Marisa T's Profile

I use diatomaceous earth with some success. I blogged about it here: http://www.notquitebettycrocker.com/2009/07/flea-fighters-or-how-we-used.html. I don't know if you'd count it as "natural" but it involve chemicals on my pets so I do. I do use Advantage, having found Frontline to be a complete failure this summer, but it's a necessity as I live in humid TN with two dogs and five cats.

Is your wall color green or gray? I loved it in the first picture, then realized it might actually be green (not gray) in the second.

I have this one in wood (maybe 4 years now) and I love it. Love. It. I've moved three or four times since I bought it, and though I don't need it for space reasons anymore, I wouldn't give it up. I use it to eat a casual dinner on the couch (keep it small, raise it up), move it to the dining room when we have a lot of guests (seats 6 easily, 8 in a pinch... and my Saarinen table only seats 5 at the most), and use it as a super-size coffee table for cocktail parties (expand it, keep it low).

That's my farmer's market too! In fact, it was more my farmer's market before I moved to south Knoxville from downtown. We're thinking about using a few of those postcards for wedding invitations, since they say "Knoxville" to us.

I did this myself years ago when I lived in Chicago. My deck/ balcony was concrete, so I just laid some tarp on the ground, spread out a bag of soil, and put a piece of sod on top. Here's the link: http://puppyparenting.files.wordpress.com/2008/09/101_0281.jpg?w=225&h=300

Because of the wind, I used bricks as edging, and planted catnip around the perimeter. I think this picture was before it all "took" so it's not the best styling, but it worked great!

The only problem was that one cat used it as a litterbox and the other wanted to lay on it. I ended up replacing the sod on the original area and creating a second area so that we could all live in peace!

Try aluminum foil (temporarily, of course) on surfaces that you don't want your pets to climb on. They don't like the sound or texture of foil.

In fact, I put a line of foil in the entrance to my dining room to keep my puppy from going in there (that's his location of choice for "accidents"), and it worked like a charm! Well, until the cats pushed it aside for themselves and he followed.

rockypondgirl - Off! only works if what you're offering (while you're teaching it) is better than what's on the counter. Eventually, you can use just the word, but in the beginning, your treats for getting off need to be really good!

I use a drawer-based system: everything that I might need to read gets dumped into one drawer in my desk (without being read). Every two weeks, when I sit down to pay bills, I open every piece of mail, and either chuck it (into the trash/ to be shredded drawer) or pay it (into the paid drawer). If it needs follow-up of some sort and I can't get to it, it goes back into the "inbox drawer."

At the end of each quarter, or when the Paid/ file drawer gets full, I move it into a filing carryall (also by Real Simple) in the closet. My groupings are Auto, Credit, Mortgage, Insurance, Healthcare, Home Improvements, Money (Banking, really) and Pets. I suppose I'd add a folder for each person in my household, if I had them (in fact, I'll be doing that for my newly live-in bf). Simpler works better for me. I'd rather have too much in one folder than a few things in a billion folders. When I go to the vet, I grab the Pets folder on my way out the door. Like Maxwell, I file newest in front.

At the end of the year, they go into an accordion folder.

Oh, I keep voter registration, SS card, copies of my credit cards and ID, health insurance card copies, and a contacts list in a zippy waterproof folder in the top drawer of my desk, and the bf knows this. I suppose it's not the most secure, but if something happens to me, I want him to be able to get to it quickly more than I fear a random intruder stealing them out of my desk.

Last thing: I'm having to train the bf to put his bills (or mine) and receipts in one place rather than EVERYWHERE, so we agreed to the one drawer system. Frankly, when the pile makes it to the general vicinity of my desk, I'm happy. And not looking at anything until I'm ready to do something about it (pay the bill, call the company, etc) has made a HUGE difference to me.

Maxwell - Highlighting sponsored posts like this is *much* better than the one by Room & Board. Way to find a compromise.

I seem to recall that there was a discussion about negativity during last year's Small Cool. And wasn't there a voting "scandal" regarding Chicago entries a couple of years ago? For those new to this site, stick around. It's great that you joined; it will get back to normal once Small Cool is over.

Question: How in the heck do you handle furniture placement in an office with two windows, two great views, WITHOUT putting your back to the door? I can see the value in the Feng Shui principle, but for the life of me, unless my back is to the windows, I can't come up with a solution!

I have an original tulip table, and it doesn't shake (in response to the comment above). I don't know how your table top connects to the base; perhaps that's the problem? Seems like you could put a thin bead of sealant and retighten the screws to fix the problem.