Life on the Road

You may recall that Nick and Coral Reef band got to perform at a Miami Dolphins game earlier this season.

I desperately wanted to go to the game to see him perform… I got scared, though, when I started looking at the prices.

Sure, they have those $300 – $800 Super Deluxe seats, I thought, but I’m okay with the “nosebleed” section.

On TicketMaster, the cheapest tickets are $41!

They have a “ticket swap” set up, where you can buy tickets from season ticket holders who won’t be using them… But the cheapest thing there was $53!

So back to TicketMaster…

Three seats – yes, I have to buy one for Jewel – at $41, is $123.

Of course there’s a “convenience charge” of $10. PER TICKET! $30 brings us to $153.

You can buy your parking fee in advance, too… Guess how much? $25! Twenty-five bucks. To PARK!

So that’s now $178.

Naturally, I don’t want to pay fees to have them express delivery the tickets to me. But it costs an additional $2.50 for the privledge of printing them myself!

$180.50

Wait! There are no $41 tickets available – the cheapest is $52. But, inexplicably, the convenience charge on these drops to $7.50 each, so it “only” adds $25.50.

Hmmm. Can’t print out the parking pass. So I guess we either pay that at the gate, or go with another delivery method. Standard Mail is (*gasp*) no charge… So we save $2.50, and hope they arrive in time.

Wait! I’m on the checkout page now (just because I can’t resist knowing, not becase I can afford to purchase them)… and there’s a $4.00 “Order Processing Fee” added on to the very end.

They want to bill my credit card for $206.75.

I hate to think what they charge for Hot Dogs… But I digress.

We did get to go, as Mom graciously sponsored the event as an early Christmas present. And the stadium was FULL. Sold out, packed, full.

The economy is horrible. People are out of work, losing their homes, and unable to make ends meet…

So how do all those people find the hundreds of dollars it takes to attend a football game?

And why is it that important to them?

TwitterMoms is at it again, teaming up with DramaU from St. Eve Kids’ Sleepwear to ask mom bloggers to share their tips.

Today’s topic? Getting your kids to bed – and keeping them there!

My top five tips:

1. Nutritious, filling dinner
2. No junk food in the evening (no sugar, no caffeine, etc.)
3. Familiar, soothing routine (familiartiy calms them naturally, but also cozy family reading time!)
4. Get enough sleep – including naps (paradoxically, too tired kids can’t fall asleep easily, and don’t sleep well)
5. Sharing sleep. My littles nurse to sleep, and snuggle close all night… No worries!

What works for you?

Staples and TwitterMoms are sponsoring a contest for tips about saving time & money.

You know what, though? Most people seem to feel it’s an either/or proposition.

You can save time by shopping at a place that has it all, or even has it all online… but you’re likely to pay a premium.

OR

You can save money by searching through ads, coupons, and specials, planning a route to all the different stores you need to hit, sending in rebates and special offers… you’ll get it all for less, but pay for it in time and effort.

What if I want to save it all?

My biggest tip or saving time AND money during the holiday season is to JUST SAY NO!

At our house, we try to “say no” to the consumer mindset from the get-go. As you may know about us, we’ve adoped the Dutch tradition of doing our gift-giving on the Feast of St. Nicholas, with a focus on handmade and creative giving. (This also has the advantage of reserving Christmas or a celebration of Christ’s birth).

We also “say no” to he holiday shopping (binge!) by buying year-round. Although a lot of things are on sale now, the perfect blue glass bowl for my mom waas actually on sale in August – so I grabbed it! For a little bit of storage hassle, I save my time, money, and sanity during the holidays!

Cook a meal for a family dealing with an illness or a new baby, or vacuum the floors! Gifts of service are often much more apprecated by those in need, and are certainly cheaper to give.

Any other good tips to share??

Merry Christmas!

If you’re looking for good reviews of fun stuff for Christmas Gifts, as well as giveaways, I recommend checking out My Wee View:

Rght now, for instance, I’ve been busy entering her drawing for your choice of a pair of shoes from Stride Rite! Can’t beat that…

Well, they’re at it again!

Hop on over to 5 Minutes for Mom and check out the amazing list of prizes they’re giving away!

Veggie Tales, Melissa & Doug… Good stuff!

Is a bedroom make-over from the TwitterMoms and Vision Bedding Contest!

So, ummm… Did I mention that we’re going to be living in our RV again?

No exciting travel this time – it’s a Park and Play sort of thing.

But my bedroom?

About 18″ wider than our Queen-sized bed. And 18″ longer.

Seriously.

All our clothes in the tiny strage above the bed, and the tiny hanging closet bar (open) that Wolf installed for our last go-round of RV life. Oh, and storage under the bed.

With that kind of cramped quarters, a little decor would go a long way towards making it feel a little more like a home!

Look at this pretty sage and brown pattern! It would look lovely with my sage paint (yes, we’re planning to paint inside the RV with the leftovers from the paint we chose when we moved into the Berry Farm house)…

My paint is Behr Promenade, which apparently was “Seen on HGTV $250,000 Challenge”, but which looks nothing like this dull, gray swatch looks on my monitor:

You can have your chosen design put on bedding, wall murals, or whatever. Very cool idea!

So some nice sticker art borders to put over the cheesy-with-extra-cheese borders that are in the RV now? Maybe a Duvet cover to transform into a hanging “closet” to cover up the exposed clothes? An of course a comforter and throw pillows to make the bed inviting…

My story (breastfeeding history) is featured on “Mommy News and Views”, the blog hosted by A Mother’s Boutique.

You may remember my raves about Judy and A Mother’s Boutique from the saga of what to wear at R.T.’s birth.

So, naturally, I’m thrilled to contribute to the blog. This “history” will serve to introduce me to her readers. Then I will be contributing a breastfeeding article (and/or story) every month, on a wide range of breastfeeding topics.

I hope to see you over there!

This is a close cousin to “It’s Not Possessive“.

Contraction?

The Kid *is* a Hair Salon

Of course, you’re missing a couple of little words to make this work, even if it wasn’t fictional…

Possessive?

This would have to be the hair salon of someone named Kid. (And not even Kidd, as in Captain).

It’s not even the hair salon of “The Kid”.

What do they mean?

Presumably, they are a hair salon that caters to kids -

Kids’ Hair Salon

Although we do take family portraits every year, we are not known for stuffy, formal settings.

You can see our fun portrait history, as well as last year’s very cool (in our opinion) Renaissance photos.

But we’re coming up blank with good ideas for this year.

We had a couple of ideas that had to be rejected on a cost basis – ultra-formal a la Victorian (costumed, serious), and CIA (black jacket, ear bud, shades).

The only thing we have on the table right now is “pajama party,” which isn’t a bad idea. It would take some effort/expense, though, as we don’t all actually sleep in things that would be flattering if immortalized.

Any good ideas?

If you’ve been reading a while, you may recall a review I did last year for Kristine’s Shower.

Well, Jenny (the owner) has been kind enough to offer $25 in Kristine’s Shower Cash as a “blog-warming” give-away gift! Just go check out the new review post over at As For My House, and leave a comment to enter.