I just got an email via Horticultural which Brushwoods is a partner and it said the code was "climbing". I guess they used different codes for different advertisements? Still only 15% off which when you look at the big picture,really isn't that big of a discount. But I understand they are a favorite among many on this forum. Haven't tried them yet.

I've also been keeping my own records for years. As an avid Gardner, I need the data to project what I should be watering for optimum health of my plants. I used the hardware store gauges, understanding they do take maintenance. They need to be emptied daily for accurate numbers. For my historical comparisons, I use the Weather Channel. It's a dig to find the info but you can get historical averages. I set up my own spreadsheet with formulas to total monthly totals and close out every year and compare all against historical. It's a little work, but I find the talking heads on the local news hasn't got a good clue about what is really going on from a local standpoint. I hear drought when I'm swimming and I'm parched when they say I should be treading water. I'm also upgrading my weather station hardware this year to a better system to assist with the manual totals. Aside from some satellite pictures and some forecasting on big systems, I find more and more the TV weather forecasters are pretty useless.

mayland, we're going to start trying in the next couple of months, our doc says, "all signals are go!", we "shouldn't have any problems", so we're keeping a positive train of thought - "soon" and not "maybe if". sorry for the ambiguity, hope it wasn't misleading. granted, it's a few years before our kid(s) will start school, but we've already researched and started planning so we can get involved, try to ensure that these opportunities we're seeking out are still around (or are even better) when they're ready to start. i've seen amazing things happen in our area (schools and community transformation) in the ~5 years since my wife and i met, and it's getting better and better week by week. it's proof that, as a community, a small number of individuals can stand up and potentially make anything happen with some effort and support. we are fortunate to have a lot of parents nearby that are willing to work towards building something amazing, tons of neighborhood parent organizations (groups) to join and collaborate, amazing eclectic bunch of people! i'm really active in the nearby community with volunteer work and public safety. i strive to ensure things continue in the positive direction they are headed, and there are plenty of others right there with me. i've recently started diverting my attention towards schools nearby, trying to decide on which direction we're going, what opportunities exist now, what preparations to make to ensure our kids go where we want, etc. there are a lot of choices within 2 square miles of our house...some are up-and-coming, some are well-rooted. my neighbor is a music teacher and has a young boy that has started school recently, so that helps a lot for insider info, nobody seems to know schools better than a teacher that is also a parent :) on the community topic...i have a lot of friends who've moved up here from FL and down from NY, and they've moved a little of everywhere, inside and out. AAMOF, my best friend lives OTP, less than a mile southwest of the Holcomb Bridge exit on 400 (Exit 7?) in a "nice" neighborhood (subdivision), and we regularly engage in discussions about what living out there is like. he is a very social person, but none of his neighbors really care to befriend anyone. they never have block parties. they never have neighborhood cleanup days. they never organize any kind of community building events. they don't have any parent clubs, organizations that he's aware of, and they've been seeking this out nearby for the last 3 years they've been up there, but ... it just doesn't seem to exist. there aren't any parks within walking distance of his house. because of heavy traffic, it's not safe for kids to venture outside of the neighborhood. because nobody really knows or talks to anyone, a burglar could come in with a moving truck and clean out someone's neighbor, and they'd never be the wiser. i personally feel spoiled rotten... we have the zoo just a couple blocks away, a huge park (Grant Park) next to it, they're talking about cutting our main throughfare down to 2-lanes (Boulevard) which should make walking even safer than it already is, work is slated to begin on another 27-acre park a couple blocks south/west of us that will have sports activities, a skateboard park, basketball courts, dog park, large open area for events, walking trails, etc., we get together as a neighborhood all the time, i know and talk to every neighbor 4-5 houses in any direction from us. we have at least 3-4 community building events per year. we regularly have cookouts or get together for drinks with our immediate neighbors, and i know if i ever need anything - whether it's lugging furniture up stairs, working