We too have State Farm and they won't cover much the costs of the damages at all. Actually, we are very unimpressed with them to say the least. Our local agent lived and grew up here, we have not heard a word from him or his office yet we called him as they have been our insurer for 10 years. We can't even put a claim in for the damages to this house. Our structural damage is "invisible" our electrical got messed up from the lightening and probably some magnetic fields in the storm. We have to cover that. We did have some structural damage, and trees fell on necessary structures and we have someone advising us on how to get things worded etc. However the estimated costs that the insurer came up with are not appropriate for Atlanta. $1,500 to fix the driveway will not even cover the cost of breaking it up and removing it here. $800 for a fence does not even cover the cost of materials, let alone labor. However, a person on another gardening forum has offered to help us. I don't even know this person and she and her husband have offered their backs to help us get things better. One of our biggest concerns now is flooding. State Farm isn't much concerned about the impact to the structural integrity of the property itself now that we have nothing: no grass, no trees, no landscaping anymore. They do not consider that "structural" even though it was all in place to save the structures from damage. The good thing is, I have 4 jobs. The bad thing is I will be leaving my volunteer job to max. one day a week now and having to reliniquish some of the other responsibilities I had at church. That is most important to me, but I have to get this stuff paid for. They offered me full-time at work recently. This afternoon I am going to tell them I'll take it. I was offered a job teaching gardening and environmental education classes at a local private school and I'll take it. My hours at the community garden can probably be increased. However that leaves little time for now to make things around here look decent, lol. But you gotta do what you gotta do, sometimes. GGG

I second and third Louis Philippe... It by far is the best and most carefree bloomer ever! I have four of them, and they are all covered right now! But my Show stopper is...a Fortuiana bush I saved from the old Giles nursery that the bulldozers had plowed down when they sold their business... It is 6 feet wide, and spreads at least 12 feet up and over my pergula...In March it is to die for!!!!! So if anyone needs cutting for grafting...please let me know...you are welcome and I have plenty to spare.... You can see it in bloom on my blog "the roosting Hen" It's the main picture....It only blooms once a year...but well worth it...and never gets black spot.....and naturally doesn't get affected by nematodes...hehehehehe.... My other own root OGR are doing really well too...I'll have to find there names...A few other hybrids are Ok...but just not show stoppers...and only thriving ones are grated on Fort...I really need to learn how to do that!!!!! janine

I completely agree with everything Fran just said and more. I have been watching this amazing woman for three years now juggle family, job and this tremendous plant sale. She goes to work at 4:30 AM at Costco and then sells plants when she gets done work until she needs to go home and take care of her two youngest children. She is instilling a sense of community service in her children - they all participate from potting plants, growing seeds, painting pots and selling plants. The are a wonderful family! What was gratifying to see this year was the volume of repeat customers and referrals. So many people said "you don't have to tell me - I've been coming here for years", "I come every year to support you (Michelle) and the Childrens' Hospital". New for me at least were the non Costco members who found out about the crazy plant lady from Costco members who bought from her before and recommended them to buy from Michelle. The network is also expanding so hopefully more people will volunteer to help Michelle and her family. I can't say enough about how much effort Michelle and her family put in to making this event a huge success and she deserves every ounce of credit for its accomplishments. It is an honor and pleasure for me to be associated with Michelle and her family in this endeavor.

I went to the employment office today - boy, is that place busy!! I met with a counselor and asked about training for a medical coding & billing career. I am a displaced worker - you need a layoff letter, which I have. I am meeting with another guy on Sept 2nd to see what other jobs I would like. I guess the place has had several architects and designers come in looking for work. I brought my resume into a furniture store today, another straight commission job. I don't think I can do that. They sell furniture from custom homes, nice stuff and good prices. They had several customers while I was there but I saw no purchases, just lookers. I never heard back from my ex-employer when I emailed him asking him for an explanation of why I was no longer there. That lack of response is typical for this guy. I must say that Direct Buy place was very strange. And from what I see they cannot beat every price point, like on some of the cabinets. I think I am supposed to have my colonoscopy test this coming Monday. I have not received the appt letter yet. Oh, I did have my interview on the phone with the health care people to continue my coverage last week. Then the gal sent out a letter requesting copies of my bills, etc. I sent those back right away. Then today I get a letter saying everything will be cancelled because I did not show up for an interview. What? The interview was on the phone. So I called and left a message at the DES and also drove over there to ask what that menat. The worker says the computer spits out an auto response but she saw in the system that the interview had taken place. So I was not cancelled. Talk about giving me a scare. So nowadays I am a radio listener, play solitaire on the computer, read the bible, go to church, and sit at the library computer reading email, applying for jobs or coming here. Once a week or so I work at Dillards. Well, thanks again. I am going to start searching for another place to live. Cheaper. I may have to store a lot of my furniture.