Wow, MissSherry. I saw your posts on the Lunas, but didn't realize you had over 100!!!!! You are the busy lady these days, huh? Getting back into the real swing of it after having been hard hit by the hurricanes? I know for me, sometimes I have to take a break one year and kind of let things happen naturally. Last year was a bumper year for us Okies! I raised lots of different species, and while my current plan is to continue that pattern, who knows what tomorrow will bring. I have got my Pearly Everlasting for the American Ladies, so here's hoping! This is one, and the Painted Ladies, that I have year to rear. I think things are starting out a bit slowly this year. We've had cool weather, ferocious north winds, and lots of rain, which is probably stalling a lot of butterfly movement north. So those of you north of me, the butts may be a bit slower for you as well. MissSherry, you remember the BST chrysalis I had from last year in that melanic bunch of cats (I had about 10 of them all at the same time) that did not eclose? Well, it eclosed a couple of weeks ago, so it really does pay to watch them for a year or so to see what happens! We've release our 4 BST chrysalis's that overwintered now, so we're waiting on eggs! My False Nettle is up about 6" now, too, and I've seen a Red Admiral in the yard, so cross your fingers! Thanks for the big welcome! Susan

Hi guys! Glad to see you are still around. These last couple of years I have been working in Panama, near the canal zone, in a development project building affordable housing for locals. It's been exhausting and taken all my energy. During the absence my wife did what she could to maintain the yard with the kids and many things are still around: most of my bushes, trees and daffodils, many crinums, salvias, and even a Hesperaloe and sedums and irises. Overall things still look ok. The soil amended with permatill has fared remarkably well. The soil is low in organic matter but is still workable. So I got some aged turkey manure mixed with more permatill at 60/40 and am working it in as we speak. It should be very nice by summer. Let me know when the swap is going to be. I have some cold hardy crinum, basjoo banana, salvia, iris, and other goodies to exchange. Still having to go back and forth to Panama but I'll try to be here for the exchange. It would help if we can set the date sometime soon so I can make my plane reservations accordingly. My geocities website was taken down by geocities folding so I will have to set up a new one. Hopefully will post pictures next week. RJ

Oh, yeah. I can completely relate. I find it's especially hard, at this time of year, to get motivated. Our kitchen has been 95% done for over a year (main install was early summer 2009; backsplash done winter 2009/2010, then no more progress as we battled other reno projects) and we are FINALLY getting around to finishing the pantry this month. Ive been living with open, door-less cabinets (filled with stuff) and a grimy plywood scrap counter with sharpie marker drawings on it all that time. It's true, your eyes start to not "see" it after a while. But if you are anything like us, once you start, and one little part gets "finished" (for us it was finally putting the trim on a new window) you will get excited again. Here's what I do: -make a list of the projects that are unfinished or that we want to do within the next 6 months. -Sit down with DH and prioritize what should come first, re: what funds are available, weather, time available to work on it, disruption, etc. -Re-order the list, then break the first project into steps to take. Thinking this through helps us to overcome that "AAAAHHHH! Where do we begin?!?!?!?" feeling :) If it makes you feel any better, I've had, or am facing, not only the unfinished kitchen, but two total gut bathroom renos, three walk-in-closet renos, major landscaping projects including hardscaping and landscape stairs, living room renovation with tile and built-ins, chimney relining, building a deck and two porches, and I'm sure there's more. Talk about OVERWHELMED. My DH was really burned out on stuff. Of course he'd procrastinated the tricky bits (how to make the cherry counter corner, how to fit it around existing cabs in a tight space, etc) and it had been hanging over his head for 18 months as a worry. But once he finished something (that window) and saw what a HUGE difference it made, he got motivated to continue. Which is good, because I have learned I can't nag/force him to do something or he gets reeeeeally resentful. Now everyday he says, "doesn't that look so much better?" and I feel like we're back on track :) Good luck.

