Ken, your's will be a tree in a couple of years. How come it has had a hard life? ===>>> hey joy proper name form noted on my dB .... previously here on GW.. i was told it was a reference to the color at the link ... if that is so ... then why is both my spelling and your spelling wrong ???? yours seems to be a reference to a lotus and other flowers.. rather than the color ... on what do you base your version of the name???? e.g. was is it a german derivation????? dutch???? latvian???? otherwise.. i meant it had a hard time on establishing a leader ... early on .. it seemed to have 4 candidates as leader .... then 3 .... and i finally see that a single one has come the forefront ... as you say.. its on its way to taking off with one single leader .... and i do believe that the color reference is in regard to the new spring buds ... ergo the suggestion that she let us known then.. as to whether the name is a viable option .... and MY PICS are true to color ... but for you having to view them on YOUR computer screen .. if your screen is properly adjusted .. it [the color] is .. what it is .... if you further googled it.. well ... i agree.. blue is one of the most abused colors in plant catalogs [and consequently online] .... i cant even count how many plants.. over the years.. that i bought from a catalog.. that claimed to have 'blue' flowers.. only to feel ripped off .... when seeing it in person .... i will presume i read into your words .... what you didnt mean .... HAVE A GREAT DAY .... ken Here is a link that might be useful: link

Suzy ~ My apologies for not "getting it". I take things very literally...I suppose it comes from my line of work ;o) I do think it would be a very good short story, though. Reader's Digest, perhaps? She lived a double life, dangerously close to the edge. Will her sordid little secret come to light? She left work early that day, making sure noone saw which direction she was heading in. As she traveled to her destination, she wondered aloud if she was doing the right thing. Her heart told her one thing, but her sensibilities told her another. What a prediciament she had gotten herself into, but what could she do? She finally arrived, and with her nerves and senses tingling in anticipation she got out of the car. She looked around, hoping she wouldn't run into someone she knew. After all, what would they surmise she was doing there? She walked with a steady stride to the front doors, hesitated, took a deep breath, and entered. She continued walking until she reached her destination. A smile of satisfaction came across her face. "Hello, my darling. I've been longing for you, to see you, to hold you in my arms.". With that, she picked up the treasured 3-quart Tramontina braiser and made her way to the front of WalMart, thrilled with her newly found acquisition.

I would not likely accept that kind of help. I would find another solution before letting a stranger follow me home. Take the parts out of the box, maybe. When I found myself with a box too big to fit in my van (a ping pong table), I called a neighbor with a truck to come get it. I don't depend on the kindness of stranger, but I'm grateful for some good neighbors! I would be more likely to offer help than accept it, but even then the need would have to be evident and a situation where I knew I could safely meet a true need. My friend went to a lot of trouble to help a woman motorist who had run out of gas on one of our local streets. My friend hunted down a gas can from another friend, filled it and took it back to her. The "stranded" woman was local (had local tags) alone (no kids w/her- that might matter to me), professionally dressed and driving a Mercedes. I was surprised that my friend went to that much trouble. Given the details, I would have assumed the woman had a cell phone and AAA/roadside assistance and let her solve her own problems. If I ran out of gas, that's what I would do. I would turn down help if someone stopped.

Yes, my problem has obviously become more serious. I came home from shopping and I could only bring 3 elves in the house with me. I didn't think DH would take it well to find an army of elves when he walked in the living room! And since the elves are over 2ft tall it's not like he wouldn't notice! Alas, another sign I have a serious problem as I'm now hiding elves (hanging my head in shame). Once DH left for work I quickly scurried to gather my elves from the car. Thank goodness DH didn't take my car to work as he would have had a heart attack to look in the rear view mirror and see all these elves staring back at him! As I sit here there are 14 very happy elves watching me. Our little puppy girl gave them a few barks and determined they were friendly, and she was outnumbered, so she backed off. Now what to do with the elves? It's not like DH (though sometimes oblivious) won't notice a 2ft elf. Without a doubt he'd notice 14 of them! You may be thinking the best way to handle this is to put out the 3 elves and each day as we get closer to Christmas just add another one and maybe DH won't notice the elf population has exploded. If he does notice then pretend he's loosing his memory and we've had them for years or vigorously assert that you read on the internet a recent article about the unexplained elf population explosion. I know what your thinking ... the problem is even more serious then you thought as she is now lying to cover-up her elf addiction. Not to worry I've already figured out what to do! We are living in a very small rental while building a new house. All of our Christmas stuff is packed away so we are not actually decorating for Christmas. So only 1 elf will be enjoying the holidays with us this year as there is not enough room in this small rental for more. My plan for next year is to strategically place them throughout the new house which is much bigger! I may stick with the idea of putting out a few and then just add one (or two) here (and there) as we get closer to Christmas. Hopefully DH doesn't think to take a daily elf "head count". Honestly after more than 20 years together he shouldn't be the least bit surprised. Now I must get busy and do something with all these elves before DH gets home from work! I have to find some big boxes to pack them in (note to self ... do not label boxes "elves"). Then I'll slip them in the pile of boxes to go to the new house. And just a little snicker on my part as DH will unknowingly be the one that takes the boxes full of elves to the new house and puts them in the storage area. Someday (but not anytime soon) I will fess up to my DH on my "elf capade" and we will have a good laugh! I'm not doing that though till I have too ... Did someone mention they know of a 12-step program for elf addiction?