We're moved in!

We are officially living in our new house. I also started the South Beach diet (again) today, and so far it is going great. I had a few cravings at lunch, but they were easily quelled by some delicious soup. It really helps me to have the meals planned out for the whole week, so I don't panic and eat something I shouldn't. I'm going to try and post a few pictures on here now.

Our young marrieds small group from our church. The boys surprized us with a fun and fancy "night out" last Friday. We even had a stretch SUV limo!

Our new bedroom. Don't worry, it's much messier now!

Our messy kitchen. I'm still sorting and unpacking, although we can pull one car into the garage now.

Andrew's office. I'll try to get another picture later with the computer and chair.

Do Good Work

A few weeks ago, this world lost a very comic and caring man. I just felt like I should write a few things about a person who made an impact in my life as well as many others. Andrew and I had lived with them for the past 16 months, so I got to know his grandparents better than most granddaughter-in-law's may. I appreciated Grandpa mainly for his humor and his enjoyment of life but also for his protection of me. I will never forget the day I was scheduled to have my wisdom teeth removed. He was laying in bed, in pain that had lasted years and years, yet he was very concerned about me and how I felt that day. He also prayed with me on my first day of work. I'm cerainly not the best person to write about Grandpa, as I haven't known him long, but his life had an impact on mine. As the family has been saying, I know he is singing and praising God and now free from all traech's, peg tubes, and pain. He is greatly missed.

We've Moved

When I got home from work last night, Andrew said, let's move our bed tonight. I still wasn't quite sure we could do it, but Andrew, Nick, and Wayne loaded up the bed, nightstands, and dresser and we slept at our new house last night. After envisioning this experience for the past year or so, I never thought that I would describe the experience as emotional or sad, but that's what I felt. I felt so sad to leave Andrew's grandma by herself. I knew we couldn't stay there, but I just didn't know how hard it would be! :(

We both slept fairly well except for me being a little disoriented when I went to the bathroom at 1:00 am and Dewey still slept at W/S house until we get his stuff moved. I'm not sure how we're going to manage him during the day. He may have to be an outside dog.

Hopefully pictures and another post to follow. Right now I'm trying to sort out who we should get our permanent mortgage from. Any advice?

Easy Fix!

The septic guy found the problem, and it was an easy fix. It's hard to explain but a pipe leading into the septic tank was pushed against a piece of concrete, so it couldn't drain. Easy fix and we can move in anytime. All we have to do is move our bed!

Plumbing Problem

Well, our small plumbing problem has turned into a bigger plumbing problem. The plumbers at our house yesterday discovered that the drainage problem was not a blocked pipe inside or a capped vent, but a problem with the drainage pipe running out to the septic tank or the pipe from the septic tank to the leech field. The septic guy is supposed to stop by and diagnose the problem today, but we've probably got a crushed pipe or one that came loose during the grading of our yard.

So, we can legally move in, but we can't use any plumbing right now, which is a major issue! I'll update as soon as I know anything! I'm mainly anxious to get started on my diet. I need to find my cookbooks!

Certificate

I just called the county and found out that our certificate is going to be issued today at 1:00 pm! Yeah! Now, we are just figuring out who is going to go get it. I have been talking with the permanent mortgage guy and so hopefully we'll get stuff worked out tomorrow. We need to settle while the interest rates are low!

We're still having a few plumbing drainage problems. I called the plumbers and they won't be out until tomorrow, so the earliest we will live there would be Thursday night. I still need to find my pots and pans, so we can actually cook and eat.

Yeah!

P.S. I'm sort of ashamed to admit that my QVC diamonique ring came yesterday, and I LOVE it. Susan, I forgot to show you when you were at our house! Oh, and that dish soap smells so good, it's like being at a spa!! It was good that the kitchen sink water backed up into the bathtub, because then at least it was lavendar scented waste water! :)

We've failed!!!!

Well, we did fail our driveway inspection today, because the inspector couldn't see through our culvert pipe, but he is allowing us to pass anyway on one condition. We have to write him a letter saying we'll fix it within two months (I already faxed the letter). Even though that pipe has worked for twenty years now, I am appreciative that the inspector is letting us get our Certificate anyway. He could have made us fix it before getting it! Yikes!

