Are you near Buffalo, Rochester, Batavia? We are having a plant swap and I have many plants I could give you. Email me for more details.

I'm new to this board as well. I am looking for ideas to downsize our stuff. It is so hard. I tend to want to save DD's too small dress for a cousin who lives an hour away and won't fit into it for 4 years. I pile, bag, save things only to find that recipients are overwhelmed with things and are not always willing to take on stuff they might need in a few years. It's a NOW world. Anyway, I feel I am always in put away / tidy mode and I can't progress to actual cleaning. I spray a little windex, throw down comet in the bathroom, laundy, cook, and dishes and that's about it. My swifter wet jet is a godsend. 24 hours in a day and 100 hours of chores to do. As for hobbies, I think they are very worthwhile (even though I don't have much time now for my top 10, or even top 3 thanks to full time job and mother to 2 busy gals). I gave up one craft that I very much enjoyed because I found it tiresome to constantly have to hunt down materials to make a new project exactly like the one I made last year. Also, I often spent alot more $ on my craft project than I could have bought a ready made for. Granted, I would have some extra materials, but not enough, so the buying cycle continued. I have noticed that people without hobbies, whether its music, exercise, art, crafts, wood work, genealogy, etc. are bored people and this multiplies as you age. So often, I see people who could easily retire continue to work just so they'll have something to do. I think that's sad.

I know what you mean about sales. Do you have a CM consultant you regularly buy from? If so, does she keep a card (I think it's called Memory Savers card or something), where she tallies all your purchases? When you buy $250 from a CM consultant, you get $25 off your next purchase. That's like saving 10% off everything you buy. Except that you have to wait to see the savings. But I think this is a good deal. There are a couple of scrapbook shops near me that offer purchase savings cards too, but both of them offer 10% after $200 in purchases. That's only 5%. So in the long run, CM is a better deal. Also, my CM consultant (my sis too!) offers a Workshop card, that when you attend 6 workshops, your next one is free. Ask your CM consultant about these offers. Kelly

Hi Angie, Would it help if we all posted what we do and don't like to use? ~mar~