What a timely post for me! My DH and I just retired, sold our large and primarily formal home in two weeks and then moved several states west to be closer to family. We have been house hunting the past two years during visits to this area. We have finally decided to custom build a small home, but highly functional for the way we live. We are also making modifications for our continued aging in place. We almost bought a much larger home with a formal dining room but I just could not see myself using that space. It was nice to have while my daughter was growing up but I really do not wish to have a dedicated formal dining room. I do plan to use my formal dining room furniture on a daily basis. It was my grandmother's and I know she would be happy to know it is being used. I will also have the kitchen island to use for breakfast and snacks. We do not have a lot of family left so small is okay for us. At least, I hope so. I keep on second guessing myself thinking maybe I should have gone with the bigger house that my husband liked. My new home will have a combined living/dining/kitchen area. I hope I will like that. I am excited that the house we are building has a laundry room with a door into the master bedroom closet. You can go from the yard into the laundry room on into the closet and then directly into the master shower. We both enjoy gardening and this is just a handy set up when you work outside in the yard. I am planning on having this whole area including the closet tiled. The rest of the home will be the wide hickory hardwood floors. I live in Texas and it is hot here more often than it is cold so the tile floors will be cool and easy to care for. I am just hoping I will be happy in a much smaller space. I sold a lot of my furniture before the move and I do not miss it. The last few years we lived in the big house, we never used the upstairs. We did all of our living on the main floor and it was quite comfortable. DH and I only have one grown daughter and she has not lived near us in years. We have no grandchildren either and very few family members left. I lived in the Atlanta area when they had a terrible drought several years ago and just could not bring myself to use the whirlpool tub knowing I was wasting precious water. I am trying to be very aware of my water usage since I am in another state that has been undergoing a drought. I hope I will be making a smaller footprint with this retirement home.

cmarlin - if we keep them, I'll clean them, but no paint, I think they look pretty rich and even though old, I actually like them. I think I'll probably put in something like Silestone in a mocha color and it would look great. What will determine whether we keep them is if I can find a good match that will appropriately fit. kelpermaid, I think they painted in the house recently, though I'm not sure - going to try and find out. I know they've lived there for 6 years, so if they are the only people who smoked there in the last 25 years since it was built, at least 19yrs of it had no smokers - but not sure how bad the last 6 years have been. creekside - now you've TOTALLY confused me! In some cases, homes need to dry to the interior. Kilz will prevent that. So will some other products. A spot of Kilz here and there won't hurt anything. Rolling it on all the interior walls may promote mold growth. So, if you are going to use Kilz after cleaning with TSP or something like it, you can't paint everything?? I'm sure I'm not understanding something here - I'll try to read the info on the link you sent - maybe call the co. next week. Carol_from_NY -thanks, I think my cleaning list is growing by leaps and bounds. The way I'm going, I may have to put my mother on the top of the car and tell her to hold on to the luggage rack for the trip up I'm going to have so many supplies to take! Thanks for mentioning the steamer, I have one and wouldn't have remember to think about taking it. I've never heard about putting gum in for smells, that's a new one. I'll try ANYTHING to get the house to normal. Thanks for all you suggested. Well, at this time we are in limbo. Inspections turned up a few problems, two problems that could be major, one that definitely is and has to do with a foundation failure. I am trying to get the owners to agree to fix what's on the repair list I sent them - which isn't everything that needs to be repaired, I took on the cheaper and more easily aspects of it. Will know more next week whether the deal goes through or falls apart. Wish me luck!! Thanks again to all - everyone has been extremely helpful, and it's all appreciated! Oh, one more thing - my Mom was there during the inspection and told me they had a machine running to take the stink out and she thought it smelled better in there - was probably an ozone machine. My nose will decide (if we close on it, that is) THANKS!!!!

