judiegal, your husband is wrong on two counts. First, there are square-edged prefinished hardwoods available. There is one problem with the square edge - you can get something often called "sock-catchers" if the subfloor is not perfectly flat. There are many different depths of bevel available nowadays. We had the microbevel in our previous house to avoid "sock-catchers" and it did not collect debris. I could get the floors completely clean with a microfiber dustmop. (My current house has 107yo heart-pine floors, and I am getting all too familiar with catching debris because it has gaps over 1/4" wide between many boards. Maddening.) It peeves the living daylights out of me to hear people refer to engineered hardwood flooring as not "real" wood. It is just as much "real wood" as solid wood. Call solids solids if that's what you mean. We chose an ashwood engineered flooring for our previous house because NH has massive swings in humidity (we did not have central AC - it would have cost well over $12,000 to install) which can create problems with cupping, buckling, or gapping, and were extremely pleased with it. I cannot TELL you how many dealers and installers tried to bully us into site-finished flooring, even though we could not afford to vacate our house for a week plus, and there was no way we could stay and try to work around the construction and finishing (I would have almost surely been very sick from the stain and finish odors, and let's not even talk about trying to keep the cat and dog hair out of the finish.) Here in New England, the attitude of "we've done it this way for 100 years, we're not going to change now" is rampant! We did not have any problems with the floor delaminating from cat barf, spilled beverages, tracked-in snow, that sort of thing, and the aluminum oxide finish was very durable. The manufacturer, Robbins, did NOT recommend putting any additional finish on after installation. They were nailed down, not glued (the installers checked with Robbins to make sure they could be nailed instead of stapled). The reason why johnatemp thinks she can always spot engineered flooring is because CHEAP engineered floors use a rotary-cut veneer, which looks like plywood; better-quality engineereds have sliced and even quartsawn/riftsawn veneer layers. Another frequent myth about solid wood flooring - it cannot be refinished as many times as people are led to believe. You can only sand them down to the level of the tongue, which is usually less than a third of the thickness of the board. Old (50+ years) floorboards can often be flipped and reused if very carefully pulled up, but that is quite rare in modern flooring. Our floors were warranted for three full refinishings; the veneer layer was a third of the thickness of the board. However, you don't need to completely refinish a hardwood floor unless you have deep gouges or want to change the color. These days, if you want to refresh the finish and remove small scratches and scuffs, you just do something called a screen and recoat. It costs a LOT less than a full refinishing, too. Here are a couple of pictures. The floors are, as I said, from Robbins; style is and color is Tigra.

Grout does not have to get disgusting! Mine isn't and never has been! I have had tile countertops all my life and they clean up just fine. My beautiful artisan tile countertops (complete with trim, but costing more than stone) in my new kitchen clean up just fine. One does have to actually clean up after oneself, though... Tile is a wonderfully functional and easy on the planet choice. Route66Services, I agree that 4"x4" tiles are a more retro look than 6"x6", but either will be fine. Another traditional look is to have contrasting trimwork. That part comes from the fact that stores only tended to stock a few colors. The "8 week backorder" that LWO referred to regarding trim pieces is actually a "we have to make those up for you and it's going to take a little while" thing. Don't let it sway you. Just plan ahead, and give yourself some leeway because tile companies over promise on delivery dates. If the tiles don't pass inspection, they have to start all over again. And sometimes, they have to wait a month to finish a big run before making your tiles. This is the big boys. It's the same with the artisans, but they're more forthcoming with the time frame. Most of all, however, it's important that you get a really good tile setter who knows how to do countertops. You can't just glue the tiles to the underlayment with thinset the way some people do with backsplashes. The best backing is an old fashioned mortar bed, though there are some backerboards that I think are appropriate for counters. Done right, with wet mortar, also takes time, because it has to cure. But it's worth it. I have a feeling a lot of the horror stories about tile come from people whose tile wasn't set correctly. BTW, good quality tile made from good quality bisque, set correctly, is very hard to break, and shouldn't do so just from random stuff falling on it. It should take the equivalent of a sledge hammer in full swing. Even that might not break it on first try. If you're interested in going artisan, I can recommend Architerra-NW. Gorgeous tile, amazingly good bisque, and all the trims you could ever want. Daltile, however, is mass produced (i.e., faster) and their plain, glossy tiles should give you that retro look you want.

i am on the fence as to whether it is good to have the H1N1 shot or not. BTW my background is a BS in biology w/ a specialization in both plant sciences and medical microbiology (taught at IU med school). i have a special interest in unusual viruses. i do not even read information about medical things until i look at credentials and personal opinions mean nothing to my scientifically trained mind. i am interested only in verifiable info thru proven scientific routes (CDC, AMSRID, WHO, some universities w/ elite medical schools only etc..) there is soooooo much incorrect non-scientific info out there it's sad what people think and know on issues like this. it truly doesn't matter for most people since they are only making a limited # of doses (enough for 10% of the population i believe) and the ranking for getting it starts w/ pregnant women, then children, adults under 40 then anyone over 40 w/ pre-existing lung/heart conditions making them susceptible to it. that is the order of risk for death also. it will also be interesting to see how much this shot costs, i'm gonna guess more than most would pay out of pocket, i understand it will not be covered by most insurances. would i get it given i have asthma and am 40? i will wait and see...DH & i have had several flu's this yr (more than any previous yr infact) and believe we may have already had it, so i'm willing to wait it out. i have had flu shots in the past after getting a B version of Hong Kong flu and getting extremely sick in my 20's but i don't get it every yr. this is too new of a vacccine for me, now next yr after i see how things go this fall/winter i might. ~ liz

Another off-topic vaccine question. What about HPV vaccinations? Anyone who has had more than one partner, or has a partner who ever had another partner, could be at risk. My doctor told me that even long-term married people can pass the infection back and forth, if one or both was ever exposed in their younger years. The virus never goes away once infected. The immune system usually makes it dormant but it can flare up decades later and infect a partner, even if you've been monogamous for a long time. And if someone becomes divorced or widowed, and remarries, they are open to new exposure regardless of age. Hopefully everyone is doing their part to eradicate HPV as well, men included. Even if you've already been exposed, there are many different strains and the vaccine protects against multiple strains.