Update-I found a place that has a shipment of it on a BOAT right now, so it should be here in the next 4-6 weeks. Because they don't charge by the slab, they only charge by square footage used, I figured it was worth a shot to get a quote. THey came in at less that 1K over my budget. I said "If I pay cash, can I get a discount?" She said they could probably do 5% off which brings me to only $600 above my budget. So PLEASE send grantie god prayers to that boat that the stone they have is the lighter type and not the darker one I keep seeing! And that I can convince my husband that an extra $600 to keep me happy is only paying $5/month for the next 10 years. I'll gladly fork over $5/mo if it is as beautiful as the slabs I have above are. annakatherine-I KNOW that Bedrosians will transfer stock. In fact, the ones I saw were on a transfer order set to go to Salt Lake and they did something in the computer to keep them. The #s of these slabs were 0173032-0173036 If I cannot have those exact slabs, another GWer should have them!

Answering three at once here... We also thought that 100 reasons was too long, but we weren't about to go against BM's instructions for this. If she had made him come up with 100 reasons to finish his lunch, then we probably would have shortened it, but fighting is a big deal. Since you all think that his negative/defeatist/self-loathing reasons are a part of being 9 and knowing he did something bad, I'll try to not be too concerned. And we'll just try to emphasize the individual behaviors as single incidents. We often bring up a past good incident as an example of what he should be doing, and to remind him of that has made good decisions in the past, so we know he can do it in the future. Once in awhile we bring up a past bad incident as an example of what not to do, but that's rare. He's generally pretty confident and proud of his academic and sports achievements. Once in awhile he'll say "I only got 24/25 my math facts because I'm pretty dumb." We reply something like "24/25 is not the grade of dumb person! You did great on it! Nobody knows everything all the time, and everyone is allowed to make mistakes. You're smart and don't you forget it!" I don't know if keeping consequences non-personal would work... I've mentioned before that I suspect he has some ODD (Oppositional Defiance Disorder) on top of his ADHD. Well, he REALLY blames others for his own mistakes and problems. For example, there was a recent battle to get him to admit that HE left his bike on the driveway (he insisted that Papa moved it, the neighbour moved it, a thief came to steal it but then changed his mind halfway down the driveway, etc) even though Papa and FDH saw him leave it there. We're trying to get him to take responsibility for his own actions at this point. My 4yo niece is that same as JNM's DS though. If she thinks that anyone is disappointed in her, the waterworks begin and she is apologizing left and right. She's also VERY well behaved, but she feels absolutely awful when she does something wrong. I like the idea of writing some of the scenarios we talk about. I'll suggest it to FDH and maybe next time we have something we have to do hypothetical situations for, I will write them too and he can write down what he will do in each case. This idea just keeps getting better - it could be photocopied so BM knows EXACTLY what we've talked about at our house. I think this could work well. I'll also talk to FDH about the diary of how A__ should behave at GM's house. Since it's her mom's house, she obviously gets to make the decision. I think it probably would be helpful to have a list to refer back to of what he needs to do. We wrote down his grounding rules this time and that made it easier for him to remember/understand when he was restricted from something he wanted. Rewards for checks hasn't worked in the past for him (he cheated on his star chart), but the last attempt was a few years ago, so maybe he's old enough now to handle it. Thanks for the help and encouragement!

I'm in a large reno project in ATL now. It's a bit larger in scope than this, but it includes a complete kitchen gut and wall teardown too like yours. Our project evolved, as many do, from "let's touch up a bathroom and kitchen" to a small expansion of the overall house to "complete gut down the studs" on the whole house pretty much. Along the way, we got a look at several different types of outfits: 1-man shops, medium sized outfits, design-build firms, and full service GCs. Free advice (worth what you pay): - I strongly urge you to seek other bids. At least 3, 5 would be better. - Your project fits in what I would call "the Bermuda Triangle" of remodeling projects. It's not a small job where you can get away using a GC outfit with small overhead. These guys often have lack of organization / project mgt. skills, but on small jobs with limited scope the risk of that may be worth the reward. On larger jobs, you would use an architect and/or a designer up front to draw plans/specs...then you bid out to the GCs and its easier to compare apples to apples. Sounds like you are trying to use a smaller type outfit, and combine that with no secondary bids and no formal plans/specs prior to signing a contract. This is a recipe for disaster, in my opinion. - You are getting too much into the weeds too quickly trying to examine line item by item, and wonder what is appropriate. Some I saw were fine, some were low for sure, and some seemed maybe high. Doesn't matter. You can't see the forest for the tree. Step back and consider your whole approach, with more careful upfront planning, before you spend a dime. We planned for almost 2 years before selecting a GC finally and breaking ground. But we finally found the right approach and partner, and its gone reasonably well. We've had change orders, but they've been fairly small "gotchas" or nice-to-have upgrades we felt were worth spending the $ now vs. later. - I would think about a design-build firm for this type project. It wasn't for us, but I think they can help provide some discipline up front to your planning and scope. If you don't like that approach, do some more research on fixed price vs. cost-plus contracts and make darn sure you understand the which party bears what risk in each contract. Good luck, keep us posted.

Tiskers, Sounds like you're doing the same extensive DIY that we did/are still doing! I have one question --- if hubby is that handy, why aren't you installing the cabinets yourselves? WE saved $2000 doing that. That was the easiest $2K we saved on the whole reno. Mind you, my DH is an engineer (electrical- so he did all the re-wiring and new wiring), and really really good at drawings and figuring things out. One day (perhaps when it's all done), I will sit down and figure out how much we have saved DIY. WE gutted a 25 X 10.5 space- including removing ceiling (which wasn't pleasant as it was an older house with no vapour barrier)- bits of insulation were 'everywhere'! We tore down a wall (that was fun)- removed aluminum wiring- rerouted plumbing/venting re-wired/installed all new electrical/appliances. Changed windows- now, that was an area that I subbed out, ie manufacturing and installation of new windows. That delayed us by quite a bit- they were more than 2 months late, as we had to take out old windows to reframe- we did it to be ready for scheduled delivery... and we ended up living with plastic sheeting for windows for months! Check your timelines. We had to have drywall up and painted for a set period of time (forget exactly), so that it could all dry before cabinets went in. Since we weren't drywalling until windows were in, we got behind right from the start. Luckily our cabinet supplier had room to hold the cabinets for us until we were ready. Flooring was also subbed out, and when we missed our original time, had to wait awhile until he could reschedule. Appliance store also agreed to hold appliances for us for several months. We originally planned a July 30th finish date. With delays, we then hoped to be in before Christmas. Granite was finally installed end of November- had to be re-ordered, and replacement pieces weren't installed until April 08, so of course we couldn't put up backsplash or finish off back of peninsula. Not to belabour the point, but as of Nov 24 08, we are still waiting for the last pieces we subbed out to a carpenter- finishing off our cabinets (original order was screwed up- long story). Hired him in August, and supposedly will get our order this week (not holding my breath). As I've said here before, my mistake in saying we wanted to be finished before Christmas, was in not specifying the year!!! So, advice? Money to be saved is real. In these times, priceless. Luckily, your DH can do all the work. If you don't have to sub out to anyone for anything, you're ahead of the game. But, if you have to depend on anyone else, be prepared for delays, and make sure your suppliers are OK with them.