Thank you all, my dear, dear friends. Yesterday we had one of those days here at our house -- no water for 36 hours, Freya sneaking a pizza off the kitchen counter, and the smell of fresh polyurethane pervading the cold, damp house.... On the other hand, I had the loving affection of Tom and my DS Jacob, calls and cards from family, and greetings from all of you. And tonight we're going out to dinner to try celebrate again. Carla, Luanne, Jon, Anita, Lori, Ingrid, Sue, Carolina, Pamela, and Carol -- each one of your messages brought smiles and memories to my mind. I just realized that with the exception of Ingrid, I know each one of you in the Real World (as opposed to online) -- Ingrid, we'll just have to correct that soon. The only birthday wish I have left (besides more rain) is to hope that I get to see you all again as frequently and as soon as may be. Rosefolly

I guess I feel pretty lucky--my DD has a small class, only 14 students. I would agree that inviting 40 kids is excessive. I'm assuming there are two classes for SD's grade? Could you do something where she only invites her particular class? Or what about just the girls? My DD's school seems to be low-key. Last year, only a handful of kids had bday parties; a few invited the whole class, but two girls just invited the girls, and I think 2 boys had boys-only parties, as well. We just had an issue with BM about this. SS's bday is coming up and she wanted him to have it at this very expensive indoor trampoline place----the party room (that you HAVE to rent) is $175. Then it is an additional $14.75 PER jumper and there is a 10 person minimum. So that's $322 already. This does not include cake or drinks or goodie bags or anything. There are 23 kids in SS's class and SS's mom felt he should be able to invite the entire class. DH just told her that it is ridiculous to spend $500-600 on a 7 year old's birthday party and that she (or we) would have to find something more reasonable. Well, then they got in a big argument b/c she was saying they would split the cost this year (normally, DH pays) and DH said that wasn't the point----that even if they did cut the cost down the middle, it was just too extravagant of a party. We normally spend $150-$200 for a party. DD's birthday is 6 weeks after SS's, so we have to be financially mindful of planning for two parties relatively close together, as well.

Blue Light Special! LOL If you're around this week click on the original post photo above and it will take you to my album...I THINK! (It works for me) It's always been available like that I guess and I only this week made it "private" when I saw I had over 1500 hits this month (And not all of them were from YOU). I just didn't know what to think about that, as I'd only created it to share pictures with you guys and my other friends. There are only about 30 pics, and they aren't in any order, as I didn't know they were going out on the internet like that. I also can't figure out how to order them better. (Does anyone know?) Does anyone else have concerns about posting pics that are available for the general public? I'm charmed that you folks want to see the pics. I know you are all artists and love mosaic and I count you amongst my friends. I truly hope you enjoy them. To answer other questions, I use forms from WalMart, Joanne's, Michaels, and Thrift shopping. Wood and stones are available most anywhere. You can find them! Texas must have a lot of mesquite. Mesquite is my favorite for the houses' character. Yes I have sold a few, but I only started doing them last year so it has been by word of mouth, by commission, and I did one crafts fair and sold $800.00 worth at $55.00(smallest) -$120.00 (like Minuet). It was a lovely day! Oh, I don't know, Slow (Susan, right?) I think you'd mosaic ANYTHING. (Grin) And Carol, I'd love a birdhouse exchange too! We'll be the advocates!

Name one big company that does not engage in deceptive/dishonest/monopolistic business practices. To the extent they can get away with it, they will do it. They have teams of lawyers and accountants advising them on what they can get away with, and yet they are the target of so many lawsuits. If an organization starts rating companies on the ethical scale, the companies will find out what it takes to get a high score and game that rating process! This article written by a Nobel laureate is well worth a read: https://www.thenation.com/article/america-has-a-monopoly-problem-and-its-huge/