Thanks everyone for your support. I know I need to leave but I suppose I've always been a sucker to help people. Amber - Thank you for your words. You are right, the only person I can save is myself. I suppose the battle is really working up the courage to say enough is enough. I struggle because I hate hurting people or feeling like I am letting them down but in the same regard I suppose by me doing things for my partner, he will never do anything to help himself or his son. Colleenoz - thank you for your kind words. I never thought about it like the way you put it. Seeing that he could turn like that if something bad happened to me is some what alarming. Because when I think of the answer to something happening to me and would he be there, I can't answer that. And if I can't answer that, then there is a real big problem. LaVerne - Thank you for your comment. Do I want to change? Yes i really do, so I guess I know what I have to do. Reading Lady - Sadly this situation is real, it would be nice if I was making it up but unfortunately I am not. I know everyone on his mother's side has bi-polar and basically have lived their lives in and out of either jails or foster homes. Sometimes I think the cycle can be broken but in the same regards, it's not my responsibility to have hero complex (i.e. trying to save everyone). Let me just say this, I know that none of you know me from a bar of soap, which in turn makes you more truthful. I appreciate your honesty and i thank you for your wisdom. I know everyone goes through hard stages in life, but you are right. If I am not happy with the situation, then only I can change it. I think it's time for me to worry about myself and get back what I want. If I succeed (and I truly hope I do) than please know every little word by each of you contributed to giving me strength. You all really have no idea how much you have put my mind, heart and bank balance at rest.

I have the same range and had installation issues too, although not with Ikea cabinets or installers. I had custom cabinets made and because every inch was very important to me, despite what the spec sheet said, we (the cabinet maker and I) decided that we could get away with 1/2 inch on each side instead of the full inch. Well, I could only get either the lazy susan cabinet door on one side of the range OR the spice pullout on the other to open (by shifting the range a tiny bit from one side to the other). My cabs are frameless, so full overlay. IIRC, we ended up changing the 1/2 inch filler to one inch on one side, which threw the symmetry off by 1/2 inch. I did not make the installer put in 1/2 inch filler on the upper cabs for two reasons: 1. I thought it would look weird and 2. I was at least partially responsible for the error. So now, my upper cabinets are shifted 1/2 inch off from the base cabs, but it's really hard to tell. My granite also needed fixing, but I had a strip along the back with two short seams. My granite guy graciously fixed it for free by making a slightly longer strip. The seams only have about 1.5 inches showing - they are barely visible and I think the strip of granite in the back is standard for slide-in ranges. Good luck. I think this can be resolved such that you would not even know that there was ever a problem.

As someone who root prunes EVERYTHING (except mayyyybe edibles, but that depends) if it's been in a pot for more than a year or two, I think your plant will be fine. If you take off that much of the bottom and leave the whole top, some suffering is to be expected. :) When I first joined GW, it took me a couple of WEEKS to understand what Al was talking about lol. But then I did, and then I seriously repotted every single one of my plants into GM OR 5-1-1 over the course of a couple of days with no regard for weather or season, haha. A few plants did what yours is doing...."OMG WHAT HAPPENED TO ME," and others shined from minute one, but I didn't lose a single plant to the business. I had one croton that quite literally flopped over immediately that Al had me bag (since it was small), to increase the humidity to and even that came back. And don't be hard on yourself. I had been gardening for years when I first came on board with GM so it wasn't like I didn't have "experience," and had no idea I was doing anything wrong; just thought a 50% survival rate was normal, lol. I expected and hoped for slightly better but it's basically 100% success at this point with anything I put into a gritty mix of some sort. I can't quite say the same for things I still use regular mix for, like veggies, but it is really up there in that case, too(say, 85% lol), just because I understand more about a plant and the root system, though water movement is still not checked off solely because there is too much to read, haha. Here was my first foray into gritty mix. Hope it helps! http://forums2.gardenweb.com/discussions/1378652/taking-on-gritty-mix

any chance you have a pic of the premium mulch before spreading??? .. looks kinda sticky to me ... does it cover the soil ...??? many weed seed needs to touch the soil ... and the idea is to cover the soil so they cant get there ... also.. if you cover the seed on the soil.. before germination... you will have a greatly reduced germination rate ... i cant really tell. from this pic.. which was the problem ... depending on what product i got for mulch .. i went as deep as 4 to 6 inches.. so that when it settled.. it was the 2 to 3 inches i wanted ... if you put down 2 to 3.. and after settling.. it was less.. then you might need more.. to avoid this ... ken ps: because of my 5 acres.. i had a few tree removers who would dump chippings at my place ... which had a lot of green leaves ... and that was why.. i had to apply 6 inches ... by the time the leaves dried.. and the chips settled.. i might end up with the 2 to 3 inches you speak of ...