Well, I hope I am still welcome after my crabby "can't come" response before. I apologize...I know I was being short. I was just so frustrated with DH's response when I asked him about this and I guess I just let it out here. As he reminded me...we are suppose to take a week's vacation in late August and that would eat up funds (air fare, hotels, car rental, dog sitter, etc.) and thinking we might not be able to afford to do that and the IU4. Plus we have the wedding coming up with all the plans and expenses that come with it. Then there is DH taking time from work and finding a sitter for Scout is always a problem. In the past, my sister has stayed here with Scout & mom whenever we go away, but mom is getting so bad now. Paul reminded me what a wreck I was just being away for a long week-end, thinking of my mom. Frankly, I dont know if I can even take the week we are suppose to take. I know I will worry about mom the whole time IÂm gone. Anyway, he presented so many problems to me that I didn't see any way to make it work. I just donÂt feel comfortable with mom being home alone for any length of time anymore. I just had a call last week from the Red Cross saying mom pressed her emergency button and they couldnÂt reach her. I couldnÂt either. After I raced over there in a pair of old sweats, no socks,no underwear (LOL...maybe thatÂs too personal) no face wash, no teeth brushing and of course, forgetting my keys to her place. Heart pounding, head pounding. Ringing the doorbell over and over, pounding on the doors....thought I would have to have the police break down the door because it would take up too much time for me to race back home and get my keys and come back again. Finally, I thought to go to her bedroom window and pound on it and *relief* she finally came to the door. She was fine, she just didnÂt *hear* anything and didnÂt remember pressing her emergency button! I was a wreck, to say the least. She is starting to tell me things that make *no sense*! In my heart I know she probably would be better off if she were somewhere where she could be monitored 24/7, but IÂm just not ready to push mom in to giving up her freedom and my sister is in as much denial as I am. But I worry about her all the time when I am not with her and I canÂt be with her 24/7. Anyway, IÂm losing my train of thought. I was thinking (though a bit ashamed of myself for thinking it) that if DH stayed home, he could sit Scout and check on my mom and if I got this job at the library, maybe I could afford the extra trip. And, just wanted to say, *if* I can somehow work it out I hope you guys will forget my rash/rude answer here earlier. I know you guys are sweethearts and arenÂt going to say anything publicly to hurt or embarrass me, so you can always email me. I know things are a little strained with me...IÂm in a funk and a little stressed out (probably of my own making) and get the feeling that maybe others are too? In any case, I hope all that can will get to go to the IU4! I know you will have a wonderful, memorable time! Okay, put that out there...Ei

Michelle and Denise, this is New England and the sight of a Speedo is relatively rare and usually means wearer either, A.) really knows how to swim properly and well (I remind you, this is NE and Ian Crocker is not the norm in northern New England), B.) dives (this is NE), or C.) is from Quebec or Europe. ;) On that fateful first date I was charmed by his witty and droll sense of humor and thrilled to find his legs long, athletic, and shapely enough to have fared well in a 16th. century doublet. I was definitely hooked and have remained so for pushin' 25 yrs. now. One does not "discipline cats", PM. You don't have have since they're already the most perfect creatures on the face of the earth. Peacocks are the most fascinating birds, but they certainly have a disconcerting cry. We have a Kirby vacuum and I hate it. It's heavy and louder than I think it ought to be, it's like dragging around a compact car. But it works very, very well. My brother inherited a Mehle (sp?) when my aunt died and he really likes it. My recommendation for animal hair is a good, "beater bar" on the rug attachment and a smaller version of same for upholstery. Those are definitely two happy canines, V.. But I've never seen a wet Lab. that wasn't happy, lol! I am not particularly impressed by all the "new and improved" introductions from plant breeders. It seems to me that the more they try the more they fail and they really seems to have focussed on Echinacea recently. That sensibility, coupled with the color (not my favorites) leaves me ambivilent about the Echinacea in question. It will be interesting to see what is decided and how the introduction fares. Sounds like the chow at Deanne's was pretty good! did the kitties get any filet mignon? Cement for your birthday sounds good to me. I want to see the new additions EMPTY, so I may assess the lines... ;). But no doubt you've already crammed something into them. Not sure what the weather will bring today, humid again and foggy with a threat of a shower. Yesterday it burned off and left us with a lovely day. I weeded diligently for several hours and dug two holes to receive shrubs. Hole digging on the Compound is frequently an exercise in frustration, requiring the proper mindset to address the many buried rocks and a willingness to shift the hole to one side or the other if you can't dislodge the rock in question. I did get another Vaccinium corymbosum into the ground and took the (Cindy)loppers to the taller of the two we transplanted in the spring. I was gratified to note the extent of new growth from the bases of them and that encouraged me to trim the tops back more aggressively than I otherwise might've. I should probably get moving and eat something because we're going to try to finish off the remainder of the wood this morning. After that? maybe more weeding or maybe a cruise to the nursery to pick up the Viburnums and MAYBE we'll get them in the ground. A longshot, for sure, but it would really do my heart glad to see something like that happen. Jerri, I am routinely shocked by how little people consider the emotion well-being for animals. For the first time in years I actually saw a TV ad. to spay/neuter your pets. Evidently, New England has a pretty good record about that stuff (good enough that the shelter import puppies from other regions because they're relatively scarce), but the shelters are awash in cats. I had a surprising encounter with a rather unpleasant woman yesterday. Rex and I were returning from our walk and we walked down the field/parking lot for the church across the street. I was informed it was "church property" and asked if I walked my dog in the new garden/cemetary for cremated remains?? Of course not. I asked if there had been problems with that sort of thing and was icily told I "was the one with the problem". OK. We have a key to the church and the rectory (have for years), and in the nearly 20 yrs. we've lived here no one has ever told us we may not walk the dog over there. Yesterday, in fact, there were two famiilies picnicing with 3 happy dogs between them. Many people enjoy fishing from the rocks and bring their dogs with them. I was stunned and pointedly asked her why she was clearly so angry with me when I had done nothing wrong. She blustered some more and I've decided to discreetly inquire about this with my neighbors and good friends who are members of the congregation. We had lunch out yesterday and noted with surprise that this was probably the last shot of summer as so many kids go back to school in August now. It will be quieter this week and busy on the weekend and then it will begin to wind down for the season. I'm not ready; i always wish summer would go on longer than it does. It makes me a little bit sad, actually. I make the bed and I tuck in the sheets. Mum preferred the "cocoon wrap" and I would frequently find her contentedly swaddled in the down comforter when I'd go down in the morning. Hi Marian. TTYL.

