Hey Deborah - I once stopped at a rock shop that had a lot of glass in that area but I thought it was in Maggie Valley NC. The guy in Oklahoma (also on I-40) implied that they would no longer be selling glass wholesale because they have more than enough retail business. He refered me to a place in Marietta Ohio, but I can't find a website or listing in the yellow pages. I have to go to Ohio anyway so I plan on snooping for them. My dad/families problem is that dad is very much alive in his head. He talks fine and comes up with charming stories to keep people by him. His body is just damaged. He could improve somewhat and live for a few more years but he doesn't think the doctors know it all and he doesn't really wanna work hard at it. He is also receiving an antibiotic shot every day for his pseudomonas infection. A nurse comes out to the house and gives it to him. Without this shot his infection would take over and kill him. With the shot he runs the risk of more damage to his kidneys (and its the only antibiotic for his level of infection - nothing else works). Because of this shot and his type of "do not resuscitate" living will (his ask's to be resuscitated in certain circumstances), the local hospice people will only come out and talk to him and won't provide care. Even though he qualifies for hospice and under hospice all the costs would be covered by Medicaid, as long as he gets that shot and asks to be revived, they can't help us. Also because of the shot, he won't be accepted at any of the nursing homes. He only has enough money to keep his live in nurse for a few more months. Insurance and Medicare won't pay for home health in his case. So he can only live in two places, a private home (his) or the hospital. He wants to stay at home as long as possible and keep getting that shot because he doesn't want to die from a massive infection (painful and messy). None of us kids has enough money to pay for his care and none of us are willing to move back home permanently though my little sister is willing to stay there for many months at a time. We have been told many times that this could go on for years. If he ever catchs a cold or the flu that may end everything and if his kidneys react to the antibiotic (this has happened a couple of times before) he will be out of options. Of course at that point the shots will cease and he can either move into a nursing home or have hospice caregivers come out to the house.

This is such a wonderful swap! Wonderful cards with warm holiday greetings and seeds for the new year! I can't believe it, but I received even more cards! You are all sooooo generous! From Margirta10 came a lovely snowman card with a snowman angel and "BELIEVE" on the front. Wonderful sentiment for this time of year! Inside were packets of Giant California mixed zinnias, white phlox, Pastel Carpet mixed alyssum and Tall Deluxe mixed snapdragons. Thanks so much - I love them all! A Happy Holiday stocking card came from Melinda/ilovefarac with one of my all time favorites --Hyacinth beans. woohoo! Thanks, Melinda! Karendee sent a hilarious card. Santa is standing with a shopping cart full of flowers and long shopping list. On the front it reads, "Seeds 'n Greetings!" Inside were another one of my favorites - mixed larkspur! Thanks, Karen! Funny larkspur story -- maybe some of you have had this happen to you... The first time the larkspur reseeded, it went outside the flower beds and into the yard a few feet from the original beds. Some of them were in such numbers that I went out and surrounded it with bricks so my DH wouldn't mow it down. I told him I was going to expand the flower beds - and that's what I did. Couldn't have had a better reason to expand the flower beds! Thanks so much for all the seeds and warm wishes! ~Kathy

I had food allergy testing done because I started having sores in my mouth. Tests came back that I am allergic to a number of things - 3+ on most - shellfish, oats, almonds, strawberries, oranges, nutmeg, cauilflower, mushrooms and of all things - celery! The allergy doctor says most allergies cause stomach problems headaches etc, not rashes or sores unless it is a nut allergy. Anyway - I know that I had been eating lots of oatmeal when the weather was cold and was in hopes that it would lower my cholestrol. Ha - turns out the stomach issues I was having was probably due to the oats! I avoid most of the things now - will eat a little crab once in a while and if the celery is in something else I eat it. I do avoid the almonds and the oats which seemed to be the worst. I think I am also allergic to something that is found in the seasoning I use on my Standing rib Roast. It is called Everglade Seasoning and makes the best roast. Anyway, I had a severe reaction - swelling eyes twice after eating meat I had cooked with it. First time I ended up in the hospital for three days - made the mistake of saying that it started with a shortness of breath. Several tests later I learned that I have a slight narrowing in a small place in one artery but no biggie. They were not worried about the eye swelling - but it took a week to go away even with heavy doses of Benadryl, Claratin and Prednisone. Happened a second time to a much lesser degree - I got out the Benadryl and allergy pills immediately and got it under control. I still carry my Epipen and Bendaryl with me wherever I go, though. Turns out the mouth sores are probably from a Galvanic Reaction to the amount of metal I have in my mouth from fillings and crowns. Took several months to run its coarse but will crop up from time to time. Keeping myself hydrated helps as does a good Vitamin B. Some thought it was called Geographical Mouth, which the same things are suggested for it. One interesting fact is that the mouth issue, eye swelling issue and the heart issue all occured about the same time. Bloodwork during this time also showed my potassium level was low. Since then I take a Potassium tablet every day.

I have only had two Christmas trees, both real trees that I chopped down in the forest (with a permit). My brother does this every year and I chopped down trees for myself twice before deciding it was just too much hassle (and a bit sad). Both times I severely underestimated the size of the tree when it was standing in the forest. Once we got them home we realized they were too tall even for our vaulted ceilings and had to lop off some of the bottom and they were still the biggest Christmas trees I'd ever seen in a house. Not to mention the effort it takes to drag a huge tree through the snowy forest to get it back to the truck. I have to say the experience of "Christmas tree hunting" as I call it is far more fun for me than actually having the live tree. So now I just opt to join my brother when I can to help him "hunt" for and chop down his Christmas tree. My house has no tree (and no children to be disappointed about that).