Always Looking 4 Art

I've Moved~

2007-11-19T19:26:00.000-08:00

I have moved my blog here:

http://myartfilledlife.wordpress.com/

BUILD YOUR OWN COLORFUL ORNAMENT

2007-11-11T08:50:00.000-08:00

This year Kyle added a swimming design and we immediately began getting orders. She really tries to have something for everyone. When I complained about not being able to find a rowing ornament for my daughter - she designed one! It was very successful so this year she looked at other sports not represented and added lacrosse, yoga, gymnastics, bowling and ballroom dancing.

We also started something else new this year - build your own ornament. This allows people to customize with their team, school or organization colors.

Today we sent out a lacrosse ornament with navy and green. My daughter's rowing team colors are red and blue. My son's school mascot is the sea otter and school colors are green and gold. My youngest just completed try outs for the school soccer team, so I could make one in her school colors of purple and gold.

The really nice thing about this option is it can be used with any of our over 200 designs - not just the sports - so you can make an ornament for your knitting group, the book club, your trainer, the doctor who delivered your baby, the teacher, the hairdresser, your lawyer or your mom.

MEANINGFUL GIFTS - PART 1

2007-11-08T21:16:00.000-08:00

I have said before that I like to give gifts which celebrate an occasion, a trip, a hobby or event. I just consider them more meaningful. We have seen a lot of people choose gifts to celebrate "firsts."

Realtors have given gifts to new home owners to celebrate their first home. Friends and family members have celebrated first Christmas, and first anniversary.

Other occasions to celebrate might be losing a tooth or retirement. Someone's first cruise or piano recital. Commerate a graduation and a first job. A new pet or a prize winning hobb y and award winning team. All of our designs can be added to all of our products - so you could choose a business card case or a pill box or even a Christmas tree ornament. This year I plan to give a pink ribbon gift to my sister to celebrate her 10th year cancer free!

Today we sent out 13 flask sets, each with a different design all engraved "Haiti 2007". I think they must have been to celebrate a family reunion or something.

We have sent out many gifts which have been engraved to make the items more personal. A birth date, a wedding or anniversary date. A nice phrase or even a monogram add a lot to a gift.

WHAT'S SO FUNNY ABOUT PEACE LOVE AND UNDERSTANDING

2007-11-06T20:54:00.000-08:00

The title of this blog comes from a song by Elvis Costello. I like the song and the sentiment. We have a lot of gifts for the peaceful. This nice tree ornament includes engraving - which could be Peace on Earth 2008.

We also have the Chinese character for peace, happiness, love, harmony and dream.

Which add up to understanding.

SHY SHARK AT THE AQUARIUM

2007-11-04T19:15:00.000-08:00

We went to Monterey this weekend to visit our son at school. He attends CSUMB, the home of the Otters. We went to take a look at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, which we have not visited in years. I have scrapbooks full of the kids at various ages at the Aquarium - they especially loved the hands on exhibits - reaching into the water to touch the starfish and the manta rays.

The Aquarium has expanded since we were there and they have the only great white shark in captivity. It was being shy and we didn't get a great look at it- but some of the fish and the sea turtles we saw are equally fascinating. Huge, graceful and mesmerizing to watch.

The sea otters always have a huge crowd, we tried to find a place to watch the feeding - but gave up and went to see the jellyfish. The Penguin exhibit is still in construction, I will defintly go back to see those wonderful little creatures.

We walked through other exhibits, saw a whale skeleton and octopus tanks. We had lunch in the cafe and sat out in the warm sun watching the kayaks and sea birds and breathing in the salty air.

20 YEARS OLD - HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

2007-11-01T08:49:00.000-07:00

Today my twins are 20 years old. They are my Double Happiness - symbolized in the design at right. They are no longer teens, but as their younger sister points out - it doesn't really change anything! Another year before they enjoy the freedoms surrounding alcohol. Though being "under age" has not slowed them much. M would like to be able to go to the dance clubs and Z would like to be able to purchase his own beer. So far they have not gotten a fake id like their mother did at their age!

So now they celebrate their birthdays with friends I have never met at a distance from their mom and dad. They usually want a check, but I try to send something I can wrap. I think they miss the fuss and the homemade cake, but I am sure that their friends will shower them with attention. I still call and sing to them,
I know that they "appreciate" that!

So HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my big grown-up kids!

CRAZY FOR ANIMAL GIFTS

2007-10-29T21:20:00.000-07:00

In the dog vs. cat camps I am totally a dog person. I have always had an aversion to cats. but I know that there are those of you who dote on your kitties and we sell lot's and lot's of cat designs.

