Archive through September 12, 2003
TV ClubHouse: Archive: Advice/Suggestions Needed (ARCHIVES):
Archive through September 12, 2003
Abby7 | Tuesday, August 19, 2003 - 09:13 pm     Wargod! I was wondering about savings bonds. Didn't know if that was still an option or even how to go about it. I was thinking about searching for a special book. Thank you. I will look in to savings bonds and special books on google. so, for savings bonds..do i just go to my bank and get one? duh? THANK YOU. |
Abby7 | Tuesday, August 19, 2003 - 09:25 pm     thank you Jmm! that site looks great! so far i have given her shoes..i just love baby shoes...i know they aren't practical. i said i was never going to send anymore shoes. (but then, i found the MOST incredible site for baby shoes). but, i know that is not practical, right? oh, but you just can't believe how cute these are...so different than the USUAL cute baby shoes. but, i know i shouldn't buy any more shoes. darn! such a cute baby should have the right shoes for every occasion. thanks for all your advice. square, memory book? meaning my memories of her until now and put them in the book i bought her? |
Abby7 | Tuesday, August 19, 2003 - 09:32 pm     Jmm: birthday gift solved! thanks to all of you who helped. I'll let you know, Jmm, what I picked out from that site next week...still deciding...too many to choose from right now. again, thanks for those who helped me out! |
Tess | Tuesday, August 19, 2003 - 09:37 pm     Abby, we got the personalized lamb blanket (see Jmm's website) for our daughter. She's nearly 7 and still sleeps with it. It's something that can be kept long after the baby/toddler (or almost 7 year old) outgrows it. I have to agree about the shoes. Every well dressed little girl needs the perfect shoes to go with every outfit. |
Wargod | Tuesday, August 19, 2003 - 09:41 pm     I think you can get them at your bank, but may be wrong. What we actually had was my aunt giving the kids change...she saved it all year long, then gave it to us in a large coffee can, which we dragged to the bank and deposited in Caleb, and later Dakota's savings accounts. Have you asked her parents for ideas? Maybe they could give you a couple things to think about? Silver engraved piggy banks or picture frames, LOL, I could do this all day. Or, since you like the cute baby shoes, how bout a pretty, frilly dress? |
Sia | Tuesday, August 19, 2003 - 09:42 pm     Abby7, if the child hasn't already gotten a personalized book that chronicles the child's birth, that's a lovely gift to give/receive. I ordered the same book for both my kids (they were born only two years apart) from a company named "Personalized Books." I can't find that on the web, however. Maybe they don't have a web-site. I want to go look at Jmm's link, too, and see what that is. My sister has given my daughter Enesco figurines each year since her birth, the porcelain girls holding numbers depicting each year of a little girl's life. The figurines go from birth through age sixteen. I'll see if I can find a link for that, too. The figurines are really special to ME, and I know they'll be special to my daughter, too, as she grows older. She's just four years old now. GROWING UP BIRTHDAY GIRLS:
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Tess | Tuesday, August 19, 2003 - 09:43 pm     I forgot to answer the question about the savings bond. Yes, you can get them at your regular bank. They require a social security number, btw. |
Abby7 | Tuesday, August 19, 2003 - 09:57 pm     so many responses. thanks. i really appreciate all these suggestions. tess, the lamb blanket is the one i picked. in fact, i just left that site to put the order in..however, i had problems "putting in" the monogram part. so, i gave my e-mail info. instead and will wait until tomorrow for more info. i am definitely going to buy the lamb blanket..too cute..hope it's baby safe. thanks about the savings bond. SSN? mine? i don't think "she" has a SSN? yes, i have asked about gifts....it's up to me really. anyway, thank you all for helping me out. you have made my day. i know what i'm gettingn now. thanks so much. |
Abby7 | Tuesday, August 19, 2003 - 10:01 pm     Btw, the site that Jmm suggested is just great! ( in case any of you, in the future are looking for presents). also, if you want to send shoes...i also know of a great site (shoofly)..cutest shoes ever. |