Hi Pixie, When you posted about Little House on the Prairie I looked some things up and was planning to post but just haven't found the time! I'm glad you explained why you wanted to do the plains! At least now it makes sense! After you posted I looked up DeSmet on google Earth--to get the "lay of the land," and I think your daughter would be really disappointed with the "plains" we have out here compared to the terrain you'll find in eastern SD. The link I posted to a pic of "our" plains up above really is pretty accurate--there is simply nothing out there! If you do DeSmet I doubt that she'll actually be looking at "the land" very much when you do it, and she'll have all the Little House things, which is what she actually thinks of when she's reading the books. (Love it when kids are reading books!) So rather than taking her for a hot, dry, flat drive, and destroying her mental image of Little House, I now very definitely think you should skip the plains and enjoy the extra time in the hills! A couple things about the fishing if you're gonna stick that in. Wherever you do it you'll need a Colorado fishing license, so be sure you plan ahead for that so you're not disappointed. And if you do decide to go to the Poma Ranch near Pagosa Springs, you'd really need to stay there two nites to have time for fishing. Checkin is at 3:00, so that wouldn't leave much time on the day you arrive, and checkout is at 10:00, so there wouldn't be time on the day you were leaving. The Weminuche River that runs thru the ranch flows very gently and it could easily be fished wading or from the bank. Check out their Fishing page at the link below, and there's more fishing info on their FAQs page, including that they rent "basic" and "kids" fishing gear at the ranch. I don't really know anything about fishing so I'm not sure what all that would include, but if you're seriously considering it and have any questions, call the ranch and ask for Karen! Also, since the river flows gently--and is shallow (a "river" out here is not the same as a "river" in the midwest or east!) your daughter might enjoy wading around in it (probably with a pair of cotton tennis shoes or at least flip flops since the bottom will be "rocky")! But she probably wouldn't stay in too long since water in the mountains is COLD--it's melted snow--and the ranch is at 8,000'! Also, if you're seriously considering staying there, PM me and I'd be glad to send you some more pictures of the inside (and outside) of the Hideaway cabin! I've stayed there three times now so I have pics of the outsides of the other cabins too. This is a favorite pic! I couldn't help but smile the first time I drove in there and saw the Welcome Home sign! I immediately knew I was gonna love the place! (The sign is on the back side of the "bathhouse" building that has the "waterfall showers!") And before I got to the welcome home sign (on the small building on the right) I ran into this roadblock on the drive in! (If it looks gloomy, that's because it was raining on and off on the drive from Pagosa to the ranch the first year I stayed there! Then, right after I got there, the sun came out just in time for sunset!) This was a view heading out of Pagosa toward the ranch that year! The ranch is in them thar hills! I also highly recommend the "Cozy House" at Dolores for the Cortez part of your trip, and would be glad to send you a bunch of pics of that place too to help you decide if you're interested. One more thing since Zinnia brought up Dinosaur Ridge! Just a little further down the road, in Morrison, is a place called Tiny Town! Perhaps in lieu of Little House your daughter would like to see some "little houses"---and other buildings! I don't have time to live link these pages, but here's a copy/paste link to their site, and if you google for images of Tiny Town you'll come up with lots of pics of the buildings with people standing by them so you can get the scale. I haven't been out to this place since the late 70's when it was a run down (tiny) ghost town all overgrown with weeds, but it's been all spiffied up and is back in business, and this could be a real fun Kid Thing! You could plan your whole last day to do Red Rocks, the dinosaurs, and Tiny Town, and then head to the airport for your last nite's lodging! http://tinytownrailroad.com/ Out of time for tonite! I can't wait to find out what all you finally decide to do! Skybird Here is a link that might be useful: Fishing on the V. A. Poma Ranch!

It's great to read about Italy, I feel in love on my first trip in 2001, and went back twice since then. We rented homes in Tuscany twice. We had almost a week in Venice and it was too much, I loved it but could have done with 3 days max. We actually walked for hours and sat in parks and saw more of where the locals live, that was nice. Florence is my favorite I have to admit; it has a lot to offer and is smaller than Rome. We were in Rome only 48 hours, I really do want to go back, DH not so much. We did a mini vatican tour with a private guide, who whisked us through , in a good way. I'd want to explore where the romans live, where they shop, etc... The most annoying thing for me were the itinerant fake designer purse sellers, everywhere !! I don't know why they don't chase them away in a sterner way. I'm against that whole concept so it irks me big time. Food is amazing everywhere, I agree with that, from mid to high end, we had wonderful meals. Quatro Stagione pizza I had for lunch almost every day and never tired of it. Gelato did not taste different than the stores we have here, Montreal is very cosmopolitan for food. Paris is still my favorite city of all times though, as far as walking miles and miles and being in awe of everything. Maybe it's because I've been there many times and it feels more familiar. I'm glad you had a wonderful trip, you are braver than me, I did not want the pigeons on me at all.