We actually got one in walking distance from my house. They opened up in February and I thought, boy, was that bad timing! Why couldn't they open before Christmas. After a day or so of opening and being empty, we were about to get hit with our 3rd snow storm within a one week period (and we usually have only 3 or 4 all winter long with any measurable snow). So anyway, most everyone's shovels had broken because of the extended use, shovels were a hot commodity. There were actually rumors and postings in our county forums of where you could buy shovels. Regular $15.00 shovels were selling for upwards of $30.00 bucks, and if stores got a shipment in, the lines looked like black Friday. CTS got a huge shipment, priced them at $12.99, and they've had good crowds ever since!

The guitar heros went over just fine. They didn't even use it yesterday, they were into the Wii games. The DD playing got, it for the son who was setting on the sofa on the left. DD's DH's parents have the Wii system and they've always loved playing that at Mammaw and Papaw's, so they got themselves (the kids) one for Christmas. LOL Big kids. Well, SIL and his Dad play golf all the time. DD get hot when she sends DH over to his folks to pick up some folding chairs or something, and it takes 2 hours to go 1 mile and back. I love the picture of my Mom and Lily too. Full circle. Leslie

Have one. I didn't find it to be as intuitive as the hype. Kind of a pain to get it to do the things I might want it to do with an online interface. And it does listen to you and sync. ads with your other devices and Amazon's Web site. Pft. Enough is enough when it comes to advertising. On the plus side, radio reception is really lousy where I live and I can stream great public radio programs using it. There's not a person monitoring you, (I'm sure you all know that) but what would happen to Penny based on her conversation is she would get ads for dog training books and web sites and devices on your phone when using various apps with ads, Thanksgiving dessert ideas and products, and high end bedding. Computers are already monitoring everything you type and sharing that info. with each other. Hard to say how skillful or ethical the real person is who is responsible for all this data collection. That's the issue of our times, it can be easily used for nefarious reasons. Like you might get political ads suggesting a certain candidate doesn't believe in celebrating Thanksgiving, or kills puppies or some other such nonsense.

pudgeder, good for you. The grand kids are 8 and 12? So many more things you can do with them now.. I’ll put a vote in for an age appropriate interesting science books. I’m sure there’s some very good choices out there. One of my favorite cousins used to give us books for Christmas presents and that opened up worlds for us. My parent’s also included books on fun things like sea shells, what lives in a tidal pool or under that clump of seaweed? Rockets, spaceships, the moon, Mars.... Sometimes, I found myself reading a biography (age ~ 12) that initially, I didn’t think I’d find interesting. I got to really enjoy biographies. I’m happy that you are enjoying your grandkids.