Weinermr | Tuesday, August 19, 2003 - 10:01 pm     Abby7, here's some U.S. Savings Bond information for you off the government website. 4.1) How do I register a savings bond that I'm buying as a gift? Purchase the savings bond in the name of the person to whom you're giving it. If you know it, put the recipient's Social Security Number (SSN) on the registration. If not, use your own. At time of purchase, the SSN is used for tracking purposes only, such as in cases of lost, stolen or destroyed savings bonds. Using your SSN doesn't indicate ownership or cause you to incur any tax liability. The recipient will be asked to provide his or her SSN at the time of redemption to establish tax liability. However, it's best to use the recipient's SSN to make it easier for him or her to have the savings bond replaced if it's lost, stolen or destroyed. If the recipient doesn't record the savings bond's serial number and can't get your SSN from you, he or she may have a difficult time replacing the savings bond. Here's a link to the website. U.S. Savings Bonds |
Sia | Tuesday, August 19, 2003 - 10:11 pm     Abby, because SSNs are required on IRS tax forms for ALL members of a family, people now apply for a SSN before even leaving the hospital after the birth of a new baby. This has been something that has started where I live in the midwest, and I suppose it's done all over the U.S. now. The baby very likely has a social security number so that she can be claimed as a dependent on her parents' tax return. |
Juju2bigdog | Tuesday, August 19, 2003 - 10:11 pm     Quick question, if I can borrow the thread for a minute. How much is the standard cash wedding gift nowadays? This is for the 24 year old daughter that we don't know of a sweet Bigdog cousin that we don't see much. If any of that matters, which it probably doesn't. Do we have to do anything special, or just mail a check? |
Tess | Tuesday, August 19, 2003 - 10:25 pm     Juju, I would say you could mail a check in a card. As to amount, that's more difficult to advise. Gifts we received 11 years ago varied in amount from $20.00 to $75.00 and on up to $1000 all from very good friends. If it were me giving to a relative I barely know, I would do somewhere between $50 - $100. You might want to seek other opinions, however. |
Abby7 | Tuesday, August 19, 2003 - 10:43 pm     thank you about the ssn info. i needed that! juju borrow all you want! regarding cash gifts nowadays. if you don't know her/them, i would send 50 (at the most) however, i don't know if that is the "proper" thing to do. that is just the most i would want to spend in that case. anyway, i just called in the order for the lamb blanket. the only weird thing about the order was that the guy said "the postal service didn't accept the address of receiver". what? my niece has lived in her new home for over 2 years. i have sent her so many gifts online, and by snail-mail..that i can't even count. in fact, just 2 weeks ago, i sent her son (my nephew) his gift..a teenager...money was the gift. so weird that suddenly the address i have always used "didn't work"...but anyway, he said he would try again and let me know if it didn't go through tomorrow (they are on phone 24/7). a nice guy. again, thanks for all suggestions. just great! i'm so tired, i have to get up by 7am, can't help that. |
Sia | Tuesday, August 19, 2003 - 11:41 pm     Juju, where I live (midwest), $30 is a good cash gift--especially considering that you're not close to the couple getting married. In my opinion, $50 is way too much and $100 is an obscene amount. Only parents or grandparents of the couple would give that much money! They should appreciate getting anything at all, even just a card, and if they don't send you a written thank-you within six months, don't send them anything in the future, no matter how many babies they may have in the coming years. Good manners are important, and thank-you cards are a must!!! My husband and I were married eight years ago (first marriage for each of us) and most of our cash gifts at that time were $20. One card contained $60, but it was from my husband's widowed uncle and his grown daughter. We are not youngsters, either. I was 34 and hubby was 39. Our non-cash gifts were very nice, mostly from nice stores, and I did not use bridal registry anywhere. I don't like bridal registry at all. |
Julieboo | Wednesday, August 20, 2003 - 07:24 am     Juju-here in the Chicago suburbs a standard wedding gift is indeed a hundred dollars. (Close relatives or not.) I was married 4 1/2 years ago, so it might have crept up since then. You may want to check the bridal registry and send something from that, that is a cheaper way to go.... |
Cinder | Wednesday, August 20, 2003 - 07:34 am     I agree with Julieboo. Cash is nice- but you may feel awkward sending a smaller amount. Find out where they are registered. You may be able to get by with a $25 gift that way. I personally would see nothing tacky about giving a less expensive gift that was registered for. I know there is always the debate on giving something personal as opposed to being forced the buy something the couple picked out. I personally appreciated the gifts I picked out- and still use them 10 years later (mixer, silverware, drinking glasses) |
