Spring Fever

Spring is springing here in Eastern Washington state. A few days of sunshine, then a couple with chilly wind, and a light shower or two. All in all it’s been pretty nice. Although, today has been a slow soaker. I’m debating on how to do a veggie garden this year. Container vs. in ground. Things grow really well here in ground. I’ve been looking at key hole gardening too. I haven’t gotten any seeds yet. Most likely I’ll get some locally. The one year I did a garden here (in ground), I bought some 10 for a $1 seeds at the Dollar store. It was late in the season. The only problem with that was, it gets really hot here in the summer. So, I lost some stuff to the heat. The peppers did great. And the tomatoes and herbs went crazy! Now that I’m writing this down. I could do both, in ground and containers. Anyway, I’m just distracting myself from thinking about how/if we are going stay here.
On that front:
We found and faxed a copy of Randy’s dad’s will to the AG’s office. I don’t know how much that matters. She won’t be back in the office until the 20th. I also took some really ugly pictures of this place to e-mail her. It wasn’t hard to do. Since I’ve lived here (5yrs) we haven’t done much to clean this place up. What would be the point if the state was going to take it anyway? That’s how long this has been hanging over our heads. This year has been the first time we’ve ever been offered some kind of settlement. We’ll most likely take whatever they finally offer, but I figure there’s no reason not to talked them down as much as we can. It’s going to take a lot of work to get this place back to what it was when Randy’s parents were alive and living here. I’ve seen a couple of pictures, and it breaks my heart. I can only hope we get a chance to do right by them.

New developements, kind of.

The lawyer we talked to a couple of weeks ago suggested that we ask the state for some kind of payment plan. We’ve tried it before, and were told that the state is not in the real estate business. But, we decided what heck! Why not try again? The worst thing that could happen is they’ll say no again. Well, she didn’t say no this time. Wonders of all wonders! She told us to send an offer. So, we did. We based it on the $15,000 they had previously offered. The reply was nope, if you’re going to make payments we want $30,000. Ok, I get that $30k seems reasonable for a house on one acre. What she does not fully understand is that this place is not worth that much money. It is a 70’s vintage trailer that is in pretty bad shape. Plus, it’s kind of a funky neighborhood. We had a realtor out here about 2 years ago and she said she might get $20K. It could take another $5,000 - $10,000 to make this place worth much more than $15,000. And then, of course, there’s the economy to consider. So, we’re mulling it over. I think we’re going have to make a counter offer. We’re only at the beginning of this stage of the game. It’s exhausting, but were still in it! We’ll see what happens next.

Is spring here yet?

The sun finally came out again!(still pretty cool,40’s-50’s) It was a rainy yucky week. This has been a really long and wet winter. When it does warm up and stay warm, I think bugs are going to be a real issue this year . Randy worked on cleaning engine parts to go back on the suburban and a little yard work. I made myself busy attending to my domestic duties, including laundry, dishes, and some experimental cooking. I made a really good pizza dough. I’m trying to get over my fear of baking bread, and I thought pizza dough would be a good jumping off point. The only thing about cooking from scratch is that it creates a lot more dishes. That’s ok though, I still love to cook and trying out new recipes is fun for me.

Just a note:
Ruby’s paw seems to be getting a better.

Busy the last few days

I took some time off from the blog again. Things haven’t been great lately. Lets see, the alternator crapped out on the Honda last week. Not so much of a disaster, just a pain in the butt, and another added expense. A new muffler and exhaust will be next. Randy is keeping that poor little car running with bubble gum and bailing wire. This past weekend we had to cut up a big tree limb that fell because of the wind. It just missed the ‘burb. Ruby got stung or poked on her foot between her toes and won’t leave it alone. We may have to put an E collar on her. Right now we’re just putting Neosporin on it and trying to keep her inside as much as we can. With all the little things to take care of, as well as the weird weather, it‘s been difficult to find time to work on the Suburban.

We were served the foreclosure papers a couple of weeks ago. So, I guess they really mean it this time. We visited yet another unsympathetic lawyer (a freebie). Randy is going to make some more calls and try again to wrangle something. I think we may be running out of rabbits to pull out of the hat. We shall see…

Ok, yes, I have lost my mind. Well, maybe...

