I made the mistake of starting a bunch of new shrub/perennial beds this spring and summer. That said, my Rock Roses and Cenizo don't seem to mind one bit. Both are growing like crazy. Ones that have "hung in there" but not necessarily grown much are Bush Germander, Cherry Sage and Golden Thryallis. Crape Myrtles are surprisingly tough too. I planted four of them about a month or so ago when Home Depot was having a big sale. After going into initial transplant shock, all are bouncing back nicely and putting on new growth. Disappointments that didn't make it include Loquat, Wax Myrtle,TX Betony, Butterfly Bush and Blackfoot Daisy.

He had been playing "corndog". That's where you roll yourself in the mud puddle to get covered in mud and then roll yourself in the dry dirt and voila! you are a corndog! I just think it's great that you allow him to do that -- I'm sure he's having a ton of fun!

I have never seen furniture by Universal mentioned on this site. Maybe it is not a quality company by industry standards, but my bedroom , which I've had about 5 years, as well as my new Universal "Hollywood" dining set are beautiful and not as expensive as other brands I've considered. My living room coffee table and end tables are also by Universal. My daughter buys only Thomasville, which is 2 or 3 times more expensive, but I think my furniture looks as good or better and seems to be holding up just as well. I can't afford high end brands, but even if I could, I probably would still have selected the Universal furniture I have. My sofa and chair are Broyhill, and I love them as well.

I have trouble motivating FDH to parent A__ too... And like you, I think that FDH is just totally unaware of his son. If I'm not home, FDH will have A__ all darn day without feeding him a proper meal. It's easier for him to let A__ play on the computer all day than to think up stuff to do with him. But I just do things my way, and he goes along with it because he realizes that he's sort of a slacker if left to his own devices. For example, right now, FDH wants to watch Trailer Park Boys, and A__ is right here in the room, so I pointed out that there is too much swearing in that show for a 9yo. He changed it back to the ball game. FDH would probably do the same thing with Meet the Teacher night as your DH did... He's the king of "Oh, and we're supposed to be at this place at 6:30" when supper is already on the stove and it drives me nuts. I think it's inconsiderate of him to spring last minute plans on me... But I think it's a Mars/Venus thing: I plan ahead, while he ignores my planning ahead - He makes last minute plans, while I get mad about it. I've found that most men are like that (with some exceptions of course) For things like chewing with his mouth open, it's quite probable that DH doesn't notice. A__ can have his face LITERALLY in his food and be poking it into his mouth with his fingers and FDH looks confused when I remind A__ of his table manners. When I was a kid and I chewed with me mouth open, it was always my mom or my older sister who reminded me to close it - I don't recall my dad or brothers ever reminding me. Maybe that's a Mars/Venus thing too? It puts you in a hard spot though. Either you say "DH, your son is chewing with his mouth open" or you remind SS of his table manners yourself. Option one makes it seem like you're purposefully avoiding interaction with SS and he'll probably react poorly to that. Option two is that you're doing the parenting for DH, which you seem tired of. I guess for me, it comes down to this: If I do the crappy stuff like wiping dirty handprints off the wall and telling A__ to use table manners, FDH gets much less frustrated with A__ and they have a better relationship. The difference between our situations is that A__ has improved from where he was last year (which is a lot like where your SS is now) while your SS is still in a rough patch. I know you're still frustrated and SS is still misbehaving, but it sounded like he was progressing a little... Is he still?