TGIF for sure!! I've been on the road all week and I'm glad to be home FINALLY!! Stacie, hot as heck here too...but I LOVE summer so the heat doesn't bother me at all. I'll take it over winter and cold temps.....yuck. Linda, I know for sure you will have a great time with the girls....I still remember when I finally figured out your forum name. Katie, congrats to beating the big "C" pal! I'm still shocked at how you pulled that off at camp last year. I still love you stemless glass tip! Pat, I missed the culinary school thing. Too cool! I'd love to read your blog or at least follow up here on the forum. What a trooper you are with all you've been through the last couple of years. Lindac, I'm thinking you will be there reguardless....I know you love those Grandkids of yours. Stay cool whatever you decide. Nancy, have a great time with your company....sixties would be okay but I'm loving 87 at ten....perfect for skinny dippin'! Gina, you sure are a busy lady. I wouldn't think you need lessons with all of the ping pong playing you've been doing. I hope the new paddle does ya good! Give Odo a little belly rub for me too....I'm thinking he is there cheering you on. Lars, great temps, but I guess that's the CA coast for ya. Hope you and Larry have a good weekend. Andi, Linda's pickles are WORTH the nine day effort for sure!! I love them...and they are CRUNCHY after all of those boiling soaks. Jo, 58 sounds like it's close to winter to me...LOL! San, glad to hear you had a great time at the cottage. I see you have been up to some other fun too...I'm REALLY jelous over that one. Hot here too, triple digit temps are forcasted through next week here. I've been on the road all week and glad to be home....so is Lucy. I'm headed back to the city tomorrow to take in a little of the PGA...Tiger ended the day very good today. I'll be doing some more canning tomorrow evening...that a general chores sum up my weekend so far.....ya never know who may show up at the lake. Have a GREAT weekend everyone!!! David

Twisties to tie up produce bags are totally unknown here. I wouldn't use them anyway (I cleaned out a drawer a few months ago that was literally an inch deep in unused twisties from packages of freezer bags, accumulated over 15 years!). I tie a slipknot with a loop in my bags so they can easily be opened again and if I haven't a trolley handy I can carry several bags with a finger slipped through the loop. Misbehaving children I have no compunction against telling off. Miss Manners suggests the line, "Don't do that, you might get hurt!", accompanied by the Look that says "And I will be doing the hurting". Works for me :-D Takes a village to raise a child and I am part of the village. My shopping-related pet peeve is our local grocery store (I live in a small town 37 km from the nearest other town) that either orders ridiculously small amounts of perishables, so they run out two days before the next delivery, or so much that you can't buy anything except what's right on the expiry date because they're not going to put fresher stuff out until all the old stuff is gone. And you can't buy the good brand of icecream in vanilla- lots of other flavours, but choc-mint doesn't go so well with apple cobbler :-P Why doesn't the person who orders consider that??? No one wants to eat a whole bowl of icecream in winter! (This is Australia, in case you hadn't guessed :-) .)

Sweet little ladies you have! Those dresses are so cute. When my 2 neices were that little I was in high school and would make them matching outfits like this in home-ec class. They looked like twins, it was fun and they loved them. Must be a girly thing! Too cute they are!!

I think it sounds like a nice idea... as long as no one thinks that you are trying to tell them what they can give to who. Gift giving is about the thought but it generally needs to be the thought of the giver not someone else :-) If my family decided not to give any gifts, I would prefer to collect gifts (or make them) for a family in need or for a shelter. And, honestly, I would want to be able to give my nieces and nephews gifts. I'm not talented at making items, except maybe food and most food items I give out cost more than other gifts I give out. Even if someone told me not to buy store gifts for Christmas for my nieces and nephews (unless it was their parents), I would still do it. After I put a lot and lot of "thought" into it, I would know they would just not enjoy a homemade gift from me :-) I think whatever you want to give and do for your family is fine --that thought comes from you. But some people may already have their shopping done, may not have supplies like you do, and/or may even find it cheaper to buy gifts on sale than to make them. I think if you need to limit gift giving.. pulling names or cutting adults out may be a better option. Little kids are just not going to get it. You don't need to spoil them with a new XBOX, but an Elmo doll or $5 game from Big Lots will probably be enough to keep them happy. Right or wrong, I just don't suspect little kids are going to be happy with a bunch of homemade items on Christmas.