Alrighty Then... and Merry Christmas to whoever might be at work and have nothing of importance to do... talk about PAYDIRT... geez... ya'll have found some really cool stuff. Nothing I like better than to find a discarded window box... mine is not to wonder why..I just snag and go...LOLOL.. I was having coffee with my neighbor 2 days ago and her hubby was hanging a ceiling fan in the bedroom. He comes out and says... 'Do you want these? I hate to toss em out. They are dated back to the very early 1920's'... so I slowly looked up and...'OMG... he had two glass shades that hang from chains that attach to a ceiling fixture. They are etched and frosted and gorgeous... I jumped out of my chair and said 'Thank you very much and you can't have them back'... he laughed... so, this morning they got wrapped as gifts for my S/O and will be happily turned into gorgeous bird feeders come the spring... but that's not the best part of it all.. My boss walks in yesterday morning and in her hand is a picture of a 1920 Jacob Doll Upright piano that she has been trying to sell... I looked once...then looked again because the price had changed to 'FREE TO LOVING HOME'.. LOLOLOLOL... Merry Christmas to Me!!!! It's being moved next week. How 'bout that? Merry Christmas...Jim

Because of your post, I took my first ever trip to a Goodwill store yesterday. No such luck for me...they didn't have anything! I have to say though...had I seen the above vase without any markings, I may have passed it by. However, since I have a small piece of inherited Roseville pottery, I may have recognized the glazing and bought the thing even though I don't care for the pattern or coloring. Congratulations...your mother has a great eye! My Roseville pottery is like the eBay listing (but not my listing) shown in the below link. It is marked 455 - and in ink 5 F. I have no idea what the markings mean. If anyone has knowledge, I'd love to know! Here is a link that might be useful: Clematis

Don't get too discouraged in your job hunt. Remember, the number of teachers needed is directly related to the number of children in school, so unless the school is in dying city, its needs (number fo treachers) for the coming school year is about the same as last year. I suspect that many of the dismissals that you see are related to a dirty little secret of large school adminstrations. Check the age or number years at the school of the treachers who have received their dismissal notification. If these are teachers who have been at the school only 1 to 2 years, or were new hires last year, the adminstration is letting them go to keep them from acuring tenure. Several of these people may be rehired next fall. In our school system, it is harder to fire a tenured teacher than a new hire. To fire a tenured teacher requires a documented case of a solid reason to fire, not just because the adminstrator wants to fire. Also, if the teacher is being let go to adjust staffing needs through no fault of his, he is entitled to severance and whatever else the union contract may call for. School boards around here want to have the flexibility to estimate low for manpower needs for the next season, and then hire as needed from the pool of un-tenured teachers. They always run the risk of loosing a good teacher to another school, but they don't seem to care so long as they can get another replacement, and when they can not get one at their price, you'll hear a lament about shortage of qualfified persons. It is my opinion that the number of teachers needed in any one school year is directly related to the number of students in the school, and is not a function of the economy. The state of the economy will affect extra offerings beyond the core education such as, arts and crafts, home economics, driver's ed, and shop. In bad economic times, you will see more dismissals at the end of the school year and a corresponding increase of hires before the start of the new school year. Just my humble opinion.

Hi, Heather ... thanks for letting me know how you're doing with it, I'm naturally a bit leary (I rarely even take an aspirin!) when I read the pamphlet that says what all could result. I haven't gone to a forum for Femara users yet, to read any success stories ... while waiting for my test result I made the mistake of going to a forum for the type of Chemotherapy he was going to put me on, and the stuff I read just upset me too much. It *is* expensive! I know the number was $350, can't remember if that's the three-month supply or just the single month. Thank heavens for insurance, which is the only reason I can have it. I am doing the Calcium/vitamin D tablets, I already have somem osteo signs, as well as slight arthritis. So we want to keep them from getting any worse.