***Please note that after switching from several different hosts before settling on Blogger, the formatting of my pictures may not be as it was originally intended. I simply don't have the time to go back through years of posts in order to fix the orientation of the pictures. Sometimes a picture just shows a box of text in its place, but clicking on it will allow you to see the picture. Others, there may be no picture at all. I apologize.***

June 5, 2007

Blog Candy Time!!!!!!!!

My husband is in Mexico City until Friday night for his father's retirement from the Air Force. Hi dad is retiring as a Colonel with a little over 28 years in the service. Congratulations to him and I thank him what he's done for our country in that time. So that means that I have very limited time at the computer. I did notice that my hits went over 25,000!!!!!!!! Yippee!!! That means blog candy for you! I will definitely be giving away a stamp set and I'm thinking of giving the winner their choice of one of these two recent Sell-A-Bration sets. I have So Very and Very Punny. So, a stamp set is one of the items. I will include some die cuts from my Cuttlebug Dies, some 6 x 6 patterned paper, some ribbon and one other stamp set, Warmest Regards (a current level one hostess set) as the rest of the goodies. I will try to get a picture sometime over the next few days and will add it to this post. Because my hubby is gone I won't post until he gets back, which means on Saturday. So, you have from now until Saturday at 11:00 a.m. central time to enter into this contest. Just leave a comment on something fun you're planning to do this summer - i.e. a vacation, re-visiting a hobby, relaxing, etc. I'd love to hear what you will all be up to. For me, something fun we'll be doing is adding a new little one to our family and adjusting to that ;) Take care, and I can't wait to hear what you have to tell me about your upcoming summer plans!!! MAKE SURE TO INCLUDE YOUR NAME WITH YOUR COMMENT - if it's anonymous it will be hard to find you. I'll be using the random.org number generator to pick the winner. One comment each, please :)

P.S. - Some venting here. I am SO ANGRY!!!!! I have a friend who's moving and we wanted to combine her going away party with a little baby-shower-like activity because she's having a baby. She didn't want a shower because it's her 3rd girl (also her 3rd child). We were waiting until last Thursday to plan this event because that's when she found out if it was a girl or a boy. I figured that was plenty of time, too, to get what I needed in town. Well, we were going to use some stencils and fabric paint on some white onesies and have each guest make her one to kind of sneak a baby gift from each of us in there. Of course I have stamps, but we want it to be user friendly and with stamps those individuals who haven't stamped before have a high likelihood of messing up their onesie since they can't see the rubber through the wood, and they might over "ink" the stamp with paint, etc. Stencils are much easier. So, I got to our local Wal-Mart where they supposedly have them, and they have NOTHING! Their fabric paint section (normally has hundreds of bottles) is down to TWO bottles and both are ugly colors. So, do I drive 3 hours to San Antonio to get stuff? No, not with me and the girls and no husband to help make the drive easier and safe (plus almost any expedited shipping rate would be cheaper than round-trip gas costs). So I decide to get on the internet and pay extra for some 2nd day air shipping. I find a company called PLAID that makes lots of stencils and has paint and everything at really decent prices. I look at their shipping options in the drop-down menu and they have regular mail, 2nd day air, and next day air. I figure, "it's Monday, I don't need the stuff until Thursday, and that's 3 days away not counting today, so 2nd day air should be fine," and click that, and then the next step is to finalize the order. I do, it doesn't ask me anything or tell me anything before clicking submit. After I hit submit, this page comes up with my order and all kinds of shipping info and lo and behold, it says 2nd day air actually takes FOUR FREAKING DAYS!!!!! So, I call the company and they're already shut because they are on Eastern time and aren't open very late. I call this morning and she says there's nothing she can do. She can't cancel the order, or change it in any way. All I wanted to do was pay the extra shipping to get my "next day air" THREE days later. Isn't this so stupid!?!?! I think it's very misleading that they would call something 2nd day or next day, and not have that "fine print" that it takes them TWO DAYS to process an order right next to it so that you can plan/pay/select your shipping accordingly. Anyway, no husband here to vent tow about it, so you all will have to bear with me :) Now I have to send the stuff back since it will arrive after the party and I don't need it for anything else, and suck up the $20 or so I paid in shipping for 2nd day- four days later - airmail. Learn from this - I sure did!!!!

76 comments:

  1. Ok for Blog candy:This summer we plan on making sure that Tori and Arwen get to spend time at Sea World. We only have the month of June since my parents are taking them for the first half of July, and then coming back to visit the second half of July and helping celebrate Tori's 4th birthday.

