Danny, in the gardens I am not raising, I'm digging holes (dynamite would be the correct tool if I had it), filling 3 gallon containers with the bad dirt and discarding it on a dirt pad in the front of the house; then filling the holes with lasagna ingredients. The ones I did in May shrunk about 75% and so they got more ingredients. The most recent ones have been piled into mounds about 8 inches above the original soil. They will work their way in. I'd love to take a year just to correct the soil and not grow in it, but that ain't happenin'. I know I have increased my earthworm population by putting so much food in the area. They seem to really go for coffee filter and kitchen waste. So I save about half of that stuff for them and the rest for the compost pile. When I have an amount equal to about a third of a three gallon hole, I dig, add it, add horse manure and cardboard and or newspaper in nearly equal amounts, not quite layered but you get the idea. I water it in, stomp it down lightly, add some more and top it with my ample supply of sand (to discourage flies and such). Two years ago I didn't think I had earthworms here, but a heavy rain revealed a few in the lawn, not in the hardpan I've converted to gardens. Now a good population is thriving. This is a very recent development and people think I'm weird because it made me so happy. I got worms! It takes time. Also, spend some time reading in the Soil, Compost and Mulch forum. Plenty of information there. Here is a link that might be useful: Here

MaryAnn, I happened to hear a man on TV talking about diets for being fit and healthy. He said when a person is carrying their extra weight in the belly, it is usally from sweets. Too much sugar, and that is my problem. I'm now into the start of my third week of cutting down drasticly on my sugar intake. I haven't left it out completely, but I can tell you if you try to make a batch of homemade brownies with half the sugar - don't bother wasteing the ingredients! LOL! Yuck! To still indulge myself in chocolate, I eat about 6 - 8 semi sweet chocolate chips. I have always prefered dark chocolate over milk choco. No deserts around here! I have to watch out for beverages with corn syrup in them too. I drink a lot of water. The first week w/o sugar I thought I was going to have to give up, but I hung in there and wrung my hands a lot, and paced the floor often. It is diffinately an addiction! I have finally lost 3 pounds and my belly is a bit improved. This is tough, and I am sticking with the biking, but "I WILL do this!" Hayjud

jasdip - I found the dog about to jump on to the kitchen table to eat the papers that were on it. A 25 lb. Eskie can seriously jump - there is a reason why we did not put him in to agility. And did he ever scarf up the snow last night and today. It is just awful. Unfortunately all of the cooked squash and green beans etc. I am making to give him in addition to his canned food and meds and soaked kibble are just extras in his mind - and he sits for hours staring at his cookie jar. He is trying to hard to be cute (and he already is a hot looking boy) to get food. I just wish I could explain the whys of it all to him - not that he would agree. He is constantly licking the floor - and my housecoat and my hands - anything. It is only Day 3! But no way am I showing up for his follow-up having not followed our vet's instructions to a T (okay, she doesn't like green beans but there are 3 other vets in the practice and they do) - and I won't be telling. Your oatmeal cookies sound wonderful. I might have to make oatmeal for my husband's lunch - most things at the store the other day looked horrible or were stale dated and I don't want to take the car out. The roads are icy - actually the car was covered in ice. So, see, your shovelling skills would be much appreciated. I just wish we had an enterprising kid in the neighbourhood. We have kids, they just stay inside while the old folks shovel. Here comes the starving dog now. The fact that he is 10 but looks 2 and I want to come back as my dog means nothing - he is ready to phone the SPCA to report us - those Eskie paws are very handy.