I have been in an odd mood lately and it seems like it is running off on this blog. So, I shut it down for one whole day. I know, big deal, right? I could have just taken a day or two off, but as I said, I was feeling kind of funky. Like every woman, I have the right to change my mind. The content has been changing and will continue to, as my focus changes. I hope you stick around to see what's going on with us.

Veghead

Ok, here are a few reasons why I have vegetarian sites here on my blog. Sure, you could call me one of those tree huggin’ GD-do gooders, whatever. Look, they do not test for mad cow in this country we all love. You want to get rid of the federal government? Well then, you’re an idiot. It needs some work, but if things were left to state and local governments, we’d be in even bigger trouble. The beef industry is one of many heavy handed lobbies that have been getting whatever they want for years. The rain forests have been decimated due to the demand for your cheese burger. Now a days they put beef in everything. It’s hard to find any kind of sausage without beef in it. Even pepperoni has beef in it. Oh, wait a minute, I forgot to mention that these same rain forests are being destroyed to grow soy to feed the cows. Ok, so now we are subsidizing farmers to grow soy and corn to feed cows? But I digress…

How about another thing for all you survival folks (that are still reading my blog) out there to think about when it comes to shootin‘ you‘re dinner… You may want to save yer bullets for the bad guys, whom ever they might be. Look, if it gets that bad, the last thing you need to do is waste your amo on some pathetic hungry animal. My suggestion would be to learn how to grow your own veggies and protect them from those attack bunnies, deer, and other rouge hungry animals looking for free and easy food, without shooting them. It’s only a suggestion. But, as Randy’s dad always said “There’s nothin’ more treacherous than a white man, son.” And this was from a blond haired blued eyed southern gentleman. Take it however you want. I just thought it was an interesting statement. Don't worry there's more to come...

A few new additions

I have added a few new blogs and links here. There is method to my madness. Mainly, it gets me to the things I’m interested in quickly. If you would like to peruse them, I’m sure you’d be welcomed. I especially like the field lab blog, as it has a bunch of info on living and building off grid.
I have taken off a significant number of survival blogs. The reason for that would be the politics I don’t agree with. The ones that are still there are because I don’t have a fundamental problem with their political views. I hope you didn’t get your feelings hurt if you got knocked off. I even took off some farm blogs because I don’t eat meat. There may be a few on here still, but I can’t handle a kid talking about eating parts off of a pig (or whatever) they named. It’s just icky. There will be another post on that subject soon. If you’re going to read my blog, you should have a better idea about what I’m about. I don't eat warm blooded animals, I think Bush is a war criminal, I beleive in god, and I think all organized religions are some sort of cult. there's more, but it's getting late...

A little sunshine always helps

We have had alternating rain and sunshine here the past few days. I’m glad because the on the sunny days it warms up a little. They have cut Randy’s hours back some at work. That’s no big surprise. Right now, I think everyone one is just glad to have a job. So, with Randy’s shorter hours and the better weather he’s had time to get back to work on the suburban. The weather getting better is also good for selling stuff and maybe (if I can work up the gumption) a yard sale. Yeah, we’ll see about that one. I’m not good at dickering back and forth on prices. I guess you’re suppose to mark them high and come down to what you really want. There’s a delicate balance though. If you mark them too high, they won’t even bother. Oh, I guess it doesn’t really matter. It's all got to go anyway. I guess I'll be working on that for the next few weeks.

Yipee! I'm back on line!

We've been going through hell and back on this computer crap. There may even come a time when we just let it all go. But, for now, I'm glad we've gotten it under control.

Ok, here are some of the updates:

• We, as well as, some of the heirs have been served the papers for foreclosure. (It will take some time, and we're still looking at our options.)
• The heads are on the suburban, but we still have to put everything else on. (Hopefully, with the weather getting better that won't take too long.)
• We've gotten a lot of rain and some sunshine, so the bulbs are starting to sprout. (Hey, at lease we'll get some flowers soon.)

I sincerely appreciate the suggestions I got regarding our situation. We'll see what happens with that. In the mean time, you just have to keep on keepin' on.

To stay or not to stay?

