couple things

bought/sold couple hundred items [2008-11-19]
i've had a good experience both ways. it is time consuming, communicating with customer/feedback/packaging items/mailing, etc. Like you, i thought of doing same. but you really have to have something special/in demand to market, or maybe do the drop-ship method where you don't even keep the inventory yourself to make a real business venture. I don't think it's any more of a golden goose than other business ventures however.

American Girl Doll things [2008-11-16]
I posted this before and a very kind MT responded with American Girl dolls for sale for Christmas. I am still searching for Samantha, Kitand Nellie and I am also looking for extra American Girl outfits. Any suggestionswhere elseto look? I have watched Craig If any MT would like to sell American Girl doll things, please let me know. You can reach me by e-mail through this site. Thanks for any offers or adviceon getting second-hand AG dolls for Christmas gifts.

Just to lighten things up - this morning's news - sm [2008-11-15]
SPAM (the canned meat) is back, factory working overtime, two shifts. Only Christmas and Thanksgiving off. Remember Monty Pythom and Spamalot? One of the workers said he was glad to be working but doesn't think he could eat it. Before we knew what was in it, used to have Spam and eggs. I guess it's not that healthy but history repeating itself? Gotta keep it on the light side. A little humor helps sometimes.

I still get a couple loaf pans of it every year at butchering time [2008-11-15]
DH doesn't touch it but I love it. I grew up on it too. I also grew up on Spam. Mom had a stove that had a pull out griddle above the oven and she would put spam and egss on there for a Tuesday night supper. I have 2 cans of Spam in my pantry now. The ingredients state: Pork with ham, mechanically separated chicken, water , salt, modified potato starch, sugar, hickory smoke flavoring (I have the hickory smoke flavor), and sodiu nitrite. Opps. There's that bad word-sodium nitrite.

I checked that site out a couple [2008-11-15]
months ago. They didn't have any stores on the list for my area. Our stores won't even take computer-generated coupons for some reason.

Explaining a couple of things sm [2008-11-14]
I studied IQ as part of my Masterget you because your sense of humor is probably well off the beaten track. You probably lack social skills from an early age. Your peers would play childhood games while you preferred to try to improve upon the toys they played with. In school, you didn't have to work very hard in most areas. It all came very easily. You didn't learn how to learn, which is a very valuable skill. You probably have a low frustration level and when something doesn't come very easily, you are prone to giving up. Because you see the world in completely different terms than people of more average intelligence, those same average people call you crazy or mentally ill and tell you that you should be locked up. You don't fit in and despite the higher intelligence, you are remiss to know how to accomplish the feat of being more ordinary. I alluded to this in my previous post. I have the unusual combination of being very artistic, creatively gifted AND being rather intellectually gifted. Yes, I did fall at the 99.6% percentile on the Wechsler. I know what it means and I have a firm understanding that indeed, that score suggests that I possess more intelligence than 99.6% of the people who have taken that test, and only 0.4% are smarter than I am. It has been a life-long struggle to fit in. I am too cerebral for artistic people, and too artistic for intellectuals. I literally have no one I fit in with. I have learned to tone myself down to make it work. I didn't say dumb down, I said tone down. That means I don't intentionally talk over the heads of others and I won't cram what I know down anyone's throat. I have had those people in my life who have been jealous of me. I learn quickly if it is artistic, musical, creative, the written word, history and philosophy. I struggle with math. I took piano lessons 10 years ago. I had 40 of them and had never played the piano before. In 40, 1-hour lessons I could play the Moonlight Sonata in piano solo (not a dumbed down easy version). Most people cannot do that. There many other things I have done in a similar fashion, but this is an example for you. You ask why I am an MT if I am so smart. I make very good money as an MT and I enjoy the challenge. My photographic memory comes in very handy too. I often stop and read up on a disease process I am transcribing about, so that I know what it means. Show me a word once and I'll know it forever. It makes my job easier for me to accomplish. This all sounds like I am blowing my own horn, but I am merely trying to explain. Being highly intelligent wonreally smart is not only not helpful, I think it is the root of the housecleaning issues in my life. In short, it is just great to have a good ol' high number and in the end it makes absolutely difference...if you don't count the fact that people with IQs over 150 are 3 times more likely to be depressed and commit suicide than the average population. People who are 125 to 140 are the most fortunate. They succeed in greater numbers in school, in a job, in life. They are very bright, and likely have learned how to learn. They are more likely to persevere in the face of frustration and challenge. It really isn't all you think it is.

