There are, as others said, lots of varieties of Syringa vulgaris available. The rebloomers I've seen so far don't rebloom very well (in Kansas) and have smaller blooms so I'd stay with the older varieties. Yankee Doodle is a nice purple, Wonderblue is about as good a blue as you can get, and you really can't beat "Sensation", a purple/white picotee. The latter is usually readily available at local stores. ProfessorRoush (www.kansasgardenmusings.blogspot.com)

Absolutely!!! When I was 11 and saw the carpet color my mom had chosen for my bedroom in our new home, I cried and cried. She liked it and some designer had suggested it, so she didn't even consider changing it. I STILL hate that color with a passion (a dark rosey mauve). The rest of our house was cream and peach and grey. We had a living room with ultra plush cream carpet that we were not allowed to enter, except for photos. It had to be carefully vacuumed with perfect lines (like a baseball field). We had built-in laminate desks in the office and master bedroom that never opened or closed properly, and were always getting chips. We had cream laminate with oak trim kitchen cabinets. And of course, unimaginative art show 3-D artwork whose only merit was that it matched the pillows. When my parents had to replace their grey carpet last year, my mom chose a very light cream plush (this was for the stairs too). And when they renovated their kitchen with granite and stainless, they thought it perfectly great to leave the hideous laminate cabs. More than that, though, I just never could understand their purchasing decisions. They always went with cheap quality (not necessarily cheap cost)/immediately available. So everything was always breaking and needing to be replaced - the garbage disposal, the garage door, our cheaply made clothes purchased at full retail. My father still brags about the amazing deals he's gotten on his new unheard-of brand camera or MP3 player (which are predictably never working 2 weeks later). Thankfully, my husband and I are of one mind and always carefully search for the right item, well-made, and if we can't afford quality (paid for in cash), we wait. Quality is always cheaper and less effort in the long run. I search Ebay, Goodwill, and Craigslist. I don't pay retail for anything except groceries. And of course, my mom hates my house, with its British Colonial/Spanish design, antique furniture, wood floors, hand-knotted rugs, and rich colors. My husband and I aren't wealthy, just patient and determined to have things that last. Life's too short!

She loves him and tries so hard to help him. That's the problem, and that also why AlAnon is not for her. They will only tell her to leave him. This is your sister's problem, and only she can save herself. All you can do is refuse to participate. If he is staying with you, and leaves the house drunk, and gets into the car....call the cops and give them his location and license number. But, be prepared to lose your sister in the process. She'll make his bail and pay for a lawyer to get him off. To lock him in a room and refuse him alcohol?? It takes 72 hours to de-tox a chronic alcoholic. And be prepared to clean out a filthy, destroyed room, unless it has an attached bathroom that he may or may not use. Unless you're prepared for the EMT's to pretend to not notice the mess when they answer your 911 call after he passes out or goes into cardiac arrest. De-toxing a chronic alcoholic is a shock to the body. The DTs, and other effects of alocohol withdraw are not pretty, and done without medical supervision is risky.

I've been without a computer for a couple days while having work done in my house, so I'm playing "catch-up" this morning.... I add 1 T. of the Great Lakes Gelatin (Collagen Hydrolystate in the green box) to a smoothie we eat with breakfast (NOT as a meal substitute) which is a mixture of homemade dairy kefir, homemade water kefir, chia/flaxseed meal, hi-maize resistant starch, unflavored isolated whey protein powder or hemp protein, and some other powdered supplements we take - it's a "delivery system" for the supplements and the probiotics from the homemade dairy and water kefir. I don't make fruit/vegetables smoothies - we consume those whole, not juiced. If you use a tablespoon per day in a smoothie containing protein powder, the container of Great Lakes Gelatin (Collagen Hydrolystate in the green box) should have 80-90 tablespoons in it. It's an easy-to-use version of gelatin because it mixes easily in any number of things, including hot or cold beverages. I often add 1 T. to a cup of low-carb homemade cocoa mix as a pick-me-up. It doesn't have to be something "special" that you need a blender to mix..... Herbed teas are also a good choice. If you prefer to use the type of gelatin that gels (and save some money), there are LOTS of flavored gelatin "gummies" and desserts (including low-sugar and sugar-free) you can make with it. I snack on gelatin "gummies" and you could eat those along with your smoothie containing protein powder or when eating lean meats. I make a pan sauce with bone broth to balance the inflammatory protein of lean meat. There are lots of recipes are for people with gut issues on a GAPS or low-carb diets you can tap into for using gelatin. I save money buying gelatin (the kind that gels) in 4# containers. It has an extremely long shelf-life, but I'll easily use that amount in a year. And even better, make bone broth and consume it as a gelatin source. Gelatin, whether the powdered form or from bone broth, balances the inflammatory protein from lean cuts of meat as well as isolated protein powders. Keep in mind, "protein powders" are an isolated nutrient, and most don't include Omega-3 fatty acids. We generally benefit from consuming the whole rather than the isolated - the whole orange for its vitamin C rather than citric acid - which is a chemical isolate form. As Weston A. Price taught, "consuming protein without other naturally occurring nutrients alongside it (like prolaine and glycine) can lead to deficiencies, especially vitamin A." Both lean muscle meat and protein powders are inflammatory. There are lots of books on the subject - check out some anti-inflammation diet and recipe books. Grass-fed meat is higher in Omega-3 while grain-fed meat is high in Omega-6; and choose cuts with some bone/fat. Lean meat has more inflammatory Omega-6 fatty acids. BTW - organ meats are extremely inflammatory and meat from younger animals is more inflammatory than meat from mature livestock. When you say you "don't have a problem" from consuming protein powder, it may be you just don't realize you have an inflammatory condition, or don't realize you may be contributing to one. We often call it "getting old", my old sports injury, or any number of diseases characterized by excessive inflammation like: heart disease, insomnia, Alzheimer's disease, cancer, obesity, diabetes, autoimmune diseases, asthma, allergies, arthritis, joint pain/stiffness, skin disorders.... Fifty years of arthritis (since I was 13-years old) has taught me a LOT about food and inflammation. I wasn't deficient in anti-inflammatory drugs, even though that was what the doctors prescribed, but I was destroying my body with inflammatory foods, and the worst one for me is gluten-containing grains, but high amounts of protein powder and lean meat also trigger inflammation.