Hi Linda, I looked through the list and there are a few that I have, but they are all accounted for. Due to the overwhelming response that points to the same hosta, I think this one will be Allegan Fog from now on...it has been christened! Thanks for the link. Josephine, sure you can have a piece. I don't know what you have, but I am sure there is something that I would like :) We can exchange when we go on our Hosta 'tour'.

When I worked at the greenhouse, I was invited to the christening of a co-worker's child. They are immigrants, and speak almost no English, and I speak very little Spanish. Unfortunately, I knew I would be unable to attend. Still, it was an honor to have been invited, (they threw a huge party) and I wanted to acknowledge such an important event for the parents, who are devout Catholic. Having been raised a foot washing Baptist, I didn't know if this was like a baby shower with a religious ceremony, or what exactly was considered proper. I asked around and was told that a token gift (like a Bible or a saint's medal) is considered appropriate. But I figured people closer to the family would bring those gifts, so I bought some scrapbooking baby things and decorated a blank card. I also decorated a plain white gift bag and wraped three things in tissue paper; a coin, a candle, and a small stone. On the card, I explained the gifts this way: "Along with my good wishes on your special day, I give you three things; A coin, that you may never be poor. A candle, that you may always have the light of love in your life. And a stone, that as you grow up to be a good man that your faith will be like a rock."

I wonder if your house had my plumber -- or at least a cousin. Hope things have calmed down for you, but I understand the feeling of one thing after another and fearing what's next. Had I known ten years ago what I know now, I would have pulled all the sheetrock in my house and run new plumbing. But that still wouldn't have found or fixed the section of main drain line that was under the slab -- neither end of it secured to anything. Just lying there. Leaking. Filling in with dirt. Waiting to back up sewage into our bathtub and shower. Just managed to stop it before it ran onto the floor and into our carpeted closet. Was apparently left that way by the original plumber and took nearly 19 years to create a blockage that couldn't be cleared by more conventional methods and led us to ripping out cabinets and jack hammering the slab to find it. This summer, several years later, I walked into our bedroom and heard water running in the bathroom. But DH was sleeping in the bed. I turned on the light and saw sewage coming from the ceiling. Fortunately, it fell mostly into my tub. My brother was in town, so the next morning, we started ripping out sheetrock and discovered that the plumber had run the water heater overflow into the main drain line by installing a T junction just past the toilet -- where any paper or solids could catch and create clogs -- then backing up into the water heater pan. The toilet had clogged and my DB and SIL had plunged it. The pressure caused the muck to come out through the junctions in the pipe and through my ceiling. We also found a leak at the upstairs tub drain while we had the ceiling open. When we did our kitchen, we knew we had a leak in the wall behind my pantry and had turned off the water at the sink above until we ripped things out to fix it. While we had that wall and the ceiling open, we found 3 or 4 more "minor" leaks waiting to create major problems. I am not considering the expense of installing tankless water heaters so I don't have a tank to flood. Won't eliminate all the issues, but I still like the idea. My water heaters are 10 years old, so the time is coming to replace anyway. Might as well invest in staying here. The sales disclosures will require us to list all these things and I'm afraid no one would ever buy the house.

I really want to thank you all for your help and suggestions - you really motivated me and I'm putting your thoughts to good use! This afternoon I started painting and moving a few things into her room. I choose Meadowbrook by Ace for the walls and immediately fell in love. So much so that I called DH at work to tell him. I snapped a few pics for you to see even though the walls were still wet in some places. While painting I decided that the accent color would definitely be soft pinks and red raspberry shades. Meadowbrook wall paint. I think that the wall color looks wonderful w/ the maple wood furniture and love how it plays w/ the crisp white trim. Meadowbrook is 2 shades darker than Woodlawn (which is my MBR wall color) and is the closest match (w/o colormatching) to F&B's Pale Powder. I am definitley going to do the white IKEA curtains doubled up as someone suggested in their post! I'm going to try matchstick blinds layered underneath to pick up the wood tones in the furniture. Like I said - this room gets blinding light. Do you think that pink and berry accents will work w/ this wall color? After reading some of the thoughts about kids possibly being creeped out by staring owl eyes I went back and looked at the James Brown art and came up w/ some of these prints. Any catch your fancy for the room?: Here is a close up of the bedskirt and the pillows have a small ruffle of the same check for a border.: I found a small old wooden birdcage in the basement that I thought I could spraypaint white or berry and put butterflies and birds in and hang in a corner. Lame? I still really like the 'foresty' idea and thought I could run w/ it in an 'Enchanted Forest' girlie way (not a Harry Potter way). I can get her a white stuffed owl for her bed! Crazy thought - tell me if I'm taking it too far - What about painting the bureau a soft pink or raspberry color? Too much? Oh - and my mom called today to say that she found the sweetest antique childs rocker for $15 that she bought for her!