This is a question I ask myself and Randy often. I guess it should be to try to stay or not. I talked to someone at the AG's office the other day. It looks like we may still have options. I don't know, and I damn sure know the lawyers we've talked to don't know. So, once again we're left hangin' in the breeze without a clue. What it really seems to come down to is money. We don't have much. This place isn't worth much. There is a signifcant amount of back taxes that we have just been keeping up with to keep the county from kicking us out. The reason behind that is, why pay them up if the state is only going to take the place? This is important because in the case of a sale of the property by the state, the county taxes gets paid first out of any money from a sale. Oh, and that doesn't include any court costs. What I'm trying to say is, they should take whatever we can offer them. If they don't, it will most likely be auctioned off for next to nothing, and they will end up in the negative.

I do understand that states are mandated by the federal government to come up with a medicaid recovery plan. It is, however, up to the states in how they go about it. With that being said... This is a well known welfare state. I have to ask myself something here. Do other people who find themselves in need of help from the state or federal government ever have to pay anything back? I guess old dying people and their families don't count. We're not talking about some rich jackass, or greedy kids here. We are just trying to keep what we've made our home. Randy and don't have kids. Hell, in this state we'd be doing better if we did, especially if we weren't married. I see it here all the time.

I've said it before, we could do everything we want to do here. We could live off grid here. We could do the rain catchment (even snow) here. It's only one acre, but we could grow more than enough veggies here. Hell, I bet I could talk our neighbor down the road into traiding us veggies for chicken eggs. I don't really know, but with things going the way they are, it's likely.

So, here we are. There are plenty of reasons why I don't want to stay here. I don't really feel like going into that. I will say, they are a plenty.

So, I ask, should we try to stay or should we go? Randy has lived here off and on for a lot of years. He also has a love/hate relationship with this place. I just don't know.

Finally!

We finally got the computer back. It took them a week and a half to fix it. Needless to say, we won't be using these people again if we have any problems in the future.

Randy's half brother received paperwork from the AG reguarding the forclosure of the property we live on. Why we didn't get anything, I don't know. We just live here. I'm guessing it's so we won't take it to a lawyer. Or, they thought maybe he had some money to give them. Wrong. Maybe we'll call and try to find out what the hell is going on.

Anyway, I'm glad to have the computer back. I'll think of something interesting to write about later.

Computer woes

I'm writing on the laptop today. The big computer must have gotten a hold of the worm going around. I don't know. I'm getting a DLL error code. I still need to make some calls, and perhaps, take it somewhere.

In the mean time, I'm busy driving Randy crazy with mood swings of anger, depression and drunken silliness. Under the circumstances, I think it's appropriate. If he doesn't kick me out before the state does, I'll call it good. Otherwise, things are just about the same around here.
This is just a short post, as I need to go bug Randy some more. He's in my kitchen again!

Fasten Your Seatbelts...

Ok, here we go. I got an e-mail from the AG's office this morning. They are starting foreclosure proceedings against us and the other heirs. I don't really know what all that entails, or how long it's going to take.

What I'm curious about is, where are all these people that are getting kicked out of their houses going to go? Are there going to be huge tent cities living outside of thousands of empty houses? Maybe those survivalist guys are right about the FEMA camps. The houses won't be distroyed, but no one will be able to afford to live in them. There are lots of people being layed off. So, they can't pay their morgages. Then, they lose the house. Let's pretend there were jobs to be had. Ever try getting a job without an address? This is a very slippery slope. In our case, it's not an unpaid morgage. ( This place was paid off a long time ago.) In our situation it's the state wanting money back for Randy's mom's care. I've gone into this before. Anyway, we have this travel trailer (a.k.a. the escape pod). So, I guess we'll be the ones with the fancy tent? Where we're going to put this thing is a whole different matter. Sure, we've got the land in Texas. I have to ask though, just how in the hell we are supposed to get it there? Oh, I know what it will take, money. We could stay here while Randy still has a job. But then we'd have to pay for a spot in an RV park with utilities, water, and sewage. We might as well move into an apartment if we were to go that route. Either way, there would be no way to get ahead enough to get to our land in Texas. Yet another slippery slope. And to think, this all could have been avoided. I've gone into the reason behind that before. I'd rather not do it again. There's a special place in hell for some folks. Hmmm, looks like I can still get mad. Maybe it's the sunshine. Too bad I won't be able to get that garden started. Apparently, now I have other things to worry about.

The Adventure Continues...

