Cinderella Castle Suite

They put a suite in the Cinderella Castle. Too bad we weren't picked to stay there.
here's the link with the story.

The Argument Poll

Firstly, I'd like to point out that ConnieMom was very cavalier with her representation of our classic arguments.




Having said that, I want all of you to post in the comments section memories, feelings, rants etc. regarding our recurring disagreements. Have we left any out? Which one was the most stupid? Which one was the funniest?

New Poll Today!

And, as always, the results from the last poll:

Solar System What is your favorite planet in the solar system, other than Earth?
Mercury	0%	0
Venus	28.6%	2
Mars	0%	0
Jupiter	0%	0
Saturn	57.1%	4
Uranus	0%	0
Neptune	14.3%	1
Pluto (still a planet to me!)	0%	0
total votes: 7

Update on The Birthdays

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We are celebrating the August birthdays next Sunday afternoon at the house. ConnieMom is going to make homemade pizzas

and her famous Brazilian Macaroni salad.
There are rumors that Emma and Cheyenne are both going to bake something. Of course Korey, Ethan and David are invited - just please let us know if you can make it. Remember, there are no classes on Monday.

My b-day present!

Well I got a big surprise for my birthday that I never expected! A beautiful anniversary ring! We tried to take pictures but they didn't come out very good. My picture phone does fine outside during the day but not so great in artificial light or with close ups. Here is the best we could do:


If I knew someone with a digital camera, maybe I could get them to take the picture for me... ;)

Actually my original gift was a ring and a pair of diamond earrings, but since I don't wear earrings we took back the earrings and upgraded the ring.

Anyway I was quite happy and excited, and it sure made it a fun birthday for me!

what are grandmothers driving these days?

Well in the case of one grandmother I know, aka Aunt Rose, it would be a really cool red Corvette!! She took me for a ride when I was up in PA, it was great fun! You shoulda seen us --- two cool chics in one hot car~!

BIRTHDAY GIRLS!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHEY AND CONNIEMOM!

Cheyenne, who was in 2nd grade when we all got together turns 18 on Sunday!

Shiza Minelli.

ConnieMom told me last night that she turns 39 on Sunday.


Party next weekend. Post as comments what days you can make it, and where we should celebrate.

New Poll Today!

And as always, here are the results from the last one.

Where should ConnieMom and DaddyMike move when "the kids are grown"?
Condo in the city 0% 0

New Zealand 40% 2

Beach house in Maine 20% 1

Anywhere but Georgia 0% 0

Stay put; I'll be needing a place to live after my divorce... 40% 2

total votes: 5

Let's vent about those Roomies!

With everyone back in school, I thought it might be fun to share a bit of your college experience by posting your best (or worst) TRUE roommate aggravation story to the blog! Post pictures too, if you have them... but, um, remember --- this is a family blog!

The best part --- anyone who posts a story will be automatically entered into a random drawing for a $25 Amazon.com gift certificate. No kidding. I get gift certificates as perks from my Amazon Visa card, and I have one right now in my possession that's up for grabs. I'll give you till the end of September before the drawing.

I will probably put up a poll for voting on the best story, just for fun, but the gift certificate drawing will be random, and not based on the poll winner. After all, our voting is known to be suspect!

Also, grownups are invited to post their stories too. Veronica & George, you can just make something up if you want in the drawing.

So give it a shot! After all, misery loves company, and I KNOW there is SOMETHING on Amazon you've been wanting...

Emissions Testing!!!

Thanks to everyone who got a car emissions tested for me! I registered the vehicles on-line. I expect to have the new tags within a week or so. Be sure to pick yours up before the end of the month.

Speaking of emissions testing, here's a tip for Uncle Sid & Aunt Boonya --- the Toyota Prius fails the Georgia emissions test!! See article here. Boy, is that ever DUMB! Leave it to Georgia!

Creative MP3 Charger?

Hey family--
for those of you at the house, I think I may have left my Creative charger there, somewhere in my room (most likely plugged in) becuase I can't find it here. Will someone be so kind as to check for me?
Thanks,
Kacie

Only 3 more days for me

I'm moving out on Friday.
Back to the big city.
I am going to miss everyone.
I know I've not been around much this summer between work and Ethan, but I really will miss you all.

I just thought I would say that.

notes from mum

Just a couple of things...


Reminder: Don't forget, I'm going to PA tomorrow and will be coming home on Sunday. Emma will be watching George tomorrow night, Mike will be back on Friday.





Lost & Found: Someone left their 3-pack of DS games between the cushions of the couch. I bet I can guess who it was! I put them in the drawer in "my" end table in the living room.




Reward: I'm opening up the challenge --- $50 to the person who can teach Chopper to fetch! If you work in a team, you can split the reward.


and finally.....

Oops: Happy Belated Birthday to Aunt Boonya~~!! Her birthday was on the 6th; sorry to say I quite forgot. Well, I guess it's not the first birthday I ever forgot. :-(



Maybe we will get a chance to celebrate her birthday later in the month with the other birthdays coming up! Cheyenne has the ONE birthday I never forget...

Insight into "food miles"

Trying to "eat local", and feeling badly when you can't? An interesting NY Times article on calculating the environmental impact of where our foods are grown and how they travel to us. As usual, nothing is as easy as it seems.

If you think about it, some of the same things that make shipped foods cheaper might also make them "greener". Growing a food where it environmentally "belongs" will make it cheaper to produce and potentially greener, as you don't need to fertilize and water as much in it's natural location, I guess.

Still the author isn't telling us to abandon the idea; just to be sure we calculate the entire impact of production, not just the "food miles."

Back to School!

School starts again soon; here is a list of start dates for all the relevant schools, in case you have a hard time keeping track!

8/13 - Cobb County School District
8/15 - Georgia College & State University
8/16 - University of Georgia
8/20 - Georgia Institute of Technology
8/20 - Southern Polytechnic State University

Credit cards --- what you should know

Doesn't debt look fun?

Most of you kids have gotten them --- credit card offers that sound amazing, geared towards college students. Eventually all of you will probably end up using credit cards as an adult, but before you ever do that, you need to make sure you know what you are getting into.

Here are some excerpts from a New York Times editorial that help explain our concerns about this. (Read the full article here.)

According to testimony, one witness exceeded his charge card’s $3,000 limit by $200 — triggering what eventually amounted to $7,500 in penalties and interest. After paying an average of $1,000 a year for six years, the man still owed $4,400.

That experience has become all too common as the credit card industry has stealthily adopted methods designed to maximize burdensome penalties and fees, while ratcheting up interest rates as high as 30 percent. Companies bombard unwary consumers with teaser packages that promise very low interest rates to start, while reserving for themselves the right to raise rates whenever they choose. The details are buried in deliberately arcane contracts that run 30 pages long and that even lawyers have trouble understanding.

And how about this:

Under a provision known as “universal default,” a cardholder who pays a credit card company faithfully can still be hit with a high penalty interest rate for missing payments with another creditor. In another despicable tactic known as “double cycle billing,” a cardholder who pays $450 of a $500 balance is charged interest on the entire amount as opposed to the unpaid balance.

So when you do eventually need to apply for credit, be sure you are working with a reputable company, such as your local bank. And even then, be very, very careful, and pay attention to the details of your agreement.