Thank you. The hood is the P26 Modern Aire, the stove is my baby--1936 Chambers C (I love cooking on it!). The base cabinet you see is the color that the few cabinet pieces I will have and my shelves will be painted--BM mayonaise. My DH and aunt think I need to paint that cabinet next to the stove something other than white to make the stove totally be the center piece. I could do the same paint/glazing treatment as on the spice cabinet but I kind of like that piece standing out as its own rather than as a "set" upper and lower, plus I don't think I mind it as white. Any thoughts or suggestions would be more than welcome!

So much creativity and so many good ideas. And I love seeing pictures. Susan Davis's of the way the orange was pulled throughout the room was helpful. On that note, her comment made me realize how much the rug in that room has faded. The rust used to be more red than it is now! I love the idea of moving a shelf. Never occurred to me. And the suggestions of where to look for art and rugs. I hate to confess this, though — this morning, before I went to work, I moved the sofa back to original position. Please don't hate me! I think Anele's comment about her living room arranged that way looking better in pictures than it did real life points to something. I thought the pictures of with the sofa floated made my living room look the best it ever had. The reality, not so much. From the pictures you just can't see the broad green Berlin Wall the back of the sofa makes. But don't give up on me! I may even float the sofa again before I go to work tomorrow at this rate. I'm mulling curtains (keep or change?), rug and art ideas, and maybe something less boxy that I could use as a media stand.

If they had been facing the right direction, my husband and I would have purchased one of the lots in our subdivision that backed up to the park, *not* across the street from it. Two reasons: (1) Small and/or developmentally delayed children would be *constantly* tempted to dash out the front door, to get to the park (our park is near a major subdivision thoroughfare, as well as adjacent to the neighborhood pool). (2) None of the floor plans offered by our builder were arranged in such a way that I could watch the kids playing out front, from the main parts of the house. I will say that, surprisingly, the house directly across the street from our park took a long time to sell. There may have been other factors involved, but apparently, being close to a neighborhood park isn't as desirable as I thought it was, lol. Admittedly, though, even if I took a little hit in resale, I would still love to be backed up to a park (as long as there also wasn't a pool), so I could install a gate back there, and let the kids go nuts at the park every day. :-D Are there any lots with the backyard facing either South or East? I really like our east-facing backyard, because the house shades it in the afternoon, allowing for children and plants to flourish. A few thoughts on the corner lot (I promise I'm almost done talking lol).... How much do you like people and animals? It takes a great lover of people -- especially children -- to happily have a corner lot in a smaller-parcel subdivision. Kiddos in particular love to cut the corner on their way to school. I have also found that any time my dogs have had intestinal upset, it's *always* in front of the corner house, to maximize my embarrassment. I'm that crazy neighbor who, once my dog has made a mess and I get him home, I will return to your sidewalk with a scrub brush and a bottle of hydrogen peroxide, and scrub the concrete until the mess is completely cleaned up. I even freakin' blend the edges (or scrub the entire square), so you can't tell the newly-cleaned spot from the old concrete. I may be the only individual in my county (who is also married to the only other individual in my county) who would do this. Most of your neighbors won't. I feel so bad for the corner house, that on walks, I even pick up *other people's* dogs' droppings. And I have never even met that neighbor. :-/ Anyway, things to think about. :-D

I honestly don't know what to suggest. We've had 7 dogs in 50 years and all had a canine companion - except for our last dog. None of them seemed to grieve the loss of their companion other than a few days of mild uncertainty. They seemed to be more sensitive to our sadness and would come and sit next to me or put their nose in my lap when I was upset. They were all indoor dogs and part of our family but not lap dogs although I doubt that made a difference. We had one set of siblings - brother and sister and Cleo was the alpha of the pair. Your photo of your 2 Frenchies sleeping back to back reminded me of how they slept. When Cleo died Ozzie seemed more attentive for a few days but quickly resumed his normal behavior. As for having the companion dog witness the euthanasia or seeing the body afterwards - I don't think it makes a difference. You could ask your vet about that. It seems unnecessary to me. We've known our vet for over 25 years and he is remarkable. He has always taken his time with exams, answered all our questions and he and DH often talked about various pet and human illnesses and treatments. Our dogs were large breeds and we took them to the vet's office. But he came to our home for our last one. I'm still getting teary eyed as I write this because it was just last week. The 3 of us sat on the floor petting her and holding her head and when it was over this wonderful man cradled her in his arms and carried her to his van. Maggie will be cremated and her remains will join the other 6 in the back yard under the beech tree. DH calls it his secret garden and he's planted ferns, hostas, and hellebores there and he has a wrought iron bench where he likes to sit with his coffee. I know what you're going through - it is such a difficult time for all. Sending hugs... Maire