Juju2bigdog | Wednesday, August 20, 2003 - 08:51 am     Thanks everybody for the input. I was thinking $50. They do live in a big city, Houston, where wedding inflation could be prevalent. BUT, Cinder, good idea to check for a registry. I can e-mail the mother of the bride. Abby7, as to the address, does your niece live at a rural route address? A bunch of those have changed to letters and numbers in recent years. Maybe the zip code changed over a year ago? You can go here and play around with the address: http://www.usps.com/zip4/ |
Abby7 | Wednesday, August 20, 2003 - 02:40 pm     Thanks juju: no, it's not a rural route address. just a mistake that was cleared up. (i regularly send gifts to this address, just 2 weeks ago was the last one sent). anyway, it is all cleared up and gift ordered. thanks again for everyone's great help. |
Abby7 | Thursday, September 11, 2003 - 04:52 pm     hi: would really appreciate any feedback about prescription eyeglasses. dh failed his eye exam at DMV today. i know NOTHING about price. is LENSCRAFTERS a good place for glasses for driving? does this sound like a reasonable price for 2 pair of glasses: Frames: $200/$129; Lenses: $160/$144; Coating:$70/$70 (and is coating necessary?) ; Exam: $90. any responses would be greatly appreciated. Are those reasonable prices? Any problem with LENSCRAFTERS? |
Juju2bigdog | Thursday, September 11, 2003 - 07:24 pm     Abby7, we had a somewhat recent thread on the best place to buy eyeglasses. Tyr doing some searches on glasses and see if you come up with anything. Or maybe somebody will remember where it is. You could also search on Sears. I think I probably wrote in that thread that Sears had the best deal for me. Abby, I took my own advice and searched on Sears and found the thread. Yay!!! ../9200/1095813.html |
Abby7 | Thursday, September 11, 2003 - 08:07 pm     thanks juju! just read it. dh just got home. he has an astigmatism and they suggested 2 pairs instead of bifocals since he is on the computer all day. he went to lenscrafters. he's happy with his sight now. he didn't even know how bad his vision was before. didn't even use reading glasses before. anyway, does this mean that these glasses will repair his astigmatism overtime? lenscrafters didn't mention that. i seemed to have read that in one of the posts in your link. so he bought 2 pair, but also should get prescription sunglasses for driving (or should he have gotten tinted?). then he bought the cleaning tissues/spray for the coated lenses that they told him to get. so 458.87 for 2 glasses with coating (at above price minus insurance discount) plus 90 for exam plus cost of cleaning stuff. not bad. (weird his blue cross doesn't cover glasses....but she said cause he is in blue cross she gave a big discount...$172+$143 insurance discount,even though he said it doesn't cover glasses!) they told him he had low blood pressure and he must be tired. (?true, we are both tired lol!) thanks again juju...good link. |
Rissa | Friday, September 12, 2003 - 07:27 am     Abby, no... glasses will not repair an astimatism. I have/had the same thing.. went to about age 24 with no vision issues and then when my general sight started getting bad, it made the astigmatism issue more apparent. I had laser surgery which corrected both, but your DH probably can't even consider that option until his vision has been stable for at least two years (that's the rule for my doc anyway). My dad had the same thing but much more severe and he had to have a muscle cut and shortened. On the plus side, my DH had to get glasses last year as well (he's 40) and they look AWESOME on him (don't ya just hate people who look GOOD in glasses? ). LOL He keeps talking about the laser but I think he looks darn cute as is. RFLOL |
Juju2bigdog | Friday, September 12, 2003 - 08:23 am     The glasses correct for, but don't affect the astigmatism. My astigmatism has lessened over the years. Best I can figure out, it is something that just happens. Or not. Not a real big deal. |
Abby7 | Friday, September 12, 2003 - 01:55 pm     thanks rissa and juju. i didn't think glasses could repair anything. dh is in his 40's. the only time he mentioned not being able to read/see something was during night driving. he had trouble reading the signs. he said he couldn't see anything for the DMV eye exam. i was surprised he needed reading glasses too, since he can read very small print while reading. now, he can't believe the change. he came home and said los angeles isn't so smoggy after all. he also mentioned how his car needs a wax. he told me i look "so good" lol? (hmmm, how did i look before?) rissa, i don't think he wants to get the surgery, but if he did...i would think he could. i'm not sure what you mean by your vision has to be stable for at least two years. juju: i wonder, too, how long he has had this astigmatism. geez, i better go get my eyes checked. |
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