"Der Fishbiter would never attack a defenseless rug. He prefers things that have a little sport in 'em." Yez, I knows it! Der Fishbiter with da poker face used da rug to hide da evidence!!! Haven't you watched any of those detective shows on Discovery??? The perpetrator always uses a rug/carpet to get rid of the body. Jenny, your story reminds me of my better half's sly doberman when I first met her. One night we decided to order pizza and watch a flick. We were in the kitchen and Max was standing at attention next the the table while she was dishing out the pizza while we were talking. She puts a slice on one plate, turns around to put another slice on the second plate. She then goes to pick up the first plate and there's absolutely NO sign of a pizza. Not even a crum to prove beyond any reasonable doubt that a slice had ever resided on it. Max still sitting at complete attention.... not licking his chops or anything that could have given him away....so much so that we started doubting ourselves. Did we really put a big slice of pizza on that dish??? Can a dog really scarf up a whole slice of pizza in less than 5 seconds without making a sound while we're standing 2 feet away??? Are we losing our minds??? Putting the slices back in the box to reconstruct the pizza to its original format quickly answered all of our questions: Yes, yes, and a definite yes!

So, I guess I know why I am paralyzed with this decision. I don't really know how I want the kitchen to look. I do love the idea of it being sparkly and stuff, but I also love the idea of the juxtapostion of the modern and the glam. I hate tests, can someone take the Sweeby test for me? I think we may have figured out the solution to the fact that there are no bullnoses on the short side of the Italian tile available, so that is not stopping me anymore. I appreciate all of your responses, each one of them is a valid point and they all echo the thoughts in my head. I too think either one would work. I guess this is so hard because, it's not like a chandy--if it looks bad, ditch it and move on. It's the flippin' backsplash, it's attached to the house and there is no way we are replacing it on a whim. I just don't know what to do. I guess if I am not doing anything fancy behind the range, then the Italian tile would surely look great. Oh boy, this is killer. I wonder if they will allow me to order a square foot of each one and try it out. Probably have to order a minimum quantity. If anybody has any more thoughts, please feel free to give them to me. Jeanteach--not close enough to CT to buy tile, I'm outside Philly. Thanks for the information though. Suzanne1003--how the heck did you find that? The photo is so much better than the one on Mission Tile's site, that I do believe it might be too ornate for my kitchen (If I think shadow lines from a slight bevel on the Italian tiles are too much)-- I couldn't tell before that they are individual tiles, very nice though. Once again, thanks everybody, if you feel like chiming in again, please do so.

Well, I don't know this for a fact, but whenever I read about a saintly person, I suspect that there must be SOME place they can go complain about their washing lepers' bandages, giving everything to the poor, ha! And Allyssa, you are in a very challenging situation fraught with emotion that will indeed call upon you to be a bit saintly - but the results down the road could be very rewarding. This little guy is probably going to go through harder times before things get better. To your great credit, you sound very wise in understanding that he's been through some awful stuff and he's going to have some acting out. I agree with the other posters - counseling for him and maybe the whole family would be a great start. About your baby-to-be, I don't think there is any supernatural reason why that isn't happening, but stress can supposedly make it harder to conceive. Whatever you can do to take care of yourself and to feel more at peace couldn't hurt, both in getting pregnant and having a healthy pregnancy. And whatever it takes to feel like your daughter isn't getting the short end of the stick in any way. And how are you and your DH doing? Is there a strain between you at all? One other thing strikes me about your post - your sense that you don't want to overstep the mom boundaries. That is very sensitive and perceptive. I would say that your basic stance with SS right now could be "I know I can't replace your mom, but I am a mom, and I'm here for you." And down the road, the mother-son bond may well grow. Bottom line, don't beat yourself up. You sound like you have a lot of wisdom and understanding about what your SS is going through, and the challenges to your family. Having someone to talk to is so important! Hope you get some help here. Best wishes.

as breenthumb said you must have the easylist along with adbolck plus on your firefox to be rid of all of the ads. you can get the easylist here EasyList once you have ad block plus on your firefox simply click on that link and select add easylist to adblock plus. Anytime there is an ad that is visible there will be somewhere along it's edge a little pop up tab that says block just click that and you can then block that type of ad also, this is a feature of ad block plus. Thanks for posting the actual screen shot of this paint ad, upon seeing it, it is very obvious that it is a part of the ad and the options to select your colors is also a part of the ad, one of the most obnoxious ad's I have ever seen. So apparently firefox, adblock plus and easylist do stop this ad since I had no idea what it looked like. When things like this crop up it is always most helpful to give every detail about it so that not as much guessing has to take place in trouble shooting. Once the screen shot was shown it was quite obvious, but for those of us that do not see them we had no idea it was part of a paint ad till that info was finally provided.