I got cut firewood from all over and that did the most damage during the flood. There is a ton of mud everywhere and tomorrow I get power washed. I had hoped that the slugs, snails, gophers, moles etc would all drown and at least benefit me. But as I cleaned today I found alive slugs and snails that were under water for 18 hrs or more. I lifted my house 5 ft in 1996 and this is the first real flood I have stayed in the house. It felt like an ark. I feared for my outside worm bins which turned and moved during the flood and worked on one today. The worms seemed fine and survived being in water so long. Penny in the wet Napa Valley

I got lucky in the last post when I stated 9 tenths. That is what I emptied this morning. I talked to several from a wide area of the OK Panhandle and SW KS today. The range was mainly between 5-9 tenths last night. The reason the totals were limited was because the storm was moving so fast. My fiancee received .55 in Leedey also. I heard Perryton, TX had around a half an inch. My coworker who I share an office with lives in Boise City and he had 9 tenths. The good part of this was that it reached from southern NE all the way across KS, the OK Panhandle and a good portion of the TX Panhandle. So a wide area got at least some. Instead of the spotty rains we've seen some of. They are giving us continued chances throughout the week and into next week. Don Day an independent forecaster who hits it best for our area especially long term said he is watching another possible event down the road. I hope it develops and this trend continues. The cool weather is nice also. This time last year it was in the 100's with high winds. We had the winds today. Over 50 mph but at least no dirt blowing. Very cool today. I'm heading out to finalize some planting. Hopefully I'll finish by tomorrow. Jay

First Floor -- You pass my *essential* test! You have a powder room that's near the family entrance and the kitchen. I'd think about replacing the window from the back hall to the screen porch with a half-glass door. I'd put the pantry in the back corner of the kitchen -- push into the garage area where the steps are. Give yourselves a 36" door there (and *everywhere* in the house that you can possibly do it). I can't read the garage door sizes, but hope the single door is nine feet wide (not eight). The width of the Dinette is fine, but it's too shallow. Upstairs -- The MBR is larger than I'd want for just a bed. Do you want more furniture there? (I presume all your dressing needs will be in your closets.) Do you have plans for the long wall across from the bed? (If not, reduce the MBR.) I'd tire of crossing the MBR between bath and closets. I prefer to have closets *between* the BR and bath. (That also frees another exterior wall for windows.) The rear BR has the same back and forth. The master bath shower is ginormous. Do you have cleaning help? It and the tub would be warmer placed on interior walls. Is privacy no issue? Can you leave the windows around the tub uncovered? I prefer an airjet tub to a whirlpool. I'd reverse shower/tub and vanities/toilet. You could then have a separate toilet room w/window too. There seems to be excess space in the middle of this bathroom. I'm assuming the larger (rear) BR is for your DD and the boys will share the walk-through bathroom. That should work fine for boys. Otherwise I'd want the bath divided with a toilet and sink for each child with the shower/tub separated. There's no window in this bathroom. There are several exterior walls in this plan where I would want windows. Builders' plans often have this shortcoming. Do your children do their own laundry? If not, I'd prefer a laundry chute to machines where *I* am during 'laundry hours'. I see 'carpet' listed many places. Can you stretch to wood flooring? Carpet is kaput shortly in any household, let alone one with three young kids and a dog. LOL It's cheap, but it's yards of waste, long-term. We'd love to see the outside elevations!

Hi blackcats, Good to hear from you. Yeah, I'm in good health. Had varicose veins (no trouble) something around three years ago or more, they put me on diuretics to cut water, then had shots to shrink a vein, with walking twice a day for two weeks, then awoke early one morning with pains, turned out to be blood clots on the lungs, was put on Warfarin, and have noticed no reduction in lifestyle as a result. Had some difficulty moving an arm, due to osteo-arthritis, doc put me on glucosamine sulphate, arm moves much more freely, but I find that that hand is often much colder than the other, so need to talk to him about that, next visit. It's very seldom that my body tells me, "Listen, you darned old fool: I can't do that for you, any more!". When I can pretty well do as I please, at 85, I figure that every day is a good day. ole joyful