City Peoples has a couple of good grass blends that you can buy in bulk (by the pound), and their blends are made for Seattle's weather, etc.

If you're worried about legal liability, or investigating the situation to show that Neighbor provoked the cat, contact Adam Karp. He's pioneered a practice in animal law and may be able to help.

http://www.animal-lawyer.com/

I get what you mean when you say Lucille is an outdoor cat. Our cat is also impossible to keep inside. So, we harness trained her, and she only goes outside in our backyard - so she doesn't get around people. We keep an eye on her around friends, especially kids, when they come over, because she is prone to nip when people vex her. And all people vex her, all the time - she's a cat!

It could help to hire legal counsel, someone with experience with both eminent domain and condominiums, since they are a special sort of real property. My firm does this work and I'm happy to talk to you, if you can contact me directly. (I keep my Slog/Questionland life separate from my work life.)

You will need to get a comprehensive property appraisal before you will know whether Sound Transit's offer is fair. You may also be able to argue that the present value is not fair compensation - the state/county should not be able to take advantage of the reduced real estate values under its eminent domain powers.

Mr. Luckier and I once saw a box of "Club Sandwich" -flavored PowerBars. No lie. We didn't purchase any, which has made it more difficult to convince people this actually happened. I've written and tried to get confirmation from the PowerBar people, but they will not respond.

While a lawyer could probably do this, I would first ask your accountant or financial advisor if they could do it. Will you want to write this off on your taxes? If so, you'll need to donate to a non-profit foundation on behalf of your school - often the PTA or like foundation is set up as a 501(3)(c), so you can take the write off.

Then, your accountant's going to want the receipt for your taxes - he could inquire with the institution, make a donation (of your funds, but from his trust account) and get a receipt that he could include with some sort of form indicating that the receipt is for you? Just spitballing here, but I think it could be done, and cheaply.

Why not just tell her that there's an awesome present for her but it's too big to travel with so she'll have to wait and no hints. She's a grown up who knows there is no Santa coming down the chimney. The anticipation will be fun and make you both excited to get home. Just make sure her surprise isn't a vacuum cleaner.

If she likes vintage styles and isn't married (ha) to white, I'd recommend she look at Modcloth or Trashy Diva.

http://www.modcloth.com/shop/dresses

http://www.trashydiva.com/shop/Dresses-c11/

White will be harder to find in winter, but it's also a hard color for most of us to pull off.

Whatever she buys, she should line up a good seamstress to fit it in the neckline, waist and length.

Good luck!

When my nephews were littles, I made them an awesome mix of They Might be Giants and Jonathon Richman and the Modern Lovers, which they l.o.v.e.d. But, they also listened to a ton of Beastie Boys, and now they love the Beatles (at 14, 12 & 8.) I think anything with no swears or overt nastiness is fair game for kids. And O My Captain's mix rocks, I would listen to that with kids.