Welcome to the forum fellow Northeast grower! Personally I love cyms. When they bloom it is a fantastic display and they last 6 -8 weeks. Quite a few are fragrant during the day. We've got the cooler temps and humid summers in the NE that are great for cyms but in the winter, the lackof sufficient light is our biggest problem. Most of us have some sort of supplemental lighting in the form of CFLs or fluorescents. Phals are at the lower end of light requirements and cyms are at the higher end. Growing them together in the same windowsill maybe ok in the winter but will not be sufficient year round if you want blooms. Watering wise, phals and cyms are compatible since they prefer it wetter than most orchids. If you can summer cyms outdoors (in some spotty shade) and provide artificial light during those consecutive cloudy days in the winter then you can grow them with ease. If you can only grow on the same window as the phal, try a neostylis, dendrobium, oncidium, tolumnia, paphiopedilum or others with lower light requirements. But I have a feeling that you've been bitten by the orchid bug. Sooner or later, you won't be so concerned with what can grow easily and more concerned with finding the space and all sorts of gadgets to grow EVERYTHING. Anyway, you can grow a LOT of different types of orchids in the NE. It all depends on how much effort you want to apply, but it is definitely possible and most members here(maybe all?) have pushed the limit and gone beyond them. Anyway, post back and let us know what you decide! Steph

I know what you mean Amy. Oh poor little one has been through a lot the past few years. DH got laid off, we moved to Oregon when she was 3 moved back to Texas a year later moved to Virgina after that and then back to Texas. THEN DH got a to good to pass up job BUT it was 100% travel. So we hit the road with him to stay together, me, Lauren, DH AND the golden retriever! LOL! Lauren did get to see so many wonderful places so I can not complain there but she is so ready to settle. So am I!! DH still has to travel but he is home here in Austin a lot so that helps. Well, I went on and on! I think Lauren and I are going to go and buy the rug she loves so much so we can match the paint. Then we need to get curtains and new bedsheets and decorations...I better slllooowww down before DH has a melt down :-) Kelly

I like just plain white or a simple look with no black in it actually. Like this? Just plain and simple and let beauty of the tile do the talking!) Let the vanity and subway tile be all glossy and they hex of the tile will be showy enough. I think she could subway most everything and if she really loves they other she could trim it off and talk to Dad about buttering the tiles. Butter up Dad maybe! LOL! Or they make it colorful in really pretty floral designs! That would really be nice but you's probably have to stick to a subway tile. I shall go hide from your husband now, just as I hid from my tilesetter!!!!

I kind of agree with TOS. I was 14 when my dad and stepmom married. I love my stepmom dearly. But if she had stepped into my life and declared that my housekeeping skills, table manners, etiquette, personal hygiene, and manner of dress were all lacking even if it were objectively true, I would not have been receptive. Or if she had stepped in and tried to "share" her interests rather than getting to know me and learning what mine were. I suspect you got off to a bad start with your stepdaughter. I'm sure you meant well, but the mere fact that she told you that you might be able to change her dad, but not her, suggests that what you saw as "help", she saw as "criticism" and as you trying to change who she is. If you are interested in my opinion, I would suggest that you back off. The two of you have decades of dealing with each other ahead of you. Try to start over, and take it more slowly this time. Let the relationship develop naturally between the two of you, rather than try to force it into whatever mold or expectations you had in mind that it should be because you married her father. You may still find that you don't particularly like each other as people, but you may also find that without the expectations or pressures of parent/child issues, you get along just fine. She is spending time with, and taking advice from, mature members of your church congregation? How could this possibly be a bad thing? I understand that your feelings are hurt that she is not seeking *your* advice, but while I am sympathetic, that is your issue not hers. Do you want to be told whose advice you should be taking? I think that for the sake of your future relationship, if you haven't already done so, you need to completely back off from trying to help or advise her and simply let this girl find herself. Then get to know who she turns out to be... with no expectations of what kind of relationship will develop. Just let it happen naturally.