Well, gee, you can make your own clothes. Having worked in retail, I can offer some possible explanations. Alfred Dunner has been around forever. It's possible the sizing has been updated to reflect their current customer base. It's popular to roll our eyes at vanity sizing, but sometimes it's not all that nefarious. There is a good reason. "Size 10" has long been thought of as the standard as average or medium. With the population becoming older and stouter, it does make sense for the manufacturer to update sizing from time to time. The pants may measure differently if they are made of different materials with different amount of give or stretch. That would be the correct thing to do. "I decided to get out some summer slacks this morning " implies you already purchased these slacks some time ago. If they were comfortable when you purchased them they may still be, even if they measure different. The fabric may have faulty upon purchase and has shrunk over time. One pair may have had the wrong size tag sewn into them. One of the benefits of purchases over the internet is that many sites offer the option to provide reviews of the products regarding fit, durability, and sizing. You can use this to your advantage. I can sew, but I rarely sew everyday clothing. Honestly, the fabric available in retail outlets is so poor in quality that it isn't economically feasible to do so. I can buy a pair of pants from Lands' End [TJMaxx, Hit or mIss] on sale for $25 and wear them twice a week for a couple years before they bite the dust, usually because I spill something on them. Nothing available at Joann's Fabric will hold up like that. [If I'm willing to wade through the Ginormous Wall O' Fleece and all the junk flat folds and the out of style prints] Yes I could order fabric and make pants, but ordering good quality fabric, retail, isn't cheap. Neither is the shipping. It will cost almost as much or more than buying them and I have to go to the effort of making them. Yes, they will fit. I do alterations, so I can make purchased pants fit, too! BTW, being able to repair and alter your clothing - that's where the savings come in.

I feel for you gglks, I really do! My templating was delayed a few days and I was so bummed. My sincere advice? Expect more delays as they will happen and are inevitable. Rollercoasters can be seen in a positive way too, right? Isn't life thrilling/dramatic/exciting lately?? All these things to obsess about and look forward to? Have fun with it. I'm trying to tell myself the same thing.

I am looking strongly at Kobe, Electrolux, and also some others such as Zephyr, Faber, and Windster. The Windster is quite affordable. The Faber and Zephyr brands have some ones that have some 'rounded' design elements on the pipe area and front of the vent that look sort of nice. Gives a bit of personality to the hood, but not too much. Lots of my hem hawing has to to with what 'style' but the spec thing adds to the confusion. I look at them and try to imagine them over my stove and in conjunction with the other elements in the kitchen and after a while I am so addled that I shrink away from them all! I think that when you are in a remodel, all the decisions that you have to make begin to wiegh on you after a while and even little things can make you 'tilt'. I love my E-lux gas range - it was a find - a small scratch made it very affordable. Love my micro - an LG that looks like it was made to go with the range. Fridge is 'panel ready" - a challenge in my design where stainless would have made it easy. We will probably do something over the top like making leather or cowhide panels for it. We train horses for a living and as the saying goes, if you dont know what to do with it, cover it with cowhide. :) That is a challenge for another post and another day. Using rough slate on the floors - a natural and easy choice for us since we have a slate porch and lots of leftover tiles. Very interesting stuff and very tough. For now, however, the decision is about the range hood. It is gonna be focal, so has to be pretty. Cirone - you mentioned here that a 36 inch hood was put over a 30 inch range. How does that look? I have heard that it is recommended that the hood extend three inches out to give better capture area, but am not sure I would need to worry about that since I am not a major cook. I have ordered from Overstock and they were easy to deal with - made it right when my sink came dented. Ironically, Dianalo, I just talked to a sales rep at a Sears outlet yesterday and they have one chimney style Kenmore there with a scratch that makes it affordable. Long drive for me to check it out since I am in the middle of the woods but may have to go look. Would like to order online to make it quick and easy. Sparklekitty - Havent heard of Eurostoves so will have to look at them. Sounds as if they were good to work with. Artemis - which Kobe did you get? When it comes in, you will have to post about how you like it! Happy that you got your decision on that behind you as I know how hard the choosing can be! I am glad to see that I am not the only one that has gone round and round over this - thanks for all the feedback. Makes it 'feel all better'! :)

It is very discouraging and I feel your pain. I'm limited in what I can do too. My husband is leaving for 6 months on Wednesday and I will be left here to sell the house and find a new one in our new location. We have been working hard the last few weeks to ensure everything is in good condition because I can't do it all. I will have to hire out someone to come twice a week to keep the yard looking nice. I had a repairman out yesterday to fix small things like the leaky backyard faucet etc. Luckily I had him check the ceiling fans because he discovered on two of them, blades were really loose and could have flown off. Today, I have a guy washing all the windows. Once everything is ready, I have a cleaning crew coming on Wed AM to clean the house from top to bottom. To me, the money spent is worth it. The house will be spotless for the showings. If the cleaning is too much for you, can you hire a cleaning crew? I had a cleaning company come out after our house was painted and tile installed. There was dust everywhere and I couldn't do it all myself. They had a crew of 4 and it took them 1.5 hours. Well worth the $125. Then, with the house in top clean condition, you can work yourself to keep it that way. With it in disarray now, it's overwhelming for you to attempt to clean bits and pieces. If you can afford it, this is the way to go to get it all done in one fell swoop. Also, if you have alot of grease buildup, here is a recipe for a very cheap homemade cleaner that cuts grease big time. I use this on everything but wood. It leaves mirrors and windows streak free. I use it on my tile and no drying marks. 16 oz rubbing alcohol 4 oz sudsy ammonia small squirt of Dawn dishwashing liquid water Use a large spray bottle and after the ammonia and alcohol, fill with water and then add the Dawn. Shake before use. For mirrors and glass, I take a clean microfibre cloth with water, wipe the surface, spray the cleaner, wipe again and then dry with a clean, dry microfibre. This will shine up your greasy stove. I use it on my sink, counters, glass, tile, windows, bathtub - everything. We have been preparing to sell this home since dh was alerted in Nov that we're moving to another location for his job. We found a storage locker because we don't have enough storage and we have fixed things along the way. I don't know how anyone prepares a home to sell with little notice. Even with all the preps we've done, we've been very busy the last few weeks with the last minute things. I can't recco enough that you start now. Make a list of all the things you feel need to be repaired, cleaned or thrown out. Do a little bit everyday so as not to overwhelm yourself. Making the list can make it feel overwhelming at first, but it's a great feeling of accomplishment when you cross something off and see in black and white the list diminish.