Hi, Nbee - I think you should just give it some time. Think of the changes in his life; he's only 3, and his world has been disrupted. You didn't say how long your boyfriend has been divorced, but this little guy has experienced Dad leaving, going back and forth from Mom's to Dad's and vice-versa, and having a new person living at Dad's house. Did you spend time letting the kids get to know you and accept you before you moved in? 5 months is short (IMO) to move in with someone and expect little ones to "get it" and accept you. Fortunately the 5 year old does; I hope that continues. It's great that you care and are trying to form a relationship with the 3 year old, but don't force it. Remember, too, that you're only 5 months into this relationship with your boyfriend (don't know how long you've lived with him). Think of the additional upheaval on the kids should your relationship go bad and you move out. If they come to love you, that'll be yet another loss for them. I wish you the best. Just go easy, understand his life, and give him time. Suzieque

We have lived in our 1913 Foursquare for over 7 years now. I have definately had a love/hate relationship. When people ask, what are you doing this weekend, I just want to smack them. What do you think? WORKING ON THE HOUSE. It's ALWAYS something. There's also the question, why don't you just hire someone? Sure, we could hire someone to remodel the kitchen. But what about the roof? and the siding? and the deck? and the bathroom? and the floors, walls, attic, basement, on and on and on. If you hire someone to repair everything, then you've put way more money into the house then you'll EVER get back. It gets overwhelming at times. I seriously don't know what I'd do with my free time if I didn't have this house to work on. I really resented it until one day, a few years ago my kids told me I could never sell it. That they loved this house and one day I would have to sell it to them. I was shocked. THIS house? The one we slave over and that is constantly in chaos? The same house that tells you it's NOT okay to invite your friends over, until the deck is rebuilt, b/c it's too dangerous for guests. THIS HOUSE? And that made me really rethink it. The house is huge. The house has 8inch tall baseboards and working pocket doors. The house has 2 acres of wooded yard and allows them to do what they like in the yard. This house isn't so new that they have to worry about denting the floor. But it's much nicer than the smaller ranches that some of their friends live in. The basement was remodeled for the three boys and their friends. They have sleepovers there (with extra insulation, so I can't hear them!). If they want to change their room, or we need to add something, we just knocked down a wall, or build it in. Can you really do that in a new house? This house has sucked us dry, financially and emotionally. But it also has made us rely on ourselves even more. We find out how to fix things and we teach our kids that you do NOT have to be dependant on others to get things done. In the end, it has been worth it. And with at least another 2 years (hahahahaha, isn't that funny) worth of work on the house, we will continue on. What also made me feel better was watching my friends and family with their NEW houses. I have already see two people who built houses within the last 7 years need to replace ALL of the windows in those houses. Really. Also the furnaces. One friend needed to replace the exterior doors in his 5 year old house, built in an expensive neighborhood. PLUS, the siding. Just b/c it is new doesn't mean it's done right. Watch 'Holmes on Homes' on HGTV. BIG eye opener. Sometimes, you forget how your house looks nice. I find that it's good to take pictures and look at them on the computer. When you're walking into your living room every day for a month and only see the floors that need refinished, you miss the antique fireplace mantel you bought and installed and the stone tile you added. The walls you redid and the built ins. When I take a picture and look at it, I see the beauty of the ROOM, not the damage to the floor. Also, it's good to compare the new pictures to the old ones. Were there really hearts on the country blue wallpaper? hahahaha Lastly, dealing with the PO's previous mistakes are always What were they thinking? Just when we thought we got all of them corrected, we take down the deck to find they didn't use flashing on the ledger board. Sigh. I always worry that once I remove every last trace of the 80's, it will be time to remove every last trace of this decade. :) Sorry to go on and on, but I just found this forum and I'm glad there are people here that are just like me. Working on their old home, loving it and hating it. I wonder if everyone has lists for every room, if by the time you get to that list for a room you change your mind, if you have more than 4 projects going on at a time and if you think you'll be done by the time your youngest time graduates high school. If your idea of a great Sunday afternoon is going to Menards/Home Depot/Lowes and shopping. If the guy from the local wine/coffee shop knows your name very well (coffee in the morning/wine at the end of the day)and his first question is what are you working on now? If your friends/family come to you first when they get bids from their contractors, to see what the materials would cost vs labor, because why in the world would they put in a new door by themselves, let alone go on the hunt across the internet and two states to find the perfect 100 year old door for their house, then build it into the opening? Is this a disease?

