Airfares

Why are air fare prices so variable?  When I flew Spirit Air from Myrtle Beach, I upgraded to their version of First Class for $25 more for a total of $75.  Why is it now $230?  Gas prices seem to be dropping. But why don't the air fares?  Checking prices between airlines, they are everywhere from $230-1,009. Obviously I didn't book the $1009.  Every time I fly, the planes are sold out or very close to it.  So why are they in such financial straits?  As for paying for checked baggage, they are now causing their own problems with everyone carrying on board. Most of the time, the overhead bins are full before half of the passengers are even on the plane.

We loved using Direct Air from Pittsburgh to Myrtle Beach out of Pittsburgh International. You could buy Family Ties vouchers for up to $139 round trip and use them whenever you wanted. The planes were always full. But they went bankrupt this past spring, leaving many people with unused vouchers. Fortunately, Chase refunded all of our money for the unused vouchers, within a day of my phone call. I don't know all credit card companies were so easy to deal with.

Gone too are the days of free drinks and snacks, unless you are in First Class. I know people think it sounds snooty when I say we fly First Class, but with everyone being 6'4" and taller, standard seats don't really fit our legs or bodies, even for me.  For $25-50 more, it's well worth it.  I'm often surprised more people don't upgrade.

So far, we don't have any stories of being left sitting on the tarmac for 5 hours at a time. (We do have stories of late luggage and torn suitcases)  Maybe if that ever happens (the sitting on the tarmac), my opinion of flying will be changed forever.

    Until next time, when I continue the rantings and ravings of a mom of an

American Dream Family.....

Dog Leash Cover

Well, I've been working on another project.

One day, walking Koal, I was thinking of a new pet product, something that was different and unique.  I had a bunch of ideas run through my head and then I thought of custom dog leash covers.  Since Koal is so big and furry, you can't see his collar or even a bandana, so I thought of the leash cover.  Doing some research, I couldn't find anything similar.  There were custom leashes, made in different patterns, I personally wouldn't want a bunch of different leashes around my house.

The leash cover is designed with the big dogs in mind. It fits a 60"L - 1"W leash. They velcro at the top and the bottom so they stay in place.  They are washable and removable so you can change with the seasons or occasions.

This one I made with Seton Hill colors in mind.

This was my first demo

Koal modeling for me

Example of the cover

I created an Etsy store, for handmade and hand crafted items.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/koaldogdesigns

Please visit the store and give me some feedback. I'd love to know what everyone thinks. It still needs some modifications.



Until next time, when I continue the rantings and ravings of a mom of an

American Dream Family.....

Bunko 3

We had another enjoyable Bunko night. Patty's new living room and hard wood floors are gorgeous. The snacks were great and everyone loved their prizes.
 
Being that Patty is our favorite chocolatier, she made these delicious mousse with Lindt chocolate. One was chocolate mousse and the other a white cookies and cream type mousse.  I loved the white mousse. 


Here's the recipe for the Stracciatella (White chocolate) Mousse

3 bars (3.5 oz each) Lindt Swiss classic white chocolate, chopped
1 bar ( 3.5 oz) Lindt excellence 85% cocoa dark chocolate, chopped
3 TBS rum (or if preferred, hot water)
2 cups heavy cream
4 egg yolks

1. Melt the chopped white chocolate, add the rum and stir until smooth paste is formed. Add a little hot water if the paste is too stiff. Set aside.
2. In a separate bowl, whip the cream and reserve in refrigerator.
3. In a separate bowl, whip the egg yolks.
4. Add the white chocolate to the egg yolks and mix until combined.
5. Fold in the whipped cream.
6. Fold in the dark chocolate.
7. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerator a minimum of 6 hours.

It is easy and wonderful!!

Thanks Patty


Seems as though "others" want to know what this Bunko is all about. There were tweets about the Baldwin moms hanging out together. The boys are inquiring about this night out and exactly, what do we do. I think we'll leave our secrets with us.

Until next time, when I continue the rantings and ravings of a mom of an

American Dream Family.....

Movies

Today is an important day in movie history.

When I watched that movie originally, 2012 was a long time into the future.  Wow - It sure does make me feel old.  Thanks Nash!!!


It's funny watching it with the kids. I know we've watched all three movies many times.  And one of our favorite rides at Universal Studios was Back to the Future.

Maybe we can play a game of '80s movies instead of Bunko some night. Maybe I might know some answers.


