Those cabs are beautiful! Can't wait to see the full reveal ;) Last week, the carpenters installed our island venthood and all was well until I realized that the island had not been placed in its final spot yet and less of an issue is that they installed it too low (easily fixable). When the electricians were at my house, I explained the vent placement dilemma and he said that it could be a problem because of how the beams ran and that they may need to open the ceiling and re-support something or other in the process. He called it a big problem and seemed to insinuate that I may have to live with the island in the wrong place. I calmly told him that that is the gc's problem and not my concern. I know he looked at me like I am a real be-atch, but wth... I contracted for my kitchen to be laid out as planned and there are concrete reasons my island has to move (approx 3" to the side and 3" back). The gc had been there when they installed the hood and so it is his issue to work out. BTW - I already painted the ceiling there, so while he assured me a while ago that they "never" paint, well, they will be spackling and repainting what they mess up. I have done enough work and my to do list is still long, so they need to clean up their mess on this one too. Maybe I am cranky and tired of mistakes or issues in general, but, darn it, if I had wanted an amateur installation, we could have done that ourselves and saved a bundle.

Lonepiper, Although I had a very difficult experience with my skids and DH, I have seen enough blended and second family situations to know that not only can they work, the players can actually be happy with each other and love one another. One of the keys (in my opinion) is not to force a family bonding. This was one of my big mistakes. I have a cousin with two kids, now grown but around 5-6 when she married a man with two kids around 7-9 at the time. They never, ever all lived together. This was a deliberate, strategic decision on the part of my cousin and her 2nd husband. Her kids lived with her, his kids lived with his ex-wife out of state. Not far, but still not in the same town. He saw his kids often since the out-of-state location was right down I-95 and not far. They merged the families slowly, trips to Disneyworld and so on, never trying to be parent to the other's kids and not forcing the clan together. 20 years later the kids refer to each other as brother and sister and the parents, really step parents, stay in more of a friendship mode with their respective stepkids vs parent. I know others with similar situations, just not on this board! Yes, I do envision a life with a better partner some day, why not? That doesn't mean that I haven't learned the hard way to not try to force some new "dad" down my son's throat if that ever comes to pass. Or to try to be someone else's "2nd" mom. Uggg. The walls will be pretty thick between any new person and my son for a long while. That's what I've seen works with divorced people and their kids. But going it alone, and of course, who knows if there is a 2nd act for me, is not what I want at all. I hope I can learn from my mistakes as well as what I have read and learned on this board.

Kind of along kswl's post above, even if one does not see a divorce attorney, there are practical things that people often overlook that should be done anyway. Even if one's relationship is hunky-dory, both partners should have account numbers for all accounts, information on retirement accounts, etc. easily available to them. If there are changes, those need to be kept track of. Both partners should also be keeping tabs on where money is going, etc. All of this is incredibly important in the case of divorce but also necessary should one partner die unexpectedly, etc. I think it is easy to overlook during stressful times, but the cost of doing so can be very high. It is not romantic to think about, but it is an important reminder. Along the same lines, from the practical/common sense standpoint, if one is considering the future of the marriage, don't muddy the waters with other things. For instance, now would not be the time to take on a major remodeling project, by an expensive car, or whatever. Some people think doing a project together will bring them closer, and it may, but alternatively it often drives people farther apart and costs a lot of money which would be significantly more useful in the starting of a new life. One thing I do feel the need to say is that while some people may seek a divorce too quickly, staying married out of the respect for marriage, because it is a wonderful institution, etc. can be terrible. Marriage has the potential to be a wonderful thing, and like all wonderful things, has the potential to be a terrible prison. There was a time when marriage was really the safest place for a woman, but that is no longer the case. There was also a time that due to life expectancy, the length of a marriage to one person was not really all that long. One spouse was likely to die and the surviving spouse was likely to marry someone new. I admit from a religious perspective it is something that I struggle with. My faith is important to me but I look at my aunt who is with a shmuck, whose drinking is worsening and the fact that she will likely never leave that situation and I have to wonder, why is a good thing for her to stay? It breaks my heart. Even without the alcohol, I look at people who are just miserable together and wonder what the good is in that? Is there a chance some of them may work through it? Of course, but there is a chance that many will just disintegrate (as noted by pinkmtn above) and how very sad that is. So I do feel compelled to say that if one does decide to divorce, there will be some who condemn it, but there will be others who will look and say, you know what, I know it was hard, I know you tried, but I get it. It is okay, you are a still a worthy human being. The OP may not need to hear that at this point, but I suspect there are many lurkers reading this who may need a reminder of that as well.

"How can you tell if a virtual mobile carrier is as good as their parent?" mtvhike, virtual mobile carriers are neither good nor bad. They sell phones and usage plans and have others provide the signal and the connection. Good or bad: price only. They do nothing else. Two phones on the same system at the same location with different signal strengths? The only difference is the phone hardware. The same could happen with two Verizon sourced (in this example) phones. Take two copies of the same model from the same source, their performances can easily be different when side by side. Keep in mind, the low priced virtual companies like Tracfone tend to offer mostly lower quality phone models and that alone can account for lower quality connections on a major network. crafty, forget the coverage maps other than, again, looking at them from 5000 feet, not with a microscope. I have Verizon, the coverage is awesome and reliable (and has been for a long time, I'm a customer of it and its local predecessors for >30 years) but it can vary from block to block and structure to structure. Why can plans from Tracfone et al be cheaper than the name brand? It's a form of what's called marginal pricing. The big guys need to charge enough with their main business to pay to build and maintain their infrastructure and the anticipated capacity plus a factor for wiggle room. That leaves extra capacity that would go otherwise unused. Their cost for carrying the added traffic sold the the virtual carriers is zero so any revenue is better than none. Ever buy a same day ticket for a Broadway play from the booth on Times Square in NY? Or sign up to be notified for a last minute cruise opening? There are lots of examples of heavily discounted prices when what's being sold would be otherwise unused. In the Broadway case, getting $25 for an unsold $125 seat is better than getting $0.