I called for my 3 furkids as having some flooring put in

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We have ceramic tile in our kitchen. I love that it is easy to clean and always looks great, BUT if I am on my feet in the ktichen for long periods of time I have to wear tennis shoes and it still kills my back and legs. (I'm a young 49!!)

My brother had Pergo flooring and had a water leak while on vacation and it ruined the entire floor.

Actually, we're building and we've decided to have our own flooring installed, rather than the builder's. We've owned a home for the past 15 years (3 houses) and I've changed flooring in all of them. We've had hardwood floors, ceramic tile, linoleum, carpeting and berber carpeting. My favorite is berber carpeting and ceramic tile.

First of all, we have 3 kids - so stains are a problem, as well as scratches on a hardwood floor. The house we're currently renting (till our new one is built) has hardwood floors and I hate them. There are dust bunnies everywhere! I guess you don't notice it as much with carpet. I sweep 2-3 times a day my entire downstairs. Also, my boys love to play with matchbox cars and I'm constantly telling them to take them outside because I don't want them scratching the hardwood floors (they're not even ours).

But some areas of the house require noncarpet flooring, and for those areas, I prefer ceramic tile. Linoleum can tear, especially if moving appliances to clean. Ceramic tile can get expensive, though, and our solution to this was the Durastone tile by Congoleum (I'm sure it comes in other brands). It's the best of both ceramic tile and lineolum. It comes in tiles and is very durable. We had it in our bathrooms and just loved it. Pricewise, it's right in the middle of linoleum and ceramic tile.

As for carpeting, I love, love, love Berber. We've had both dark solid-color carpet and light. The light shows every stain and the dark shows all the white lint/fuzzies, can't stand either. Because of the texture as well as the color shades, it's great for camoing stains and lint. Depending on the color you get (we'd always gotten tans with navy/hunter/burgundy in it), it will match through many furniture changes. Berber is great! Just make sure you get the better quality of padding to go under it, otherwise it'll feel like you're walking on concrete.

Okay, sorry 'bout all that. If you can't tell, I love to decorate. Hope all goes well with your new flooring. Let us know what you decide.

I'm thinking of installing wood laminate (Pergo or something similar) flooring in my house. I have 2 dogs. One is a puppy and still has issues with housebreaking. Does anyone here know whether or not the grooves are self-sealing with the laminate flooring, or would I have to worry about urine seeping into the grooves if he went on the floor? I don't mind waiting until he's older to put it down, but if I can be assured that the urine won't get underneath the flooring and smell forever then I'd love to do it sooner!

We have wood laminate flooring in our study, which we love. However, we are going to put a room-sized rug in there because my beloved dog, Fox, a 10-year-old Pomeranian, not only has problems with patellar luxation (with four surgeries on his back legs in his first 3-4 years) but now has chronic dislocation of his right shoulder. So you can imagine how much trouble he has trying to stand up on the slippery wood laminate floor. We have tried putting down runners all the way across the floor, plus he has a bed and a blanket down there, too. But it is much cooler lying on the floor, so that's where he stays. He is in here with me all day as I work, but every time I get up, he gets up, scrambling like crazy to get his balance and get his legs firmly under him.

So....to my question. This is a fairly nice rug we are buying, but it says it has a polypropylene backing. Should I get some kind of pad to go between the rug and the laminate floor? I have included a link below, I don't know if that will give you any more information. But I don't want to damage the laminate - the backing on one of the original runners I bought (cheap, from Wal-Mart) stuck to the floor. It didn't damage it, but it was a very small area and I found it fairly quickly. This rug is going to be on the floor long-term.

Please, no posts about declawing. I would never do that!! I have brand new furniture and right now it is covered with sheets, blankets and the like, delivered yesterday, living room full of leather at that (along with new dining room, 10 new chairs that have cloth seats). I tried the scratching posts, I tried the bad smelling stuff they sell at the pet stores, I tried the water bottle (that is effective as long as in the same room), but I want to know who has tried the cat nails and if they work. I want to enjoy the beauty of my furniture and I love my kids! I would never damage those indoor babies but I want to look at my furniture also. Are the nails hard to put on. HELP!!

THE JOURNEY

by Crystal Ward Kent

When you bring a pet into your life, you begin a journey � a journey that will bring you more love and devotion than you have ever known, yet also test your strength and courage.

If you allow, the journey will teach you many things, about life, about yourself, and most of all, about love. You will come away changed forever, for one soul cannot touch another without leaving its mark.

Along the way, you will learn much about savoring life�s simple pleasures � jumping in leaves, snoozing in the sun, the joy of puddles, and even the satisfaction of a good scratch behind the ears.

If you spend much time outside, you will be taught how to truly experience every element, for no rock, leaf or log will go unexamined, no rustling bush will be overlooked, and even the very air will be inhaled, pondered, and noted as being full of valuable information. Your pace may be slower � except when heading home to the food dish � but you will become a better naturalist, having been taught by an expert in the field.