**** I've been played. I didn't  know that this is wasn' true.  It's actually a date in 2015.  Thanks George.   Anyhow, it made for an interesting topic today. ****


So here's to movie history....     


Until next time, when I continue the rantings and ravings of a mom of an

American Dream Family.....

Heat

Boy, has this been a ridiculously hot summer or what!!!

It is hot from the North to South and East to West.  When is it ever going to cool down, even if only down into the 80's?  Now I understand "the dog days of summer". You really don't want to do any thing that  causes exertion. You can't even walk outside without perspiring, or like some of us, sweating. No wonder people are getting really miserable and crabby everywhere.

Koal has the right idea!

I truly feel sorry for people without air conditioning. You never get a chance to cool down your body. On top of things, the storms that have been popping up everywhere and knocking out power, are compounding everything.  We were without power on the 4th of July for 14 hours. The house was just starting to get hot when the power came back on.  Most towns and cities have cooling stations set up for people without air. That's really important for senior citizens and little kids.

I found this article.  http://tlc.howstuffworks.com/home/frugal-green-living-more-cheap-ways-to-stay-cool-this-summer.htm    

Really!! 

They can hug their trees. I'm going to hug my air conditioner.



   Until next time, when I continue the rantings and ravings of a mom of an

American Dream Family.....

Overload

We were out to breakfast at the beach this week and a mom was taking her son out of the restaurant. On the way, she was scolding him for his behavior, saying the other people eating didn't want hear his misbehavior.  It started a conversation with Joe and I.

It's tough being a parent. Sometimes, you really don't know what the right thing to do is so you try you best and hope the kids don't end up in therapy because of you.  But vacations are especially tough.  There's expectations, exhaustion, staying up later, etc.  I think in this boys's case, it was just a total emotional breakdown. It was Sunday morning so they probably got there the day before, ran to the beach when they got here, was outside in 98 degrees heat, went out to dinner, and stayed up later than bedtime were all factors in his meltdown. Then you throw the parent's expectations into the mix too.

We always tried, when the kids were little, to make sure we kept some sense of schedule with them on vacation. We'd let them sleep in if we were up late. Whenever we went to Disney, we did a day in the park and a day off, just to swim in the pool and be kids.  That always seemed to work well. I know some people who go into the parks in the morning, swim and relax in the afternoon and go back at night. That would work well too.

I remember one vacation in Cape May, it was really hot the entire week and we all ended up taking naps in the late afternoon after coming off of the beach and before going to dinner.  It was good for the boys and us too. We all remember that as a great vacation and everyone remembers the naps too.

So when you're away with little ones, remember that they are half your size, so if you are starting to feel cranky and overloaded, chances are they are too.

   Until next time, when I continue the rantings and ravings of a mom of an

American Dream Family.....

Concerts

When the boys asked if Joe and I wanted to go to the Kenny Chesney concert with them, we, of course, said  yes. When two college kids ask their parents go to somewhere, that's pretty exciting. Even though, for us, it's fairly typical. 

The concert was on Saturday. We had a great time even though it was 97 degrees out.  I sat under the bed cover of the truck for most of the afternoon to get out of the sun.  Of course, it was popped up.  The parking authority wasn't allowing any tents to be set up. 

I wasn't real sure what to expect. The tailgating was crazy. The people, cars, and alcohol was outrageous.  I don't think I've ever seen so many cutoff jean shorts in one place before. 

Chesney refused to come to Pittsburgh a few years ago because of all of the trash the tailgaters left.  So this year, they handed out recycle bags to the cars as they drove into the parking lots.  The theory was good. Most people cleaned up after themselves before going into the stadium. There were blue recycle and trash bags in the parking lot. The problem was leaving the parking lots. There was nowhere to put the bags, if you weren't parked against a guardrail or fence like we were. We put our bags behind the guard rail. But for those people in the center of the lots, the bags got ran over by cars and trucks leaving the parking lots. The city should have had some one come by in a truck when everyone was in the concert and picked up the bags.

The concert was fun.  Both McGraw and Chesney were great entertainers. They seem to really enjoy what they do for a living.  Won't that be great if we all felt that way.

You have to enjoy people watching when you go to an event such as this. There are too many stories to even write about - Between the sunburns so bad that they look purple, to people sleeping in pool of garbage, and people generally having a good time.

When they come back to town next July 4 weekend, I'm sure we'll be in the stadium again. Hopefully, it won't be 97 degrees out again.


     Until next time, when I continue the rantings and ravings of a mom of an

American Dream Family.....