Thanks for posting this. My cousin was diagnosed with this at the age of 49. She had successful surgery, which prevented any further nerve damage. But the surgery and the untreated CM have left her in a considerable amount of constant pain in her neck, and limited range of movement in one arm. Apparently, once she learned what the symptoms are, she'd been having very specific symptoms for over 10 years, and she'd been having "migraines" most of her life. And her father is a neurologist.

Well, first of all, you sound like a nice, young lady - open to suggestions from others and willing to change, but never forgetting from where you came. My hat's off to you! With respect to your stepbrother, it sounds a little like he's jealous that you have somewhat of a new life. I think his running to a "friends" house was a bit of a tantrum. I would keep reaching out to him and assure him that we can all use more friends. Should stepsiblings and siblings be best friends? Well, why not? The one thing I've learned in life is that you can never have too much unconditional love in the world. I think it's great that you've blended so well thus far. He's going through some growing pains and probably doesn't know at the moment where he fits in - regarding life, the family, your life, etc. Give him time and he'll come around. Things do change and our former "best friends" can one day seem like strangers - conversations that once flowed freely are awkward and filled w/ gaps of silence. Try to keep the lines of communication open - seek his advice, vent about work-related problems, dating, etc. to him and he feel important. Good luck!

I've seen Martha Stewart drill holes in the edges of the pieces of broken terra cotta pots. I think she used leather whips to 'sew' the pieces together. Try posting this question over on the Hypertufa forum. There is an incredible wealth of cement information there.

If you can transplant into a little bit bigger pot without disturbing the existing root ball it shouldn't add to the stress on the plant. You don't want to go from a very small pot to a big pot all at once. You need to do it in stages, one pot size up at a time. I converted your Celsius and you're talking about a range of 51 to 66 Fahrenheit. That is not too cold at all for roses. Roses can take temps down to about -2C before suffering any damage. At 11 to 19C they should still be growing, slowly but growing. Put it outside, in dappled shade, and give it a chance to recover. Once it leafs out again gradually move it out into full sunlight. Roses need a lot of sunlight to bloom. Roses also like a lot of water. As long as the pot has good drainage holes so any excess water can drain out of the pot freely don't worry about the drizzle. Do not put any kind of tray under the pot that will hold water in the roots. Roses hate to sit in water and have soggy, wet roots. Don't worry about the fertilizer that's already in the soil. Just do not add any kind of new fertilizer to the rose until it leafs back out and is growing again. Keeping it outside where it will get rained on should help flush that existing fertilizer through the soil quicker anyway.