the rutabaga

1) Regarding the screws.... For the drawer faces: Pocket holes should be drilled into the face frames if they must be attached permanently vs using the hardware to keep them on. The pocket holes should have covers attached (either the plastic or wood options). I personally prefer if they are removable via removal of the hardware so they can be changed out or refaced in the future & since you're going the custom route I'd defiantly want it! Inside the cabinets: A pilot hole should be drilled prior to screw if the wood hardness requires it & the screw counter sunk (slightly below the side walls) with or without plastic caps (depending on the company). Cabinet/Wall Brace:Are all the cabinets secured to the wall with simple screws?? I was really surprised to see this! How are they making sure the bases are secured to studs & not just drilled through into the gypsum board? In the past I've seen cabinet makers use a base board across the run anchored into wall studs and the bases are then secured to the board. Holes: The hole that will be exposed once the dishwasher is installed needs to be fixed. The fridge cabinet with the double screws and the blank hole is ridiculous...whomever was doing the install rushed and didn't care about screw placement or taking the time to properly aline things before drilling. Again= Custom built should = quality control and care! Yes there are MUCH better ways of finding the studs...even just using your knuckles to knock on the wall can get you close enough that a max of 2 holes might need drilled if you miss it the first time....again, sloppy work installing. The range microwave: Did they know that cabinet was going to support a microwave/hood? I'd ask about the install and max weight support. I don't believe 2 screws is enough to hold it (especially if they only screwed it into the wall & not a support board!) but don't know...I'd just hate to have it come crashing down a year from now! *You need to make sure the cabinet makers know that screw placement & finish result is important to you and you expect no screws will be felt or seen once the install is complete. 2) Shims: Yes, it's totally normal for wood shims to be left under the cabinets. Floors aren't completely level and in a new build the house will settle over time and the floor will change so it's important that the cabinets can be leveled. This is why RTA cabinets like IKEA have adjustable feet on the base that's hidden with a toe kick. Custom cabinet makers use wood shims to level on site during install and those can then be removed or added to as time goes on and any changes are required to keep the cabinets level. 3) Fixture & Outlet Holes: Yes, it's common to have large square pre-cut from the backs before install as plumbing is different for every job & since fixtures change depending on the choices made in faucet, garbage disposal, dishwasher lines, etc they can't make exact cuts. Again, this is why a lot of RTA cabinets are backless and if the backing is ordered it must be cut by the installer to fit the existing fixture spaces. HOWEVER- I totally agree with your being upset about the range plug placement and their solution to cut another hole into the side of the custom cabinet boxes. Although- I'm not entirely sure I understand correctly if it had to go through another base to reach the outlet or just the base of that unit vs the back side where a hole was already cut? I don't know what another solution would have been.... 4) Cabinet Face Gaps: Are you doing a full overlay with the new build as well? I completely agree that the gap's should be consistent and you definitely shouldn't be able to see the contents of the drawers! If the cabinets are full overlay why is the frame not hiding the contents? If they are custom inset then I'd be very picky about how it all lines up since this is a fine craft that requires skill & time to get right (hence the excessive cost)...plus wood swells & contracts so they need to fit properly with a slight consistent gap after install.