I know how you feel! Fortunately my kids don't need formal wear often, but I had the hardest time outfitting my son for the few Bar Mitzvahs he attended when he was 13. At the time, I was fortunate that I was able to find almost everything at Old Navy (online -- I just end up ordering a few sizes and then returning what doesn't fit to the store). I still get his black dress pants and white shirts for school band concerts at Old Navy. I'm not investing a lot of money in dress clothes until he stops growing! I think he's almost there, at age 18 and 6'2". Now we're coming up against the same thing with DD, who is 12 and starting to get the Bat Mitzvah invites from classmates at school (we are not Jewish, but we seem to be invited to far more Jewish events than Christian events!). Fortunately, we knew about one that is coming up this weekend all the way back in the spring, so over the summer I bought her two dresses. Both are pretty blue lace dresses, one short sleeved and one 3/4 sleeved, just above knee length. We kept them both because we know she'll be invited to at least a few of these events. One dress was from Boden (kids) catalog and one was from Lands End, believe it or not. One problem we will have is that I think DD is going to top out at 5' tall and she's very slim, too, so she's going to wearing little-kid sizes for a long time yet. I am so glad she's not into the trashy look. She mostly wears skinny jeans, t-shirts, and hoodies. I see what some tweens are wearing around town and cringe. Hello, aren't the mothers still in charge of what clothes girls can buy when they're 12? Okay, my rant is over.

I'm 5'3" and loved the 16" clearance of our former kitchen - didn't even realize it was not standard until moving into our rental house for the reno. I asked my KD and cabinet maker (2 separate entities) about having the new ones 16" and they reluctantly agreed to indulge me in this, but then the 48" Capital Culinarian range top specified/required/strongly urged 18" clearance at least. We have so many drawers that I just said "fine" and planned everything above/behind the first shelf to be the weird things my 6'1" husband likes/needs. I have a short stepladder but I'm not wild about it. As for appliances fitting under the 16" vs 18", they *FIT* under the 16" just fine but weren't necessarily usable there! On the other hand, I am *so* short-armed that I pull all appliances out toward the middle/edge of the counter so I can really get at them, and that gets them out from under the uppers anyway. As for the Capital Culinarian, I'm not sure 18" is enough! Even after the adjustments are made to get simmer (crossing fingers), which will hopefully also make the flames rocket less than 12" into the air (seemingly), I will probably personally stick to the middle burners not right next to the uppers.

Turface is an absorbent/porous material (clay based/ceramic -- rather like crushed terra cotta) that does not break done into paste when constantly exposed to water. Whether that would be of use for you I do not know. You could also look for pumice, though that can be rather expensive. You might also consider Growstone which is made from recycled glass. It is heavier than perlite (which I like as it does not float en masse to the surface during waterings even in new pottings like perlite does). Is pH neutral and has the same basic characteristics of perlite. Here is one source (you'll need to scroll partway down the page): http://www.orchidmix.com/cat2.htm *Note: Should you wish to order from the above site, it s run by an older couple. There is no "shopping cart". Instead, you would need to call or email your order.

Update: Sucked it up and went to an urgent care. Jumped through all the ridiculous hoops to get in the door. Saw no doctor, but a nurse practitioner who said that if I lose 20 pounds it wont hurt as bad, then sent me on my way with instructions to take advil to help until it stops hurting when I walk on it. And lose weight. Ok. No tests or official diagnosis. Guess its fat girl foot syndrome. Hope that resolves on its own. I did not take any advil. I have been taking it,to no avail. She said not to stop my walking routine. The circulation will help heal whatever it is going on,she says. I woke up earlier today to SO rubbing something on the bottom of my offending foot. Aspercreme. When I got up a few hours later it felt a lot better when I went to walk on it. It still hurt,but not nearly as bad. So now I intend to use that for the next few days and see if it gets better. I went and bought some insoles to put in my walking shoes and ordered some booties that you put ice packs in to use after my walks. And I will be doing some of the exercises/stretches suggested here. Couldn't hurt right? All in all, I could have better spent the time I wasted going there by staying in bed.