Author |
Message |
Holly
Member
07-22-2001
| Friday, February 13, 2009 - 2:57 pm
Good advice Serate.
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Egbok
Member
07-13-2000
| Saturday, February 14, 2009 - 7:45 am
Julie, I've received many nice "thank you" gifts for just doing my job, most are gift cards. At first I felt a bit awkward receiving a thank you gift but then I've come to realize that those who give me such thank you gifts are doing it from their heart and so now I simply say "awww, you didn't have to do this but what a nice thing to do!" and I thank them with a gentle hug. The sincere happiness in their faces and eyes say it all. So the moral of my story is to accept any gift with a heart full of grace and warmly thank the giver because it means the world to them to be thanking you in this way. I hope I made sense.
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Julieboo
Member
02-05-2002
| Saturday, February 14, 2009 - 8:53 am
Thanks all!! (And yes, you make sense Eggie.)
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Frootjuuce
Member
02-25-2007
| Wednesday, February 18, 2009 - 10:56 pm
New question: I am looking at a new job and might be moving to Houston. Now...I know nothing about Houston, but the job is housed in the Northwest part. Can anyone give me any input into areas that are desirable to live in versus those that I might want to avoid? Facts to consider: This will not be a high paying job - and I am hoping to keep my rent at about 600.00 or less if possible. I live alone but I don't scare easily and don't need fancy living quarters. (I actually prefer older places that have a little character.) I would like to know that I am in a reasonably safe area, though. I would appreciate any input you folks might care to share...
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Teachmichigan
Member
07-22-2001
| Thursday, February 19, 2009 - 8:56 pm
One of my friends just moved to Houston. Housing is extremely reasonable there, and there are many nice areas. I'm not sure if she's in the NW or not, but I know she's really loving Houston. 
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Frootjuuce
Member
02-25-2007
| Thursday, February 19, 2009 - 9:29 pm
Thanks, Teach. I appreciate it.
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Rissa
Member
03-20-2006
| Friday, February 20, 2009 - 4:09 am
Froot, I am in Canada so not sure if the American website works the same as ours but have you checked out: realtor.com ? Our equivalent lists both sales and rentals and includes photos of both interior and exterior. You probably won't rent directly from a realtor but it might help you get an idea of the neighborhoods and prices.
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Frootjuuce
Member
02-25-2007
| Friday, February 20, 2009 - 9:07 am
Thanks, Rissa! I've been looking at rent.com and forrent.com to see rent prices and such. There are just so many areas listed out as possibilities; Inner Loop, Galleria, Northwest, Cypress, Texas City, Pasadena, Pearland. These are all considered Houston! I was having trouble deciding if there was a particular area to avoid. The rents in most of these places range from 480 - 1400, so it was hard to tell from that. Thanks for your help!
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Zgoodgirl
Member
08-22-2003
| Friday, February 20, 2009 - 11:47 am
I usually try and get my stuff directly from the local papers. Here are some links for Houston. Houston Chronicle Houston Press Houston Business
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Frootjuuce
Member
02-25-2007
| Friday, February 20, 2009 - 12:37 pm
Thanks so much Zgoodgirl! I didn't even think about the newspapers...
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Taysmomcj
Member
03-24-2008
| Saturday, February 28, 2009 - 2:31 pm
I have a situation that I need some help with. My daughter turns 6 in March (I know I'm waiting until the last minute, but humor me anyway) and this will be the first "friend" birthday part that she would have. My husbad and I were thinking about having about 5 or 6 of her friends over to our appartment, but I have found out that if we send the invitations to school with her, we have to invite all of the girls in her class. There are 12, plus she has two really good friends from somewhere else that she would like to invite. So that's possibly 14 5-6 year olds in a small townhouse. I'm not that adventureous. I need ideas of locations to have a party for every one that will not cost us an arm and a leg? We had thought we would check out Chuck E. Cheeses, but at $11.00 per child, that's out of our price range. Thank you all in advance!!!
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Jimmer
Moderator
08-30-2000
| Saturday, February 28, 2009 - 2:45 pm
Some of our friends absolutely love those places like Chuck E. Cheeses. We're not a great fan of them because they are expensive, the food is usually mediocre, they can be crowded and the Birthday celebration becomes a bit of an after thought. So we usually have the party at home. But I have to admit that our kids enjoy going to those places. Generally though the more you expect the place to provide, the more you will have to pay. We have gone to a couple of places that provided a fun play area but allowed the parents to order in or bring their own food. It was cheaper and better, but of course it is more work for you. I assume it is a school requirement that everyone in the class be invited? Perhaps you could send the invitations privately?
