Sunni Forum is the place to ask questions. It is not wrong to ask forum related question even if similar question has been asked before and there is no wrong question. Forum is for the novice as well as for the experts. Most of the time you will get detail responses from some and short responses from others who have been active in the forum for a longer time and if they know that the subject has been answered in a number of different threads from different perspectives then they may ask you to do a search of the forum using the "Search" capability for the forum to get additional info. Sometimes you can resurrect and old related thread (even from archives) to ask question with a different twist to the same issue. It is OK to be forgiving if a sentence does not sound sweet. You may get much better informed answer from the same person next time. Yes, sometimes I get friendly reminders from my friends in GW and I start thinking 'what did I do again!'. What I mean is that one means well in one's own way but it it may look different from another angle.

Well, this is an old thread, but I just found it today. Anyway, I see people try to cultivate cloudberries and say it is difficult, and the plant carries no berries. A little background about myself. I am born, grew up and lived in northern part of Norway. Since the cloudberries have a high content of vitamin c, it was special laws for this berries in northern part of Norway. It was heavily regulated and if you picked an unripe cloudberry you could at least be heavily fined by the police. I am not a scholar of any kind when it comes to berries, just loves to eat them. But, picking the berries was a major event in the place we lived. I have been told that the cloudberry plant does not carry berries before 7 years have past. And, the deal with the unripe cloudberry that is red is that when you pick it, you rip off the leaves that grips the berry, and the plant is then useless again, and then it takes 7 years before it comes a new berry there. Since the cloudberry had such an importance for people living so far north with far less veggies and fruit, the laws was strict. It was a matter of life or death for people. A bit like stealing a horse from someone in the wild west, you were pretty doomed then. When the cloudberry gets ripe, the leaves that holds the berry, releases the grip of the berry, and opens up giving free access for your fingers to just pick the berry. So, it is a smart plant, and for those who are greedy and can not wait, they ruin the plant so they will not get anything the next summer. So, the plant punish those people. :-)

Ugh, tough one. If you think the baby shower is going to be a problem with your MIL, wait till the baby comes.... Just let it be. Your true friends will understand. When my baby shower was given many moons ago it was at a restaurant so ergo - no kids. When I hosted my SIL very elegant luncheon baby shower (I am godmother), I hoped for no children. I addressed the envelopes properly, however, I did have some people show up with babies with no advance warning, or if there was, MIL (mom of my SIL) never mentioned it. It was really no big deal. My daughter was there also since she is my SIL's godchild, so she really was supposed to be the only child in attendance. It worked out fine in the end and no hard feelings. If it were me and I have been at this MIL thing for 20 plus years, just let it go. Enjoy your shower, let the moms of the kids who come worry about their charges. It's your day. You will soon learn that you can only control what you do not what MIL does. In fact, despite the fact that I hosted the shower, MIL wanted to do the cake - here's what was on the cake "Bye Bye Tummy - Hello Baby". Rather unique don't you think? I just shrug my shoulders and say whatever. Its either that or you are in for a long road of being upset at everything your MIL does because its a coming.... Best wishes on your new baby!

You didn't mention what billing structure your current designer has? Some just bill hourly and give you furnishings at cost. Some bill hourly and charge a small percentage above cost. Some have no hourly , but charge a big percentage above cost, which sometimes ends up above retail. I learnt a lot with my first designer who was all smoke-and-mirrors with her charges and billing. Unfortunately she lives locally and I still have to deal with her socially, but I let everyone know that they have to analyze her contract and that she has little accountability in her billing. Live and learn!