I'm printing worthy's post because I, too, am a planner. I can see that although worthy gave us the sequence and some timelines, it still has to be adjusted for your own builder's total construction schedule. I can't find a printed schedule. I can find construction timelines in books, but I can't find a printed homeowner's selections timeline. The only thing I've seen is from a book titled Build Your New House in No Time, by Lon S. Safko. A good book, BTW. Buy it and you go to his website and get registered so you can do downloads of all his forms. He says in Ch. 10 that you should ask your builder to give you both a select sheet and a construction schedule. Using them together you can see when to give your builder what info. He has downloads for both documents but I don't see that it tells you the critical info. of when each selection is needed from you. Best I can figure it, each builder has a rough weeks-to-completion timeline. You have to ask him what decisions he needs from you by what date. I'm in the dark, too.

Chris Bohjalian, who's been mentioned already, also had a book out of compilations from a column he wrote when he moved to Vermont. It's called "Idyll Banter," and I really enjoyed it. Right now, I'm reading "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society," which is a few years old. I'm enjoying it. "The Distant Hours" -- (fiction) about a letter posted in 1941 that reaches its destination in 1992 -- is one of the titles on my to-be-read list. "A Vintage Affair" I read a few books back. Really liked it. A mystery to go along with your cruise theme? Mary Higgins Clark's "Santa Cruise."

I've also heard good things about that book. My DD would go thru phases, such as the talking back phase you mention. Usually she would pick it up from TV or from hearing it at preschool. What I would do was focus only on the most major offense, in this case talking back. I didn't stress over other minor offenses during that time. I gave her three warnings, and at number three would put the favorite toy of the day in time out up in the top of the closet. I would reiterate that "The toy is in timeout because you said XYZ, and I told you we don't talk like that." Usually a few minutes of crying ensues, but it is shortlived. She was old enough to KNOW. She got it. When a "phase" of behavior set in, I usually had to do the above twice, and then she would move past it. The key was consistency, and focus - focus only on that one behavior, and you can usually get them to move on from the behavior. Good luck! I know how it is to not have close neighbors or friends with kids the age of mine. I only this year had a family with kids move in, and it is so refreshing! In the meantime, the folks here have a lot of good advice. And I concur about the book mentioned above.

I found the following recipe online, and the gal who posted it mentioned the Blue Book, so maybe this is the one you are looking for. MUSTARD PICKLES 1 qt. small green tomatoes 1 qt. small pickling onions 1 head cauliflower 1 gallon cold water 6 Tbl. dry mustard 1 Tbl. turmeric 4 red bell peppers 2 qt small cucumbers 2 c. salt 1 c. all-purpose flour 2 tsp. celery seed distilled white vinegar Cut tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, and cauliflower in medium pieces. Add onions. Make brine of salt and water and pour over vegetables, let stand 24 hours. Heat just to scalding point, then drain. Mix flour, mustard, sugar, celery seed, and turmeric with enough cold vinegar to make 2 qt. in all. Cook until thickened, stirring constantly. Add pickles. Heat thoroughly and pour into sterilized, hot jars and seal. Process 10 minutes. Yields 4 pints.