People find our dog desig ns and ask about doing specific breeds - but Kyle was very resistant to "go there" - I guess because everyone would want their breed represented. I assured her that doing a darling little dachshund
would be very popular - but no - when she decided to create another dog design, she chooses the hip, celebrity endorsed dog. The dog of Paris Hilton and Britney Spears. She chose the Chihuahua. Not my dog of choice, but it does make a cute gift for Chihuahua lovers - and I know there are a lot of you out there!

Kyle has actually gone a little animal crazy this year. She has added 14 to our menagerie of designs. We now have lots of jungle creatures like a tiger, zebra, rhino, monkey and alligator. We have some additional barnyard animals like rooster, sheep, bull and cow. Pesty things like snakes and mice. Endangered things like sharks and polar bears and some peaceful doves.

All of our designs can be applied to most of our items - so we can help you
create wonderful personalized gifts for everyone you know. Take a look at our animal and pets page.

FIRST TRIP TO THE PUMPKIN PATCH

2007-10-27T08:35:00.000-07:00

We have 3 ladies who do all our production work. Thuy has been with Kyle for 15 years, Phoung has been here 9 years and Lahn for 5. Phoung is the youngest by many years and has two small children.

Yesterday Phoung left early to accompany her son Keagan and his pre-school class to the Pumpkin Patch. She seemed a bit bewildered when she left, uncertain about what to expect.

Today she was all smiles and said what a good time they all had. She said there was so much to learn about living the this country - she had never been to a Pumpkin Patch before! I know from previous years that she and her husband were uncertain about the whole Halloween thing, though they had purchased costumes for their two little ones, they did not take them out to Trick or Treat.

Working with these remarkable ladies, I have learned that the Vietnamese people are very healthy and not especially interested in eating sweets, so I can understand their lack of interest in filling bags with candy! When they go to make their lunch the most wonderful smells fill the studio. When I pass by the kitchen I see multiple small dishes of vegetables and tofu or fish and always lots of fruit.

So I hope that Phoung will enjoy the Amercian holidays with her children, but not adapt all of our ways!

WOMEN COMMAND SPACE

2007-10-25T08:39:00.000-07:00

When I was a girl, there were no sports teams for girls, few career options beyond nurse or teacher and we had to wear skirts to school. While there are many young women who scoff at "women's liberation" as some old fashioned concept that doesn't apply to their lives, this is what the efforts of my generation have made possible:

With commander Pamela Melroy at the helm, Space Shuttle Discovery snuggled up to the space station and latched on after performing a giant somersault to give engineers a close look at the ship's belly.

The docking marked the historic meetup of the first two spacecraft simultaneously commanded by women. Space station commander Peggy Whitson is the first woman to be in charge of the orbiting lab.

So girls, thank your mom and grandmother for whatever their part was in creating these possibilities for you. Telling you that you are equal to men, that your brain is more important than your looks. Know that when they told you you could grow up to be anything you want to be - they meant it! And thank them because they were probably not told that themselves and grew up not knowing their full potential.

START YOUR HOLIDAY SHOPPING NOW!

2007-10-23T09:04:00.000-07:00

In mid-October when people talk about the holidays coming up they are usually referring to Halloween, maybe Columbus Day where school is out. But at Kyle Design and many other retail businesses - we are talking Christmas. We start talking about it in August. We start getting ready in September. By October our shelves are bursting with inventory and Kyle's invoice pile gets sky high.

We notice that we sell a lot of our "home improvement" products during the months leading up to Thanksgiving, and then that business drops like a stone! Everyone shifts from fixing up the house for company to gift shopping.

At this point in the preparations we are printing everything we think we might need between now and January. Our production ladies are snipping all the metal designs, filing rough edges, putting labels on products and all the time consuming work normally done on a day to day basis. We make stacks of gift boxes and pre-bag our little protective pouches and talk strategy for dealing with double our normal shipping volume.

Then we hope we didn't prepare for a party of 500 and have only 5 show up!

For myself, I still don't like to see the Christmas stuff in the stores in August. But I don't mind the avalanche of catalogs in the mail because I start shopping online in October. I really try to be pretty much done by Thanksgiving because after that we are working long, long hours and I am too tired to think at the end of the day. I start picking up little things - stocking stuffers and the like, in the summer. I like to have little things, reflective of the year to give.

And of course - something from Kyle Design for everyone!

HAVE A GREAT ONLINE SHOPPING EXPERIENCE

2007-10-16T20:59:00.000-07:00

Online shopping is big. I have been doing it for years and when I came to work at Kyle Design I was very comfortable navigating the website and helping our customers.