You know how they say dogs sometimes can sense things about people? [2008-11-12]
We had that ATT U-verse stuff installed in October and three installers came to the house. Not a single problem with the dogs. (We still had LouLou at the time.) They sniffed the installers and then let them go on about their business. The one installer was at our house for 12 hours. On Saturday, two ATT techs came over to fix the computer. Again, not a single problem with Duke. He sniffed them out and didn't bother them for the rest of the time. On Sunday, the ATT tech who came over called to say he was on his way. He said he was somewhat spooked by dogs and he just wanted to make sure we had a friendly one. I assured him Duke wouldn't bother him. Duke didn't care for that man in the slightest. He growled at him and the hair stood up on his back. Every time the man came in the room, Duke reacted the same way and would back away from him. I wonder what it was about him that Duke didn't like?

This reminds me of an incident a couple of [2008-11-11]
months ago. My parents live 4 hours away and wonlonely people. Now, my parents may not come down but who says we are lonely??? I too went through many years of crying because we didn't have that Martha Stewart Christmas.

I did it a couple year ago , got 130 or 135 forget - sm [2008-11-09]
which, but either is a very respectable score. My one brother has a genius IQ, and my other is very intelligent, and I have a good head on my shoulders.....though have a usless college degree for the most part, may go back one of these days and get an accounting degree or nursing, who knows.

I love it too. We go a couple of times a month.. [2008-11-07]
spend about 500 bucks each time. Sometimes we come home with money, sometimes not, that the second time same thing, hit for 1500 bucks. I usually do pretty well, only play penny machines and have won as much as 800 bucks on one spin. We never spend more than 500 each. It's our vice and we enjoy it. We visit my family every year in Philly and for the 2 weeks we are there we usually gamble at least half the time. We save our money, take a couple of thousand with us for that purpose only and if we win great, if not, that's okay too.

I had it done a couple of years ago too [2008-11-06]
It really was not that bad. My understanding of why they only will do two quadrants at a time is that it is because they will not numb up both sides of your mouth at one time, so it is an upper and a lower quadrant done together. My sister also had to have it done last week, but the weird thing is they only said she needed two quadrants done (I believe on the same side, so upper and lower). She or I neither one could get our heads around that, so she decided to treat herself and have the other two quads done as well. Also, I do not have dental insurance, but had bought a plan from dentalplans.com (had the Patriot Plan at the time I had this done). It was about $90 per quad with the plan, but around here it was $300 per quad without the plan. Good luck!

Why do things like granola bars, yogurt cups, - sm [2008-11-03]
candy bars, jello & pudding cups, etc. keep getting smaller and smaller? And the amount of cereal in a box is less and less. Yet the packaging stays the same size? Do they think we don't notice?

Actually going to be in the 60s within the next couple of days [2008-10-28]
here in NJ. Just too early. I hope this is not a sign of things to come for this winter.

A couple of options [2008-10-27]
I would try to host your own. They should be understanding that you want to celebrate being a new couple doing the family things. Or you could go to one on Thanksgiving day, the other on the day after and then do the opposite for Christmas Eve and Christmas. Ask your husband what he thinks, certainly he knows his family well enough to be able to know how they would take it.

I am glad things are going well for you but sm [2008-10-26]
The debt is not my main issue. My marriage is. All of the other problems are a result of the marriage being bad, and working at home in isolation. The problem is I feel I have no choice but to work at home because of my husbandnight fishing one night a week, leaving straight from work and getting home about 1 a.m., on a work night! He is very rude to me all the time and acts like he doesnI wonder what my life would be like if something ever happened to you mom. It wouldn My daughter I worry about too though not as much. I donhis and daughter is mine even though I regularly remind him that we are both parents to both children. So yes, the debt is there and it does worry me but just showing my husband my debt is not going to solve my problem. If anything it would put me more under his control and anger than I already am.

