My first and second orders are happily planted and growing, and my mom called today to say her Julia Child arrived. She said it was much bigger and healthier than the potted Julias we bought last year for much more money! Heck of a deal. If I had been thinking, I would have sent a Julia Child to each of my aunts since shipping was free and there was no minimum. That one sure made my mom happy, which makes me happy...and I didn't tell her about how many I had ordered for myself. According to the tracking, I'll get my Purple Passion tomorrow and that's the last of them. Terrific sale, wonderful plants, and the weather is even cooperating, sort of. We're expecting rain for the next 6 days. Already kicking myself for not ordering more, and I do feel bad for those of you who didn't get in on it. Even the mini "Texas" was a big size. wow wow wow

((((everybody))))) All this hugging going around is making me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Well it's either that or this budlight I've been drinking.....hiccup! :) KYgirl - Yep, they got the copper pipes too. Don't ya remember...we're building "up in the hills" of KY LOL. We're not in a neighborhood. There is only one house close to us. It's across the street and he didn't hear or see anything. You know, you would think that the people that buy the copper would wonder where Joe Blow gets a truckload of copper per week. I'll never understand the mentality of any of the people involved in this. Kharma seems to be trying to get my attention lately. I think I'll follow BJ's advice in another post and hide out for a while.

Christmas of 2005 I volunteered to do The Dinner for 10 extended adult family members; I planned a relatively simple meal & it should have been a breeze. Christmas morning, DH's nephew decides that his vegan girlfriend can join us after all - terrific, I'm serving tenderloin & the stores are closed so where do I get vegan food for someone I've never met. SIL saved the day by bringing trophy sized shrimp for appetizers & we saved some for her entree. First crisis averted. Then everyone (except me & SIL who are scurrying like rats to get food ready) are in the greatroom/kitchen drinking, eating shrimp & opening presents & DH cuts his finger on a new pocket knife. Blood is flying & about the same time, a bowl of vinagrette gets knocked out of the frig sending an oily mess everywhere. Finally, dinner is ready & everyone is seated. I plated & served the 1st course of oyster stew with the last 2 bowls given to an elderly lady & myself. I guess most of the pepper had settled to the bottom of the pot & we got the dregs; she choked on the pepper & had a huge coughing spell. Next, the entree was put on the table & it wasn't until later that I realized that I placed a huge platter of very rare tenderloin directly in front of the vegan! In the meantime, I went to pour red wine only to find that DH & his BIL had drunk all except 1 bottle of the good stuff, leaving the rest of us with an amount equal to communion. We decided to take a break before dessert & DH went to the basement to feed the dogs while everyone was settling in the living area. We waited, & waited, & he didn't come back. Finally, I went downstairs & found out that he had passed out on the couch & was dead to the world. That was the last time I've done Christmas Dinner for a crowd. I have no plans for future Yule festivities for this bunch, either. I just remembered: on his way out, BIL missed the step down to the public sidewalk & broke a bottle of port.

Just last Sunday, Fran. I've been here since January 6, but Linda arrived only last Saturday, I believe. Do you come here every year? If so, maybe we can meet up next year. Although I've never been to a retreat (I hope to attend this year), I've met Sharon (Geezerfolks) when she visited Minneapolis and now Linda. What fun!