var hoverColour = "#FFF";
//when the dom has loaded
$(function(){
        //display the hover div
        $("div.linkButton").show("fast", function() {
                //append the background div
                $(this).append("<div></div>");
                //on link hover
                $(this).children("a").hover(function(){
                        //store initial link colour
                        if ($(this).attr("rel") == "") {
                                $(this).attr("rel", $(this).css("color"));
                        }
                        //fade in the background
                        $(this).parent().children("div")
                                .stop()
                                .css({"display": "none", "opacity": "1"})
                                .fadeIn("fast");
                        //fade the colour
                        $(this) .stop()
                                .css({"color": $(this).attr("rel")})
                                .animate({"color": hoverColour}, 350);
                },function(){
                        //fade out the background
                        $(this).parent().children("div")
                                .stop()
                                .fadeOut("slow");
                        //fade the colour
                        $(this) .stop()
                                .animate({"color": $(this).attr("rel")}, 250);
                });
        });
});