Glad I came back up here to look for replies! Yay! I got the good dirt! :D I had no idea what I was doing. The guy at the co-op recommended this. I knew we were anti-Hyponex and pro co-op mix, but that's all I knew. :) Uh oh...no styrofoam? Bummer. I just did a few, and so easy to poke holes in the bottom. I tried poking holes in the yogurt cup first and split it. Oops. I think a plastic container sounds like a good idea to house everything, drilling holes in the top. Do I also have to make drainage holes in the bottom? I do have a paint pen. It's one of those Deco-Color from Michael's craft store.

I am worried about some plants, but not excesively so. However, we'd already had a hard freeze here a couple of weeks ago that hit plants fairly hard so I didn't have much left in the ground, except lantanas, that were likely to shock. The lantanas were protected from the previous hard freeze by adjacent plants that were taller and very dense and which protected them so they still looked great, after I removed all the plants that had fallen over on top of them after that hard freeze hit them. They still had green foliage and were in full bloom until a couple of days ago. Today they look pretty bad. Our soil is heavy in clay content and doesn't drain well, so some years the lantana overwinter fine here and some years they die. I always dig up my Texas lantana, put it in a pot, and overwinter it in the unheated greenhouse, but the rest of the lantanas have to sink or swim on their own. A lot of our trees here still had green leaves as of Monday. Some still have green leaves now. A lot of those would have had nice color, but now I expect the leaves will turn brown and fall off the trees. We were just starting to see some reds in the red oaks and ornamental pears, and lots of yellows in the elms and other trees that turn yellow in fall. I think it would have been a gorgeous and colorful autumn, albeit a late one, if this big, wicked cold spell hadn't hit the trees before the color could fully develop. I still have hollyhocks, Malva zebrina 'sylvestris' and a few other plants that aren't frozen yet, but we're expected to hit the low 20s tonight, so they all may be brown and crispy tomorrow. We just lost the comfrey plants two days ago, but they are pretty cold hardy and will come back from the roots. The native grasses and forbs that still had any green or any flowers whatsoever now are wheat colored. With existing plants in your area, I think if they are several years old, y'all might not see much of a long-lasting type of damage on them, but I never like seeing plants freeze when they weren't already sliding into dormancy. Newer and younger plants always seem to have the most damage from sudden cold spells before dormancy hits. We are in a low-lying microclimate and tend to freeze before anyone around us does, since they're on higher ground, and I rarely lose any zone 7 plants at a time like that, though sometimes we lose some of the current year's growth. With any zone 8 plants that I've tried to sneak into zone 7b and grow, this is exactly the kind of sudden cold spell that kills them after they've grown well here for 2, 3 or 4 years.

ah, I can relate to the angst, and I feel for you. Have some chocolate with that wine! I don't think anybody can really tell you what to do, but I'll just say that I'm glad that we did go forward with our remodel even though at the time it didn't seem like a good idea for lots of reasons. We probably struggled more than we would have if we had waited a year to start, but I'm still convinced we did the right thing by moving forward because, truthfully, you never know what is down the road. You could decide to wait only to find yourself in a different set of circumstances. As for the KD, is it possible to use the KD you are comfortable with to design the kitchen, for a fee, knowing you will be using the plans to purchase cabinets elsewhere? We did that with our first kitchen cabinet guy - paid him $150 for his plan even though we didn't buy his cabinets. (and only used a few of his ideas in the end anyway). That might be an option. Oh, and the floor angst - yes, I know that all too well! Keep looking - the perfect tile is out there. you just haven't found it yet. You will! Living without a kitchen isn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be. Get yourself nicely situated wherever you are closest to a good water source. Since it's mostly just you, you can pretty much eat anywhere. We always ate, and still do, in the family room in front of the TV, or more often than not I was eating at my desk (and have the crumbs in the keyboard to prove it) We also thought we'd remodel over the summer and use the grill, but we didn't rip out till the end of October and didn't even use the grill anyway because I really wanted to keep it simple as far as prepping foods and cleaning up, and found a whole array of microwave foods that I never knew existed! I set up a folding table in a spare bedroom and set up the microwave and food supply and a few dishes. Across the hall in the bathroom where we have a large vanity with two sinks we set up the coffee maker and a small plastic drainboard thing. A lot of people like an electric skillet or hot plate, but I wouldn't have been able to wash too much in the bathroom sink, so I really kept it quite simple. If I had to do it again, I would have gotten a small fridge to keep in the bedroom because it was a pain to run to the garage for coffee creamer, salad, etc. Anyway, we lived like that for a few months, and it really wasn't that bad at all. I think you can do this! And when you have freak-out moments, which even in the best of situations you will have, you will find a lot of support right here :)

I would not call her. I realize your frustration and all the kid's stories with the he said/ they said...but seriously, do you need all this neighborhood uproar? You know your son and neighborhood personally along with the other mother/s and what is best, all I can say is what I would do if this were me and in my neighborhood. I'd pick up my ss myself. Older siblings as they get into JR high and HS have 'important' kid social stuff...having to hurry and run get ss would be a drag quickly. I understand your kids are family responsiblity sensed, but let 'em but kids. Gossip with BFFs, snail pace walking and just hanging yakking over their 'social life'. Pick up the youngest As far as the 'new' kid. I'd likely invite his parents over for a BBQ to get to know them...or at the least, take a platter of goodies over, knock on the door and introduce myself ('hey, I'm so and so's mom and our sons have been hanging a bit, thought I'd just swing by and say welcome to the neighbor') hoping to get a sense of what their homelife/style is and if it jives with yours as to the kids being social or good/bad influences on each other. Stop fighting, even though so far politely, with the ladies next of the neighborhood. The 'but did you know what YOUR kid did/does' is going to just add fuel to the fires. I don't see anything good coming from calling each other at this point. Both of you are getting two stories from two different kids. Enough. Your kid does not go over there anymore and her's no longer comes to your place...if that is not reasonable, than both mommies stay out of it and let the kids work it out. Kids toss basketballs, they make noise, the hang out of windows hoping to see their friends...pretty much sounds like just being kids. Only thing I would really be concerned with is that the 'new' kid does not pass on bad ideas and habits to the current kids. What are the age differences of all the boys? Asking because say a 12 yr old may be too young to socialize with a 16 yr old...different intrests, time killing enjoyments ect and all that.