So after all that rain, water is not standing in the soil at a depth of around 12". Not now, but it quit. And I dug some more as I said. If it starts raining as hard as it did, I have no doubt it will pool up to a certain level for awhile at least, but no more puddle on the sidewalk and into more of the rosebed. Then it started sprinkling and a couple small cavities in the deeper trench were holding water. Maybe it is not so bad except for the surface drainage problem. Does the subsoil feel gritty? Not when I scooped some of it out with my bare hands when I got fed up with trying to get a good pass at it with the shovel. But I threw a small pebble up on the sidewalk, brought it in and rinsed it off. It was gritty and took a bit to rinse it, rubbing between my fingers. Now I don't know what I've done with it. I didn't like getting my hands in the muck (don't mind getting them dirty) because there is broken glass everywhere, I'm constantly picking it up, and I didn't want to cut myself. The landscaper who planted the roses thought the drainage was adequate. Does it smell sewagy? Not at all. No rotten or sulphur odor. There were several worms in it, but they could have been at the sides I dug down through. I am now down to clay. It's only been like this since mid summer last year when we rototilled. Before that, I never noticed any problem, didn't pool on the sunken sidewalk slab, must have soaked through the grass or something. Or it didn't pool so badly that I noticed it and dissipated quickly or that dirt collected there. I scraped dirt off there, too. The dirt is either running back off the trenched side or from the other side. If I get it fixed, I can hose the rest of it off or more rain should take care of it. Does water seep in after you dig down another shovel bit at the back of the hole? Not yet. Not at all. At least when it isn't raining. I measured (roughly) and am now down to about 14 inches, maybe it's only 12, hard to tell with the bottom being uneven still, no seepage whatsoever. It all seems to be from water runoff, maybe from the other side and down the sidewalk, pooling, and overflowing out into that one spot in the rose bed. You can see how the sidewalk slab is in the first photo. Just the open trench got rid of the pooling in the bed itself, and the rose there is mounded now, before it made quite a large puddle in the actual planting area. There is one more slab like it, but it is toward the steps to the front sidewalk, and doesn't seem to cause any significant pooling, probably because it's close to a slope where it can run down. The slopes are washing mud onto the sidewalk, and I shovelled it back into the planting area. I'm hoping that once plants are established and mulched, that will stop. The guy who finished the barrier did a crappy job on that side near the front walk which makes it a little worse, but it does it on the other side, too. I've got everything I need except rock (was going to buy a bag at Hy Vee, landscaping pebbles, one bag ought to do it) to finish it up tomorrow if you think it is right except I want it a little deeper on the front end to allow for rocks, sand and 4" soil on top, then may have to compensate down the whole thing a bit, making sure it slants down in every part of it. Maybe 4" soil at that edge will still cause a problem, 2" might be better, but I would prefer at least 4. I googled for wet box and found some, mostly for marine uses, have no clue how they work or photos, was wondering if large pvc pipe filled with rocks and capped on the ends with some, no anything screen, landscape cloth, sieve, would clog up in no time. I guess that's why the pebbles are supposed to work, it kind of leaches out. In a bad rain, I don't expect miracles, but it will trap it underground (I hope) until it drains out. I decided not to try to trench it a foot or two more on the other side of the landscape barrier. Plus I have them coming to mark lines again, don't think that was close to anything but the further out I go, the deeper I have to go as well. I could do that, but it would be a lot more work. I could trowel under the barrier and not have to take it out, then slide the landscaping cloth through the opening, work in the rest of the materials and refill. Do you think I can make it work? I'd hate to have to dig it all up again. I would scream or cry or both.

Scarlett2001- I really did not see or touch my dress until about 30 minutes prior to walking down the aisle. (At least it seemed like 30 minutes...it may have been an hour or so, but time goes by sooo fast that day). Anyway...The way it worked for me was that the show required me to get professional measurements taken about a week prior to beginning to film. My dress is based on those measurements. Now for some, their group buys a dress and has it altered to the measurements they were given from the bride. In my case, my dress was made by a designer from scratch, so she made it based on my measurements. Therefore, as long as my weight didn't fluctuate much in the two weeks before I put on the dress, we were fine. But, correct measurements are imperative. Also, as far as undergarments go, I was asked to bring along a couple different types of things (corset, strapless bra, etc.) because they would not tell me what I needed exactly because that may have spoiled the surprise. Same goes for shoes. I brought white heels, clear heels, black, and nude/brown heels. Four pairs of shoes was a drag to carry around, though. :) It all was worth it, though!! But, point is, as far as I know, brides on the show really don't try their dresses on until right before they walk down the aisle. Roselvr- Thank you for the compliment!! The dress was a design I would have chosen myself...and my favorite part of it was the sweep train. I do like the color purple, and even remembering telling them I hate the color red and didn't want it anywhere near me on my wedding day, but truth be told, the red looked great. I wouldn't have chosen it myself, but loved the way it turned out nonetheless!! The only pics that I know of to view online are at the TLC website for For Better or For Worse, under "Show Central", then by clicking on our episode. There are 7 pics there and the last 2 are of me and my husband and you can see a bit of the dress.

