Eep! I didn't read your post to mean that you harbored any harsh feelings~ your post just sounded like you were a bit bummed that more people didn't put money in the bucket. Then, I was just agreeing with Heigh Ho that I, too, get those 'looks' from a few volunteers. I was just hoping to provide you with some info on why some people don't drop money in in the hopes that you wouldn't be bummed. I hate that your ds & buddies got yelled at for volunteering. I have been ''dressed down" while volunteering by people who were on the *receiving end* of my service. :confused: I refuse to volunteer in that particular capacity any more.

:grouphug: I'm sorry you felt like you had to edit your post. FWIW, I "heard" what you said. :grouphug:

I was trying to refrain from posting on this thread, but thought I would add my two cents here. I can imagine how it must seem to be standing there watching person after person go by and have few donations dropped in the bucket. The thing is, I arrange my errands in groups, and in one day I might encompass three or four bell ringers. I only put money in the first one, so to the other three ringers, I am 'stingy'. :iagree: I get that look a lot. :iagree: :iagree: This is one reason I actually dread going out during this season. It started just before Thanksgiving. Publix having their bins for dinner donations and asking at the check out if I "want to donate a dollar to xxx", then, going into PetSmart and being asked if I would like to donate to XYZ animal charity, then hitting PetCo because not everything I wanted was at PetSMart and being asked if I wanted to buy a toy for a shelter animal, then going to Sam's and going past the SA bell ringer, then Wal-Mart and passing another SA bell ringer. And it goes on and on and on. Some days I am in seven or eight stores and *each one* is asking for money for something! And that doesn't take into account the endless phone calls and junk mail for this charity or that charity... ones we have never donated for are suddenly acting as if we are their closest friends and are looking for money~~ we receive mail from several of the same charities *weekly* during the holiday season. It's very tiresome and annoying, to be honest. I feel like a complete Mrs. Scrooge every time I say "no", and it makes me want to dig out a list of contributions I *have* made so I won't be thought badly of. :glare:

I prefer whites to reds, but I really enjoy the Beaujolais Nouveau by Georges Duboeuf. It comes out each year in time for Thanksgiving and the stores sell it until it is gone. This year's is particularly yummy (each year is different as it's 'new' and not aged). We have really been enjoying this year's and plan to buy several 'extras'. :D They run $8.99 at Costco and $10.99 at Publix. If this interests you, just look for a separate wine display (*usually* off by itself and not on the shelf with other wines) with this year's bright yellow and orange labels. I'm taking notes of the other suggestions because dh usually buys the wine, so I'm never sure what to look for! :001_huh:

Awww!!! How sweet! What a fabulous update!! :D

Well, I'm a 2011 book a week slacker as I'm only on book 36 (hanging my head in shame), but I'm willing to try again in 2012! I'm hoping to hit "40 books" by the end of the year. Hoping.... The mini challenges look neat!! I don't blog, though. My biggest problem is that I read in bed and I'm usually so tired, I can only get a few pages read before Mr. Sandman comes a' calling! Plus, in the winter, my hands freeze (and hurt), so I want them under the covers.... hard to read that way!! However.... I will try again!!! :D

I'm glad you were able to complete your shopping (as indicated in your OP update). The zombie mug is under the tree right now.... I'll try to remember to come back and let everyone know if it really does glow in the dark!! It looks cute even if it doesn't glow, but it would be really neat if it works as advertised!

Done. Dd and I were in Belk's today and saw.... swimsuits!!!!!!! :001_huh: :glare: There were several racks of them next to racks of wool coats. Dd and I looked like this :confused: :confused: We were just dumbfounded. I will say, though, that I am now contemplating a trip to Kroger for some Cadbury eggs... does that make me a hypocrite? :D

I voted 'no'. I would *like* the extra materials to be there, but unless a listing explicitly included them in the description, then, no, I would not expect them to be there. Honestly, if I was counting on the items and the listing didn't mention it, and the buyer wasn't contacted beforehand to confirm, I would skip that listing and find another one. I have done that several times. I would like to qualify my reply/vote with the mention that I have no idea if the missing materials are essential, or just 'extras'. If they are essential, then, yes, I would expect the items to be there. And, like others, if an item is "like new" I expect it to be LIKE NEW with all materials, but I have been burned before so I don't assume anything anymore. Hence, the reason for my vote.... I don't *expect* it, but would like it. I'm sorry you were disappointed.

