Tonybeeguy, I have a short post somewhere here something like "lost hives, starting over" I thought you might have missed it, figuring I could count on you for some sympathy over my losing my hive. My "guest hive" (refugees from someone's idiot pesticide spraying neighbors and neanderthal selectmen)died too. My supplier lost a large number of colonies. I don't know if I mentioned in that post that I was able to get about 10 pounds from the honeysuper, with a good amount of built out foundation ready in the brood chamber. Sad, we found the queen surrounded by a small group of bees; valiant effort but they all froze, I suppose.

lawn_man - I would trust the speech therapist's opinion more than anyone's, even the doctor. I have an 8 y.o. son with Sensory Integration Dysfunction. He didn't talk until 3, then talked very slow and labored. The doctor kept saying "kids develop at different rates, he's fine." We took him to a private speech therapist at age 5. She's the one who agreed that something was not quite right and was able to get us referrals to specialists to get his disorder diagnosed and get the therapy he needs. Speech therapists see kids with a wide range of disorders, from speech delay to autism and everything else in between. Pediatricians see mostly healthy kids for checkups and a few kids who need more help. The dr is used to seeing 90% "normal" kids, but the speech therapist sees 90% "needing help" kids. If the speech therapist thinks your son has merely speech delay, then don't worry. Also, at 2 1/2 there is little that can be conclusively tested. It's not until 3, 4 or even 5 that kids even out to a more "standard" development rate. At 2 1/2 the "normal" range is very wide. Just relax and enjoy your son for another year or two, then if you still have concerns, ask the speech therapist for her recommendations. Best of luck and God bless you and your DS!