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Rissa
Member
03-20-2006
| Saturday, February 28, 2009 - 2:54 pm
Tay, my dd's school has the same policy. It's not that you have to invite everyone so much as they do not want only a few kids receiving invites while the other kids look on. Teachers want you to do it privately outside the classroom to avoid kids feeling left out. Can your daughter collect phone numbers and then you can call the parents? This is if you would still prefer a small party in your home. My dd's school would allow us to have parties during lunch hour in her class. Parents could bring the lunch (pizza? burgers?) cake, drinks, plastic cups, etc. Eat, dance, play games and go home. I never did this but other parents did and it was always a great success and easy on the pocket-book and a large turnout was guaranteed. 
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Taysmomcj
Member
03-24-2008
| Saturday, February 28, 2009 - 4:01 pm
Rissa, thanks. I have contact info for a couple of them. I may just have to do that. I'd love to be able to not concern myself with the cost of her party, but things are tight. We really want this to be memorable for her, but we also have tight budget. That's why we wanted to limit the number of girls to around six and have it in our home. If we could find someplace that was low cost, and big enough for us to invite all of the girls in her class we would. And now we are running out of time.
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Pamy
Member
01-02-2002
| Saturday, February 28, 2009 - 4:48 pm
is there an outside area of your townhouse where you can do outside games (relay races, etc)? The most successful of Dylan's parties were the ones that didnt cost a lot but we had fun outside games. I would go to 99cents store and get prizes. We also had to invite whole class and we usually did because it was small sized. Usually only 50 % come that are invited. We would get pizza or hot dogs for the food. If its all girls you could have a dress up game.
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Yesitsme
Member
08-24-2004
| Saturday, February 28, 2009 - 5:51 pm
I am probably on the side of asking all the girls in the class if you possibly can...mostly because I know how little girls chatter and I think the uninvited may get their feelings hurt. But you ultimately have to do what works for you and what works in your budget. I have heard of parents allowing their kids to invite the same number of kids as their age (so the six for age six would be perfect.) Do you belong to a church that would allow you to use a room there? Or the Y or recreation center or some other organizations? I know around where I live there are always places like that where you can use a space for a few hours...often for free. A friend of mine had a party for his wife not too long ago and he used a conference room in his office. The summer is easy for party locations, but during the winter it does make it more difficult. I don't have kids, but have a circle of friends that have always chipped in for each other's kids' birthday parties. We have great memories from these. Noone ever spent much money, but the kids always had a blast. One friend would give assignments...I remember one year she asked us friends to come up with all of the games for an underwater theme. We had a mini-carnival in the backyard with things like a fishing game, a bean bag toss and simple stuff like that. I remember one of our artistic friends went all out with the bean bag toss....it was the mouth of a pelican. Very cute. I was unartistic, but good with ideas! The kids whooped and hollered as they played the games, as did the adults when they won their prizes (usually a piece of candy....and cheers.) A big idea I have heard of at age 6 is a princess party....all of the little girls dress up like princesses and the games and even food are all in that theme. And very cute for pictures!
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Urgrace
Member
08-19-2000
| Saturday, February 28, 2009 - 6:34 pm
Not too long ago I suggested a party for kids at the bowling alley. They get shoes, get to bowl, with or without bumpers, they get a hot dog and drink, and party hats all included in the price. Of course, you will have to call the bowl center and check the prices, but they do cater to having these parties for kids, so it is usually reasonable. If it's $5 times twelve kids is $60. You can bring your own cake, and you don't even have to clean up!
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Julieboo
Member
02-05-2002
| Saturday, February 28, 2009 - 7:31 pm
Bowling parties (at least up here) are $15 per kid minimum. I also am checking out reasonable parties for kids. I am finding out that there is often a minimum price no matter how many kids. And usually that price starts at $100. See what your park district offers. They often offer cool parties. But they are not super cheap either. I have found out that there is no cheap alternative. Chuckie Cheese's, bowling, etc are always going to be expensive. It's really hard to not invite the whole class though as kids do talk and some might feel left out. Can you invite neighbor kids/relatives instead, to keep the numbers down?? I think I am going to offer Ryan a super fun outing where he can invite just one friend. Like we'd go to Great America or a water park or something...
