Jacquelyn, of course I remember you!! I'm so sorry to hear you lost your husband... hope you will pop in more often. There are a lot of widows here at the table who will understand how you are feeling. (((Jacquelyn))) I think of you often. Remember the swap we did years ago.. several of the lovely things you gave me are still on display in my house!

Certainly many tests are just bogus and BS, but we can't change that. People take tests everywhere in the world, Denmark, Kenya, Lithuania etc. And tests don't end with school. Of course there are many teaching strategies but that's not what you were talking about but only about testing. I never said anything about teaching strategies and don't recall praising American education at all. Doing well on tests takes more than just paying attention, it takes ability to summarize and find the most important information and eliminate and think logically and time oneself, it involves a lot. Some people do better than others. paying attention is important, but it is only one variable. By this logic everyone who is able to pay attention would have 2400 out of 2400 on SAT. Successful test taking involves more than that. As about Denmark or other European countries... high school students take enormous number of tests including comprehensive high school exit exam. American does have the gold standard at all, most European universities do not even accept American high school graduates because unfortunately US level of secondary ed is not up to the standard. So education in Europe is very rigorous and involves extensive testing at every level. I don't think your comparison is that relevant. Also in Europe students who do poorly are usually tracked rather early on and are pretty much on vocation path early on. They are not required or forced to compete with others since they are tracked as not college material. So rather than forcing struggling student to take tests that he/she cannot manage, they are provided with different type of education, more of a vocational type. And how are they tracked? primarily through comprehensive testing. So your examples of European education are not very accurate. saying all that the US provides by far the best services for people with special needs, no where in the world people with special need have that many rights and get that many accommodations. US is the place to be for people with disabilities. This is absolutely great!!! i think US does have gold standard in that field. Other than that not so much... Practice notes with me won't help. I have severe case (although not as bad as my mother's), i don't even recognize people's voices. I accepted that it is something I lack. I would never consider career in music. It would be stupid of me.

Ah, beautiful untouched Wyoming! Wonderful to be able to visit again via your photos, Ron. I was thrilled to see so much snow all through the mountains when we flew over last January. (I think I'm the only person peering out her window, so excited. Everybody else is just anxious to get to Hawaii.)

Now that I zoom in the window, I see what you mean. Hard to tell since the plan shows a box, pic looks flat, and there's no interior shot. How to deal with it? Maybe leave that window as it is; The former front door could be a round or octagonal window, which would suit the house, and not put the stair hall on display lol! What I ment by recessed front door is, that part is stepped back from the front build line. Your "photoshop" looked like it was all even across the front on my screen, maybe it's must my screen (or eyes). Either way, I think it's a great idea :) I like some protection for a front door, and I suspect that the front door as originally built is right at the permitted build line, and adding an overhang wouldn't be allowed. So where you suggest it allows for an overhang of some kind, even if it's just a pergola.