NEW fees, again from eBay

http://pages.ebay.com/sell/August2008Update/MaxShipping/

Okay, check out the above link. eBay is changing their shipping fees. On certain items, like books and cd and computer games, they are putting a max. amount that can be charged for shipping. Even if there is 20-500 books. The prices seem WAY too low. BUT, you can avoid this constraint. You have to now use the shipping calculator. Down side, you have to have your item all boxed up and know the exact weight while listing so that you know what to input.

Two reasons that eBay is doing this. 1- So that buyers do not get charged too much for shipping. 2- eBay collects a fee on the final balance. So, if you sold something for 99 cents and charge $20 for shipping they'd only collect their fees off of the 99 cents. BUT, if they limit this and you sell the item for $15.00 and charge $ 5.00 shipping eBay will now make the % of their fees based on the $15.00.

So, bottom line is more money, again, for eBay!

Debbie

catch-up

Okay. I have a huge pile of things I want to post on here. Lots to share too. Since it is 1:40am I'm not sure how much I will get done but here is a start!

New of school year is going nicely. We turned in our work today at Somis. I think there is 9 times or 10 total that we turn in work so one month down! December is short due to the winter break too.

Enrichment classes for K-3 are on Mondays besides the last Monday of the month, when we turn in work and having our meetings.

The new park day that I created is going great. About 3-4 active families coming. I think the small size is great and the kids are having a blast. Due to the heat we have been meeting in Moorpark. It is a little cooler in Moorpark then it is in Simi. We found a nice park with lots of shade and have been meeting there on Tuesdays.

Wednesdays we are at West Vally Homeschool group in Tarzana. We have been having some problems with a few boys and Little D getting along but I'm hoping it will all smooth out. Baby K is in a great girls group. We had a potluck the first week and they made group t-shirts. Last week we made our scrapbooks that they will add to through out the year. I think this week's theme is 'old fashioned games' and we will be playing jump rope, red rover, etc. Baby K just loves this group and has meet a lot of nice friends in it. Starting this week Little D is giong to try out a brand new class, fencing. I will have to see how he does and if he can listen and not goof off to see if he can stay in it. I talked about it with him and he is excited about it.

Thursdays we often meet a friend and her daughter to play in the afternoon or we just play catch-up. There has to be at least ONE day that we are home all day so that I can do things like laundry and cleaning. Somis will also be having tutoring on this day. We went last week and right now they are testing all the kids for language arts and reading to see where they are at to know where to start. One of the teachers, Heidi, came up to me and asked if Little D is colorblind. I told her, yes, he is, but only a little bit. Colors like tan, faded yellow, off white and white might be hard to tell apart. Or he often gets mixed up dark blue and purple. WELL... she tells me that he told her that her sweater was white and it was a black sweater. He sure tricked her! Sigh!!!

Fridays once a month are SPA (Student Parent Apprication Days) at Somis. In Oct. the theme is Halloween. We often have field trips on Fridays too.

So, as it can be seen, we are getting busier and busier! I have been making sure that we schedule time to be at home too so that the kids get some down time to just play. We have been sucessful at doing our school work in the am's before ever leaving the house and sometimes doing a little bit on the weekend.

Some nice news, Little D won 3rd place for a book he wrote. It was submitted to the Ventura County Fair by Somis Homestudy. It was a nice surprise. They presented it (and for other kids as well) at the beginning of the school year picnic. He got a white ribbion that is one of the long, pretty ones. He is very proud of himself for recieving it.

Fridays

Somis Homestudy New year

The school year has now started. Our schedule is starting to become routine although new things are being added.

Somis Homestudy has a few changes this year. Two teachers have left due to budget cuts and a third might leave/might stay, depending on the total number of enrollment. I hope she stays! She is Baby K's favorite teacher (Baby K said she is the nicest).

Mondays are K-3 and Wednesdays are 3-5 so, technically, Little D could go both days, being in 3rd but I heard from another mom that Wednesdays are mostly 5th graders and the 3rd graders have to be mature and be able to keep up. I'm not sure he can do that. Plus Baby K has the Snow Fairies on Wednesdays in Tarzana. Not sure I want to do all that driving in one day.

New to Somis Homestudy is tutoring that they are offering on Thursdays for K-8th.

I'm going to see if I can get a laptop for cheap so that I can do computer work while I am down there. I asked and they said yes, that I can have internet access and even use a computer there but if I'm doing the Chacha work I have to have a Chacha toolbar on the computer. If I upload my photos before I leave the house I should be able to do my eBay work there.

