The first thing I made Brian do when he got home tonight was read these posts. That and the fact that I had gutted the dining room, seemed to do the trick. While he still hasn't risen to my code red level of excitement, he no longer thinks I've gone mad. I took four bids over the past two days and hired a contractor this afternoon. The rub was that he had a tight window. This project will be done by Monday. So I skipped out of work two hours early and flew into action. The contents of the dining room (and there were many) have been safely moved. Although the rest of our house looks like a giant flea market tonight...that dining room is clean. Contractors are a mysterious bunch. I'm not used to them, seeing as though I'm accustomed to doing the work myself. I was quoted a range between $800 and $1,800 (one laughable bid came in at $3,000 but that's another story). It turns out the guy who quoted $800 came with the most experience and recommendations. He was the busiest too. He's in the process of restoring the exterior of a Victorian here in town. I took an immediate liking to him. Let's hope my gut instinct pays off. I had a co-worker ask me this morning if I had it all over to do, would I buy this particular house. It really gave me pause. This property needed so much work. So many bad choices had been made over the years. We went blindly in thinking they were all easy fixes. But the answer was yes. I would do it again. This house deserved her face lift. Off to explore paint color! Steven

Hi Cari Jo, I came here because of my first Thanksgiving without my brother. I read your post and I would like you to know that I have many dreams of my brother too. Most times, I can only remember bits and pieces of it and I usually wake up both sad and angry...angry because I can't remember too much of the dream. Take care

I am in exactly the same place with my red oak floors :( my floors look just as orange as in the pictures... and the variations and wood grain are much more pronounced than I wanted. I have the flooring company coming in on Monday to put down the third coat of poly - do I have any options at this point? Or just a matter of it mattering less once I get more used to the new color...? I had this same level of shock and discomfort with my wall color (had to leave my apartment for the evening just to soothe myself!), but once they sanded the floors - I realized I loved the wall color, just that my old floor finish was clashing with it. Now after staining the floor - I am back to feeling they really clash... and I really wish I had just opted for no stain and a natural finish instead... I’d take that look over what I now have any day. At least - that’s how it feels right now. To the original poster - @lacollar - (or anyone else with a similar experience) - did you eventually get used to (or even fall in love with?! :)) your floors... even though at first it felt like the choice of stain color was a huge mistake? Has anyone tried tinting the final coat to tone down the orange/reds? Does that work? Appreciate any help/advice. Thank you all!

Elmer, I spent a summer in France with a family, after my junior year of HS. Beginning of senior year, first day of French class, within minutes the teacher noticed the huge difference in my fluidity (if not fluency). Immersion is key. But here’s an odd thing. When I took German, I was in Switzerland, French-speaking area, and my teacher was Austrian. We couldn’t figure out why I had a North German accent. Oh, another thing I think I’d like to learn is to knit or crochet. But, I know I’d never have patience to make much more than a scarf. A really long scarf. I’d just keep going, to keep my hands busy while bingeing on “Killing Eve” or whatever our latest obsession is. My grandmother was a fine and prolific knitter. She made 8 afghans for her grandchildren, which get a lot more use than the sweaters. I have a wonderful hat and scarf from her, though, that I still use after 50 years. She tried to teach me once, but I was still in that “i want to bike uptown and hang out with my friends” stage.