Thank you Butterfly4u!! This will be my third spring/summer here. We finished construction and closed in Feb. 07. Yes it is fun, I'm having a blast with this and I am quite excited about what I have planned. I got the tilling done on both my large raised bed and my veggie garden yesterday. We got the timbers installed for the raised bed and I have 100 beautiful, healthy seedlings that came in yesterday. On vines, I'm still thinking. Folks have had some great ideas, and I'm really leaning toward using several different ones as I have 4 or so to put in. I hope to have all the seedlings in within a week or so, Unfortunately for this weekend, I've got a bad wisdom tooth that flared up last night is kicking me badly! This thing is hurting like you wouldn't believe!! So I'm pretty much out of commission till next week after I get the dentist to fix me up.

Stick to your guns Susie. I can feel your tension and hope you take good care of yourself. You will never be there for mom if you don't attend to your needs first. Being healthy and strong allows you to give more with less effort. Sounds like your mom is throwing a guilt trip at you so shrug it off. So hard when you want to help someone and they turn good intentions against you. Moms good luck with all those children... hope the sicky ones recover, those to be come healthy, and those that hope find their dreams. I didn't post yesterday as I was on the road for hours. My alma matter had invited me to attend a lunch/lecture/ and what was probably a wake. A dear departed "sociological technologist" was appreciated with a presentation of his final study given by one of his associates. Lunch was steak strips with a fancy peppery sauce. My table was joined by three beautiful current students happy to enjoy a free lunch. I couldn't hear those across the table from me but the young lady next to me was excited about pursuing a career in enviromental law. We had an alumni at the table currently working in that field so the talk was hot and heavy about what law school might be a good choice. The study was presented after lunch and was about the Internet habits of young people. It looked at the integration of technology into the social lives of high school students... facebook, my space, and creative outlets. Later we met in a quiet room of mostly faculty and memories of the late 60's and 70's and the school's founding were shared by those who were at the scene of the crime. Then we got down to business with cocktails and a connection time. I was a bit of an oddity because most students are fairly wealthy and go on to graduate programs and fancy careers. The college has some intest in using me as an example of what can be done with a liberal arts education without law school. They like that I was able to reinvent myself over and over to meet the challenges of my life. For awhile I sat with the Dean and drunkenly bent his ear about skills I've found critical but aquired after school. I stopped for a burger at a the Harrison Roadhouse which is just off campus and sobered up for the long drive home. For me drunk is about three drinks these days so an hour and food was plenty to get me on my way. I so needed that touching back with a place and people that gave me my adult life. Back to work today. A pocket full of business cards and head full of projects. : ) lyra

A plain party balloon filed with helium probably would not damage a plane, but one dangling a hard object like a small chair is definitely a hazard. Think about a small plane traveling at 120 MPH slaming in to a small wood chair. If it hit the windshield, that would not be good. A propeller stike could be disasterous. Slaming into the leading edge of the wing is not good. Whacking the tail stabalizer could tear off a chunk - not good. Sucking a chair into a jet engine is not good. In thte late 1960s, I worked for a company that flew a twin engine Convair. We had moved a product line to Bowling green, KY. This necessitated our technical staff to fly from a northern city to KY on a regular basis. The plane flew at 8000 to 10,000 ft altitude and over 200 MPH. On one trip, something hit the windshield - we think it was a large bird. The windshield got a hole and the right arm of the co-pilot was broken. He also experienced some frost bite on his face. Meanwhile the pilot was dealing with the suddent change of cabin pressure and temperature drop. He immediately slowed the aircraft, requested a lower altitude and an emergency landing at the nearest runway that could handle his plane. The co-pilot stuffed and held a spare flight jacket in the hole in the windshield. Upon landing, the co-pilot was whisked off to a hospital and the passengers were checked for eardrum damage. NO, I don't think you should send hard objects aloft. The release of large weather ballons are controlled and coordinated with air traffic controllers. They also carry radar targets. Ground based weather radar and satellite images have reduced the need for weather balloons.

I just got home again from the hospital a half an hour ago. I had been in contact with the Dr. all day because of severe tension headaches. Well they turned into a full blown migraine on the left side of my head, my vision turned blurry, bright sunlight was hurting my eyes and I felt nautious. I went into the clinic and Dr checked me out my blood pressure was 120/80 so wasn't the cause of the headache. Decided that since the tylenol 3 with codeine wasn't helping ( I am on that for yesterdays contractions) I needed a shot and they wanted me to have blood tests to see if there was anything wrong pregnancy wise. So DH left to take the girls to my sisters and bring Hayden home. He is a little monkey and is easy to take care of and entertains himself so will take it easy while they are gone and tomorrow until we have to go and get the girls. Stacie girlsingardens