Cuppa-Tea

I put "at someone's house" because it would be nice to bring some thing along to share, or photos, and it would be easier at a house. But of course, it's a little wierd with the whole "Internet thing" so a restaurant might be a good idea, too. I live pretty far south, so I may not be able to attend, depending where it is. I mean, if it's a three-hour drive from me I would probably pass. Amazing how looooong this state is! Hubby would probably not let me go to a stranger's house anyway, now that I think about it. So a restaurant would be better! Christine 08081 Another idea... I have friends in the Garden State mini club. I ran into them at Philadelphia Miniaturia yesterday. If you are interested, maybe we could go to one of their Saturday meetings? They meet down here, though.

I live in South Jersey, near Philadelphia. The only place I know of that is still open, is Really Little Real Estate in Haddon Heights. Fingertip Fantasies, in Concord, PA, is not that far from Longwood Gardens, in Southeast PA. I've heard that there is a store in Philly, but haven't been able to find out what it's called. Sadly, Cape May Miniatures is gone! That was my favorite store.

That was tough! It made me cross-eyed after a while. But my score was perfect. Thanks for sharing! (I agree with the person who said, "If things don't match in my dollhouse, it must be bad taste." LOL!!! I admit I have no decorating sense, but at least now I know that I know my colors!)

Hi, everyone! I haven't been on the forum for a while, as I have been just too busy to do minis. I know, blasphemy! Anyway, I will be going to the Philly show (actually, it's in Cherry Hill, NJ.) I tried to get someone to go with me, but nobody I know wanted to or was free to come along. :nana: Does anyone from here want to meet at the show tomorrow morning and walk around together? I will be there tomorrow at 10, but I can't stay past 12:30 because I have something else in the afternoon, and am usually visually overstimulated at these things after two hours anyway. I haven't been to the show in this hotel, so I don't know the layout, but perhaps anyone who wants to, could meet me by the door prizes, wherever that is, at a convenient time? I'm particularly looking for 1/2" scale items this time around. Does anyone want to meet me there?

I'm a contract killer. It's the Miss Marple approach... you look totally innocent while talking to someone about dollhouses, then Wham! Right in the heart with an X-acto knife. Actually, I'm currently unemployed, but I just finished my first year as a middle school math teacher. I'm not sure if I'll do that again next year or not. It was so overwhelming. I'm hoping to find something part-time, like maybe adjunct teaching at a community college. In my former life I was a biostatistician. That is, someone who does statistical design and analysis for clinical trials. Then I was a SAHM for five years, and now teaching. I think!

Hi Tracy! The family are all well. My son is still gorgeous and did excellently in Kindergarten. His K. graduation photo is on my blog. How is Sarah doing? And everything/everyone else? Hey there, Heidi! I was just thinking of you the other day. I was at Barnes and Noble and when you walk in, between the two sets of doors, they had a book about Audrey Hepburn displayed with the photo you used to have on your posts. I love your new icon! How are you doing?

http://christinescottage.blogspot.com/2008...age-wanted.html Hi everyone. Well, the school year is finally over and I am back online! I need a cottage photo for my blog, Christine's Cottage. I'm asking people to post links to photos of cottages in the "Comment" section of the blog. If you have a really nice one, please share it! Christine

This is so funny I couldn't even laugh out loud to it... My mouth was open in a caricature of a laugh and tears were streaming down my face! I have seen this comedienne before and I'm sorry I can't recall her name.... she is fantastic! I hope it brings a smile to your face today! I just HAD to post it!

I'm working on it, Holly! But i've only had five days to learn... I've never taught Middle School before. My previous experience was with college kids, when I was a teaching assistant.

I survived my first week as well... teaching. I am doing this so that my son can get free tuition at the private Christian school, and because it's a good way to earn some extra income on a family-friendly schedule. Plus we get free aftercare, so I can stay and do teacher stuff after school and he is having fun with other kids. He started Kindergarten this week. Also I'm doing it because I really believe in Christian Education. I am thrilled with the school and the supportive staff and principal. We don't get paid very much, so everyone who is there is doing it as a ministry and because we love the kids. A brag moment... DS is already in an advanced reading program! He started reading over the summer and is reading everything now. I'm such a proud momma! I am teaching 7th grade math, 8th grade Pre-Algebra, Earth science, Life Science and 8th grade Bible. Annette... Good for you for cyber-schooling! I am not that familiar with it, but I know PA advertises their cyber charter school a lot. I don't know if NJ has a similar program. My sister is homeschooling her two boys... Kindergarten and 4th grade. She tells me it's overwhelming at first but once you get comfortable with the curriculum it's wonderful... for the reasons you described. She said the best part is not having to get up and drag everyone out of the house in the morning. They are all so much more alert and rested and consequently get more done. (She has chronic fatigue syndrome so this is a big factor for her, and she was previously taking the oldest to Christian school so she had to constantly drive back and forth.) Plus they are participating in a co-op as well... her oldest will be taking an Engineering with Lego's course! How cool is that! I think my biggest challenge as a teacher will be how to meet the needs of the kids who are a little behind without boring the advanced students to tears. That is really hard, because I'm only one person and can only be in one place at a time. The kids are already split up into different levels, so some of that has already been done for me, but still within an individual class there are differences.

