MARYANNE!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WOW!!!!!!! I received your box today, and lady, you sure pack a great swap box!!! HOLY-COW!!!! Gals, this huge box was FULL of plants and she also managed to get a few fun items in too! For reds - 5 fans of Granny Garnet Iris, Lillium in 1) Samur, 2) LaToya, 3) Avignon Whites - Yarrow, astilbe "Rock & Roll", White leaf with green margin hosta Blues - Halycon Hosta, tradesandia "Purple Profusion", Night Ember daylily and of course, Blue Fescue grass! LOL!! And just for summer fun, there was also a nice clump of mint as well as FIVE Rose of Sharon starts!! Now, for the fun stuff - Earthly also sent a red/white tablecloth, 2 plastic USA cups, the cutest little wooden Americana angel, incense, a new fairy/frog address book, a flag keychain, a great tin sign in Americana which says "3 cheers for the red, white & blue", and even a US flag! To top off this red, white & blue theme, she included a Patriot Hosta!!!!! MaryAnne, I really am thrilled with EVERYTHING you included in this great swap box! And I did not have any of the plants, except the Patriot hosta, which I LOVE & wanted more of! Thank you so much!! Susann

Ok then, glad I could join...hehe. I like playing. I had a bad night last night. I had a stomachache all night. I went to bed a 12:50 and was back at at 3:00am and stayed up all night because my stomach hurt so much. I have managed to get in a nap here and there today, although they were short ones. My tummy still hurts, I hope this isn't a sign of what's to come for me this year. I am hardly ever sick, but this has been 2 tummy issues just this month! I am so mad at the PO I go to most often. I put a medium sized bubble mailer in the mail there yesterday, inside is a smaller one, the smallest Bubble Mailer you can get, a note and a return label. It doesn't weigh much at all, I put 2 .42 cent stamps on it and it was BACK IN MY MAILBOX TODAY! Insuffient postage, can you believe that? I am so mad! I have gotten heavier ones with seed in them with 2 stinking stamps on them, what is wrong with that PO? It makes me so mad I wish I didn't have to use the USPS! Ok, maybe I am just testy cuz my stomach hurts? Fran

clay lady, we would love to have you join in! Just list your 5 themes and send me your e-mail address and you are in. However, I am closing the sign ups tomorrow morning so we can all start sorting, ordering, and packing up seeds - so don't take long to list your themes and send me an e-mail message. Okay? (Nothing like putting the pressure on, but at least you found us in time!) More information will come to you and all the others by e-mail once the sign ups close and I will start a new thread here on the Round Robin Exchange page so we can keep up with what has been mailed to me, received by me, and when I mail back to you and you receive your packet. I will include the full list of participants and themes there also. Looking forward to lots of fun. Happy New Year's Weekend to all! Jeanne

Hi All, I've been so busy. I made cookies and stuff all night after work and then I answered some email. I wasn't going to write anything tonight because I'm tired. I was ready to go to bed but I realized it may be awhile until I can post again. So I want to tell the story I promised before. 11 years ago in August, Gary's brother, Joe, died helping a motorist who's car had been hit on a major highway. He got struck by a motorcycle that was speeding and then a car driven by a drunk driver. It was as you can imagine was quite an awful time. We as a family decided to donate all of Joe's organs. We felt that he died trying to help someone and it is what he would of wanted. Thanksgiving with Gary's family wasn't the best that year of course. Christmas as far as I could see wasn't going to be much better. On Christmas morning Gary and I got up. He was watching tv, and I was reading the newspaper. I started to read the letter to the editor part of the paper. There was letter from a woman from NJ writing to thank the family who made the decision to donate the organs of the man who had died on the highway. At that point, I just started to whell up with tears and Gary of course couldn't figure out why the paper would make me cry. I tried to read out loud to him, but I couldn't get it out and by that time I was bawling. The woman's brother had received Joe's heart, and surely would of died. It was a wonderful thing she did sending that letter. We were very sad, but we were also very happy to know that people were alive because of him. It made a tough Christmas bearable. So the best gift we ever got cost no more than the time it took her to write a letter and the stamp to mail it. (As a side note,Gary's parents eventually found out about all the people(info without names) he helped. And they did meet the man who got his lungs and became friends with him. They also are active members in UNYTS, the local organ donor group. Also the next year Gary's sister had a baby, the first grandchild. There's nothing like a baby to help lift people's spirits.) Ok, I've got to go to bed. Tomorrow is a long day at work, and then I've got to visit my baby brother and his family in the evening. Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas, Remy