That's the begging letter...if it moves you to help me and you need hard copies please let me know. I am putting the blog link on the bottom and that has an example of the press release a major Hort group asked me to write to they can encourage their members to help.... I am planning a charity plant sale to benefit Children�s Miracle Network (CMN) Hospitals in support of Children's Hospital Boston (see enclosed) to be held this May 2011 . I would like your assistance. I successfully facilitated a small-scale plant sale May 2010 and raised $10,500.00. I hope to raise $20,000 in 2011. I am asking for your support in donating: * Any plant material such as Aloe Vera plants, African Violets, and more common seasonal annuls and perennials * propagation supplies (seeds, light carts, trays, plug cells, starting mix, plant tags, fertilizer, seed mats, etc) * Any staff that would like to spend a few hours sharing their knowledge of plants at the sale; monetary donations were always greater when a green-thumb was on hand to advise. Volunteers will receive a one day shopping pass to Costco Avon. * Any other items you think would be helpful in this endeavor would be welcome as well. Costco Avon will provide one extra large CMN Hospitals Sponsorship Poster with your business information posted in a prominent location for any donation worth $500 at retail. The 6 Costco locations in MA and NH, partnering with the CMN Hospitals, raised over $147,000 for Children 's Hospital Boston in 2010. Please join us in helping a great cause that has tremendous impact on the lives of so many local children and families. This request can be validated by contacting Shannon Collins (Warehouse Manager) or Eric DeSatnick (Marketing Manager) at Costco Avon, 508-232-4001. For any other questions, or to coordinate a donation, you may contact me (or my husband Aaron) directly. Michelle Tarver crazyplantladyTHISISTOENDSPAMBOTS@aarontarver.org If you want to email me take out the caps Here is a link that might be useful: Blong link to my 1st press relase.!

Hello Everyone, I will post here and on Annie's new thread. Diane, and pjhendrick, I am interested in any creeping phlox that are not already spoken for. Lisa, if no one has shown interest in the dwarf pine, please save for me. Daylilies - several were bringing them, mmqchdygg, I recall and a few others. I have all yellow. If you have any other colors for me to mix in, I would love one. I have promised a spider and a pothos plant to Blake. Will bring something for the table. Have other plants and garden related items to bring, just not fully organized yet... that is my afternoon activity! I do know that I will be bringing a number of Bugleweed Ajuga, Chocolate Chip, as well as a couple Blue Festuca (12" silver-blue foliage grass, grows anywhere! Very pretty no care plant) See you all Sunday. Susan

Reading this thread makes me cry . . . How easy it is to tell someone else that it's their own fault they're being abused. People who would never think to tell a woman who was being beaten by her husband or one that had been attacked by the "nice" guy she'd been dating that they were at fault seem to have no problem turning around and telling a parent that they're just getting what they deserve if another adult who just happens to be someone to whom they contributed some DNA and whom they tried to raise as a good person is the one causing this kind of damage. I admit, I wasn't a perfect parent. I was abused as a child/adolescent/young adult by everyone from my parents to the man I thought (at the time) was the love of my life. In an effort to stop the cycle of abuse I swore never to raise my hand to my child. However, I guess I went too far the other way - in an effort to engender a sense of self-esteem, self-respect and self-love that I never felt I was overly sensitive to her needs, wants and feelings. The odd thing is that her younger sister, whom I also raised, is nothing like her. Her sister would never think of sending me to the hospital with a cracked wrist and a concussion, or calling me a disgusting b**ch or stealing my car, my money, my credit and debit cards. The older one is manipulative, cruel and narcissistic. But she has my grandson, who is a powerless, innocent pawn in her twisted view of what I "owe" her. And I can't make her move out without her taking him with her, thus leaving him homeless and vulnerable - especially when she has no one else to take her stress and anger out on once she's gone. She's never been physically abusive toward him, but I've heard the way she talks to and treats him when she's angry . . . When it's just the two of them what's to stop it from escalating? What?!? Call the police and/or social services, you say? But I/we don't have any bruises and she says we're lying and over-reacting. Charge her with theft? She lives with me and I voluntarily let her drive my car at one point so now it's not considered theft any more - they tell me to go to court and sue her to get my car back. Kick her out? And what happens to the sweet 8-yr-old boy she has in her power? And how do I pay for the windows she'll break, the car she'll trash in retaliation, the doors she'll kick in, the apartment she'll get me kicked out of with her disruptive behavior? Move? Yes, because I have hundreds or even thousands of dollars just sitting in a bank account that she hasn't stolen or manipulated out of me yet, so I can just pick up, break my lease and go somewhere else. And none of these reasons even begin to touch on the intense love I have for this woman/child to whom I gave birth and who has been part of my life longer than anyone except my parent. Or how I want her to have a better life than I did and, therefore, feel a compulsive need to protect her - even from herself. Are you a parent? Look at that infant or toddler or child sleeping so peacefully there by you and tell me you don't want to protect him / her from harm. That feeling doesn't go away just because they get bigger - maybe you learn to step back and let them fly on their own, but the impulse to protect will ALWAYS be there. So when you know that going to the police will have life-long negative consequences for him/her you hesitate. Yes, when I had bruises I called the police and pressed charges and had custody of her son removed and the positive consequences of those actions were much shorter lived than the negative. She got off drugs and straightened up, sure, but now she can't get a job because of her record. And because she can't get a job she depends on me, and because she depends on me she resents me, and because she resents me she abuses me. How do you fix that circle? Giving her more current charges only makes it worse. Thanks for judging me on top of all the stress I'm going through trying to find my way through this dark and dangerous part of my life, it's making it so much easier for me to see and negotiate my path.

Much of DH's extended family lives one town from Burlington and they ALL have garages. Most houses in Mass do. unless you are on a tiny lot (usually an old neighborhood or in a more urban area) or are in a starter home. For example, many of the post-WWII small ranches don't have garages. Pretty much anything built since 1960-65 will. I looked up Burlington in realtor.com (single family homes with at least 1 garage) and came back with 54 listings. And that is just Burlington, I didn't look at any neighboring towns. But if you want a small town Burlington isn't it. Burlington is on two highways and is sort of the line between the more urban and less urban northwest suburbs. I grew up north of Burlington and considered it much more city-ish when I was growing up. In Mass. they don't really speak of "Boston suburbs" unless you are in the towns just west of Boston (generally called "Metro West"). Burlington is northwest. You will also here reference to the North Shore, South Shore, Merrimack Valley, etc. Knowing exactly where in Burlington the office is will help you pin down which direction you may want to look. Carlisle is a small town (they heavily restrict growth) near Burlington, but it is very expensive and there is a certain aspect of "keeping up with the Jones'" when you are in Carlisle, Concord, Lincoln and Lexington.