Selling things other than MT equipment,books etc [2008-10-24]
Does anyone ever post things to sell/trade other than MT items on this site (in the classified)? I am a wah MT and I am looking at reaching out to some wah MT I already have some people signed up and just looking for a few more. I am on the MB for the cricut website, but trying to reach out to other MT's who like this as well. Thanks for your help.

we are and i am making things [2008-10-22]
finally got my stuff organized and am knitting/crocheting things for people. They may not want what i make but hey, lol.

That puts a different light on things. [2008-10-19]
I'm glad you talked to him. It is surprising how honest teenagers will be sometimes when you just talk to them as equals and not immediately come down on them. Kids need to know that their parents trust them, unless of course there is a good, clear reason not to. I am curious though. Did you say anything about him helping another kid do this? I'm sure he knows from last time around that peer pressure and acceptance are powerful. By not helping this other kid with things like this - he could be helping this other kid overcome the problem too. What about knowing that it was in your house, etc? Personally, I would still be upset about that and want to make it clear that it should not happen again.

Unfortunately, the schools stick their nose in many things that should be the parents job (sm) [2008-10-16]
my children have had teachers give one-sided views of politics, whether they should be democrats or republicants, who their parents should be voting for, etc. For some reason, some teachers don We don't pay them to teach their opinion.

I still think it should be the parents who teach the child these things, not the school's place. [2008-10-16]
Each child goes to school to learn facts. They learn their social skills, values, etc.at home and from friends that their parents allow them to associate with. The school is a public entity full of many INDIVIDUALS who all have different values and opinions. Teachers should not be teaching children their own personal values and should leave that to the parents.

oops, forgot to mention a couple of things [2008-10-16]
It doesn H*ll does exist. Also, if you really are asking what I mean to be saved, I will share. I does not mean adhering to a dogma. It means having recognized your own sinful nature and accepted Christ That is what we mean when we say Christ died for us. We can live forever in paradise with him because God sacrificed his son, Jesus, on the cross, to take the place for each individual person so that they can live forever. Christ died so that I may live. Christ rose again and won victory over death. Being saved is accomplished through faith in Christ.

Morally-wrong things hurt other people. Loving [2008-10-16]
.

That is one of the most selfish things I have ever heard. nm [2008-10-10]
nm

2 things in grocery stores [2008-10-10]
1. When your looking for a specific item and looking at all the choices and someone walks right in front of you and stops and does the same thing. Then they don't even have the decency to say excuse me or even look at you. 2. When your at the check out stand and writing a check on the little counter and the person behind you comes and stands so close to your back that you can feel them breathing down your neck or they are so close they can read your check.

If things were as she stated then yes ...sm [2008-10-08]
she was a good owner. The only thing I disagree with the former pitbull owner is personally I won't take my dogs out in public loose. On a ranch wherever. They stated they had the dog at a ranch with them where the dog went frequently with no leash. I understand they had no reason to leash it because they didn't see it as dangerous but mine has never been dangerous eitehr. But see with me I wouldn't even let my dog run loose in my front yard and I live in the country. There is too much potential for accidents. What if he runs to the road and gets run over? What if someone pulls up and he doesn't know them? How would he react to a stranger? As the owner I have to make sure he doesn't get harmed or harm anyone else. They have to be on a leash if I take them anywhere. That isn't just my pitbull but beagle also. My pitbull is kept either in my backyard in a fenced in area he can't get out of or in the house. My pitbull has not given me reason to isolate him but I just have a rule that he stays in my control at all times. Some people do allow their pets to go in public without leashes or to go to friends houses or where they work and not leash them and that is okay for them but that is also how accidents happen. My dogs are not mean. But they never have that opportunity to bite or anything. If someone comes over my pit doesn't know he is put in the backyard and then maybe brought in and introduced to the new person and he is usually fine. I am a responsible owner. This is with any dog I have not just the pit. I don't allow the beagle out in public either not cause I think she is dangerous by all means she isn't but what if she gets ran over if she isn't leashed or in the fenced in yard. I just feel like it is my responsibility to protect them and other people from them whatever breed they may be. That is the only thing I think the former pit owner could have done different BUT not all people agree with dogs being leashed or isolated in fenced in yards. Everyone has a right to not like pits. And some are mean. Some are very dangerous. But a lot of them are so sweet and so loveable. You just don't know the love some can show. I have a beagle and a pit inside and the pit believe it or not is more affectionate. Not to say the beagle isn't affectionate but she is not AS affectionate as the pit. I am just stating that I believe all dogs should be kept on a leash or in a fenced in yard they can't get out of. I also have a warning sign on the fence saying warning: Dog. Just in case. He may not would bite but in case I will put the sign up and people will know he is there.