Re the parts I bolded: We don't have the same turn around that others have mentioned, 5-6 days for us, so the change in delivery times will already affect our delivery negatively. I read an article that likened it to going back to the Pony Express!! Add to that the fact that the USPS distribution center here is on the chopping block, our mail will be sent now with a two day delay over current delivery times (according to local officials who are against the closing). We currently have both streaming and DVD with Netflix, and are about to cancel the DVD option, OR drop down to the one disc option. Should the USPS close the distribution center here, we are likely to drop the DVD portion completely. As an aside, I think the USPS changing the first class delivery speed is another shot in their foot. I now pay all but two bills online, and I will be signing up for the other two next month--- there is a fee associated with those, but it's cheaper than a late payment if the USPS takes too long. Already, I try not to use the USPS too much because of the amount of misdirected and damaged mail we put up with. I think if they fixed their quality control problems, they would find themselves back in the black and not have to resort to cost cutting measures that chase customers away. Now back to our regularly scheduled USPS/Netflix discussion.....

Huh. Well, isn't that interesting? Maybe ds is just an anomaly?? :lol: Seriously, though, I wonder if it's his utter dislike of standardized tests and "tricks". I know he prefers more straightforward tests. Maybe I should go ahead and have him sit for the SAT, though, since others have posted (can't remember if it's here or on one of the other PSAT threads) that some of their dc's SAT scores were higher than the PSAT predicted. Hhmmm....

I just revisited this thread and saw your question. The short answer is I'm not completely sure. Below is the long answer. :001_smile: I would guess oldest is definitely a logic thinker, but I'm not sure for youngest. I do know the oldest scored much better on the ACT than the PSAT. Youngest has only taken a practice ACT but scored quite high on the reading/grammar portions (Practice test taken before high school and math had only been covered through Alg I at that time, and science was only through Life Science, so my only interest was in the English portions). Youngest did well on the PSAT's English portions and as expected on the math. I can't remember which test a logic thinker is "supposed" to do better on: the ACT or SAT.

Thanks for that site. I finally had the time to poke around on there. There are some really interesting things!

Here are some ideas (both current and past gifts): If he has an iTunes account, a gift card is great as there are various amounts. Gift card to Smoothie King (or some healthy-ish place) Weight set--- ds wanted ankle weights last year, so I found some on amazon with removable weights so he could start light, then move up. Price was around $20, I think. Earbuds ~~ multiples, as they seem to break easily. Ds' faves are the Skull Candy Ink'd ones. Amazon around $10 on sale. Flannel pants for the house. He loves these. $15 in many places. Glow in the dark zombie coffee/hot chocolate mug from Think Geek. $15 w/shipping fees Personalized mouse pad $9 from various online sources... just Google. DVDs $9 and up Leather gloves $20 Kohls A "nice" computer chair. Ds does schoolwork at his computer desk and used his grandparents' gift money to buy himself a new chair $99 on sale. Candy that comes around only at this time of year--- like the big bubble gum tubes at Target $9 Shower gel that is more pricey than what you usually buy... ds went through a *major* Axe fixation and since it costs so much, I only bought it for him for Christmas/Birthdays.... he loved it!! I do the same for dd, and get her the Bath & Body Works stuff on these special days, too. Cordless toothbrush $20 from Target (ours are 4 years old now and still going strong) A nice watch... from $40 to $150. Dresser valet $10 Target. Since turning 15, ds accumulated a wallet (driver's permit then a license), house keys, and a nice wallet. The Valet will keep everything in one place, including the ipod and cell phone. A nice 'leather look' jacket. $40 at Kohl's (ds gets TONS of comments on his!) That's all I can think of at the moment. If anything else pops into my head, I'll come back and post again. Usually we ask the kids if there is anything in particular that they would like and they ask if there is a budget. We just tell them to make a list and we'll see what we can do. They notate the things they *really* want, and if it's more than what we want to spend, they have to kick in the difference over what we wanted to spend. So far, though, that only happened once at a birthday when ds wanted an iPod... we paid for half and he paid for the rest. Oh, and like a previous poster said, the kids don't "up the ante" every year, either. Some years we spend more, and some years we spend less and it's never an issue. I wish you luck--- it's hard!! Some years, the kids know exactly what they would like, and others, they have no idea. ETA: I just saw your post where you decided on some other stuff, but I'll leave this up in case it helps anyone else.