cattlelettuce, organic maria,end of rope When DH told me tuesday night that his oledst daughter said they wanted to come over on thursday night....he saw my reaction, believe me! He was really tired and had worked hard all day. He was so tired that he really didn't want to go out and see his grand daughters play soccer that night but of course he still did. What would his daughter have said if he hadn't shown up at the game!!! Oh my God. DH would have felt guilty for days. He often does things to make himself look good in front of his children. I'v told him this multiple times. For instance, he won't drink in front of his adult children except on a very rare occasion. That's not what he does when they aren't there though! Anyways, when he came home on tuesday night and told me his oldest daughter told him they wanted to come over on thurdays night, ... i replied. What the .... is wrong with her. I've told her 18 times it wasn't convenient, that we needed to do things, etc. etc!! After a while, i calmed down and i said to DH: look, this is not right. This is what i mean by disrespect from your oldest daughter towards me. What is wrong with her? It's not like i told her i don't want her over, i told her any other night would be great but thursday nights! She always does that. She ignores totally what i say and then she puts you in an awkward position between me and you. You think this is respectful! I wished him good night, said i was sorry if i had kind of ruined his evening with my reaction and then i went to bed. Last night, when i heard him call his daughter to tell her he had to cancel supper for tonight....I COULD NOT BELIEVE IT! He has never never done this in the past. NEVER. He always makes every effort to grant to his adult children and espcially her...whatever she wants. I've seen him cancel our xmas holidays because she wanted her father to do a 5 hour plus trip to go and get her so whe could be in the same city as him at Christmas. Back then, she was married and lived in another city with her children and husband. It wasn't like she was all alone in a city at xmas. But she was lonely, She wanted to see daddy and mommy. Can you believe it! Married with two children. No wonder she is divorced today. Was i ever upset at him for cancelling our holidays. That's when i started coming to this board and i started reading everything i could on detachment. This has been going on for 19 years. Why do i endure it? Because i care and love DH. Have i ever felt guilty for my actions towards his children,..oh yes i have, but what i regret the most and what i ask myself often is this: why did i get so involved with his children in the first place? I could have been a step-parent, kind and nice, but not take part so seriously in these children lives. Oh yes,,...i did the parties for them, bought them gifts, etc. etc. I did everything a mother would do if it was for her own bio children. I treated the oldest one just like i treated the two other step children. I gave her gifts, etc. etc. and the day she got married....she traeted me like a DOG. Her mother had a corsage, her grand mother, her aunt, her father ...you name it...but not me. She never thanked me for the money WE gave her for the wedding, etc. You must all wonder what kind of a husband i have that would let these things happen. Well, he is just like many other divorced father i have met or read about. He never, nver wants to say or do anything that could affect his relationship with his children. He did admit that what his daughter did for the wedding was wrong but he didn't say anything to her and he knows that despite the fact that my relationship with this SD is a bit better today than it was in the last years, he knows one day i will tell her what i truly think about her and what she did to me. This girl is spoiled rotten. She has NO friends at all except perhaps for one girl she talks to sometimes and her younger sister! Knowing what i know now of step children, would i ever be in a relatioship again with a man who has children....the answer my friend is NO. Tonight, i will not be the most cordial person in our home! Believe me! Keep posting.

The primary benefit of mulching of plants (not paths between raised beds) with a good organic material is stabilizing soil moisture levels and help in reducing weeds, not feeding slugs or pill bugs. Unlike straw, hay, pine straw, unfinished compost, shredded leaves, etc., bark mulch is not the ideal vegetable mulch. However if you have an abundance of both slugs and pill bugs and you choose to not treat the area with a pesticide then one of the secondary benefits of some of the mulches is keeping them in the mulch rather than on the plants. Wood chips or bark chips is also not the ideal in that case. Their diet is decomposing organic materials and wood is very slow to decompose. As for the paths between the beds you can use whatever form of mulch you wish. Is it going to drastically increase the pest population in the garden beds just because it is used on the paths? No, they are already there anyway. But since you have apparently ordered Sluggo you would likely use some of it on the paths as well as the beds too. Dave