I would take them out of those pots for this season.... their roots will try better to find water if your 'stand in' forgets to come do it for you. I also would forget the crystals, just a waste of money IMHO.. if they dry out they take forever to re-hydrate and you really want your roots going deeper to seek moisture anyway, not up to the surface to the crystals for moisture. I agree with trigger, water well the first couple of weeks you plant them and then mulch well, they should do fine if planted in the ground ( out of all pots).

This thread was massively helpful and insightful.. Definitely challenged me to look at some of my personal habits. I think clutter/hoarding or the lack thereof is definitely a reflection of the life you've led and continue to lead. For me, I've always associated material objects with a strong emotional attachment. I had things from middle school still! It was pretty ridiculous. Boxes and boxes of paperwork and sentimental stuff. I also had weird odds and ends -- massive amounts of band aids, post-its, paper clips, pens, etc. Long story short, events occurred in my life where I was forced to live from a suitcase for over eight months. Definitely made me realize how little you actually need to live (and live well for the most part). Put a lot of things in perspective. I think I was always worried I wouldn't be able to survive hardships in life without a massive supply of crap. It came from self-doubt. I thought, "Oh my gosh, what if I throw out this (rather useless and derelict) lamp and find out I needed it??" Or, "You can never have enough band-aids. I should save them all, even the band-aid sizes I never use! You never know." Btw, you can have enough band-aids and then some. So, long story short.. I had to change my ways and break a lot of old ingrained misconceptions (material items equals safety and security, unhealthy emotional attachment to objects, etc.) to declutter my life. I feel so much better now, too. Anyway, thanks.

I lived and worked in the Twin Cities until 3 years ago...and was there visiting 2 weeks ago. I'm 52. My sis lives outside LA and I've visited her frequently. Here goes. All the buildings in downtown Minneapolis are connected by second floor skyways. You never have to go outside unless you want to. You'll be able to get from your hotel to the convention center without ever breathing real, honest to god fresh air. So, for your business meeting, dress for indoors. All corporate offices were business casual until about 3 years ago but then Target went back to regular business attire because young women took business casual to new degrees of beach-type wear. If you go out and about into the real air, have layers - the jacket would be good but have a light sweater to wear in addition to a top, just in case. A compact umbrella is a good suggestion. My personal practice when living there was to never be able to wear shorts/go bare legged in the evening except between June 10 and Labor Day because I got cold. Nice jeans are fine for shopping and with nice shoes (not rattie tennies) you'll be fine in most restaurants. However, for the fanciest restaurants, good slacks/skirts are fine. Minnesota is more casual, in general, than So. Cal. due to the general outdoors approach to life. Styles are comparable to S. Cal, but for middle aged women, you won't be out of place if you're not dressed like a teenager (i.e. you choose to cover your body parts!). My college is in N. Indiana and for our reunions, women wear nice dresses for the formal dinner, shorts/jeans/nice slacks during the day - pretty much anything goes for daytime. I think you'll find that the teachers are happy to have a chance to dress up so a snazzy black dress would work. Just be comfortable.

I'm worried that you're even giving him an opportunity to respond ... just be sure neither of you BUYS whatever he comes up with as an excuse (for the delays, the absence of communication, lack of professionalism and integrity in selling your cabinets without discussing that option with you and BEFORE even beginning work on your job, and the utterly unacceptable and unprofessional nature of his email response to you about them). Even if there were a genuine miscommunication about the cabinets and the bid figure (which I don't think there was!), the rest (delays, attitude, etc.) should be sufficient RED FLAGS to cut ties with this guy. There is no response he could possibly make at this point that ought to lift those flags from your mind... or your husband's. And you ought NOT move forward with those flags flying!! So just don't be tempted to!!