on digging beds in the yard, or rebuilding part of the house, i can call a neighbor and they will help. i let all of my neighbors freely pick our veggies when they're ripe, and we have a community garden with the same policy. it's a night-and-day difference... i'm not saying their case is "everywhere OTP", because there are plenty of places OTP that are more like what we have here in southeast Atlanta. nor am i saying that our case is "everywhere ITP", because we bad/non-community-oriented areas ITP also. i have other friends OTP in Roswell and Sandy Springs with a strong community similar to ours, and they love it - i'd definitely live near them. after living in the city, in our neighborhood - which is far from urban-looking or urban-feeling, and if you couldn't see the skyline through the park, you wouldn't know any better - i just can't fathom the OTP lifestyle some of my other friends have bought into, and, from a purely numbers perspective, i'd say 4/5 of my OTP friends see the same (absence of) community i just described near Holcomb Bridge, whereas 2/3 of my friends from all over ITP have a community somewhere in between ours and theirs, and the remaining 1/3 ITP have the same type of community environment i do now. almost all of us are late-20- and 30-somethings with a few 40-somethings in the mix, very social, very family-oriented, very community-oriented, good 'ol grass-roots kind of people that just ... care, you know? i like to think we're the "norm" of what you'll find in inner-city neighborhoods (although i don't really like the term "inner-city" because it seems to have acquired a negative connotation over the years) so, i'm rambling :) there was a point to the last four paragraphs, and that point was to tie back to what so many others have said above, and tie back to my original post: it's different everywhere, ITP and OTP. within a square mile, you can go from bad community to amazingly good community. as everyone has said, rent first in an area that appeals to you, then drive around and check things out in the months to follow over the 6-12 months of renting, visit local communities that "look" like areas you'd be happy with. drive around during rush hour, and decide if the stores and shops locally are easy enough to get to. try to find community organizations (ask a realtor, any realtor worth a damn knows about neighborhood email lists, etc.) use those to interface with the people that live in the area you want to move to. i think you'll be amazed at how many people will talk to you, Atlanta/Greater Atlanta is overall a pretty friendly place. if you find a dwelling you're interested in, go to the local police precinct with the property address and find out what zone# and beat# the house is in, then request some crime stats for the area over the past 12 months, or hit the crime stats map interface at www.atlantapd.org (it appears down right now), or ask to sit down and with a beat officer for that zone over a cup of coffee and talk to him/her about the area and what you can expect for crime, local activities, surplusses and deficits. nobody knows better than a cop. you may ask one or two, some of our men and women with APD are overworked and a bit jaded - you may inquire who is most knowledgeable, friendly. if you have kids, talk to nearby parents and neighbors, or hit the internet and try to find parent groups - hit your local YMCA or boys and girls club to find parenting groups in that area to get advice of other parents. you could also visit any of the better local schools and try to find parent organizations that way. more than anything, keep your ears peeled for "absolutes". when you hear people speaking in "absolutes" about anything, especially blanket statements about crime/people/schools in an area, take it with a grain of salt. i say this because there are a LOT of misconceptions that have become totally outdated in the last 5-10 years, but people continue to hold on and purvey this info as "fact" to newbies and visitors. this is all assuming, of course, that you plan to stay in the Atlanta area for a decade or two....if you don't, all of this is overkill. even if you aren't planning to stay, hopefully all of this info will be of use to someone out there :) ps - mayland - i love Decatur. we'd have moved there, but my work is in Midtown, my wife works nearby next to Coca-Cola HQ, and traffic to get from Decatur to both areas in the morning was too much. the Grant Park area was our compomise...but i couldn't be happier with the outcome. i still dream of Decatur, and i swear it's not just because you have a Taqueria Del Sol nearby ;)

haha, they threatend to subpoena me on youtube when I complained about the diseased plants they sent me. They are rip off scam artist that somehow is still in business. Stay Away from them like the plague, and post reviews everywhere. They may spend all there money on fancy lawyers but none on there plants. They can there name removed from watchdog site, but they cant do it to all other sites like yelp, ripoffreport, etc.