Oh man!! I'm so sorry!! You must live near me, I was in the Milwaukie fred meyers when it was coming down today, and the sound of the hail hitting the ceiling there was crazy. I was sure Id have garden damage, but came home and it didn't hit me here in SE Portland.

Part of the problem with crabgrass in bermuda is they both love the same conditions. The advantage you have is in withholding moisture, especially in the spring. The crabgrass will die at first frost. The bermuda will slow down and go dormant about the same time. No advantage yet. Whatever you do, do not over seed with rye grass to keep your lawn green over the winter. There are several reasons for this, but one is so you can get the earliest green up of the bermuda possible. You want every sun ray to hit the grass and bring it out of dormancy. Over the winter you should be watering once per month. When the temps rise into the 70s, you can move to once every 3 weeks. Temps in the 80s you can go to once every 2 weeks. Above ninety and go to weekly watering. Crabgrass needs continual moisture to germinate. If you withhold moisture, the soil will be dry most of the time and the crabgrass seed will not germinate. If you have a very dense turf, the crabgrass will not move in.

I'd re-post this with links to the pictures...none of the links work. I had a similar situation this last fall. I had 2 arborists looks at it and ended up getting it pruned off, its looks goofy right now. I could post a picture as well. To answer your other questions: When to prune - DO NOT prune it now, this is the worst time to prune it. Maples should be pruned early summer or late fall. Being from the milwaukee area and seeing and growing AB maple, the tree will be in striking distance of your house in 10 years. The chances of the co-dominant leader snapping really depends on the pic. The tigher the crotch angle the worse off.

When my mil turned 75 we had a sort of nostalgia party for her. She was always reminiscing about singing around a campfire , and her birthday is mid October, so we cleared out our pole barn and put in a fire pit near one of the ends. I decorated it with new straw on the ground and corns stalks at all the poles, pumpkins everywhere and large potted mums in bushel baskets. We had as much of the family there as possible for an outdoor pumpkin carving and hot dog roast over the fire, s'mores, and singing. My BIL and his family spent the night and we watched an old movie she liked that evening. We all gave her cards with personal notes on her 75 years and how she had influenced each of us. It was the best party ever because she was in heaven. You don't have time for anything like that, of course, but i thought I would add it because those shared experiences--- whatever they are--- are more precious than any other gift. People with means want what every one else who is growing old wants.....special time with their families.