The shelves.... We originally wanted a 30" x 12" niche but when we opened up the wall, there was a septic vent smack in the middle. We decided on 2 niches instead, I wassn't about to mess around with those pipes. When figuring the tile layout for the design I wanted, our friend suggested that we oversize the niches so the tile would lay out nice - he suggested 18 x 18 niches and I freaked. But the 12x12 would not have been big enough for the 3 kids and all their stuff. He suggested a granite shelf on the bottom and then one above it to make a shelf for soap, razors, etc. We talked about the length and width of the shelves, but never the depth. When I picked up the shelves from the granite fabricator, I freaked - they were 1 1/4" thick just like the countertop was being made. Friend said, don't worry, they would be perfect. They are. I honestly wouldn't want them any thinner. When he laid the tile, the bottom shelf slid in tightly and then he cut the bullnose on the side and the back tiles so the top granite shelf sits on the cut tiles all around. The tiles abouve the top shelf are full 6 x 6 and as you can see, we have enough height for those huge oversized shampoo and conditioner bottles. There is kerdi behind so no worries about water issues and they were all caulked and all afterwards. Being the over-emotional one, I figured this design that had been in head my for 2 years was ruined when I saw how thick those shelves were, but I wouldn't want them any different. I think they 'fit' the design perfectly as is. And I just love the niches. Before, the kids had a tiny corner shelf and bottles were all over the place, now there is enough room for everything plus space for guests when they are here.

My wife used to be a claims supervisor, so I asked her what would she do if this case were presented to her. Here is what she told me. You have been made "whole" as far as the car is concerned. So that's settled. But your husband was injured. No, not seriously, but he should be compensated in some way. You cannot be compensated for your troubles doing what your agent should have done as far as the car repair goes. Your hassle and aggravation would fall under "stuff happens". But how much is fair? Today we have everybody calling lawyers wanting pain and suffering, loss of spousal comfort, anything they can think of to wring the last dollar out of that evil insurance company. Today America considers any injury a chance to hit the lottery. You've been offered $2,000. My wife considers that a lowball. That is what she would have actually paid 25 years ago. She says today $5,000 would be considered a fair settlement. So you get a lawyer. This is a peanuts case for him/her. S/he will make a demand of $25,000 which will automatically be laughed at. Both sides want this cleared off their desks, so after 12 months or so, they settle for $10,000. Then the lawyer takes his 40% fee, and then adds in his/her 'expenses' like all the phone calls at a kazillion dollars an hour. And after all this time, your husband gets a check for.... $5,000. Just a bit of information, lawyers do NOT frighten any insurance company, contrary to their ads. They are literally laughed at every day. When any lawyer would call my wife with a demand, her first statement back would be something like "I want your demand, not your mortgage balance". So when you see the commercials showing insurance companies getting nervous because you called Veeblefetzer and Associates, it's completely false. Your average inside claims adjustor is in his/her late 20s to mid 30s, college educated, and works in a cube farm, not in some private office with leather furniture saying "Darn! Veeblefetzer is the lawyer, so I can't play golf this weekend!" No, it's "Hello Mr Veeblefetzer. How's the wife and kids? Great! Yes my husband got that promotion we talked about last month, thank you for asking. Now about this claim. C'mon George, I want your demand, not the sticker on that Bentley you're drooling over." (laughter on both ends of the phone) I read stories where people just threaten to call their lawyer and the insurance company caves. Never happens. When someone threatens to call their lawyer, insurance companies have a standard response: "Have your attorney send us a letter of representation, and we will do all negotiations through him, and all contact with you will cease." There would always be the brother or friend of the claimant calling the adjustor claiming to be an attorney "wanting to clear this case up". Standard answer is "send in your letter of representation and we'll talk. But until then, I cannot speak with you. Good bye."

Tiger is right. Take the free money and get the better system. $1500 is just the from the Feds. Your state and/or local utility also will give you rebates, but you'll need to meet a minimum efficiency which your quotes do not achieve. If your cost delta goes from $2300 down to $400 that is a big difference. Your contractor is not being very helpful. I interviewed 8 contractors for my home and went with the the one that: a. did the load calcs b. worked with me and all my crazy thoughts on various system configurations c. was professional and responsive when it came to answering questions. d. made me and my wife feel comfortable with what they proposed. I did not go with the cheapest bid or the most expensive (although it was quite expensive). My costs were much higher due to a lot of duct work. Either way I can promise you that you will get what you pay for. Tigerdunes is steering you in the right direction. In the end it is up to you. I spent a month researching and interviewing contractors before making a decision. BTW I took an option for 12months 0% so I could actually get all my rebates and returns and spread out the cost at the same time. In my case I get the $1500+ 1200 more from my utility. There are also a lot of rebates for new systems. I know Carrier and Lennox have major rebates at this time for sure, but in general they are larger with the nicer systems. It never hurts to get a variety of quotes to weigh your system options (I had multiple quotes from the same contractors)

Congrats to you all, Love! I'll never forget the day DH was awarded custody after a 1.5 year battle- just a total sense of disbelief, relief, shock . . .and even a little fear. Saying that, and not meaning to rain at all on your parade, I want to offer warning. Be very careful of the way mom is going to spin this to SS. My SD's mom told her things like we were stealing her, she'd never see mom again, etc. She told SD that is she told anyone about the things that happened there they would take mommy away and so on. We were very lucky that when we told SD that wasn't true she believed us and didn't act out, but I know we were lucky. Be aware of SS's moods and such for a little - look for clues that he might be getting bad info. Celebrate tonight!!