The DDA Trouble Free Zone Part 18

[UP Disney]

Ok, DDA friends, I need some help. A couple of months ago, I was looking at an Alaskan Cruise on a Cruise line that was recommended by one of you if I remember correctly. For the life of me, I can't remember which one I was looking at. Any ideas?

 

[yellowfish78]

Ok, DDA friends, I need some help. A couple of months ago, I was looking at an Alaskan Cruise on a Cruise line that was recommended by one of you if I remember correctly. For the life of me, I can't remember which one I was looking at. Any ideas?

I'd recommend Holland America first, then Princess. Holland has been doing Alaska the longest - but with Princess not far behind. If you do a land/sea combination, try to do the land first (more active stuff) then cruise (so you can relax) second. HTH!

 

[dumby]

I just wanted to drop in and say THANK YOU to everyone that has sent a Christmas card. Me and my DS6 have really enjoyed getting them. so a big

THANK YOU TO ALL

It does not look like I will get my cards done this year. With the WPASADI contest and real life work I am swamped.

The contest has really helped me get over some of my depression and has kept me from worrying too much about the bankruptcy. We go to court Thursday. Please keep us in your prayers as we finish this up.

Things are still really hard for us right now especially given this time of year. There are so many things I want to do that I do not have the money for it is just very depressing.

THUS the contest helping me with my depression because it does not leave me much time to do anything else.

I have not had time to read along much but did see about Marci's mom. I just want Marci to know she is in my prayers. Marci this is for you

WELL HERE IS WISHING YOU ALL A

VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

 

[Tammi67]

he certainly does.

I think I did well for his choices for the girls, though. We talked a long time this morning and I finally got him to understand that when we were Kathrin's age we already HAD Kathrin! And when we were Kristin's age we knew we were going to get married. So...

For Kristin:

For Kathrin:

Great choices. I love the handbag. Where did you get the jewelry box?

We went over to the mall around noon (hard for me to get moving any earlier). Getting into and out of the mall was crazy, as was finding a parking place, but once inside it wasn't bad at all. Of course we only went to Mastercuts for the kids to get haircuts and JC Penney men's. I'm done with my shopping and wrapping, except I need to go to Starbucks and buy a gift pack for an exchange that we are having at work. And like a dummy I volunteered to take up the collection for our boss and our secretary to get them gift cards. Now I have to decide from where to get the gift cards.

 

[Tammi67]

Finally have a moment to sit for awhile. DS Scott drove home from Michigan State yesterday with his new girlfriend who is visiting for a couple of days before heading back home to Michigan. DS Mike is flying home right now, I'll have to leave for the airport in about 30 mins to pick him up.

I spent the afternoon making the marshmallow s'mores that Glynis posted about, and a batch of rice krispie treats.

This morning I made 2 pans of lasagna, one for us and one for our son and DIL with the new baby.

I still have a little wrapping to do, but not too much, and all the decorating was done before last weekend, as we had a holiday party here for our co-workers (DH and I both work for the same department at Kodak, so most of our co-workers all know each other.)

I got my Christmas cards in the mail this morning.

DH finished disassembling and cleaning the computer and desk we are giving to DS and DDIL for Christmas (it is used but much better than what they have) We don't need 3 computers in the house for 2 people, now that all the kids have their own.

My DSS (DH's middle son) graduated from SUNY Brockport this weekend, so we are having a family dinner for him here tomorrow night as he does not want anything more than that.

So everything seems to be under control for now, and I feel pretty ready for the holiday. I still need to shop for all my Christmas Eve and Christmas day groceries, so that will be my next project planning and preparing food for those 2 events.

I hope everyone is having a great weekend!

WOW.......you sure are organized! I'm glad you can relax and enjoy the week leading up to Christmas.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

Robyn - Sister got in the car the other day and smelled like a giant onion ring. I said "What did you have for snack today?" You can guess the answer! "Latkes!" The smell of that oil gets in her clothes, her hair, her backpack. And she said it wasn't even her class that cooked them! Momboss was going to order them from the Kosher deli instead of trying to make them herself.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

So I finished the batch of cookies. They are the "place and bake" sugar cookies from Pillsbury. They have jack-o-lanterns on them. They were just a little past the "use by" date. They taste fine.

Now I have a pan of brownies in there. We'll see how that goes.

 

[Tammi67]

Not much left to do other than vacuum and get dinner started. I hate making the latkes, they take forever but are so worth it.

Tomorrow morning we are headed to my Aunt's, on my mom's side of the family, for Christmas breakfast. Makes for a non stressed out Christmas morning.

Oh and my mom took the girls to see Santa this morning and Emma comes home and tells me that she asked Santa for a Nintendo DS and clothes for her Felicity doll, American Girl. Well for months she has said she is asking Santa for Jess, another AG doll, which of course I have had since September. And her Hanukkah present is clothes for Felicity. When I asked her about the doll she said I forgot Mom. Hopefully she isn't too disappointed.

Have a great weekend everyone. and

What exactly are latkes? I've never had them.

When we were at the mall Alyssa asked if she could go see Santa again. This from the girl who was deathly afraid of him 3 weeks ago. I asked why and she said she needed to tell him she wants a computer. ARG! Now I am rethinking this whole Leapster thing. Should I take it back and get one of the Vtech laptop things?!

 

[Tammi67]

Ok, DDA friends, I need some help. A couple of months ago, I was looking at an Alaskan Cruise on a Cruise line that was recommended by one of you if I remember correctly. For the life of me, I can't remember which one I was looking at. Any ideas?

My parents did a Royal Caribbean Alaska cruise and LOVED it.

