Did they have a test about Dolls??? I'm Raggedy Anne!!! (Lots of rough nights with no sleep lately. She and I have the same hairdoo.) Did they have a test about birds???? I'm a CHICKEN!!!! (I'm afraid of the unknown and usually end up deep-fried.) Did they have a test about which Cartoon strip character are you??? I'd be "Cathy"!!!!!! ( I'm always needing to shead a few pounds but I dont try on bathing suits.) Was there a test about which piece of "Garden Junk" would you be? (I would be a multi-faceted Mosaic, smashed by a hammer, with lots of glue putting me back together, yet some of my pieces are still shiney.) Which comedian would I be???? Bill Cosby - HAVING to look at ALL aspects of life as humorously as possible in order to make sense of it all. Especially the most painful stuff. Which Fairie would I be??? "Twitter", the Folgers Fairie with ADD. Ya'll know her?? Which stone would I be???? "Granite", then I could lay around in my kitchen instead of washing the dishes and cooking. Ya'll this could go on and on. I LOVE IT!!! Thanks Sylvia! Susie

dixie I won't stop providing counter arguments as long as there are inflamatory statements made like the ones below - which happen to come from MA in a recent thread. But it wouldn't have mattered who posted them, the response from me would have been the same. I find it disturbing that there is no declaration by MA right up front that he is an architect so that the OP's (especially new posters) know the perspective from which his views are derived. In all of the other forums that I read and post on, this is the norm by true professionals in their respective fields. "I suspect that much of the savings from the use of prepackaged designs and/or incomplete documents is subsequently given to the builder in change orders or noncompetitive cost plus billing. Why are owners so stingy with designers and so generous with builders?" "I think the bottom line is that in addition to a lower hourly fee, a home designer must be providing an abbreviated set of contract documents which inevitably exposes the owner to more risk and therefore more cost. I believe this must account for half or more of the design fee savings." "I can see how these approaches could work for off-the-shelf designs or for spec houses but my practice is for completely custom original designs tailored to the needs of the homeowner's family and the site. A stock plan would be useless even as a starting point and the plans given to me by owners usually just slow down the initial design phase and increase my fee. "

Awimming, but I prefer walking or jogging.

Well I don't have soapstone in a kitchen yet. I do have it in my master bathroom with zero damage in about 8 months of use so far. I have had butcher block before and used it to cut on. I was totally fine with the patina from cutting. But the food coloring I spilled while making cookies and couldn't sand out (too deep) bothered me somewhat. My research is that soapstone doesn't stain or etch. It can chip or scratch. Scratches can be oiled or, if deep, sanded out. Given that I was fine with butcher block (and am fine with a wide variety of antiques and vintage furniture pieces with patina of varying kinds), I feel confident that I will be fine with the scratches and any chips on soapstone.