This has nothing to do with sustainability…or being homegrown….or homesteading…but it is something we love….BASKETBALL! You just have to see this shot for yourself……

Money has never flowed freely for us, so I am always looking for ways to cut back on costs.  With my DIY projects, DH often tells me “your time is worth more than that”, but my thought is that if what you are doing is not keeping you from making money, then your time is NOT worth “more than that”.  My theory is that if you have to have something done…AND…you don’t have the $$ to pay for it, then DIY is your only choice.

If you are making something yourself (that has to be purchased)…say…like…ummmm….graduation announcements? If  the end result is half the cost of the Josten’s school announcements….that is a good thing right? (disclaimer: don’t tell anyone…but…. sometimes my ideas end up costing more money than what would have originally been spent. Shhhhh! ) For instance... those aforementioned Josten’s announcements run approximately $1.50 each. I think having the “official” announcement chosen by certain members of the senior class is important, but not necessarily important enough to send to everyone on our grad list. Last year, some family members had photo memory announcements designed that ended up costing about $1 each.

After looking at a few of those announcements, I thought…goodness! I can design these…AND I have a reasonably priced printing source that could make my announcements half of even that cost. Well Prom was the past weekend, which means it is time to begin working on those announcements. So far, I have spent four solid days of designing and I STILL don’t have an end product with which I am satisfied. After looking at several designs online, my designs are not quite up to par. My ideas are good I think, but my software is failing me.

So this is where I whisper to you, again, that my ideas sometimes cost me more than if I had just gone ahead and purchased someone else’s work. I have been looking at an upgrade to my software for quite some time now, but just could not rationalize spending the money.  In this lifetime, I will never be able to afford Adobe, Dreamweaver, Expressions II, etc. Print Shop is more inline with my budget. I wanted to upgrade to the Print Shop Pro Publisher 23, which would be the third version I have purchased over the years, but I still was having a bit of a time letting go of the cash. Yesterday, after 5 hours of non-stop mistakes and redoes of one announcment, what did I find in my email inbox but a nice 33% discount on thePSPP! In my exhaustion, my willpower was weak and out came the plastic and just like that my new version is on its way.

The way I calculate it, that makes those announcements closer to that $1 each mark now… depending on how many we actually purchase. So there you go….save pennies…spend dollars.

I was needing something a bit different today….something a bit goofy to move my thoughts to something other than what has been filling up my mind lately.

Hope you don’t mind…and we will be returning to our regular programming soon.

When I was teaching, we would do this little dance every Friday afternoon. The kids loved it…wellllll…..THAT and Disco Duck.

It’s official! The crud that started with Hais has now run its course through her, DH and now me! Two weeks of at least one person at any given time being sick. Hais missed a couple of days of school and DH missed an important out of town meeting Thursday and Friday of last week. They both have been on a round of antibiotics, but they didn’t see to hurry in progress toward getting well, so I have opted to NOT take a round.

I have been treating the symptoms…headache, stuffed right side of face, exhaustion, chills, then too warm…you know the drill. I have gone through two entire boxes of tissue the past 2 and a half days. Meds include generic Dayquil and Tylenol. Today I took a generic Benadryl type pill. Liquids? Oh yes, plenty of them. I single handedly have finished off 2 qts of grape juice and am working on another 2 qts., hot Echinacea tea, DeTox Tea, coffee..gotta have coffee, 2 qts. orange juice with yummy pulp and lots of water. I cannot imagine what my sinuses would feel like if I had not taken in as many fluids. The only problem is…for the input there is always output…..which gives me a tiny bit of ”excersize” going back and forth and up/down the stairs.

I do not feel like driving into town to make it to the health food store, so I am now purchasing my natural remedies online. I used to take a Get Well Soon blend of herbs, but since I no longer have access to that brand, I am switching over to Rainbow’s Light Get Well supplements. These supplements have a unique blend of Chinese herbs that speed up the healing process and counteract the general yuckiness (is that a word?) of cold and flu symptoms. When I compared those ingredients to that of my old brand, the Rainbow’s Light had higher IUs of garlic and echinacea. Best of all, House of Nutrition is  having a SALE on Rainbow’s Light products.

50% off Rainbow Light Products at House of Nutrition

 This is the week that we have our Chocolate-Fest for a Serendipity Club fundraiser at the school. This morning, I regretfully called the sponsor to tell her that I could not participate. I always worry if the teacher will think I am one of those parents who just do not want to be bothered, but I did explain to her that if I-I-I were the one doing the purchasing…I-I-I would NOT want anything coming out of this house to eat. Luckily, she purchased some extra items and some of the girls are helping out with the baking, so I can just send a check to reimburse the cost…and then maybe include a little donation to the cause. Money does not buy happiness, but it can sure get you out of a jam sometimes.

♥