I am so sorry for your loss. Nothing said or done helps,but I do care, that you've had to go through this traumatic experience. My Mom died of ovarian cancer July 3rd 2009. She had the surgery followed by chemo treatments, it was in remission for 4 years. Only to come back again about a year and a half later. More chemo, tons of tests, they switched chemo treatments a few times. We got her into one of the best cancer treatment centers and the end result was, she still died. I seen my mom go through so much with the chemo treatments so I understand your mom's not wanting to go through it =/ I would of insisted Mom do chemo, too simply cause I couldn't bear to lose her. It hurts. It hasn't gotten better so far. In fact sometimes it seems to get worse as I realize, I've never gone without talking to her for so long. I really hope it does get easier for the both of us. Like you my Mom was pretty much all I had. Never been close to my Dad.

Been many times over the past 39 yrs... The unbiased opinion to your question, which I see in terms of capitalism, is no, they charge what the market will bear. They have a completely over-the-top uniqueness that affords this luxury. To answer it personally, I spent some time considering it last month and decided my personal finances didn't justify it. I can use the same amount of money to have fun all summer. But if I had more money this year, I would be going when school lets out. It really is fun, feels like there is no "real world" while you're there. I've done it all sorts of ways. The most enjoyable, psychologically, is to do a plan that includes everything you know you want - hotel room you like, number of meals per day, added activities like golf. If you can get over the shock of, and the actual expense before you go, it's a much better and smoother experience. You will feel very pampered. sungil woo, if you had done more research before your trip, you would have learned about fast pass, probably have been able to buy the entrance tickets and harry potter tickets ahead of time, had a chance to hear from others about their experiences, seen pictures, etc... You may have decided you would not enjoy it, or you may have known more about how to make the most of your time there. They did not take any money which you did not give willingly, prices are in print for all to see.

You talking to me? Or is the above post for everyone in general? Your post is total BS Architectrunnerguy. 99% of homeowners/builders have a budget and getting competitive bids is SMART, NOT CHEAP. The lower bids do not have to mean the cheapest quality. I have found in every instance the opposite to be true - every time! Big names mean big overhead. I own a small business. I get business because I do better work than the big guys at a lower rate. The subs we did hire do quality work- better than any home I have ever built or lived in. Maybe I got lucky, but my framer, carpenter/sider and cabinet maker are talented.- and yes, cost less- because they are small local craftsman. Again, cheaper does not mean inferior quality. The home we're building now is simple, because we wanted it that way. And by getting lower quotes (but again, NOT lower quality) we can have extras- R60 in the attic, Bibs in the walls, two foot roof overhangs, exterior and interior LED lighting, floors wood throughout, higher quality plumbing fixtures, counters, appliances, etc. And guess what? This 'cheap' home will have NO MORTGAGE. This home is also going to be the most energy efficient home I have ever owned. But we are lucky, we can do some of the work ourselves. What is wrong with that? So we are CHEAP because we: > Researched and hired the best local talent and kept the money in the local economy. I think you know the trickle down effect of this. > Educated ourselves on every aspect regarding home construction. Again, my partner is a smart contractor, so it wasn't a stretch. > Did some of the work ourselves. I wish you could know the satisfaction of doing an awesome job on your own home. Oh, but wait, that would be 'cheap'. > built a home that a big bank will NOT own. Therefore our son will not have to take out large student loans when he starts college next year, therefore he might be able to contribute to society instead of being a burden in the future- and his old parents might be able to save some money for retirement and long term insurance so the taxpayer won't have to pay for our 'cheap' old asses in the future. I don't know what your motivation was for your post (probably $) but it's just not true. You don't have to pay 25k to an architect or 50k to a kitchen designer to have a quality home- or to post on this forum. i would also say that since the merger with Houzz, this forum has really gone downhill. People in the building industry used to offer helpful advice here, but now all they do is try scare tactics- and not because they care, but because they want to make sure you over pay for their services. Why all the insecurity when people post about saving money and thinking outside the box some? There are always going to be people who will buy what they're selling, So what gives? And also know that there is one "pro" poster here that posts under 3 different names. I can't be the only one reading these forums for years that has noticed this. its just so deceptive and just plain wrong. I'll let you guess that one. in my opinion, I would not take any serious advice on these forums from people in the building industry - not since they merged with Houzz. But of course, that's just my "cheap", non-professional opinion.

Thanks, Sandplum! That is something I really want. I don't need it right now because I don't have many ripe tomatoes, but hopefully next year will be like 2016 and 2017 for me--lots of tomatoes! Dawn, you did a great job reading my mind. IF my squash plant is butternut (oh, I hope so!), then it is a C. moschata, like you said. I did have SVB moths flying around it and think I found a small SVB grub. It was very small. And trying hard to chew into the stalk. I squished it of course. I've never seen a SVB grub that small. I usually don't see them until the plant dies and they're falling out of the dead plant. Ew. I love butternut squash so much and would love to get a good harvest of them. There's several fruit on this plant. They are growing in compost so probably don't need to be fertilized, right? Yes...I was wondering about the coloring and fruit size of the Lime Green. I might have picked it a little early. For some reason I thought the outside stayed green too and was surprised to find a light orangey fruit. Thought I had mislabeled, but not really because the plant looks different from other tomatoes. I have two. It tasted okay--a little tart. Maybe 'cause it wasn't quite ripe. The inside is a gorgeous color of green. It was a free package of seeds. I think either Rebecca, Jen or Megan got a free pack too. Carrots! Lovely carrots. I had success this year! They were crowding out and shading the shishito pepper (Actually I think it's the hot banana pepper I got from Bruce but the tag was accidentally switched with the shishito...by me) so thought it best to harvest them. Their tops were so tall, but I couldn't see the root pushing up from the soil so expected to find a skinny, underdeveloped carrot. Nope. These are lovely. I mixed up the seeds and scattered them all around the bed so have orange AND purple carrots. LOVE. They smell so nice too. Only the ones near the pepper plant were pulled so I have a whole bed of carrots to pull. Yippee! I'm going to start more seed when I can find a place for them. While scrolling through FB, I saw that someone had to pull out their hose for the first time this year. Me TOO! Last night. Dawn, I accidentally left the chicken door open a couple of nights ago and was surprised to see them out in the morning. At first I thought that Ethan had let them out (he's an early riser for a teen). Then remembered that I had closed the little chicken door so I could deal with broodies without interruption from the others. As it got dark I wondered why there weren't going into the coop. DUH! I shut their door. So went out and opened it, but then forgot to close it. Seriously. The pen door was closed, but our pen is not 100% predator proof. Something that was very determined could find a way in, which is why they have to be in the predator proof coop WITH the door locked during the night. That could have been a disaster because we have all sorts of critters lurking around at night too, Dawn, more than we've had so far out here. K, I need to finish work. We have a date night tonight and I want to leave early to take a nap so I don't fall asleep at 10. We are going to Picasso in the Paseo Arts District. One of my favorite restaurants. Have a good day, Everyone.