I have alllll kinds of plants that bloom like that. I have Crepe Myrtles, Dahlias, Peonies, Hydrangeas, and so on that are planted side by side and one blooms and the other might not. I don't have a clue why but I was wanting to see how you like Lovely Fairy. Isn't it a great little bush? At least the one thats blooming. ha ha!! Mine is going through its third flush right now. If you want one a little darker and shorter I would try the Fairy Queen. It blooms just as good as The Fairy and Lovely Fairy. Judy

What's funny is that I can't even remember the finishes that friends and family have in their kitchens and bathrooms. I don't think that people remember or notice that stuff, unless they're in the process of choosing their hardware/fixtures or they're the kind of people who notice those design details. I went through the same thing: Mix or match. Except for the bathroom doorknob, I went with all chrome (light fixture, faucets, shower curtain rod, etc.). I love chrome! The only thing that isn't chrome are the vanity knobs and pulls, as I chose to go with vintage-style glass that has a center part that is nickel (nickel is not that large, so not too noticeable). I do love the look of mixed finishes, too, but I felt I would be most happy with chrome. Whatever you choose, choose it because you love it for yourself, not to please the designing world. You have to live with it. So unless you are re-selling your home very soon so that you are designing to make it pleasing to buyers (and you can't please everyone's tastes), choose what makes you happy and enjoy! You can always change things later if you get tired of them. This post was edited by grass-cat on Thu, Jan 22, 15 at 9:48

Gran was clearly hurt by someone's comments. Beyond that, there's A LOT of assumptions being made about her here, probably compounding that hurt. So where's all the self-professed - ad nauseam - wonderful, caring, Christian, loving, blah, blah, blah fellowship that should be manifesting itself in empathy toward her? Instead, many people have chosen to express how THEY feel or have felt. ME, ME, ME. For all the "I'm so wonderful because" . . . comments on these forums, please explain to me how any of the following comments are "constructive" here: trotting out social bromides Who died and made the critic the authority on proper social behavior; audacity to issue an edict; rudely demanded better behavior; lecturing the masses; I don't know or care about the OP a really bad hormonal malfunction day jump out at us again instruct this group on how to behave, what they should post, and how to post it. chastise other members beat about the head I don't care I continually find it amazing that some of you who spend inordinate amounts of time posting on these forums DO think that you have an elevated status. This is a public forum. You don't own it by virtue of squatting here. There's a BIG difference between constructive criticism and cruel criticism, and IMO, there are plenty of times that people on this forum take advantage of their anonymity to be unnecessarily harsh or just plain mean. In those instances, there is no intention to help the OP at all but, rather, an opportunity for someone with low self esteem to puff up by bragging, or putting down someone else in order to build themself up. I would like to know what Gran is referring to also, but I can't blame her for not returning. I'm sorry that your feelings were hurt, Gran. I hope that you will stick around and continue to lurk, or even post again, NO MATTER AT WHAT INTERVAL. As you wade through this thread's comments, you will see the intelligence shine through in the comments that are made with care and thoughtfulness, in an effort to be kind and helpful. They're worth digging around for. As you read more threads on these forums, you'll recognize these people by their manner, and their advice/comments will come to be of value to you. As for the others, let their obnoxiousness be like water on a duck. Unfortunately, you do have to have a thick skin at times, but consider the sources. There is a lot of great info here and there are people who do truly want to help, not hurt. I personally feel that it IS important to be considerate. Am I perfect in this regard? Nope. But I try to be, and I see less and less consideration and empathy around me every day. It IS sad. If I were the person who hurt Gran's feelings, I would feel lousy and want to apologize.

myfampg, your ex is a jerk. And you are correct, you cannot change the temporary order any more than he can. For a brief period, way back when, it was alternating holidays with BM. According to DH she never showed up for hers, and that only lasted for a few months anyway. Then the judge stripped all holidays from her; for right now it's a straight every third weekend visitation schedule with holidays not taken into account at all. (Way to go, judge-idiot! I sincerely hope that they have saved you a special corner in purgatory where you can contemplate the consequences of your 30-second, I don't feel like dealing with this, split the baby, "decision".) Anyway, I think the original schedule was something like Christmas Eve until 9:00 AM Christmas morning, and then the rest of Christmas Day with the other parent. For young kids with parents who live close together, I think that that is not a bad one. When I was a kid, my parents lived in separate states. There was no court order because they never went to court for custody but worked it out themselves. We usually spent most of Christmas break with my father; since the distance was as far as it when we went was based more on when weekends fell in relationship to Christmas than anything else (if parents drove they met half-way, it was an all day drive so they needed to do it on a weekend, although at holidays sometimes we flew or took the train). Our schedule was more like Parent of One's DD. It's a tough one because of course the non-custodial parent wants to see their kid as much as they can, but particularly as kids start to head into their teen years it's hard to miss every holiday or summer event with their friends.