Hi, Meredith!! This is my first post in ages. I know you're honored (LOL!!!). Here's my take: although everyone has their own unique idiosyncracies (ie: spontaneous vs. need to plan ahead) and every friendship has unique circumstances (best friend lives next door vs. across town), my personal rule of thumb is that friendships work best with less "requirements" instead of more. So, respecting the differences between you means tolerating different styles, otherwise it's just too much work. The key to a great friendship is immediate and automatic forgiveness and acceptance of the little stuff. She made a special dish for you as you asked (how nice!) but forgot about your special needs and didn't give you warning a day in advance to save your energy/back for dinner (oops!!). You are both miffed....NO PROBLEM!! Why? because there is nothing wrong with your feelings. You shouldn't even be debating whether yours or hers are any less or more valid. There's no right or wrong here. It's really all about how much you tolerate and ultimately forgive your friend. And vice versa. The way I'd handle it is: you call and tell her how sorry you are that you missed your favorite meal, especially since she went to so much trouble for you (any leftovers?). You love and appreciate everything she did. Your back sometimes interferes with your ability to be spontaneous (isn't it a bummer?) But if you get a day's notice, you can often rest your back enough to do what you want. Thank her profusely for going to all that trouble just for you (which she did, unquestionably). End of story. Don't tell her what to do in the future (save that for some other time when there's nothing in the air between you), or expect her to say anything like "I'm sorry". That would be imposing a requirement on her in order to soothe your feelings. If she does it, great!! But if you love this friend, and you are willing to tolerate the differences in your respective styles, it shouldn't matter that she occasionally forgets about your style. Yes, my suggestion sounds like a one way apology...and in some ways, it is. However, you are really acknowledging the special effort she made for you, her friend. That acknowledgement is important, because people need to feel appreciated. She did something for you, but blew it in the execution. Like any other gift, it's the thought that counts. My guess is that with acknowledgement, the whole thing will quickly defuse. And if I know you, you've already had that conversation anyway. So don't do anything more. Keep your feelings to yourself. Someone really wise once told me that in every relationship, including marriage, the parties decide every day, subconsciously, whether they still want to be there. This is part of it. Anyway, that's my take on friendship. It comes from knowing, in my heart of hearts, that I am very imperfect, yet my friends still love me and want to be my friend. I try to...

Hi Itssohot and welcome to the desert. Flowering pear (Pyrus kawakamii) is native to Taiwan and prefers rich garden soil. Unfortunately it tends to struggle here in the low desert because our soils and water are alkaline. Their flowering season is in early spring for about two weeks and the rest of the year the leaves show symptoms of chlorosis and salt burn. It is possible to create a landscape with a Mediterranean or tropical theme all by using desert-adapted plants. Dozens are showcased in the free booklet Landscape Plants for the Arizona Desert available from some nurseries or your city's water conservation office. Another great resource is the free interactive CD Water-Wise Landsaping in the Arizona Desert also available from your city water conservation office. Most cities also offer free landscaping/gardening classes for their residents. The on-line version of the booklet is available at the address below. Here is a link that might be useful: Landscape Plants for the Arizona Desert

Right, the text in each column functions independently, so why does it matter that the columns go down. If you're going to print it out and don't want to see column lines, right click a column and select borders and shading, select none or change the color to white. Separate text boxes will work, but they make me more crazy than working with rows and columns.

I have three people I've been playing with constantly for a few years, my niece & two guys who I randomly played. We've always got games going - usually pretty even wins/losses. I wish I had more "friends" to play with, (my sister says I'm too competitive) sometimes I even set up my opponent for good word because I'm afraid to beat them too often (usually if they're friends IRL) . It's so interesting to learn about these random players if they'll chat with me. One guy is a really good player, I told him I guessed he was a professor or something. Turns out he fixes motorcycles for a living, also runs a fruit stand! I think my highest score for a word was 190ish.