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  2. I plan vacations in months other than the summer to avoid the crowds:) So the only plans I have is a few weekends going to the lake with the grandkiddies. Congrats on all the hits & a BIG congrats to your dad - you must be so very proud of him:) You certainly deserved that vent - hope it all works out, the onsie idea is a great one.

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  3. I would be steamed too, there should have been SOME mention of the two day processing time! As for something fun this summer I plan on fitting in some time at a lake cabin. Swimming, fishing and a bonfire or two with my family. Jenny

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  4. uh..that is horrible!Next week will be a counselor at youth camp for 6 - 12th graders...should be interesting! For real fun though...I just booked cheap plane tickets for a mini trip to Chicago with one of my favorite friends! I can't wait!

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  5. We have no real big summer plans this year because my hubby started a new job in April and won't have a lot of vacation time, but we're planning some weekend camping trips.I'd be mad, too, about those crummy shipping options. It doesn't seem right!

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  6. This summer (next week) my oldest Granddaughter is coming to visit for 2 wks. In July we are going to Alaska to visit my son and family. Can't wait to see everyone again.

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  7. What a pain .... I would definitely write them and complain!Congrats on the hits!

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  8. Wow, you are SO generous with your blog candy! I love stamps. This summer I plan on doing a lot of swimming with my daughter. We just joined a health club that has an outdoor waterpark. So I think we'll be there a lot, if my allergies aren't too bad. Otherwise, I hope to get a lot of scrapbooking done and to also catch up on making cards (happy birthday, happy anniversary, etc.) Thanks!Cheryl KVD

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  9. Wow Fabulous Blog Candy!!! I sure would love to tell you of a fabulous upcoming vacation HOWEVER, we are moving into a nice new larger home so we will be packing and unpacking and painting and cleaning and paying bills for 2 houses since our current house has not sold yet - yikes! I know we're crazy but the PERFECT (practically our dream house) came along and we could not, would not take a chance of losing out and passing it up. So that's the breaks, no summer vacation this year BUT we are so blessed to have a nice home to live in and I'm not complaining. Oh and for the party stuff ... Oh my I would be spittin mad. I am so sorry that this happened to you.

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  10. Nothing special happening for me this summer. I imagine that I will just relax and enjoy the nice weather.I would also be livid if that happened to me. I would certainly contact customer support and vent with them.

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  11. We don't have any big plans for this summer. Usually we go to Myrtle Beach, SC every year, but not this year. We want to get a few things done around the house. (build a deck, finish our fireplace.) Bummer!!!!

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  12. Hi there! Greetings from Finland. My summer plans include spending lots of time at our summer house, it's by the lake so lots of swimming too. Have a great day!

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  13. This summer we plan to go up north to Traverse City, Michigan for a family get-together. There will be 20 or so of us. We will be staying right on Lake Michigan. The kids love spending time with their cousins, especially since they don't get to see them all that often.

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  14. I'll be watching lots of baseball, basketball and golf as my kids are pretty involved. I'll be savoring the time with my daughter who will be a senior next year then she'll leave me alone here with the"stinky boys". I'll miss her so!

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  15. Congrats on your hits!!! My vacation is coming up and we are going to the Netherlands and Belgium! I'm very excited and love going to Europe for my vacations. I only have 2 weeks a year, so we try to make the most of it! I love to travel - we've been all over the US, once to Asia, and quite a few times to Europe. I hope to have some lazy weekends at the beach too! Enjoy your summer!!

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  16. We have a couple trips planned this summer. One t Alaska for some fishing and another to Colorado to visit some family. Those are both in July. So hopefully we'll get time to fish on our boat and not be gone all summer! :) It's going to be so much fun.

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  17. Yay for summer (and awesome blog candy)! I plan to do lots of stamping and swimming!

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  18. For the summer we like to take trips to go see Lake Superior. We just love that lake and the area around it.Claudia F.

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  19. Melanie aka BatgirlJun 5, 2007, 10:05:00 AM

    ug about your baby shower feasco! This summer we plan on taking the boys to the air show :) our town has the worlds second largest air show. its fun :) lol. and we have a Canada day parade so that should be fun too :)

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  20. Well, we aren't planning a big holiday this year, perhaps a week away visiting two sisters who moved up country to the Caraboo, in their retirement. But our big plans are to put in a patio. I know that sounds like work, but we are excited about it. It beats sitting on the grass, which is also not an option for us.NormaT from BC

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  21. This summer I'm getting together with my sisters and their kids for a week long tenting trip (in my mom's back yard) ;-). It should be fun!

