Never had it that way, Vortex. But I love oatmeal with brown sugar and lots of butter, so I may have to try it with Grape Nuts too.

Also, one kind of olive does not an olive mix make.

Also also, meara and P-C are both not only awesome people, but very good writers, which even for another good writer adds an extra layer of hesitation and triple-guessing and multiple drafts to any email reply.

Never had it that way, Vortex. But I love oatmeal with brown sugar and lots of butter, so I may have to try it with Grape Nuts too.

definitely try it. I like it MUCH better than oatmeal. You can do it in the microwave. I recommend letting it sit in there for a minute or so after cooking to let the milk really soak in.

one kind of olive does not an olive mix make.

More of an olive nonmix.

LOVE Grape Nuts warm w/ brown sugar, cinnamon, and a little pat of butter. Om nom nom nom.

I'm in the midst of a panic because tonight's my first big book event for STARS-- on the one hand, it's a group event with 21 other authors, on the other, I have to talk for three minutes about myself to librarians, booksellers, and media.

::gulp::

I love Grape Nuts. I love the taste of malt. I haven't had them in a long time because while I'm not strictly on a low-glycemic diet right now, I do try not to have cereal.

WindSparrow, you're right that it's good news when people on this side of the globe aren't posting at 2am. Given how much people suffer from insomnia, that is good news.

Congrats on the PA, Seska!

meara, P-C, I can totally relate to getting all anxious that way.

Raised bed kit got delivered yesterday. My dad opened it today and it turns out they forgot 2 parts. *facepalm* So I called them up and arranged for them to overnight them only they'd missed today's shipping deadline so they'd really get here by Friday.

So we were out in the yard starting to lay things out. My mom, who normally pays no attention to that side of the yard, was watching like a hawk and kept adding new prerequisites. She thinks natural wood is ugly, for instance, so we're having to juggle parts around because we both the "economy" kit that has knots here and there as well as a bit of bark surface and she wants those parts hidden from view.

On the positive side, she also capititulated a bit. I bought a 12' x 4' bed kit and put it in with the short side towards the street because she thinks edible gardening looks ugly. Our house is actually on a hill up from the street so not much can actually be seen from street level. Still, whatever, I need to accommodate her wishes. But then she could see what I'd been saying - half of the bed would nearly always be in shade. So she offered to let me have two 6' x 4' beds side-by-side. More plants would get sun. I just wish she'd done it *before* I ordered the raised bed kit. Now I've got to wait a couple more days for new parts. However, the new configuration will have less of the bed in shade.

My dad and I both shake our heads at some of my mom's ways of being. To me a natural wood bed is far prettier to look at than something that's painted. But if it weren't for the extra $, I do believe she'd have me paint the bed. She's also planning on having plants she thinks are pretty put in front of the short ends of the beds in order to "camouflage" them from the street view. She's definitely a middle class child of the '50s in her tastes.

Good luck at the event, Barb! I'm sure you'll do fine.

Buona fortuna, Barb. I know you're going to kick ass.

She's also planning on having plants she thinks are pretty put in front of the short ends of the beds in order to "camouflage" them from the street view. She's definitely a middle class child of the '50s in her tastes.

Well, it's her house. My mom has a black leather couch which is 50% duct tape. Seriously, she keeps a roll of black duct tape in the side table to fix any cracks or tears. She finds it "comfortable," so the center of her living room is dominated by this '80's-looking monster. My brothers and I offered to buy her a new one, but no go. The thing is, it's her house--I wouldn't like it if she told me what to put in my house either.

Wow. I thought my mom was persnickety. She's an awesome gardener though EXHIBIT A EXHIBIT B EXHIBIT C EXHIBIT D

You're absolutely right it's her house, Scrappy. However, she will overrule my dad with this stuff, too. He can't do a lot of what he'd like to do for his own projects and he's the one paying the bills. She also overruled me in what I did in my house as well (I co-owned it with my parents but it was meant to be my house. It was 400 mi away from them. If I'd known up front how much she was going to micromanage, I never would have agreed to the arrangement.)

It just would have helped if she'd been clear about this stuff from the beginning. It's been over a month of talking details about this plan and, for instance, she never let my dad or me know that she wanted turf lifted until the day before yesterday. We could have lifted that out while we were waiting for the kit to get here. Now she wants the turf put back. Etc.

So I can be simultaneously glad that she's allowing me to put a raised bed in and exhausted at the persnicketiness.