Well after a long day with police, adjusters, etc I am back with a quick update. The burgler (s) took our 250 lb. safe out the back door. The broke glass door going in. They severed our drive through communication system conduit, we are sure they thought it was an alarm. Idiots, if it was an alarm it would go off as soon as it was severed. Anyway, they took safe, sledge hammered it, got all the cash 3000.00 . They left petty cash checkbook, about 200 gift cards (useless, without being scanned into system) all the daily receipts. They dumped the safe, police recovered about 1:00 p.m. They then drove to a mini- mart and drop the bank bag with all the stuff in it, into a garbage can. They happened to do this in plain view of clerk. She saw them acting strange, saw them dump it, can identify them and car, plus the mini-mart has cameras everywhere. they are looking at tapes tonight. Hopefully they will have some evidence that can get these people. Another restaurant had their safe taken last night as well. Since so many restaurants have been hit in this neighborhood I hope they patrol a little more diligently. The good news... we are covered for everything, even the cash. Yeah !! I knew insurance was good for something. So if anything comes of the evidence I will let you know. And if I haven't said it lately I appreciate you all, thanks for all the nice words. Kimberly

Cooperbailey, we paid $130 for it -- a little less than the seller's asking price and a lot less than what it's worth. Oh, and the ladder is very popular with the feline contingent of the household -- I think they'll be quite disappointed when it goes back to the garage. Yes, the home is older -- 1880ish from what I've been able to discover at the County Clerk's office. If you check out my Photobucket albums I have a few more pics of the dining room (including the built-in china cabinet) and our nearly finished bedroom. Kec01, the current dining room fixture was an eBay purchase and we're definitely keeping it. We love our old house and are trying to be very sensitive to its character when we plan our renovations. We're slowly accumulating vintage/antique fixtures, furniture, and accessories and incorporating them into our plans. I have fantasies of re-installing gaslights (all of the original fixtures were gas from what we can tell) but don't have a clue how to proceed since I'd prefer to avoid blowing up the house in the process. I'd settle for gas-fixtures-wired-for-electric if I could find them in my price range, but so far that hasn't happened. Anyway, don't worry -- we love our old house because it's an old house. Lorree

HAH! so cute!!! I've been making burp cloths today for Belle! I also had the honor(??) of doing a load of her clothes, such fun to go thru and look at all the pretty pink tiny things!LOL Getting excited here, thanks for sharing the love in your life! Lisa

Ok, now NO LAUGHING at my class pieces...... the pansies turned out ok, considering I had NEVER done this before, BUT the rose was a dissapointment...... Again pansies were a certified DD teacher, roses weren't. With the pansies we learned, using the big flat brush, then painted our piece with that same brush. Roses were learned (on the pratice plastic sheets) with the big fat brush, BUT then had to switch to the small one to paint on our board. Doesn't sound like a big thing, but (at least for me) it was......also as I said , we "learned" the grapevine wreath (supposed to be heart shaped....), & the wisteria on the wreath, but it was TOOOO much for 1 class. To me, the pieces look reveresed, it looks like I did the roses 1st, then the pansies. (There was about 18 months from 1 class to the next.). As I said, don't laugh..... Hazel (One thing I did learn was to get the clear plastic page protectors, the ones you slide paper into from the top, & put your practice page inside, so you paint on the plastic. They are cheap, & you get a bunch, so you can paint, take out the practice page & do it again, so you can see how you improve. Then you just wash them under the tap & use them again.....) Here is a link that might be useful: