We ended up getting good clear internet deals and they are going to be installing it into our new vacation home next week. We have always wanted a beach house and have just gotten to the point where we are going to be able to afford one. My husband and I both love the beach. I wish that we had been able to afford one sooner, but now is a great time because our kids are becoming teenagers and already don’t want to spend their extra time with Mom and Dad. Anything that we can do to get them to “hang” with us is worth it. We have already gotten them to agree to spend the summer at the condo. I am going to stay for the majority of the summer and my husband is going to come every weekend. The kids are going to be allowed to invite a friend or two. The good thing is that it is only about two hours from our house, so it is a very quick and easy drive there. I just can’t wait!

I always buy my mother something on Valentine’s Day, it’s always best to keep on her good side.

She has a few friends that she has been going to the local pool with and her folks are planning a beach get-a-way long weekend this up and coming 4th of July holiday. So she seems to be keeping busy, it is a drag for some kids that have nothing to do all summer, that is when trouble can start brewing. Busy hands are happy hands, as my mother always says, and there is a lot of truth to that.

One thing that my niece is very good at is the computer, her folks had her up and running on her own PC at the age of two years old and she knows what she is doing when it comes to email, the Internet, several different programs, and she has tons of software full of games and educational ones also that she enjoys.

In her email she was telling me of one of her favorite web-sites that she and her girlfriends just discovered a few weeks ago which is all about GirlSense Fashion Dress Up Games at a site called GirlSense.com. She tells me that it allows her and her friends to go into different boutiques and purchase virtual fashion items of fashion designers and celebrities like MTV’s The Hills, Savy and Mandy, Mudd and numerous others, that I have to tell you I have no idea who most of these are, but she seems thrilled with them.

I have to say that web-sites like these are really a good thing for these girls, it teaches them so many things that will help them later on in life. And I like that there is more and more things coming out for little girls, most video games really are not geared towards them and there has been a push for more girl oriented games to be available to them and it looks like it is working to some degree.

It is amazing how much junk people can accumulate, and to think that so many folks are paying a monthly storage fee in order to hold on to all. I can’t imagine paying some one to provide me with a place to store my junk, those monthly bills add it to a good amount of money and most of the stuff that is being stored isn’t worth it, in most cases anyway.

This person has to be in charge. He or she is always the one who brings up things that need to be done and sets about either doing themselves for ample pats on the back and credit, or they set about designating duties or assignments to others. Often this person will make a major decision or purchase and then approach the group with expectations of being repaid. They also expect the rest of the group to accept the decisions without question – just do as you’re told.

Often the others in the family go along with the control freak just to keep the peace. But to their credit, sometimes they do tackle unpleasant jobs that no one else wants to do.

I’ll take a look around online for a bit and see what is out there, but I have a feeling that I will need a woman beside me in order to make any final decisions on this. Too many variables going on with this task.

My mother expressed a strong interest in having a group family picture be taken the last time we were all together, so that she could use the photo for just that purpose. The last time we were all together was many, many years ago, but most of us were around for our parent’s anniversary dinner only a few months ago (only a few people couldn’t attend) and I made sure that plenty of pictures were taken, in the hopes of getting at least one decent picture that everyone would be pleased with enough, knowing that it would be used for Christmas time purposes. I was pleased that several came out very well, I just hope that Mom & Dad can come to a quick agreement as to which one will be used

I’ve decided that I’m going to send my mother the link to ChristmanCardsDirect.com and ask her to see if she sees a design or two to her liking, I saw several that I’m pretty sure she will like, knowing my mother’s taste as I do these days, seems I spend enough time over there helping them out around the house. Not complaining mind you.

While my mother is on their site I will urge her to please have dad along with her and read up on their Photo Card Taking Tips and some of their articles that I think they should learn a few things from. They know their way around the computer quite well and this site is easy enough to maneuver around in, I always encourage them to do as much as they can before I need to step into the picture for any guidance or assistance with their many schemes and adventures that they get themselves into.

This year I’ve decided to ask for one of the metal detectors garrett style. Who knows, I just might wake up and find one under the tree this year, stranger things have been know to happen on Christmas morning. And I’ve wanted to go metal detecting for a long time.