Happy Holidays to all here. Hi Marcia, Yes I sure do use the blooming bags. Last year I had around 50 of them. I use the ones from Vesey's, they are cheaper and work well. Just make sure to double knot the handles, so they don't pull through. Last year I also got several bigger ones at Home Hardware. The bigger ones are good for wave and spreading petunias. Ummmm I don't have to soak them....there is no way I would have that much time. After I plant them up early spring, I take the hose and push it down the back of the bags to make a path to about half way down the back of the bag. I just push the hose in there to water them every second day for the season. I use sunshine mix ummmm #4 or is it #1. not the one for seedlings the other one.....that holds water better. The planter filler one. Last year I had 15 impatien bags on my trellis wall that was new.....and a few on the side fence. The rest of the bags were filled with different kinds of petunias and pansys. The impatien bags I fill the top. And the regular petunias and pansys I also fill the tops. But if you use any kind of wave or tidal waves or spreading petunias you don't have to fill the top....it makes those bags easier to water. You do have to stand there when watering and make sure the water is comming out the bottom well before you stop. I fill all the bags up to the top....then use a pen to poke the holes in each slot. Then use the pen to put the small roots of the seedlings in the holes. This works really well. When I plant up the impatiens they are still small seedlings....not full size plants. Although I have had to do some repairs with fullsize plants.....it can be done....just not as easy. Also take petunia cuttings and put the cuttings into the bags. This works very well for me.....I keep the bags laying flat on a shelf in the greenhouse, till they take hold...which is usually only a few days. Make sure to keep some "repair" seedlings until after they are hung in their permanent place for the summer....things happen, they get dropped or bumped and you will have to repair. In the fall when I split the bags and dump in the compost pile......the soil is one big mass of roots...all the way to the back and top and bottom. I buy new bags each year. I have used blooming bags for years now.....they are easy to look after and put on a great show. For me they can go a week or so without watering...but I prefer to water them every second day just to make sure. Sierra

Wow so many with the same situation, although mine is not because of him losing a job in this economy. I always seemed to find the really nice guys that lacked motivation - I married two of them. My first husband was in finance, and figured that he could work fewer hours and manage to make enough. I was working and had two young children and he did not think that his free time was for housework or watching the kids even when I went to the gym - I had to get a sitter so that he would not have to commit to being home. No matter how much counseling or discussion between us could make him see how it felt to have him sitting on the front porch reading the paper while I was going crazy in the house getting lunches ready and the kids and me out of the house every morning. The neighbors even noticed! I felt if I was going to live like a single parent, I might as well be able to date, so I divorced him. And then I did the same thing again! What the heck was wrong with me?? When I met my second husband, he had a job, but all of his jobs were not long-term or careers -- he was also an under-employed carpenter. He was an awesome person, and a great step-father to my kids, but the housework was not even on his radar. However, with his more "flexible schedule", he was the one that could get a sick kid at school or be home if needed, so he was a bit of a house husband and that allowed me to concentrate on my job. But once the kids were off at college, I joked that he was my oldest child, but it really wasn't a joke. Unfortunately he died suddenly a little over a year ago, and although I miss him terribly, I am not going to make the same mistake again. I'm fortunate that I can support myself as I've been doing it for years anyway. If there is a next guy he will have to be at least where I am financially (which is not much!) and be interested in a true partnership. We all have to put up with stupid bosses and policies, but how can these men think it's OK to put their pride before their employment because they won't tolerate whatever they don't agree with? You can't be an employee and do things any way you want - we all have to suck it up for a job. If these guys didn't have a wife, I wonder what would they do? Please understand, I'm not knocking your hubbies - especially after the men I married! Many of you seem to be adapting to the new normal in your households. What makes it work is a sense of teamwork between the two of you, each doing what needs to be done. A wife can't be the breadwinner and then come home to housework & cooking while the husband plays - that situation won't last long without resentment.

I have never used them, but I would be careful. They have horrible reviews on ResellerRatings.com. If they are offering low prices, one thing you can do is call competitors that have better ratings and see if they will match prices. When I bought my kitchen sink and faucet I used MainFaucet and they matched all the lowest prices I could find elsewhere. Here is a link that might be useful: Reseller Ratings

remodelqueen - I soooo agree with you! My brother was ready to re-do my entire kitchen plan on what "he" wants in his kitchen remodel...claiming that he "knows" what look I am going for & HE has already had it & it would be better if I scrap it & do something completly different... huh? Budget? Oh, is that what we were supposed to do? ;-) Actually DH & I are quite stubborn when it comes to something we want. What usually ends up happening is we find a way to get it cheaper (did some labor ourselves, bought some scratch & dent items/clearance ~with a 4yr warranty...you get the idea) or we do without until we can find a way to get what we want. This board has been a GREAT resource. I returned a double oven that was sitting in my living room for a month after reading some reviews of loud & long fan times & other issues. I returned a sink for another (it was actually cheaper~gasp!) after seeing one on here I had never heard of before. I was very careful selecting our (prefab) granite after reading things here. I was thrilled when I actually found a couple with some movement in them! I never would have thought to tell the granite guy what to do without having seen what I like on this board. Yeah, the granite was a bit of an upgrade in pattern, but the overall price was only a couple $100 more...not a lot in the grand scheme of life. We may have gone overboard on the appliances. I will admit that. DH fell in love with a fridge (42" counter depth) that fits beautifully in the kitchen. Did we "need" it? Probably not. But he really loves it. I have NEVER seen him break out a rag & clean something so often before ;-) So, in some respects we were "good" with a budget...on others, well, we agreed to sacrifice other expeditures for a while to get what we really loved. "Forgotten" the budget? No... I just try not to think about it right now! LOL!