When I was a kid it was so easy. Mom and dad were still married and came from the same hometown. So a visit to the grandparents meant a trip to only one place. We would stay a few days with one side, and a few days with the other. It was great. When my parents got divorced it got more complicated. My brother and I had four Christmases one year: I drove home from college in Missouri to Florida for Christmas with Mom/granny; flew to Maryland for Dad/stepmom/stepbrothers; drove to PA for cousins; then on to Ohio for Dad's dad, then drove back to Maryland, flew back to Fla. and drove back to Mo. It was exhausting. Now I am married to DH, whose parents are also divorced. The four parents live in: California, Arkansas, Alabama and Florida. Oh, and his mom and dad can't be together. And my mom and stepmom can't be together. Then there are DH's kids and their own in-laws . . . it's like that riddle with the farmer trying to cross the river with a fox, a chicken and a sack of grain. Our Christmas solution? DH sees his dad about twice a year when he comes from CA to Ark. to visit his brothers and have a fishing trip. We used to go to DH's sister's (his mom lives on the sister's property) for Thanksgiving, but there was a huge family meltdown back in '04 that put a stop to all that. So now DH sees his mom on those same spring and fall trips to Ark. and we go out (with my mom) for Thanksgiving. My mom always gets the actual holidays, because she is single and, frankly, the most pitiful (I know, I know -- but it's true) and lives here in town. Dad and stepmom fit in where they can, usually coming up before or after Christmas. DH's boys are usually with their Mom on Christmas. We have DH's daughter and family over usually the week before or after Christmas, or meet them halfway for dinner -- and invite the boys to this. My brother comes in from Tx. some time around Christmas, but also goes to his girlfriends' folks in Ky. Whew! I'm tired already! There is no way the kitchen will be done in time for Christmas this year, so there will be a lot of eating out. There will also be liberal use made of hotels for visiting relatives, as my mother informs me that the cute little pull-out sofa-chairs I got from IKEA for the spare-bedroom-turned-home-office are not beds at all, and should be donated to the CIA for interrogation purposes.

If your seating is behind the sink, then it doesn't matter...the S105DR is 20.5" deep and the S405D is 21" deep...so only a 1/2" difference. Regardless of sink choice, be sure to mount the faucet b/w the bowls and just above the divider. The faucet will line up with the top of the large bowl and will not take up additional room behind the sink. If seating is on the side, I'd have to see your layout to tell you. Personally, I would go with the 405 b/c the large bowl is quite a bit (relatively speaking) wider in it than in the 105 (21.5" vs 17.75"). I don't think my longest cookie sheets & pans would fit in the 105. BTW...you are probably not getting follow-up postings emailed to you even though you checked the box requesting them. This is b/c you do not have the email option turned on in your profile. See the "Read Me" thread's section "Getting Emails Sent To You...3-step Process" (see the link below). Here is a link that might be useful: Getting Emails Sent To You...3-step Process

Interesting Alisande! I drink almost exclusively from plastic cups, although I rarely will microwave something in plastic. I do use those steam bags though.. but just recently. For those of you that don't know what Cushings is... it is a high cortisol level. Symptoms after a long period of high cortisol would include a round face, a thickened torso with thin arms and legs, a humped neck, fatigue among other symptoms. Did you read my post a few weeks ago about the possibility of a connection between autoimmune diseases and borrelia?? I'm looking into antibiotic therapy for another autoimmune disease I have ( a doctor is having good luck with this therapy on his patients). I'm not sure if I'd be happy or angry to think my health problems over the last 30 years could be cured with antibiotics.

However, part of the problem stems from stores that are either chronically understaffed or have staff that do not pay attention to what's going on around them. and I've seen several people shoplift. The stores usually won't do anything about it unless they catch the person in the act. I don't know about in the US, but in Canada, people can shoplift in front of a cashier, stock person, whomever..... but nothing can be done about it. Why? they're not loss prevention. We were told by our loss prevention team that even if we saw someone put something in their pocket, we couldn't have our loss prevention person arrest them because he or she didn't see the theft and it wouldn't hold up in court. When I stopped the woman from stealing that night, *I* could have been sued! I didn't see her take a single thing AND she never actually left the store with it. It's not considered theft until they step one foot out the door. She knew that, so I made up a "concealment" law that doesn't exist and she bought it. Also, those Walmart door greeters who go through your bags when the alarm beeps when you exit are breaking the law every time they go through YOUR PRIVATE BELONGINGS. They cannot legally go through your bag, your purse or your pockets. They are GREETERS. Not LOSS PREVENTION. Even if the person standing at the door was a security guard, he cannot go through your belongings either. A loss prevention person MUST see you take the item off the shelf and put it in your pocket/purse/whatever.... and he cannot take his eyes off you for even a second until you leave the store. Only then can he stop you and he MUST be able to tell you what you took and where it is. If he's wrong, YOU can sue him, the loss prevention company he works for and the store he was working in.