It makes me very happy to have received a hand written thank-you card from my nephew in the mail box yesterday. He is very happy with the Genz Benz acoustic amp that we managed to get him for Christmas way back in December of last year. Better late than never I suppose. I have to admit that I do pretty well in picking out gifts that will mean something to the people who receive them. I can honestly say that I have never given anyone any bath soaps and lotions, nor any food of any type or a gift card, although I know gift cards are a great idea for gifts.
One Heck Of A Great Little Amp
The Fourth of July celebration with the family went really well. The weather was a bit on the hot side, but at least it didn’t rain. The past couple of years it has rained so that the city firework display had to be cancelled which is always a big let down for the kids, both big and small.
Several family members brought their musical instruments which made for a really good time. It’s a good thing that the neighbors were all at the party so that they were enjoying the music as well. We have been blessed with the best neighbors ever since we have lived here. Having a grumpy neighbor can really make life miserable. Our neighbors Joan and John both play music as well. The great little amp that they just purchased last month came in handy and worked really well for such a small sized amp. Sometimes good things really do come in small packages.
We can only hope that next year will be as much as a success as this year. Guess time will tell.

A Starting Harmonica?
I really didn’t know that there was even a “starting harmonica” on the market! But then I certainly know everything when it comes to today’s musical instruments. It’s just weird that coming from a very musical family that is still multiplying that I wouldn’t have at least heard about it or read about it online somewhere!
Be that as it may, I managed to find a great last minute deal with a starting harmonica so that I would have it in time to take over to my sister’s house for the “Family 4th of July Holiday Dinner”. This is the first year that my sister has hosted such a large friend and family gathering (we are expecting about 26 people) so I have been trying to help her with some of her personal 4th of July gift shopping errands. It’s been a blessing that we live so close together and are on good terms at the moment.
Easy As Pie Fundraising
I have been asked by the PTA at the middle school that my son will attend next year if I would be on the committee that handles the fundraisers for the school year. I was happy to say yes to their request because I had already found a website that looks good and had it bookmarked in case I found myself needing this kind of information. I’m so happy that something that I bookmarked I actually made us of it.
I have never liked the kind of fundraising that requires a kid to go door to door in their neighborhood, or the kind that makes the parents pester their relatives and take the paperwork to their work place and guilt trip your co-workers in spending a few bucks.
This company, School Pop’s web-site offers easy middle school fundraisers that only require the participant to sign up on-line with certain retail companies so that every time a purchase is made there, a portion is dedicated towards the schools account. One of the stores is Wal-Mart and almost everybody shops at Wal-Mart at some point in time. It is that easy. I’ll be ready for my recommendation when we have our first meeting before the school year begins again in the fall.
My Sons Birthday is Coming Up!
My sons birthday is coming up soon and I’m trying to make it to where I can afford his birthday gifts and throw somewhat of a decent party for him this year. He seems to really enjoy his new PlayStation 3 we had gotten him this past Christmas and has had his eye on a few new games that have recently came out. So today I am going to try to shop for the coolest games I can come across that I think he will really enjoy playing over and over, instead of getting tired of them after one time of playing them and never touching them ever again.
I also would like to find a cake with his favorite cartoon character, Sponge Bob on it, and make arrangement’s for it to be ready the day before his party. I have already found invitations he loves with Power Rangers all over them, and have already sent them out to the parents of his friends. I’m hoping to get all RSVP’s in the next week so I can make plans on all activities for the children on the day of his party. I am really hoping that the day of his party, it will be a nice sunny day out so we have more options on the activities we are selecting.
How To Remove A Tick
Please forward to anyone with children… or hunters or dogs, or anyone who even steps outside in summer!!
A School Nurse has written the info below — good enough to share, And it really works!! I had a pediatrician tell me what she believes is the best way to remove a tick. This is great, because it works in those places where it’s some times difficult to get to with tweezers: between toes, in the middle of a head full of dark hair, etc.
