Thanks for not yelling at me. I SO knew better! I used to come to this forum all the time and even have lovely compost piles, that are sitting with just leaves because Chemlawn told me I couldn't used the grass clippings for a couple of years! However, it had to have been a topical application, because they told me to keep my little dogs off the grass until it was dry and that after that it wouldn't be harmful. (They go out on leashes so they don't eat it or roll in it.) The garden may be bigger than that, that was a guess, I'll know more when I lay it out. I don't have much space (shady lawn) and I'm looking at doing a "square-foot" type garden. I'm going to assume that the herbacide isn't too long-lasting for growing things though, as it sure didn't kill any of the weeds that I can see. What a waste! I've just got to find some way to control these darn weeds in the lawn though, WITHOUT dumping a ton of chemicals on it!

Well, I got more done than I thought - it's all done except a few bergenia and one hosta, wow! I could have gotten those but I really had to stay on a timetable, I have other things that must get done today and have to get to bed on time tonite. I can pot those up quickly tomorrow after work. I have to stick a few notes out there for the guys, but I don't think they're coming tomorrow, so I'll do that tomorrow. I'm going to have them dig some big hydrangeas and a hydrangea tree, I don't feel I can do it myself, and he said they would if I need help. I looks so weird out there...so bare. I did leave some plants where I know they won't be in the way (measured from the drawing he gave me), I'll deal with digging/moving them when it's time to replant everything. Some of the poor plants already look much worse for wear. Eh, I suppose they'll be fine, tough stuff like rugosas and coneflower and ferns, nothing frou-frou. I felt kind of bad, though - the bumblebees were enjoying the turtlehead, but I had to dig a lot of those, hope they found the flowers on the other side of the yard :0) ruth: let me see what I have left when it's all done. My brother has dibs on a few things. I'm in the western 'burbs of Detroit.

Kitten, I'm with breezy on this. Forget the brand name or any perceived pretension that comes with it. Assuming it fits your budget, the main factors you need to worry about are is it reliable and does it meet your needs? This is your kitchen and you need to live with and use it on a daily basis. I ended up with a 48" range. One of my design goals was to maximize counter and storage space. I started out wanting wall ovens, but that sacrificed counter space. The 48" is a good compromise, because although it is 48" wide, it can double up as counter space as needed. I have a cover over my grill and I routinely use it and adjacent unused burners for either mis en place or plating. It's also a great landing area for items coming out of the oven. Depending on your counter material, you have zero worries about hunting for a trivet. You should also reconsider whether you really need a DF range. I have an AG and I don't miss any of the electric features in a main oven. I admit, I do also have a GE Advantium which does have all the whiz-bang features. But it needs those features to work properly. When it comes to the oven, it's just set the temp and bake or roast. It is a minor inconvenience that there is no auto on/off or timed cooking feature. But that just means I have to hang around. The upside is that I have zero fears about using the self-clean feature of my oven because there are no digital electronics to fry. Do go through the exercise of redesigning with a wall oven. But don't let superficial concerns drive you to go in a direction that doesn't meet your needs.

I just read this post and wanted to respond. I was interested in the responses that you recieved V. Some were helpful. I have a few thoughts on this subject as well. I found it amazing that someone would have the guts to post that if you can't feed them don't breed them. As if by asking the question about how to prepare for the future, you are not doing your duty. It sounds like you are doing a great job feeding them, if you will, and are now looking toward the future. Good for you. I also found it interesting that the debate came down to a pick one scenario for everyone who did respond. You are crazy to pay for their college and not take care of yourself or you are selfish to take care of your retirement and not help your kids. I put forth that you have set two goals and want to know how to make both of those goals work. Without knowing more about your financial situation, no one can tell you how to do this or if it's possible. What I will tell you is about myself. I am a stay at home mother of three. My husband is ten years older than I am. He wants to retire in his early 60's (62 at the latest). Our children will just be going to college at about the time he wants to retire. I want to pay for college for my children. These are both valid goals. We gathered all of our information together and went and paid 400$ to a financial planner. It was the BEST thing we ever did. We are not rich. But we thought it was well worth the money to have someone help us look at our overall financial well being and help us draw some basic predictions (conservative predicitons) towards the future. He looked at our insurance and our finances. We found out we probably needed more disability insurance, if something were to happen to my husband, there is no way we could have held on to the house and made things work, even if I went back to work. We found out that we were doing fine with retirement and needed to think about college funds. I have the peace of mind now, knowing that if my husband were to die or get injured we could keep the house, maintain our style of living and be OK. And I won't have to go to work. That is important to us. We can retire in our 60s but it will most likely be age 65 (instead of 62) and pay most of our kids college expensis. I would strongly suggest that you think about going to a financial planner. Pick one wisely but know that they are worth the money in my book. Some things to think about- you can save for the local state university and your child will end up in Harvard. Then what? For us, we decided to save as much as we could towards helping our children get a basic four year degree. If we have enough to pay for their college, great. If they go to Harvard, Yale etc- high expensis, they will have to work and get student loans and scholarships. Or you will save for college and they won't go to college. Then what? This is one reason we have not put anything in their name that will equal a large chunk of money that will be theirs at age 18. Although they are adults at age 18, we know that they are still young and still lack the in depth decision makign skills they might need. We would hate to see our money spent on a nice car at the expense of college. The choice will be theirs at that time. What college to go to? How to help pay for it- live at home, work, not go? They will be well on their way to adult hood and able to make decisions that impact their future. Even now, our children are encouraged to save for college. (ages 4,2,5 months). We take any gift money sent to them and put it in the bank in their name. We give them a small allowance and help them split it up to tithing, spending, savings (my 2 and 5 months old don't get it yet, but they will). We are setting a policy now that any money they get in gifts at least 1/2 will go to the bank. This will be their money towards college and other expensis they may have as they grow and leave home. (Down payment on a home? Down payment on an appt? Down payment on a car? college?) The other thing we did- we took all of our money (except for a little bit) and put it in our accounts. We have not seperated out college vs retirement vs a big wedding. We figure it is all ours and if something comes up that we have to spend it, we want to be able to do so with out feeling like we are spending our childrens' money. WE earned it and we want to use it the best way we need to at any given time. You just never know what will come up (accident, job loss, etc.)... So it's in one big pot with our name on it (except for a very little bit). Closer to college time we will sit down and figure out where we stand- how much we have total, how much we can help each child out with college, how much we need for retirement etc. Then we will help our children. It is my belief that we had these children and along the lines of if you can't feed them don't breed them- we want to help them along in their adult hood the best we can. It seems a shame to force them to take on student loans when we will hopefully be in a position to help them if not pay for their college totally. I have some personal reasons for wanting to help my children through college based on my history. But there you have it. On the flip side though, we do not want to hurt our retirement or not retire to help our children. As someone posted earlier- $30,000 at age 30 is easier to pay off in the long run than the same debt at age 60 on a fixed income. I maintain that there is probably a fine line between these two goals that you can walk. I would put forth that with some research and budgeting, most families can be in the position we are now in. It's not ideal- we scrimp a bit and we don't do everything (many) of the things I'd like to do (like move to a huge house, go on more vacations, fly etc). But I feel good about where we stand. We know we can take care of ourselves and our children now and for many years to come. We know we can retire and help our kids through college. A 529 is a great option. We have one for each child. There are other options- roth iras, coverdale ira, schwab accounts, drips, etc. You get the idea. This is one reason we went to a financial planner. He helped us untangle the information and then backed off and let us make the decisions that we felt were best. Good Luck. Ginger