Alberta is correct Alexa on the catt in bark. Jam the oldest pbulb/rhizome on the edge of the pot so the new growth has room to grow for a couple of years. After repotting a catt, I don't water for a week to let the wounds heal, then resume a regular schedule. You do not have to sterilize your cutting tools between each cut :>) Sterlize after you are finished with the plant. You still need to stabilize the plant in the pot. You don't want the plant wobbling when you move it. If you don't have a rhizome clip, use a couple of stakes (bamboo skewers work great) put one on each side of a pbulb and then use twist ties to tie the stakes together or the pbulb to the stake. Once the new roots grow, you can remove the stakes. And the most important thing to remember, these are tough plants that want to survive regardless of what we do to them. Brooke

I'm a firm believer in a flex/getaway room, but you have plenty of those. I agree that what this house needs is one large living area for the family to gather. If you are hoping for your children to grow up and for you to retire in this house, this plan is not the plan for a large family gathering! A couple of friends, kids, their spouses, a couple of grandkids, and that room is going to seem like a closet. (With three sons-in-law and 3 grandkids, I know of which I speak! :) ) Anyway, the back six feet of the room are dedicated to hall area, so you won't have any furniture there, and the opening to the other two walls have doors on them. This makes the family room about 13' X 15', which seems EXTREMELY small for a house this size. You will have to squeeze behind the chairs to walk into the "getting away" room and you will have to squeeze behind chairs to get out to the porch. Where else you would you put additional seating? It's a nice plan, and I like the upstairs, especially, but it doesn't seem suited to your purposes. If I were building a house to grow old in, I would want something more spacious than the study/bathroom on the first floor and certainly more closet space. Perhaps you could put more money into more square footage there, and finish out some of the rest of the house at a later time. Good luck! There's certainly a lot to be excited about in this plan. :)

rosiequilts, I lost 50 pounds last year by calorie counting, which is just another way of saying "eating-loads-of-fruits-&-veggies-so-you-can-eat-the-most-food-with-the-fewest-calories". I learned to love vegetables! A pile of eggplant, onions, mushrooms & peppers with a little spaghetti sauce on just 2 oz. of pasta & 1/4 cup grated mozzarella is delicious & filling. Spaghetti squash can be substituted for the pasta (just put the spaghetti squash whole in a crock pot & it's done in 4-6 hours). For salads, I love to mix spinach, lettuce, diced raw green beans, carrots, celery, cherry tomatoes and use 1/3 cup dried cranberries for dressing, or sometimes green olives and a little of the olive juice in the jar. If fresh produce isn't on hand, then combining frozen veggies & cooking in the microwave is tasty: kale, lima beans & cauliflower, for example. Veggies in combination taste much better than just plain. In winter I enjoy turnip greens & squashes. Cabbage is a versatile veggie, good for filler in soups & stews, sauteed, microwaved, or sliced for low-fat cole slaw made with Splenda. For munchies, I love to microwave a tub of Brussels sprouts or cauliflower & keep it in the fridge for mindless snacking (you know, when you get those urges to eat but you're not really hungry). A little butter or oil won't hurt you and, in fact, makes the vegetables more nutritious. Your body absorbs the nutrients better when a little fat is present with the veggies. Sometimes I like to make a green sauce of chopped fresh spinach & French parsley in a little cream & parmesan cheese, heated in a sauce pot. I serve this over a big plate of broccoli & cauliflower, and it's delicious. There are so few calories in the veggies that you can afford to indulge in the cream sauce. But then, that's dinner -- no bread, no side dishes, no heavy meats. Anyway, didn't mean to hijack this thread. Just wanted to pass on some good veggie food ideas. When you walk through the cookie/cracker aisle with indifference, but your mouth starts watering when you get to the produce section, you know you've made a good change!

boxerpups - such a sad situation for that young girl - and surely her sister too. it does sound like she is acting out and I do agree that you should contact the teacher. maybe someone can intervene with her. life is tuff enough for young people today and that girl has more than any one young person should have working against her. i don't think i'd go the court route (don't think you will either). in the end it could cause more trouble for your dd and your family than it's worth. i'm not saying the young girl isn't worth it or that we don't have the right to be upset when someone damages our property. but in the end, a fridge is a fridge and hopefully will be fixed w/o much expense. OTOH, I do think the young girl needs confronted about it. for her good! and i think it is something you could handle. holding someone to account is not mean, it is the more loving thing to do for them. short term upset for long term gain. it might not show in her in the near future, but it will be going around in her head that someone was more concerned about her future than a material thing. it sounds like she has been raised to think that things are more important than she is. until you decide how to fix the fridge door, i think i'd use it as a prayer reminder for that young girl. and a thank you for the blessings you and your family have in each other. and as for getting a new puppy after the loss of another very loved furbaby, my belief is that the best way to honor my precious gone to heaven furbaby is to find another furbaby in need of a loving home and lots of spoiling! i think that makes them very happy!