Hey Goldgirl, I'm not much of a decorator (mostly lurk here to learn as much as I possibly can) but I also went to law school at age 46 so thought I'd mention a few things you might want to think about in planning your office space: First, in my experience, the most successful law students always had at least one or two "study partners" that they studied with regularly, especially right before exams. (Ever see the movie "Paper Chase"?) I know you may be thinking "I'll be so much older than the other students and I'm really used to working by myself so I probably won't bother with study partners." I thought the same thing but then almost immediately teamed up with a young man fresh out of undergrad and a woman who was a couple of years older than myself. Both happened to sit near me in my first-year Torts class and the study partner thing just sort of happened. To this day though, I remain eternally grateful that I teamed up with them because their different learning styles and viewpoints made a major difference in how well I did. During first-year especially the three of us practically lived together and I'm not sure I'd have made it through that year without them. So, if at all possible, plan your office space with the idea that a couple of other people will likely be there studying with you fairly regularly... oftentimes late into the night or even all night. If your office happens to be next to the room where your DH will be sleeping, take pity on him and put something soft and sound-absorbing on both sides of the common wall - and move the master bed as far away from that wall as possible! You might also make sure there is some sort of white-noise generator in the bedroom with him... or else buy him a big box of those really soft ear plugs and get him in the habit of sleeping with them in place! I took over our formal dining room as my study space and, although it was clear across our house and on a different floor from our MBR, my study partners and I still managed to wake DH on more than one occasion when our arguments got just a little too passionate. (Arguing passionately without getting personal/angry was one of the many things I had to learn in law school. LOL!) Instead of a fancy desk, I'd recommend a nice large dining room table with one of its short sides pushed up against a wall that has plenty of electrical outlets and computer connections. You can stack a 3 foot tall bookcase against the wall on top of the table to hold a semester's worth of textbooks plus dictionaries, writing supplies, extra paper, etc. Other than that, you won't need much bookcase space. because now-a-days no one purchases "law books" [a.k.a. case law or statute books] the way students used to have to do. All that stuff is now available online via Westlaw and Lexis Nexis and both companies provide law students with free accounts because they want you to be very comfortable (dependent upon) using their services by the time you join a firm or hang out your own shingle. Then the accounts cease to be free. A small filing cabinet for filing away class handouts, etc., is probably a good idea though. I'd probably tuck that under the table so it was out of the way. Then, around the three open sides of the table, I'd put three or four very comfortable padded upright chairs so that you and your study partners all have somewhere to sit. Regular dining room chairs are okay for short study sessions but, trust me, they start to wear on the coccyx after about 4 or 5 hours. Spend money on comfortable chairs - you're going to log a lot of hours in whatever you select. Also, put a comfy couch or lazyboy chair in the room. Or at least put some big cushy floor pillows and a nice blanket in one corner. Trust me, there'll be times when you or one of your study partners will be desperate to grab 40 winks while the others are looking something up on Westlaw. Plus, when you study till 4:00 a.m., you may not want to risk waking DH by crawling into bed at that hour. Next, make sure that you have PLENTY of light that can be appropriately angled to shine onto whatever you're reading and not up into your eyes. Your eyes will take enough punishment without dealing with inadequate lighting. And don't be at all surprised if you very suddenly find yourself needing bifocals. Don't know if it was mid-life hormones or all the reading but I had to have my vision prescription changed about three times my first year. Also make sure your computer monitor has a non-glare screen. For the sake of your eyes, I'd heartily recommend a very high-quality flat-panel monitor in the largest size you can afford. In addition to your computer, make sure you have a good, relatively high-speed printer. You won't need color - go instead for speedier B&W model. And, if possible, have a second backup printer somewhere in the house because, invariably, at some point you will have a time-limited take-home exam and your printer will decide to give up the ghost an hour before the deadline to turn the d--- thing in! It's like printers (and copiers and fax machines) KNOW when you're under a time crunch. LOL! Speaking of printers, think about where you're going to toss all the excess paper you'll be generating. (Big trash can or recycling box?) Unless your kitchen is right around the corner from your office, see if you can't convert one of those closets into a little "kitchen nook" with room for a coffee pot, a dorm-sized fridge for sodas, and a snack cupboard. If you can't put in plumbing for the nook, get a water cooler so you don't have to traipse to the kitchen to make coffee and then go back again to get it when it is finally ready. Put a big white-board on one wall. I know they're not at all decorative but they are so terribly useful. I still can't live without mine and most of the associates in my law firm have one up in their offices. Oh, and if you're at all interested in becoming a litigator - as opposed to a transactional attorney - during your second and third year you'll want to get active in moot court and mock trial. If so, you should put a full-sized mirror up on one wall of your so you can see yourself as you practice your presentations. Hope some of this proves helpful. I know it is not "decorating advice" as such but... Good luck with law school! It's quite an adventure and one that many women our ages would be terrified to undertake. Proud of you and, if I can ever offer any advice/help specific to being one of the OWLS (older, wiser, law-students), feel free to email me. bevangel_72 at yahoo.com