@ Katie: The plants from seeds tend to bloom after approximately 18 months of germination, provided that they remain healthy during their growth. @ Veronica: thank you so much for the tips, I also have identified some more reasons as well, like his whole bed is under 6 huge coconut palms with very little direct sunlight reaching the plants, he tend to water them every day and he didn't added a single pinch of fertilizer for past 3 years!!! Izhar

I think the question you might want to ask your hubby would be "is it more selfish to keep his sister under his wing, basically ensuring that she will never get back on her feet, or to start setting some rules and sticking by them so she is able to grow and become solvent again?" IMO, it's very selfish of *him* to keep enabling her. Sounds like a co-dependant relationship to me (and I'm not a shrink or anything, so that is *not* a professional opinion) - paying her way and keeping her in his house is his way of feeling "godlike" - like she *needs* him in order to survive. Maybe he doesn't realize that he's doing it, but it's selfish of him to hold her back by allowing her to not pay rent, etc., IMO. Sometimes people need that swift kick in the rear to get moving again - bailing her out when her power will be shut off and allowing her to live rent-free is *not* helping that at all. Your hubby must have a very low opinion of his sister if he doesn't believe she can survive and eventually thrive without his intervention. People usually live up (or down) to our expectations...there are exceptions, but for the most part if we expect greatness, they do well, if not, they don't. She needs him to believe that she *can* live a normal life, rather than his believing that she can't live without him. Good luck - I have no real advice for you...but I hope your DH wakes up soon...

In doing more research for the owners I've found this...looks like American Home Mortgage has resolved the Freddie seizure of tax & insurance payments issue. "American Home Mortgage Clarifies Certain Information Regarding its Servicing Operations Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae Issues Resolved; Property Tax Checks Mistakenly Dishonored by Outside Financial Institution Will be Honored MELVILLE, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 25, 2007--American Home Mortgage Investment Corp. (OTC:AHMIQ) ("American Home") announced today that it has resolved the issues surrounding the Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae owned loans. American Home currently services more than 220,000 loans, of which approximately 4,600 are serviced for Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae. Immediately prior to American Home's bankruptcy, both Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae took direct control of the homeowner escrow accounts where the monies were deposited by American Home to pay taxes and insurance. Consequently, American Home had been unable to make payments that were due after August 24. American Home is pleased that it has now reached agreements with both Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae regarding these matters. -- Both Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae have made available the funds in the homeowner escrow accounts, and American Home has paid on the behalf of homeowners all tax and insurance remittances scheduled to be made between August 24 and today -- Homeowners will not be liable for any penalties or interest that may have been incurred due to late payment of tax and insurance -- In addition, arrangements have been made so that homeowner escrow funds will be available in the normal course to pay all taxes and insurance due in the future. As part of its agreements with Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae, American Home expects to realize value from its servicing rights related to Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae loans for the benefit of its estate. In the case of Freddie Mac, American Home has agreed to temporarily transfer servicing to Bank of America, and Freddie Mac has agreed to allow American Home to sell the servicing rights to a permanent buyer. In the case of Ginnie Mae, American Home has been granted a limited period of time to sell the servicing rights associated with these loans. American Home believes these consensual resolutions are fair and should prevent any further disruptions to administration of the homeowner's escrow accounts. American Home further noted that this matter concerned only Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae; no other mortgage-backed securities portfolios were affected. For the balance of its approximately $60 billion servicing portfolio, American Home continues to submit tax and insurance payments on a timely basis. Separately, American Home announced it had resolved a situation concerning a limited number of checks that were dishonored due to bank error. In early August, due to confusion on the part of an outside financial institution regarding accounts affected by the American Home bankruptcy, approximately 500 property tax checks were mistakenly dishonored. This misunderstanding has been corrected. -- American Home has actively worked to replace any dishonored checks to date and stands ready to do continue to do so. -- Tax authorities that may have received dishonored checks may contact (866) 540-5834 to pursue replacement. American Home regrets any inconvenience or anxiety caused to homeowners as a result of either of these situations. The Company's objective is to continue to provide high quality mortgage servicing to homeowners." I'm glad they issued an apology. /tricia

Well ... I guess we can shut off the lights and close and lock the door of this thread: I'm to fly out of Detroit early evening Fri. Jan. 23 - fly out of Phoenix morn. Mon. Feb 2 ... just under $250. For folks who might be in or able to come to Phoenix, my email address is available here, and I can send daughter's address - don't remember the suburb - and phone. Got a card in mail Fri. Nov. 28 saying item to pick up at P.O., picked up passport Monday ... postmistress says it somewhat resembles me. She's supposed to have identif'n., but not too concerned ... I got out photo driver's licence ... she said she doubted that she'd let me into States on that - look too much like terrorist. Application went in Nov. 21, it was issued Nov. 26 - really quick service. I am disappointed that I'll not get to visit folks along the route ... but hope that I can meet several of you some time in the future: maybe a spring or fall trip (summer too hot). I hope also that you have the start of a fine week under your belt. ole joyful