We’ve had computer troubles for the last few days. Windows crapped out. The system recovery seems to have fixed it, this time. Fortunately, I had paid the on-line bills and even filed our taxes. We will be getting a little back. Most, if not all, will likely go to the vehicles. I really think we'll be moving this year. The woman from the AG's office called Randy's half sister before the computer went down. That poor old woman doesn't have any money to give them either. So, as it gets warmer we will be able to get a little more prepared for what's coming. The sun came out for about a day and a half, but I'm still in kind of a funk. It may just be the stress. I'm having trouble even getting mad anymore. That's worrisome to me. Well, that's it for now.

Birthday, another year gone by

I had a birthday a few days ago. Not a big one, 38. It got me thinking though. In the last year so much has happened. And yet, it seems like it’s stayed pretty much the same. This time last year we didn’t have a clue how long we were going to be able to stay here. That hasn’t changed. We came close, but no dice. I suppose we are more prepared for whatever may come now than we were a year ago. There’s always something else to do or worry about though.

I’ve decided to go ahead and plant a garden this year. I didn’t last year because I was just sure we were going to get booted out of here. Who knows what’s going to happen this year? If I plant and we have to leave, oh well. If I don’t plant, we may end up going hungry or get sick from whatever the next pathogen/toxin that hit’s the produce market. So, I think it will be worth the effort to plant.

Our last payment on our West Texas land is February. I’m looking forward to getting that little peace of mind. We’ve been working on this project for more than 2 years. Now it’s just a matter of dragging our butts down there and getting started on a little homestead. I see a lot more work in our future.

Here's a question

For any and all-
Anybody know what kind of lawyer you would go to about squatters rights ? Randy's been here long enough, but I'm not sure what kind of lawyer to go to.

Frugal living

Living frugal has become sort of a game for us. This week I made up a batch of lentil and veggie soup. It was a small batch, because that can get old quick. But, I did stretch it out an extra couple of days by changing it up a bit with canned tomatoes and a few spices. I've been reading that one needs to rotate their food storage. I've gotta tell you, we live off that stuff. We try to make it fun and a learning opportunity. I like cooking anyway, so it is especially fun for me. Randy remembers a little bit about how his mom cooked, so he is a great helper. We have a freezer right now, so I buy a lot of frozen veggies. I haven't jumped into canning yet. I still want to make bread. The only thing slowing me down is our tumultuous situation with this property. To seed or not to seed, that is the question...

Back on Topic

I seem to have let myself get distracted from my original goal for this blog. The latest toxins in food, as well as Randy’s conversation with the woman at the state yesterday, have brought me back to reality. It’s looking like the only way you can get safe food is if you grow it yourself. I could run on about that, but I won’t. The woman at the state was, as usual, soo helpful. She told Randy that they now want twice the money they did before. And, she is still about to file the papers. I could go on about this bitch too, but, to maintain what is left of my sanity, I won’t. All that being said, it’s time to start looking/moving forward and focusing on the plan.

I have compiled a rather large binder of ideas, as well as things that people have done and are writing about on their blogs. Many thanks to all of those that have and continue to share what has worked for them and what has not. I also take a look at the links and blog lists that are posted on those blogs. Every little tid-bit of info that I can get and apply to our situation helps. This information has become invaluable to me in our efforts to move forward!

I’m still working on getting all of our ducks in a row. The most urgent issue we have, right now, is getting the tow vehicle back in running order. That’s going to take as much or more time and effort as it did in taking it apart. I’ll keep updating as things progress.

I get so tired of people bitching and moaning about the nanny state. “ I don’t want to pay taxes.” “ Why is the government always telling me what to do and what not to do, and telling me it’s for my own good.” “ I know what‘s good for me.” “I want to do whatever I want.” “ I wish they would just leave me alone.” Good God! It sometimes sounds like an insolent child. There are lots of reasons they are seemingly always telling you what to do. The main one is that people obviously Do Not know what’s best for them. Why do you think there are laws telling you to wear a seatbelt in the car, a helmet on a motorcycle, etc.? It’s not just because they are trying to keep your dumbass alive so you can keep paying their salaries. It’s because when someone doesn’t wear the seatbelt, helmet, or whatever, and manages to only end up with a traumatic brain injury, we all end up paying for their care for the rest of their lives. There are lots of other laws that may seem ridiculous. But people are stupid, and Darwin doesn‘t always take care of it. I know Uncle Sam doesn’t always know best.

Just a note on the new lead law. Sure, I’m sorry that some people will be financially affected. Personally, I think this country has enough problems without people buying products that will make our future generation stupider, by poisoning them with heavy metals. Maybe, we should start taking some real responsibility. It’s embarrassing how ignorant the people in this country can be.

