We've lived in our house for 10 years and never seen a mouse until tonight. I remembered reading this thread and thinking "Over 20 traps -- has Karen lost her mind???". Well, now that I have one of those little buggers in my house I'm thinking 20 traps is not nearly enough, and I'm merely thinking for prevention of any mice that might be left. We came home tonight to find my two cats and our dog surrounding a dead mouse in our dining room. The three of them were just staring at it with very confused looks on their faces. I guess once they killed it, they didn't know what to do with it. After reading everyone's responses to Karen, I'm now convinced we probably have hundreds of those nasty little critters (or will very soon). So, tomorrow morning DH will be putting traps everywhere!

Oh, how fun! If I need to sleep on an overnight flight I find Nyquil works. Also, as you may have heard, the most important thing is to spend the first day out in the sun and stay awake as long as you can. If you can power through day 1, and not go to bed until dark, you should be on track the entire balance of the trip. Make sure you wear something very comfy on the plane to promote sleep, and if you are not in class of service with amenities, bring your own eye shades, etc. You also may want to take Heathrow Express to Paddington and get a taxi from there. It's quicker and if you are arriving midweek, avoids a nice chunk of the horrible London traffic. It is very easy to do and a very nice way to travel, just ask. As far as London things that might not already be on your list, you may want to do a tea somewhere. I like the Savoy for that but there are many great choices. If you want to grab something quick, Pret A Manger is not bad for lunch etc. As far as a daytrip, I would choose to add Bath or skip Stonehenge. Stonehenge is not far off the motorway and to me its setting diminishes its power. By contrast, Bath is an entire, lovely city, and of course has the lovely Roman ruins. Far more interesting to me. To me the best part of Scotland is the gloaming! Having now been to Alaska too I guess it's really the same thing. But the light is so beautiful. epsecially in the country side. We had a late night tour of the castle, which made it seem more romantic and was certainly less crowded. You have to take the boat at night in Paris, the Bateau Mouche (?), but don't do the dinner cruise. Even though its touristy the boat is the best vantage point for the buildings and the bridges, too. My fave bistro is Balzar, just because I know how to tell the taxi that it is "pres de la Sorbonne". There is hardly a bad bistro in Paris I suppose. Get a picnic and take it to the Bois de Boulogne's little park called the Bagatelle, with tulips the size of a dinner plate. Definitely get hot chocolate at Cafe Flore, where they serve a pot of hot chocolate (unsweetened) and a pot of hot milk and you mix it yourself. Nestles Quik it isn't. Shopping for food in paris, especially Laduree, or Mariage Freres, is a delight. But I also love the restaurant supply store Dehillerin. A wonderful place to buy mementos of Paris. I guess one has to see Versailles, but it is kind of an eyesore inside. The gardens are the real treasure, and the small accessory buildings. I preferred out day trip to Chartres, lovely little town and cathedral.

We are looking at a 1938 Craftsman bungalow that has a swinging door (much to my delight - I always wanted one as a kid for some reason, hadn't thought of it in years, and then last night on our 3rd look-through of this house noticed it) and original floors in the dining room. No window in the door, no bell in the floor. Seems to me like the door is there to block the view of the kitchen so a window would defeat the purpose - plus it would only solve the no-bell problem if the servent were glued to the window and therefor not getting any kitchen work done. makes more sense in a restaurant where you'd have the collision problem. I don't know if a window could be authentic. Just because you find a door with one doesn't mean it wasn't added later you know? Personally I wouldn't want one as I have worked in food service and it would seem too resauranty to me - but you do want one. :-) Since it seems like you're making a new door anyway it's not like you're destroying an original by adding a window. If you want to resell the house it seems like a new door with a window wouldn't be any worse than a new door without a window since it's already not original - it could be make period correct without making it any less original. Does that make sense to anyone but me? You could also look for an old door with a window but like I said the window could have been added at any time so it may or may not be authentic anyway.

Thanks, marthavila, I sometimes have to look at it through someone else's eyes to appreciate it. We bought our house 11 years ago and it was badly in need of renovation THEN. Well, time went by, we had 4 kids, dh went through 3 internet start-ups, and the renovations never got done. Lauraella, there were times when I begged dh to sell our house and move us into a 1980's tract house - anything that was functional , warm in the winter and cool in the summer (lack of AC has been one of our biggest issues; we are taking care of that with the renovation as well.) Now, we are finally doing the renovation, but living through it (we can't afford to rent) has proved to be the biggest challenge yet. The GC had to build us a temporary kitchen and a new bathroom in the basement because they tore off our kitchen and 1 1/2 baths during the gut. The only way to access the basement is to go out onto the framing and down a set of temporary stairs. For about a week, the only way down was to go out the front door, around the back of the house and down the outside cellar stairs. IT WILL ALL BE WORTH IT. That is my mantra.