I checked he soil last evening, it was damp at least 3 inches down right around the base of the plant. That was approximately 18 hours or so after the last time we watered them. If I dig one of them up to inspect the root ball, what do I need to look for? If I fill the empty hole with water, how long should it take to drain out? As far as the topsoil, I'm not sure about it. I'm starting to think is not very good quality. The subdivision we are in was old farmland. I have an old soil study at work that lists our area's soil type as "leaf silt loam" or "fine sandy loam". The builder brought in 4 or 5 loads of sand, then maybe 3 loads of this topsoil to build the lot up a bit. I do know the topsoil of full of weeds based on how my "lawn" looks right now. I wanted to do a soil test anyways to figure out what to do about the grass.

Tam, Your buffet is beautiful. You carried the pinks thru very well and the black color is nicely distributed. Often people will forget that "rule" of carrying the colors in the vignette throughtout the "look", which you did very well. The varying heights of the objects are great too (being that the different heights allows the eye to "travel"). The only thing I might change would be to remove the center decoration from the buffet (under the Believe sign), it is very pretty, but, just don't feel that you "need" to fill every "open" space. Sometimes "open spaces" are just as important the vignette its self. I hope you do not mind the comment, I really, really hate giving suggestions, cause I don't want to hurt peoples' feelings. Please realize this is only my opinion and not neccessairly the "correct" one... You really are doing wonderful with your vingettes!

Good Morning! Hmmmm, what did I do for Emily? We had a birthstone ring made for her and hid it in an egg. I bought her a multi-strand bead bracelet from World Market and a pair of earrings and did the same. We also stuffed a few eggs with money, which you all suggested, as well. Teens ALWAYS appreciate cash ;^D Thanks again for your great suggestions. The eggs and small pieces of jewelry were very easy to bring along in my carry-on bag. We hid them on our private patio there, so we didn't have to worry about someone else finding them :~0 She LOVED it . . . and her gifts! Anyhoo, here's a pic that I took out there: As for our time with our son, that was a bit sad for us. He'd put in for a weekend pass, and being at the top of his class, was assured he'd get it. But, his commanding officer went away for the holiday and left a new asst. in charge, who turned out to be a real you-know-what. For no reason, he decided the entire company had to stay on post, despite all the families, like us, who'd flown or driven in to see their soldiers for Easter. He did grudgingly allow DS a day pass to the small town next to the post on Saturday so that we could take him out to lunch and dinner there. So, instead of DS spending a relaxing weekend with us at the resort, we had to drive down to the post ~ 90 minutes each way~ every day but Friday to see him there. As a result, we didn't get to use the pools as much as we'd hoped or explore Tucson. Instead, I'm now (unfortunately) VERY familiar with it's highways! To counteract all that driving and get some exercise, we got up early every morning and walked the grounds, worked out in the exercise rooms or played tennis or golf (DH). But, the good news is that we did get to spend some time with DS most every day, albeit on post. On the bright side, La Paloma had a wonderful Easter Morning brunch that we went to and then we had them make us up a yummy gourmet picnic lunch to take down for a picnic with DS and his good buddy after.

What an amazing way to tour our wonderful country. I'm training for an 11 mile bike ride for a triathlon, and cannot even fathom the distance you have done. Eighty miles in one day??!!! I am in awe, and high fiveing you from NJ- stay strong and safe the rest of your trip! -Polly