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

Thanks everyone! You've give me some food for thought and some good online places to look at. My husband was home this afternoon and could watch the youngest kiddo and supervise the painters while I slipped out to the closest tile store. It's not the best tile store and they don't have any of the more feminine glazed tiles I would prefer. But I did find this option I'll attach. It would be the travertine subway everywhere with some sort of decorative spot above my cooktop out of the darker tiles. Probably put them on a diagonal or something. They also sell those in a smaller size. They coordinate nicely with the darker spots in the granite. It's still more masculine than I would like but at least I have one option. Any opinions? Momto3kiddos I looked at Pratt and Larson online and they have some beautiful tiles! Really up my alley with the floral stuff. I see they have a dealer downtown so I might try and swing by at some point if I can. I'll look more online too. Can I ask what their price point is though? I know some people on here spend a ton on their backsplash but I'm not in a position to do that.

So...... as the seller, I am expected to have a completely empty house, with ALL the work that entails, for the final walk through? What, may I ask, is the point of a walkthrough? I would assume it is one last check to make sure nothing is wrong, as subjective as that sounds, before closing. That being the case it would appear that I the seller am burdened with hoping the all powerful buyer doesn’t back out the day before closing after secretly finding out they’re pregnant. Thus, leaving me with the work of moving back into the house paying movers for nothing and then resetting the home for showings. Forgive my vulgarity but this sounds dumb as hell.

Hi Carson- yes, we oldtimers can't wait to get a peek at your beautiful house. I want to add, knowing what the weather has been like around here as of late, if that doesn't contribute to the sagging energy you've experienced. It is so soggy out here just a little east of you that I ruin every pair of shoes I wear out into the "yard". I vaguely remember that a bright yellow ball is supposed to be in the sky for most of the day in May... but, today we were still under a flash flood warning. Those of us who have been in for awhile know that part of the letdown is fighting through the stuff that got done wrong or that's not perfect- but not worth the hassle to get corrected. And there's going to be a lot of those things. A nick in an otherwise perfect floor. A misplaced coaxial plug. Lighting mistakes like the one we made in a front bedroom. The realization that after all the hard work of supervising your crews and researching your choices, the house still is a work in progress even after you move in- is a little deflating. BUT, we have had moments of pure, unadulterated bliss too. And I fully expect your house to be looking like Biltmore by Christmas:) As we've addressed and continue to address the finishing touches on our house, I remind myself of the question I ask myself each time I feel overwhelmed- How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time:)