Has anyone ever made any extra...sm [2008-11-19]
money selling things on ebay? I have went through the closets and have a lot of things I need to get rid of. I am posting them on ebay. After selling those things I may open an ebay store with things I may buycheap and resell. I even thought about making little throw pillows and throws and things. I can make pillows. My mom is great at sewing and I can sew some things. Just a thought. Anything to make some extra cash. Has anyone had success selling on ebay?

Abraham Lincoln's Thanksgiving Proclamation 1863 [2008-11-19]
Abraham Lincoln while that theatre has been greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union. Needful diversions of wealth and of strength from the fields of peaceful industry to the national defence, have not arrested the plough, the shuttle, or the ship; the axe had enlarged the borders of our settlements, and the mines, as well of iron and coal as of the precious metals, have yielded even more abundantly than heretofore. Population has steadily increased, notwithstanding the waste that has been made in the camp, the siege and the battle-field; and the country, rejoicing in the consciousness of augmented strength and vigor, is permitted to expect continuance of years, with large increase of freedom.No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy.It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and voice by the whole American people. I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to his tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquillity and Union.In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.Done at the city of Washington, this third day of October, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of the independence of the United States the eighty-eighth.By The President: Abraham LincolnWilliam H. Seward, Secretary of State

Too afraid of meat in restaurants now sm [2008-11-19]
Their meat may be old (sorry). If we do go, will only go to very busy place as even some bought at market are questionable. We have gift certificates which we appreciate as they are from busy places. Sometimes we have a UFO party. Unidentified freezer objects - if theycautious but things are rough right now for everyone, even the markets, restaurants, etc. I sure hope the turkeys are okay, even in good times webad ones - have to open them up and be sure. Martha likes to brine hers in salt water - not a bad idea these days to check them out before it's too late the day of or the day before. Fresh is best - wish we had our own farm as some do.

chicken soup [2008-11-18]
Good olJewish penicillin - chicken soup. Use leftover chicken or steamed chicken thighs or breasts if no leftovers are available. Use Swansons natural chicken broth (nosodium) but can use bullion, but it contains a lot of sodium. Use about a quart or moreof natural chicken broth. I like to usebaby carrots whole,but can certainly usesliced carrots. Season with lots ofminced garlic and a little dill weed (maybea teaspoon).I slice in a couple of things ofcelery or sliced celeryhearts with leaves. I sometimes add noodles, or rice, sometimes I use a package of frozen mixed vegetables which are really terrific, depending on what I have available and what type of soupmy family wants.Add some white pepper, not black pepper. Simmer until carrots and celeryare soft. If using pasta or rice, add that last, otherwise it soaks up too much broth and gets soggy. My family would eat this even if they were sick and nothing else appealed to them, that is why I call it Jewish penicillin. This is a Jewish mama Enjoy - it is so simple and so delicious not to mention nutritious and healthy. Note: Never let your chicken leftovers go to waste - make a pot of chicken soup!

chicken soup [2008-11-18]
Good olJewish penicillin - chicken soup. Use leftover chicken or steamed chicken thighs or breasts if no leftovers are available. Use Swansons natural chicken broth (nosodium) but can use bullion, but it contains a lot of sodium. Use about a quart or moreof natural chicken broth. I like to usebaby carrots whole,but can certainly usesliced carrots. Season with lots ofminced garlic and a little dill weed (maybea teaspoon).I slice in a couple of things ofcelery or sliced celeryhearts with leaves. I sometimes add noodles, or rice, sometimes I use a package of frozen mixed vegetables which are really terrific, depending on what I have available and what type of soupmy family wants.Add some white pepper, not black pepper. Simmer until carrots and celeryare soft. If using pasta or rice, add that last, otherwise it soaks up too much broth and gets soggy. My family would eat this even if they were sick and nothing else appealed to them, that is why I call it Jewish penicillin. This is a Jewish mama Enjoy - it is so simple and so delicious not to mention nutritious and healthy. Note: Never let your chicken leftovers go to waste - make a pot of chicken soup!

I'm in Florida and spend about $175/wk for 5 sm [2008-11-18]
I5 and 158 lbs,eats more than my husband, who is 6 and 345 lbs. FIL had to have a feeding tube put in last July, and I had to cut down meals by half because we were having so many leftovers and wasting money. Just when I thought I had it figured out, he was able to get the tube removed, so II donwe (FIL and I) will just eat a sandwich or leftovers from the fridge As far as special foods, we dona recipe, and for a while we were buying meat ata butcher shop but have had to cut that out for now. It was really good but was close to DH's work, and if he couldn't pick it up while he was in the area, it was a 45-minute drive. I cook most things from scratch, except lasagna because I hate making it. Once a month, we have a luncheon at church that I bring a dish and a dessert, and I cook Wednesday night dinner there one night per month, but I get reimbursed for the Wednesday night dinner. I do include paper products and toiletries in with my grocery budget but that's it, and I usually go to Sam's once a month for those. I have it easy compared to my parents though. My dad got paid once a month, and there were 4 kids at home all the time, 5 when my sister came up during the summer. They used to have 3 grocery carts slap full of food, and my mom figured out that it took something like 18 boxes of cereal to last a month, each one with a date marked on it so we didnWe also hada freezer to keep extra bread and other things, and my mom also used to mix in powdered milk when the gallon was half-way gone. I never knew until I was grown, so she definitely blended it well.

We have a Chevy HHR and a Jeep sm [2008-11-18]
The HHR is the first new car we have had, and it was a year old when we bought it. DH also had a Chevy C-10 pickup truck that he sold a couple of months ago because it needed a transmission. The Jeep was my mom's that she sold to us when she moved a couple of years ago. We have mostly had GM products. The only foreign car we ever had was a 1985 Mercedes 300 SEL that turned into a money pit. We ended up selling it a year after we bought it and barely got back what we paid. It was a nice car for about 2 months but unless I can afford to buy new with a warranty, which will most likely be never, I wouldn't buy another one. My dad drives Toyotas now, which is so funny because he is the one who got me into liking classic cars like Mustangs, Impalas, Firebirds, etc.

I would use coupons more if FL doubled them sm [2008-11-18]
As it is, I will use them if it is something I normally buy, but most of the stuff I get is not stuff they have coupons for, or it is for a different brand that I don't like. Florida doesn't charge sales tax on groceries and we don't have state income tax, but we pay higher grocery prices on a lot of things for that reason. And as much as people hate Wal-Mart, that is where I do my shopping because it is affordable and the prices don't change from week to week because of sales ads, which is mostly bumping up prices on stuff so that you really aren't getting that much of a deal anyway.

At certain stores in MI, s/m [2008-11-18]
They will double coupons up to $1. I do this a lot with toothpaste and stockpile it. A lot of times it is 2/$4 or 2/$5, so I either get it free or for 50 cents a tube. A lot of the $1 coupons are for new items and our local store here is pretty good about having those on sale a lot during the first few weeks it is out to promote it, so I get the new things relatively cheap as well. You just have to be careful about not getting things just because you have a coupon. When I coupon shop, it can take me 3 hours because I compare all the prices with brands to coupons, etc. You also have to really know your prices as compared to other stores. I have one store where I get my meat and I don Where they double the $1 coupon, I don I'm really careful about it and belong to an internet sites to help me as well.