Here are some of the greedy, stupid and irresponsible investors in the Madoff fund, and Madoff was a past chairman of the board of directors of the Nasdaq Stock Market as well as a member of the board of governors of the National Association of Securities Dealers and a member of numerous committees of the organization, according to his firm's Web site. That said, I am still waiting for the rants and raves from those who still want to believe that this economic tsunami was all about "stupid, greedy, irresponsible" mortgage borrowers. (foot tapping) Notice how all of these wealthy, highly educated folks did not understand they were being scammed. Where is the outrage on THEIR lack of due diligence. Hmmmm? "...New York Mets owner Fred Wilpon, GMAC LLC Chairman J. Ezra Merkin and former Philadelphia Eagles owner Norman Braman were among the dozens of seemingly sophisticated investors who placed money on what could prove to be history's largest financial scam. Giant French bank BNP Paribas, Tokyo-based Nomura Holdings Inc. and Neue Privat Bank in Zurich are also exposed, according to people familiar with the matter. And at least three funds of hedge funds -- which raise money from investors and farm it out to hedge funds -- may have significant losses. Fairfield Greenwich Group and Tremont Capital Management of New York placed hundreds of millions of their investors' dollars into funds overseen by Mr. Madoff. On Friday, Maxam Capital Management LLC reported a combined loss of $280 million on funds they had invested with Mr. Madoff. "I'm wiped out," said Sandra Manzke, Maxam's founder and chairman. The Darien, Conn., fund of hedge funds will have to close as a result of the losses, she said..... .....The alleged fraud has "swept up some of the most prominent and wealthy Americans, along with many people who thought they were embarking on a comfortable retirement and have now been left destitute," says Brad Friedman, a lawyer at Milberg LLP, which with Seeger Weiss LLP represents more than 30 investors with losses they believe could total more than $1 billion...... .....Details emerged Friday of how Mr. Madoff ran the alleged scam, fostering a veneer of exclusivity and creating an A-list of investors that became his most powerful marketing tool. From New York and Florida to Minnesota and Texas, the money manager became an insider's choice among well-heeled investors seeking steady returns. By hiring unofficial agents, tapping into elite country clubs and creating "invitation only" policies for investors, he recruited a steady stream of new clients. During golf-course and cocktail-party banter, Mr. Madoff's name frequently surfaced as a money manager who could consistently deliver high returns. Older, Jewish investors called Mr. Madoff " 'the Jewish bond,' " says Ken Phillips, head of a Boulder, Colo., investment firm. "It paid 8% to 12%, every year, no matter what." As his reputation grew, Mr. Madoff gained the trust of prominent businessmen, including ex-Eagles owner Mr. Braman, who owns a chain of Florida auto dealers. A voicemail message left with Mr. Braman's office was not immediately returned. Mets owner Mr. Wilpon, who also owns real-estate investor Sterling Equities, often raved about Mr. Madoff's investment prowess and invested tens of millions of dollars of both his own money and the team's with his company, say financiers who have worked with him. Mr. Madoff handled investments for the Judy & Fred Wilpon Family Foundation, which distributed about $1 million a year in 2005 and 2006 to charities, according to its most recent federal tax returns..... .....Mr. Merkin, the chairman of former General Motors Corp. financing arm GMAC, is also a money manager at Ascot Partners LLC in New York. Ascot, which had $1.8 billion under management as of Sept. 30, had substantially all of its assets invested with Mr. Madoff, according to a letter to Mr. Merkin sent to clients Thursday night. Mr. Merkin said as one of the largest investors in Ascot, he believed he had personally "suffered major losses from this catastrophe." Mr. Merkin could not be reached for comment. Mr. Madoff tapped social networks in Dallas, Chicago, Boston and Minneapolis. In Minnesota, he attracted investors from Hillcrest Golf Club of St. Paul and Oak Ridge Country Club in Hopkins, investors say. One of them estimated that investors from the two clubs may have invested more than $100 million combined. One of the largest clusters of Madoff investors was in Florida, where losses could be substantial. Mr. Madoff relied on a network of friends, family and business colleagues to attract investors. According to investors and agents, some of these agents were paid commissions for harvesting investors. Others had separate, lucrative business relationships with Mr. Madoff. "If you were eating lunch at the club or golfing, everyone was always talking about how Madoff was making them all this money," one investor says. "Everyone wanted to sign up." Jeff Fischer, a top divorce attorney in Palm Beach, says many of his clients were also Mr. Madoff's clients. "Every big divorce that came through my office had portfolio positions with Madoff," he says. Two of his investors said that among his clients, Mr. Madoff was considered a money-management legend; they would joke that if Mr. Madoff was a fraud, he'd take down half the world with him.... ...Richard Spring, a Boca Raton resident and former securities analyst, says he had about $11 million -- or 95% of his net worth -- invested with Mr. Madoff. "That's how much I believed in him," Mr. Spring said.

ditto what sjerin said. If you're in the US you should be covered. Granted, maybe it will take longer for someone to get to you but there are some basic coverages that everyone should be entitled to. The government needs to set up municipalities to cover everywhere. (I can understand where some remote areas may also do a volunteer dept but it shouldn't be based on payment). Fire services should not be something a person chooses to buy or not.... Will the police go out there if needed, or do they need to pay a fee for the police too? Will FEMA venture out there if there is a natural disaster? I thougth fire personnel were public servants like police, and military...I didn't think anyone had to directly pay for their specific services. What if I am traveling in this county in a mobile home and it catches on fire...they just won't help? I'm not upset at the firemen and I understand their position in this case. I just don't think they or the home owner should ever have been put in this predicament. Government needs to account that many people are idiots and won't fork out money for fire protection. Neighbors shouldn't be allowed to put other neighbors in this danger. Government should control this...not allow individual stupid (possibly poor) and selfish homeowners make these decisions that can effect the public. And, again, what exacly would have happened if there was a child in the fire/house?