I loved the wood floors in our kitchen when we put them in seven years ago. But now they are in gross need of refinishing (have been for a few years), and I just don't feel like going through the hassle of moving out of the house for a week (to avoid the fumes) and (worse!) having to pack up the cupboard, television cabinet and bookshelves (the kitchen adjoins a small family room) and move all of the furniture somewhere else. Home improvement specialist Bill Keith gave me a neat idea by suggesting I check out the flooring at Alessco. They make flooring that fits over an existing floor -- the pieces snap together kind of like a puzzle -- and it looks like wood. So we could lay this floor it up to the heavy furniture rather than also laying it underneath. Another idea from a friends mother -- she places a rug under the kitchen table and a runner along the perimeter of the kitchen along the counters. The floors are covered where they get the most wear. Every few years she replaces the rugs, but rarely does she have to refinish the floor.

This is completely ridiculous, and yet it totally intrigued me. Rich Marini, a writer I know just launched the "Song for Every Day of the Year Project," with the aim of building a "really cool, really long list of song titles that either directly or indirectly refer to all 366 days of the Leap Year." (For your information, the next leap year is 2012.)

Marketing maven Joe Polish (www.joepolish.com/) is planning to test a new business model -- what he calls "pay me whatever you think it's worth" for on-line information. Hearing about this got me thinking... what if everything we purchased was priced on this same "pay what it's worth to me" basis, including clothing, televisions, home repairs, going to the movies or an amusement park. Think about this next time you go to buy something. If what you think it's worth is less than what you're about to pay, then maybe you shouldn't be buying it. Or maybe you should be nervy and negotiate for a lower price.

Today, I am still numb. Last week, I was touched by one of those tragedies that you read about in the news and see on TV, and always happens far away. But this time it happened near me. A disgruntled employee caught stealing from his employer set off on a shooting rampage that killed eight other employees, including my neighbor. I didn't know him well, but I knew him well enough. Well enough to know that he was a good man, loved by his family, respected in the community, accomplished in his career. My husband taught two of his children... my daughter went to school with one of them. It was difficult -- impossible -- to explain the events to our children that night. Today we and too many others are living in disbelief. I can't imagine what his widow and children are going through.