I went several years ago for a conference. Stayed at the Beach Tower. Things not to miss...Leap of Faith water slide (you must be very, very brave), but it is very fun. The Lazy River Ride is very relaxing. The Dig is also very cool. Also, be sure to go to the Beach, proper. The water is an amazing shade of blue and there are alot of touristy beach things to rent/do there, including wave runners, para-sailing, etc. One caveat about the resort...everything is very pricey. Even a kid's "virgin" pina colada was about $15 (and that was 4-5 years ago). Before you get to the resort, you might want to stop and pick up some water/soft drinks and snacks to keep in your room.

Fireclay Tile is great -- I just moved from downtown San Jose (where their hq is located) and not only is the tile beautiful but the people in the showroom are so friendly. I'll have to look for photos to see if I have anything good --we used their tile on walls, floors, kitchen, bathrooms, laundry-- but we just sold that house so I might be out of luck. This was five years ago and their styles might have changed, but I'd say that if you like a very streamlined or modern look, e.g. rectified porcelain with tiny grout joints, it might not be your thing. Our old house was a 1919 Craftsman so it was a good fit. Glazes are beautiful and they have every color/finish under the sun. A lot of crazing which I love but I know others hate... If anyone's in the SF Bay Area and on a budget, I'd recommend stopping by because they also have a boneyard -- where you can get seconds and overruns for less than retail. Not as good a deal as it was 5 years ago but if you are open as to color and don't need all the trim pieces to match, you can score a deal -- I think they're selling first-quality overruns for something like $10/sq ft now. I had to forcibly stop myself from driving to the boneyard "just to look" when we finally finished our renovation. I'm so bummed I moved 45 minutes away. I got so many ideas just digging through the boneyard and browsing the showroom.

I have read the post about the charges, but I still don't see anything about how the thief used her number. How could that happen, or did I miss something? Years ago, so long ago I had forgotten about it til now that I'm reading this. I was in a different state from where I lived at the time; visiting family and Christmas shopping. I bought a gift, took it home and put it away until Christmas time. Later there was a charge on my bill that I didn't recognize so I questioned it and it was immediately removed. Yikes, Christmas came and I remembered that gift, still in the closet. I notified the card holder and explained what had happened and told them to add it back to the account. I received a wonderful note of gratitude from them, and yes, they did add it back. I don't remember if I was using Discover then or not, but I am now and have never had a problem with them. I lost my card a couple years ago, notified them and in a flash had a new card with a new number. Like Lily 316, I do love my Discover card!!

subk3, You are right, this is probably the answer. What a pretty bouquets! I don't know why it wasn't clear to me yet that during the summer roses take a break. I guess I kept reading that they bloom spring through fall so I thought a thriving one should have lots of blooms in the summer too. In fact, this year was the first time I tried a small cutting garden in an 8x4 raised bed exactly because I knew I would have to supplement whatever little I could get from my rose bushes. I included several types of flowers to see how they do - and zinnias were the only ones that seem to work well enough. Except I didn't know to pinch them and they only grew with one stem (no branching) which meant fewer blooms. Now I am out of blooms, waiting for the new (post-cutting growth) to bloom again. I didn't have many anyway. I had rudbeckia too but this one is yet to bloom. Just a salad of hairy leaves sitting there. I read they might not even bloom the first year so I guess I'll leave them in the raised bed and wait to see what they do next year if anything. But going back to roses, maybe they are not doing as badly as I thought. With the exception of the ones in a pot (Rosie the Riveter and Belinda's Dream), the foliage of those in the ground is not bad considering the heat, or compared to the disaster they were last year after a whole summer of neglect when we were gone for two months. This year I sprayed them lightly a couple of times altogether. So here they are now, mostly resting: This is Julia Child (planted this Spring), resting after a second flush of pretty blooms which nevertheless were spent very fast. They go from bright yellow to butter to wilt in 2-3 days max. Love Song is another new one planted this Spring and it's blooming a little now through all this heat; hopefully, the buds won't ball again. When it doesn't ball, it can be quite the sophisticated rose. , Good as Gold in its third year. This is a hybrid tea so I probably shouldn't be surprised the blooming is rather sparse, even in Spring. The bloom itself is very pretty but not many blooms even in best Spring weather. Dick Clark, also in its third year. Healthiest foliage so far but not crazy about the garish bloom which doesn't even fit in with the yellows and pinks in this bed. This year it grew one very long cane, much longer than the rest of the bush, which I pruned to restore some balance. Even after this, it is still long. It was literally reaching to the sky. Here it is in a vase - it makes for some really loud and garish little bouquets...which can have their place, after all. :) Belinda's Dream planted as a band in a pot, has these spotty leaves because of an insecticide I sprayed on it when the JBs were going insane. I am pretty sure this is what did it. But just like Rosie, it too developed black spot. Maybe because these are both first-year roses planted in a pot...not their ideal situation. It will go in the ground in the Fall. I have so many hopes for this one but it will be a while until I see its potential as right now, it's still a rather flimsy band. Generally speaking, my main complaint is insufficient bloom per bush. I understand I can't expect much from new roses but it's not like my 3rd year roses were covered in bloom either. You'd think by 3rd year they can show their potential but the two I have (Good as Gold and Dick Clark) are not that impressive overall, so they will probably have to be replaced at some point. I plan to hit them tomorrow with some Miracle Grow for Rose Bloom because I may not have fertilized enough after all. Maybe Fall will bring more color. I am just trying not to give up. In the meantime, I am getting my color fix with sunpatients. These can pack the color punches I crave in the summer. :)