We have already started our work at home and the beginning of the school year potluck was last week but the enrichment classes don't start until next week.

Something else new, I started my own park day/play group. There are 12 families online but so far there just a few actually chatting. Today there was 5 families at the park. We had a blast and stayed until it was time to come home and make dinner. Both kids fell asleep quickly! I love how much running around at the park tires them out.

Tomorrow is the potluck for the beginning of the school year party with West Valley and Snow Fairies. The girls are suppose to bring a plain white t-shirt to cut and decorate.

We are also going to try to make it to a silent auction that the La Leche League of Thousand Oaks is putting on.

In the am I have to run to my dad's before he leaves to borrow his camera. Little D was playing with mine on the playground 'to take just one picture' and fell off the playground with it and now it has sand in the lens, the lens is stuck out and it does not do anything and doesn't make any noise at all. I'm going to see if I can get my step-dad to clean it up and try to fix it.

Do you Chacha ?

I just signed up as a Chacha guide. Lots of small steps to get there but neat to do. Basically when people email or text questions (as if doing a Google search) a live person, a Guide, gets the question, finds the answer and send it back to them.

They pay 20 cents a question which does not seem like a lot but adds up to about $10-12 per hour. AND... it is fun. Lots of crazy, stupid, interesting questions. People asking for directions, places for cheap gas, relationship problems, history questions, sports statistics, etc.

I know I have a million and one things already going on but so far I like this. I might get burnt out or might get more efficient and make more money!

The link is chacha.com

my user name is Debbzs

:-)

Great auto mechanic in Simi Valley David Skinner

I found a great car mechanic last week. My front breaks were squeaking BAD and I figured they needed to be replaced but didn't have much money to pay. The actual parts have a lifetime warranty from Autozone but the person that put them on for me 2 yrs ago could not do it. But, he gave me the number for someone named David (Dave) Skinner and told me to call him. So, I did. I brought my van over to him a few days later, after we got back from camping, and he worked on it.

He ended up getting the new breaks from Autozone to replace these (had someone from there bring them to him) and then he did all the work removing and replacing the front breaks on both sizes.

The breaks now work great and he charged me only $40.00. WOW WOW WOW!!!

His place of business was by my friend's house so we walked over there and said hi and caought up on things then we walked to McDonald and they got a free snack (Little D got an apple pie and Baby K got a chocolate chip cookie and they both shared a small fry). These were free by using the coupons they sell at Halloween and Valentine's Day. They are a great deal. So, when we were about done Dave called me and said the van was done. We walked back to him. Paid him. and chatted then left.

So, since the serivce was great and prices wonderful I thought I'd share it.

DS Auto Repair.
David Skinner.
(805) 306-9894.
Davids@dsautorepair.net
Dsautorepair.net

:-)

Kids Talk Politics documentary

Check out Kids Talk Politics for great political views from small voices. For ages 8-10 yrs old. Children can tape their views and email it in as a link or on YouTube and they can be part of the documentary-in-progress.

Send to: ken@kidstalkpolitics.tv or visit the website at www.kidstalkpolitics.com

Baby Got Barack Obama

Great clothes for children with Barack Obama on them. I've seen lots around town (bought different places). "Barack-a-Mama" (for a mom). Barack Me All Night Long (baby shirt, like a lullaby) and more.

This specific website has "Barack-a-Bye Baby" and "Baby Got Barack" and more.

T-shirts, onsides, toddler shirts and adult tees. Shirts are $20 + $4 shipping.

www.barackbaby.com

Interesting but I'm not surprised Library vs video games

Library Fact:

Americans spend nearly 10 times as much money on home video games ($9.9 billion) as they do on school library materials for their children ($1 billion), according to the American Library Association.

I wonder if they compared books vs other multi-media (video games, computer games, dvd movies) and not compare it to a school library how the results would be different.

YOU have to think when surveys are done what they WANT you to hear!

Yes, I believe that people spend more money on video and computer and dvd (individually even) then books but is it REALLY double???

What do you think?

recycling ideas & websites

I just read about reusable bags and found a great link. These can be used in lunch boxes or just for left-overs. Instead of buying plastic bags, zip-loc bags and sandwich bags you can use these and RE-USE them over and over again. The website is www.reusablebags.com Now, if you are like me, you think these are cool but can't afford them, you can STILL do something. Wash your zip-loc bags and use them again. I do this mainly if there were dry goods in them, like chips or crackers. If it was something like meat or slimy stuff like pizza then I will throw them out. Due to the size, cost and how there is a few amount in the box, I tend to do it more with the gallon size bags.