Chanin, thanks very much for showing us again the beautiful plants grown in Thailand! Spectacular!!! When you say the plants are put on a diet, do you mean they get no food at all? Or do they start the plants off with some food and then never again, or do they still get the occasional light foliar feed? The form of most of the Neo's is simply to die for! Such perfect symmetry! Japie

My other is a hoarder, my grandmother and aunt are worse. I'm okay, but only because my boyfriend helps alot. Because of growing up in that environment, I can't see messes, dirt or piles. I can really only notice differences. In order to maintain my own house, I try and keep it as sterile as possible. When I have been good for a while, I'll put a few things on the counter that looks nice. Looking nice is my entire motivation for keeping it clean. But if I have a towel on the floor, I can't tell the difference between one towel and six of them until I notice I ran out of towels or its brought to my attention. I notice one dish in the sink, but not all of the dishes in the sink. And I cant see dust until I put something down and it leaves a mark, because it accumulates so slowly. For me, it isn't about wanting to keep things, and I think that most of these people are similar. There are plenty of excuses to avoid drastic change, and some of them include sentimentality. If they give you a reason why they want it, and they give themselves a reason to keep it, than they feel less pressured and more justified in their pattern. Change is terrifying. It is unexpected and unsettling and very hard to emotionally handle, especially when your possessions give you a feeling of security. In order to maintain my home I have to avoid sentimentality as much as possible. So I believe that they leave the place looking sterile in order for the hoarder in question to notice when there is one thing out of place, because once that one thing becomes two things, they can't see anything out of place. It is an incredibly hard concept to follow, but it is a real thing none the less.

georgysmom, I'm sighing with you. My DD has seen it twice, at least one of those times was Broadway; don't remember about the second time. She told me I really ought to see it; it was just so good. Some time later it came to Richmond, and I went with a friend on a senior bus group. We had to leave very early to get there and I was exhausted by the time the curtain went up. I fell asleep during the first few minutes. My DD couldn't believe that!! I'll tell her about it being on PBS tonight, but I don't know if she gets that channel. Sue

Thanks, ladies. Yes, it's a lot of fun and it seems like the ladies are really outdoing themselves every year. I do have an idea for next years ornie, in fact I have almost everything I need to make them. I saw on FlickR some ornaments that look like those candied fruit slices, you know the ones you see in the nice candy stores, they look like a slice of orange, or lemon, lime, etc. They make them in citrus colors and red.... well, these were felt, 2 colors in each one, like dark green/lime green or dark yellow/bright yellow, etc, and covered with "sugar", which was a square crystal glitter. Simple, but VERY CUTE. I was thinking of making a set of 3 for each lady. I bought all the stuff to make them in case my ships didn't turn out. So I'll be making those, and I won't wait until early December, either! lol bRAT Kat- those are his little mittened hands you're seeing, ya perv! lol It's not a good photo, I realize that. He is absolutely the most charming, old-fashioned little guy, we all flipped over him. The 2 girls on either side of me, their guys had glittery felt shoes- mine has plain. I told them their little guys were gay. lolol And their little scarves are so cute, a tiny button holds it in place. He is perfection. I recommend these kinds of parties to everyone. What a great way to get together, have lots of fun and good food and be creative AND get a huge assortment of ornies. Oh. I don't do a tree anymore, I'm sad to say. Too many cheesy cats in this house that would tear it up. I keep some of the ornaments and share some with friends. I have a lovely assortment in boxes! lol Thanks, WC, about the cat. I hope to hear from the vet this morning that I can pick him up. Fingers crossed!