General Update

We had a great time watching conference in our cozy basement. We rearranged our sectional couch so it was a line instead of a "V."

The girls drew some really cute pictures during conference, so we displayed them on our ledge.

As you may have noticed, the pictures are blury. Our old camera, bought in 2005, has become very unreliable when it comes to focusing. Between sessions, True bought a new digital camera for the family, and I took Praise to Target so she could buy a pink Easter hat she had her eye on. (True spent 179.99; Praise spent 1.01. Everyone was happy!) Our new camera focuses, has lots of fun features, takes 1080p video, does NOT run on AA batteries, and does not reset the date and time everytime the batteries are changed! Who could ask for anything more?!

While at we were buying the pink hat, I could see Praise wishing she had the money to buy several more items. (I'll admit that it was tempting to just buy lots of things for her and Delight while we were there--but I didn't do it.) Praise really wants to buy a pink butterfly net from Target's dollar area, so we made a job list she can do to earn money. For every job that she does, she gets two cents. [I hope she earns enough money before they change the items in the dollar area!] She also has her eye on a pair of white gloves with pink bows on them. I'm not sure what Delight is going to buy with her money, but I'm going to try to steer her towards similar items and away from Princess things and candy. (A note to the grandparents: they love most anything from that area!)

I wanted to make sure the jobs weren't ones Praise should already be doing; for example, I'm not going to pay her to get dressed, wash her hands, or make her bed. Some of the jobs I'm willing to pay her to do include cleaning a room, helping with laundry, reading a book to Delight, cleaning up the craft area (which is usually the end of the kitchen table), taking a nap (which is no longer a requirement around here for the girls), and making breakfast. It's nice when Praise says, "I want to clean the whole house!" and then cleans two or three rooms. Delight is right there with her, too, working very diligently. On their last pay day, they each got 30 cents then paid 3 cents in tithing.

My daddy is my favorite pal.

So, last December when cousin Paul Beach's house burned down, the one room that was totally spared was the furnace room where they kept photo albums and old pictures. Paul and Aunt Marcia went through these special preservations and found some old (really old) Polaroids. Because they are Polaroids they have no negatives, and are the only copies of these pictures. Aunt Marcia gave this one to me when I saw her at Christmas time.

Can you guess the year it was taken?

April Fools 2011

Dear Contestant:

Thank you for showing interest in our company at our annual Pack Rat Convention. Out of all the participants in our “Words that Rhyme with ‘Peanut’” contest, you are this year’s

Grand Prize Winner!

Your brilliant word “Seenit” beat out the other two contestants, whose words weren’t even close to rhyming. For your exciting grand prize, please accept this first installment of your year’s supply of Eco-Friendly edible packaging peanuts, a $1.99 value, absolutely free!

You may expect a shipment every month at this time. When your prize expires next April 1st, you may continue receiving shipments by sending $2.99, plus shipping and handling, to our corporate office OR by re-entering our rhyming contest. Next year’s word: Eco Friendly.

Keep watch for our latest innovations in packaging supplies! Coming soon…Non magnetic Packaging Peanuts for safely shipping cell phones and laptops.

Sincerely,

Patty Planters
CEO Eco Friendly Edible Packaging Peanuts Inc.

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ATTN: Patty Planters


Dear Ms. Planters:

Thank you for your recent shipment of packing peanuts. At the recent Pack Rat Convention, I made a special effort to seek out your company's booth because your edible packing peanuts are a favorite of my cat Clydesdale.

However, the dissimilarity between these peanuts and your standard edible variety caused me to wonder whether these were indeed edible. So, I tested one out before feeding them to Clydesdale. I'm glad I did because eating one was not at all a pleasant experience, not even with ketchup.

Would it be at all possible for the shipments hereafter to include your standard edible peanuts that Clydesdale and I have come to enjoy so much?

Sincerely,

Geraldine Einbinder

P.S. A conflict with the scheduling of the annual Lint Crafter's Club prevents me from attending the Pack Rat Convention next year. May I submit an early entry to the rhyming contest? Picot Henley