txnursingqt, I agree. Kids should never be the communicator. We did not tell her "ask your mom if she can go". I asked her if her mom is making a party for her & if not, I will. Instead of asking her mom "are you making a party for me mom" she asked her mom "can Ima make me a party". Yes, DH should have called her and asked her, but we have had an ongoing problem with BM telling SD lies. So if DH asks BM "are you making DD a party?", BM might say yes and then tell SD "daddy doesn't want to make your party so I am" or she will say yes, then at the last minute.. she will make an 'emergency' excuse that she can't do it. (something like she doesn't have enough money... tells her that daddy takes it all for child support, etc.) In the five years I have known SD, she has never had a good birthday. Age 6: No party. We did have cake/ice cream at MIL's house & BM came. (this was when we were dating & BM was being super nice to me & DH was her 'best friend' ~ all that changed when he proposed to me) Age 7: DH & I were out of the country on SD's birthday and BM did nothing with her. Age 8: BM planned a bowling party after I asked if they are doing anything for SD's birthday. They agreed to a joint party & split the cost. The day of SD's birthday, BM went ballistic at DH's work over the cost & they ended up filing court papers & started a long hostile custody battle. (at the conclusion of the custody battle, BM met BF 2-3 weeks later & moved away, giving us custody of SD) Age 9: Since BM moved away, DH gave her 1/2 the day (after school until 6pm) of SD's birthday every year on paper. In reality, he said she can have the whole day if she's not in school. So, I planned a party for her the day after her actual birthday, assuming BM would have her on her birthday (her birthday was Saturday, my party was Sunday) SD told her I was making a party and BM continually asked if she is invited. SD asked me & I told her that her mom will have her on her real birthday & this is a party for classmates. BM decided that she would rather plan something on her own weekend & not see SD on her actual birthday. Then, the day of her party.. BM's mother & sister show up toward the end of the party to bring SD her gift ~ a bouquet of tulips & a card. My MIL asks her if she wants to stay & have cake and she makes a big deal so everyone can hear and says "oh no, I WASN'T INVITED!" and they leave. SD ends up in tears that night because we wouldn't let her mom be there. I decided then that next year, she can have her mom plan her party because I spent lots of time, money & energy to make it special for her and all she cared about is that her mom is there... and I didn't think her mom would have come if I had invited her. So, threw my hands up and said "let mom take care of next year" (btw, BM never did have a party on her weekend. The day she was supposed to make a party for her, BM decided to go out to a party with BF and left SD with BF's parents... when we picked up SD, she burst out crying) Age 10: DH asked BM if she is getting SD on her birthday and BM said yes. That was last year. She was supposed to have her from 8am-8pm. She got her at 9am (well, grandma got her and BM came around 10 or 11) They did nothing that she told SD they were going to do... go to Sizzler & roller skating. BM had already sent two nasty text messages to DH before SD was picked up so we knew she was in a bad mood. She had SD call DH halfway through the day to tell him she got a rodent from the pet store & DH had to tell SD that she can't bring it to our house. Then at 6pm, grandma says she is dropping SD off at our house. We had gone out to dinner & weren't planning to be home until 8pm, the pre-arranged time. So, grandma brings her at 8pm and proceeds to demand all the clothes that SD has ever brought from BM's house. I take all I can find out to her car & she starts screaming at me because I don't have a pair of jeans she bought. (look up the thread "those damn pants" because it was utterly ridiculous! I tell her to leave & go back into the house to find SD in tears. I was thinking she is upset because grandma and I are yelling at each other in the driveway and she says she is upset because BM went back with BF at 4pm and she thought they were going to do all that fun stuff, but did nothing. What can I do? There's nothing anybody can do for this little girl if her mom doesn't care and that's what she wants. Age 11: So, this year I relented and offered to make a party if her mom isn't. I really didn't want to step on toes and I needed BM to tell SD that she isn't making the party instead of it coming from us. Deep down, SD knows her mom won't make the party, that's why she didn't even ask.. she asked if it's okay for me to make the party. Now BM is on the defensive of trying not to look like the bad guy... so she says "fine, but they aren't going to let me come" and SD says "sure you can come" without asking us. We are going to call her bluff and we did. She was going to call mine so it was a standoff and I was worried that now that she has called my bluff, she will swoop in and steal the show. BTW, I would have let her. I am not going to get into a pissing match or do anything to upset SD, especially on her birthday. I feel terrible for SD but at least she is getting older and she is seeing for herself what her mom is doing and I am doing all I can to be the bigger person. As for next year, I think we may let SD invite a couple of friends and go to an amusement park... BM can go if she wants... lol, at her own expense. She won't do it. She looked like she was being forced to come to the roller rink. Next year, she will have a one year old... and since I have custody of my 1 year old grandson, I know how that will be. [if she thought traveling 3 hours to the party... 2 hours in the party... and 3 hours home was a lot for a 7 week old baby... try a much longer drive and all day in an amusement park with a one year old] and finedreams, Yes grandma came. She left the party to go pick up her prescription (because she hasn't transferred it to the town she now lives in & the party is in the town she used to live in) but she didn't bother to ask for 'those damn pants'!

Cleaned all of the hard caked grease out of the drive and replaced a bad rubber friction disc on one side. Now it acts like a Lawn-Boy should. Gave the carb another good cleaning, replaced the fuel line and added a small filter. Air cleaner is in great shape and clean. New spark plug. Got to take it out for a good work out Yesterday. I mow a Church yard that takes about two hours to do the section that I like to use a push mower on. Added 4 oz of Echo Power Blend oil (use it in all of my two strokes) a gallon of fuel and went at it. I took the plug out and reinstalled it only finger tight for the first 15 to 20 minutes ( I can tell a lot about how good the engine is being lubed this way). The plug had a good oily film on the threads and a small oily ring around the plug hole. So it is getting a good amount of oil at around 40:1 ratio and belches a puff of smoke each time the governor opened up. It never missed a beat and the cut was what I expected from an old LB. I did notice that the cables need to be lubed or replaced. They seem drag a little, especially the engine brake, but never did fail to operate the way they should. So I will wait until mowing season is over and tear it down for new cables, wheels, paint and polish. Funny thing. While mowing the Church yard. Three older men came over and was standing around talking. I stopped and ask if they needed anything. One said that I was playing music to his ears. For he had not heard a good running old 2 stroke LB in years and the others agreed. I just went back to playing my instrument enjoying the music as they had.