Anyone still willing to adopt a zone 5 newbie? Just signed up a few days ago. This is my first post. Here's my story. I'm a single mom of 2 hyperactive, possibly autistic spectrum 4yo's. They are so hyper that they can't sleep and wake me 5-6 times per night. They are literally my miracle babies and the joy of my life, however, how I manage to function and keep a job is sometimes beyond me and totally a matter of faith. Their therapies and special therapy equipment are expensive & insurance keeps cutting coverage. I've struggled to find a daycare that will accept them and provide the individualized care that their disabilities require. I've fought the school district to get adequate early intervention services...it's a daily battle. My nearest family member is 1500 miles away so nobody I can count on for regular assistance...even to watch the kids while I go to the grocery store where I can't take the kids anymore because it triggers more hyperactivity. Gardening is one of my "keep your sanity" tools. In the summer I wake at the crack of dawn before the kids so that I can go out to quietly dig for just a few minutes. In the winter I dream through gardening books while the kids are watching their favorite video for the 1000th time. I've lived in my present house for 12 years, much of it trying to learn how to adapt my gardening from Western WA climate to Northern CO climate- experimenting to learn what plants survive here and so on. The house was an old farm house with nothing but prairie grass and 4 mature trees. I had to install a sprinkler system if I ever had a chance of buying a plant and it surviving in this dry climate. I had an old well on the property which is OK to use for irrigation. 4 yrs ago I finally had a landscape plan drawn up but when I priced landscape installation (mind you I just needed someone to do the heavy work or "set the bones" of the garden) the cost was astronomical. I'm talking $10k just for soil prep! $40k for the landscape w/o fencing or plants! So, I hiring a friend to work a few hours/week after his day job. He is trying to support a family of 7 on My next sticker shock...I went to the nursery looking for plants and shrubs....Holy Cow! I'm in the wrong business! Ever since I've been looking for cuttings, seeds, seedlings that have weeded themselves under shrubs, and anyone who needs help dividing perennials. I have a few things to trade...see my lists. I would joyfully welcome being adopted by a zone 5 gardener with lots of perennials that need thinning. And thanks emmaelice for being so thoughtful to start this thread! Blessings, Debra

The pictures sound like a great idea. But I say take it a step further and create a photo album/scrap book. Do you have access to her old pics? You could do something with labels like. Your Wedding Day (insert wedding photo) You in hospital when (Child's Name) Was born (insert photo) Your Son's&Daughter (insert labeled & current photo of each child) Your Grandchildren (insert labeled & current photo of each GK) You could add things like her Driver's License and when she learned to drive, maybe pic of first car or home.Her HS and College Diplomas, if she was part of any volunteer group or social clubs, pics of her friends and pets. Maybe if she saved playbills or ticket stubs add those too. Her favorite movie, pic of the holidays, birthdays, vacations. Basically as much of her life as you could fit in a book that she could look through. If the photos are family keep sakes you could scan them and keep the originals intact. Hope this helps.

Okay, so it's been a while since i actually wrote to everyone, and i guess you can say that im doing alright. Since 2006 my life has actually been alright. I'm starting to accept everything as the day passes and i know my family is also doing well. I do not write to my grandmother as much, but i do think about her every day. So, my grandfather had talked to the city about everything that happened that day on Sept 24th 2006. They decided that they needed to do some investigating on the EMS and the Emergancy Room. Yesterday i felt really depressed and lonely even though i have people with me. My boyfriend was with me when i started crying and it was like i couldn't control myself like i usually can, but i think it was because i haven't cried in so long. It felt really good that i can let it all out, and having someone to hold me felt amazing. Talking to my boyfriend about everything really doesn't help as much, because he didn't know the person she was, only my family know exactly how she was. I am very greatful that i got to spend the time that i did with her, and also at the same time i hate myself for missing the times that i needed to spend with her. But like my boyfriend had told me, i cannot blame myself for anything, because i didn't know what was going to happen. I still have the moments where back in the hopital it just plays over and over in my head...and that is something that is never going to go away unless i have some kind of memory loss. You know, there are times i wish things would happen like that to me..only because i feel that it wouldn't hurt me as much. I miss her so freaking much that i wish i could just walk up to heaven and bring her back down again. I don't know, maybe im just being selfish. But, also at the same time, i really don't care. I want her here with me. I just miss the way everything USED to be, how everyone would always be laughing and smiling. Now it's just different. My family is depressed. My family can't talk to anyone anymore about their problems and what to do in certain situations, things have certainly changed. But! We are doing better, it's going to be 2 years since i haven't seen or hear from her, i dont know..it's like im lost for words and i get so thoughtless. Anyway, thanks for reading :D Take care everyone. - Jennifer

Mar: You funny thing, you! You don't need tactics with lil' ol' me. :o) To download fonts, this is what I do (BTW, I kind of fumbled through it myself so I hope this makes sense). First of all, I went to the winzip homepage and downloaded the free trial version of winzip. Then I visited some font sites. Here are some I recommend: Font Freak and Font Face. But check out ScrapLink because there are more listed there. Anyhoo, you just click on the fonts you like and the downloading part kicks in (which you seem to have the hang of already!). Once that's done, click on your winzip program and it will prompt you through all the steps of "unzipping" the font. Then, it's a matter of "cut and paste". You want to paste it into your font folder (you can find that by going to "start", then "control panel", and "fonts" should be in there). Once I did this, I just went into Word and the font was there, ready to use! I hope that helps a little. Tammy: What a compliment that I remind you of your daughter in some way! Thank you! *warm fuzzies* I'm still trying to "convert" my mom into a scrappin' freak -- maybe you could talk to her and give her a little push, eh? ;o) Lore: Actually...*hee hee*...I've had to improvise a lot when it comes to my SB hobby. I'm limited to Michael's as my main SB supplier and although they have some neat stuff, in my opinion their 8.5 x 11 album selection isn't great (they had ONE in different colours and it was too expensive). So, I visited numerous photography/camera places and found an "almost no name" (because I don't even remember the brand) 3-ring photo album to use. It was something like 7 bucks. I just made sure it was archival quality. Reading Week (Canadian version of Spring Break) is coming up soon so I'm actually planning a road trip with the specific mission of crossing the border in search of SB stores! LOL! If you know of any in the Michigan/NY area, let me know! ;o) Thanks for letting me share with you everyone!