PinkPearls -- ARE you in Texas??? If you are in TX, here is a list of ARS rose societies in TX. Pick the ones that are closest to your location, and ask them. (If you are NOT in TX, Google "Local ARS Rose Societies in *.*" and try one of them.) Texas: Austin RS Austin TX Joseph Baiocchi jbaiocchi[at]sbcglobal[dot]net (512)350.8903 Bastrop County RS Taylor TX Vernon Harris vernharris[at]earthlink[dot]net (512)281.3104 S. Central Collin County RS Plano TX Claude Graves claude[dot]graves[at]att[dot]net (972)989.5708 S. Central Corpus Christi RS Crophus Christi TX Gaynell Torgerson gaynelltorgerson[at]gmail[dot]com (361)224.2326 S. Central Dallas RS Rowlett TX Debra Bagley dlbo319[at]msn[dot]com (972)431.5459 S. Central El Paso RS El Paso TX Prestene Dehrkoop presdehr[at]elp[dot]rr[dot]com (915)751.3631 Pacific Southwest Fort Worth RS Crowley TX Connie Taylor gargate[at]aol[dot]com (817)478.1643 S. Central Golden Triangle RS Orange TX Clyde Davis clydedavis[at]att[dot]net (409)988.8661 S. Central Houston RS Houston TX Mary Fulgham mfulgham1[at]att[dot]net (713)668.4054 (713)294.0351 S. Central Lakes Area RS Kirbyville TX Carolyn Horn crlynhorn[at]hotmail[dot]com (409)420.0432 S. Central Red River RS Gordonville TX Sandra Haynes Shaynes[at]solbroadband[dot]com (210)601.1066 (210)861.1066 S. Central San Antonio RS San Antonio TX Margaret Ware wmware[at]swbell[dot]net (210)698.8440 S. Central Waco RS Waco TX Eddie Anderson ed[dot]ander[at]mygrande[dot]net (254)744.2018 (254)776.9716

I am growing the following that I bought as plants from a local grower. I chose the San Marzano Lungo (slightly later than San Marzano) because it's a newer selection and supposed to be a heavy producer. But I chose Vilms because it is a 2-3 bite tomato that I wanted to dehydrate. It's also a late season here in NH. I need to check my garden to see what the heck is happening with Cuor di Bue (70 days) which is considered a standby paste tomato in Italy and Grandma Mary's (also early season) that is supposed to produce even during cold summers (which this one isn't). · 1 Cuor di Bue · 1 Grandma Mary’s · 1 San Marzano Lungo · 1 Vilms I grew a Hog Heart (1) and several Opalka from seed because I liked the large size for sauces and canning. They are ripening and showing some evidence of BER. The plants started off looking healthy but are starting to look spindly, possibly because of our drought situation. I have a plastic high tunnel which houses a few tomato plants. I have found the plants are much healthier and larger in the high tunnel. Even with the sides rolled up, temperatures get over 100 during the day. I use an oscillating sprinkler to water. I've been haphazard about documenting which tomatoes we like best. Right now I have 4 plants in a bed that despite duplicate growing conditions, are vastly different. Asia Yellow cherry tomato is producing a lot but the plant is extremely spindly. Another cherry tomato is very healthy, heavy with fruit and bushy with leaves. A second cherry tomato in a different bed is also large and heavy with fruit. Basically, with the paste tomatoes I found that I liked a small paste tomato for dehydrating and large ones for sauce. But I have a long ways to go in figuring out how to prevent some of the diseases. The drought has helped keep blighty diseases down.