OMG Sandy, Just read this post and you talked about thrush. That is a nasty, nasty word in my book. I supposedly have asthma and am on the inhaler Advair. After too many, too many bouts with thrush I went cold turkey off of Advair. I got thrush back in February. It got so bad it went to my throat and tonsils. Even my gums were bleeding. I couldn't even drink tea I was in so much agony. I lost 5# because I couldn't eat. I still had thrush in May after a month of being on Diflucam to take it away. I could eat but it still hurt, and forget about taste. I lived on applesauce, jello and pudding. On Father's Day this year I thought I had a small stoke. It felt like someone had stabbed me in the left side of my head with a sharp pencil, then my whole left side went numb, even my tongue. The MRI showed I had a slight brain aneurysm that had healed itself. That was it. I decided the Lord gave me a second chance at life and I wasn't going to abuse it. I am now on a strict low-sodium diet. I have lost 30#. It seems like the pounds are just melting away. If it ain't natural it ain't going in my body. I gave up diet pop, and anything with splenda, neutrasweet or aspartame in it. I have been told I have had asthma and allergies my whole life, and I can't believe the difference. I haven't used an inhaler since February and don't have a problem breathing. I haven't had an asthma attack (thank God) and this is the first year I haven't sneezed my head off during allergy season. I am up to 1.60 miles on the manual treadmill and can bench press 50# on the Bowflex. I don't care what my allergist tells me, I refuse to put anymore steroids into my body. That's what caused the thrush in my mouth and throat, steroids in the Advair inhaler. I feel like I have been reborn. Jenny

This year I tried to restrain myself. The current selection, most of it still in the fridge, is: Exotica (sitting next to the computer, just about to bloom) Aphrodite (showing the tips of stalks, on the kitchen counter) Charisma (3) Lemon Lime (2) Pink Diamond (3) Melusine Papilio Picotee (2) In past years I have also loved: Apple Blossom Hercules Green Goddess Nymph Sweet Surrender (the most magnificent flower, but they do eventually bend down, even with stakes, and can look messy towards the end) and others too numerous to name. I also have about forty Ziva paperwhites just waiting for their pebble and water homes. Am always looking for pretty containers for my paperwhites! My amaryllis are all potted in terra cotta, slightly larger pots than are usually recommended. My addiction to this flower is sick, sick, sick, and I love it!

I don't know how this happened but I paid $2099 for my Kenmore induction slide-in last October. I have never seen it that cheap again. I love, love, love the burner arrangement. I can use my 12" and 10" skillets together in the front at the same time. The free-standing version of the Kenmore induction has a really weird, not useful burner arrangement if you ask me. So far, I have found the warming drawer to be kind of useless. It takes a full 15 minutes to heat up -- by the time I figure out I need it, I don't have 15 minutes to wait. I don't think it really gets hot enough to keep the food like I want it. I just as soon keep the food in the oven with it shut off and the door cracked. The extended gliding racks on the Electrolux sound really nice! I'd like to have those for sure. All in all, the only thing different about this range and my 10 year old Kitchenaid electric convection slide-in is -- the induction burners and the warming drawer. Other than that my KA had all the same features. Love the induction burners not sure I'd spend $1,000 more for them. PS: The extended service plan for the induction range was also more than for a regular electric range. It is worth asking for a discount on the service plan. The also charge a boat-load to "install" a slide-in range. We did it ourselves but leveling it proved to be a challenge.

why? if you have deep enough pockets, you can win. i've only purchased one thing, and it was a 'buy it now' hoya from yellowgreen2u. there have been plants i wanted to bid on, but waited and found that it often goes too high for me. i'm not really willing to pay more than $22 for a single plant. on top of that shipping is $10-20. i think people, even those who can't pay $100 for a plant, tend to spend entirely too much on ebay. it's ridiculous. and the sellers recognize this and start the plants off at higher rates for bidding than what you'd find as a base price at gardino or a nursery in your city. on top of that, they know that their product is not always easy to come by, so prices are higher. just an aside, and ex. - a hoya kerri, variegated sold by yellowgreen2u has been bid up to $33!. this same plant (maybe smaller) is on the gardino site right now for $16. for me, the only ebay vendor who has consistently fair prices and a great selection is yellowgreen2u. the buy nows are well-priced ($13) - as in what you'd pay at a nursery. And the size of the plants is generous. you might want to also try etsy. i bought a krinkle 8 for around $7 on etsy. and there was no ebay nonsense or hiked prices or crazy bidding to be concerned about. i've also noticed gardino has more plants in stock, so you can buy multiples things at decent prices and save a bit on shipping. so, if you've got the $$$ and don't mind the bidding process, you should be fine. i