Hi Hair, Fellow Buckeye here, born and raised in Ohio. Most of northern Guilford and Forsyth are 7a. I'm near the edge of Guilford and south of Forsyth in Davidson Co, still 7a. A lot of people live out this way and still work in Greensboro or Winston. Kernersville is a nice area too and in between the two (G'bro & WS). Cryptomeria (my favs) do fine here. I have a few... Araucarioides Globosa Nana Gyoku Ryu Yoshino Rasen - similar to Spiralis' ...and am always looking for more. Some of the Cryptomerias have problems with winter burn so best to site those with taller trees that will give them some winter protection. Of the ones I listed, all have wintered well,... except for the Rasen which was just planted last spring. We'll find out soon just how it'll do. Plant Delights and Camellia Forest both carry some of the cultivars. Do a serch on this forum for cryptomeria and you should find more info about it. I didn't garden much in Ohio and it's been abt 30 yrs since I left there, but don't plan on the hybrid tulips which were gorgeous up there. Instead look for the species types. People down here grow the hybrid types as annuals. The species are smaller, but sweet and they spread better without all the hassle of lifting. Lilacs are also tuff to grow down here. Look for the ones bred for the southern heat like Miss Kim. I have some of the more common lilacs (which I love) but they are difficult and mildew can be a constant problem. I feed mine lime and try to site them on the north or northeast side where they enjoy the cooler winter air. [IMG]http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y203/Rootdigger/Flowers%20Apr2005/4c745071.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y203/Rootdigger/Flowers%20Apr2005/c76146fa.jpg[/IMG]

It's late so I'm just going to respond train-of-thought to your questions..... RE your exercises -- that's a lot of the stuff my last PT had me doing -- I think it's general leg strengthening stuff and probably all very good stuff to do, but the exercises the new PT gave me really get the butt and outside of the hips, which is what I need, apparently, to cure the IT band stuff. And it takes so much less time -- if I hustle, I can do everything in 10 minutes. re: pilates being too boring and slow-paced -- the more advanced winsor workouts are much faster-paced with less explaining. See if you can get a hold of the Maximum Burn series - she goes very fast in that one. There's a 20 minute one and a 45 mninute one. I think they're both out of print, but there are usually plenty of used copies on amazon (cheap!) re: your arches -- I think high arches are big contributors to knee pain. I'm sure you already did this, but make sure you have the right shoes -- high arched feet need neutral/cushioned shoes -- any sort of stability or motion control shoe will just screw you up further. I have Nike Zoom Vomero 4's -- they are the cushiest shoes ever but they don't last long -- my last pair needed replacing after less than 200 miles. You may want to see a different podiatrist for a second opinion on your orthotics -- I've seen a few and each one has a different opinion on what kind orthotics to make me. I have a set of old orthotics from my 20s and sometimes I wear them to run, sometimes I don't. I don't think they make much difference actually. (Part of me thinks podiatry is a hocus-pocus kind of field!.) A good book to read is "Running Injury Free" by Joe Ellis. He is a podiatrist but very knowledgable and I found it fascinating how he took people's weird pains and traced them down to all kinds of crazy causes (one woman had hip pain that he traced to a tiny nail that had penetrated the sole of her running shoe and was very mildly poking her as she ran -- she didn't even realize it was there, but it was throwing off her stride to such an extent that it screwed up her ankle, knee and hip. But anyway, he spends a lot of time talking about how people's arches and foot structure can really cause issues all the way up the leg - it's interesting to read. re: how long I foam roll - I usually foam roll for a few minutes. You are supposed to stay on each painful spot for as long as you can and at least 20-30 seconds. I will roll til I hit all my painful spots (some twice) or until my arms get tired from holding me up (I find that you have to be pretty acrobatic to get yourself in some of these positions, LOL!) If you have painful spots, you need to roll. The first time I did it, my right IT band didn't hurt at all -- not one bit -- when I foam rolled it (and of course, my right knee didn't hurt). My left IT band, on the other hand, was excruciatingly painful the whole way up and down my leg. I rolled for maybe 3-4 minutes total (it hurt so bad I had to stop) and the next morning, I felt so much better. When I rolled again (I was doing it twice a day at first, now just once a day), there were far fewer painful spots, and now I find that if I keep up the rolling regularly, I can roll and not find any painful spots at all (and then I'm done in like 20 seconds!). Basically, if you feel any pain when you roll your IT band, you've found a problem and you just need to park there on the roller and let the roller work the knot out. Seriously -- in just days, with proper rolling, you should be feeling far less pain during the rolling itself and of course, less knee pain during all your activities. re: the fluid in your knee -- the fluid in your knee might never go away but it is probably not causing your pain. I have tons of fluid in both knees (docs think it is from the trauma of the accident) but other than making really loud crackling popping noises all the time (seriously, in my first set of PT, people could hear my knees popping from across the room when I was doing those step-ups and stuff - it was gross!), it never hurt. The pain is caused by the muscles around your knee pulling your kneecap all out of whack. Once you release the tension in your IT band and strengthen the other muscles around the knee to hold your kneecap in place, it won't be getting yanked all over the place and your pain should go away or at least become a lot more managable. Good luck!

Eleena- I like the yellow lavender or soft green lavender combos. But as the only female in the house, the lavender will most certainly be nixed. My men are not open to softer colors. I find it difficult to decorate because even when I am doing intensive workouts using bosu, free weights or cardio I like the calming colors which I truly appreciate when doing yoga, But the "men" want strong energetic colors that I associate with adrenaline pumping-- bold red, deep bright orange... they claim it helps them train harder. I'm afraid there is no medium here-- and we all need to feel inspired to go in there!! I appreciate every suggestion!

Cream sherry and dry sherry are two totally different things. Very distinct and very different flavor flavors. Unless specified, usually recipes asking for sherry are referring to dry sherry. It keeps for years, can be used in white sauces, it's used to marinate meats and chicken particularly in Chinese cooking and is great in seafood soups or seafood casseroles.