I'm guessing Jenny only wanted her original post to remain up for a short amount of time so she deleted it. I, too, missed the OP, but it sounds like a bad situation. Jenny, I hope things turn out OK. :grouphug::grouphug:

I'm right there with you, but I'm not sure *why*! :confused: My kids are older teens, yet they are still bouncing off the walls. Dh has no food requests. My eight Christmas cards are done (as of this morning) and are ready to be stuffed into the mailbox. I'm finished with putting out decorations (got tired of hauling stuff out, so what's out is out, and the rest is still in the attic). We have no parties to attend (declined an invite because we're too tired!!). And, I *have* taken a shower. So~~~ why can't we get our schoolwork done?! :001_huh: I honestly think it's just that time of year. If the kids weren't taking online and cc classes that go until next week, I think I would just take the entire month of December off. Go and take a nice, long shower. Everything else will work itself out. :D

:grouphug::grouphug:

One of my kids does better on the ACT than the PSAT/SAT tests.

:grouphug::grouphug:

:iagree: :iagree: For us, it was a quality of life thing. Our dog was young (only 7 yrs of a 15 yr average life span for her breed), but she had horrid hip and knee problems. Several vets said they had never seen such bad hips and knees and surgery wasn't an option. We had the poor dear on so much glucosamine and pain meds near the end that she was afraid to eat anything because there was almost always a pill hidden in there. We finally decided to take her and have her put down when I had to carry her down the deck stairs so she could potty. She spent her last two weeks just laying around and wouldn't even get up to eat. That is about the same time I had to start carrying her down the stairs, so we just 'knew' it was time. She was the sweetest thing and it broke our hearts. However, it was time, and we knew we were doing the right thing by letting her go peacefully. :grouphug: to you. It's so difficult.

:iagree: I am so sorry for the loss of your cat. One thing that helped our kids when they lost some cats (one because of disease and the other from old age) and a dog (young, but was in severe pain from bad hips and knees so we made a difficult decision) was to focus on what a good life each animal had. They had love, shelter, were never hungry, etc. We allowed the kids to grieve, but made sure they didn't wallow in it. Grief is natural. A memorial service did help. Also, both kids wanted us to dig out photos of them with said pets immediately so they could put them in their rooms on display.

Fabulous news!! :party:

:grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug:

Christopher Radko? http://www.christopherradko.com/

We hung a screen door to keep the cats & dog out of the room. Well, mostly, it was to keep one cat out, but as it turned out, that cat didn't like babies, and never wanted to be around the baby, even as the baby grew into a toddler and beyond. The other cat wasn't interested in the baby until the "baby" was old enough to feed the cat her cat food. :D The dog, on the other hand, wanted to be in the baby's room all the time, so the screen door came in handy to keep her out, as she would pant and scratch at her collar (which caused her tags to jingle), which would wake the baby. This was bad as it took me forever to get the baby to sleep. I think I had the only baby in the world who hated to go to sleep!!!! :001_huh: