They say "7th Annual World’s Largest Ice Cream Social at participating Cold Stone Creamery locations nationwide, a special night to join together and share the simple pleasures of life with a FREE ice cream and family fun. On September 25th from 5:00 - 8:00PM, guests will be treated to a 3 oz. serving of Jack or Emily's Creation. All donations will benefit the Make-A-Wish Foundation."

Complete details here:

The Pretty Cheap Jewelry clan is getting a family portrait taken in October.
What to wear?? Ideas please!

Given:
1. Don't want to spend a lot of money (you knew that!)
2. Don't want to be completely matching.
3. I'd like to be formal or at least well dressed if possible.
4. Small copies will be part of my Christmas cards.

There are 4 of us: me, Dad, 10-yr old son, and 8-yo daughter.

Ideas:
1. Hawaiian shirts ?? Not my style really, but Dad already has one, and I can get kid's ones easy at the thrift store.

2. ____fill in here_____

They will be giving us a grey background.

By the way, this whole thing is a great bargain from my kids school. It is part of a fundraiser to the 5th grade camp out week. We get one sitting and a professional 8x10 for $20.

And fits in really perfectly with the family chronicles -- I had a portrait done 5 years ago and was hoping to have one done at milestones such as every 5 or 10 years.

Thnks.

NEW promo from D-land finally!
Just found out about this - free Disneyland admission on your birthday next year, or if you are a passholder, you can get a gift card or a birthday fastpass...

Wish I had a picture of him to post.

Sugar is a golden ret mix, medium 40 lb, all white long haired dog. High energy, fairly needy.

Adopted from the shelter he has helped my kids get to know dogs better and relieve some fear. But he is a little skittish, doesn't like surprise touches in the tail area and beware of getting near his face when he's eating or has a bone.

And sensitive to brushing. Now I could rename my biz to 'Hair of the Dog', but BLEH. I am able to brush him lightly as often as I can, but certainly not as thoroughly as he needs. Can you say 'mats'?

After a number of appointments with the PetCo groomer (who wanted to do the grooming at another store where they could tranquilize him), we moved to a private groomer (who was good but kept increasing the fee because of the work brushing, clipping and drying him, the latter which took over an hour alone).

Finally on to the mobile groomer. OK. So far two appointments. He has advised me:

'Do it more frequently than 9 weeks to make it easier on the dog.'

Cost is currently $55/pop.

I don't even get my OWN hair done that often.

I am punting this to my husband who connected with this pup in the first place. Yes, I have grown to love Sugar, but am not willing to write so many checks.

Makin' a list, checkin' it twice.

If only I had time to scour the thrifts for the following:

1. White turtleneck for mom
2. Zip up or pullover sweatshirt for mom
3. Sweater, button up for kid
4. White stretch or capri pant for kid
5. Lazy susan to make into jewelry rack
6. Dress Pants
7. Couple of nice tops for work

These are just the top priorities. It would be fun to find also:

a. books for kids homework
b. floor rack for hanging purses at shows
c. mug rack for bracelet display

It will happen over some weeks I hope.
In the meantime, here's a new item I'm testing out in the market.

GLOP ART - POP ART WOOD PIN



Big Fun, Little Price
Three to Four inches of color to wear on your shirt or carry on your bag.
Many other colors, all artful, accented, and glazed with sparkle, just ask.

My craft club has a monthly design competition and the topic for September is 'Fall Traditions'.

I made this item to enter. What words would best fit a pumpkin I mused as stitching came near the end. What do you think when you find that perfect candidate for the jack o' lantern?

"Picked" was a good fit, and the rest fell into place. Universal for gift giving as well.

Cross Stitched Greeting Card

Sent by courtesy of my brother the psychologist. Have a good chuckle.

The following list of phrases and their definitions might help us better understand the language used in reporting results from clinical and pre-clinical research.


"It has long been known"... I didn't look up the original reference.

"Three of the samples were chosen for detailed study"... The other results didn't make any sense.

"Typical results are shown"... This is the prettiest graph.

"In my experience"... once

"In case after case"... twice

"In a series of cases"... three times

"It is believed that"... I think.

"It is generally believed that"... A couple of others think so, too.

"Correct within an order of magnitude"... Wrong.

