First and foremost... Congratulations, Daddy! Imagine that... your own little Co-pilot! We've become such a close knit little family here, that I find myself unable to stop a few tears of joy for you and your wife! :-) You are both truly Blessed! What wonderful news! Oh, my... I suddenly find myself at a loss for words... give me a second or two... I'll recover quickly! As a step-mother, I missed out on the pregnancy and the infant stages of my three... my youngest was 5 when I joined the family. You have so much to look forward to, Ryan! You've begun the ultimate journey in life... that of parenthood... and while it comes with an undue amount of stress and worry, it also brings unfathomable love and joy! I missed quite a bit by not having my own babies, but God has a plan for us all... my three needed a mother, and I needed those three children to teach me about life, as well. There is no greater bliss than looking at your newborn child for the very first time, and sharing the birth experience with your partner in life... I got a little taste of that feeling as I held my newborn granchilden for the very first time! I thought my heart would jump right out of my chest! Anyway... you've been in training for some time now... as a patient gardener, nurturing your bulbs and plants! That's all going to pay off really soon, if not even now! Hug your wife every day, and be understanding of her current hormonal condition... oh, my... this is exciting! My very best to you and your wife... you'll be in my thoughts and prayers. And, of course... mum's the word. Next on the list... I'm sorry, Ryan... I didn't realize you already had lights! That's good to know! I don't recall you mentioning them, though you could have... my memory doesn't work like it used to! I have one suggestion, though... as much as your plants need all that light, they also need some darkness to complete the photosynthesis process... I would recommend giving them about 14-18 hours of light per 24 hour period, followed by the remainder with the lights off. I just picked up a two pack of light timers at Meijer's for about $9... a good investment. They're for seed starting in the basement. My lights go on at about 5am, and go off at about 11pm, or thereabouts. Haitidoc... you are correct that the propane heater is not vented, but it's a very dry heat! There's no moisture from it, at all! The humidity level in our apartment fluctuates between 28% and about 33% during the winter months... which is very low. I try to keep a few pans of water around to help, and I mist the plants that require more humidity... but I really need to get humidity trays made in sizes decent enough help the entire plant alcove maintain a better level of humidity. I, too, have a Ponytail Palm! It's always been one of my favorite plants, and probably what got me interested in bulbous plants to begin with! Beaucarnea recurvata, I believe it is. Mine was purchased in a 2" pot, and the base was a little marble sized thing! It's now about the size of a baseball, and continues to gain size every year... a very interesting plant, to be sure! I would love to see a photo of yours! 12' is very tall, and 400 pounds is huge! It must really be something to see! We really have a diverse group here... pilots, surgeons, floral designers, housewives... and many more, from all over the world... and soon, we'll add new Daddy to that list! I think gardening is both an outlet and a huge help for each of us. It teaches patience, helps us relieve stress, gives us exercise, and satisfies our need to nurture. We're all very lucky to be able to garden, and to share our experiences with like minded people! Once again, I'm overjoyed to hear your news, Ryan! This year, 2009, is going to be a very good year! I can feel it! :-)

I have a small house. Small baths. You don't like housecleaning nor wiping down after kids. One thing I did was I got rid of the ceramic tile tub surround and had white swanstone panels installed. I never want to clean mildewed grout again. I love tile and put it above the panels. Yes, I prefer, way prefer the look of tile but not at the cost of cleaning it. The swanstone looks pretty good. Sorry no pics. I have two Americast tubs and I think they are acrylic..I love them. Had cast iron before. They are shiny, sparkly, fresh and white. I think my cleaners use a spray to clean them. I am glad you are thinking this thru before you do extreme drastic measures. 1000s f is not going to be better with the addition of windows. Editing, building up, and up going storage will help, not windows. Natural light is overrated. Look at small space solutions and not at glam or cliched luxury sites. We built closets onto our bedroom walls instead of new dressers. Up to the ceiling. Think California closets. With drawers and cabinets. Not pretty but functional. We have ikea Brimnes headboards with under bed storage drawers in our new house. I am an ikea slave. Your family is always going to take a lot of time and energy and that's just the way it is. A 1000sf house will not be easy but it's home. And I love love your kitchen. Think about the life you live for now. Think first before acting.

Yup your MIL sounds about right… right up there with mine lol. not much help but I hope this story can make you feel better since mine is a bit sadder. I have a 21 year old step daughter and my husband ( her dad) and I have a 4 year old son. Both are bio grandchildren . The only two grand children. My MIL visibly favours the stepdaughter so much that every one in the family notices. Heres a bit of background. Hopefully you can relate and maybe feel better? SD is to put it nicely, a twit. Drug addicted , spoiled brat, always had her way and not homeless only because she is in jail for welfare fraud and credit card fraud. MIL has always praised her and bought her whatever she wanted. still does. BIo son is at 4 years old already in grade 1 ( he skipped kindergarten after being labelled gifted) is well behaved , polite and doesn't really ask for much other than lots of attention like a 4 year old usually does :) My MIL picks on him, calls him a nerd, doesnt buy him anything for xmas or birthdays, doesn't call him, and is just generally very mean to him when she does see him at holidays. It so bad that I had to tell my 4 year old that jail is not a good thing. He thought it was because MIL still praises the SD so much. Hopefully your MIL isn't as wicked. After all of this my advice is to just not take it personally and limit the time she has with her grandkids. Trust me it will be much less stressful in the end :) cheers!

The easiest thing to do is fill the chips with crazy glue. 1. clean the area to be repaired with acetone. you will reseal the affected area when you are done. 2. put masking tape around the area to be filled right up to the edge of the depression. 3. fill the depression with crazy glue. the more you overfill it the more glue you will have to scrape away later. 4. after the glue sets take a new razor blade and, with the blade perpendicular to the stone, scrape away the excess until the repaired area is flush to the top of the stone. if u use the blade at an angle you will probably just pop the glue out of the depression. 5. polish the glued area with 000 steel wool. 6. reseal. if the glue pops out then repeat the process after making the depressions a little deeper with a sharp instrument. shallow depressions are one of the hardest chips to patch.