"= at this point should I rake up all of the remaining hay?" Nope. Leave it. It will break down and provide nutrients and organic matter. "= shortly my yard is going to be in a lot of shade, trees are budding as we speak and my lot is mostly "wooded"...any advice for dealing with the shade?" I'd plant fine fescues (creeping red, chewing, hard fescue) in the shaded areas. One mix I've read good reviews about is Bonny Dunes. If you google on Bonny Dunes grass seed, you should find a number of places on line that carry it. "=should I put more seed down now? if so what kind of grass seed should I be looking for?" I'd wait until fall to see how the grass is doing. If it needs to be reseeded, use something like Bonny Dunes for the shade. "= and to top it off, we have dogs that use that portion of the yard. " Oops. The grass will probably suffer no matter what, unless the dogs are small and/or the lawn is large. I've got a pretty good sized dog and she doesn't tear up the lawn too badly, but I've had to learn to live with a dirt track around the back yard where she likes to run around the lawn sometimes.

Well slept on the couch last night ( what a joy) after yet another arguement about S.D. with my wife. This last week has been filled with the same crap different day. So heres the scenerio. My wife and I work differing shifts most of the time, so I end up spending most of the time with my S.d. After school and evenings, my wife works mainly 4 - midnight shifts. Last week was more of just the same, my s.d talking to me anyway she feels like it ( totally no respect ) and a week of mainly all out battles between us. Yesterday, i argued with her for 4 hours trying to get her to clean her room, when i can't see the floor and there are dirty dishes in there, its time for her to clean it, finally i just gave up told her to do whatever she wants, live like a pig, i'm beyond caring, and i stopped talking to her for the day. Now over the week she had lost her computer time, phone time and tv time for lying to us about her school homework ( telling us it was all done, after parent teacher confrence we found out she had not been doing any of it ) she ended up grounded. Anyways, wife comes home, s.d comes out of room, talking as sweet as ever, Oh hi daddy blah blah blah, i just said uh huh. after an hour, i went in the computer room, there my wife on her computer and my s.d on my computer. I said um excuse me your not allowed on the computer and after a day like we had, dont' expect to be on there for a long time. Well that was a mistake, wife turns around says she's doing her homework, and I just laughed, shook my head and walked out. next thing i know my wife is yelling at me cause i'm not allowing s.d. to do her homework, and i told her what kind of day we had and it didn't matter. I told her once again that she has NO idea wht i put up with on a daily basis, my son 16 years old pipes up, ummm ( wifes name ) she talks to dad with totally no respect when your not here, wife tells son to shut up that he treats s.d with no respect either, to which i replied, well when she learns to talk to people with respect, maybe she'd get some back. Suddenly wife yells she has had enough and her and the s.d are leaving ( moving out ) So i decided to sleep on the couch. So now what??? Been thinking about it most of the night, personally i think it might be a relief to all concerend it it happened. Much as I love my wife, and I know she loves me, we can't continue like this. I know i will never accept anyone talking to me like my s.d does, and if my son was talking to my wife that way, well lets just say son would be very bored for the next two months. My wife says, well your the adult, my s.d says you can't do anything to me cause mom will just move out. HELPPPPPPPPPPPP. I'm so tired of being stressed, i think everyone is, is there any solutuiont o this, or am I just wasting my time in something that is never going to change.

Thanks for the kind comments, our cabinets are by Cabico, the wood is Cherry and the stain is Richland. The microwave door was done at the Cabico factory. I tried to get a few photo's (tight awkward spot to photograph). The x of wire is a pully system. I wanted to share a few things that I had the carpenter put into the custom mudroom hutch we had built on site. In the upper cabinet an outlet so I can charge my phone,ipod,camera. In the top drawer a powerstrip was installed so DH has a spot to charge all his electronics, put all his keys and stuff from pockets (yes - all organized and out of site) On the main counter another outlet for house phone. This one little spot has removed ALL clutter from the main kitchen. Hope this helps ;) From Kitchen before and after From Kitchen before and after From Kitchen before and after I didn't want to over post with my photo's so I made them small, just click on them if you want to see them larger...CJC

Like the idea of some third party coming over and pointing out some deficiencies and then just "ask what s/he meant by that" and that s/he was fairly adamant that these subs were not doing your build justice. By focusing on the subs, you can give MIL an out. How active is she at the site? Is it possible that she's simply not seen this? or is this a new crew from her usual folks, etc? Is your bank giving you draws? is their inspector someone that you can work with? or your banker? I have a good relationship with the inspector that is working for my bank. If he holds up a draw because the work isn't done (or is done VERY WRONG) things will get real and you'll HAVE TO address them - or else no one gets any money. That might be the most direct way. You have to address these - if you don't - even for the sake of "family peace" - it will rot your relationship like the water intrusion will rot your house.