We had to get rid of our "Mme. Isaac Pereire" because it defoliated from disease in Richmond, Ca along with its pink sport "Mme. Ernst Calvat" grown in Oakland, ca which I had bought for its' intense fragrance. M.I.P is one of the most fragrant roses on earth, but there are others equally as fragrant and much healthier when grown in the East Bay. I've been documenting roses that bloom well in no-spray and organic method gardens in the san francisco east bay in both public and private gardens for the last 10 years. Healthiest red roses out of dozens of Old Red roses evaluated in the s.f. east bay: Francis Dubruiel" FFFF out of five F's for fragrance. several old rose nurseries sell this rose which has an intense damask rose type scent, the type of scent which one expects from a red rose. "Crimson GLory" FFFFF out of five F's. shapely red roses that are deeply fragrant. I found this on the property I bought last year and have never needed to spray it with anything. Slightly less fragrant but still very fragrant, and just as healthy in this area, is "Etoille de Hollande" a red rose that appears to enjoy a large fan and enthusiastic fan base. a modern H.T. from the 1960's: "Papa Meilland" huge goblet shaped crimson roses that fade with purple on the edges. I find myself singing that old Joni Mitchell song to it..."I could drink a case of you" for its perfume is so very intoxicating. A must for collectors of fragrant red H.T.s.. if vintagegardens.com and roguevalleyroses.com doesn't have these roses in stock, I'd try hortico.com or pickeringnurseries.com in the winter for bare root plants. Caveat Rosa: "Gruss an Teplitz" became defoliated in two local gardens in Richmond and Emeryville and both rosebushes were destroyed. "Chyrsler Imperial" was destroyed after becoming defoliated from disease in my neighbors garden. two other roses I had to get rid of because they were coated with disease, were "Monsieur Boncenne" a red H.P., and "Rose des Rescht" both of these roses were coated with rust and defoliated. Both were unsightly and sadly useless because a rosebush cannot bloom without foliage to allow photosynthesis. Hope this is of help. Lux.

I think even if you share a household, you need to learn some boundaries. To protect yourself, mostly. But also because it's right. True, your mom is too "lazy" to make those albums. But maybe that's just a pipe dream; maybe she thinks she "ought" to put photos in albums, and just can't admit that she doesn't really WANT to. That's often behind people's laziness--the fact that the benefits of that thing are just not apparent. If people don't do something, I believe it's because they don't genuinely WANT to. No matter what their mouth says. (and frankly, there is NO empirical benefit to putting photos in albums w/ fancy paper and stickers. The fancy paper and stickers are make-work, and should be done only by those people who get some sort of artistic satisfaction out of doing it. Your mom obviously doesn't get enough satisfaction to bother with it. She's ALLOWED not to want to actually follow through on her albums. Of course it would be nice if she could be honest with herself and say, "I'm content w/ these photos in boxes, and I'm going to stop kidding myself that I'll really make albums," and then toss the excess scrapbooking stuff. But having only recently been through that process, I can tell you that it's not an easy one. It involves creating an entirely new self-image.) I think you need to stop taking responsibility for "fixing" your mom--whether she's morally deficient ("irresponsible and immature") or ill ("psychological disorder"). You *can't* fix her. She's a grownup, and if she's going to change, it will be only because she wants to. You can't even make her go to a psychiatrist to see if medications would help her (say, if she has OCD), because she is NOT your legal dependent. I think you need to just NOT focus on her, and her stuff. No more going "room to room" and making lists of all the ways she is deficient. I know you live there, but it's not your space. Focus your energy on getting out, and on making your life be what you want. Try to maintain calm and order in the places where it affects you, and then, regarding all else, close your eyes, stick your fingers in your ears, and say "la, la, la!" Try to have your own life settled so that if you *need* to "be there" for your little sisters, you can, but don't take on that responsibility too rapidly. A 17-year-old can watch over a 12-year-old, and your dad is part of the family too. Few people have actually died because the corners of the living room are stacked full of out-of-date textbooks, etc. Also, you need to spend some energy, not on fixing things in your parents' marriage, but on getting OUT from "in between." Stop taking ANYBODY's side in any of their disputes or problem. LEAVE THE ROOM! I'm not trying to be snippy. I'm just trying to make you see that you are reaching beyond where you ought to. And your basic assumption--that *you* need to "fix" all these problems in your parents' lives--is wrong. You need to "declutter" that assumption--toss it in the garbage. That assumption is YOUR equivalent of old issues of magazines, etc. You can't fix those problems. So stop trying to. You'll find it amazingly freeing.

kcred, I hope your wife likes Comanche Moon, too . . . particularly because I recommended it, perhaps a bit half-heartedly! I'm always hesitant to make recommendations because I know that my taste often doesn't match that of other readers. But I like McMurtry's writing a lot, even some of his lesser efforts. Do you read many historical novels with a western or southwestern theme? I'm always on the lookout for books about the U.S. West, fiction or nonfiction, so if you have one or more to recommend I'd like to know. I read all of Cormac McCarthy's western-themed books in spite of what I think is the appalling violence in them (Blood Meridian, especially -- The Judge has to be one of the evilest characters in all literature, in my opinion, but he sure is memorable). Years ago I read most of A. B. Guthrie's books (e.g., The Big Sky and The Way West) and Wallace Stegner's books (his novels and his histories of the West). More recently I have liked Guy Vanderhaeghe's trilogy (The Englishman's Boy, The Last Crossing, and The Good Man). I think The Last Crossing is my favorite of the three. My father was a fan of Louis L'Amour. He always passed LL's westerns to me and I wound up reading -- and rereading -- a lot of them. They might not be the profoundest of writing, but I've always enjoyed them. At any rate, those are a few examples of the westerns I've read. What about you? I don't run across many readers of westerns these days.

I would opt for bigger bath and one shared closet. Would overall be less cramped for space. If you do the closet with a wall closet system with various drawers and hangers there is more than ample space for you both. If not, then you have too many clothes. In my closet I have 3 drawers and a hanger above those in multiple areas, then I have hangers for long clothes, and we have corner shelving and shelves for storage on top. Lots of space. Shoe rack on the floor under the long clothes.