I love Cercis, but my first thought when reading this was Magnolia Stellata. A mature Star Magnolia is really a beautiful sight. I also thought of Heptacodium, and also to toss the Witchhazels into the ring. The Cleveland Botanical Garden has a pair of mature Hamamelis flanking a path that are definitely vase shaped and just beautiful trees. The trunks and branches are curving and very interesting, leaves are unusual and eye catching and I personally get a real lift out of having a floral display in January and Feb. Plus the leaves are very colorful in full sun. I am not sure how fast they grow compared to Cercis. I planted Jelena 2 years ago and it is distinctly vase shaped of its own accord but I am just crazy about those copper-red flowers in the snow. Other possibilities might be one of the smaller multistemmed birch trees or Halesia - depending on how close you are to truly full sun and the style of your home.

that's one way to look at it. It sounds worse the way you describe it... He/we borrowed money to pay off credit cards... which consolidated everything to one lower payment a month so then he figured he could afford a motorcycle payment. After I said we can't afford it, he got together with his parents & they discussed how it would save money on gas and all the pluses... he could get to work & home faster. Then his parents made me feel like a heel for wanting to deprive their son of having his own motorcycle... after all, he works so hard. His brother has one & soon after DH got his, FIL bought one... they said to go riding together, which hasn't happened yet. He justifies it because he works 40+ hours at his job, works at our business on his days off & in the evening, maintains the 6 acres during Spring & Summer. He does work hard, but I disagreed, his parents butted in (with his invitation of course) so when they complain he hasn't made his payment (on the debt consolidation), I ignore it or tell them how much he loves riding his bike... when it's not raining or cold. He doesn't miss the motorcycle payment though. No, it doesn't escape me that he is willing to buy what he wants & tell his daughter we can't afford it when she WANTS something. He does pay for the health insurance but I pay all the co-pays and other things because he puts his entire check toward the bills, including paying his parents back for the debt consolidation loan... and it was mostly HIS pre-me debt. He did sell his truck because it was only driven a few times a year & we wanted to get rid of that payment when the economy tanked. If she needs something, he will make sure she gets it. But, he'll take it out of our bill paying account & then tell me he needs me to cover some of the bills that he usually covers. It still comes out of my pocket... but it is really OUR pocket. I buy those things because it was what I did as a mother for my own kids... he thinks some of it is unnecessary ~ the extra's like school pictures, yearbooks & fundraisers, not the health care. He also doesn't like shopping & doesn't have patience... he used to go into the store knowing her current size & buy a few cheap outfits at a department store... sometimes the SAME outfit in different colors. That was when she was 5-6. She's now 11 & he would do the same.. he took her shopping for school clothes & dragged me along. It was a nightmare for me because he is so impatient & they argued over what she could get. (wanting low rise skinny jeans) plus she was upset that nothing fit her. Then he about had a heart attack at the register... until I told him that the last time I took her shopping, it was at least twice that much. AS for the update on MIL: We went to dinner at the restaurant last night & left baby at home with my DD. MIL sat furthest away from her parents (across from me) & SD between us at the end of the table. She interrogated... er, conversed with SD about life at our house & life at her mother's house.... anything to avoid her own parents, who seemed miserable. Then, MIL had planned us to come to her house tomorrow evening but I had plans so she moved it up to tonight. DH went straight from work. I took SD & my DS stayed at my house with the baby. By the time I got there, they actually had tried to cancel the whole thing... DH was upset that I didn't bring the baby because THEY WANT TO SEE THE BABY! So, I asked him WHO is making such a big deal about the baby being there? HIS MOM of course. I told him that first of all, the baby is not really related to anyone... he's a step-great great grandson at best. I doubt they really want to spend the night fawning over him as much as MIL wanted to see if I let SD play with him at HER house. Secondly, he wants the attention of the room. When people are talking, he tries to get in on it & gets noisy. I asked hi do we really want the evening to be about DGS or DH's grandparents & Aunt? So, since SD is having trouble in school (all F's & D's), I had her bring her homework. She took it out & MIL spent the entire time (along with MIL's sister) helping SD with her homework... focusing the entire evening on SD. I think that's the way it should be... SD is their granddaughter & SHE is the one that needs attention & help, not DGS ~ who would have demanded the attention & SD would have been ignored. MIL hardly said two words to me.. trying to remain pleasant for show but she was probably pissed at me. Oh well, I told DH that after what MIL did at the luau & the way she has been on me about SD playing with the baby, I am not putting the baby in the middle of that mess. He was sleeping at home anyways.

I'm going to speak plainly, and I mean no offense. Is he over 18? Shove him out the door and tell him he's on his own. The things you are doing are NOT helping him. You are hurting him because you are enabling him. Before retirement, I worked at a fairly large company. In the rear of my building was the HR department, and one day an older woman came down my hall looking for that office. Trailing behind her was a man of about 30. She told me she was taking her son to the HR office so he could apply for a custodial position we had open. I looked at him incredulously and he smirked at me. They were two of the most pitiful people I have ever seen in my life: Him - because he so obviously was trailing Mama just to appease her, and Her because she was being so foolish. That happened about 10 years ago and I imagine she is still supporting him. WE certainly didn't hire him.

Your preparer may overstated the degree of difficulty and that's why I made the comment - your praise seemed disproportionate to the degree of difficulty involved. While it may not be a common occurrence and the source of resolution not immediately familiar to someone who does other work (a Revenue Ruling and a Revenue Procedure from some years back, there are hundreds of each in most years), the treatment is pretty straight forward. A theft loss, which of course, is what it is. PS - If you only accept new (to you) information from other females and think there's a gender factor when getting same from a male, too bad for you.