Talley: What about the music stand? I know you're just dying to fall over that cheesey metal music stand (in the middle of the night) that's issued to each lucky band student! Actually, the flute is so beautiful. It's really a treat to listen to them practice. My oldest daughter played it for several years, and now my second daughter will begin this summer. My kitchen stackers look like a skyscraper, but I have to say that when it was time to find my Girl Scout cookie money return envelopes, I located them in each girl's stacker (I have four Girl Scouts). What a relief. One more fundraiser that I didn' screw up or turn the money in beyond the deadline. I found a great way to do a family calendar. Actually, my friend Kathy showed me this: use a dry erase board for weekly activities. So I found a nicely framed monthly dry erase calendar at Bed Bath and Beyond ($20 less $5 coupon, so it was $15) that has five weeks. So rather than Monday being a square, it's five squares (all down the calendar). Everyone who can read knows what's happening the whole week, and I have something that communicates what's going instead of my personal monthly calendar. The bottom row (that is the fifth week) is where we put important things for next week so we have a reminder the entire week what's coming up. Talley, this sort of thing would be great for your family b/c each of you could still have a square for each day, plus you could have a "Looking Ahead" row at the bottom. I plan to use my new P-Touch to make labels for the bottom row to help everyone remember to put in future events. This system has been an answered prayer for me. This calendar was one new thing that actually worked!

Just pushing it off the top of the page.

I'm so glad you posted photos. You home is beautiful, may you have many, many years of happiness there. ....and on a practical note..may your Houston home sell quickly, and your settlement be a breeze. The snow in the photos surprised me since I didn't realize it snowed in SC, but then I looked again and noticed that it looks like a wet snow, the kind that doesn't last long. But how nice to have snow on Christmas. Even here in the colder clime of the north (Philadelphia area) we don't have snow on Christmas all that often.

Everything I can think of has been mentioned and usually takes time or isn't tropical. I have several avocado trees I started from pits. I gave some to neighbors. I have have pineapple plants I started last year, but they are slow and I think the one from two years ago that I had planted in my flower bed died during those two nights we had in the 20's. It would have been better for me to have kept it potted. I buy the the little green onions from the grocery store and use the green tops and stick the bulb part in the dirt and regrow tops. I currently have a pot of onions and leeks. You might be able to do the same with romaine lettuce and celery. I haven't actually tried that yet. I've seen some mention on Pinterest. My basil died during the freeze. It's a very prolific plant that reseeds itself and ends up everywhere. I had so much that a few years back, I picked some and put it in a vase and added a few flowers. Danged if that stuff didn't reroot itself. I have had cherry tomato plants for the last four years. The little tomatoes fall off and eventually conditions are right and the next year I have volunteers. I also find them in other flower beds because the birds eat the tomatoes with seeds and poop wherever. I haven't had as much luck with propagating rosemary. I'd like to get some growing so I can get rid of the plant I have growing in the wrong place. What about potatoes or sweet potatoes? Growing up we rooted sweet potatoes by sticking toothpicks in the bottom and then letting the green shoots grow. Then you root the shoots by picking them off and putting in water. Regular potatoes start putting out eyes this time of year. Cut apart chunks with eyes and let them harden off. Plant after that. Look up how to grow a banana tree from an overripe banana. I just did and they say you can get a sprout in a week or so. I may have to try that myself just to see if I can do it.