Thanks everyone. I was definitely leaning towards the equidistant columns plan. Holly, that's a great idea, but my concern with that is two fold--first, these columns are bloody expensive, but second, our porch isn't terribly deep, and if these are 18" x 18" at their base, it does not leave much room behind each column. Four columns would leave little space for chairs between the columns, and I'm afraid would look a bit busy. Thanks Autumn, we are thrilled with the little girl! But there are definitely some bright spots form the house planning, as well. Frankly, the plan we're getting is not clearly worse than the one I created, and in a few ways is better. And, had I not struggled over that plan and received acres of great advice here, I would not have known what to change about the plan to make it really work well for our family. Here is a cut out of the floor plan of the front. I know this builder has had problems with people copying this plan illegally, so I'm not sure I'm comfortable posting the whole thing without his approval. The plan is scanned a bit crooked, but assume it's straight (and I had to reverse the plan to match our house). I've drawn in the lines and measurements to the center of each 18" column base, the window, and the door. Off to the left is the garage; the room on the front right is the living room, and there is a 6' deep entry hall as soon as you enter the front door. See how I really don't think it changes too much to have the door move the door around--it might change the view through the sidelites and what you see when you first walk in, but I think that is minor compared to how the house will look from the street.

I have no idea if one can print from a scanned negative on a home printer. The scanner just turns the negative into a digital image, the same as a scanned print, so a store that can print pictures from CDs should (I think) be able to print from the scanned negatives. I have never used this feature as yet, always putting it off, but my setup instructions that came with the scanner tell how to scan these things. I'm not a photo expert at all, so maybe I should give this a try and let you know what happens. I noticed that NOCANDO, the poster who first responded to you, has a similar scanner to mine. Not all scanners have this capability, but there are probably others besides these models that can do this. I just thought I'd like to be able to make prints from my slides, so that is the main reason I bought this model.

Yes, it's all cut & paste, blur and tone. The best way to learn is to just pull in your picture and play with the tools to see what they do. It does take quite a bit of time and will look rough at first, but just keep plugging along. I discover new things all the time. Remember 'Undo.' : ) I was out looking for the download the other day, and it seemed that the trial for Adobe PS Elements 7.0 (their inexp home version) is due out in a few weeks. Wondering which one you got. There are also some free photo editing programs around. Someone recommended GIMP the other day. I use MS Digital Imaging Suite, which has been discontinued. There are millions of stores and photos across the web to find things. You can also scan pictures in from books, magazines, catalogues. I actually do a lot of custom work! Carpentry, masonry, even furniture and accessories : ) I also have my own paint line ; ) H'Aint Paint custom squirrel-y mixes. If only shopping and home improvements were this easy.

I so want to do that with my slides. I have 10 years worth that were taken mostly by my 12 DH. I am cleaning out my mothers house and keeping finding huge boxes of slides my Daddy took. I should really let go or some bucks and buy a slide scanner. I also found an 8MM projector and home movies at Mama's house. I meant to bring them home. Thought I'd try to watch them. They are so old they might just break but if they play and are any good I might have them transferred to a DVD. I think the guy that videotapes our seminars at work does that. Maybe he will give me a deal on it. Linda