Julie Gentry's comments

How Much Did You Spend for Holiday Gifts? - Blog Entry

14 Jan 2007 05:56 PM

LOL! YOUR mentor? I read your blogs for ideas!

Four ideas to save on the cost of child raising. - Blog Entry

14 Jan 2007 05:48 PM

I always have to laugh at those 'expert' estimates. Maybe $250,000 for all four of ours ;-). Unless, of course, the mortgage counts as a child expense!

Bad News: Water-Drinking Contest Results in Death - Blog Entry

14 Jan 2007 03:37 PM

Wow. Interesting story. I wonder how much liability insurance the radio station has.

What Is A Gift Closet? - Blog Entry

14 Jan 2007 02:51 PM

Love it! Our gift closet is actually that cubboard above the refrigerator that's hard to reach :-). The last thing I put into it was a Klutz book on window clings. Brand new (sealed in package) at the thrift shop for .75. What's in yours?

Should You Discipline Other People's Children? - Blog Entry

14 Jan 2007 03:51 AM

I'll reprimand other people's children when they are there -- if they've had the chance to do it, and do nothing. I do this with complete strangers in the store, even. :-) I was in the commissary the other day with a child who was acting like a complete MONSTER in line. He was probably 8 or 9 years old, whining, saying mean things to his mother (who did nothing), grabbing stuff. You know the type. I finally got fed up with her inaction (cajoling) and had a couple of stern words with him. I told him that if he didn't stop badgering his mother and put his hand on the cart right now that I was going to have the store manager remove him. He shut up and put his hand on the basket. No further problems. Especially with families where dad is gone, moms get overwhelmed and don't always know what to do. I have yet to have a mother get upset with me over it.

The key is that they have to believe you mean it.

Random Job #217: Buying Books at Thrift Stores - Blog Entry

14 Jan 2007 03:41 AM

I know our thrift shop hates resellers, and tries to price things high enough so it's not worth it for them. The reasoning is that if it's a person's business to buy and resell thrift shop things, they'll know what's valuable and what's not, come in and buy only the best and leave the rest. Who wants to go into a thrift store with only the lower quality stuff? Not me. I do buy a lot of junk *s*, but it's usually because I'm buying something nice at the same time. If the nice stuff wasn't there, I wouldn't go.

Factory Tours Are Fun And Free! - Blog Entry

14 Jan 2007 03:35 AM

Ha ha! No, because one of my friends told me it's not a nice thing to say. She wouldn't elaborate. lol. Does anyone know what it really means?

How Much Did You Spend for Holiday Gifts? - Blog Entry

14 Jan 2007 03:32 AM

We always promise ourselves that we're going to cut back. Ha! We actually did cut back on the NUMBER of presents. Last year, they actually got BORED with opening presents. I did things pretty frugally, but we still spent quite a bit. The Wii was a big purchase, but I got it at cost (no markup) by sleeping on the Wal*Mart sidewalk (that's another story!). The iPod we got cheaply by using Foohy points. We had to bite the bullet on the DS Lite because there were no deals. Most of the other stuff, we bought online using Google checkout. They had a $10 off $30 deal, and a lot of companies were sweetening it (Buy.com upped it to $20 off $30!). Overall, I think we spent about the American average *s*. But we ended up with some incredible presents.

Are You Planning on Winning the Lottery? - Blog Entry

14 Jan 2007 02:51 AM

I worked with a woman who won over $100,000. She was in her late 60s and her husband was ill. The only thing that changed was that they didn't lose their house.

I confess to dreaming about those $30 million pots, though :-).

Let's Talk About Elective Cesareans - Blog Entry

14 Jan 2007 12:52 AM

I had all four of mine by Caesarian, though I tried to go naturally. It wasn't going to work. Do I feel a lack of connection? No. But I did miss out on a few things due to exhaustion with the first. I'm sure that happens with normal deliveries, too. With the second baby, 35 hours after trying, they took him via C. He was in a level one nursery and I miss out on those first precious moments then, too. Your Grief blog was very good, and there IS some grieving over what is less than perfect. But the babies were gorgeous! With #3 I had no labor and he came out looking around at everyone like a little man instead of a baby. lol. He was beautiful!

I can't imagine someone choosing to go with a C-section from the beginning when there's no medical necessity. Why would they do that electively?

Of course, there is one BIG plus to C-sections -- no episiotomy ;-).