Carla, You know, I should go out there sometime and count them all...I really don't know just how many there are! I know I have well over 200 mature bushes, (possibly 250) but if cuttings I've rooted and suckers taken on our rose-rustles count, then I have closer to 300. Yikes....I have no idea where I'll put them all. And there's so many more I just HAVE to order for Spring...lol. Celeste

Happy, happy birthday to you both. And as said above happy, happy holidays. I too have been enabled by you two with so many roses. I also look at ya'lls pictures on these dreary gloomy days like today. Rainy all day so a bunch of house cleaning is getting done today, that is during the breaks of the Ga vs Ga Tech game. HA HA. Anyways have a great birthday and keep pumping out those gorgeous roses. Judy

Thanks, everyone, for the good wishes! I've been enjoying the day, working on my family history scrapbook and ID'ing old photos. (Retirement means you still work all day, and you don't get paid for it, but *sometimes* you can do what you really enjoy, and that makes it all worthwhile!) Lars, the derivation is: MT = empty (i.e., empty nester). I chose that moniker when I first joined the forums because everybody seemed to have "Mom" names in those days, but my kids were all grown up and out on their own. Tricia, it's sunny here today but much colder than it has been--I was getting spoiled, thinking of 40's as "normal" for January. Today it's back to reality, highs in the mid-20's. I hope to get out for a walk while the sun is still shining. Nothing special is planned for tonight's dinner, except the turkey soup I made yesterday. Thanks again! Sue

Oh! Thank you everybody!! ItÂs wet and soggy here, but IÂm having a nice dayÂkids are at school, LOL! IÂm celebrating my 50th birthday today by having all the kids have a "spend the night" guest. WeÂll have spaghetti and birthday cake. Yippee! I AM counting my NYC trip as part of MY birthday celebration, even though it was REALLY for She and I spent 4 days in NYC! We took the Acela train from DC. It was wonderfully civilized! Lindsay liked (Ã la Star Trek) between the cars. Having already done all the obligatory monuments, etc, we got to really travel the city like locals. The first night we stayed at the Hilton on 53rd & 6th (Avenue of the Americas). The other nights we stayed at an apt on 55th and 2nd. WeÂd leave at 8:00 in the morning and didnÂt head "home" until 9:00 or 10:00 p.m. I knew it would be a good trip by bedtime the first day. We wandered upon filming for a We watched on the street for a couple of hours. He never got out of the car, but we were thrilled to see him. Finally we decided to head to our hotel. We walked down the street that had all the trailers. No one was around. Suddenly Nicolas Cage walked out of a trailer, right onto the street right in front of us! We squealed like little school girls! He walked up to us, chatted with us for a few moments (well, HE chatted; we babbled and drooled and shook!). He let me take a picture of . Ugh! I couldnÂt even hold the camera still or see the view finderÂI took a picture when he blinked! He was SOOOO gracious! I LOVE him even more now! But hey, Lindsay was so excited! We could barely sleep that night! We saw Mamma Mia the next day! Fabulous! We spent a day and a half in Central Park (and even ), walked all over the place. We didnÂt actually do a lot of shopping. We wanted to be out on the streets and see the sights! We walked through most of the neighborhoodsÂ.Lower East Side, Chinatown, Little Italy, Nolita, TriBeCa, East Village, Soho, Greenwich Village, Chelsea, Meat Packing DistrictÂwe logged some serious miles! We tried to eat something in every neighborhood. We were stuffed by the time we left! Our last was breakfast at Max BrennerÂs, (OMGosh!) Âall the time!! We had a GREAT time! A wonderful 13th (for her) and 50th for me!! Thank you again for the wonderful wishes!