brutuses, you sure could do a lot with that money and our four-legged friends, I agree! robin0919, maybe this will help clear up your confusion: GC = Blue Oak Builders Sub/Contractor = Western Wall Systems (aka Bay Foam, aka BayStone Group), the drywall/stucco/masonry subcontractor GC did not walk off the job. Nothing happened between us and the GC. We are not O/B, the GC is responsible and having a GC was a requirement by the bank. Contractor walked off the job. I don't know why. I wish I knew why that contractor would leave the job before it's complete and then file a lien as if he completed the job. You say it makes no sense at all. I say it makes no sense at all. At least we agree on that. This was when we saw the first signs of trouble, as written on WesternWallSystems.com: As of July 26, 2008 we paid WWS a total of $153,365.00 and were current on all payments. However, when we requested a meeting with Tim Ritter to discuss quality concerns about the project on August 6, 2008, he was a no-call, no-show. Maybe after all the re-work was done to correct some of their previous mistakes (for instance, re-applying the brown coat on the entire house because they put a rough coat instead of a smooth coat the first time around) they figured there wasn't enough profit to finish the job? Is that why once they received payment on 7/26/08, the owner of Western Wall Systems had the audacity to be a no-call, no-show to an appointment with us and the GC 11 days later on 8/6/08? I have no idea, this is purely an assumption on my part in an attempt to try figure out why. Maybe they're taking our $150,000+ and filing a frivolous lien in an unethical attempt to force us to pay "just to clear the lien" so we can close escrow. I'm sure someone somewhere probably paid off a lien, even if they didn't think it was legitimate, just so that they could close escrow. Sounds like a loophole in the system that allows unethical contractors to extort money from homeowners... Here is a link that might be useful: WesternWallSystems.com

I too decided this was the year to "get it together". I've let it slide far too long :( When I had my second son almost 6 years ago, life seemed to turn upside down. He had a double hernia operation at 4 months old so not sure if it contributed but he was extremely miserable for the first 4 months of life and he grew into a toddler with a very difficult personality (he's SO much better now). My personality wasn't able to cope very well with it. At some point during the difficult toddler years, we finished our basement. Everything that was down there had to come upstairs very quickly. Some of them boxes that hadn't been opened since we moved here several years prior. I'm sure I fell into some kind of depression. What I learned from Hoarders is that I think we do develop a sort of "clutter blindness". It's how we can survive living with stuff everywhere. I'm certainly not a level "5" or anything but I had stuff piled up in places and I was able to just live around it (like it didn't exsist). I also came to realize I hadn't thrown anything away in my many years. I still had stuff from when I was a teenager. I used to work in the beauty business and had SO much stuff I had acquired for free that wasn't being used. We started a couple years ago with a huge garage sale (sold $1,000). I had another one last spring (sold $500) but I still had stuff everywhere in certain spots. I'm keeping only certain things from my kids for the future. Who even knows if they'll need them? I kept a few special books and some special toys (like Playmobil) and that's it. I've stored them properly away and we'll see what happens with them. We save artwork for a year and then we go through it and pick only a special few pieces which I then store in special boxes I created for them. Like this one: http://iheartorganizing.blogspot.com/2010/11/school-paperwork-storage.html My Mom and I made a pact that this year we were going to get organized and help each other achieve it. That's been the best decision ever! It's so much better doing these projects with help. An outside eye that can help you make decisions and move forward. We tackled my lower landing which had become a catch all for stuff and my basement laundry room. My laundry room was new as part of our basement refinish and it's very large. It has a huge table in the middle on castors (ala Martha Stewart) and the kids and I can do crafts here, I wrap gifts here and fold laundry. It too had "caught" stuff and wasn't being utilized as I had intended. Anywho ... two full days of purging and cleaning ... one car load of stuff taken away to charity ... and they both look wonderful! I still have a few items in the laundry room that have significant value so I'm taking them to consignment this week and I have some laundry to work through. When we built the room, I had it wired for a wall mount tv so I'm finally going to get that set up. I'm excited about the possibilities now! I lie in bed at night thinking of what the next project will be. I have hope that finally this house will get in order. I think I may take your advice and hire a cleaning lady to keep things clean while I focus on getting things in order. Even if I just do it for this year, I think it would help a lot. I'm excited for my kids. I want them to grow up in organization and know how to do it for themselves when the time comes. I really think for some (like me) it's a skill you need to learn. It doesn't come naturally. I'll keep checking in to see how you're doing as I keep forging forward myself. My next project is at my mom's house. We are tackling her kitchen. She's already been out and bought some Oxo containers for her pantry and some other handy organizing pieces. We're going to whip her kitchen into shape! Best of luck! Looking forward to hearing how you accomplish your goals.

SoCalGardenNut, Beautiful La Reine! Yay, 5 blooms! She has tge most girgeous blooms & fragrance! Don’t forget to smell her fab fragrance! That’s so exciting that you have a Mme Isaac Pereire! I draw designs of whete ai wish to plant my rosrs so I can look at the design and know which rose is planted thete when I first plant. I keep plastic labels on them, too, if they have them. Eventually I memorize them. Your La Reine doubds very promusibg with 5 blooms! She has really beautiful blooms! I live La Reine & Isaac Pereire! Berry, A 4ft La Reine is wonderful! I am really thinking Zi want to move mine out of it’s pot! Next spring! My La Reine had about 15 blooms first flush. However a ”larger La Reine” will probably have twice as many blooms!

Kim, you are ahead of me, but you may be q 100 miles south of me also, so spring may hit you a little sooner. 32 tubs are a lot of tubs to fill, and of course you know how heavy they can get. Some of my tubs have onions in them, and the last time I checked they were doing well, but they are not bulbing onions. I have been using my perennial a lot, try to get Madge use to using them. I even used some winter onions, jalapenos and sweet potatoes in kraut and weiners at lunch, it sounds sickening, but it was good. I did not put the sweet potato slices in till everything else was about done. The sweet potatoes were still crunchy. I used the Red Wine Velvet sweet potatoes, which are pretty sweet. Madge is very kind to me, I like to experiment with everything I do. I have been out raking leaves to put on the garden, I wish they were shredded so they would stay in place better.