Guitar sounds great, and you can make squeaky sounds with the strings if you want, so maybe that's where the weird name came from.

Thank you everybody for your tips and info. Much appreciated! Awnmyown, Thanks for your encouragement and warnings about the boredom of taping drywall and difficulties involved in trim work. I think he will have a go at both of these in say a walk-in closet or such less noticeable spot and see how it turns out. He actually was very skilled at the trim work before, but on a much smaller scale. Good idea about the closet organizers and staining (e.g. staining the steps needs to be done) and door locks/handles, etc. There are lots of little jobs that are not too difficult for a handy person with some extra time available. Good for you to have built so much yourself. We have been GCing our build since the beginning and that has been lots of stress too (we are part way through plumbing and electrical rough-in and have the outside all cladded). Subs have done all the work thus far. Flgargoyle, It is amazing that you have done all that work on your own!! It certainly sounds like a labour of love. Too bad about the weather delays. Our two oldest kids are teen boys and one is a very keen labourer (he had volunteered for Habitat for Humanity). The other has some experience with electrical so may help install fixtures and has time to spare to assist with hanging the drywall. Autumn, Glad to hear from another DIY type who is also combining that task with raising a family (we have four kids). Looks like you will have plenty on your plate! Good to hear you have had good success with lots of DIY jobs. I will pass along your warnings about the taping to DH. Like you, we are wanting to give it a go before hiring out the mudding. Jrldh, We will keep your warnings in mind. We have a sub contractor who may be willing to be paid on an hourly basis to supervise DH's work. He has already tentatively agreed to this as we have given him lots of business. He lives close by so would schedule the paid supervision meetings to suit him. Carol

I heard a really interesting interview on NPR. I wish I could find it now. It was a man who had started a consulting companies for non-profits. His advice was helping NPs to be much more successful, but of course they had to pay for his services. Then there came a great deal of scrutiny into how NPs managed their budgets. Overnight his company failed as NPs looked for ways to cut costs. His point is that every for-profit company is expected to invest in their future and look for ways to improve and to put money back into the company. It is a business model that works, yet NPs are somehow expected to cut back wherever possible. It makes no sense. I did fund raising and we were constantly bludgeoned with the "cost per dollar raised". The minute the cost per dollar raised got too high, positions were cut. Therefore, there were fewer people raising money. So maybe the cost per dollar raised went down but the total number of dollars raised also went down. It made no sense whatsoever. Don't expect a NP to behave the way the rest of the business world behaves. They also have some of the nuttiest job titles I have ever seen.

brickmanhouse, they haven't done much if anything to my kitchen cabinets, which are painted plywood, and most of the cabs are 1950s plywood so very sturdy. I do recruit the kids a few times a year to wash down the bottom cabinets, and they know when we cook to wipe up any spills on the bottom cab fronts and to clean their fingerprints from the glass uppers, especially the one with the drinking glasses. I don't think they'd do much to hardwood, which is why I want to get hardwood in my new kitchen: ). My ugly 17yo white/pink/gray linoleum is another matter, however; my husband installed it before we met. When the kids were babies and toddlers and would amuse themselves making "can towers" while I cooked, falling cans (especially the big tomato ones) would dent the floor, so there are some black dents and rents in the lino where the top layer has been gouged out. But I don't mind because I'm hoping that one of these winters my husband will finally replace the lino I have hated for almost 20 years. I don't know about pets because I try to keep animals *out* of my house in general and kitchen in particular, though it doesn't always work, because I have enough to clean around here. Most people seem to be concerned about dog noses on the cabinets and nails on the hardwood, I think. We try to keep the farming *outside* the house. My worst battle is with the kids' chore clothes -- they don't seem to realize when things should go in the wash, or don't think to hang up damp coveralls instead of leaving them in a heap. But all that happens in the basement, far away from the kitchen, and the garage entrance to the basement, which is the kids' main entry, helps a lot. My worst battles *in* the kitchen are mostly aesthetics -- tractor parts that don't belong but are handy to the front door for the next trip to town, that ugly pile of boots by the front door, 4H project posters and country fair entries with pressed and dried leaves, grains and grasses on large sheets of posterboard on the wall by the kitchen table, the large 4H trophy on my marble-topped buffet. But those are also the signs of a well-used, well-loved kitchen, and thank goodness a family that's around the house more often that we aren't... Becky