Probably normal. Did your room suddenly get warmer? I've noticed Phals will suddenly finish blooming and remaining flowers will wilt as the temps rise suddenly at this time of the year. Another possibility can be fertilizer. I never fertilize plants in bloom for that reason. The most probable reason would be the plant is finished booming. It looks healthy. Jane

First, you are not being selfish!! The fact that you're struggling about this means you're not selfish! I am not a grandparent; I am the daughter-in-law but IÂm going through something very similar. My in-laws live about 8 hours from us. We just got back Sunday from driving to visit them for a week, with our two boys, ages 3 and 1. We also made this trip in April and another trip, meeting them half way, in June. In my situation, we are the only ones who initiate visits, and spend all of our vacation time and any extra money to see them. (They were here for a weekend in March for my oldestÂs birthday. They arenÂt making the trip this summer for my youngestÂs first birthday even though we asked them to and told them it was important to us). I know how difficult and frustrating it can be to have such a one-sided relationship! In my situation, my in-laws have more money than we do and they have more vacation time than we do (he has his own business, she teaches so she's off all summer) so, even though itÂs not the case, I feel that they should make more of an effort than we do and they should be the ones who travel more (and we invite them repeatedly and have extended an open invitation!) Plus, itÂs easier for the two of them to travel than it is for us. Trust me, it's not easy to travel with kids! Maybe this is what your children feel? Have you talked to them about this? Do you have adequate accommodations for their family to come and stay with you? Do you try to control everything when youÂre together or do you let your kids be the parents? Is there anything youÂre doing that may make them not want to be there? Ask them! As to things to do to feel connected with long distance grandkids, I donÂt know how old they are but IÂve done lots of research into this and have come up with lots of ideas (again, I do this because I am the one who initiates contact and pushes for my kids to be close with my in-laws). E-mail, phone calls, videos are all good ways to stay connected. You can mail cards, letters, pictures with small toys and/or candies (check with kids first to see whatÂs allowed). Tape record yourself reading a story and mail the book and tape to them so that you can read to them. Remember things they tell you so you can bring it up again so they feel like you really listen to them. Ask them to draw pictures to send to you (send stamped envelops for them). Anyway, I really hope it gets better and your kids will compromise so that you donÂt have to give so much! Good luck!

Can anyone recommend a good company to check for pool leaks in the Sarasota FL area? We have an older 80s pool (original plaster) and this week it seems to be losing water at a faster clip. Have had to add it twice in past 3 days. Talked to our pool guy yesterday when he was out for weekly check and he said he thought it was just evaporation but we have been here for a month (with rain only once earlier) and haven't needed to add any prior to this week. It just seems like if it were normal evaporation loss we would have been adding water before this week... We are going back to our TX house next week and having to add water 2-3 times a week is going to be a hassle for our daughter or extra service call by pool guy...

Thank you for the very kind comments! I'm glad to be back in my office today, where I can rest from manual labor! Yesterday I hefted boxes until, once again, I was aching down to the bone. DH keeps telling me to just stop and REST. On Saturday evening I crawled into the bed early, and stayed there for about 10 minutes before seeing something out of the corner of my eye that I wanted to accomplish. I am not by any means overly-ambitious when it comes to anything else, except perhaps my home. I know it's a process, but it's one I enjoy (even when it "kills" me physically), and I'm so eager to have it done the way I want it done! I'm going to have a great test of patience before me, however, as we are currently in Spend No Money Unnecessarily mode until our old home sells. There remain a few financial unknowns, and we don't want to make any purchases until that situation is behind us. I can't help but dream of all the things we want in the house, but fully understand that the operative word is "WAIT." Perhaps that's why I'm pushing so hard to get as much in place as possible now. It helps to focus on what I have, instead of what I WANT to have. (If this makes any sense at all!) As you can see, I went ahead and put clutter on top of the kitchen cabinets! Once we got into the house and I realized how limited my display areas are, I decided to make use of what I do have. I'm sure I'll tweak that area over time.