Too many times we hike on automatic pilot, our goal being to complete the trail rather than enjoy the journey. We miss the details � the colorful mushrooms on the rotting log, the honeycomb in the old maple snag, the hawk feather caught on a twig. Once we walk as a dog does, we discover a whole new world. We stop; we browse the landscape; we kick over leaves, peek in tree holes, look up, down, all around. And we learn what any dog knows: that nature has created a marvelously complex world that is full of surprises, that each cycle of the seasons brings ever-changing wonders, each day an essence all its own.

Even from indoors you will find yourself more attuned to the world around you. You will find yourself watching summer insects collecting on a screen (How bizarre they are! How many kinds there are!), or noting the flicker and flash of fireflies through the dark. You will stop to observe the swirling dance of windblown leaves, or sniff the air after a rain. It does not matter that there is no objective in this; the point is in the doing, in not letting life�s most important details slip by.

You will find yourself doing silly things that your pet-less friends might not understand: spending thirty minutes in the grocery aisle looking for the cat food brand your feline must have, buying dog birthday treats, or driving around the block an extra time because your pet enjoys the ride. You will roll in the snow, wrestle with chewie toys, bounce little rubber balls till your eyes cross, and even run around the house trailing your bathrobe tie � with a cat in hot pursuit � all in the name of love.

Your house will become muddier and hairier. You will wear less dark clothing and buy more lint rollers. You may find dog biscuits in your pocket or purse, and feel the need to explain that an old plastic shopping bag adorns your living room rug because your cat loves the crinkly sound.

You will learn the true measure of love � the steadfast, undying kind that says, �It doesn�t matter where we are or what we do, or how life treats us as long as we are together.� Respect this always. It is the most precious gift any living soul can give another. You will not find it often among the human race.

And you will learn humility. The look in my dog�s eyes often made me feel ashamed. Such joy and love at my presence. She saw not some flawed human who could be cross and stubborn, moody or rude, but only her wonderful companion. Or maybe she saw those things and dismissed them as mere human foibles, not worth considering, and so chose to love me anyway.

If you pay attention and learn well, when the journey is done, you will not be just a better person, but the person your pet always knew you to be � the one they were proud to call beloved friend.

I must caution you that this journey is not without pain. Like all paths of true love, the pain is part of loving. For as surely as the sun sets, one day your dear animal companion will follow a path you cannot yet go down. And you will have to find the strength and love to let them go. A pet�s time on earth is far too short � especially for those that love them. We borrow them, really, just for awhile, and during those brief years they are generous enough to give us all of their love � every inch of their spirit and heart, until one day there is nothing left.

The cat that only yesterday was a kitten is all too soon old and frail and sleeping in the sun. The young pup of boundless energy wakes up stiff and lame, the muzzle now gray. Deep down we somehow always knew this journey would end. We knew that if we gave our hearts they would be broken. But give them we must for it is all they ask in return. When the time comes, and the road curves ahead to a place we cannot see, we give one final gift and let them run on ahead � young and whole once more.

�Godspeed, good friend,� we say, until our journey comes full circle and our paths cross again.

Well, I, for one, am not 60 yet tho getting *there*, look 45 (with no procedures/surgery), and my family history is such that they lived long long lives (paternal side)....and I plan on working another 15+ years......

back in the days, 50-75 years ago the elderly then didn't live to ripe very old ages, really.......

It is so hard to do that to your own family but the way she treated those kids is disgraceful. The lady that took the call said that they probably won't remove the kids from the home but they will check out the situtation and give the parents an alternative route to childcare and not to use the grandmother.

She called to tell dh that there was no hay seed available at a distant coop or a local coop. I said he found some at a feed store. She said okay. She said she knew he was over at her place but she was too lazy to go over there so that is why she called. She did gab a while to me but the only men she spoke of going out there were men interested in her property, not her. She said some wanted animals but she did not want that because they get out, the jump on her cars. One man wanted to plant like DH is doing but he would have 15 to 20 guys helping him and they would drink and she turned him down. She has 2 young daughters to worry about. She knew dh would do everything himself. I told her, well, he may have me and our two little girls come and bring him cokes or food. She said Great that her girls would love that.

She has known dh for a while. DH and her ex used to be friends. Dh would help her ex care for their animals when they were gone. Her ex tried to get into a business with dh but thank goodness dh turned him down. He was a crook big time. It is a wild wild story about her ex. She did say that she remembers when dh and I were dating that dh would come over, he was so in love with me, talked about me all the time and that he just could not believe he had someone like me. She said she remembered feeling grateful that he was such a great guy and he deserved someone great too.

Well, I have got to go as I was planning on working extra today. I have typed this really fast and have no time to edit so please excuse any typos.

Then we'd load it up and head to scrap shop and "rake it in." We also used to cut grass. My Dad did hauling jobs and we got a pool table one time. He'd keep what we could use and the rest we'd sell at yard sales.