Well, I already had two stamps on it and I asked the clerk to check to see if I had enough postage on it. He said no even before he weighed it. He said it was a parcel. I said apparently you didn't get the memo. He said I go by what my book tells me and proceeded to read me the same old stuff they always tried to go by. I said I know all that stuff already and this memo says that it is wrong. He said that he would have to talk to his supervisor and then continued to try and tell me that if it varied in thickness by more than 1/4" it was a parcel. I read him the requirements from the memo and told him that he needed to get the supervisor for me. Finally he got the supervisor and the supervisor read the post that you put on here and said, "Yes, that's right." He told the clerk that it should be a large envelope and the clerk was still babbling on about the 1/4" difference in size. The supervisor said that from now on cushion mailers under 3/4" in thickness would go as a large envelope. I asked him if he would like to keep the post and he said no that he would print out the memo and make sure that everyone understood it. I don't think that they were any to happy. I had to pay an extra penny in addition to the stamps that I already had on it but that's better than $1.13. Hopefully that battle is won but I'm keeping the post with me when I go back.

I am a secret tacky-Christmas-letter lover. When we get one where all the writer does is brag, I laugh and find it entertaining. Also feel a little pity for the poor souls who are in such denial of the real world. I really do enjoy hearing about people's lives. Some friends of my husband (people I have never met) send letters and now I feel I know them personally. We started writing one about 6 years ago when we had a disaster home problem (broke in half, condemned. sorry wrong forum) and everyone wanted to know every year how it, and the law suit was progressing. I got so tired of writing all the details over and over (especially because I have arthritis in my hands) so I just typed it all up, added a little info on our work, told about the dog's activities and sent it on. The first year, I changed the name at top and added a personalized paragraph, but since I print it out at work (sshhh) and use fancy Hallmark paper, it was taking up a lot of time. So now I do the tacky-Christmas-form-letter and hand write a small personal note. This way I can go in to work early one day and run them off before anyone knows. I absolutely hate getting a card from someone with just their names written on it. Even worse is the name stamped on it with my name and address typed on a computer label. I feel like I am just a nuisance that people feel need to be taken care of and do it in the quickest, less painful way possible. I am also very busy but start at Halloween and address just 1 or 2 a day. It's easier to add a personalized note when that person is the only one I need to think of that day.

One of my favorite things to make is signs. A lot of people use the stencils but I do my stuff by hand. I start by trying to decide what look I want and then I either look at lettering on something else (I use the Country House catalog a lot for inspiration! LOL) or I type up what I want in Word Perfect and keep changing the font until it's what I want. Then I look at the lettering and try to write it out the same. Usually it looks quite similar but I do change a few letters here and there. The dots on the end isn't that hard. I'm assuming you want the "messy" look instead of a perfectly printed out word. Again, look at other items for inspiration (Seach ebay for primitive signs or stitchery). See which letters they make longer and copy that. The dots really change the look of it, too! GL

I've noted this for years - for decades, even. Not just love letters, but any letters. When was the last time you wrote or received a personal letter? Not a postcard, not a fax or email or blog post or text message or wall post, but a handwritten letter? Way back in 1998 or '99, a time in which email had become the primary form of written interpersonal communication, I, as a joke, wrote a letter to my then-gf, who lived on the opposite coast. It seemed absurd since we were used to our written notes getting sent immediately, to use a communication method which took days to get there. But I realized at the time I had lived my entire life without ever having written a love letter - I came of age too late for that to be common, although I heard lots of stories for older people and in old movies and songs. The closest I've come to having received a letter in the last 20 years is an email attachment I got about two years ago, from someone asking me to read her thoughts that she had written down. I was expecting a RTF file or a Microsoft Word document when I clicked on that link, but instead it took me to a .JPG of four pages of handwritten notes, written on lined paper in a spiral notebook. It was shocking to read something in her actual handwriting in this day and age, and somehow it packed an emotional wallop just seeing her real handwriting even over a computer screen. I wonder if this will become more common if tablet computers become common (I haven't tried using a stylus with an iPad yet; writing with a fingertip is awkward). Sometimes I can't even bear to part with my old text messages every time I change cell phones - a problem for those of us that use Verizon or Sprint with their non-GSM phones that don't have swappable SIM cards. I use BitPim for moving my data but it doesn't work with all phones. I want that old text message sent to me from a woman I just met and didn't realize we were about to start a relationship. Likewise for voice mail messages made under the same circumstances - I miss the old days when they were stored to a cassette tape and easily copied if I had something worth saving. deedee99, I can still play on guitar the love song I wrote for my first real love. I can't sing it anymore though, time has taken a toll on my voice (and it wasn't all that good to begin with). I am working on an elaborate handmade greeting card, a project planned for last Valentine's day that I scrapped but may reinstate if I can find the time and inclination. Completely custom made from cardstock and art-store supplies. Certain sentiments you just won't find at the Hallmark store, and sometimes I really want her to feel me, and have her know that what she's reading isn't a card I picked up at the drugstore that's just like thousands of others, but something that was made especially for her with all of her favorite colors and textures and scents and artwork, something that is truly the only one like it in the entire universe, just like the girl I'm giving it to. Here is a link that might be useful: One of these was about me....