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  22. Not sure what my summer holds. We do not travel a lot so it won't be anything to WOW!.... My son will be 1 in July so this summer will be fun. Probably just camping and BBQ's. :)Congrats on everything :)Also, I have some Blog Candy up for grabs until June 15th if you or anyone else wants to check it out. :)

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  23. Well, we camp and visit family and play in the water A LOT! It's hot down here. =) --Amie from Surrpise, AZ, USA

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  24. Wow- Great blog candy!This summer we hope to be traveling to eastearn Canada to visit family. And next week we travel west to visit the west Coast of Canada.

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  25. What awesome blog candy! Well...I think we are going to visit family for a few days, and see some sites in Washington DC.Katie Ault

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  26. Oh my- I would have been pretty ticked myself. I am a teacher so I get to relax this summer but I am also spending some time pitching things from my apt. I am also taking a mission trip to Romania in a couple of weeks.

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  27. Not to much planed for our summer. I hope to take the kids for two weeks to visit the grandparents. Other then that we will spend days at the beach and park which we do every year. Yeh for summer. I'm like the kids no homework to do!!!

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  28. Try writing a letter to Customer Service, telling exactly what happened. Be sure to include the part about including the shipping info "small print" on their checkout form.I did this with a Marvy punch that didn't work. They sent me a replacement, no questions asked.

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  29. I meant to post a comment for your blog candy, but got carried away by your shopping problem.My fun activity for this summer is being at home without the pressure of homework. I have just finished my bachelor's degree. Just doing nothing sounds good to me!

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  30. My husband and I are going back to vist our families in Neb. and IA. No Kids, just us and the dogs. This is going to be a surprise for them and it will be one HOT ride for us from WA to NE in August. I haven't been home in 3 years!! I'm so looking forward to this.

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  31. No plans for vac-ay...I feel like if my kids can't make it in the mall for an hour without acting like lunatics, we are not going in the car for any amount of time...grins!

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  32. Hi from the northern part of TX!I know how you feel about the 2nd Day Air thing - it's not what it's supposed to be. Ask me how I know! As for fun plans for the summer, I hope to get to go back home to AR to visit my sweet cousin who is closer than a sister to me. We always have lots of fun together!

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  33. Congratulations to your FIL. 28 years is very impressive. My dad was in the air force for 20. At the time I didn't really get his responsibility but I had a great time living on base.Wow! The shipping thing is so annoying. That is so irresponsible. I would write a scathing letter to the manager or owner. Maybe you'll get something for the inconvinience!No real plans for the summer. Mostly working. I usually combine our x-mas shutdown with my vacation time to head home for a long stay. Well thank you for the great candy. Here's hoping mine is the lucky number!Cheers,Yosha

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  34. thanks for offering the blog candy!this summer we are planning a trip out to the grand canyon... i've never been, so i'm very excited! :)

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  35. My mission over the summer is to purge everything in my apt from crafts to clothes to old dishes I no longer have matches to. It's almost time for PCSing, so I've got to get under my weight! I'm sure you know what I mean.<3~The Stampin' Soldier

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  36. Don't you just hate the fine print?And it always appears after the fact.Well, as for holidays this year, wewill spend it up in the Cariboo visiting my two sisters, who retired to the Cowboy section ofbeautiful B.C. And then we will be putting in a new patio for ourselves - a project on hold for a while now but this is the year.

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  37. I plan to enjoy the pleasant weather and my garden. Truly the place where I can relax...my garden!

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  38. For this summer I am planning on two vacations. The first one will be at the end of June. I will be visiting my friends in California for 10 days (I moved back to Canada from CA one year ago). The next vacation will be a trip to Kauai ... this one is really exciting as I won this in a raffle! Woohoo! I plan on taking my Mom and my BFF/BSF Allison ... it will be a fun time for the ladies!

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  39. I would have been mad about the shipping. For fun this summer we are going to visit my DH's sister and her family. My DD can't wait to see her cousins (1 of which is 4 days younger!)

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  40. It's funny you should bring this up because the same thing happend to me the week before Memorial Day!! I paid for two-day shipping on Tuesday May 22nd. The confirmation that was sent to me stated "estimated deliver day May 25th. I was happy because this was the remainder of my sister's Mother's Day Gift, yeah, I know sometimes that's just the way it is. When my package didn't arrive on Friday I checked back to see if I had it wrong. Well, sometime between the time I ordered and Friday the date had been changed to Tuesday May 29th!! I was exasperated to say the least. Normally Fed Ex delivers on Saturday, but no, that weekend was Memorial Day. I truly know exaxtly how you feel!! After I checked the web site, I noticed a line that said check our shipping info!

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  41. I don't really have anything planned for this summer... just trying to relax at home and hoping to get lots of stampin time in and of course going to enjoy the water.

