Respect the fact that with no one should mention a name of a builder that could be going out of business on rumour only. For the PB's on this thread from Phoenix they know the town has always been gossip central on everything. Pool people in PHX never let the facts get in the way of good story !! As far as the next few months on PB's in both PHX and LV there will be plenty going out of business. The PHX permit pool report used to be 6-7 pages of pulled permits now it is almost half that. First of all the homebuilding is gone but even in the best of times there were just too many builders in those towns barely making any money on pools. Most builders in PHX are virtually supported by mfg. rebates. Those rebates are going to dry up quick as the PHX volumes are off 70% from 2 years ago. Mfg. can finally get away from all the free stuff the PB's received for using their products. Not complaining as Mfg's started this with PB's but mfg's will also be the ones ending it and quick. Deek

I think I missed a part of your story. What is the mom's husband in jail for? Was he the one "touching" Simon? There are lots of posters here who can relate to finding out their SC lied about them, so you're not alone. My SD has embellished things to get her BM's approval, and even made up lies stemming from things we actually did (she told her BM we were filing court papers on a Sunday night when all we were doing was dropping off DH's speeing ticket payment in the court dropbox). It causes the bio-parent to react and give the kid attention, which is what they are going for, regardless of who they hurt. Alot of times this is done to gain favor with the bio-parent. I know it doesn't make it any better that other people have gone through the same thing, but it is definitely nice to know you're not alone in a situation where you feel really alone. Hang in there. I know it's tough, but you are doing the right things.

desert...thank you !! I am really loving the colors in here too..it is a surprise each time I walk in , as is the other room...my eyes are re-opened to the possibilities. Unfortunately it is only the case...the machine was gone when I bought the old table. I refinished the table ..someone had coated it with dark stain and they ruined the veneer. I tore the veneer off and cleaned and cleaned. Wish it did have a machine in it. I don't sew but it would be cool. c this is the dark stuff they had put on it : veneer removed as much as possible and some of the stain removed : all done except cleaning the black metal ( don't have a closeup pic of finished):

I am laying down some pavers just to play around with design ideas, and I have a few photos showing the design elements below. I have some design questions. The basic design I want to pursue is to have a commercial paver patio and place a border around this of yellow real granite cobblestone. The cobblestone is too difficult to install and it would also be harder to walk on, so I am reserving it for strategic use as a border only, in order to make the patio look more custom than a pure paver design would suggest. So 90% of the patio will be commercial pavers, and maybe 10% will be a small border of cobblestones. The total patio dimensions are something around 10' x 10' (100 square feet). These cobblestones are about four inches cubed (4"x4"x4"), whereas the commercial pavers are Belgard Marseilles Stone (7"x7"x2"). The pavers serve as a walkway to a bench, from a walking path. Behind the bench, I have a small plastic storage bin that holds some accessories for the bench, like cushions which I want to keep out of the rain and elements. The questions: * What are some general design guidelines for how wide the patio should be, relative to the width of the bench that the patio is serving? I was figuring that the patio might extend about 12 inches on either side of the bench legs. Maybe more is better? * How should I provide the best base floor for the end pieces of the heavy concrete bench? The bench is made of concrete and the two end pieces are separate from the top piece. The bench is either bolted together, or some designs just use gravity to hold the heavy parts in place. As a result, the surface under the end pieces must be very flat and stable. If I put the end pieces on top of those patio pavers - which have an unfinished and rough textured surface - that is not an ideal platform for the bench. One solution would be to use a different paver design in just the area where the bench will live. I could use a paver that is perfectly flat in just the area where the bench is installed. But doing this will impact the aesthetics of the patio if the bench is later removed. I could lay some "flat" pavers down on top of the patio, thus providing a slightly elevated but relatively flatter surface for positioning the bench. But I am not sure that looks aesthetically pleasing, as those elevated pavers will be visible when the bench is in use. Another solution would be to "end" the patio just prior to the bench, then use a different paver install just under the bench end pieces. That would allow me to put those pavers in the ground and they would be better hidden while the bench is in use. But if the bench is removed later the pavers next to the patio might look a bit strange. One advantage to ending the patio prior to the bench install is that the cobblestone border of the patio would be fully visible on all four edges of the rectangular patio while viewing the patio and bench from the walking path. Otherwise, the back border of the patio would disappear behind the bench. * A similar question exists for the table surface in front of the bench, which is also made from concrete. Should I just attempt to stabilize it on top of the commercial pavers, or should I design in some flatter surface in the center of the patio and set up the table on that? I suppose I could put in some concrete tiles in that area with a pattern on them, to provide a kind of centerpiece to the patio. * In terms of the cobblestone border, I took one photo of the yellow tone cobblestones. I am thinking about sizing the border with two four-inch cobbles, creating approximately an eight-inch border section around the patio. What do others think of that use of the cobblestones? I could increase the border size to 12 inches or 16 inches. * I am also interested in opinions on possibly increasing the spacing between the cobbles in the border and planting ground cover there. If the groundcover takes off and overgrows the cobbles then that might tend to hide the natural beauty of the grain in the granite cobblestones.