Laptop is a Dell Latitude (C-Series). I've always hooked up a mouse... could never work those little pad areas well enough. Has separate "floppy-disk module as external device"... cable to connect. Only has ONE USB port... before it went into extreme SSLLOOWW mode, usde a gizmo that turned one port into 4-5. Has a little cord (about 4" long) marked composite TV-out adapter cable. I have CD reinstall disks for MS Windows XP Professional (including service pack 1a and 2). Has a CD drive, but that doesn't show up when I go to "my computer", but I used it to initially install XP?? And a spare battery pack that has just been sitting in the carrying bag for... since purchased? This computer was loaned/given to me by someone who had purchased a new one... but I was told I could do whatever I wanted with it. When I go to "my computer" and click properties for C, shows 18.6 GB capacity, 7.18 GB used & 11.4 GB free. This is a little odd?? Last time it was hooked up to DSL, showed 80-90% or more used... would get frequent low memory warnings... would have to do a disk cleanup that would briefly and ever so slightly improve speed. Went to control panel and checked to see what programs are on C... 18 different items. Most say "rarely" used, 4 say "frequently" used, but 2 of those I KNOW I don't use?? Rough extimate is almost 800 MB... could list, if that would help. Under system properties: ...system: MS WIndows XP Professional v 2002, service pack 2. ...registered to: my name and 20 letters/numbers. ...computer: Intel Pentium, 1.00GHz, 256 MB Ram. Took it in to Staples with a coupon for a free check-up. Fully expected them to tell me it was gravely ill with some virus... they didn't. I KNEW it didn't have a virus. Said it was pretty much out of memory. Guy tried to find something but nothing matched where it would have to go. Said because computer was "older technology", additinal memory would be difficult to find and expensive... advised not to waste my money and plan for a new computer when possible. Had Spyware Doctor with Anti-virus v 8.0... recommended by former co-worker a few years ago. Over time, it would catch occasional minor infections and fix right away. WOuld be encouraged to BUY something... Registry Mechanic "Optimizer" to get rid of registry errors. Have NO idea what that means, but wasn't something that seemed to make much difference, and I wasn't willing to spend any more money. OK... getting long-winded, so I'll stop. If any of my gibberish makes sense, and anyone has any advise for thie "dummy"... I will be very grateful!

I cannot express how much I LOVE our fiberglass pool!! When we bought our home it had a very large 35 year old concrete pool (30' x 60'). After 15 years enjoying the pool (the pool was now 50 years old) we had to make big changes because the floor drain was bad. After many estimates (vinyl, gunite, fiberglass etc.),we decided on fiberglass. The old concrete pool was very hard to keep clean and it was way too big for us. We went with a San Juan fiberglass pool that is much smaller. The new pool was placed right inside the old pool and filled with stone all around. We did have to do demo work on the old pools coping & side first. We also had to put a line in to pump out if necessary because of the old pool floor underneath but in 5 years we have not had any problems. Everything was included except for the electrical work and we had our own electrician do the work for us. It included 4' of concrete surround but we increased it to 6' and added a pebble finish on top. The fiberglass is SO easy to clean and stains are not problem if you use a stain treatment at opening and closing each year and a metal treatment once a month. We have our fiberglasss 5 years now and it looks as good as the day it was put in. Each year we are amazed when we open it how clean it is. No water line marks, no algea problems,the steps are spotless and yes, the water does have a silky feel to it. We also have 2 labs who swim in it daily and other than empting the skimmer basket there is very little work. By the way, before we moved to this home we has a vinyl pool. So I have had the pleasure of taking care of all three types; vinyl, concrete, and fiberglass. Hopefully we will never move again, but.....if I had to put another pool in, it would be a fiberglass. hands down! I can't tell you enough how much we love it!

Okay Marilyn, this is the 'possum story. On New Year's morning, about 1 am, we woke up cold. My husband got up to see why, and the back door had blown open (in Texas even locked doors can blow open with our gentle breezes). He shut it and was heading back to bed when he glimpsed movement toward the study. Thinking it was the cat, he kept going to the bed, where our cat was sleeping on the quilt (a watchcat, she isn't). He checked, and there was a full grown possum wandering around the study (looking for something to read?). He started shooing the possum back to the door (shut) and trying to get the door open and the possum convinced to leave. He finally set up a slalom course with chairs to guide the possum out. When he came back to bed, I asked him what happened and he told me. Half asleep, I replied, "Well, thank heavens it wasn't a skunk." He couldn't get back to sleep for quite a while. Your husband would love Texas!

Have you selected your builder yet? That may impact the way you go about designing your kitchen. My builder works with a custom cabinet maker, who we also worked with on the kitchen layout. Also, second the advice on figuring out what you like about that picture. Like others have said that is an expensive kitchen (as most are that are featured on Houzz). However, if you are simply drawn to the look of a white cabinet, black counters on the perimeter and marble on the island, then that could be do-able in a wide range of budgets. My kitchen is 15' x 19' and open to the family room. I'm hesitant to post pics since it is very much in progress, but this can at least give you an idea of a kitchen with similar size, finishes (in terms of white, black and marble), with custom cabinets and counter tops that were less than half the $$ LWO shared. We will be removing the 4" AB splash and adding subway tile. One thing you may notice (and that may be causing the GW regulars to cringe) is there are not a lot of drawers. We added roll out shelves wherever there are not drawers, but that is one area we definitely could have spent more money and adds to the function (and cabinetry cost) of a kitchen.