It now looks like I can probably pick it up tomorrow afternoon or sometime Thursday. The certificate will mainly allow us to roll over our construction loan into a permanent mortgage with a much lower interest rate. We're still plugging away at moving in, with mainly kitchen stuff at this point. We'll try to take pictures and post. Our computer is now at our new house without internet access, so it may be a week or so before new pictures arrive. We are getting the internet hooked up on Saturday.

We've Passed!!!!!

We passed our final final inspection today! Yeah!

We still cannot get our certificate of occupancy, until the driveway has been cleared. The guy is supposed to do that today, so I should be able to pick it up next Monday or Tuesday, but . . . . no more inspectors in our house! :)

Liar

I am such a liar. I have not posted like I said I would! I kind of forgot that I was going to a musical last night. Three of my voice students performed and it was fantastic. Very professional for a high school musical. I was proud! :)

We are having another final inspection today. I will be quite floored if we don't pass, as we did everything the inspector told us to last time. We are also supposed to have a driveway inspection to look at our culvert. I hope we pass that, because it would be the only thing stopping us from getting a Certificate of Occupancy. I will post on here again, once I know the results of our final.

Yes, a post will follow this weekend, but it won't be today! We have snacks at small group tonight, so I have to make something between when I get home at 5:30 and when we leave at 6:45 tonight.

Final Inspection

Well, we had our final inspection this morning. We have a few things that we need to fix but they are very minor. We'll have another inspection on Friday and we should pass that.

We need to have a 3x3 landing out the mudroom door and off the front porch. We have to fix how some insulation is laying upstairs in the FROG (future room over garage), and we have to have our sump drain permanently installed.

Hopefully there will be another post tonight.

Posting

Keep your eyes peeled for a post tonight or tomorrow. My husband's grandfather died last weekend, so I haven't felt much like posting here lately, but I do want to write something. So check back.

Good Morning

I received this email from my mom this morning. It's a picture of my dad and his favorite cat, Puff Daddy, saying "Good Morning" to us. I thought it was so cute that I wanted to share. :) I'm not sure why my dad is squinting so much.

We passed!

I just talked to Andrew . . . and we passed our final electrical inspection! Yeah, no more electric!

Crazy Weather!

In a perfect world, we would have had our grading done today, Andrew would have built outdoor steps this weekend, and we would be having our final inspection next week. However, February has been quite a brutal weather month for us. We've had three fairly large snow storms in the past two weeks and today we're having "freezing fog" or whatever that is. All of this weather has delayed on of the major things we need to accomplish before our final inspection, our yard grading. I spoke with the inspector this morning, and he said he would let it pass if it weren't perfect, as long as water couldn't stand near the foundation. So . . . um, we have some work to do especially since we have two very large holes next to our foundation.

Things to finish before our final inspection:
Banister (I think will be done this week)
Carpeting (Middle of next week)
Grading (Whenever the snow melts off our yard)
Steps or landing out the back door (After the grading is done)
A "sidewalk" from the front porch to the driveway. I think we're going to use some crushed gravel. (After the grading is done)

We're having our final electrical and final plumbing inspections today. I'll let you know how those go. Originally, our goal was to move in on March 3rd, but with all this weather, I believe it's more realistic to think it will be on March 10th (ish).

Water!

We have running water!! Yeah!!

We had a little scare this morning, because the plumber couldn't get the water meter to turn on. So, I called the county, they came out and helped him! Yeah!

I also met with the carpet guy today! Decisions, decisions.

Sorry this is short. I'm swamped at work! I'll write more later with updated running water pictures!

Picture Update

Pictures I took last night, after our plumbing fixtures were installed:

Kitchen sink area. Notice the dishwasher, sink, and fixture! The dishwasher isn't actually pushed back into the cabinet yet.

Our messy kitchen! Notice the new lights, which I LOVE!

The bathroom shower tile. I'm not very happy with my job, but it works. We just need to decide on a shower curtain.

Toilet! We put the seat on last night, but this picture was taken before that. Andrew was in charge of getting the toilet. He got an elongated bowl, of which, I'm not a fan!

The bathroom sink fixture.

A different shot of the kitchen sink!

Enjoy!

Valentine's Day

My wonderful valentine is giving me the best present ever, hard work on our house. He has asked me for several weeks what I want for valentine's day, and I told him that I wanted him to move some appliances into our house for valentine's day. Next year perhaps I'll want something more "romantic" but this year, the gift of working on our house, is the most romantic and loving thing I can imagine!!!

I've finally got my camera back in my purse, so I'll take pictures of our progress tonight.

Also, the plumbers decided to venture out in the ice today to work in our house. They said that they won't be done with everything until Friday, so we still had to push back our geothermal schedule, but that's ok. It's finally supposed to warm up next week (into the 40's) and I have our excavator scheduled to do grading on Wednesday, we may have to push that back a bit, but it looks promising.

New Business?

It's snowy, icy, and cold here today. Our plumbers called and canceled this morning, as did the drywall guys (they are touching up a few spots). So, hopefully they will be able to "make it" tomorrow. The plumbers are putting in our finished plumbing (toilet, sink faucets . . . running water!!). I made it to work just fine. I even left a little later than usual (I blame scraping my car, although the laying in bed and watching the weather didn't help) and got here just after 8:00 am.

I am thinking about starting a little side shopping "business" after we are moved into our house. I would mainly focus on grocery shopping (someone will give me their list, I buy the groceries and deliver them). I need to start out by thinking of a good name. The only one I've come up with so far is Schechter Shopping. I don't particularly like it and neither does Andrew. If you can think up a cute or meaninful name, please post a comment and let me know.

I Love Survey's!

Since I love survey's and love my husband, I thought I'd fill out one about him! Enjoy!

All About My Man

His age: 26

How tall is he? 6'4" (tall!)

How long have you been together? Six years or so (we met Fall of 00 in college)

How long did you know each other before you got together? Not long, a month or so.

What physical features attracted you to him first? His build. I don't like scrawny guys!

Eye color: Blue

Hair color: Mango (red)

Hair style: Buzz (which I cut every few weeks)

Normal Outfit: khakis and a nice shirt- ‘business casual’ or jeans and a sweatshirt

How did you meet? Music Theory 1 Class at Sterling College

How serious is it? I'd say it's pretty serious! Actually, we do like to have lots of fun together!

Are you “in love”? Yes!!

Do your parents like him? Like him? They LOVE him (not to mention how much my Gparents LOVE him).

Do his parents like you? Yes, I think so!

Do you trust him? Yes, 100%.

Would you share a toothbrush with him? It would take a VERY dire situation for me to do that.

Would he let you wear his pants? Yes, I actually did wear his pants once to class, after I had gallbladder surgery! It was funny (since he's 6'4" and I'm 5'3").

Do you have a shirt of his that you sleep in? Lots of them actually, every night.

Do you like the way he smells? Yes, except when he farts :)

Can you picture having kids with him? Yes.

What bothers you the most about him? When he ignores me. I know it's unintentional, but still, it's not fun.

Does he have a temper? Very very rarely. I've seen it maybe once.

Are you happy to be with him? Yes!

Does he embarrass you in public? Not usually. I can't think of anything.

Does he smoke or do drugs? nope.

Does he have any piercings? nope.

Any tattoos? nope.

Does he have any scars that you know of? Yes, many from his childhood "adventures."

Is he a Party dude or Stay at home? Stay at Home guy, no doubt.

Is he Outgoing or Shy? He’s friendly, but I wouldn’t call him outgoing.

Does he love his mama? Yes! He's very much a family guy.

Would he hang out with you and YOUR friends? yeah he has before.

Sing? Yeah, the boy can sing. He doesn't anymore but I still swoon to hear some of the recordings he made for me in college. Hopefully he'll sing again in the future.

Domestic Bug

Yesterday I caught a bug. The domestic bug. I have not felt this way in a LONG time, over a year, perhaps. For example, yesterday at work, I planned out a menu for a week (yes, South Beach Diet "y") that looked so incredibly yummy to me (I'll post the recipes as soon as we try them out). I also keep day dreaming about all my cooking equipment that is packed away, about to be unpacked, and where it should all go in my kitchen. I also signed up for FlyLady again and I can't wait to shine my new sink (www.flylady.com). I read all of the reminder emails today to "declutter" and I can't wait to start all of that again! It didn't help that Andrew thinks we may be able to call in our final inspection the week of the 19th. Most of this all depends on getting our yard graded and steps built out the back door. I hope we can get lots done this weekend because I have certainly been infected with the domestic bug again, and can't wait to do that stuff again! It's been so long since I've shopped, cooked, and cleaned my own place!!

We should have some appliances moved in this weekend, which will be totally exciting! I'll take pictures.

Another subject: Last night we headed to Lowes to buy our shower tile. After about an hour of deliberations, we decided on matte finish white tile (6x6), with an accent border running through about 3/4 up the shower stall. After Andrew consented to letting me get the accent piece I wanted (a.k.a Andrew dislikes it) I decided to ask the Lowes-tile-lady's opinion. She said she loved it. When we were checking out, two Lowes people said how much they loved that tile piece. http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=190688-74035-DE4038DECODCC1P&lpage=none

Click on the link above to see the tile piece. The bathroom is nautical blue and will have brushed nickel fixtures and a silvery brushed nickel framed mirror. I thought this tile would be beautiful with it. Please give me your opinion!

Home Improvement: For Women

I decided, after looking at the power tools in Lowes the other day, that someone should come out with a line of pink power tools. I would certainly be tempted to buy something like that. Someone told me that they had already been invented, but certainly aren't available at your local home improvement store . . . believe me, I've looked. We'll be making a run to Lowes tonight, to buy our shower tile, and some painters tape for me, so I can paint the trim in the house.

Since our hardwood floor guys weren't able to make it out yesterday, due to the snow, I was able to walk on the floors last night. So, while Andrew was writing his paper, I went out to the house and wired up a whole circuit . . . by myself . . . . and it even works . . . . I tested it all! I wired up 9 plugs (outlets) last night in the living room and they work. I am quite proud of myself. My plan is, when Andrew is putting up the backer board for my tile in the shower (much to heavy for me to lift) then I am going to help him out by wiring a few more plugs upstairs. Hopefully this will save him some time, since he's got a long to-do list before we call in a final inspection. We're still hoping to complete the tiling and electric this weekend so we can call in plumbing and electrical final (whoo hoo) inspections early next week. I'll post pictures after the weekend of the shower, and the electric.

Cancel(l)ed

I discovered today that cancelled can also be spelled canceled. I was in the process of making signs for the church saying the evening activities were "cancelled" due to snow and I couldn't figure out how to handle the second "l". The dictionary told me it was acceptable to make the choice either way! Imagine that!

We are supposed to be having our hardwood floors finished however . . . due to circumstances that would be too long to go into here, the heater in our house does not keep it warm enough for the second coat of polyurethane (sorry for the misspelling) to go onto the floor. So we put some heaters out to the house, hoping to bring it up to 70 degrees! My desktop thermometer says 13 degrees, which is fairly warm considering the last 24 hours.

Our goal this weekend is to finish the shower tiling, kitchen counter and sink, and electric. That way, next week, we can have the plumbing finished, our geothermal heat hooked up (again, long story), and have a plumbing and electrical final inspection!

We are currently being hammered with a big snowstorm. I hope the roads are cleared by tomorrow, so that the hardwood floor guys can get out and finish our floors!

2/3/07 House Pictures

We broke down and hired a guy to hand doors and run baseboard. It was the best decision we've made thus far. Two guys hung all our doors, and ran all of the baseboard in about seven hours today. We're leaving the windows to be done after we move in. Here are pictures from today!

Walking into the kitchen from the mudroom. All cabinets are in, and notice trim on the downstairs doorway! :)

Closet doors in Andrew's "office". I still have quite a bit of door and trim painting to do. I got several doors painted but not all of them, as you can see in this picture!

Bathroom lights and sink were installed (by Andrew) today. I LOVE this kind of sink because it is so easy to clean, no lip on the sink!

The door to the hallway and closet in the bathroom all trimmed and pretty! :)

Baseboard in the living room, looking into the kitchen. You can see two of our IKEA stools. We need to store those downstairs before the inspector sees them!

Andrew opening the pantry door. You can see more cabinets this way. Andrew just has to install the countertop and sink along the wall with the window.

All the cabinets are in the kitchen. We're missing a backer board on the pennisula, but it will get done. Andrew's standing where the fridge will be.

Our house today. It is SO windy and cold!

Memories and Poems

I got permission from my sister to post a poem she has recently written about the Walter home in Downs, Kansas. She is so talented!

You have been an immoveable friend of the truest kind

You have held us through bitter winter winds and glorious summer evenings.

Your air is thick with innocence.

Your walls echo with the laughter of children and the comforting, familiar voices of the old.

