From the Sears Commercial

[kishgo]

"Today is a gift. What will you do with it?"

Nothing special at our place. I'd like to finish wrapping the presents and then get all that stuff put away. I've cut way back on things this year. Usually each child's gift is highly decorated, as in a cotton fluff snowman with construction paper eyes, ears, nose, hat, scarf, mittens, boots and twigs for his arms. Sometimes I've used real buttons on the body. The hat would have the child's name in glitter. After twelve years of doing this, with each one taking about fifteen minutes to create and a nano second to remove, I decided to opt out.

It's raining here and all the snow is gone.
I may make a quick trip to the grocery store. Making an apple pie today. Last year for Christmas my hubby bought me two new rolling pins and wow! are they so easy to use. I used to use my mother's old Tupperware rolling in filled with water, but lost the cap years ago but still continued to use it.

How will you use this day?

[retired2]

Going to a birthday party for my father in law. 90 it is

[growler]

well i'll spend my sunday at THE house,(i used to say at our home,then it went to become our house, but as i'm not allowed to live in it,it is now THE house)and i get to go to it on weekends! (used to go almost daily to talk,and share meals but that is no longer allowed)
and while there i have a very responsible position,and as such i am found to be responsible for almost every problem in my brides life !
and even though i am sometimes tempted i am not allowed to laugh when someone makes an error,as it is i who am responsible !
and i am sometimes asked for advice, or direction, that way i get to be the reason for anything that go's wrong!
but i am not allowed to many requests as they are extravagent, silly,or just outright stupid !
but both dogs seem to enjoy my company and the bird likes to disagree with me to,so all is not lost !
and at times people stop in for a visit,but a few have taken to only visiting when i'm at nhnh, i guess i don't growl enough at THE house.
so i better change hat's and become someone who is responsible!
c-ya all later !

[longtallsally]

Kishgo, I'm curious about your new rolling pins. Can you describe them? Why two--are they different sizes? What are they made of? Where did your hubby get them? Obviously, I'm in the market for some new ones, but I want to be sure to get a good one (or maybe two, like you).

[gale force]

This afternoon I went up to our community hall and helped fill Christmas stockings with my neighbours to be donated to the Salvation Army. The Salvation Army supplied the net stockings, and we provided the fillers for anywhere from babies, 2-4 year olds, 6 - 8 year olds, 9 - 11 year olds. There were 100 stockings filled, plus a number of plastic bags that will be transferred into the net stockings later. A worthwhile project I felt.

[kishgo]

I just talked to my hubby about the rolling pins LTS. He said he had a hard time finding ones that were not wooden, but made of silicone. I do lots of pastry baking and the silicone works soooo well, almost stick free! It has contoured handles and ball bearings in the movement part. I love them both. I have two, one for our cottage and one for home. I really wanted to have one that measures the thickness of the dough but hubby couldn't find it.
If you make a pizza dough, flatbreads etc, the dough has a different density and a wooden rolling pin usually works better.
I think he went to a specialty kitchen store in downtown Burlington but not sure. Perhaps if you googled it, you could find one on Amazon.
One pin is black and the other red. Someone mentioned to me that the rolling pins should be put in the fridge for an hour to prevent sticking. Haven't tried that yet, but I will!

[kishgo]

Good for you GF. Very generous of you to donate your time for such a worthy cause. We always donate to the Sally Ann.
Thought I'd share this too. A friend of ours is a well known international architect. (Hee hee,. or so he says!!) His latest project is designing another house for the big wig of Value Village. The owner had his home torn down, demolished (not parts donated) and rebuilt with a $28 M. dollar home. I almost gagged.

[longtallsally]

Well, I had to take a big gulp when kishgo wrote about Value Village's owner's $28 million house. So, I visited Value Village's website. Here's what I'm thinking is happening: charities canvass the public for used household goods, which they turn over to Value Village for cash. Value Village then sorts, merchandises, and sells the stuff. So, I guess the owner can build a $28 million house (his second one!) because he doesn't have to pay for inventory to sell. What a great deal that is. Yes, the charities are paid an amount for the stuff they turn over to Value Village, but the web site is silent about how much that is. I'll bet it is only a fraction of what the stuff eventually sells for. Meanwhile, I'll bet the charities have to pay for the trucks and staff to make the collections, which erodes their revenue. Is this really such a good deal for the charities or is it a very great deal for the owner of Value Village?

[kishgo]

Clarification...you will need to take a bigger gulp LTS. The house that was demolished was also designed by our friend some years ago, at only a mere $20 M. Demolished! Rebuild at $28. It's sinful for anyone to have so much earned off the back of those less fortunate. The house is in California.

I believe charities have to pay for everything from transportation to staff to garbage disposal.

Last week we took many boxes of clothing, dishes, etc to the local S. Army. While there, I thought I'd dispose of some fast food containers we had in the SUV. When I approached the big blue garbage container, the fellow helping my husband almost went ballistic. He said if everyone did that, they would have to rent two on site. As it is, although this location does not accept sofas, there were three 'left' out back during the night. But he relented and let me left out the small package.

I think the charities win and Value Village owner hit the jackpot!

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