Hey Goldgirl, I'm not much of a decorator (mostly lurk here to learn as much as I possibly can) but I also went to law school at age 46 so thought I'd mention a few things you might want to think about in planning your office space: First, in my experience, the most successful law students always had at least one or two "study partners" that they studied with regularly, especially right before exams. (Ever see the movie "Paper Chase"?) I know you may be thinking "I'll be so much older than the other students and I'm really used to working by myself so I probably won't bother with study partners." I thought the same thing but then almost immediately teamed up with a young man fresh out of undergrad and a woman who was a couple of years older than myself. Both happened to sit near me in my first-year Torts class and the study partner thing just sort of happened. To this day though, I remain eternally grateful that I teamed up with them because their different learning styles and viewpoints made a major difference in how well I did. During first-year especially the three of us practically lived together and I'm not sure I'd have made it through that year without them. So, if at all possible, plan your office space with the idea that a couple of other people will likely be there studying with you fairly regularly... oftentimes late into the night or even all night. If your office happens to be next to the room where your DH will be sleeping, take pity on him and put something soft and sound-absorbing on both sides of the common wall - and move the master bed as far away from that wall as possible! You might also make sure there is some sort of white-noise generator in the bedroom with him... or else buy him a big box of those really soft ear plugs and get him in the habit of sleeping with them in place! I took over our formal dining room as my study space and, although it was clear across our house and on a different floor from our MBR, my study partners and I still managed to wake DH on more than one occasion when our arguments got just a little too passionate. (Arguing passionately without getting personal/angry was one of the many things I had to learn in law school. LOL!) Instead of a fancy desk, I'd recommend a nice large dining room table with one of its short sides pushed up against a wall that has plenty of electrical outlets and computer connections. You can stack a 3 foot tall bookcase against the wall on top of the table to hold a semester's worth of textbooks plus dictionaries, writing supplies, extra paper, etc. Other than that, you won't need much bookcase space. because now-a-days no one purchases "law books" [a.k.a. case law or statute books] the way students used to have to do. All that stuff is now available online via Westlaw and Lexis Nexis and both companies provide law students with free accounts because they want you to be very comfortable (dependent upon) using their services by the time you join a firm or hang out your own shingle. Then the accounts cease to be free. A small filing cabinet for filing away class handouts, etc., is probably a good idea though. I'd probably tuck that under the table so it was out of the way. Then, around the three open sides of the table, I'd put three or four very comfortable padded upright chairs so that you and your study partners all have somewhere to sit. Regular dining room chairs are okay for short study sessions but, trust me, they start to wear on the coccyx after about 4 or 5 hours. Spend money on comfortable chairs - you're going to log a lot of hours in whatever you select. Also, put a comfy couch or lazyboy chair in the room. Or at least put some big cushy floor pillows and a nice blanket in one corner. Trust me, there'll be times when you or one of your study partners will be desperate to grab 40 winks while the others are looking something up on Westlaw. Plus, when you study till 4:00 a.m., you may not want to risk waking DH by crawling into bed at that hour. Next, make sure that you have PLENTY of light that can be appropriately angled to shine onto whatever you're reading and not up into your eyes. Your eyes will take enough punishment without dealing with inadequate lighting. And don't be at all surprised if you very suddenly find yourself needing bifocals. Don't know if it was mid-life hormones or all the reading but I had to have my vision prescription changed about three times my first year. Also make sure your computer monitor has a non-glare screen. For the sake of your eyes, I'd heartily recommend a very high-quality flat-panel monitor in the largest size you can afford. In addition to your computer, make sure you have a good, relatively high-speed printer. You won't need color - go instead for speedier B&W model. And, if possible, have a second backup printer somewhere in the house because, invariably, at some point you will have a time-limited take-home exam and your printer will decide to give up the ghost an hour before the deadline to turn the d--- thing in! It's like printers (and copiers and fax machines) KNOW when you're under a time crunch. LOL! Speaking of printers, think about where you're going to toss all the excess paper you'll be generating. (Big trash can or recycling box?) Unless your kitchen is right around the corner from your office, see if you can't convert one of those closets into a little "kitchen nook" with room for a coffee pot, a dorm-sized fridge for sodas, and a snack cupboard. If you can't put in plumbing for the nook, get a water cooler so you don't have to traipse to the kitchen to make coffee and then go back again to get it when it is finally ready. Put a big white-board on one wall. I know they're not at all decorative but they are so terribly useful. I still can't live without mine and most of the associates in my law firm have one up in their offices. Oh, and if you're at all interested in becoming a litigator - as opposed to a transactional attorney - during your second and third year you'll want to get active in moot court and mock trial. If so, you should put a full-sized mirror up on one wall of your so you can see yourself as you practice your presentations. Hope some of this proves helpful. I know it is not "decorating advice" as such but... Good luck with law school! It's quite an adventure and one that many women our ages would be terrified to undertake. Proud of you and, if I can ever offer any advice/help specific to being one of the OWLS (older, wiser, law-students), feel free to email me. bevangel_72 at yahoo.com