Apply a glob of liquid soap to a cotton ball. Cover the tick with the soap-soaked cotton ball and swab it for a few seconds (15-20), the tick will come out on its own and be stuck to the cotton ball when you lift it away. This technique has worked every time I’ve used it (and that was frequently), and it’s much less traumatic for the patient and easier for me. Unless someone is allergic to soap, I can’t see that this would be damaging in any way. I even had my doctor’s wife call me for advice because she had one stuck to her back and she couldn’t reach it with tweezers. She used this method and immediately called me back to say, ‘It worked!’
**Please pass on. Everyone needs this helpful hint.**
Plans for Spring Break
Ever since mom and dad retired and moved to Florida, they have been inviting us to come visit. Since we are expecting snow this week, the thought of balmy Florida breezes and letting the kids run loose at Disney or Universal is sounding pretty good to me right now.
The hard part of traveling with a teenager is that she always makes plans to do things with “her friends” and she has little interest in spending precious time away from school with her family. I wonder if there is enough in Orlando to tempt her? I can’t leave her behind, but I don’t want a pouty and bitter teenager there against her will, either. She could spoil the trip for everyone with one of her “moods.”
What to do? What to do?
The Prom
The charlotte dj that has been hired for this year’s high school senior prom has come highly recommended by several people that have used them before. Having the right dj can make or break a party and the prom is a huge ordeal. Hundreds of kids are looking forward to their prom, spending an outrageous amount on the whole event, so the dj just has to be great.
I did not graduate from high school, so I didn’t get to go to my prom. I didn’t think it was a big deal back then, but now I really regret not sticking it out longer at school (although I did go back and get my GED) and graduating with my classmates and going to the prom. That is why I am so involved with making each year’s prom a great one for the kids at the local high school. It will be a couple more years before my kids will be going to the prom. I can only pray that they will graduate and have the opportunity to do all the cool things that seniors get to do, including the prom!
LA Police Gear
My best friend’s husband has just gotten the interesting job of becoming our fair city’s Swat team leader last month. When my husband and I last went over to their house to visit we were very impressed with all of the different gear and tools he had shown us. I asked him how much all of this equipment had cost him, and he replied back that we could look it up on the Internet and check out some other cool stuff, with awesome deals.
The certain kind of gear he had was Blackhawk Gear, that can be looked up at www.lapolicegear.com. They had so many cool things on there that I have never even seen before, it was quit interesting to see all the different things they had to offer.
Alternative Schooling
A good friend of mine since Junior High school days keeps in touch by email, which is great, it works out real good, no more long distance phone bills that put a damper on talking much by the telephone and we can share so many things via the Internet. She just sent me an update of her always very hectic life down in North Carolina.
She has been married four times, maybe more, I lost count. And she has four sons that have given her lots of grandchildren that she is so proud of, they are a close knit family and they all live pretty close to one another, which I think is great! Four generations of them all within about 45 minutes from each other.
Well it seems that one of her son’s wife has a teenage son from a previous relationship, that is giving them one heck of a time and they have decided that they are going to send him to a boarding school that is located in Tucson, Arizona, that is a heck of a long drive to go to school. She was telling me all about their situation, all of the things that they have tried with little or no success which is so frustrating I’m sure, and she also sent me the link to the school fenster-school.com so that I could check it out also, which I thought was funny, but I checked it out anyway.
The poor boy has some mental health issues and refuses to take his medicines regularly and the schools there in North Carolina (at least the part that she lives in) don’t think that they can help him anymore. They say that what he needs is a more caring & disciplined structured school so that he can really focus and achieve his academic success. He lacks motivation and bucks authority to the extreme. They (the N.C. schools) provided them with the resources that were needed in locating some boarding schools that they could check out. And the Internet certainly helps now a days in researching things just like this.
I wish them all luck. And I hope that she keeps me posted on their progress.