I received a Birthday Card today from Erica and it was filled with these fantastic seeds. French Lavender Liberty Classic Snapdragons Violet dusk Penstamon Carthusian Dianthus Can't wait to grow these beauties. Thank you so much Erica. Well we have almost made it to game time: 8:00 a.m. the fun begins. See you ladies in the morning. Shirley

You know what's bad, though? Most of the people that say they have no talent won't even TRY! There are many things that I make that really aren't hard but others see them as being. I would love to teach a few of my family and friends to do these things but they claim they can't and don't have the time! Does anyone have TIME anymore for anything fun? Do people even have hobbies anymore?! I keep reminding myself of the lady at Wal-Mart that works in the craft dept recently telling me that she notices a lot of younger women are getting in to crafting. There are more young women in their 20's (like me!) that are making handcrafted items than there have been for years! Hopefully this increases more and more!

Great ideas! I especially like the 'food' idea and think that would go over well with this crowd. There's a 'stealing system' I learned from Lowspark that could be great here. I'll explain in case others find it useful. (And Lowspark, correct me if I get it wrong!) 1) Everyone brings a gift and draws a number. 2) There are two extra gifts under the tree provided by the hostess. 3) Number 1 goes to the tree, selects a gift and opens it. 4) Number 2 goes to the tree, selects a new gift and opens it. 5) Number 3 goes to the tree, selects a new gift and opens it. (No stealing yet.) 6) After everyone has gone through, the remaining two gifts are put on the table in the center. 7) Number 1 then has the opportunity to exchange his gift. If he does, he puts it on the table, then chooses either of the two unopened gifts or steals one from someone else. 8) If #1 steals, the 'victem' then gets to steal from another player or pick from the table. If he chooses from the table, the round is over. 9) If the victem steals from another player, the new victem then has the same opportunity -- steal and keep the round going, or choose from the table, ending the round. If the second victem steals from another player, that third victem must then choose from the table and the round is over. Then it's Number 2's turn -- Same procedure. There's a maximum of three thiefs and three victems per round, with the third victem required to choose from the table. Each gift can only be stolen three times. Every player has his turn at the exchange and there's LOTS of stealing! Since there's so much thieving, it's pretty rare for someone to end up with something they don't like.

OMG, that's so silly, but it's not funny. My older sister would do that. She would watch what everyone else got and compare it in her head. Later, she would call me and say, can you believe he only spent $xx on me and $xx on so and so. I didn't care about that. It didn't matter to me if I liked what I got, and I always did. I also NEVER gave anyone a list. I don't even remember writing letters to Santa. I think the only year I was disappointed was when my parent's were having financial problems and I got pencils & erasers in my stocking. No candy. I was about 9. With my kids, I used to spend equal amounts on them but stopped that several years ago. It was silly. I get them things they are into and some are more expensive than others. It's not a contest and like I said, I've tried to put more emphasis on giving than receiving.