"According to statistical analysis"... Rumour has it.

"A statistically oriented projection of the significance of these findings"... A wild guess

"It is clear that much additional work will be required before a complete understanding of this phenomenon occurs"... I don't understand it.

"After additional study by my colleagues"... They don't understand it either.

"Thanks are due to Joe Blotz for assistance with the experiment and to Cindy Adams for valuable discussions"... Mr. Blotz did the work and Ms. Adams explained to me what it meant.

"It is hoped that this study will stimulate further investigation in this field"... I quit.
[And I always thought this meant, "We'll be seeking additional funding soon.]

My husband's birthday is next week. He was raised within 1/2 hour of Disneyland and a birthday trip is ingrained in his conciousness. Every year he wants to take the kids to Disneyland for THEIR birthday. But they don't really care.

It would be a nice gift to give, a fun and simple throwback to childhood times, except:

1. There are NO specials or discounts for single day tickets and haven't been since Aug. except Mickey Trick or Treat dates in Oct on weekdays (selected).

After racking my brain over our family calendar I cannot find a suitable timeslot to go except 1 open Sat to comfortably travel to and fro and spend a day. Weekends are horrorible there.

2. I have to buy 4 tickets. At $70 ea.

3. He is always busier than usual in the fall due to teaching at night at the community college.

4. Instead of spending $200 on tix, he really would rather have a work bench for the new weekend property garage.

So what to do.

Over the weeks I have paid attention to things he needs/wants and will probably shop with the kids for some of the below:

a. Cutting Board for the weekend house kitchen (using a BedBathBeyond coupon).

b. Pizza cutter same as above.

c. One new big fish for his 30-gal aquarium since one of the oldsters died over the summer (a big one with whiskers!). Some aquarium plants too.

d. WEATHER instruments for his new weekend house. Good ones are hard to find and he is way beyond the simple rain gage. A full blown weather station is out of the question though, runs over $100. Time may not be on my side because it most likely would need to be ordered on the web.

e. Pro darts for the yard sale dart board in the weekend house. It came with only one set of darts, but he and the kids have been playing lots already. Need at least one more set of 3. There is a billards/game shop in town that would probably have good ones.

f. Maybe a semi high tech UV protection shirt for all that outdoor work at the ranch. Patagonia has an outlet in town, little known, that sells their year old surplus items and more. Super special deal and quality.

BAKE his favorite chocolate cupcakes with no icing, and make big ice cream sundaes.

What's heavy, sweet, crunchy, tasteful, and elegant for $30?

This is the gift basket I made for the band who have been the hardest workers every Saturday at an art & craft market I have been selling as a vendor.





Contents (if I remember it all):

2 - bottle wine
3 - quarter lb choc bars
1 - box crackers
1 - bag cookies
1 - hard salami
1 - cheese spread
1 - cheese slicer
1 - small cheese tray/cloth napkin
1 - bottle nuts
4 - wine glasses

It was a little more than I wanted to spend (would've been perfect at under $20), but I am very happy with the results.

PLEASE, can I keep it???

We have built a weekend house over the past year or two and it is mostly a shell, albeit a nice shell.



It still needs flooring (we are installing ourselves). Electricity, major appliances are done.

Now for the slow, interior design phase.

Most of the tiny, but can't live without stuff is done, ie a couple hand towel racks, bathroom cups, etc.

Much of the surplus from our full-time home is going to move, ie casserole baking dishes, noodle strainers, etc.

We are at a point where we can prioritize what big ticket items to save for:

1. Dining room table/chairs. I would like to shop the thrift and used furniture stores first for these. Hubby on the fence.

2. Dining room chandelier fixture. We both want a new item in the 'Rustic Semi-Formal' category.

3. Kids bunk beds. Twin beds will not probably fit in their room and I will also go to Craigslist first. Hubby will likely agree. If nothing available, we will go to 'Going Out of Business' furniture stores next.

4. Parent's bed. We have the mattress/box spring and are perfectly comfortable with that for months and months. Hubby really wants a nice well made bed, probably with some shelving and end table.

5. Living Room Furniture. Sofa? Arm Chairs? We are too far away from deciding. Except we both don't want big heavy furniture. A nice area rug will be the start, with maybe a small loveseat.