Emerald: Words don't work at a time like this......but prayers do! And in that vein, prayers are flooding your way. You WILL find the right words to talk with your mother. You WILL find the right words to console your husband. You have already found the right words to convey to us. You ARE stronger than you think you are. You ARE a mother! ~ We grieve with you and for you. I think this entire experience which you have been so gracious to share with us has brought out the goodness and grace in both you and us......and for that we can all celebrate. You are closer to us than possibly any other poster. You have touched our hearts and souls and brought out the best in all of us. How we conduct our lives from here on out will speak volumes to this experience. Thank you for allowing us to be enlightened in and through your journey. My heart is heavy in your loss. God will continue to guide and be good to you. We are here for you in more way than you have yet to discover.

If it is erosion, it will happen over and over. Perhaps deal with that issue first - following that, my suggestion is to cover the outlying roots. You may (or may not) like to place heavier stones/rocks in the path of erosion which might deflect some of that run-off but I will defer that to experts in that field. I wouldn't worry about the inner roots. Have those too and it doesn't really affect the hosta. I figure they are enjoying the warm air, lol. Just one opinion. :)

Rob, great to see you! Your life sounds full, hectic, but gratifying. I second everyone's kudos in the mom department for you! We seem to have a lot in common. I'm a researcher/writer/editor/teacher/historian by profession (it's so hard to explain what I do, haha!). And music is a HUGE part of my life. I worked for 12 years as a professional musician before going back to college to do whatever it is I do now. My parents were so supportive of me and my music growing up. I didn't realize until I was at least in my 30's how exceptional they were. I cannot remember one single time them asking me to stop practicing or even goofing off with my friends on the piano, drums, guitar, trumpet, whatever...and I didn't know for a long time that other kids' parents weren't like that. Lass--we are lucky here in Washington (state) to have several excellent writing grants available to us. Think positive! If you don't get it this year, write and ask them how you could strengthen your writing to be competitive for next year. Then follow up and apply again! Also, check out Jack Straw. It's an amazing fellowship where they have you share your work on NPR and other venues. IIRC, the deadline is usually in October. And thanks for the encouragement! I'm celebrating small successes. If I do a little each day, it will eventually get done. :-) I'mhappy--have you tried opening your printer on your hard drive and making sure it's properly installed? Sometimes a printer can go offline even after it's been fine before. One easy check would be to uninstall it from your computer and then reinstall it. llucy-- I'm glad things are OK with your mom, but sad that you have been experiencing anxiety. I don't have first hand experience with that, but definitely second hand, as my daughter Joy has a lot of anxiety issues and full on panic attacks. I understand how frightening it must be. You're in my prayers. Steph--so very sorry you've been sick!! This heat sure doesn't help! I know you feel internal pressure to get stuff done every day, but remember your health is job #1 and getting the rest you need to get better IS doing something! Laundry and dishes aren't going anywhere. They'll wait until you're feeling up to it. :-) Audrey--that cake looks amazing, just like your name, lol! I swear if I didn't have diabetes I'd bake, then eat, that entire cake, hahaha! murraysmom--how cool is it that you have such wonderful friends to vacation with!! That sounds delightful!! And YAY for recycling! Shades, if you ever line your entire yard with empty wine bottles, I'm driving over the state line to have a serious chat with you, hahaha!! ;-) Schoolhouse, let us know if you try the tea again and how it turns out. Maybe it was just something different about your digestive system at the time and it will go down like it's supposed to now.

How many years does it take to help one understand that one can disagree without being disagreeable? Does it help if one has built a measure of self respect, of being comfortable in one's own skin? Living in a rural area 6 mi. from a village and about a dozen and more from a city and living with no vehicle for almost two years, I've done some hitchhiking and have been surprised that more than half of the kind folk who give me a ride are female. It seems to me that a fairly major percentage of the female population feel more self-assurance than we may have assumed. In an interesting discussion with folks of mixed gender during one such trip a few days ago, female driver, in speaking of such self-reliance, when I said that it seems to me that a female must feel rather comfortable in her own skin to be willing to stop to offer a ride to some old fart like me asking for a ride on the side of the road, my companions agreed. Some interesting and friendly discussions have taken place, a number have wanted to shake hands on parting and some have offered phone numbers to keep in touch or maybe offer rides later. Many have gone further, or out of their way, to bring me home, especially when I have bags of groceries. On a number of occasions when I've offered a modest sum, many have refused, and when I've said that it's just a small part of my savings in not owning a car, if they still refuse, when I suggest that they give it to charity, some agree. Recently rather middle aged more or less neighbour offered to call me a cab to take me home later, and when I said that it wasn't necessary, offered to pay for it, and I thanked him but said I'd be fine. A couple of days later, a young man made the same offer, which surprised me, and I thanked him and said that it wasn't necessary. l think that both may have been just after I'd spent a week in hosp. recently. It seems to me that it's important that we respect others, as well. ole joyfuelled