atheris, Hi I like my username too :P. Well, I used to live in Louisiana and have a night/moon garden and grow lots of jasmine thus the name. However, now I've moved to the desert and it is in no way sultry, so I guess I should change it to dried up_desert_jasmine lol! I also have the arabian tea jasmine. I love it. It gives good daytime fragrance and blooms alot. Have you ever made/had jasmine tea? They are really easy to start from cuttings. The *new* tank idea sounds great too. I can see how I could get hooked on making those! Your snake is gonna be spoiled :D Do you have any photos of your snake? I wanna see her. How big is she now? Do you feed her frozen pinkies or large mice? Ok enough with the questions lol. To answer yours dh is a connotation people use on gw to refer to dear hubby or the better/worse half lol. karyn, Funny how the guys are the ones who don't like snakes. I'm not sure why mine hates them so much, he grew up in the desert so had friends that got bit by rattlers and such so... One time we were dove hunting and a rattle snake struck the back of his hiking boot. Luckily it didn't go all the way through. I love snakes though, spiders too but not the poisonous ones. I had the coolest yellow and black Orb Weaver guarding my bananas last summer. jblaschke, I agree that biodegradable would probably rot in a wet enviornment. What about clay/terra cotta? they are porous so moss could grow on the outside. The inside could be sealed (pruning seal spray works good for that- but would let it air out a few days before placing in the tank) so roots couldn't adhere. Not sure about the terracotta-just an idea. Probably should be careful of the clay pots made in Mexico though, because some mexican clay pottery contains lead. I am not sure what lead could do to a snake but it prob isn't good. ~SJN

Made another batch today....dismal failure. Again. Here is the recipe I tried: Pecan Supremes Mrs. Fields Cookie Book 2 c AP flour 1 tsp soda 1/4 tsp salt 3/4 c quick oats 3/4 c dark brown sugar (packed) 3/4 c white sugar 1 c salted butter, softened 2 large eggs 2 tsp vanilla 1 c chopped pecans 1 c semisweet chocolate morsels Preheat oven to 300F, In a medium bowl combine flour, soda, salt & oats, mix well with whisk and set aside. In large bowl, blend sugars with electric mixer at medium speed, Add butter and mix to form a grainy paste. Scrape down sides of bowl, then add eggs and vanilla. Beat at medium speed until fully combined. Add the flour mixture, pecans and chocolate chips, blend at low speed until combined. Do not overmix. Drop by rounded tablespoons onto ungreased baking sheets. bake 18-20 minutes. Immediately transfr cookies with a spatula to a cool, flat surface. I experimented a bit. Made 6 cookies on an airbake sheet and 6 cookies on a heavy aluminum sheet. No difference...I ended up with a big, run\-together blob of thin cookie. Chilled the rest of the dough for 6 hours. Baked a dozen cookies. No difference...I ended up with a big, run\-together blob of thin cookie. Each time I let them cool a bit on the sheets and I practically needed a jack hammer to remove the. it was a mess. I was going to take a picture, but found my camera battery is dead. I still have half the dough in the fridge rolled into a log and wrapped in plastic. I am afraid to try baking more! Linda

Hairdresser here... For those of you who only want a body wave...the color of the rod determines the tightness/looseness of the curl depending on the length of your hair. *Blue rods are the smallest and rarely used. Unless the hair in less than and inch long and even then...scary and to be used only by the most experienced stylist :) *Pink rods are 2nd smallest. I would only use those at the nape if the hair was too short to get around a grey rod. And then I'd drop the rod out prior to rinsing and neutralizing. *Grey rod is #3 in size and should only be used on hair no longer than 2" if looking for "body". (Usually at the nape and sides of short hair. (can be dropped prior to rinsing and neutralizing for softness). *White rods are #4 in line and used commonly on the top and sides of hair 3-4 inches long. Used in conjunction with other sized rods. **Purple and Orange rods are the usual for body waves in hair 4-5+ inches long. A good stylist will use all different colors interspersed according to length and end result requested. Many times I have had clients think that by using a smaller rod the curl would "last longer". Oh, yeah, it will all right...think old woman fuzz head :) Never was an attractive look right? There are other factors that can make an outstanding permanent wave and continued education made a HUGE difference in my career when waves were at the height of chic. Educate yourself in communication with your stylist and you should have a great experience. Don't feel shy, if you don't tell us (pictures are great)what makes you happy you most likely won't be.

I had misunderstood your post--I didn't realize you were talking about what the children themselves would think. And I hope it didn't seem like I was suggesting that OP and her husband discuss their strategy in front of the kids! No way. The goal would be for the children to witness everyone being very civil, so, no speakerphone in front of the kids, of course, if BM is going to be verbally abusive. OP and her DH should model civility and not respond to or be reactive to rudeness. Our counselor emphasized over and over that children are NOT served by thinking their parents might reunite when there is no chance that they will. Instead, the new couple should present a good role model of a good marriage. And in a good marriage, it is a no brainer that one does not permit belittling or insulting of one's spouse. And that includes someone who treats one like a romantic partner, regardless of the past. The counselor said that children in a blended family feel the most secure with two conditions: the new couple is stable and loving; and, the new couple and their other bioparent have a good working relationship. It's important for the married couple to work together on a system where all the parents cooperate. Otherwise the kids sense a polygamy kind of arrangement.