I think I spend less at the store when [2008-11-18]
we eat out/order in. Of course, then our entertaining budget increases. But some things are cheaper to just order in. For example, pizzas -- I can get 2 large pepperoni pizzas from the local pizzeria for under $20. If I buy them in the store, I spend about $15 and then have to cook them and my kids don The frozen kind are also smaller. I just got groceries this past Friday and spent $200. I had an entire cart full. In addition to the coupons I had, I also had a 20% discount on everything (one of those reward plans for spending so much the previous 2 months). I got value packs of skinless/boneless chicken breasts - buy 1 get 1 free -- $15 packs of chicken, breakfast sausage on sale, ham steaks on sale, plus my 20% off all that. Overall, I think I spend somewhere around $150 a week on groceries. There are 5 of us -- me, my hubs, and 3 boys -- ages 6 to 11. What I notice that I spend more on are school lunches. It costs $2.00 a day per child and I don I $2/day x 3 kids = $6/day x 5 days/week = $30/week x 4 weeks/month = $120 for lunch. YIKES!!! I think I can do better than that if I pack them.

I really appreciate this. [2008-11-18]
Notice I'm the only one who didn't post an answer? I have totally lost track & think I need to go back to the drawing board. I haven't done an actual tally in quite awhile (I think I'm afraid of what I'm going to find out). This can happen when you live alone. I live in a very small mountain community in southern California & things can be expensive up here at the regular markets. I do a Costco run about once a month & try to keep my sanity when I'm there. I make things ahead & freeze, that sort of thing. & I try not to be hungry when I go there. I make my own bread & yogurt, things I eat a lot of. I'm not a vegetarian but eat very little meat. Anyway, you all seem to be doing an incredible job, & this gives me something to aim for when I do get up the nerve to look at my spending habits. Wish me luck. Thanks!

I think this is about what I spend [2008-11-18]
I'm not sure yet, but I think it's about $200 a month. But there are people posting who spend less than that for several people! I hardly ever use coupons. It just seems like most of the time they are for stuff I never use. No one doubles coupons up here, ever. This mountain community caters to tourists, so things are more expensive on the weekends, when the skiers and boaters are here. I avoid going to town at those times.

I used to use coupons a lot [2008-11-18]
& had one of those little wallet things with tabs for organizing them. I haven't done that in years. Maybe I should get back to it. There are 2 markets up here, a vons name brands are very expensive in that store. But the produce is always a lot cheaper than at vons.

About $100 a week give or take [2008-11-18]
That's for four of us and I live in Upstate New York. My older daughter is a vegetarian so we do have to buy special food for her, but because she's the only one that eats it, it lasts a lot longer. We eat a lot of chicken and pork, but occasionally a good piece of steak. We're in the process of getting a small freezer so we can buy more frozen foods so we don't have to go shopping as much for certain things. My daughter's lunches are $2.00 a day also, but for the types of food they get there's no way I could feed her for less. We eat out once a week by ourselves with our good friends on Saturday night and at least once or twice on the weekends to either McDonald's, Arby's, Burger King, pizza, etc.

I saw a demo of the software on TV long time ago. sm [2008-11-17]
there was a slate-like appendage that you could draw on with a pencil-like tool. and then the software did remarkable things, but this was some time ago. goodle it, research. you're bound to find a site with a demo.

I have a Ford Explorer (20 to 24 mpg), DH a [2008-11-17]
Subaru wagon (24 to 30 mpg) and we have the trusty old Ford P/U for hauling wood, etc, that is used only a couple of times a year.

