Marie--You eat CG? Oh how funny that I picked that plant for you. Beth-- the nursery is in Crawfordsville, IN. here is their web page davidsongreenhouse.com I had one of there catalogs fron 2002 that I had been hanging onto... Thinking sometime I would get there. Thanks all for the good wishes. I DO feel better. If anyone is working on the decision I just had to make about a hysterectomy, let me say "except for the first few days it's been a piece of cake." Of course if they had made a big fat incission it would be a different story, I'm sure. Now I just have to be so careful not to do anything I'm not suppost to do, like digging, pulling, picking things up. The wind blew my banana tree over on Monday morning. After the storm blew over it turned out to be a beautiful day. It drove me crazy all day to not upright the pot and get the top out of the pond. DH took care of it as soon as he got home from work. This has been so much fun and I have so much time on my hands, I would like to do it again. I will make a new post, if anyone wants to do this again sign up there and I will match people up and send out the emails. Come on and sign up on the post JOYS OF HOUSEPLANTS. Happy Gardening to all, Joy

I was lucky enough to inherit my grandparents house and as I have been reading through this thread. It got me think about all the things I found there, most of it wasn't new to us but some of it was. -My grandfather was a commercial fisherman so I found licenses for him & every member of his crew. Various documents related to fishing in foreign waters. The bamboo poles they used, glass net balls, hooks, net needles for mending a net, catch records, etc. -The affidavit my great grandfather signed when his daughter (my grandmother) married someone (my grandfather) who wasn't yet a citizen & thier marriage license from the early 20's. -War ration books with the stamps in them, the really funny thing is that my grandfather's height kept changing over the years, from 6'0 to 6'3! -War damage insurance policies issued by the federal government. Our house is near several bases so apperently the government insured their home, & probably the whole neighborhood, from damage either from an invading enemy or from defending from an enemy attack. -Booklets for traveling through Europe after the war while the Marshall Plan was still in effect. My grandmother had a lot of family in Europe (we still do) so they were probably planning a trip back . Propaganda pamphlets from the American government about being quite in public places & just generally being careful because of "spies". -Various newspaper articles & scrap books form the 1930's to 1940's. A letter from one of my grandfathers to his mother that was heavily censored by the War Dept. because he was serving in the Pacific. I remember one of my great uncles (his brother) telling me that for a few years the family didn't know where grandpa was while his ship was in the Pacific. I still have his pea coat & wear it when it's cold enough. -One of my great uncles Korean War era army uniform & ID bracelet. -Coins from all over the world. -A Disney war bond issued to my mother (she was born in 1939). - A letter dated 1953 from the County Assessor that explained they would begin issuing Assessor Parcel Number for every property. A letter from the post office dated about the same time introducing the zip code system! Phone bills form the '40's & 50's were the phone number had a location exchange like "bayview123" -Antique silk velvet bedspreads that were hand painted with Rococo pastoral scenes. They were backed with canvas and weighted a ton. I couldn't image actually sleeping under them with out being crushed! -Match books with a picture of my mom when she was in her early 20's. I asked her about them & she said she would write her phone number inside & give them to guys she liked! A HUGE box of her shoes from the 50's & 60's, along with the coordinating hats, gloves & purses. -A black beaded "flapper" slip that must go over an other dress, because it is way to sheer & way to short to wear alone -The remnants of the living room curtains, I hadn't seen them in over 30 years. My grandmother must have been saving them for rags (whose grandmother didn't do that!) -Immigration paper work for one of my grandfathers and for my maternal great grandparents. -Some really beautiful handkerchiefs, including a silk one embroidered with a R which would have belong to one of my great grandmothers. -Letters from various family members in Europe and possibly a great aunt who lived in Massachusetts. I'll have to do some research on that branch of our tree. -My mother's first communion vail. A beautiful sterling silver rosary, the beads are open filagree work. Judging by the marks, I think it is from South America. -My grandmothers salt & pepper shaker collection. There was one set the was just the head & upper chest of a guy, but he's not wearing a shirt! An other really tiny set shaped like pineapple grenades or maybe just pineapples it's kind of hard to tell because they are so small. And so, so much more On a different note Burden, those marks might just be the "signature" of the carpenter. One of my grandfathers liked to do wood work and he would always sign the stuff he built, and his tools with a specific design.

I run a gift shop in our Catholic Parish. There are some lovely books that you could give. There is a Bible Stories for Catholic Children from the Hirten company that is very nice. "My First Communion Bible" by St. Benedict Press is available from Amazon. It is very nice too. It is shown in Brown, but it also comes in White. A nice rosary bracelet might be nice, but it would cost much less than $50.00.Pope Benedict has a book for children talking about his first communion. A music box that plays the Ave Maria could also be nice. These are just some thoughts. Good luck.

My DH was never married to BM so no engagement/wedding rings were around. I do remember YEARS ago (probably 6+) I was in DH's office at work and opened a drawer and there was some jewelry---rings, braclets, necklaces. When he and BM had broken up, she'd stuffed everything he'd ever given her into a box and given it all back. There was a beautiful diamond and tanzanite ring, and some diamond studs----several other nice pieces. I wasn't necessarily *bothered* by it but it did make me feel weird. Not sure why. I have to admit, when I've seen pictures of DH with BM and SS as a baby, it makes me feel weird, too. I think it's a) partly because DH was so young (19-25) in the years he was with BM and it's odd for me to see him that way and b) BM is just so awful/cruel/vindictive now that it's tough for me to imagine him actually BEING with her. Fortunately, since they split when SS was 10 months, HE doesn't have any memories of them together. So there aren't pics in his room or anything of his parents together. All the old pictures DH has are in boxes and filing cabinets in our garage, and some are in a photo album, but most of those are of DH alone with SS---in the years after he and BM broke up. Rambling....anyway, at one point, DH asked me if I wanted any of the jewelry. I think the death stare I gave him said it all! I assume he sold the jewelry or something because I've never seen it since and I've never asked. I really don't care. I wasn't married to DD's father, either, nor was I engaged. My ring now was purchased by DH for me---not a family heirloom or anything. If we were to ever divorce, I assume I would keep it, not sure what I'd do with it. I could see hanging onto it and giving it to DD or maybe having the diamonds removed and made into a bracelet for her or something. I don't think it would be weird for your DH to give his old wedding band to his son--like someone else said, his son IS a product of that marriage. I don't think his son would see it as his dad holding onto old romantic feelings or anything. JMO.