We send at least two teams per year, but we haven't been able to get in the country for a year now, due to the unstable conditions before and immediately after the elections. I haven't checked lately to see how the new President is doing. The small orphanage we support is administered by Dr. Hubert Morquette, who is a wonderful Haitian physician who returned to his country after being education elsewhere. You bring up a very important point....as the kids reach a certain age they need to learn some skills or advanced education to find some work, and even with those skills there's not much to do in the Haitian economy. Several of the older kids have been adopted and brought to the U.S. by families who were fearful of their future in Haiti. As is the case in many parts of the world, the only ones left after the govt's leave are the faith based organizations, which is true in Haiti. The U.S. government has once again withdrawn Peace Corps Volunteers, and it looks as though they have abandoned the mission there. There are no plans to reinstate Peace Corps in that country.

Cast Your Net & the Siloam are the two that I would pick if I could only pick 2. But I do really like them all. Very nice photos! It is so very annoying when your photos will not come out true. I hate that, my soon to be daughter-in-law has a professional camera, it makes me want one - but without the price tag! I have a beautiful noid Iris that I could not capture the iridescence of. She took some but I've not seen how they came out. Rena'

playsndurt, you're not an idiot. Most people don't know or care about the names of their DL's. We are the strange ones...knowing not only the name, but the hybridizer and other stats too, is downright wacky. LOL! It doesn't really matter, if you're happy with them. You've got some pretty ones! Kathy

Hi Clara (and Pamela and Leahcate)! I just saw your post. My sister was just here and she quilts (I don't). Quilting is so intricate and detailed that I wouldn't even be able to get started, least of all enjoy it! My hat is off to you for realizing it's supposed to be fun. Clara, I haven't really found any forums for support, but decided to do what I knew how to do when I was first diagnosed. (There were a few on the cooking forum who helped me out initially.) I jumped immediately into an old Weight Watcher's diet until I got Diabetes nutrition education, along with my blood testing kit. I felt like I was flying blind until I started testing my Blood Glucose (BG), but after that was easily able to see the correlation between what I was eating and how it affected me. What's important are Little Meals, with some protein always included, with definite snacks in-between keep your BG more stable. I've been eating apples with a little peanut butter, or celery with PB or cheese. You'll have to limit your carbs and spread them out throughout the day...it's amazing how many carbs are in a large apple! I started actively reading labels and seeing how much a portion was (much less than I had been enjoying.) Google Diabetic Gourmet Magazine; there is good information there, and I periodically check to remind myself of how important it is keep tight control of Diabetes. My doctor suggested ''Diabetes for Dummies'' which was very helpful to me. I still pull it out to read when I have a question about something. There's some good info on the Mojo thread about the Glycemic Index (good carbs that are slower to raise BG), which helped me a lot. The thing you have to do is eat! Then wait two hours before you eat again. If you'd like a support buddy, please e-mail me (My Page) and we'll chat. I know how overwhelming it is at first, but once you push through this and get regulated with meds/diet, you'll have so much energy you'll feel like your old (in my case very old!) self. I'll look forward to hearing from you!