Don't smoke or drink either. And there's no question that desert is a major food group! :)) I use Olivia Care Olive Oil Soap on my face and in the shower - love the Verbena scent and all those suds! In the winter I don't need moisturizer. I buy it at TJMaxx. For 20 years I've used a Buff Puff on my face. For facial moisturer Jergens Skin Firming Lotion. I've used several others that I really liked, and every time I ran out and went to buy more, they were discontinued or had added obnoxious fragrance. How exasperating! I don't like the strong fragrance in the heavier duty "regenerating" lotions. I find that smiling works best on the Howdy Doody lines - hate those things! Can't bring myself to lay out $20 for a tiny little jar so I guess this is it. Sherry

All of them are nice. I too have DRESS BLUES so hopefully I see it bloom this year. I had it in a pot most of last year and then in the fall planted it in the garden. Hope mine behaves like yours. Can't pick just one so they would all be on my favorite list. Julia

I posted on the decorating forum for you but also thought it might benefit others to know how bad it can get yet end so well. We had a lot of small irritations during our build but also had a couple of MAJOR problems. Our contractor said he would be done in 9 months....but then spent 3 out of 7 days in Texas (we're in CA) trying to save his marriage (he didn't). So basically we got 4 days a week if lucky. The total build from land purchase to key took over 3 years. In that time of course the housing market went to hell and cost of building sky rocketed. Because of that the GC who is a wonderful builder but a terrible businessman went over budget. We fired him, then he quit, then the bank said work it out b/c going with another contractor would be near impossible. So... we paid almost 30% over our estimate. After we were roughed-in on electric, plumbing and HVAC we found out our architect used the wrong elevation and didn't use "snow load" trusses. That cost tens of thousands of dollars extra (architect is reimbursing that). But it also caused a 3 month work stoppage while we researched retrofitting the trusses (and whether the framing would hold the extra weight) in hopes of not having to tear the house down and rebuild again (we would have just walked away if that happened). From that, HVAC was the only rough-in that had to be redone. That caused an ugly return register monstrosity over my fireplace which I'm in the process of "hiding". We moved into our home in August of 2007. Although it took over 3 years to build- it still took a while for me to believe it was mine and not some wonderful vacation that was going to end come each Monday morning. Yes we had punch problems....still have a few minor ones that we know will never be fixed by the GC. But I LOVE my home, the area and especially my neighborhood. DH said once he never understood people that wanted to just stay home on weekend, now he says he does. So hang in there, it's worth it.

I know what you mean mommabird! (Paige, right?) I think that's why I still hold on to this friendship--waiting to see if there's enough that's strong about our friendship that will lessen the impact. She lives in another town, so it's not like there are so many opportunities to "dilute" the effect that comment had. (Or, waiting to see if other events provide other guidance.) I also know that it's very easy to "kill the messenger"; *part* of why her comment stung was because I believed it was probably true, and it was evidence of how bad my home looked at the time to an outside. It was embarrassing, but it was true (was your joke about that boyfriend right, perhaps, and pointed right toward some uneasiness she was feeling?), and it's very easy to then blame the person who flipped on the light switch. So I fight against that--when she comes, I try not to think about it too much, and focus on the harmonies we can create as we chat. The thing is, I have friend from college who once said something really sharp that stung, and it really did nearly break up the friendship. But we got past it because it *was* an aberration, and the things that were good and strong about that friendship let us wait a day or two to get past it. That's also part of the damage the Dumpster Lady's comment did--put together with another "scolding" from her (one that I don't agree w/ her on), it showed me that we don't have the depth of friendship, or the sharing of standards, that perhaps we had both assumed. Maybe bcs we don't speak very often and so just don't know each other well; maybe bcs our personalities don't mesh as much as we'd thought. But it was less a single impact, and more the switch that has made me look again at the strength of the underlying friendship. But you're right, we all say stupid things, and we should be gentle with the people we know who do so, and hope that they'll be forgiving of us. (can your kids possibly be teenagers already? )