Oh, and for those that don’t know, there hasn’t been lead in pencils since the 1500’s. Now, the one’s coming from different countries may have lead based paint on the outside. Who knows?

Weird

Ok, that's just weird. My blog list is working now. What the hell?

Posting just 'cause

I'm posting just because I feel like it. I don't really have too much to say.
I find the map thingy I installed pretty interesting. My blog list isn't working right. I don't know why. Everyone else's seems to be working. I'll work on it later, I suppose.
Oh yeah, it snowed last night, yippee! I think I may be getting cabin fever again. This place is driving me crazy! I wish my mom would have helped us buy it, so we could sell it and move to Texas with a little grubstake to get started. Anyway, didn't happen. I'm just ready to get somewhere warm!

Randy worked today and I wasn’t feeling so great. Not because of partying the night before. It was a girl thing. Maybe that explains my previous post. Don’t get me wrong. I meant it. It’s a worrisome group.
Anyway, one of my resolutions for the past 10 plus years has been to learn and be fluent in Spanish. I’m from Texas and have always felt like I needed to learn it. So, I took 2 years in high school and then a semester in college. At that point it was like taking an English class. Thus, I can read Spanish better than speak it. I speak Spanish almost as good as Peggy Hill (King of The Hill). In my efforts in this endeavor, I’ve been watching Spanish television shows. It’s sad but true. It’s always been an aggravation that when I worked for the state (Texas) that I couldn’t get one of those bilingual jobs. Here it’s worse. Apparently you need only to speak Spanish and not so much the English. Oh, and by the way, our new minimum wage has gone up to somewhere qround $8.55. Yeah, those immigrants are doing the work we Americans don’t want to do. At least in Texas you had to be fluent in both. It seems my mood has not changed much. Maybe in the next couple of days it will improve. We'll see...don't take any bets yet. With things going the way they are it's hard to imagine anyone's moods getting better.

Food for thought

I’ve done a little research folks. I’ve been looking at survival sites for a couple of years now. What I have found interesting is the propensity for the favor of the Mormon sites. Oh sure, they are great for food storage advice. People need to understand that there is a reason behind that. It is not because they are just smart, good natured, and think it’s a good idea. It’s manly because they are just sure they are going to be the majority of people left after the apocalypse, or whatever you want to call it. Geeks, think Borg…
This is not a good thing. Look it up. Unless you want to assimilate, you may be right in keeping and stock piling your guns. And you thought the Government was after you...

Sunshine and some rain!
The sun has finally come out and is trying to melt the snow. Yea!
Christmas is over. It’s time to get back to thinking about what’s ahead. I find myself in a bit of a conundrum. I want to get serious about collecting and stock piling food, but I also have this constant nagging thought in my head. We are going to have to move sometime in the near future. Everyday I check the mail expecting there to be a letter giving us some number of days to get out of here. I’ve described our situation before and I’m not going to get into it again. Anyway, we’re going to be moving. I don’t know if it will be the big move to Texas, or if we’ll just move to a local RV park. Either way, we are not going to want to haul a bunch of extra stuff. I guess I just answered my own question. Bummer.
Now, I’m thinking we should focus efforts (and $) on the pod and the tow vehicle. Here’s what I think we’re looking at in that area.
First and foremost , put the suburban back together.
Tires for both
2 new batteries for the pod
Check and fill propane tanks
I need to sell some stuff to lighten the load as well as create another influx of cash for the move and the afore mentioned expenses. I really don’t care for trying to sell stuff on E-Bay, just haven‘t had much luck. Craig’s list isn’t much fun around here either. People in our area don’t want to pay anything for your crap, but want a butt load for theirs. I guess I’ll just have to change my attitude, and be as hard nosed as they are. Maybe, just maybe people are getting in the mood to buy used stuff. We’ll see. I’ve considered selling stuff on a new blog. I’m still working on that idea. Any suggestions on that idea would be great. Put them in the comments or send me an e-mail.

Merry Chiristmas

Merry Christmas! We made it!
I cooked a turkey last night. I don't normally eat meat, but Randy got a free turkey last week at the company Christmas party. It was my second time cooking a turkey. I'm telling you the only was to do it is in one of those cooking bags. I even made giblet gravy. It was my first time on that one. There are only two of us, so we've got left overs to last us a couple of weeks. Anyway, that was about all of our excitement yesterday, other than a little more snow.

