Aloha folks, I did it!! :) I was able to package up 1 or 2 seed packets for every participant. :) Amazing! Also wishing you a Happy Holiday! well I finished up packing at 5:34am this morning..lol I pulled an all-nighter but I managed to get it done. so Sue you're not the only one! Oh my. You really stuck to it! I quit at 1 AM because I didn't want to be tired today and maybe even tomorrow and maybe be grumpy around a lot of folks. I had 'thought' I would do more this AM, but my AADD got in the way. I may send a few extra things out Fri, and if they throw a kink into the sorting they can just be kept to be passed on as bonuses sometime later. Whew...glad to be over the seeds for a day or so. Sue

Hi all! Thanks for all of the bday/anniversary wishes--I had a great week, and we had a really nice anniversary! :) Rog got me tickets to see A.J. Jacobs (the author--he writes for Esquire, and is like Bill Bryson--really hysterical!), and tickets for Anthony Bourdain the next night. Now, he's yummy! :) Then, this past Friday night, I went to see a live showing of Rocky Horror--gad, that was f*u*n! No props, but it was still fun yelling out the lines to the actors! :) We're going to Chattanooga, TN next weekend to look at fall foliage, and just have fun and relax. So, it's been a lovely couple of weeks! School is going well, too. I just took another algebra test, and did suprising well on it. I am one point away from an A average, so hopefully, I can get it. Even though I've worked in corporate accounting/finance for decades, I still am not a math person. Go figure. LOL! I'm enjoying it, though, and it's good to get the ol' gray matter up and working again. I did get a very nice complement from a friend. We were discussing my going back to school at my age, and she said that I was her hero for doing it, and that she'd like to be a nurse too, but that she didn't think she could do it. I told her that I thought that if *I* can do it, anyone can and that she'd be a wonderful nurse (and she would). I just thought that was nice as I've never been anyone's 'hero' before. :) Milkdud--liver! Urk! :) I like the taste, but can not get past the texture. Congrats on good numbers! :) I started eating better, and walking 3 miles a day, and I feel so much better. I think that mess I went through in July was a real b*tt-kicker for me to take better care of myself. Speaking of that........ (drumroll, please!) I am down almost 50 pounds from my top weight!!!! And I have bought a pair of 7 for All Mankind jeans, and got in Âem, and they are comfortable. I am thrilled, to say the least! I want to lose another 20 pounds to get to a healthy BMI, and then maintain this. I canÂt believe thatÂs itÂs this close to Halloween already. Gad, what a year. Does anyone what to do a Christmas exchange this year? (I know that I missed last years, so IÂm hoping that we will do it this year!) Anyhoo, gotta goÂhope all is well with everyone! Love and hugs, Maddie

Tracey! What you are making is very similar to a Dobos Torte (in Hungarian "Drum Cake") without the Dobos ("Drum") layer. It sounds wonderful! If I may be so bold, you may want to take a look at the following link ad actually put the "drum" layer on the top. This is an amazing presentation and will knock the socks off the recipient and anyone else who gets a taste. My mom has made this for me a few times as I was growing up... and I may have to make one jsut because it is unbelievable..... Alexa Here is a link that might be useful: Dobos Torte DrumCake

"both families have to stop competing and focus on what's important." 100% agree. As far as JB not being a good role model, that wasn't exactly my issue. I think his songs are typical/fine/ for tweens and young teens. I just don't like (and this is a jab at society in general, not YOU, Mrs. P) encouraging such little girls to swoon over him or ANY other *teen idol.* It's not that I think there's anything terrible about him or his music. Every generation has a JB. In mine, it was New Kids on the Block. But I think the ages at which girls are often encouraged, either through the media or even their families/friends, to be interested and have crushes on these singers is getting younger and younger. I went to my first concert--NKOTB---when I was 10 and in 5th grade. Now you have girls in first grade acting all lovestruck. THAT is my issue, not Justin Bieber himself. There will always be the Justin Biebers out there and I think it's fine for tweens/teens to swoon over those guys. It's all part of hormone crazed adolescence, I get it. But why rush it? Our little girls have plenty of time for that. I prefer to keep my daughter as young and innocent as long as possible. It's the whole *attitude* that bothers me. It reminds me of my dad's girlfriend with her DD, who is now 11. I remember back when this little girl was maybe 5 or 6, GF would laugh and say, "Shake your booty, girlfriend! Sexy girl!" It was all said in a joking way and she and her family would laugh as this little girl danced doing a "booty shake" but to me, it was just so....unnecessary. Why does a 5 or 6 year old little girl need to be called sexy, or encouraged to shake her butt while she dances? It's THAT attitude I dislike and I think, unfortunately, it's becoming more prevalent.