dallasbill, I just checked with DH who tried it both ways, and he said the chain saw as you described it worked best for the wires, but the hot knife was easier for him when doing the boxes. DH also said to be sure your HVAC guys run a Manual J before determining what size furnace/AC you need, or it will be oversized. Almost all of the HVAC guys we talked to based the size of the unit on square footage, even after DH explained how tight the house would be. He said if they won't do a Manual J, use someone else who will. He also said to be sure that the drywallers don't glue the drywall to the ICF foam. If they do, and if you ever need to remove the drywall (leaky roof?), the foam will be pulled off in chunks when you pull the drywall off. Good point about the holes needed through the ICF walls. We had professionals do most of ours, since the largest were 6". We were the GCs and weren't sure exactly where they all were going to be, so we couldn't preset them before the concrete was poured. It was MUCH cheaper to have them come out just once to drill, since they charged per visit and per hole. We had: --4 hose bibs --2 make up air (1 for woodstove, 1 for HRV) --exhaust air for HRV --hood duct --dryer vent --2 geothermal pipes (preset before pour) --well pipe (drilled by installer) --gas line --2 electrical lines (due to geothermal) --central vac exhaust --central vac to garage --septic/sewer pipe --sump pump pipe --gas pipe for patio grill --telephone/cable Anne

I'm not an expert, but the Monkey Princess, Bruvver and I always bake cookies. This is the recipe I usually use, although the kids like a different recipe that's "puffier". It's harder to frost the cookies, though, if they are puffy, and they don't hold their shape as well. These rise, so they don't hold indentations and such as well as a cookie with less leavening, but they have a nice flavor: Sour Cream Sugar Cookies 1 cup butter 2 cups sugar 3 eggs 1 cup sour cream 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon vanilla 4 cups flour 1 teaspoon baking powder 1. Combine baking soda and sour cream. 2. Cream butter and sugar. 3. Add eggs, one at a time, blending well after each. 4. Blend in vanilla. 5. Blend in sour cream and baking soda. 6. Combine baking powder and flour and add to sour cream mixture. 7. Refrigerate until easy to handle, usually at least an hour. 8. Roll out dough about 1/2 inch thick and cut into shapes. 9. Bake at 325º for 8-10 minutes, or until light brown. I just use a powdered sugar type icing for decorating with the kids, but if I wanted something very precise I'd go with a royal icing so I could pipe an outline and then fill it in. Good luck, those cookies in that link are very cute. I can't imagine doing all the writing on that "accepted" letter, though! Annie

Tennesee, thank you so much for the suggestion. It didn't work, but I kept playing with it and lo and behold when I went into "recently deleted" and double tapped on the title of the one I wanted to keep it gave me the option to recover it! It is back in my notes and I have emailed all of my notes to myself and placed into a folder. Said with a sigh of relief!

After eight years, this room needs to be freshened up. I was thinking of painting SW Urbanize Bronze (7048) for over the hearth to the ceiling and the rest of the room my favorite white, Sanctuary White (9583). Now it is SW6155 Rice Grain—always has been a little too yellow for me and SW7732 Lemon Grass. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.