The stuff on TOH was foam. Not sure what kind, though. It reminded me of a friend's foam-covered cinderblock place growing up. It had a thin layer of concrete or some sort of plaster crust sprayed over the foam, then was painted. White. Looked like a giant lumpy marshmallow. A whack of an idle bat or ball (or idle picky children) and the "shell" would break and they'd have to patch it. Very strange.

I'd forgotten about it until you said that, but someone from my old women's group and her contractor husband built a Quonset-hut looking foam house a few years ago. It's made out of 3 feet thick chunks of foam cut and fitted together to form the shell. I can't remember what the outside is but a thin layer of concrete would make sense. The framing was wood, 2 story house (possibly split tri-level?) on a somewhat steep hill. It's a very weird looking place from the outside but it's really nice inside.

That sounds like where the Barbapapas live!

Oy. My mother's been admitted to the hospital to deal with the combination of a herniated disk and intestinal distress.

t hunkers down

Oh, my, Consuela. I wish her pain and distress-ma.

{{{Consuela}}}

I got two gifts, one from Sarameg, who sent me some cash to get a pedicure (LOVE!!!!), and another from Plei, Juliana, Lee, JZ, Jen, G&J, and Jilli, an ENORMOUS bouquet of flowers.

Thank you so much for it all, I'm just beside myself with gratitude.

I have 25 people coming. I have thirty beers, a gallon of cosmopolitans, a gallon of sour apple martinis, I'm making a big bowl of sangria, I got a big case of bottled water, will get a case each of diet and regular soda.

We've got two pounds of shrimp in ginger, soy, and pineapple, chips, salsa, guac, dips, caprese salad, four pounds of chicken marinading for skewers, tons of cut veggies for both grilling and dipping, and I think hummus and pita.

Do I need to worry about additional barbecue goods?

Oh, my, Allyson. I want to go to your barbecue!

Holy crap, that sounds fab.

Sounds yum and sounds like plenty. Very exciting.

(Also, just so I'm not taking undue credit, it's a different Jen than me on the flowers - if I'm guessing right, she goes by a different board name - which you probably realize, but, you know, just in case... though I totally support the concept!)

Wish I could be there!