Hi Pat! May I, along with all the others here who already have, extend a warm welcome to San Antonio! We are looking forward to meeting you at the Oct. 10 plant swap. San Antonio has several microclimates in the city. The south side has very different growing conditions from the north, east from west, etc.. But even that is changing with our recent warmer winters. I live on the NW side and here bougainvillias have frozen to the ground during the winter if planted in the ground. They took a long time to recover and it was late summer or fall before they bloomed after having grown to huge dimensions to match their root system. In more recent years I've noticed that not all die back if planted near a warm wall. In that case they bloom early, but they are huge, which is beautiful if you have the room for them. Here is a thread about the pros and cons of planting in the ground: http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/txgard/msg1108114515720.html Bougies actually do very well when root bound in a pot. Here is a photo taken earlier this year of some of mine. Here are some of this years photos of some growing in the ground on the south side of San Antonio: The hibiscus looks like the tropical variety which may or may not survive if planted in the ground. If it is like last year when hardly anything froze back they will survive, but who knows for sure. If you want to be sure and preserve them you might try cutting it back, digging the root ball and storing it in a protected overwintering area. Or keep it in a pot and drag it out on warm winter days where it will probably bloom all winter. The shrimp plant will do well if planted in the ground. They always come back and last year didn't even freeze back. They will tolerate medium dry shade and are great plants. I have four different kinds. Gardenias are sometimes difficult to keep blooming even in ideal conditions. A lot depends on the variety. They like acid soil and even moisture and I've had the best luck planting them in soil, pot or ground, that has been heavily amended with peat moss. I can keep them going about three years that way, but others seem to have better luck than I have and perhaps can advise you. I agree -- playing in the yard is great therapy in times of stress. I trust your granddaughter is well on the road to recovery. Happy gardening!

You mentioned the MRI's Does your Dr or medical center use Pet Scan? They do here as it is not as hard on some of the organs,like liver etc. and it shows more cancer. DH is getting ready to do his third one. But he also gets checked for bladder cancer. His other cancer seems to be in remission at this time. He just had a Ritouxin treatment, again not as hard as some of the other drugs he has had. I do wish you the best and the water therapy is great. They use it here also, I think. Marie

My heart goes out to you and your kitty. I just lost my 8yr old kitty to cancer (see post 'update on my cat with cancer'). I know the ordeal that you are facing and the emotional struggle of trying to provide the best option for your cat. There is no black and white answer, I'm afraid. Every day or hour you may have a different decision. You have to decide what you can live with after your cat dies. If nothing you do works, which was my case, will you be content that you at least tried everything possible? Or, would you rather try the "hospice" approach, and just try to make him comfortable until there's nothing left to do? Both are acceptable decisions. It's a very personal choice. Unfortunately, finances are a big part of what is appropriate care-- as I am sure you are finding out. I am by no means 'weathly' but I do have a good job and live modestly. I made the decision to spend the money to help my cat and hold off on other items that I needed this year. If I had spent the money on a Channel or Marc Jacobs bag, people would applaud. Why is it not acceptable or 'discouraged' to spend money on your pet? It's stupid. What I learned was, no one really can tell you the outcome--even the specialists. You have to decide if you want to end any 'potential' suffering or try everything you can and pray that it works. The very expensive oncologist gave me hope and indicated that there could be a positive outcome. It didn't happen and I lost her 5 days after her first chemo treatment. But, your situation could end very differently. I don't know if anything I'm telling you is of any use. All I can tell you is pray, go with your gut and tell your kitty how much you love him every day. In the end, you will do the very best that you can do, but you may still question your decisions anyway (I sure am...). Good luck. I wish you the very best.

I had a hard time with DS with his /L/ sounds. I would say "repeat after me.....yell." and he would say it just fine. Then I would say "repeat after me......mommy don't yell at me" and he would say it just fine. Then I would say "repeat after me.......yell....o" and he would say it just fine and then I would say "repeat after me.....yellow" and every time he would say "lellow". LOL! This was the case for like 4 years. He would also say "yight" instead of "light". I guess he just got his /y/ and his /l/ sounds mixed up. But it finally came along. Now all I have to contend with his his Northern Louisiana accent he got from his dad. All words ending in /th/ get a /f/ sound. For instance, "with" becomes "wif". Not sure how to contend with that, but I son't think it's necessarily a speech issue as it is a proper pronunciation issue. Good job, Ceph! You're gonna make a great SM!