Momof4, I'm so sorry you had to miss today. I can understand how it feels as if the weight of the world can be squarely on your shoulders and you can't get relief even for the most important things. I am the primary bread winner in our family, and have the job with more demand of my time. Thus, when the kids are sick it is generally much easier for DH to take the day off. Usually the kids don't care, but there have been days when they want to know why mommy can't stay home with them and cry when I leave. I spend that day at work hating my job, my clients, and the fact that I can't jeopardize my employment or my family is sunk. I have found myself resenting my husband because when he wants to go home, he goes home. When he doesn't feel good, he stays home. Really, is this his 'fault', or just a 'perk' of his job and a downside to mine that I don't have that ability? Serenity is right - the anger really isn't with DH or even BM, it's with the whole situation. It's just easier to blame a person than life. Take a couple hours this weekend, go out to ice cream with just you and the kids and have your time. Have them each write down their favorite moment now so they don't forget and then share it with you. Better yet, if DH took pictures have them go through them all and explain what happened. It won't make up for missing it, but it might make the bitter pill easier to swallow. Hugs to you.

I was about 12 years old, and was taking a test in school, when the principle came to the door and said there was an incident I was involved in, and needed to come to the office. I had no idea what he was talking about. The teacher said as soon as I finished the test, he would send me. My mind went blank and I couldn't concentrate. I am sure I failed the test. I went to the office and when I got there, a little neighbor girl of ours, age about 6, was there and her older brother. (Small school...all grades in one building). The story was that when I was walking to gym class the day before, and walked through the recess yard where younger children were playing, I picked up this little girl's dress and looked at her panties and called her a "debbil". I didn't even know what a debbil was...I thought it was a bad word that I didn't know the meaning of. Later, I figured out she meant that I had called her a "devil". I don't know why that little girl said that. The idea that I would lift up her skirt to see her panties was mind boggling. But, she had said that...and told her parents, who called the school and, hence, I was in the princple's office being questioned about it. I was crying and I couldn't remember even seeing her the day before. Supposedly other kids saw it, so they were called in, and no one saw it. (Of course, because it didn't happen.) After about an hour, the principle told her it wasn't nice to lie and she had to appologize to me. She said, "I'm sorry Marilyn. I told a lie." I was so distraught and sick, I went to the bathroom and cried my eyes out. But, worse than that incidence...in '95, my husband fired a deckhand. To make a long story short, to get back at him, the deckhand got his girlfriend to say that her children had been out to our place, here on the bayou....we didn't live here at the time, and my husband had molested them. They filed charges...filled out a report several pages long that said they were out here every weekend for 6 weeks, swimming nude in the bayou and riding horses. No one rides my horses...not even me. They aren't broken. Even tho our place is remote...there is a lot of boat traffic on the bayou in the summer. This is MY place...at the time, my husband hardly ever came out here because he was working, but I was here every day. We didn't even know the woman or the kids. Later they tried to recant, but the charges couldn't be dropped. It took 15 months and cost us $60,000. Now, if that won't give you a sorry outlook on the human race, nothing will.

Yes, but most citrus grow true-to-type from seed due to Nucellar embryony... certainly most oranges and grapefruit. Exceptions are Meyer lemon, 'Temple' oranges, Clementines, Persian lime, most pummelos, I think. Tangors and Tangelos put off a high % of nucellar seedlings. According to my notes where I keep my citrus information, I had this filed away. This is a quote from Dr. Malcolm Manners, professor of Citrus Science at Florida Southern College: 'Nearly all of the sweet oranges (C. sinensis) come true-to type from seed. A few (some navels, 'Pineapple') make minor variations in their seedlings, even though they are technically nucellar. Nearly all grapefruit also come true-to-type. The only exception I can think of is 'Thompson Pink' which produces 'Marsh Seedless' seedlings, since it is a periclinal chimera, and the mutant tissue is not in the layer that makes the seeds. The vast majority of mandarin types are also nucellar, and therefore, come true-to-type. Also, nearly all lemons, 'Key' Lime, and most other sour-fruited types come true. Persian limes do not. Meyer is monoembryonic, so does not come true-to-type from seed. Actually, the list of citrus that don't come true is quite small.'

I think they are 'out of order' for sometimes (http://www.cloudforest.com/cafe/forum) ... I do not know the history, but I remember visiting that time-to-time. :(