I work for a friend of mine who is a tax accountant. I work for her from early December (sending out worksheets, reminders, and doing some corporate things that have to be in by the end of the calendar year) through early May. During tax season, I assist with tax filings and things like that. I can do simple returns on my own and help her with the bigger, more complicated ones. I make around $300 a week for 6 months .. and then I'm unemployed for 6 months! ;) But it works well with my school schedule, as she works from her home and I can make my own hours (get there early and leave late, etc.)

Glad we watched Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer instead!! :D

1st - 3 days late 2nd - on his due date -- he's still Mr. Punctual :D 3rd - 5 days late 4th - 7 days early

Same thing happened here! My youngest started feeding a stray cat that showed up on our property over the summer. She slept on our porch, but when it started getting cold a few weeks ago, we let her inside. She already knew how to use a litter box, so we think she had a home at one point. We put pictures up all over town and visited the animal shelter and posted the information there. That was 3-4 months ago and no one's claimed her. Her name is Sweet Cat (named by the youngest) and she is a DOLL. Very sweet and affectionate, doesn't cause a minutes trouble, and she LOVES my husband -- who always said that he didn't like cats. Of course, I found her sleeping next to him in bed this morning. And he didn't complain a bit. :)

:grouphug: Stay strong, Mama, and keep us updated!

I'm a Sooner fan, but we got it handed to us Saturday, so I know we're done. One of my best friends is a die-hard Alabama fan, so I figure I'll pull for them. Roll Tide! :)

ROLL TIDE! :cheers2:

The Help was my favorite book of this year. Can't wait till the movie comes out on DVD this coming week!

LOL Maybe it's a retriever thing! Our yellow lab does the same thing!

Almost finished here, too! Still have to pick up the candy for the stockings, but I can get that the week before Christmas. Oh and one video game for my youngest son that isn't released until next week, but have already reserved a copy. Just have to pick it up!

Lillymax - our dogs look very similar, except ours has a white chest. She's a 6 year old lab/pit mix and she is the sweetest dog I've ever owned! It's all in how they're raised (at least in our experience) and maybe ours has been a better experience because she's a pit mix? She's very smart, very gentle, very obedient, and walks with my youngest son every day down the long road to get the mail (we live in the country). Our other dog is a purebred yellow lab and he can't get the mail with my son because he'll take off through the woods and find his way to the creek. He'll come home an hour or so later, covered in mud -- unless he finds a skunk. :rolleyes:

We're staying off-site, so we only have lunch reservations for Sunday afternoon (we're going to Disney the 1st week of March). It's a Character Lunch and a surprise for our youngest. Her favorite characters will be there! :001_wub: The other days, we'll just grab something at one of the quick service places. It's too much hassle for us to leave the park and drive back to our off-site townhouse. There are so many really good spots where you can go in and grab a sandwich or a salad and not have to deal with reservations and worry that "We have to be at the ___ restaurant in 30 minutes!!!" that it's just easier for us. For instance, there's a seafood place we love in the Magic Kingdom - Columbia Harbor House. I stopped there and fed myself and 3 kids for $35. Not bad at all. I think I pay that to go to Wendy's! :)

:grouphug: Do you have a thrift store near you? We have one here, run by a local church, and you can find some really good deals on books (5 for $1.00) and toys that are in good shape (Legos, puzzles, board games, etc.). If your kids are into video games, don't forget to visit GameStop. You can trade in games that your kids don't play any longer for different ones (and even if they're used, they're new games to the kids).

20 yr old - iPod touch with a iTunes gift card 17 yr old - X Box video games Call of Duty MW3 and Batman Arkam City, mp3 player (any kind...he works out at the gym every other day, so he wants one he can strap onto his clothes or body) 12 yr old - Legos (Star Wars & Alien Conquest) and a 3D Nintendo DS w/ Super Mario Land game 9 yr old - an Art Set (drawing pencils, markers, colored pencils, etc.), Kirby game for her Nintendo, and an Easy Bake Oven I want an exercise bike. My hubby and son are always at the gym. I can never get motivated to leave the house in the winter when it's cold!