Oh yeah, Randy's friend down in Hood River, WA gave Randy some brilliant advice. He suggested that maybe we should start stock piling food. Hmm... No, that just sounds crazy! I'm kidding. Randy let him know we had already started doing that. We need to keep stocking up though. I've been whittling away on the beans, rice, and a few other things. On that note, we really need to get appropriate storage containers. I've looked around a little locally with not much luck. Dog and cat food containers don't really excite me. I guess I'll have to get some on line.

Well, have a good Christmas!

Oh great, more snow...

Ok, we don’t have it as bad as Busted. However, we were without water today. Randy went back to work this morning. So, I had to wait for him to get home and help me figure out where the frozen spot was. He took off from work a little early and we found it. He had a pretty good idea of where it might be. Long, wet, dirty story short, we can flush the toilet, and I can wash dishes and clothes! We’ve got a pretty good supply of drinking water, Three 5 gallon jugs. Anyway, time to take my wet shoes off and change my socks. My feet are wet and cold!

Cabin Fever!
It has been just too damn cold to do anything outside. So much for getting the heads back in the truck. I've been writing stuff for this blog, but I didn't put it out there and now it's out dated. Maybe I should just write here, and post like everybody else seems to. Anyway, I wish I could say that we've been working on the truck. Although, I can say that we found a good use for the snow...

Holy crap! We got snow! yippee…?
And it’s friggin’ cold! Down in the teens during the day, single digits at night! It’s about the same as Busted knuckles. Romeo, our native Texan cat, is pissed! He likes to be outside and this weather is just not working for him. So, he’s in and out, and that’s not working for Randy and me. The other cats are smart enough to stay inside and only go out if necessary. We’ve got Thomas, the neighborhood cat, set up pretty sweet. He’s got an old couch cushion, w/ a heating pad, and an outside chair cushion on top of that. We also rigged up a little shelter for him with an old foldable lawn chair. It must be the best digs in the neighborhood, because he was in it all day. (He won’t come in the house and we don’t have a garage.) Warm, dry, shelter from the snow, and free food, now that’s surviving in style! Spoiled bastard (relatively).


This is Thomas yesterday afternoon. He bailed when it got dark. He must have another spot more secure with a wind block.

The Befores

This is the living area before.

The dinette before.

As you can see, by taking all of it out we gained quite a bit of space. We, however, lost most of our storage space. You might think that's bad. But, with more storage space comes more stuff, and more weight. I've mentioned weight before. It's a big deal. We also did not need the extra sleeping space. The little doors that open up from the outside can now be used as cat doors. We will most likely get a cage or something that they can open up to. That way the cats can go outside somewhat safely if we have to stop somewhere for a while(ie: an rv park). That plan is still in the idea stage. The openings are too small for the dog much less humans. So, no worry there. It will also be pretty easy to seal them up if we want to later.

The suburban heads are in the shop. We should get them back next week, and get started putting Humpty Dumpty back together again. Just one more exciting part of the adventure!

I know I promised pictures of the pod renovation some time ago (Oct.?). I kept waiting because I wanted to make everything perfect. I decided that was a dumb idea. I'm always changing stuff around, so I decided to just take some pics and post them.

This is the new pseudo couch with most of what is left of our christmas stuff.

Dining/sitting area with foldable table. That's a little heater on the floor.

Here with the half fold.

If you look real close you might see the pvc pipe curtain rods. We haven't fixed that yet. You get the idea though, that we were going for light weight. This is also stuff we can take out later when a cabin or something gets built. The table folds up all the way, but I figured that was enough of the dining area. The chairs were on sale(closeout), plus another 50% off for a little damage. They came out cheaper, lighter, more comfy,and nicer than foldable chairs we had looked at. The cushions were an Overstock.com puchase. Set of four for less than the cost two. So we've extra in case of spills. We didn't do so great on the couch thingy(double papazan sp?). But, we couldn't find anything light weight enough in a reasonble price range. Color was also a challenge for us, and limited our choices. I'll bring in some pillows or something to pull it all together, eventually. But, for now, that's what we've got. If it didn't take forever to upload pictures from our crappy dial up, I'd post before and afters. The befores are somewhere on a previous post. Check 'em out.