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Wargod
Moderator
07-16-2001
| Saturday, February 28, 2009 - 11:01 pm
Our bowling alley has a special on Friday nights for 10 kids, if I remember right it's around $120. I will say I love those types of parties cuz everything is taken care of for you except for the cake. You have a party planner, the kids have something to keep them busy, the party planner keeps things moving along and best of all no setting up and cleaning up afterwards. But, yeah, they can be expensive. One of our favorites was going to the park for a party. Doesn't cost anything (you just need to get there early to grab a table or two,) you don't have to do much decorating, and there's plenty to do. Our park has bbq grills so you can even make food and there's plenty of room for games or sending the kids and a couple adults off to the playground. Of course, my kids birthdays are in May and September and the weather is usually decent, not so sure the same would be true for your area in March. Not sure this idea would appeal to you, but another great party we had for Kota was taking the kids to build a bear. I really liked that. You call ahead to set up the date, they give you a party planner and you set up, ahead of time, how much you want to spend per kid (if I remember right, it had to be at least $10 per child.) The day of the party, your party planner helps the kids pick out what they want and they keep the kids on budget. We invited six kids, plus Kota, and it was great! The only problem with them is you can't have food there (at least at the one we went to) so the day before we invited a few people over for cake and ice cream.
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Beckie03
Member
07-05-2007
| Friday, March 27, 2009 - 7:28 pm
i am having a really really hard time being friends with a friend right now. it is to the point of where i do not want to be friends with her. she's a staunch christian republican. i believe the only reason she is...is because she is christian and because of the church she goes to. only reason she voted for mccain? because he is against abortion. truly. to me, she's been brainwashed. not because she is christian, but because of what she has said recently. she's gone so far as to say that ANY christian cannot be pro-choice or they are not true christians and God HAS to be pro-choice. i'm not a christian, but i'm sorry that is extreme and unreasonable. most of her friends are republicans. most of her friends are like her and are sahms and have husbands working construction. this is the same girl that posted absolute nonsense and complete lies about FOCA. i'm to the point of where i don't want to be friends with someone who is so uneducated. question: do i stay friends with her? and yes, she is the type to make her feelings known.
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Kookliebird
Member
08-04-2005
| Friday, March 27, 2009 - 7:35 pm
Is there anyway possible to steer clear of the religous conversation? I have friends whose beliefs are very different than me. While nothing specific was said, we tend to steer clear of the religous conversation. Reminds me when I was young, our catholic school taught us that non-catholics would go to to hell. Can you imagine the hit we were with the neighborhood kids when we told them that they were all going to hell? Uneducated, yes that is a good work to explain this situation.
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Beckie03
Member
07-05-2007
| Friday, March 27, 2009 - 7:42 pm
there is to a point. sometimes she brings it up and i usually just agree away with it and see if she changes the subject or try to change the subject if i don't agree.
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Sugar
Member
08-15-2000
| Friday, March 27, 2009 - 7:43 pm
You can remain friendly and cordial with this person yet ease them out of your friendship circle. Or, as there are certain topics you are worlds apart on and don't care to discuss, keep them off limits. For example, my hubby and I don't really talk about politics. If we had met during the last presidential election, we probably wouldn't have had anything to do with one another Don't allow jr high actions to rule your adult life. So what if she makes her feelings known? You can speak for yourself, let your feelings known as well. Remind her she is not god.
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Jimmer
Moderator
08-30-2000
| Friday, March 27, 2009 - 7:51 pm
I think my first question to you (which may be obvious) is what is it about her that appeals to you in a way that makes you want to stay friends with her? Once we know what that is it may help us offer better suggestions.
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Beckie03
Member
07-05-2007
| Friday, March 27, 2009 - 7:57 pm
you know...jimmer...i don't really know. we are so opposite on everything. i will have to say...she is an easy person to talk to (about other topics). i guess that would be off the top of my head. and i guess that's my problem...i can't really figure out why i have her in my life. i could also be just irritated with her that i can't see why i do like her right now too lol. and yes sugar...i am trying my best to not let this stuff get to me, but it is irritating to see a friend speak so uneducated. and i have made my feelings known...and she knows my feelings very well.
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