You are all so wonderful, thank you for all your support, caring, and prayers. It truly does mean allot to us. I'll make sure to remember about "crying in the shower" and I'm taking Jeanne's little message to heart for sure. I didn't learn much new yesterday--but was very upset by the way the doctor presented information to me. I'm not ignorant and I've done some research--what I wanted was ways to cope with where we are now and suggestions on preparing for future changes and how best to help DH. What I got was a whispered "doom and gloom" dialoge which excluded my DH almost completely. Looking back, I should have stopped her asked for our copies of the papers and gone home and waited to discuss them with his regular doctor. On top of that, the paperwork was obviously a form already on her computer and used for other patients because one section says "her" repeatedly because she obviously forgot to change that part to "him". I guess I am naive to expect paperwork specifically prepared for DH. I hope the test results will be helpful to our doctor in some way, but right now I feel like they were a waste of our time! Oops! Sorry--guess I just needed to vent. I am learning as I go, but I now realize that my job is to care for and protect my DH in every way I can----even if it is from rude, inconsiderate specialists! Enough said--on with the fun decorating that I love. We'd better hurry, Valentine's will soon be here! Thanks for your caring and comforting words everyone, thanks for being there during my "meltdown". Today is a new day and "what doesn't kill us just makes us stronger", right? Luvs

Read through and didn't see my recipe anywhere in here so I'll add it to your list for consideration. FWIW, my DH refused to eat meatloaf based on horrific childhood experiences but after trying mine 20 years ago he's CURED LOL and asks for it weekly. 1.25 lbs ground beef (I usually aim for 90% lean) 1 cup dry pepperidge farm herbed stuffing (blue & white bag) 1 can Campbells condensed tomato soup 1-2 tsp Worcestershire to taste 1 egg dash of milk (maybe 1 T at the most) 4 slices bacon I beat the egg in the bowl first, then add Worcestershire and undiluted soup and mix together. Then add stuffing mix to moisten and add beef to all for thorough mixing to distribute the egg mixture throughout. Add dash of milk and mix in. Turn into a loaf pan - I use a pyrex glass one because it seems to form a nicer looking finished loaf - and pat down gently using a fork to remove air pockets. Top with 4 slices of bacon and pop into the oven for 50 min at 400. After 50 min, take out and drain grease. Put it back in for 10 minutes to finish. Here's what I learned the hard way - you have to let it sit in the warm loaf pan for at least 10 min after removing from the oven to allow the meat to reabsorb the juices and set which helps decrease crumbling. After 10 minutes rest, invert loaf pan onto dish, cut and serve. I find that it works well to pop baking potatoes alongside in the oven to cook the entire time as a side! Bon Appetit! Jen

This thread, which I didn't catch the first time around, made me think. In general, I cook to eat and feed my family. However, I do enjoy baking for special occasions. I think that if I didn't work outside the home I would cook more...and be more adventurous. But, I work and have a long commute so by the time I get home I have to make fast meals with little time for creativity or major prep work. So, we eat a lot of frozen veggies--as is out of the bag, pre-cooked meats warmed up, pasta, soup, occasionally waffles/pancakes/eggs, potatoes, etc. I.e., for the most part things that I can cook fast. One up side to this is that our meals haven't changed that much w/o a kitchen since we do have a MW, Toaster Oven, and hot plate to cook with! One very big downside to this, though, is that my children are not learning to cook like I did from my mom. Back on topic... After finding this site and reading about zones, I realized that one thing that I really wanted was a baking center. So when my kitchen was being designed I had it in the back of my head that whatever we ended up with had to have an area I could designate my "Baking Zone", preferably near the ovens--with room to roll out dough, spread out cookie sheets, and have cookie cutters spread out all at the same time! The other thing I got from this site was our window...having the window down to the counter (OK, not cooking-related, but a very important design element!) Our very first plan that our KD came up with had input from us...but a very naive/ignorant us! (Before GW...BGW!) Then....I found this site.....and the changes began. Actually, I posted that original plan and asked for help (and also asked my KD to start over w/no island) Many, many people here helped me come up with a plan over several weeks (months?). We finally came up with a plan that has changed little since then. Interestingly, when I took away the island "must have", my KD came up with a plan very similar to what we came up with here. The only 3 differences were (1) no mini peninsula, (2) a 36" pantry cabinet rather than a corner pantry, and (3) no separate Message Center cabinets. My KD wasn't completely happy w/our differences, but she, wisely I thought, told me to go home and mock up what I wanted to see how it would work (same advice I got here!) Well, the mock up was great! It proved that I did indeed want the mini peninsula (I liked it so much I left the mock up in place until demo and used it!) When I told her the results, she didn't argue, she accepted it telling me it's my kitchen, so ultimately it's up to me. So in the end, my design was/is based on what I wanted, not what the KD wanted. [If only someone else had measured my kitchen and she was given more authority, I think a lot of subsequent problems would have been avoided.] Our kitchen isn't done yet, but it's close...so I can't yet tell you how it is going to work for us...but we are so...

I'm also trying to find just the "appliances forum". A green link on the "read this first post" takes you to a totally irrelevant page. Actually the whole houzz site confuses me. It was easier to use when it was garden web.