My oldest is graduating from the community college in May with a 3.25 gpa. She's then transferring to one of 2 state public colleges (she has guaranteed admission to both, but can't make up her mind which one she wants to attend. She's toured one campus already and will be touring the other one the 1st weekend in December). She plans to double major in criminal justice and psychology. After graduation, she wants to join one of the federal justice agencies (US Marshals, FBI, CIA, Secret Service, etc.) She volunteers with Special Olympics (since she was in 9th grade), has a Black Belt in Tae Kwon Do, plays the piano beautifully, and she drives a car with a stick shift. :lol: That's something *I* have never been able to master! LOL

There are 5 nieces and nephews in our family that live within an hour of our house and we spend around $30 on each of them for Christmas. For the adults (sisters, brothers, brothers-in-law, etc.) we all do a gift exchange. Each person buys one gift ($25-$30) and we do a gift exchange at the family Christmas party. Once one of the nieces (or nephews) turns 18, they no longer receive gifts, but they join the adult gift exchange. Our oldest entered the adult gift exchange 2 years ago...our oldest son will enter the gift exchange next year...and my sister-in-law's oldest son the year after that...and so on. So there are now 10 family members in the gift exchange "chain", which means there are some really good gifts floating around the room!

We have hardwood on the main level everywhere but in the kitchen and bathrooms. We have tile there. My husband and oldest daughter put down all the hardwood and tile themselves several years ago and I love it!!! We have 2 dogs and 2 cats and it holds up sooo much better than carpeting! Upstairs is all carpeting except for the bathrooms, which are tile. Thinking about doing hardwood in the bedrooms, too, but I like the soft feel of carpeting on bare feet! Not to mention that the kids play in their rooms and hardwood is too hard to sit down and lie on.

Well, the way it works and the way they say that it works are two different things. If they said that it works like a fastpass then folks without disabilities would use them to avoid waiting in line, because they don't require a medical diagnosis / doctor's note, etc. to receive one. What we found during our visit was that if our daughter was waiting patiently and in a good mood (which was most of the time, thankfully) then she waited like everyone else. If she was cranky or really excited - take your pick! - then they would wave us over and move us into the fastpass line, but they DO NOT want it "advertised" that this is what the GAC card is for or it would be abused.

I love Disney! If you go at less crowded times of the year, the wait isn't long at all. We went the 1st week of February and the only ride we had to wait for was Toy Story Mania. Everything else was no more than a 10-15 minute wait. We're going again the 1st week of March (3 1/2 months away!!) and expect similar low crowds. Another option for your family is a GAC card (Guest Assistance Card). This is offered to families with special needs family members. Our youngest has autism and the card was a wonderful asset. It's not supposed to decrease wait times (but it depends on the crowd levels). She really loved the Seas with Nemo and Friends ride and the cast member let her go out and get back in at least 3 times in a row, but there weren't many people in line. I think the wait time was 5 minutes anyway. When there is a wait, the GAC card allows you to wait in a less crowded area. For instance, Turtle Talk with Crush has most of the folks waiting in the dark. This upsets my youngest, so they had her wait in a separate well-lit room. She still had to wait. It doesn't move you to the front of the line, but it's a more pleasant experience and when we're off by ourselves, no one is staring at my daughter if she's excited and flapping her hands. It's a magical place for kids and well worth the time and expense (we stay off-site, so it's pretty much the same cost as a beach vacation or anything else we might choose to do). Our youngest doesn't know we're going again in March, so we can't wait to surprise her with the news. It's one of our planned Christmas presents! :)

I had the same question! We have a 23 pound Butterball and, according to Butterball's website, you put him in the fridge at least 1 day for every 4 pounds of bird. So we're putting ours in the fridge on Saturday morning. Hope this helps!

Piano lessons (youngest 3 children, the oldest daughter stopped taking lessons several years ago) - Tae Kwon Do (oldest daughter and youngest son are black belts) - Weight Lifting (oldest son) - Swim Team (all but the oldest).

LOL!!! This is sooo accurate in places! :lol: Thanks for posting!

:iagree: Exactly my point. Free child labor.

But I don't have 19 children! :lol: Seen a picture of Bill the Cat from the old Bloom County cartoon? That would be me if I had 19 kids. I just think it's wrong to have the older ones doing so much parenting of the younger ones. Babysitting, helping out, feeding the baby while mom folds laundry. That's great and instructional and part of being in a family. But day in and day out?

Exactly my point! If she were really mothering the kids, she wouldn't have time to spend an hour working out on her elliptical every day. And to be held up as a mothering ideal?? I think not. Now, some may put a celebrity mom up to the same spotlight, who can afford a nanny while they're at the spa, etc. Paying hired help is one thing. Forcing your children to parent their siblings (and are they really able to say no??) is another.