As Dame said, "architect" is tossed around in this forum without much understanding of who and what an actual architect is. Many consumers think that anyone with a CADD system and/or who produces drawings of a house is an "architect". And then there are those captive folks who work in house or out house for builders and reproduce the plans that the builders prefer, with some adjustments for individual buyers. Any time one sees home designs with huge roofs which rely on lots and lots of roof trusses, this is a good guess. FWIW, I think that two of the most (negatively) influential inventions in the house building industry may have been: 1) Mr. Carrier's invention of air conditioning which made decades-long of many differing regional designs for architecture obsolete, and; 2) Invention of the 2X roof truss which made very long spans ( and houses 4 and 5 rooms deep) economical and achievable. Both of these, unfortunately, apply to the design of the OP's house.

Jennifer, When I worked full-time, I had to have a book-sized Day-Timer planner with 2 pages for each calendar day, and a week-at-a-glance page, and a month-at-a-glance page, copious notes on every day so I wouldn't forget scheduled appointments, Chris' activities at school and also in after-school stuff like his Cub Scout group, etc. I never would have survived without it. That was the same time frame when I had the beautiful leather-bound garden journal where I jotted down everything I could in the space available. Back then it was essential, and I can see how similar list-making, calendar notes and journaling areessential for you now. I sort of miss those days, but then I realize how much more care-free my life is nowadays, and I don't miss the old days at all. Nancy, Making lists works for me when it comes to grocery shopping. I have a tendency to take off to the store without the lists (ha ha) but just the act of making the lists makes me remember what I needed to get. I always wonder why I make a list I'm going to forget to take with me, but I do think the act of writing out what I need to get does make it stick in my mind even without having the physical list in my hand. Rebecca, I find plant heights relative to the weather in some years and try not to sweat them too much. Sometimes certain plant varieties get taller (or stay shorter) than expected, so I take plant heights as estimates not, not as something engraved in stone. So, if I mess up and put a taller flower, like one of the zinnias, on the south side of the peppers, I just declare that surely the peppers need the shade the zinnias will give them in late summer and don't beat myself up over it. Most years it works out fine even if I have a taller thing of one kind shading a shorter thing of another kind. Sometimes it looks planned as if I meant to deliberately shade the shorter plant, but truthfully, it usually means I thought I planted a zinnia that gets 6" tall on the south side of a row of peppers but instead I planted a zinnia that gets 30" tall. (grin) The world doesn't end and we all survive. The nice thing about containers is you can spin them around (or get the handyman to do it) to suddenly move the taller plant to the north side instead of the south side. At times I wish my whole garden was in containers for just that reason. Kim, What I have learned from many years of gardening, including when I did keep journals, calendar notes and so forth, is that our weather varies so much in my specific location that keeping notes from year to year didn't help me much as far as knowing when to plant and when to expect a harvest. Was 2012 going to be like 2011? like 2005? like 2001? Or, none of the above? (It probably was most like 2002 or 2004, but warmer than 2004, but I couldn't figure that out at planting time---only when looking back much later in the year.) So, each year I just watch the air temperatures, the soil temperatures, and the forecast and try to figure out when it is safe to plant. It basically is a guess, though, because of the strongly inconsistent nature of our springtime weather. It is crazy that some years I can put tomato plants in the ground the first week of March with little fear of them freezing, and other years I am having to plant them late in April and still cover them up in May. There's just no way to guess what the weather will do in any given year here because it varies wildly from one year to the next and there's no rhyme or reason to it. I wish I could say I've seen specific patterns and learned how to adjust planting dates and times accordingly, but honestly what I've learned is that anything can and will happen and you cannot predict it. I wish we had more consistent weather, but we just don't. I see plenty of people around me who just wait and plant their whole garden in May, which makes no sense to me for cool-season crops, but I guess they've waited and waited for the weather to settle down, and in May it finally does. Everyone has to find what works for them. For myself, I think I've found it, so I'll keep on not keeping notes and making plans until my mind leaves me and I have to give up gardening altogether, which hopefully is still a long way off. Dawn

I use one. I keep it simple as possible. Mine is a calendar that shows one week on the left and right page. Each day has a vertical column for entries. These are ruled without any messy time slots. This gives me the freedom to write whatever I want in each column. I use it for appointments up to a year in advance. Hey, I'm old and retired. How am I going to remember any of that stuff out in the future? I might remember what I supposed to do 3 days from now; That's the limit. Now=adays. there are several doctor appointment during the year; 3 dentist visits; reminders to re=order prescription; Birthdays and anniversary. Planned trips; etc. Many other items get penciled in such as lunch with a friend or a consult for an associate at his work. When I was working and handling 2 main projects plus small unplanned jobs that popped up, I got into a habit of scheduling a to-do list in my calendar. It was the only way I could insure I did not forget an obligation. Old habits die hard. After retirement, I found that I needed to continue a calendar of pending jobs.

Thanks, JMCK, good to know. I read that CT and RI are the only two states with a 2 week record of declining cases. 1929, It's so hard to guess. If we hadn't un-flattened the curve, id say they'd be opening up to the US at the same as the EU/Schengen. The holiday itinerary I am looking at is 100% cancellable and refundable in re hotels if i cancel before 11/26 for the Kitzbuhel hotel and 12/7 for the Vienna Air BnB. That's pretty worry free. The flight with BA would be exchangeable for a voucher good thru April 2021; pretty darn sure we'd use that. And if you can't go because *they* cancel the flight, by law you get a cash refund. What are the cancellation policies if you use miles? From what I've read they keep changing and vary quite a bit from airline to airline. Since it is so unpredictable, id only book if I could cancel and be satisfied with those terms. Texanjana, bummer about your trips. And totally jelly in re Egypt! My one DD wants to go there in the worst way and DH thinks its unsafe. Fingers crossed you get to go, and do tell us all about it!