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  42. Ouch! That was a bit of a blow. Sorry you had to pay so much for your paint. What did you end up using? Have a safe time while hubby is away. My hubby is retiring from the USAF in just 2 years...so I commend your dad AND you for enduring the military brat childhood!

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  43. This is probably a funny thing to look forward to but my baby is 7 weeks old now and I have received so many REALLY cute summer outfits...so the thing that I am most looking forward to is dressing him in them and going for walks!

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  44. My family will be on the lake this summer. We all enjly fishing and camping. My daughters in laws also. Yay. Thanks for the great blog candy and congrats on the hits.

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  45. This summer I plan on spending all the time I can with my family. My little girl is just over a year old now so old enough to go out and enjoy the parks, swimming and wagon rides!

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  46. I would have been especially mad also! This summer I'm working :-( but I do have my 20 year high school reunion in Southern California and dh's family reunion in Vegas the next weekend.

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  47. I understand your frustration withthe shipping. When my son recently got married, they paid for everything and we wanted to get them something nice for their honeymoon. SO we got them a DIgital SLR and an extra lense-not cheap. It was free shipping, and they werent leaving for 2 weeks and the invoice said 5-7 days and it was out of chicago-fine as they are in Iowa. the next day, a notice saying it was gonna ship and it was 12-18 days! SO I quickly changed the shipping. the day before the trip, still nothing, so son called UPS and they were able to trace it on the truck. they ended up leaving a day later to pick up the expidited package. I will never pay for shipping thru AMazon again. anyways, I am not doing anything fun this summer-I am home while hubby is in China and Korea for most of the summer. I like being alone and I get more done when I dont have to babysit an adult. I am hoping to get the roof on, the garage painted and 6 pine babies planted. Being active and sweaty is heaven to me.

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  48. Wow what sweet sweet yummy candy here. What a sweet way to celebrate your hits with your readers. I'm losing my job next month due to merging with a big company. I'm more worried about not buying fun stuff than anything. heehee. So my fun plans for the summer is to move to Nashville, Tn. Right now I'm in Cleveland, MO..that's right MO, not OH. New changes is good. Congrats to the Colonel!

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  49. I am marrying the love of my life this summer. Thanks for a chance to win some really great blog candy!Pat

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  50. this summer we will be waiting to hear if my DH is accepted for a job in Florida (we live in NYC)YIKES! Talk about life changes! SO, basically I feel like I will spend the summer in limbo, not abel to make any real plans...wah!

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  51. Congrats on the hits!! I subscribe to your blog and I am one of your faithful readers! Very generous blog candy!Our summer plans are very special to us as we are moving our son & family from Wyoming back to Michigan (where they belong!!!) And also welcoming a new little granddaughter into the family!!Thanks for the chance at treats, pick me PLEASE!Ilene B.

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  52. Congratulations on all those hits! I am very excited about this summer, because we are taking our two girls to Disney (first time for the youngest, and the oldest was only 3 when she visited). It should be a blast. We are meeting up with family from Norway at Disney, then heading to the beach for a few days.

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  53. We are planning on going to Las Vegas the first week in Oct. We don't gamble but I hear the shows and the sites are awesome. You must be very proud of your dad. Congrats on your hits to

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  54. I work on the ambulance and in mid July a bunch of the girls from work and I are going up north. We are going to rent a log cabin for a couple days and go tubing. How fun will that be??I would of been really mad about the order too. Sorry this happened.

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  55. I would have been pretty upset about the shipping too. Sorry this happened to you. We have a wedding out of state in July and hope to make a little vacation out of it, but haven't done any planning yet.

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  56. Your shipping deal sounds like a real bummer!! I hope you all have fun anyway!! Thanks for the chance for blog candy. We plan to work in our garden and enjoy the sun...in Seattle we sometimes don't see much of it in the summer!

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  57. Susan Liles (susiestampalot)Jun 6, 2007, 6:20:00 AM

    oh no!! i am so sorry to hear about the hard time you are having with the stuff from plaid. mental note--don't order from them!! congrats on your father in law's retirement!!

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  58. I have just discovered your blog through a link from "Stamping When I can." I want to explore this area more, this summer. I moved to Sheridan, WY almost 2 years ago. It is nestled just below the Big Horn Mountains and I haven't been up to enjoy them. I'm going exploring this summer! Karen Lindsay

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  59. My summer plans aren't set just yet - but we usually take a trip to Hershey Park, PA for all the great amusement rides and of course the tour of Chocolate World!! Thanks for sharing such a great blog... I added you to my favorites and will be checking back daily! Happy Stampin!

