Ilene, It is so nice to see you back posting and I am relieved that your DD is now feeling a little better. I hope that she heals well from the surgery and is able to lose the weight she needs to lose for the sake of her health. It certainly sounds like the surgery was very complicated for the medical staff and very hard on her, and I am shocked that the hospital didn't have a pain medicine pump that allowed her to push the button to give herself more pain medication as needed. That's what I had when I had my cancer surgery in 1999. It was a morphine drip, and I could push the button every so often to get more as needed. There was some sort of regulator on it so you couldn't push too often and cause yourself to overdose. I wish your daughter had been given that option because I liked being able to have "more" pain medication as needed, or "none" if I was feeling OK without it. To me, it seems like the nursing staff was very cold and callous and not very understanding, and I would have reported their lack of compassion to the hospital management. Perhaps your DD was a difficult patient, but they still ought to be able to deal with a difficult patient in a caring and concerned manner. I've always had great nurses--for myself and for family memners and I am sorry she did not experience that same kind of nursing care. As for the pharmacy, well....God bless the person behind the counter who cared enough to make a difference for you. I imagine your daughter was exhausted by the time y'all got home. I felt pretty exhausted on her behalf just reading your account of what y'all went through to get her there. I understand that bariatric surgery certainly is not an "easy way out" because the people I know who've had it have had to deal with many issues, including digestion problems, getting sick if they eat more than an ounce or two at a time, etc. Sometimes it is hard to get enough vitamins and minerals too because your food intake is so limited. My sister considered bariatric bypass but ultimately chose lap-band surgery because the lap-band could be adjusted as needed. Did it work for her? Oh, yes, she lost a lot of weight--111 lbs. I think--and she looked terrific (healthy, but not a starved, skinny "stick"). Her main side effect was that her formerly lush, thick hair started falling out due to lowered protein intake. After she had lost the weight she wanted, her hair gradually did regrow to its former lush, thick state. I'd like to tell you that my sis maintained the weight loss, but she didn't. She worked for the physician who did the lap-band surgery, so as long as she worked for him, she maintained her lap band (it has to be refilled with saline periodically and adjusted as needed) and kept her weight stable. Once she had a major disagreement with him and stopped working for him, though, she wouldn't go back to him for lap band maintenance and now she's gained back quite a lot (but not all) of the weight she lost. So, in one sense, I think bariatric surgery is "better" than lap band because you can't "undo" it and revert back to your bad habits. I truly hope your DD loses the weight and improves her health because, as you point out, the consequences for her are serious and life-threatening if she does not. As for your weight loss plan, I am so happy you are going to lose the weight and improve your health. I wish you well in your efforts. I am always trying to lose 10-20 lbs. myself and, sometimes, I have great success with losing the weight, but keeping it off is harder. : ) So, I certainly sympathize with you and DD. I think we all could eat healthier and exercise more than we do. And, Ilene, just think of how much fun you'll have buying new clothes as you lose the weight! How's that for motivation? Hang in there and keep us updated on how it all goes. We're all gardeners here, but we're people too and we all know that life is (shock! gasp!) about much more than gardening. Dawn

I was the recipient of a fantastic seed package from Vina during the MNF August swap on the Round Robin exchange. She sent a great package of seeds as part of the "Sprouts" trade group. She also did a fantastic job of hosting the MNF swap for Aug 2012. Looking forward to future swaps with her. Katie

I just want to caution you to tread carefully when interfering with teen love. Studies have been done on this topic, and it is NOT true that loves from your 20s are stronger or more important than young/teen loves. In fact, the opposite is true. Young, teen loves often form the strongest bonds of any love relationship in your life. Scientists believe that there is a hormonal "imprint" that these early loves have on one another's brains very similar to the "imprint" that babies and mothers experience. When these loves are disrupted because of parental interference/disapproval, it can have devastating lifelong effects on the couples' ability to form lasting and fulfilling love relationships in their adult years because they are haunted by unfinished business. Don't diss young love. It IS the real thing. I'm attaching a link to the website of Dr. Nancy Kalish, who has done a lot of research on young love, and the effects of reunions between teen lovers in adulthood. Although my children are both very young, I believe very strongly that you must allow your children enough freedom to form these attachments and see them through to their own natural course. Some WILL end up happily married right out of high school. Some will break up because they're not getting along. But the most important thing we can do as parents is talk to our children about the importance of love, what real love looks like, and make sure they are safe. Make sure your children know their values, are prepared and know what they need to and want to do when it comes to s*x, and encourage them to bring their girlfriends and boyfriends home so that you can keep an eye on the situation without making them feel like star-crossed lovers. I'm not looking forward to this period in my children's lives because it makes me nervous, but I do hope they find and know real romantic love. Good luck! Here is a link that might be useful: Dr. Nancy Kalish

These are the best threads! I have a new product to recommend. I had been looking more closely at ingredients in my toiletries and beauty products. Decided to buy a particular shampoo (can't recall the brand now!) that had no parabens, sulfates, etc etc... but what it did have was some ingredient that did not agree with my skin. So then I decided to order Beauty Counter shampoo and conditioner. My hair is fine but tends to get frizzy on the ends, which is not a good look as I am growing it out. Well, I have now used the BC products twice and I hardly recognize my hair! It just looks so much healthier. I also bought BC lip gloss which is less exciting but I like it well enough. I should have gotten a slightly darker color.