I drove Ford pickups most of my life, but - sm [2008-11-17]
I got tired of the fact that the danged things don't steer well. They all have steering-gear problems. Each of my trucks ended up having anywhere from 2-4 new or rebuilt gears put in during my ownership, and they still were next to impossible to drive in a straight line. Getting parts was a pain too, as often you had to know the month the vehicle was built in order to get the right part. Simple do-it-yourself work often had to go to the shop instead, because of the difficulty of accessing the area without taking half of the front end apart. So of course the shop bills were high, too. It became increasingly difficult to get parts after the truck was 5 or 6 years old, and I drove most of mine for 12+ years. So when it was time for a new car, I wanted a midsize SUM. I did my homework, and chose a 4Runner because of the quality & favorable consumer reports. I couldn't afford a new one, so got a used one that was 5 years old. I'm still driving it, loving it, and it's like they say in the Timex watch commercials: 'It takes a lickin' and keeps on tickin'!'

Oh, yeah, it's very nice and improved over the first models, of course. [2008-11-17]
It's roomier on the inside than you might expect. We bought the basic version, and it still has plenty of features. When gas was over $4.00 a gallon, my DH, who drives 50 miles round-trip to work each day, was saving $200 a month. Gas is lower now, but we still are saving money. Plus you never have to replace brakes on a Prius, and here in PA, I don't need to pay for emissions inspection since it burns so clean. We get our emissions sticker for free. There are a couple of other little perks like that with a Prius. And, of course, I just think it's fun. :)

But it may end badly for the dogs [2008-11-16]
They may not be taken care of when he I would tell him though that he needs to buy or pay for the dog food and put a time limit on how long you You're a good person to make sure they're taken care of.

Don't know about "sweet" but dog is God spelled backward sm [2008-11-16]
I put up with a terrier mix (not a pit - just a mutt) who was hyper and ate everything, my house shingles, kitchen floor, rugs, etc., tried caging her and she bent the wires, scaled a 6 ft. fence or dug holes underneath to get out. We called her Hogan's Heroes. When she literally ate my whole couch one cold Christmas Eve with 20 people coming, I called the SPCA in tears and they said no one would take a dog like her, they would only bring her back and she'd be put to sleep. So I kept her over 16 years and she's buried in a pet cemetery nearby. I now have a 120 lb. Golden who had big paws when he was born and the last one left because he was going to be big, so I took him. People have dropped off dogs to me crying and I found homes for them. I understand how we can't turn away these beautiful animals others don't have the heart to understand. I would present your husbandbill for food, etc., but don I believe in good deeds being rewarded. It takes time but good only leads to good things coming back at you. I doesn't seem that way right now and times are tough, but hopefully you will be rewarded in other ways.

I think you are an inspiration for wanting to do this....sm [2008-11-16]
I guess a lot of us can relate; I have 2 or 3 people from my past that have moved far away and I have no way of finding them right now, but please believe me, I truly want to do the same thing, go to them and make peace, to say be able to forgive each other and leave things on good terms. Regrets and guilts can slowly eat away, and it is good for your own personal health to do this, you must feel so much better. WE all mess up, we all need forgiveness now and then, or to grant forgiveness. You are a lovely person with integrity, honor, and caring to do this, such a lovely post to read!!!

American Girl Doll things [2008-11-16]
I posted this before and a very kind MT responded with American Girl dolls for sale for Christmas. I am still searching for Samantha, Kitand Nellie and I am also looking for extra American Girl outfits. Any suggestionswhere elseto look? I have watched Craig If any MT would like to sell American Girl doll things, please let me know. You can reach me by e-mail through this site. Thanks for any offers or adviceon getting second-hand AG dolls for Christmas gifts.

Did you check eBay? [2008-11-16]
That's the first place I check when I'm looking for something like that. I also just did a quick search on Amazon and they have American Girl things, too.

I agree with you [2008-11-15]
Santa is a fun fantasy for children and what is the harm in a character who gives gifts to children who behave. There are far worse things for a child to believe in!

I think she fancies herself [2008-11-15]
some sort of media behavioral psychologist/intellectual, and she seems to think we find the same things fascinating that she does. Me? I think it's a story about a person struggling with life and trying to find happiness in a world that's confusing if you don't fit a mold.