Sheri, You know, I had forgotten all about the UFOs! LOL I didn't see any either, but it was daylight, so I guess we should have stayed until dark. It is so beautiful in the Stephenville-Hico-Granbury area. The wildflowers were spectacular, although a lot of the yucca had already finished their round of spring blooms. Merry Heart, The cafe at which we had lunch was in Hico in Hamilton County, about 20 miles from Stephenville. It is called the Koffee Kup Family restaurant, and it is right there in the middle of town. DH and I had our usual, chicken fried steak (real meat! not the pre-fab junk) and fixin's and Kristine had chicken strips and cheese fries just dripping with cheese. We had German Chocolate cake for dessert. We visited all the clothing stores, tourist traps and antique stores we could find in Hico and had some wonderful chocolates from a little shop just across the road from the Koffee Kup. They were the best! I did buy Nolo Bait (for grasshoppers) and Sluggo Plus (for sowbugs and pillbugs and slugs/snails) at Marshall Grain on the way down, but no plants again. Maybe I am just all planted out? And there was no rain for us, some morning clouds and lots of heat in the afternoon. It almost got too hot. It was a gorgeous day and a lovely evening too. Dublin Dr. Peppers are the best Dr. Peppers in the world, made and bottled at the little Dr. Pepper Bottling Company in Dublin, Texas, which is about 20 miles from Hico and Stephenville, and is home to the Dr. Pepper Museum. For a couple of decades now, Dublin has been the last remaining DP bottler who uses real sugar instead of High Fructose Corn Syrup. Why does this matter? BECAUSE! Because these Dr. Peppers taste EXACTLY like Dr. Peppers tasted when I was a little kid in the 1960s (before everyone switched over to high fructose corn syrup) and they are just so, so good. It used to be that Dublin Dr. Peppers had a cult following of people like me who adored the flavor they remembered from their youth--the ones made with HFCS just don't taste as good. Then a lot of parents who have children with various conditions, including autism, attention deficit disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder discovered that their kids could have Dublin Dr. Peppers without getting as hyper as they get with regular DPs and Dublin DPs became even more popular. For years and years, the Dublin bottler used only glass bottles and bought all the used DP bottles he could find from all over the country, and you had to pay a deposit on them. As the Dublin DPs grew in popularity, he finally had to contract with someone to make the glass bottles for him and now they all say Dublin DP and Imperial Sugar on all the bottles. They are also available in cans too. I have gotten our fire dept. guys addicted to them too. Sometimes we have them at cookouts and fundraisers. So, while we were there we all got our Dublin Dr. Peppers from a soda fountain at a convenience store in Hico, where a big sign in the store window said "WE NOW HAVE DUBLIN DR.PEPPER ON THE FOUNTAIN". Yippee! Then, as we came through Stephenville on our way home from Hico, we stopped at Wal-mart and bought 3 cases of canned DPs and one of bottled DPs. You can buy them locally here in north Texas and some places in southern OK, but they cost a whole lot more due to transportation costs. We "owe" some DPs to friends who said "next time you're down there, get me some". I'm sure by the time we give our friends the ones we bought for them, I'll wish we'd bought more. My niece wanted Dublin DPs at her wedding reception two years ago, so she and my brother went on a "road trip" directly to the Dublin bottling plant a few days before the wedding and brought back about 400 or 500 of them.....and everyone at the wedding reception guzzled them down! It was cool. Dawn

Don't know about that particular brand, but there are certain vitamins in health food stores that will help, my daughter has used. But she also consulted with her dr. At age 4 some children are very hyper, and with one of my granddaughters it is sugar, chocolate and preservatives in the food. She needs to be very honest with her dr, and please don't start the kid on drugs without throughly testing them. It may be a mineral/vitamin deficency also. If this is your daughter, be honest and inist she talk to the DR. or YOU WILL> Where does she get these vitamins and who sells them. Just warn her that if she does not get this problem under control the school will Good luck Marie

I do not use FS & never have, not dryer sheets nor the kind for the washer. In my opinion they stink of artificial scent & when I am around machines whose owners use them, I go into sneezing fits. I also use unscented liquid detergent. My sister has severe asthma; my husband and daughter have mild asthma. I would not think of using scented products in my house because of exposing the asthmatics to triggers. Here is the thing, you FS users---if something is bad for asthmatics to breathe, it is also bad for you to breathe. Their immune systems are just hypersensitive to bad things, and they get an attack. The same stuff is bad for you; you just do not get the early-warning "siren" from your body that they do from theirs. As to fluffy towels--may I suggest buying higher quality towels? Hotels that have thick soft towels are buying really good ones. I have cheap thin towels from my college student days that are great for rubbing the cat after her bath --- and I have thick, soft, nice towels that I dry myself with. Are you shaking them & fluffing them when you pull them from the washer, not just stuffing them in the dryer?

There is an enormous amount of quasi- and misinformation about ADD/ADHD. If a child can be helped with symptoms by eliminating certain items from the diet, whether those items be particular foods or simply preservatives and additives, then they are NOT ADD/ADHD. They have food or food additive allergies or sensitivities. True ADD/ADHD is a genetic variant. I say variant because that is the current thought, is not really considered a disorder any longer. However, ADD/ADHD is sometimes found comorbid with certain disorders such as OCD, general anxiety disorder, bipolar disorder, aspergers, tourettes. The reason is that these are all found to affect the same areas of the brain. Ask almost any kindergarten teacher and they will tell you that the kids that bring red jello or or other red dye laden food will have a hyper afternoon. Of course this is probably because of all the sugar associated with those foods and not the dye itself in most cases. Why stimulant medications work: Stimulants work by increasing both blood flow and Dopamine levels in the brain. Not by some magic "opposite" effect. I will include a link to the full medical explanation. Kids who appear "zombie-like" on stimulant meds are likely on too high a dose. It causes hyper-focus symptoms. Stimulant meds do not address other possible comorbid or behavioral problems. Sometimes other medications are needed. Some kids, such as those who are also bipolar, should NOT be given stimulant meds. There are as many variations of ADD/ADHD as there are people who have it. Each case must be treated individually. The upside of ADD/ADHD: Many ADD/ADHDers are highly intelligent and extremely creative. The ability to be a non-linear thinker can be a great gift. Thinking outside the box comes easily. The downside: ADD/ADHDers can be irritating to live with! The poor impulse control, forgetfullness, chronic tardiness, inability to follow through or stay focused on tedious tasks, distractedness (hello...hello...hello...HELLO! huh? were you talking to me?) are considered to be huge social and professional failings. Because ADD/ADHDers get a lot of negative feedback about their behavior, it can cause low self esteem and subsequent depression. ADD/ADHD is not "outgrown" as one ages. There can be a reduced need for medication. Some people find they only need meds under certain circumstances. The issues of impulse control, lack of time awareness, inability to stay focused on tedious tasks still remain. Lack of organization continues to be an issue. ADD/ADHDers are often overwhelmed by complex tasks. They lack the innate ability to break a large project into do-able portions. Fortunately, this can be taught. Lists are very helpful. Stress or depression will exacerbate ADD/ADHD symptoms. What is difficult for ADD/ADHDers is to do embrace the good parts of themselves. Having loving, supportive people around who are patient and understanding is key. When Tom Cruise gets his PhD in psychiatry, I'll give him the time of day. Until then he's just another clueless crackpot in my book. Here is a link that might be useful: How Stimulent Medications Work