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  60. This summer my family is planning to go to Branson. Thanks for a chance to win some great blog candy!

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  61. That sounds like something that would really tick me off, too! That sucks. Congrats on the hits and thanks for the chance at blog candy!

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  62. I don't blame you for being mad. Their customer service bites.My summer plans include going to SU convention, having carpal tunnel surgery and moving my son to college. http://stamps-n-inkspot.blogspot.com/

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  63. Well, nothing exciting here that were going to do. We have been putting of redueing the master bath all winter so now we have to finish it this summer. Fun Huh! lol

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  64. I'm glad you vented. I write letters to companies who provide either exceptional or sloppy service or products. I'd bet anything that your rant will make its way to Plaid. I hope you'll write a letter to them, too. I'm sure there's a "contact us" link on the website where you made the purchase.As for my summer plans, the big one is to attend my 40th high school reunion. I'm so looking forward to it, but can never understand why they have to have these things in August, the hottest month of the year. My suggestions for gatherings in cooler months have fallen on deaf ears. Yes, I have written letters -- ha!!

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  65. Debbi (no 'e' on the end)Jun 6, 2007, 4:52:00 PM

    I seriously would have been pissed too.....you can vent at us anytime. My fun summer won't be so fun if 'the boy' doesn't get leave before he deploys but hopefully he will so we can take a couple of day trips to Monterey, Napa & San Francisco. Congrats to FIL for retirement & much thanks to him for his many years of service to our country. Take a peak at my blog so you can see that I borrowed your card idea. Have a good weekend!

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  66. Not doing too much this summer except relaxing at home. Maybe take a couple of day trips to get away for awhile. Our real vacation comes in September whe we will be spending a week in Atlantic City after Labor day so the crowds are gone.

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  67. I'm totally crossing my fingers for this one...I really wanted that hostess set this year. I am waiting for a bike attachemnt to arrive in the mail...hopefully tomorrow. It makes my bike into a tandum so my 3 year old DS can ride or sit behind me. Then we will ride up to Walgreens buy a candy bar, eat it and then go back home. And then hopefully stamp with a new stamp set...hint, hint!haha.Thanks for the fun. Sorry for your frustrations!

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  68. We already had our summer trip. We celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary. We live in Illinois and we drove to Jacksonville, NC to see our son at Camp Lejeune (he is in the Marines), spent the weekend with him, then went to Myrtle Beach, Charleston, SC and then to Asheville, NC to the Biltmore Estate and then drove home. We had such a great time.Laurie Boeser - lab0728@yahoo.com

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  69. Good job on the rant. We are all mad now, too! Word of mouth can be really effective as far as getting the word out.AS for this summer - we have a new pool and plan to utilize that, hit the beach, maybe catch up on some stamping and get some sort of dedicated stamping space for mom added to the playroom. :)We also have lots of work to do on our house, so maybe I'll make myself a lits. It's starting to feel like the summer's almost over otherwise!

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  70. I am going on my summer trip next week, to spend a couple of weeks visiting relatives in Saskatchewan. It's not the most exciting trip (because I've been making it nearly every year all my life), but I really enjoy seeing them.

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  71. Camping in Washington and Oregon and hopefully a trip to the San Francisco area because my husband has never been there.Hope things are going better for you today:)

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  72. I realized in my rantings yesterday that I didn't leave a blog candy response. I don't have what others may condiser "big" but they are big to me! I LOVE spending time with my children, grandchildren, and great-grand. We have so many birthdays, cookouts, and they are so much fun! Thanks for this opportunity.

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  73. I am traveling to Tulsa with my other daughters and grandaughter on our annual "girl trip" to see my oldest daughter and grandsons. The boys will be coming home with us for some fun in Illinois!! CAn't wait!

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  74. Jenny Loew BarstadJun 8, 2007, 6:52:00 AM

    First time responer here, love your blog. I have been thinking about starting a blog, maybe this summer I can figure it out and get into the SU blogging world. You all have so much creativity-I love it!! Jenny Loew Barstad

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  75. I'm so sorry you got a lousy online deal! I always worry about that. Anyway my summer plans are simple. I live in the northwest and love the ocean so I will snivel and beg until I get my hubby to take me for a getaway weekend. I have planned a bunco party for my birthday in July. It should be awesome. The rest of the time I will be fielding take me here take me there of my teen and preteen children.

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  76. DH is taking me to Hawaii next week to celebrate our 10th anniversary...without kids!

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Thanks for taking the time to leave me a comment. I appreciate it and thank you for adding a little sunshine to my day.

Marie :)