Dear Elizabeth, I am so sorry that you carry so much pain inside. I think I know how bad it is...only because the death of both parents still causes much pain. We ache for them and the "hole" that they leave. Lucky you to be so close to your brother. I will never know the closeness of a sibling as he and I were the only 2 children. He was my parent's biological child and they adopted me from birth. Sometimes I think he didn't like me...and he was the only family member to ever treat me differently or said anything about me not "really" being family. This was especially obvious when my dad died and made me the executor of the estate (younger child...and in my brother's opinion "not blood"), so maybe that's why he cut me out of his life. I could try to guess for years, but am trying to close the book on a chapter that was particularly painful. I beat myself up for years, and now that he's gone, I have to let the pain and the "shoulda, coulda, woulds" go. I don't claim this to be a universal approach, but I can get on with my life not worrying about him and I am glad that he's not in need of anything. He wouldn't take any help I offered unless it involved a "dead president" (I heard someone refer to money as that and thought it was clever). So...the weight is off my shoulders. I am still sad and will be everytime I think of him...but I can't let it drag me down. MY HIPPIS NEED ME to be happy!! THE DATE was nice (ok, it's 9PM and I'm home....) this was dinner with Ed. I met him on a cruise in 1997 (they thought we were a married couple!!) and we have dinner every year. He lives in IL and I usually catch up with him on the way to a dog show. He happened to drive his new car down towards Houston and invited me to a very nice Italian resturant. New car??? His old Miata was just fine by me...fun and zippy (I used to have a convertible too), but the new car is fun and zippier. A new Porche boxter! Boys and their toys. Tomorrow is another "date" of sorts. Going to a wine tasting and meeting a friend (Alan) there. Asked him what I should bring and he recommended cheesecake, so I made a Chocolate Kaluha chocolate chip cheesecake with ganauche(?) on top! :-) see what these guys are missing?? Handy in the yard AND kitchen?? Kristi

Hi everyone! Wow! A lot of people got their seeds today! The post office must have been working over the New Years weekend! I'm glad you are all liking the seeds I sent. Gmom, I had a lot of extras ready before I started this swap so everyone got more seeds back than they sent it. It was just something that I wanted to do as so many people have been so generous to me over the last year on GardenWeb. It was a good way for me to give back. I'm getting ready to post an organizing thread for a new round of Color of the Month Swaps for 2010. It should be up shortly. So if you are interested in hosting a Color swap, keep your eyes open for it. Penny

That is funny.,,,,there are probably some troll reviews by people who don't realize it is fictitious. DH and I were really looking forward to The Grand Budapest Hotel as we generally like Wes Anderson, but neither of us could stay awake for this one. It was tediously unfunny and the storyline just had no hook for us (or anyone I could imagine watching). I loved Moonrise Kingdom because all that imagination was in the service of a passable plot in a setting full of American archetypes and memes. Excessive style for its own sake is never successful------in any cultural art, not just movies.

We tried to see it yesterday but the outdoor mall where the theater was located was so packed that we turned around without looking for a parking space. I still want to see it!