How Has The Recession Affected You?

Almost every day, we are bombarded by news on the "Recession" and the statement "Due to today's economy"... blah,blah,blah. With jobs being lost and high gas prices, some of us are finding small ways to help save a few bucks.

In our home, we are being very careful about leaving lights on, doing laundry in cold water whenever possible and taking advantage of coupon circulars as well as online coupon savings. I find myself stocking up when things go on sale a lot more than I did before I know this is just the tip of the iceberg, but so far it has helped with our utilities and food expenses.

I have subscribed to several money saving blogs, which have given me many great tips on simple things to help save money on groceries.

Of course, the obvious still holds true: Keep eating out to a minimum, when driving, plan exactly where you need to stop so you don't backtrack, waste gas (not to mention driving around aimlessly) and fortunately, we always have a great breeze when the windows are open, so the air is staying off as long as we can stand it!

Has the recession affected you? If so, how. Have you changed jobs, lost a job, are you riding the bus to work instead of driving, carpooling? What about your energy and grocery bills?

I would love to hear your comments and suggestions.

Opening Night!

Last night was opening night for the fifth year of our grade school production. This year the performance was the Wizard of Oz, a fitting tribute to the 70th anniversary of the original motion picture starring Judy Garland.

As I am every year, I am completely astonished at the talented kids at our school. To think that a few years ago, we didn't even have a stage to perform on, the one small Christmas performance was done in our church right on the altar and the musical didn't even exist. We have come so far and I am truly touched at how the parish parents work together to help the directors put on a show that rivals a high school play or even a professional theatre performance, even though the kids are only ages 10-15. The funny kids, the shy kids, the musical kids, the dancing kids, everyone has their place to shine. Our directors, John and Kristi Jung have a gift, a gift to see a talent in everyone and teach them how to bring that to the stage. They work many hours to get it just right and it shows each year in the kids remarkable performance.

By the looks on those adorable smiling faces, the kids are having a ball and the memories will last a lifetime!

Break a leg tonight OLV Grade School Players!

The Nieman Marcus Cookie Recipe

This is an email that was forwarded to me today from a good friend. Enjoy!

I love it when the little guy strikes back!
**This is really worth reading**

A little background: Neiman-Marcus, if you don't know already, is a very expensive store; i.e., they sell your typical $8.00 T-shirt for $50.00.

THIS IS A TRUE STORY!

My daughter and I had just finished a salad at a Neiman-Marcus Cafe in Dallas , and we decided to have a small dessert. Because both of us are such cookie lovers, we
decided to try the 'Neiman-Marcus cookie.

It was so excellent that I asked if they would give me the recipe, and the waitress said with a small frown,"I'm afraid not, but you can buy the recipe."

Well, I asked how much, and she responded, "Only two fifty. It's a great deal!" I agreed to that, and told her to just add it to my tab.

Thirty days later, I received my VISA statement, and the Neiman-Marcus charge was $285.00! I looked again, and I remembered I had only spent $9.95 for two salads and
about $20.00 for a scarf. As I glanced at the bottom of the statement, it said , "Cookie Recipe-$250.00."

That was outrageous!

I called Neiman's Accounting Department and told them the waitress said it was 'two fifty', which clearly does not mean 'two hundred and fifty dollars' by any reasonable interpretation of the phrase.

Neiman-Marcus refused to budge.

They would not refund my money because, according to them, 'What the waitress told you is not our problem. You have already seen the recipe. We absolutely will
not refund your money at this point.'

I explained to the Accounting Department lady the criminal statutes which govern fraud in the state of Texas. I threatened to report them to the Better Business Bureau and the Texas Attorney General's office for engaging in fraud. I was
basically told , 'Do what you want. Don't bother thinking of how you can get even, and don't bother trying to get any money back.

I just said, Okay, you folks got my $250, and now I'm going to have $250 worth of fun.' I told her that I was going to see to it that every cookie lover in the United States with an e-mail account has a $250 cookie recipe from Neiman-Marcus. for free.

She replied, 'I wish you wouldn't do this..'


I said 'well you should have thought of that before you ripped me off!' and slammed
down the phone.

So here it is!

Please, please, please pass it on to everyone you can possibly think of. I paid $250 for this, and I don't want Neiman-Marcus to EVER make another penny off of this
recipe!

NEIMAN-MARCUS COOKIES

2 cups butter
24 oz. chocolate chips
4 cups flour
2 cups brown sugar
2 tsp. soda
1 tsp. salt
2 cups sugar
1 8 oz. Hershey Bar (grated)
5 cups blended oatmeal
4 eggs
2 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. vanilla
3 cups chopped nuts (your choice)

Measure oatmeal, and blend in a blender to a fine
powder. Cream the butter and both sugars.. Add eggs
and
vanilla, mix together with flour, oatmeal, salt,
baking
powder, and soda. Add chocolate chips, Hershey Bar,
and
nuts. Roll into balls, and place two inches apart on a
cookie sheet.

Bake for 10 minutes at 375 degrees. Makes 112
cookies.

PLEASE READ THE RECIPE AND SEND IT TO EVERY PERSON YOU KNOW WHO HAS AN E-MAIL ADDRESS!
THIS IS REALLY TERRIFIC!!

Even if the people on your e-mail list don't eat sweets, send it to them and ask them to pass it on.
Let's make sure we get these ladies $250.00 worth.
Enjoy the cookies, they are good.