Frank, she's already a beauty, and she's not fully open! Just wait until all the buds open! As I said, it was one of my favorites! Very prolific bloomer... although, all my attempts at pollinating failed. I'll catch it next bloom cycle. Sweet Lilian also proved to be very photogenic! I took the most photos of this particular variety. Viagrow... hahaha! So, what happens if the stem is erect for more than 4 hours? Should you consult a horticulturist? LOL! Larissa, in today's world, you sort of have to help your kids develop a thick skin so they're ready for whatever life throws at them. We're the type of parents that never shielded our kids from the uglier side of life... we were always very open, encouraging them to question the world around them, and to discuss things they weren't sure about. Life is tough... kids need to develop good coping skills! One of our favorite lines was, and still is: Life is full of choices... for every choice there is a consequence... think hard before making your choices! When our kids were teens, our house was the favorite hangout... there were always other kids at our house. They would all come over after school and hang out, play video games, listen to music... my fridge got a ton of mileage! I think we fed the neighborhood! You should hear some of the stories from parties at our house! Our motto was: Don't fall asleep before we do! Oh, the jokes we played on people! Ahh... great memories! Hilarious memories! We never had a lot of money, but we did have a lot of fun! Our kids have some awesome memories to take with them through life... that much is certain!

Gardenweb.com was excellent. Houzz bought it and changed it to this Post+Comment sillyness, buried it in their marketing site, and made it easier for people to accidentally resurrect dead posts. I'm not suggesting people didn't manage to resurrect dead posts in the old site. It was just much rarer and usually done by a bot that generally got fixed. It sometimes seems that anything that works well just must get damaged by some change. It seems any change to just about anything is almost always a change for the worse.

the question was no big deal. she was probably just responding to my comment about Power Point. let's not make an issue of it... now on to the main topic...THE WEDDING WAS BEAUTIFUL. the hike up was fun, steep, but fun. i just wore tennis shoes and carried my nice ones and changed my shoes when i got there. i wore my nice clothes and just rolled my pants legs up like someone suggested. there were no facilities, but it was alright...they weren't really needed to change my shoes. the hike was shorter than i expected so it wasn't any big deal... they got married on a rock in front of a waterfall and the ceremony was beautiful. they had the reception under this rustic-looking pavilion. it was a little windy but everyone had a good time although i'm not exactly sure how the bride managed to keep her dress white... north carolina was beautiful. for those of you who are looking for a place to honeymoon, i urge you to consider north carolina. fiance and i decided that we're going up there for our honeymoon. although, if you're not the out-doorsy type, you might want to consider a less mountainous spot. but if you love the mountains and spectacular views....we thouroughly enjoyed our trip and the view from our hotel window was absolutely gorgeous!

Thank you all so much for the kind words, well wishes, thoughts and prayers. I read through them every day still, and they always lift me up and make me smile. I've been a bit overwhelmed with the inevitable details of Dad's passing. Please forgive me for not answering each post. There will be a funeral ceremony in the near future at the military cemetery in Michigan. I'm in the process now of making plans to fly back to be with my family there, and taking care of all the many, many details that it involves at this end. So, please allow me to just say, "Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your kindnesses to me and my family!". Lynn