Thank you a2. You expressed your thoughts so well..... I also live in the Boston area. We are still waiting to hear the fate of some of the injured ... We are heartsick...and feel as though it is nearly 9/11 all over again when we lost some of our neighbors on those planes.... Patriot's Day has always been so special...a day to go to Lexington for the reinactment, a day to celebrate Paul Revere's ride, a day to run in the Marathon or to make it a family affair to watch friends and colleagues finish....or just a day to be with your family in the back yard to celebrate the coming of spring. Yesterday changed that......We will, however, always remember those the 140+ injured, the brave first responders, the runners, and most importantly, the 3 who died ... especially the 8 year old boy who was standing near the finish line enjoying ice cream with his family. His sister lost her leg, his mother is having brain surgery today and they will not release the condition of his father....We will keep them all in our hearts.................

Are you looking for someone to help you make purchases and/or hook you up with specific vendors? Someone to make recommendations that are pure aesthetic design? Someone to recommend re-configurations? A "project manager"? I ask because we just finished a "refresh" (I posted a reveal thread), and we basically hired a contactor to actually do the work, but we made all of the aesthetic decisions and orders ourselves. I probably would have wanted a dedicated KD if we had gutted the whole kitchen, but since we were just refreshing, I wasn't sure what their real role would be.

No Jan it is you that should be writing the marriage guide! After 50 years there must be more positive than negative things you would say about the experience . . . and for all the bad times you can quote Henry V before Agincout ". . .then will I strip my sleeve and show my scars and say "These wounds I got on Crispin's Day"* * a different 'day/s of choice' may be used here. Cindy, I hope you are not serious when you say a 're-set' button should be given to all newly-weds! Over here in the UK we are following the American lead in divorce plus re-marriage, in many cases for the slimmest of reasons. I am old enough to put much of it down to the 'me' generation. You hear it all the time. "I want it all and I want it NOW" "I need MY own space" "He/she is cramping MY style" "I owe it to MYSELF to do MY own thing." Jan interesting about the 'enclosed' monks/nuns. On UK TV we had a series about 4 men 'entering' a monastery for a few weeks and trying to deal with their problems. This was followed by 4 women who stayed for several weeks with a group of Poor Clare nuns (a very srtict order). The women were badly behaved, not bothering to respect the simplest of rules (not talking at certain periods and being 'on time' for services/instruction) and were over-emotional and totaly self-absorbed. On the other hand the men (in a Benedictine monastery) seemed to obey the 'rules' but were fairly argumentative with oneanother. I supppose the TV co. chose people who were likely to make sparks fly but the monks and nuns seemed far more balanced people. And they didn't seem to feel the 'need' of the opposite sex, although one nun said it would be nice to have a 'hug' now and then!

Well, Ladies, I owe Nicole, and every one else, sincere and heartfelt apologies for not getting my package out on time. Nicole, I spent the last two days on the couch with breathing treatments of all kinds, just made it down to the Post Office today. I am so sorry! The PO Lady said it should be there by Monday. I surely hope so! And, is this swap completed? If it isn't, it's probably my fault for being late! Would like to start the June swap, but I won't if this isn't done. Let us know, Okay! Thanks! Heading outside to assess damage control! Shirley!