Reno8, I was born smack-dab in the middle of Vietnam, but I was raised in a small town in a way that "felt like" a generation earlier. Most of my family memories include meals: - Many, many outdoor potlucks at my great-great aunt's house. This was when I was very, very small and we still had ALLLLL the older generation. No one had a house big enough to feed everyone indoors, so we ate outside. The men'd set up tables with wood and saw horses, and the women'd load them with delicious food. Everyone brought his or her own lawn chairs. It wasn't a fancy type of celebration, but I remember loving it. - By the time I was in upper elementary school we'd lost many of that oldest generation, yet we still stayed outside to eat most family meals. My father LOVED to grill. - I do have memories of smaller gatherings in my grandmother's and my great-great aunt's dining rooms: My grandmother had a big Craftsman with a massive dining room, but my favorite eating spot was the tiny booth in the kitchen. My great-great aunt's house was built of heart pine and none of the walls were ever painted . . . but she had a lovely window seat (overlooking a grove of pecan trees) at the end of the dining room, and after I was finished eating I was allowed to go sit in the window seat with my book, and I'd halfway listen to the adults /halfway read my books. The other thing I adored about that dining room was that the dish cabinets opened on both sides -- you could wash dishes in the kitchen and put them away . . . then remove them from the other side. I agree that these memories have more to do with the people than the surroundings. Vaulted ceilings, French doors, chandaliers . . . they aren't as important as the family. However, before you begin deciding how you want your eating areas to look, you should be honest with yourself about how you entertain. Do you cook for everyone? Do you host pot lucks? Do you go out to a restaurant? Build what you're actually going to use!

Forgot to add that he saved us money by incorporating all of our needs and many wants without going over in sq footage. He also came up with architectural details that would give the house character very inexpensively. He loaded us up on storage and made the most use out of stadard windows. Also incorporated brick and stone with hardi in a way that kept the expense down but provided a huge visual impact. It is also unique from the other houses in the neighborhood and area, but still blends nicely so that if we ever resale we will standout among the homogenous designs most builders put up in our area. So that will payoff later. I have had someone on my hoa with a house significantly bigger than mine rave over the design and wish she could move in. Also he could have...but we chose not to do this... make it so the first floor was the only floor finished so that we could finish the second and basement later without anyone being the wiser. However we lost our minds and now are finishing the whole basement.

Amex has always charged more than the other cc companies. Others have already pointed out that those mall cc purchases really hit small businesses hard. We have customers that are kind enough to be aware of that and write checks or use their debit card, or even, believe it or not, pay in cash. A lot of you have mentioned Costco. I've never shopped at one because they're just not convenient to me, but I used to shop at Sam's. I quit doing that years ago because they had an annual fee, and I didn't feel like I was saving enough to make up for that annual fee. Most of what I got at Sams I could buy as a loss leader at a regular grocery store. I've also not found coupons to be very useful, because they're rarely for real food, just processed food. After seeing several stories on the news, and listening to co-workers, I broke down and bought a Sunday paper several weeks ago for the coupons. Boy, was I disappointed. I spent $2.00 on the paper, and maybe found that much worth in coupons that I might use, (which I have to admit I've forgotten about), and then I had all this mess of paper to deal with. What a waste of time that was. Sally

Cloth diapers were not practical for me. I was happy not to deal with the mess. I bought store brand disposables because they were the least expensive that worked for my kids. I did make the homemade baby wipes. They were cheaper than store bought. There are recipes on-line. Basically you cut a roll of paper towels in half. Heat some water, baby lotion, baby soap, and whatever else you want together and pour it over the towels. Keep it in a seal tight container. Molding could be a problem in warmer weather. It was also possible to keep some of the wipes in the fridge and only keep out a day or so's worth at a time. I don't recommend using the wipes cold. Also, I didn't want to dull one of my good knives for cutting through the cardboard roll so I bought kniveat a thrift store and used that.