We got the rest of the chilies planted yesterday, and the jalapeno that I was worried about perked right up after being watered. I've been watering my new herbs and chilies again at lunch time, and they seem to like that. The chilies seem to be growing really fast, but the basil is only just now coming up, while the basil plants I bought aren't doing well. I should probably stick with growing them from seeds. I planted tomato seeds also but have never had that much luck with tomatoes in Westchester, except my first/second year, when I planted cherry tomatoes in the ground next to the grape vine, and they put out tomatoes continuously for over a year, but they kept getting smaller. I have some new succulents that still need to be repotted, but the epiphyllum are all doing well. I put them on a shelf on the SE side of the house, installed a temporary roof over that, and put mosquito neeting (from an old gazebo) around them to help filter the sun. They are in an area (similar to the opposite side of the house where I have orchids) that has walls pretty close - only about 8' apart, and so they already get partial shade, except around noontime. The orchids are on the NW side (my house is at 45 degrees from NS), and so they have more natural protection, but I did build a roof for them and put up a bamboo curtain on the SW side. If I had more shade around my house, I would grow more bromeliads, and several that I have now are blooming. I bought a new one last week-end that I will keep in the house because the last one Iike it that I bought got sunburned almost every place I put it outside, except in the orchid area. It was 81 today - much warmer than normal, but still pleasant. It's very nice for gardening when I get home from work. I'd definitely try to make it to Yosemite one year in mid-May. I like that the days are a lot longer in May than in September, and I would like to see the falls at full power. I can handle a bit of chill if it is not windy. Lars

Oh Sharon, I'm sorry! Several years ago I had sent out written invites for our quite dressy Christmas party for Saturday Dec 11. On Sat Dec 4, we were all sitting around in our comfies, watching a movie and the doorbell rang. Hmmmmmm. Sure enough, one couple had put it on the calendar for the wrong weekend! So there they were, all spiffed up, us all not, staring at each other and laughing! They ended up going out for the even also and had a wodnerful time. Her only complaint was that she had to go buy a new outfit since she felt she couldn't wear the same thing again since they had run into a couple of other guests! LOLOLOL! Hope you did enjoy dessert! A

I hear your frustration. Some orders specify who is responsible to take kids to appointments, usually the primary custodial parent, but if they don't do it, then duh! the other parent should.... that's just common sense. I will never understand why a parent would complain about anyone doing something nice for their child, who they "love" so much. The reason I put "quotations" on love.... if a parent truly loves their child, don't they want what's best for them??? If they can't provide it, they should be grateful when someone else does provide it. Period. It doesn't matter whether the person providing it is the other parent, a relative, step parent, neighbor, stranger or government agency... isn't the goal to do what is best for the child? If someone is too busy, lazy or in any way unable to do something like take the child to the dentist for a year, kiss the feet of the person that isn't too busy or lazy and takes the time to do YOU a favor because now your child has received care. I am way past caring what my SD's BM thinks... if I give her an opportunity to do something and she doesn't do it, then I am taking carte blanche and I don't care if she thinks I am stepping on her toes or over my bounds. SD has a class trip coming up. DH asked her to pay part of the fee two weeks ago. As of today, no response. He tries to call her. No answer. He can't afford the trip so SD won't get to go. Meanwhile, SD tries to call to talk to her mom about her upcoming birthday but BM is still not answering her phone.. maybe thinks DH is trying to call about the trip. SD leaves a message because I offered to throw her a party if her mom isn't going to. BM never calls her back. (last year she said she was doing something and by the end of the day, SD was in tears & we are left to console her mother's disappointments) When you are dealing with someone that says they are going to do something but then don't... you have the choice to do it yourself or leave it be and it doesn't get done. If she chooses to do it because you did it first.. then eventually the kids will see that their parent isn't doing it for them, they are doing it because they are engaged in battle with you (or your DH). Kids are perceptive and they know who is doing right or who is doing wrong.... unfortunately, they sometimes choose a side and usually it's the wrong side because they love both parents and the one that is doing wrong... well, I think kids want to help the parent that seems to need them more.

The frustrating part is the next court date is in August. SD starts school in August so if it's not resolved by the next court date, she'll start school here (as the current orders stay in effect pending any further orders) and if BM gets custody, she'll have to change schools. DH called BM's house to talk to SD today... she's been there since Sunday. BM says SD is at grandma's house... in the same town where DH works, which is 2 hours away from BM's house. So, DH asked her if he can pick up SD from grandma's after work on Friday. BM says no. She's going to bring SD to her house on Thursday and she can be picked up from there on Friday. [shaking my head] So, SD is with grandma all week, BM is going to drive her 2 hours on Thursday, just so we have to drive 3 hours on Friday to go get her. She's going to spend ONE whole day with BM! WOW!!! Wonder if that's her plan for the whole summer? I feel so bad for SD because she was looking forward to seeing her mom for summer. The psych eval will be done as soon as BM contacts them and pays her half so they can schedule it. I am not sure the ins & outs of how long it takes for the results, but the results are typically sent to both sides 10 or 20 days prior to the next hearing. At this point, I am not convinced BM will come up with her half (we are definitely not fronting her half) and it won't get scheduled in time for the next court hearing. She has all of June and maybe part of July. The hearing is August 3 so the results should be available by the middle of July. The most stressful part is not knowing & waiting... and the cost. I honestly think BM thought she would be given custody of SD on a silver platter because she's BM. I think she counted on the mediator believing everything she said because she got SD to say the same things and perhaps she thought the mediator would automatically recommend custody to her. Then, she showed up in court with her attorney & looked shocked to see our attorney with us. I don't think she counted on that.... DH cannot talk for crap in court, so it was a given that our attorney would jump back on board. She's a lion. Her attorney actually looked intimidated... for an attorney. Just in the last week, SD has told her other grandma (DH's mom) that BM & BM's mom are taking her to Hawaii for a vacation this summer. I'm sure they are giving her anything she wants to keep her happy... probably hoping she 'forgets' that her mom isn't really seeing her this summer, but dumping her off with grandma. I'm also pretty sure she was not expecting to have to pay for an evaluation. I guess when she tells SD they can't go to Hawaii, it will be because she has to pay the attorney and the evaluator because daddy and ima won't let you come live here... it's gonna be OUR fault she isn't getting the fun vacation BM promised! I just love how I can see into the future...