Advice From Mom
It's Time to Get Organized

It's so nice to come home to a clean house....I've tried to teach each of the children that concept, but they just don't seem to understand until they have a place of their own (about 18 years old they start to understand all I've been preaching for many years...). My daughter, the Nanny, found that out when she returned (she took the same trip we did). She said she left the playroom in perfect order, and when she returned it was a disaster area...she said you return from a trip all renewed and then you loose all enthusiasm when you encounter a mess right away!

I found a fantastic way to bring home presents for friends and not spend much money (those gift shop prices are sky-high). I found specialty bottled water (normally I feel bottled water is a terrible waste of money) labeled as "Mount Rushmore" water....it makes a cute gift that you can't get anywhere else! But, I did find a variety of prices--at the Mount Rushmore gift shop the water cost $1.25, whereas the very same bottle sold for 69 cents at K-Mart in Rapid City! The bottled water is a promotional item to help pay for some of the new restoration projects going on there. I was glad to see that because when we were up looking at the mountain I wondered aloud to my husband about the huge expense the government (or so I thought) was taking on to redo the visitor area and parking lots (I thought it was nice enough a couple of years ago & really didn't need that much repair).

If you remember, I wrote about the laundry facilities in the hotel probably being more expensive than the downtown laundromats? Well, I was wrong on that count! There was just a single washer and dryer, but they cost exactly the same as downtown, and they were in much better condition (and I could go do laundry at midnight...).

Have a good week!
Rae

Rae is the mother of nine (and grandmother of two) in central Nebraska. She says her house runs smoothly due to "organized chaos, and lots of lists! Anyone wishing to drop her a line is welcome to at rae@kdsi.net

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