My concern with this is that the chemicals from the plastic bag can leach into the food when heated and cause cancer. Isn't that why only certain types of plastic are supposed to be used for microwaving? After all, plastic comes from petroleum, right? That would be my concern, though it does seem like a neat idea. I make omelettes in a teflon pan... I know it's supposed to be bad for you too! But there's very little mess. I use Pam spray as well so they don't stick. My sis has a cool little microwave Nordic Ware thingy for cooking eggs - poached eggs - that is really nice.

Well, we finally left negative feedback because the disc never arrived and it's been more than seven weeks since DH paid for it. The seller has not answered our repeated requests for shipping info. Voila! This morning we get an email with a priority mail tracking number and the comment that "it's neither of our fault that the email wasn't going through." DUDE! You said you burned a disc and mailed it to us July 27th! Clearly he lied about that, especially since he had to ask for our address yet again. He posted a comment in response to the feedback stating that he was losing money on the sale and had shipped it at his own expense. I emailed him thanking him for the tracking number and explaining why we were frustrated and stating that I'm sorry we had to leave negative feedback. I feel a little guilty, but we did wait seven weeks and request information from him several times, as well as provide our shipping information to him twice. He didn't even contact us to acknowledge payment in the first place, or let us know that he was sending the file or check whether we had received it. DH paid for the item within hours of the end of the auction, and we never heard anything from the seller at all until we contacted him a month after the auction closed to find out what was going on.

That is so cute, Susanne. I can just picture her!!!! My cat Malley used to be very dainty about the box. I think she didn't like the sensation of litter between her toes.

My sister feels the same way. She can't work because of chronic fatigue syndrome. For her it's not so much guilt over not having material things, but the constant guilt over not being able to stick to their budget and always borrowing from savings to catch up, and the fact that they have nothing at all for retirement, and that they can't afford to do things with their boys. It's not the material things that matter so much to her because they get lots of great hand-me-downs from other families, but it's being able to get out of the house and GO somewhere and DO something! To be able to eat out with her husband or take the kids to a movie or an amusement park once in a while without that horrible black cloud hanging over them thinking "We really can't afford to be doing this, but I feel so deprived and depressed I'll go crazy if I don't get out of the house." She told me recently that she feels like all she ever does for fun is watch TV, because it doesn't cost anything. Even having friends over means you have to buy extra groceries, and since they are on a gluten and corn-free diet their grocery bill is through the roof already. I feel so bad for her!!!!

I think that the reason this is a hot topic right now is that there is a growing trend for college-educated women in their late 20's and their 30's to quit their jobs to stay home with their kids, or to find some kind of option for job sharing, part time work or whatever. At least this is what I have read. I think it's shocking the heck out of the feminists whose heads are still in the 60's. They can't understand why women would actually choose to stay home in such an "unfulfilling" role. We have choices! We have options. I am so grateful for that! I actually enjoy being home. I was raised with a SAHM too and told my husband when we were dating that I wanted to be home when the kids were young. And I DO see the home as "my job." I actually think of myself as a "subcontractor" for my husband, since we had to pay a cleaning lady when I was working full-time and so stressed and exhausted that I couldn't take care of the house... and that was before we had a child! So it's actually a financial and emotional benefit for him to support the family so I can stay home. At least that's the way I see it! Doing a good job to take care of myself and my family and keep things running smoothly is a source of pride to me. But it's not my whole identity. I think the problems arise when your identity is based on what you do, rather than who you are. And that can happen to a workaholic father just as easily as a stay-at-home mother. I'm going into teaching now so that I can still be available summers and after school, and so we can have less stress than if I returned to my professional job. I'm taking a huge pay cut but we agree that it's worth it. This is what has worked out for us. But I'm incredibly grateful to have had the opportunity to be home with my son these past five years. It's made a huge difference in our marriage, too. And cured my depression. I feel so much more whole and able to face the world now that I've had a chance to step back from the Rat Race for a while.