So I politely decline the offer to do the other work “while they are working on it anyway” and simply have the oil change done. Then I’ll come home and tell my hubby about their suggestions and he will either check it out and do the work himself, or he will snort and tell me that he had done the work a month or so ago and that there is no need for that to be done.

Regardless, at least the oil change was done and a few weeks after the oil change is performed I get reimbursed through PayPal. And that is a good thing.

I’ve been trying to think of some other games that might be a little bit more fun, like a version of musical chairs. To be perfectly honest, I think that I am going to have to go online and try to do some searches on Google for “baby shower games.” The last baby shower I can remember going to was over twenty years ago! And I don’t remember playing any games at that shower at all! Hmmm… I better get cracking on that!

The last baby shower that I was invited to attend was for my sister-in-law about six years ago. I had bought a gift and was planning to bring a cake to the party but that party never happened because the baby decided to be born the day before the baby shower! I hope that Marnie’s baby holds off and waits until after the baby shower!

Most of the time the mechanics tell me to just keep driving the car until the problem becomes a “permanent” problem. Of course most of the time that never happened. But I think that this time, maybe, just maybe my current “intermittent” problem has become “permanent” and might be repairable. I just don’t know now if I can afford to fix it or not. Hopefully it is just a switch – to the rear window defroster in my car. I am not going to need it probably until next fall, but I will try to remember to get it fixed by then. Actually, if things go my way I’ll be trading that car in for a different vehicle in the next few months and then I won’t have to even worry about it in the fall!

There have been many occasions for us, more than likely where we have had to experience the frustration that we feel shopping. As a consumer driven culture, there are countless advertisements, as well as new and different products that are constantly being pushed towards us, sometimes when we did not even realize that we want them. Everyone is constantly on the search for the next newest and biggest thing, especially in departments such as electronics. Often times, for items such as these, there are long lines at the stores to wait through every time a new and hot device comes out.

There are many different ways that people can avoid all of these frustrations, as well as the time that they would have to spend looking for the perfect gift for all of the different people that may be on their list. One of the best gift ideas is to create different kinds of gift baskets for the people you would normally go out and purchase expensive gifts for. Many times, we try to go out and buy the most expensive gifts that we can afford, but there are better ways of getting this goal accomplished.

Gift baskets are something that you are able to personalize to the person that they are meant for, and they are something that the person is sure to love. You can take ideas for these kinds of gifts from the different things that the person likes, whether it is a specific color or character. These kinds of gifts are also easy to work into any budget, whether you are trying to work within a small budget, or a large one. Because of the recent dip in the economy, there are more and more of us who would say that we are working within a much smaller budget than we would normally be working with.

For many of us, this has caused us to get more creative, and creating these kinds of gifts is one way of doing that without having to spend a whole lot of money that we may not have. No matter what kinds of gifts that you choose to buy, as long as you put time and effort into the kinds of gifts that you are going to be giving, the person who is going to receive it is going to enjoy it, and appreciate you for your thoughtfulness.

No one told me for a fact that was the actual case, but I figured that since the electric company has sent out notices to us as homeowners different invitations to participate in differing energy savings programs that included things like that, I felt that was a reasonable guess to make. Of course my hubby was skeptical, but that’s normal for him. I told him if he was worried that he could go sit in the car and wait for me, or for the fire trucks, whichever happened first. As long as no fire alarms were going off, or announcements being made over the loudspeaker I was content to just keep shopping.

A local sandwich shop had spread out a couple of logo floor mats in front of their booth. They were selling cold cut sandwiches, apples, chips, chocolate chip cookies, bottled water and an assortment of sodas.

There were a couple of hundred cloggers that showed up to the day-long workshop, so I’m guessing that several of the vendors that had set up
trade show displays there probably made a little bit of money, but I really do have to wonder if at the end of the day the vendors actually made enough money to justify the time and expense for that day. The biggest reason that I am saying that is the workshop was set up in such a way that the participants had very little free time to actually visit the vendor booths. Sure, the food people made money, but I can’t imagine that the other vendors went home happy.

Some of my friends are going out and want to arrange their dinner around the movie start time or game time. Other people are going out on dates and want to pick the restaurant ahead of time so they know if they are going casual or need to dress up a little.

Me, I’m staying home and cooking something healthy. I’m thinking about getting some fresh fish at the grocery store on the way home and maybe a loaf of crusty french bread. If they have fresh asparagus, I’ll buy some of that, too.

This year’s nail colors are bare and barely there. Some people get do a light pink, but it is all about light, natural looking colors on your fingers. That leaves the lipsticks colors wide open. You don’t have to worry about your lips clashing with your fingernails.

Every Sunday when the newspapers have all the ads for the drug stores and department stores, I’ll be watching to see who puts lipsticks on sale. I’d like to go get a department store makeover after I get some sun on my face. Department store lipsticks can cost $20-$30 for each tube, so finding them on sale is important.

The Internet has become a very valuable tool to help people find the best mortgage rates as most of us know by now. The process of applying for a mortgage is a long and tricky one, I wish that I had had access to the Internet when I was shopping around, I would have known a lot more, knowledge is power and power = money and when it comes to a mortgage, no matter how low the interest rate, is a lot of money even if you have perfect credit scores to your advantage.

The tub that they bought came with a spa cover, but it was pretty beat up.  Last weekend I was over to their place and they were showing me the tub and the beat-up cover.  I think they were hoping that I could repair it or upholster it or something!  It looked to me as if some rodents had tried over the winter to use the foam for bedding material!  I told them that I was way too busy to get involved in trying to repair or recover spa covers, especially when they can be bought for a reasonable price on the Internet!