Not to worry Butternut. DH really wanted it and I liked it, but I couldn't put it together wih everything else so I let DH down easy and we found a totally different rug that is waiting for the new table to arrive. I did notice that there were a couple of different but very similar designs as well as the same design on a cotton backing and on a latex backing. ISn't rug shopping fun? Getting to be like mattresses and the covers with different color fabrics or different patterns in the stitching.

So weird, and this is absolutely the truth, I always thought the rug I had was going to stay in the LR forever. The morning when I first posted about this I was racking my brain for a place where the CL rug could live, and just started staring at the LR. Just for fun I got out the tape measure...and wondered what it would look like to have a rug going on the diagonal in the room, to parallel the furniture. I was so surprised to see the measurements worked perfectly. Duh, why didn't I ever try that before? Who knows; maybe a subliminal part of my brain has had something like this in mind all along. Or maybe it's my mom (best shopper I know) nudging me along from heaven. All I know is, if something tugs at you and you can't stop thinking about it, there is usually a reason that will become apparent in due time. It's always worth a second look :)

Here's some carp I copied off the Internet about carp/koi. I know they are a common symbol in some Asian art. I wouldn't exactly call it a novelty so much as a strong design. A singing mounted fish is a novelty item. It is said that the fish probably originates out of Persia (now Iran). Wild carp are called "koi" in Japanese. The term "koi" was later applied to all carp both wild and colored. The Japanese have a special word for wild carp called "Magoi." Colored and inbred Magoi are called Koi. According to Japanese legend if a koi succeeded in climbing the falls at a point called Dragon Gate on the Yellow River it would be transformed into a dragon. Based on that legend, it became a symbol of worldly aspiration and advancement. More generally, the Japanese associate koi (also known as carp) with perseverance in adversity and strength of purpose. Because of its strength and determination to overcome obstacles, it stands for courage and the ability to attain high goals. Others say it means good fortune or luck. In China 7 golden Koi is good luck! The symbolism goes: the larger the koi, the richer you are. Those fish are expensive. According to tattoo websites, a koi represents good fortune, prosperity and riches. Also in Japanese culture, it symbolizes male strength. It also says you are determined and don't conform to what society expects - like a koi swimming upstream against the current. Koi are used to symbolize yin and yang in ponds.

The vent helped. Your comments helped. This was a hard lesson for me. I've accepting my DH's first response -- which was pretty much the same as Jim's in the very first reply here. It's Good-bye and Never Again! There is no benefit for me in having any further contact with this gal. More 'stuff' keeps turning up: There are faint paw prints on our mattress pad. (I'd made the bed up fresh and covered dust-covered it before we left.) By going outside, I can see scrapes where dog scratched at the porch and French door screens -- before breaking through them. Branches were 'planted'. I evidently needed these 'last straws' to give up my wishful trust. My guess is that House-sitter is leaving town. She had said her mother was planning to remarry and sell the house here. She's probably moving downtown. It's where *normal* single adults live. Calling a locksmith. Changing the entry code on the garage doors. Hoping nothing serious is yet to be discovered.