deb, thanks for your advice. i called this morning when they opened and spoke to the customer service department. we discussed that it hadn't arrive yet at its destination. she reviewed their records and showed no activity on it. we discussed how it gets voided out so to say and they do that in their system as the certificate is numbered. (thank God they keep records, because i just signed it, put it in a card and mailed it). we decided to wait a few days to see, just in case my sent mail got misrouted. however, just a few minutes ago, i called back and asked her to stop it completely, which she did in their system. so yes, legitimate companies can void out gift certificates as long as they are numbered and tracked on their end. tina, if you haven't yet send anything to me for february, let's call it a day. if you have then of course, i will do the decent thing and send off to you. you mentioned in your email about your and inability so just let's forget about february with no hard feeling. if the certificate does ever show up, it cannot be used. i was thinking you would have liked some new iris and made it a little more special since i was making this my last month in this group. my letter in the card talked about it as well. fyi to everyone. at times i get a lot of junk mail, magazines and circulars. i have now learned, even if i am not interested in those things, to look through them. last year i gave the kids a bunch of magazines they could use for cutting out for school projects. my sister gave me back mail that had been inside a bh&g magazine (which i don't like but my aunt always renews my subscription). it was something i swore at the time had never been delivered to me. so now, i'm more careful. just a thought! be well everyone maryanne

I subscribed to Terri's list for one month. Got all the tips i could, now do my own couponing. Here is what I do.. I purchase the Sunday paper with coupons. I clip them all regardless if I use that particular brand or item. I keep them in a three ring binder filled with clear sheets (the kind you used in high school to hand in a report) I have them organized by type. I also keep a calculator in my binder. It is very small and clips on one of the rings. I use this to check the price per item with the sale, somethimes it is not less then the store brand, and there for not a good deal. It may be the same price then I buy want the name brand. All my shampoo is in one clear sheet, all my paper goods etc. I do not use all the coupons I clip but I do keep them, just in case. Kids may need something for school or I need to buy something for an occasion I take this book to the market. I can quickly scan them by item/or aisle and see if I have any for the sale items. I keep a paper clip in the front and clip it to my paper clip. I often see people fumbling with a stack of coupons, while I am just turning the pages. I do try and wait till the item goes on sale before buying it. Then I buy more then I need and use my stockpile. Recently brown sugar was on sale, I had a coupon so I stocked up even though I had some in the freezer. Some items only go on sale once a year. My supermarket will often discontinue items slashing them 50%. Last month they got rid of a paticular fragrance of Downy I do not buy that brand because it tends to cost more per ounce, but with the 50% plus my coupon (which I kept in my binder just in case) which was doubled I got it for less then the store brand. That is the goal to combine the sale with the the coupon and get the items you will use for less. Coupons exist for shampoos,toilet paper, paper towels, dog treats, coffee, sanitary napkins, toothpaste, toothbrushes and other household items. If you are not a particular brand person then this works to your advantage. I also read my supermarket flyer very carefully often two or three times. Sometimes I pull the coupons and put them under the paper clip before I even enter the store so I know what I am couponing for. I think it is so fun.. I even share my coupons with my coworkers who have babies and need diapers, or strangers in the store. Ohh! Stop and Shop will except King Kullens coupon for $10.00 off the total order of $70.00 or more. I always ask if they accept the competitors coupons. Home depot accepts Lowes as well. The temptation to over buy just because you have a coupon for the item will always exist. Overcoming that desire is called self control. Enjoy the fun! Lovelycherry

Lots of great tips given already, but my best tip is not to let it get dirty/untidy/cluttered in the first place. In other words, take care of issues with a few spare minutes before they get out of control, rather than having it overwhelm you After it's out of control. Think - PREVENT DEFENSE..... -Do dishes and clean the kitchen immediately after each meal (takes 10-15minutes) - you can relax after it's done and not have it as a negative thought eating you up the rest of the evening. Take another 5 minutes to sweep the floor so it doesn't get tracked all over the rest of the house. BTW - dish cloths and dish rags are ONE-SIZE-FITS-ALL, as are dust cloths, brooms, vacuums, and any number of other cleaning items ;-). There are also not any gender-specific household chores. I think the best training my husband got was being a janitor at a number of businesses and schools while he went to college. The man can out-clean me any day of the week! -Eat together at the table, not all over the house at different times - (you won't have to take time to locate dirty dishes). -Put dirty clothes in a laundry basket/s (they will be all in one place when you need to start the laundry). We use 4 baskets located above the w/d on a shelf, and automatically separate clothes into whites, lights, darks, and kitchen towels. We air dry any wet items on a drying rack before tossing them into the laundry baskets to prevent that "sour" smell from wet items. -Do laundry on a regular schedule - and never run out of underwear! -Develop the do it NOW habit - don't just lay things down on the first convenient flat surface available intending to put it away later - put things away where they are supposed to go so you can easily find it later, hang coats/jackets in closets, shoes belong in your closet - not cluttering up the front entrance... We're not a shoes OFF family, which is a much debated issue on message boards ;-). Our flooring is designed to be walked on by us and by our guests/visitors (we have a rug outside and inside the front door to wipe shoes on). In fact, I'd rather visitors DIDN'T remove their shoes! My sister-in-law always went barefoot around the house and she always had warts on her feet, and her doctor told her it was because she was spreading the virus by going barefoot. - Go Figure - Keep your shoes on, please, we don't need your warts! So different strokes for different folks - but shoes don't belong at the front door entrance, whether you remove them there or not. -Get rid of/eliminate/prevent clutter - We don't take a daily newspaper or any magazine subscriptions, so that's a great way to save money, and we don't have a stack of them (usually left unread) to try to get-around-to. We had a friend who hated cleaning their bathroom. If they eliminated the 40 bottles of stuff lined up around the tub like a race track, it would make using AND cleaning the tub a breeze. The same went for the vanity that was completely covered with "stuff". Think of storage options to keep things clutter-free for easy cleaning - better yet, don't have "stuff" that causes clutter. -Deal with mail immediately - put "junk mail" into the recycling, put bills/correspondence in one place and take care of them a.s.a.p. -Tidy the public spaces of your home before retiring for the evening - takes 5 minutes - so it's turned a negative into a positive and a mess won't be greeting you the next morning. -Make beds each morning - it takes about 1-minute, and you'll have a positive space to retire to at night (btw - a 4-year old can make their own bed if you teach them how and don't make it complicated - and expect it to be done each day). -Identify problem areas, as already suggested. Most problems can be avoided or corrected with 5-minutes of regular attention that become good habits - and everyone participates in good habits. Reward good habits - everyone likes a little praise when it's deserved. If we keep the house clean this week, it won't take us as long to do the regular housework on Saturday, and we will have time to go out for an ice cream cone if we all do a good job all week! -Children should have a list of things they do just because they are part of a family. Pay them for things above and beyond their normal chores. Example: our kids got paid 25-cents per bag for leaves they raked (1980's prices :-), or helping with cleaning out the garage, or helping in the garden -- but taking their dishes from the table to the sink/dishwasher, helping do dishes, keeping their room clean, helping prepare a meal or setting the table, feeding/walking any pets, etc., was part of being a family - a good social skill and common courtesy. When our children were old enough, they planed and cooked one meal each week, and hubby did one on the weekend. We were all busy, so shared responsibilities made them a little lighter for all of us. -It's good manners to leave something in good or better condition than when you used it, so everyone has a positive experience. So if you splashed a few drops of water on the mirror, go ahead and wipe them off - rinse out the sink/tub/shower when you're done, or any number of other day-to-day things. If not you, then who? I AM my own housekeeper, so why would I want any more to do than is absolutely necessary? -It shouldn't take more than an hour to clean the entire house once a week, even less if you divide the tasks between 3 people, especially if you use "prevent defense" between cleaning days. Everyone in the household needs to be involved - they all dirty it, they can all help clean it AND keep it tidy. If they can mess something up, they have the skills to clean it up, especially once it's been defined as something they need to control and they have been instructed how to accomplish that task. The same motor skills that it takes to take toys out and play with them, remove a book from a shelf, take the blankets down to go to bed, can all be done in reverse. Unfortunately, that half of the equation is often ignored. When my son was going to college and living with different roommates, he often had to teach them these social skills about living as a "family", as well as how to do dishes, laundry, clean a toilet/bathroom, mop a floor, take out the trash, cook, and any number of other skills he'd been doing since he was a child. -If all else fails, get up 30-60 minutes earlier so you can take care of a portion of the list of things-to-do we all have to do, until you get a routine established. Your family will benefit from all you do, and all you teach THEM how to do. A friend with three children bemoaned the fact that she was a poor housekeeper because her mother was. I told her that was a lame excuse. After all, wasn't she in charge of her own activities, not her mother? Didn't she have the option to do the opposite? And if she didn't change the "poor housekeeper" model for the family, how did she ever expect her children to be good housekeepers? -Grainlady

UPDATE on swap seeds. I spent the night watching SB and updating my tomato seeds. someone took the whole bags of A-B tomato seeds. Which is fine. I hope they can grow out or spend the love of tomatoes. still holding quite a few . The ground hog and FA have me felling anxious. this is farmers almanac notes. FA says March avg. temp 43. 1 to the 17 th light flurries to rain. 25th to the 31st rain then snow showers April -ave temp. 53. - 1-6 sunny and cool 10 to 12 rainy warm 22nd to 31 few showers mild My avg temp 67 few thunderstorms warm