Mealy bugs and root mealy bugs are not the same, the former inhabits the plant and the upper soil layer as you describe. Root mealies do not leave the soil (except when they move to another plant of course). So no, I don't think you need to repeatedly examine the whole root ball, treating the plant and uppermost soil should be enough. It is usually possible to get rid of them except if they are well established, if so it is often easier to throw away the plant. I have had 2 severe invasions in the past, but now I see less than 5 individuals each year (but they die quickly). (These are not from old colonies but are "immigrants" from new plants etc.) You should check your other plants over the next weeks (and preferably spray them just in case), the young mealy bugs are almost invisible to the naked eye and move surprisingly fast, so they could have migrated even if you did not see anything the first time.

I had Kraftmaid cabinets installed last week in Canvas (no glazes!)...I have not yet painted and the soapstone counter is not installed but even so I'm enjoying how the changing daylight works with the cabinets

Palimpsest, Thanks for clarifying the visual aspect. Using the same dimensions for moulding makes sense now. I'll have to take off the crown from the bookcases in order to get the new moulding to fit, but that's ok. I think I'll be okay with having medium dark poplar crown covering dark mahogany bookcases. But what do you think? My mock-up is equivocal insofar as covering the bookcases looks better than coping the new crown to meet the bookcase crowns. I won't replace the base moulding on the bookcases because of the current height and presence of airvents. You've been a great help. If you have any other comments or suggestions, please advise.

I have a lot of white (calacatta) marble countertops, but only two little children (four and two), so they're not the ones messing up the counters (that'd be their daddy and me!). I just turned 39 (I mention this for perspective), and I remember being in junior high school (so I was like twelve or thirteen) and seeing a raspberry pink bijou (as in teeny-tiny) kitchen with white marble countertops. It became my dream. For 26 years, I dreamt of a kitchen with white marble countertops. Nothing, no slobby husband, no potentially messy kids, were going to stand in my way. (I gave up on the raspberry pink cabinets years ago, though. I realized that while I love raspberry in doses, it would just be too much in a kitchen of any size.) I think you'd be better of with just your baking stretch of marble (and not the whole island). Every other marble person here I "know" (you know what I mean) is like me: it was going to be marble or nothing. We couldn't envision our kitchens without the marble, and nothing and no one was going to prevent it. I would hate for you or anyone to have any material in their kitchen which leaves you holding you breath, as in holding your breath when your kids are in the kitchen to see if they're doing to ding / stain the countertop. I'd love for a material to take your breath away, but that's totally different! A kitchen is supposed to be a workplace; I know many have made them showplaces (and those are the ones we tend to see in magazines, right?), but it's like having a living room with those plastic runners on the floors and plastic covers on the furniture. Then it's not a room for living, is it? Going through a kitchen remodel is a wonderful thing, and you are so lucky to get to do it. I want you to enjoy your kitchen and I want you to be able to enjoy your kids enjoying the kitchen!