You have a fire, ever burning—Started by the old, but fed and tended by the young.

In you, the simplest of things became majestic, grand events,

And the simplest of people were seen as royalty.

You sat humbly in a small corner of the world—scarcely recognized,

watching beautiful stories unfold—untainted by the world.

You saw how the true greats lived, And witnessed giants in the ways of love.

You beheld one of the greatest love stories ever told— Truest love of God and fellow man.

But you have seen sorrow, yes you have seen sorrow.

You saw death come like a thief in the night and take before it’s time.

You saw us sit by your ever burning fire and ask, Why?

You have watched the glowing embers of youth slowly die

And stood strong and steady as the old became weak and frail.

You have seen a thousand goodbyes,

Some fraught with tears and filled with wishes that we could stay in your sanctuary.

Yet you saw with us the truest beauty that exists on earth

And held it humbly and gently for these many years.

You have been an immoveable friend of the truest kind— We depart in reverence.

New Pictures

Oops, I uploaded them backwards again. I'm in a hurry. Trying to get this done on my lunch break.

Most of the upper cabinets are done!

Andrew tells me some bottom ones are done. I haven't been out to the house, because of voice lessons!

My bathroom floor tile. You can't see it very well, and this is a bad picture of me! :(

The next project for me is the shower, as you can see behind me in the picture.

Andrew and Tim working on the cabinets!

Proof that I really did do the tile!

Break . . .

Temporarily taking a break from blogging . . . sorry Mom! :)

IKEA (and weekend) pictures!

Enjoy the pictures from our weekend trip to Pittsburgh, PA to visit the IKEA store!

Andrew helps me with my Vanilla Soda at Tom's Ice Cream Shop (I think that's the name).

Wayne (my F-I-L) in front of a church where his grandpa was the minister.

Andrew leaving the IKEA cafeteria. I'm bummed I didn't get pictures outside of the store, or with any of the items we purchased! Oh well!


Here we are, going down to the bottom floor to get our stuff.

In the check out line. We had two shopping carts, and several (3 or 4 maybe) flat carts full of stuff! Andrew with Wayne and Susan in the background.

The U-haul trailer we had to rent!

We stopped by Snug Harbor, the childhood home of Andrew's Grandpa Myers. These houses were all so unique and full of character. This one belonged to Andrew's greatgrandparents (Nana and Pop).

Susan and I at the entrance of Snug Harbor.

Here is what we are thinking for the house schedule this week:

Today: Cabinets Delivered (they have to fit into the garage with the appliances, and the furniture we just bought).

Tomorrow: Hardwood is installed and Andrew might start installing cabinets. I will continue to work on my tiling.

Wednesday: Cabinets, finish electric, and tiling.

Thursday: Cabinets, finish, electric, and tiling.

Friday: Our trim and interior doors are delivered. I will spend my weekend painting them. If the cabinets are done, then Andrew can start putting in the trim! :)

Next week: Once the cabinets and countertops are in, the plumbers can come back and hook up the water, so we'll have running water!

Disturbing!

I have found this article very disturbing. I first read about it when they reported the woman dying and now I am astonished at the radio station's reaction to her death. Maybe I'm just naive.

http://www.itwire.com.au/content/view/8725/52/
We had our appliances delivered today. Perhaps it was a bit early, but since we can now lock our house, I figured that they would be ok. We need a few of the smaller appliances (microwave, dishwasher) for when the cabinets are installed, hopefully next week. We are going to Pittsburgh for the weekend, for an IKEA extravaganza shopping trip. Hopefully I will remember to take pictures of our fun, and post some on here.

The "richest" I've ever felt!

When pulling away from my house last night, after a night of tiling and cleaning, I reached up to my visor and pushed a button and my garage door closed! I felt so rich, as I've never had a garage before. I never want to take these things for granted! I hope to finish up putting the tile down tonight, and possible grout everything tomorrow!

Weekend Pictures

I took several pictures of the house project over the weekend. I spent most of the day Saturday covering walls with a second coat of paint, trimming stuff, and cleaning. We also had our heat turned on, so it was a nice 65 degrees in there all weekend. I took the day off yesterday (Monday) and spent most of the day tiling the floor in the mudroom/laundry room (yes, BY MYSELF). I was so excited to be able to do that. Of course, I only laid tile where no cutting was involved. Our tiles are 18x18 and we're finding them difficult to cut. I have to wait for the experts to cut them (Andrew and Wayne) before I can actually finish the floor. I hope to get most of the bathroom floor done tonight. Enjoy the pictures!

