piegirl, I admire your tenacity. We are trying to finish this remodel over the next month, (an agressive goal) because it was already pretty close to the end when I resumed it with this new contractor, or so I thought. That was BEFORE GW! Now that I know so-ooo much more, everyone is in Real Trouble! The next few months are the busiest of the year in my profession. When I resumed the idea of finishing the bath in late November, I thought we might have it done by Christmas. When I decided to change tubs, (I learned about GW somewhere in here) I was sure it would be done by January. Once I learned about Panasonic WW, Kerdi, heated floors and towel racks, February has eluded me! Ah, March through May ... my busy season. When we a photographing high school seniors for their graduation invitations and photographing their Proms, and they are 'ravenous' to get their 'stuff '! THAT'S WHEN I AM FINISHING MY BATHROOM! Pretty smart on my part, huh? :( I would have been much smarter to wait until summer, but I was fearful that something else would happen to deter me. And besides, I PROMISED my daughters a soak in that wonderful Tub! So if you guys notice me 'going a little crazy' over the next few weeks when I write in to vent, just say to yourselves, "she's gonna be awright, it's her busy season, you know!" So piegirl, if you spent 'hours' researching for a whole house over a year's time, you will be my inspiration! I will try to remember that this is just part of the process. And you're right, those victorius AHAH! moments are awesome! hamster, I laughed out loud at the "task lighting" brand of lighting products. It IS wonderful to have some place to go to ask even the simplest questions. I have a feeling that when I show my 'doubting Thomas' friends some of these posts, they will just tell me that I have found a bunch of electronic friends who are just as anal and nuts as I am! They, too, will not be invited to the "Bathwarming Party"! I think everyone who has worked as hard as we have should throw one! Mommielady

Liketolearn.. You were correct..what goes around, comes around. I just had a long talk with my lawyer and he informed me why the homeowners are so intent on trying to coerce me into continuing to work on their house. As I already knew, building permits have a cutoff clause which states that if there is no progress on the project for a specified period of time the permits are cancelled. When the original project came to a halt I as the plumber and the masons and framers all attempted to collect for the work that we had done to date. Having failed to collect any monies for over a year we then filed mechanics leins against the property, not that a mechanics lein usually nets us anything but in this case it seems to be working in our favor. It seems that the county will not issue any further permits until the existing mechanics leins are satisfied however, if the homeowner can coerce the lein holders into continuing on the project the leins would automatically be waved on the grounds that we have negotiated an extension on the original contract. If we, the lein holders do not re-enter into an agreement with the homeowner they are left with no option but to pay us in full plus interest computed at the prime rate for all work previously performed plus they have to pay all attorneys fee's and court costs associated with the project before they can obtain permits to continue their house. It looks like I may collect monies that I had long since written off so even though my vacation will be delayed a bit in the end it should work out okay for me.

Son had a large wedding and reception but because it was in the afternoon, no dancing. But if we did have a song it would be Celine Dion's "Because You Loved Me." His small high school graduating class sang that to the parents then they gave the mom's a rose. Talk about crying! DIL knows what a close knit family we are and she loves how close I am to my son's. Now that she's a mother of a son she really understands the special bond between son and mother which is not like the old saying goes, "A son is a son until he takes a wife, a daugther is a daughter for the rest of her life." Heck, I still get onto my children! I'll always remember Barbara Bush speaking about Jr., "Just because he's the President doesn't mean he can put his feet on my coffee table!" lol

Barnmom, I think you're right but I believe that Bobby's part of the world, there in Florida, may be more progessive than here. LOL Bobby, I don't think that when his mother is gone it will make any difference. Her cooking will just be "better" in retrospect. I would be asking her for her recipes now, if you're on speaking terms, then you can say "but it's your Mom's recipe." Annie