 

[Tammi67]

The contest has really helped me get over some of my depression and has kept me from worrying too much about the bankruptcy. We go to court Thursday. Please keep us in your prayers as we finish this up.

and for Thursday.

 

[PrincessLeighsDaddy]

What exactly are latkes? I've never had them.

When we were at the mall Alyssa asked if she could go see Santa again. This from the girl who was deathly afraid of him 3 weeks ago. I asked why and she said she needed to tell him she wants a computer. ARG! Now I am rethinking this whole Leapster thing. Should I take it back and get one of the Vtech laptop things?!

Tammi, Leighanna has a Leapster and A Vtech laptop computer thing. She definitely plays ALOT more with her Leapster than her computer. She played with the computer thing more when it was new, and now it just sits there. The Leapster on the other hand, she will go back to again, and again. So I would stick with the Leapster. HTH

 

[Tammi67]

Thanks Tom. I appreciate the input.

Oh, and I got the squishy curlers for Alyssa today. We are going to do a trial run tonight.

 

[PrincessLeighsDaddy]

Well I spent the afternoon "shopping" for my wife and got so confused that I got nothing! Leighanna kept acting up, the lines at the checkout were long, add that to the confusion, I just gave up!

What do you ladies enjoy getting from your husbands at Christmastime? I am at a loss for ideas, and I don't just want to get her some of the prepackaged "junk" that I see out on the shelves. She has a pretty severe skin allergy problem, so lotions, perfumes, soaps, and makeup all have to be hypoallergenic.

If any of you have any ideas, I might venture out again and give it another try. Thanks!

 

[UP Disney]

So I finished the batch of cookies. They are the "place and bake" sugar cookies from Pillsbury. They have jack-o-lanterns on them. They were just a little past the "use by" date. They taste fine.

Now I have a pan of brownies in there. We'll see how that goes.

Are the brownies from a box or from scratch? Or do I even need to ask?

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

Ah, Vicki! I see you are catching on! They are from a mix! And I have no idea how to tell if the darn things are done or not! The toothpick thing is totally UNhelpful. So they might be a little gooey when we cut them.

Tammi - Latkes are potato "pancakes". You shred the potatoes (like for hash browns) and mix in some onion and other ingredients, then you fry them in hot oil. They are served with applesauce and sour cream for dipping. Very tasty! I imagine they are a pain in the neck to make from scratch.

Tom - I don't have any suggestions. I really like new fragrances, but the one I bought for myself LAST Christmas has hardly been used. I never seem to be able to use up what I have on hand. I don't need any clothes or jewelry or anything for the house (except maybe a housekeeper!) so I just don't have any useful ideas.

 

[tinknme]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KATIE!

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

I think I have a sketchy plan for August dining. And so far we are only paying OOP for 2 TS meals! I was looking at our schedule from last summer. I mentioned we were traveling with friends, and those friends had some specific expectations about timing of meals. All of our dinners were really early. That meant if we went back to the hotel for a nap we had to be up and at an ADR by no later than 6:40 PM. That was our latest one - all the others were earlier! Allowing transport time by Disney bus meant we were usually on our way to dinner by 5:30 PM. This time we are not eating any dinners prior to 7 PM. One of our Epcot nights I think we will just do CS for dinner. That way we can plan to just sort of sample, which we never do. Of course I will have rice cream from Norway.

DH likes to rest in the afternoon, but that virtually guarantees that we miss all the afternoon parades. Last August DH gave up on AK by 1 PM, and by the time the parade was starting DS had given up, too! That park is very difficult in the heat.

 

[UP Disney]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KATIE!

​

Happy Birthday Katie!
​

 

[Glynis]

Well I spent the afternoon "shopping" for my wife and got so confused that I got nothing! Leighanna kept acting up, the lines at the checkout were long, add that to the confusion, I just gave up!

What do you ladies enjoy getting from your husbands at Christmastime? I am at a loss for ideas, and I don't just want to get her some of the prepackaged "junk" that I see out on the shelves. She has a pretty severe skin allergy problem, so lotions, perfumes, soaps, and makeup all have to be hypoallergenic.

If any of you have any ideas, I might venture out again and give it another try. Thanks!

I love it when my husband buys me books. Generally, that's a safe bet for me! Lately, he just gets me gift cards to Barnes and Noble, and then volunteers to babysit for an afternoon, so I can browse to my hearts content.

I also enjoy getting things to spruce up the house. New curtains are coming my way this year. He did mention there are some surprises, so I'm not sure what else he's got planned.

Does your wife have a specific hobby? Could you get her something to go along with that? Does she scrapbook? Knit? Cross stitch? Could you get her spa package for a facial and a massage? Just some ideas. HTH!

 

[tinker1bell]

Well I spent the afternoon "shopping" for my wife and got so confused that I got nothing! Leighanna kept acting up, the lines at the checkout were long, add that to the confusion, I just gave up!

What do you ladies enjoy getting from your husbands at Christmastime? I am at a loss for ideas, and I don't just want to get her some of the prepackaged "junk" that I see out on the shelves. She has a pretty severe skin allergy problem, so lotions, perfumes, soaps, and makeup all have to be hypoallergenic.

If any of you have any ideas, I might venture out again and give it another try. Thanks!

Tom,

One thing I really loved was when DH handed me $$ and said "Go shopping for yourself" I really had the best time ever.
I also had the best time when I bought myself a spa teaser which was a little bit of everything for only $95.
The best present was a diamond tennis bracelet he got me.
Being married for over 37 years has brought a lot of nice surprises that he has really thought about when getting me things.