Finding the Perfect Pocketbook

I tried not to be too picky with the handbag choice as I realized if I did not get it yesterday, I would end up going to work with a broken bag. I had about 10 minutes and a Marshalls nearby, so I popped in. DS actually helped me find a bag. It does not have the nice integrated wallet so I had to buy a wallet too, but it is pretty cute. DD was impressed with my choice and welcomed me to the 21st century (I didn’t know that I wasn’t here already).

It is a Tignanello. It kind of looks like this,

but has one center large bag with a couple pockets and is brown leather on the bottom and on the strap. I think for a quick trip, I am going to be very happy with it.

To find out about my other great purchase, check back later today . . .

Hurrah and Boo

One, Hurrah
One, a public thank you to Chris, the Carmax guy, who commented on my new car. We received our car atlas and it came in very handy yesterday when doing homework with DS who had to plan a road trip cross country. I’m still loving the car and people can’t believe that it is a used car. It is in excellent shape! It was also very exciting to fill the tank with $30.

Two, Boos
I failed to mention that on our trip to NYC, my pocketbook broke. The strap came apart from the purse and BAM it fell right to the sidewalk. Thank goodness I noticed and picked it right up - - - I was the one carrying the theater tickets and the return train tickets, but I then had to clutch my bag for the rest of the day. So now I either have to try to repair this bag or find another one. I HATE shopping for pocketbooks. When I bought this one, only a year ago from Coldwater Creek, I was very excited to find it. I had been looking for months because I knew my old one was dying. I am very picky about purses. I don’t like them too big or too small, and I like the integral wallet as part of the bag. Also, I am NOT paying $100 plus dollars for a bag. Frankly, if I didn’t carry so much crap, I would just carry a wallet, but then where would the checkbook, sunglasses, keys, epi-pen, pads, membership cards, etc. all go? So Coldwater Creek and Amazon, here I come. Please have something reasonable and sturdy!

The second Boo goes to a church in Florida for arresting a man for stealing communion wafers. If God thinks it was wrong to take to many, he’ll take care of it. As for us, I’m pretty sure that we are called to feed the hungry and help those in need. Why didn’t you hand him the whole bowl or invite him for soup and a sandwich after the service instead of tackling him and having him arrested?

Getting Ready for Prom 1988

In an effort to keep up with technology and understand what my DD is doing online, I have set up a facebook page. She is truly frightened by the number of friends that I have found online. She didn't realize that us old-fogies used computers, but many of my old classmates are there.

While I was setting up the page, I came by this old beauty - my senior prom picture from 1988 and yes this is my DH. We have been together a very long time. Which is kind of scary because within our group of friends it is not unusual for us to marry our high school sweethearts, so that means any boy friend that DD brings home may be a future son-in-law.

Rockettes & Girl Scouts

The show was great!

We took the Metro into the NYC walked to Radio City and saw the Rockettes Christmas Spectacular. Several of had seen it three or four years ago, but their were also several that had never seen it and for that fact had really never been in the city except for a school trip to one of the museums. So this was a new door opened to them. For them, I wish that we had more time to explore the city. Alas, we only had time for the show and then back on the train to CT.



I have to tell you that I love the tap dancing numbers. There is something about dancing that is also music that I find amazing. Also, as a Christian, I was thrilled to again see the live nativity scene. One of the other mothers was shocked that they had it. Christmas has been so washed of its meaning in general society that it is surprising to see such a religious scene. She was pleasantly surprised.

One of my favorite parts of trips like this with Girl Scouts is the doors that it opens in girls' minds. As I mentioned, several of the girls had never really been to the city and had never taken a commuter train, now they have. A couple of them have never been to theater until they came to this troop. These activities which seem like just fun trips have expanded their universes and given rise to new possibilities in their lives. It is quite awe inspiring when you think of it.

We are down to only six girls in our troop: four that have been together since daisies and two that are actually cousins that joined about two years ago. One of the mothers of one of the newer girls said to me on the train, "I never expected my 14 year old to still be in Girl Scouting. This troop has been such a good thing for her and me. She really loves Girl Scouts." The mother went on to talk about how Girl Scouting had opened so many doors to both of them and provided them with activities and ideas that they would have never come by on their own - and as she put it, "not just the good stuff either" (meaning the Rockettes), but also our work on the Crop Walk or visit by the coordinator of HELO orphanage in Haiti; badge work; hikes; camping, etc.

So Girl Scouts and the Rockettes, thanks for a great weekend!

An Inconvenient Ruth & Do you Know?

Work isn't always work.



An Inconvenient Ruth - video powered by Metacafe

But then sometimes, it is:



These are both from work today.

Let me know your thoughts.

Going into the City this Weekend

Here is a clue to what I am doing this weekend:




Do you know what it is? The greatest part of this trip is that one of moms in my troop has just been diagnosed with breast cancer and seeing the Rockettes is on her list of things to do. This will be her first time. Certainly, I hope that she will see it many, many more times, but I'm glad during this difficult time we are doing something that she wants to do. Hopefully, it will be a good day for her.

I will let you all about it on Monday!

Christmas Catalogs Clog my Mailbox

The Christmas catalog onslaught has begun. Each day that I get the mail, I am now getting four or five catalogs a day. By the beginning of December, our mail can become alarmingly large. I must admit that my shopping habits only make this onslaught worse. I abhor crowds. I try to shop throughout the year to avoid the Christmas crowds, but when we get down to the final push, I shop almost entirely online or through catalogs. I’m sure this only increases the catalogs that fill my mailbox.

Some of my favorite catalogs are Hearthsong, LL Bean, American Girl, National Geographic, and yesterday’s arrival Discovery. Some of the items that jumped out of me in the Discovery Catalog:

For weirdness: Balance Ball Chair $99.95 - The picture says it all. I'm not sure that I could add to it.

For Practicality: (the cheapest and most effective form of teenage birth control – the truth! Actually probably a better gift for new parents) a video called From Conception to Birth $14.95

Timeless Entrepreneurship:New!(I like this definition because that must mean I’m young) Ultimate Pot holder Kit $ 29.95 (Of Course, you may be able to find this at a tag sale for $1.00 or in your own attic for free)

There are plenty more really interesting gifts. I suggest that we all review or Christmas lists to see where we stand and what we have left to get. The holidays will be here before we know it.