Mary it is amazing what a child remembers from the days when they were helping their mom's ..grandma's :-) garden. I do remember so much from my mom :-) Deb I am so glad you liked the little thank you pictures. ha ha ha you know. I was only a mailcarrier for 7 years but I did learn that it is a crime to open mail not addressed to you roflmao. No it would have taken the SPECIAL suprise away when we all gathered to open the package :-) As for the shells I want to build a congrete wall with soil build up above the ground high enough so I can plant a tree and know that it has soil to grow on and not just rocks lol. So the shells will get stuck on the outside. Think it will work? Kristy it was real good that Maddy got a bear from Deb. That meant that I did not have to share the one I got from Lucy Lou lol Yes thank you, feeling good enough not to have to stay in bed all day. Lucy

morz8- my commiserations over your flooded basement situation. We bought a house with an undisclosed cracked concrete daylight basement foundation that leaked, and a concrete patio on the uphill side that sloped toward the house. DH used a concrete saw to cut away the concrete patio a few feet out from the house, then broke up the concrete with a sledge hammer, apparently causing him to have a hemorrhage in one eye. Ouch. We excavated the whole section and then we sealed the wall and put a plastic barrier on it. I also dug a trench all the way across the house to lead water away from the house before it got there. Then we had another flooded basement because the dry well that the roof gutters emptied into was not draining. We put a long pipe on the end of the downspout to take the water out away from the house instead of into the dry well, and haven't had any more flooding. We ripped out our moldy carpet downstairs and put in ceramic tile in the bedroom and laminate floor in the family room. The laminate would be in trouble if flooded so we have to hope we have done enough. It is great for a dance floor!

One more: Candy Cane Bath Salts. Free printable gift tags with this one. Here is a link that might be useful: Candy Cane Bath Salts

Did you clean the surface as well as de-gloss the surface? Did you remove all the grease and oils from the floor and completely remove the de-glosser? Did you prime the floor? Every paint has a Product Data Sheet that tells you how thick to apply, how long it takes to dry at the recommended temperature and humidity levels. "Recommended Film Thickness: 4.0 mil Wet 1.2 mil Dry Dry Time @ 77 °F and 50% Relative Humidity Recoat: 24 hours Light Foot Traffic: 24 hours Normal Use: 72 hours for normal use Application Temperature: 50–90 °F By applying one thick coat the top layer dries and is almost like a sheet of plastic wrap over the wet paint below - this makes it very hard for the paint underneath to dry. I would get a dehumidifier and fans and run them for a week - keeping the room quite warm. Warm air rises so the temperature of a floor in winter can be much colder than the room. With the heat, air movement and drying the air you may salvage the paint job. Sometimes the only answer is to sand off the paint and paint again.