Peter: It is a whole other world taking pics like that during the day. My friend is trying to figure that out although he gets some great cloud formations before and after the storms. Nice work. I hope to see more pics by you. Jojo: I have heard the monsoons can be quite dramatic! I have even seen the storm drains dug all around the outskirts of peoples home but never saw them fill up. I can only imagine that. I have seen lightning from a distance and been very frustrated chasing them because the roads there a long and straight with no way to turn down another for miles to catch up to it..lol Been there done that. Have you ever seen lightning drop from the clouds over the prairies or horizon? It must be majestic! It is nice to meet Peter. It is always nice to see new faces. I would never come there without visiting some very nice people here if the offer is there. Going there to see people I know would be so nice. We would have to visit the Indian Reservations though, Saguaro Cactus Preserve, and look for turquoise jewelry..lol I have danced with the Navaho tribes once before! I hope many others come here with nice pictures. I would of loved to have sene the hail storm ones that some here have experienced! Mike

See if you have a Biltbest dealer in your area. We looked at Pella, Marvin, Jeld-Wen, etc. Have been in three years and still happy with them...we have casement from the Architectural Design Collection - wood stained interiors/bronze color exterior. We have large windows. We saved $30K by shrinking them down 6" (in height) from the mansion series to the next one down and still have fantastic views. Biltbest Windows and Doors RE: I just found out I have expense taste in windows! Posted by: mae919 (My Page) on Thu, Aug 28, 08 at 21:45 Thanks for all your comments - we are meeting with the builder tomorrow - I will post models and sizes after our meeting. Post a Follow-Up Your Name: Your Email Address: Subject of Posting: Message: Optional Link URL: Â Â Â Name of the Link: A copy of your follow-up will automatically be emailed to the original poster. Return to the Building a Home Forum

ladynimue -- I, too, am an older parent! (I had my eldest at 34 so I'm now 38.) I don't know where you are (and I'm not prying -- please don't read it that way) but 'round here, "older" is normal. The other mothers with whom I spend the most time all started in their mid-late thirties / early forties. One of my friends is going through perimenopause and she lets us have a good laugh about having within the past few years finished nursing and now hot flashes! Another just turned 45 and is pregnant. I do not think you'll be odd woman out here, ladynimue. Based on my experiences both in living here plus when we were househunting and the parents we met then, you should fit right in! I also wanted to tell you how phenomenal we are finding the medical community(-ies) to be here. Our "home" hospital in CA was Stanford -- a v. (internationally) well-regarded hospital. Well, they certainly failed my younger (now 20 months) son. He was ill from birth on, and his pediatric team kept brushing us off, blaming my concerns on my PPD. ("You worry too much." "You need to calm down.") We moved out here (to CO) and within a fortnight had his well-baby visit. I started my spiel about his issues when the ped. immediately stopped me, saying "something's clearly not right here." Finally!!! After we got to the root of it, I became crazy-angry, both with the Stanford pediatricians but mostly with myself. (Mother's guilt -- I should've somehow divined what was wrong with him or somehow persevered with others, which I realize now. But at the time, with a two year-old, PPD, an ill newborn and selling our house I felt lucky to feed my older and nurse my younger without crying hysterically.) My younger son is part of the Child Find program (it's federally mandated, locally funded); it helps children with issues (whatever they are) get better. He has physical, occupational and speech therapists who all come to our house every single week. I'd say within two months of that well-baby visit he was enrolled in the Child Find program and progress was underway! (He's now doing great -- not yet caught up, but moving apace and, more importantly, he's healthy!!!) I mention this because good friends of ours back in SF whose son is on the autistic spectrum are on a two year waitlist to see a speech therapist (through the same program, different name there). If we'd had to wait two years goodness only knows where we'd be! (Clearly we'd just do it privately but you get my point.) Also, about three weeks after we moved out here I came down with Shingles (although we didn't know what it was at first), centered in my inner ear. It paralyzed my face and that's what got me to the MD tout de suite. I didn't know an MD, just called the local hospital, explained my symptoms and they responded with "how quickly can you get here?" Within thirty minutes I was seen and within ninety minutes I was having a CAT scan (to rule out stroke or tumor, although they did discover I have Grave's Disease, another thing about which I'd been complaining to my Stanford MDs only to be told "yeah, everybody's tired all the time -- it's called 'motherhood.'"). Later that day they determined it must be Shingles (although I didn't yet have any blisters). Because of it paralyzing my face my eyes were in trouble (Shingles can cause severe and permanent damage to the eyes): the MD's office called the MD's personal opthamologist (I mean the one she goes to see) and had them see me that day as well. I'll tell you, I have never felt so cosseted! (and my MDs office also made an appointment for me with my MDÂs endocrinologist  again, I didnÂt have to worry about "who should I see?") Whenever I recount this story to any locals (meaning folks who live here in CO), to a one they say "I know, I get superlative care here, far exceeding whatever I received where I lived before." My son's progress and the immediate and thorough care I received are merely two examples. I just wanted to tell you another thing we love about CO. If solely for my son's sake I am forever grateful we moved out here. But the truth is, we love all of it! -Brooke

Thank you, Julia. wasn't doing so good all day,and my daughter asked me if I would like to go to wal mart to get a few things, and I told her yes,i would, so we went and caught in a real downpour trying to get back to the car whenwe wa leaving the store.It came a flood, she got wetter then I did, but we ok.I wish you could grow some of these nice ruffled ones, too as they are so pretty. rutz.Thank you, miss laucius is a 7 inch bloom, some times 7.5.I couldn't find where it was at until I spotted that bloom sticking up. Kay. wild one seems to be a nice one every day. has a lot of substance to it.The daughter and I got back from wal mart and it really did pour hard, and wild one looked like it didn't get any of it, but, know it did.