Reading all of your posts have made me realize I am not alone in how I feel about losing my Mom.. I lost my Mom Sept 10th 2010 she died of complcations of a debilitating stroke that she had a year prior.. It was my worse nightmare her dying as when she had the stroke in 2009 she didn't really know me most of the time and she had no idea where she was or what happened to her and could do nothing for herself so really i lost her twice.. I had went to visit her the night before she had her stroke and I stayed late and she walked me to the door i can remember her waving goodbye to me how did I know that would be the last time she would do that or be the same person.. I feel guilty for leaving her that night but I didn't know this was going to happen.. I always called her every morning to make sure she was up and had ate and taken her pills but she didn't answer the phone ..I wasn't concerned as she sometimes slept late so I waited a little while and called again she still didn't answer so I called her neighbor and asked if she had seen MOm and if she would go to her apt and check on her I just was not thinking anything was wrong..Her friend did and she said Mom didn't answer the door but she said it sounded like she could hear Mom's voice.. So I got myself together and went to her apt we had a hard time getting in as she had locked the screen door. When we got in I found Mom on the floor in a sort of a twisted uncomfortable position ,I said Mom what happened do you know who I am and she said yes that I was her Mom I knew something was wrong , we called the emergency squad and they came and tried to get Mom up and to stand and her legs were like rubber and she was not speaking things that made sense the apt was a mess as she had been stumbling and falling trying to stand or get some where she had bloody bruises on her arms . We got her to the hospital and they xrayed her and ran tests she had had a very bad blood clot stroke that should have killed her they said but didn't it left her paralyzed on her whole right side and plus affected her sight as she saw double it was bad.. They told me there was nothing they could do she stayed in the hospital for 4 days and then told me I had to decide something ..I knew I couldn't take care of her by myself as I had severe back problems and she was going to need 24 hr care I had no other siblings or no other family close and my Mom nor I had the money to hire someone to help me.So against all I beleived and didn't want to do i had to put her in a nursing home something I swore i would never do .. The year I had her in there was a nightmare in itself,I had to fight with them not literally but you know what I mean to get them to take care of her right I was always upset everytime I visited her as I knew things were not right I would talk to them and ask why ,they would always blame it on some one else she had MRSA twice while she was there and an infection of the colon called C-Diff both staff infections were very contagious.. I talked to people outside of the nursing home to try to get help and called the state and couldn't get anything accomplished they don't care about elderly people and maybe because Mom was on Medicaid maybe that was not good either..It just was a living nightmare I was so upset all of the time after I would leave seeing her it affected my health and I hated seeing Mom like she was as she would not want to have lived if she knew she was having to depend on someone else to do everything for her and she was totally bedfast.. I was the only one to go and visit her as all other family was far away and the nursing home knew that and i think they took advantage of it I tried to go at different times but it didn't help it was just so hard and my husband was not a supportive person for me so i was dealing by myself which was very difficult.. She very seldon knew who I was she could talk at times and sometimes she was silent I continued to talk to her..The times she knew me and was able to tell me she loved me i will cherish in my heart..I was with her the day and through the night till the next moring when she passed holding her hand and singing to her as I always did the whole time she was in there..I would try to get her to sing with me the songs she knew to try to keep her mind alert and talking.. I just have guilt of having to put her in the nursing home and how she had was taken care I understand nursing home are short staff but I think they could do better then they do ,there were a few that really cared and did a good job but most of them could have cared less and the ones that would take the time and do a good job they would let them go so sad.. I miss my Momma so much I miss her voice being able to ask her things and hugs she was my best friend and was there when no one else was always..I feel when she died a part of me went with her there is an emptiness inside of me .. We don't know how it feels to lose a parent or anyone until we experience it ourselves.. Some people can just deal and get on with it ..Lot of people don't want to hear how you feel or what you are experienceing and we need to be able to talk about our loved one it does help.. Some days are so overwheming that I don't I am ever going to be able to deal and then a few days will go by and I am ok but My Mom is always in my thoughts each day.. I know she is by my side at times or comes in my thoughts ,I really don't think it is going to get easier the pain at times is so great..It is just so lonely at times.. It is hard to keep it all in some days I will just cry alot till its all out then i will be ok ..The strangest things will set the crying in and comes on me when I least expect.. My heart goes out to each one of you that has lost a loved one and know I understand and feel your pain.. I do know that if it was not for my faith in God I would be in worse shape then i am I know that he helps and that crying and talking about your loved one is part of the grief process.

Thanks guys! Breezy: I cannot remember the paint color but my painter is still working in the basement so I'll ask him tomorrow. I wanted a warm grey for that room. Neutral but not a cold feeling. Enduring: the kids' bath is black slate. I love slate but did not want as much variation in size of the tiles as most multicolor slate tends to have lots of variation...easy to stub toes. Black slate does not and I loved the black/white theme so it is easy to change accessories as the kids grow up. The guest bath is slate but not black. It is actually mostly navy with some gold tones. Very interesting and again less variation in size. Still waters: we had the heating system reworked (boiler in basement so its radiant heat) so we adjusted some of the baseboard heaters and took that one out and kept the one on the back wall. Worked out well to add the extra storage.

Love, love, love your kitchen. What a beautiful space and functional, too! Being able to cook 8 pizzas with people in the kitchen with you and not having to ask anyone to move is remarkable and truly a testament to how well you designed the kitchen's workflow. I wish I'd have seen your idea of having the HVAC guy cut two panels of galvanized for inside your cupboard doors before I ordered a magnetic board for my command center. I have a feeling that people will be referring to your idea for a long time for their own uses. :)

Yeah, 'Sky King' is much closer to yellow, if that's what RF is hoping to create. In fact just before the flowers drop, it's competitive with the with the better, more durable east coast yellows like 'Yates Treena'. Unfortunately it opens pink! BVT X mac opens light pink and fades to white. I just took a picture of HG X mac. Looking better, it really enjoyed the 3rd wettest May on record and made a nice new rosette of leaves. It was incredibly dreary...most established rhodies are making extra-big leaves. Biggest on this one I measured at roughly 9". Thanks for this plant. Another hybrid that might have worked is 'Yates Treena' X 'Fieldbrook'. 'Fieldbrook' is Singing Tree hybrid that opens VERY orange. I was shocked when I saw it. As close to orange as something like 'Medusa', but more fluorescent/day glo orange vs. spanish orange. Hoping it will bring some intensity to 'Yates Treena', which is very pale some years, but otherwise a good 'hardy yellow'. 'Fieldbrook' isn't very hardy so I might never plant it out here, but just use it for breeding. (something I said would never got into...but oh well!) I also put some HG on (BVT X mac) and on 'Sky King'. IIRC the former has already been crossed by someone else, but there's no harm in sending some seed to the exchange.