My grandparents would "pop-call", as they called it - ALL THE WAY FROM PHILA, TO MD!! My mother would get so annoyed. The house was usually "lived-in", but never a real mess. Still, that would get her going, every time. Now, I have a neighbor that does that, all the time. It would be OK if she didn't talk about people all the time. She is very nice/responsible/extremely helpfu and thoughful. But, she is also obsessive about how other people live their lives. Whether I care about how you live your life or not, I won't say anything about it unless it is harmful - to you or someone else, and even then, I probably wouldn't. We all kind of just chat, and give hugs and shoulders. But I've had her come to my house and talk about how one neighbor only talks about her problems and what's going on in her life. A few days later, she was in the person's house. It's so bad that I used to dread being home and wanted to move. I always have a sigh of relief when she goes on VAC!! Now though, I must have really made her mad - by not saying anything, and she is noticeably avoiding me. The bad part - her house is always clean/neat, although, since having a youngster now, it's not that way all the time. My house - well, it's my house; some days good, some days, not so good. Oh well, she'll get over it.

As much as people complain about this every year, it must be working for the stores or they wouldn't do it. I did buy my first two Christmas presents for my boys yesterday (online) but I don't think the actual decorations need to be put out this early. Personally I haven't seen Christmas yet - Halloween just came out in the stores I shop in. Some houses are already decorated for Halloween here.

I'd say almost definitely Salvia. Maybe lanceolata? Can you tell us where you live and if it's survived a winter or not?

Being from the blue side, I can tell you that I, along with all my other blue friends and family, have the utmost respect for the Bush family, the Dole's, the McCain's (another RIP hero) and others of the same selfless service. Any politician who does their heartfelt best to put all people of the country first, is to be respected. We may "agree to disagree" on certain policies, even accept that some of the decisions in hindsight, weren't the best....but, we still respect them if they did their very best, with the best of intentions. The service to the country, before they entered politics, is highly admired. And, I'm thankful to them. I'm hopeful that such morals, ethics and priorities will prevail to bring us together again as a country when we emerge from the current situation.