Or is it just me. I posted a follow up to an older post and it didn't bring it to the top of the list.

Yep, seems to be happening more frequently too. Even when they "fix" the problem there are a number of posts that still aren't there anymore.

I know he's walking on eggshells trying hard not to make anyone angry but it's a little too late for that. DH made son angry when he married me, that's it. Son never liked his parents' significant others. When his mother remarried, he used to make up stories about the new husband to my DH. She had remarried way before we did, only a month after their divorce was finalized. So, he already did it by making his son mad to the point that he left. While he lived here, my DH expected son to do his homework, act in a responsible manner, and be polite and if he didn't, there weren't any consequences; just temporary groundings of not watching TV in his room, but he'd just go to the kitchen to watch it instead and DH sat along with him watching. The boy was treated like a rockstar behaving badly in a five-star hotel. star, what do you mean by improper? I was with them or around them nearly 90 percent of the time he lived here, and other than yelling because son failed classes, didn't do homework, lied, didn't clean up after himself, etc., I don't know what he could've done to son that was so horribly awful. As far as the mother's house goes, she did lure him with material possessions. She didn't handle the news of our marriage well and went off the deepend when she found out, especially since her second marriage ended in divorce and she was forced to move to a new town. She was fine with DH having custody of son until she knew we were permanent. She started on DH's son shortly after we married by buying him everything he wanted, no rules at all, and promises of bigger and better things to come. DH has only talked to son three times since he left and the last two conversations indicate that life isn't with the mother isn't what she promised it would be. DH's son seems to be spending an increasing amount of time with the grandparents rather than his BM. I've asked DH several times to consider contempt orders, filing relief, to do something to get this straightened out, but he won't. He tells me to quit dwelling on it, he doesn't have the money to do anything, and he isn't wasting his time or resources on it. I appreciate all of your kind thoughts.

A few points... Your crApe myrtle looks reasonably normal to me. It may not be "perfect", but I think it will be just fine when it grows a little. Panty hose make pretty good ties if you want to train a few trunks. They are stretchy to allow some natural movement, wide enough that they don't damage the trunks, readily available, and easy to use. As Cecily recommended, decide how many trunks you want, and remove the others and any future root suckers. I personally think 4 to 7 trunks usually look best, and many people seem to prefer odd numbers like 3, 5, or 7. Ripping suckers off, when possible, is far better than cutting them off. Ripping will usually eliminates some of the adventitious buds associated with the suckers and discourages, to some degree, regrowth. You'll need to catch the suckers when they are fairly small to be able to rip them away. Older crape myrtles that have been well maintained (suckers removed regularly for the first few years), usually sucker very little or not at all. There is some variation with different cultivars and maybe with different conditions, but sucker removal is often not an issue (or at least not a significant issue) after a few years of diligent work. Pruning will often encourage suckering.