Ann, I'm noticing weird sounds from a lot of ads. I will be in the grocery store when one comes on and I swear I hear my phone ringing because it sounds like a ring tone I have. A car dealer I will never use is Brad Benson Honda. He used to play football, I guess he figures he can use that to his advantage. He has the most vulgar ads, most having to do with celebrities and/or sex. The latest is about one of the Presidential candidates and cutting things back by 30%. He mentions maybe he wants to cut back his Viagra but after seeing pictures of his young hot wife, it wouldn't be a good idea.

That is a good link, thanks Natal! Sooo, my dog's food is only a 3.5 (Wellness Super 5 Chicken Adult Dogs), hmmm, I don't plan on changing at all as my dogs have been on it (one of them) for 11 years and they are both very healthy and active. But I also give them a considerable portion of pure meat each day which they love. I think this is funny too, once years ago, I gave one of the dogs a very rare piece of steak, she didn't know what to do with it and licked it awhile but never ate it. And she is my "food motivated" dog. So no raw food for her! However, I hate even typing this, but with my next dogs I will go with something completely different. Probably homemade cooked food.

Thanks for all your hard work Karen! Can't wait to read it in its entirety. Jodi-

thanks for the thoughts and suggestions. oaktown and writersblock, I love the idea of a projector! I hadn't even though about that. We're calling an AV person to see if they can help us with that. louisana, you're correct, the wall between the open kitchen/family/dining does not fully separate the living room, so there will be sound transfer. Actually, one of the bedrooms does not have a wall going to the ceiling so there is a lot of noise carrying around the space. Here's how the space is laid out (pre-remodel): ineffable, I'm a TV listener too. We have Sonos speakers we've installed in the house and I could be perfectly happy just listening to Pandora and watching Downton Abbey and SNL on my iPad, but my husband would be so lost without a TV of his own. tom_nwnj, thanks for the recs -- I will check them out. Good luck with the remodel! robotropolis, thanks! I like the idea of putting all the comfy seating in the formal living room and just making the den/space next to the kitchen just a "lounge" area -- for drinking wine, playing games, etc. I think it would significantly enhance our use of the house as we don't currently use the living room. That room is bathed in light most of the day and has the best views of any room in the house -- it seems like a waste not to utilize it. linelle, we were just visiting friends recently and they had a TV (LARGE ones!) in every room, including several of the bathrooms. The owners both work in the entertainment industry, but it was slightly overkill. karenseb, thanks for the nice words. In our upcoming kitchen renovation, we plan on replacing the double ovens with a pantry as we have no pantry and limited food storage space. A tv at the end of the bar is still definitely an option if we can recess it -- we're going to have an AV person come out to measure. If all else fails a TV in the master bedroom is an option, but I'm not generally a fan of TVs in bedrooms.