The start of my tiling work!

Our muddy front yard! It has rained so much here! One of my to-do's for today, is to call the excavator to see if they can do our final grading.

Our new front door handles and lock.

This isn't a very good picture but I love the bathroom blue (Yacht Club) and the new light fixture.

The light fixture in our bedroom. We love IKEA!

The lights in the "dining" room. This will go over our dining room table.

The tile work, when I was done yesterday (still not officially done). Sorry, I was trying to get a picture of myself so I could have proof I did this, but it didn't turn out well. Andrew forgot to take a picture of me! :(

Hopefully more pictures and progress soon. I think I will be most excited for the kitchen cabinets to go in. They are schedule for next week. We are taking a trip to Pittsburgh this weekend to visit the IKEA store there and buy some furniture. It will be so nice to have a weekend off from working on the house (although the more we work, the sooner it will be done).

Some Pictures . . . Finally!

The porch lights that Andrew wired up tonight! They are small but shed a surprising amount of light!

The light above our front door (we'll probably shorten it a little more). The walls are painted Applesauce Cake! It's not completely done, but we got SO much done this weekend!

Our new lighting in the family room! Noticed the recessed lights. The walls don't really look this shade in real life. The next picture is a better representation of the color.


Our new IKEA light fixture in the living room. The walls are also painted Applesauce Cake.

The Kitchen. We left bare spots were the fridge and cabinets will go. I LOVE this color called Regal Red. The camera also had a dirty lens!

Anne helping us paint the walls in the dining room/kitchen.

Anne and Maggie paint.

Susan trimming and me touching up the ceiling (although the ceiling is still not done).

Susan painting the ceiling, yesterday. Sorry these picture go backwards in time!

Jennie painting the grey primer in the kitchen.

Our garage door! Sorry, I didn't get a picture with it closed yet.

Andrew installed our outside motion detection light.

We got so much painting done this weekend. I almost feel like we're ahead of schedule. We're hoping the HVAC can be finished this weekend, so we'll have heat in the house. We are also hoping to have our hardwood floors installed this week. I am going to attempt to do the tile work myself. I'm taking next Monday off, so hopefully I can do it then. I calculated that I spent about 17 1/2 hours painting this weekend. I'm ready for a shower and then bed!

I'm a big talker!

So, those of you who know me well, know that I like to talk big, but I'm rarely able to physically do everything that I would really like. To make a very long story short, we had a problem installing our garage door yesterday. To simplify: There was some concrete in the way. I decided to take it upon myself last night, with the use of my father-in-law's concrete chisel, to chip away the section that needed to be fixed. So, I probably spent and hour or so, pounding and chiseling my way through this concrete. I was able to get a large section of it removed, but I couldn't do it all (so we're having a guy with a saw come and fix it tomorrow). Anyway . . . at 2:16 am, I woke up with a horrible ache in both of my arms, mainly my hands and forearms. My body does not respond well to pain and this was so bad, I actually thought I might lose my lunch. Instead, I just went downstairs, took three asprin, and drank a glass of water. I headed back to bed and just lay with my hands perfectly still and the aching got a little better. So, I pretty much caused this pain with all of the hammering and chiseling I did during the evening hours. It feels better this morning, although I still feel a few twinges! Ouch!

In other news: I wired my first outlet last night, and it worked! I'm so happy to be able to help Andrew out!! Andrew also got two circuits hooked up in the house. So now, we can walk down our basement stairs and flip a light on, instead of having to plug everything in to an extension cord run from our temp pole! Yeah! I'll post pictures soon!!

We're ready to paint!

I received a phone call from our drywall guy this morning, telling me that we can start painting on Friday! I'm so excited to be able to paint, because it's something I can do. We're going to try and have a "painting party" on Saturday! Hopefully, we can get everything primed that day, and then I can get rest painted the following week.

I'm a skeptic of new year's resolutions, so I only made one this year. I really need to try and get more sleep. I know that's not very deep, but since I feel like I try to work on things daily (like being positive, not complaining, etc, etc), I thought I'd try to concentrate on one. I've already failed! We stayed up until 11:15 pm or so looking at our IKEA catalog. Oh well, there's always tonight!