Since most of our products are semi-custom, there are a LOT of choices and options. Kyle has worked very hard to make the website both comprehensive ( the information and descriptions of the items) and easy (to choose options and proceed to checkout.) We recognise that there are questions which arise and we answer our own phones in the studio in order to offer the best customer service.

What many customers loose sight of is, as a web based business, we are set up to receive orders over our website. We do not have phone banks of "operators standing by" to take orders. There are 2 or 3 of us in the studio jumping on the phones while doing our other work.

And as the holidays loom closer there is a lot of work to do just to get the orders out - the orders that came in through the website!

So please understand that while it may seem easier to call that 800 number listed on a website, please place your order on the site. The transaction is perfectly safe and the credit card data you send is encrypted so it can't be stolen. In fact it is safer than handing your card over to a store employee.

Now think about it - you wouldn't look around the shopping mall and then drive home and get on the phone and call Macy's to order the blouse you liked. NO! You would buy it while you were in Macy's! Shopping on a website like ours is just like shopping in a store - so call us with a question, to make sure we are a legitimate company, to say "hi". But please place your order on the website.

Thank you very much!

WHY ARE MY ENGLISH MUFFINS PINK?

2007-10-11T10:12:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned in my last post, when my sister had her breast cancer diagnosis, there wasn't yet the awareness mania that exists now. Now the world seems to be all pinked up - at least for October. This is not a bad thing. I suspect those who have been touched by other forms of cancer feel that their color should be flown as high. I think ultimately it all goes to the same cause which is to bring attention to early detection of and treatment for all cancers.

Over the years I have participated in a couple of fundraising activities for breast cancer. Nancy and I attended a Susan G Koman event in San Francisco and in 2004 we did the 2 Day Avon Walk with our sister Polly. My daughter has both been on the crew and walked in that event. she wants me to do it with her again this summer.

With everything all pinked out this month we can be lulled into thinking that the problem is being given enough money and attention. And I still remember how long it took my feet to recuperate after the last Avon Walk (black toenails and all) but it is time to put my sneakers to the pavement and raise money again.

MY BREAST CANCER STORY

2007-10-11T10:00:00.000-07:00

My wonderful sister Nancy was diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 37. That was 10 years ago. They say that after 5 years you are safe, but we know women who made it past 5 years only to die later. So we don't take anything for granted.

Nancy had just had her second child and thought she was having breast infections while nursing her baby. She had her annual mammogram and it looked fine but she noticed swelling in her lymph nodes and asked the doctor to check it out. At first they thought it was some underlying infection and treated her with antibiotics. She is a nurse and they are exposed to so many things...but it didn't go away. I am not sure why the doctor did a biopsy - but thank goodness he did. It was cancer. There was no lump, but there were cancer cells.

She went for the whole shebang. Radical mastectomy, radiation, chemo. Being willing to go all out and the belief that she would survive it was, as far as I am concerned, the key to her survival. There was never a thought of not surviving.

Nancy is a beautiful woman. Not the type whose identity is tied up in her looks, but one who makes an effort to be well put together and made-up. But she decided, at first, not to have reconstructive surgery. She went the the gym and took no pains to cover her scar, she answered the door without her wig, she never lost confidence of her womanliness. When she decided years later to have reconstruction, it was mostly because she was tired of dealing with the mastectomy bras and reduced freedom in her clothing choices.

When Nancy was diagnosed, there wasn't yet a big thing about Breast Cancer Awareness. No walks, no pink ribbons...but more about that on my next post.

INSULT TO INJURY

2007-10-08T20:19:00.000-07:00

Before I was able to go in for a flu shot, I managed to catch the damned bug. I have been training 2 new employees, so I went to work and muddled through until about 3 when I became so fuzzy that I sent myself home. I mopped everything down with antibacterial wipes and took off.

I hadn't gone more than a mile when I saw the motorcycle cop with his radar gun pointed at me. I had no idea how fast I was going, but I just KNEW he had that thing pointed at me. And he did.

So I pulled over, got the license, the registration and opened the window. We went through the routine and as he stepped back to write me up I reminisced about the other 2 tickets I have gotten.

My first came when I was 25 and had just bought a red Alpha Romeo convertible. Everyone said I had better watch out because red sports cars get targeted for tickets...within a month they were proven right. My car was plucked out of a crowd all going over 70 down I-5. I am not kidding, I was in the middle of a pack of big rigs and other cars and I was singled out for a ticket.

The second time it was a basic speed trap - kind of like this one with one speed on one side of the intersection and a different one on the other side.

So when the officer came back for me to sign the ticket and I told him I would use my own pen because I was really sick and had left work early to go home and didn't want to pass it on to him - he looked a bit taken aback. He stammered out how sorry he was and thanked me for using my own pen and seemed like he was sorry he targeted my car. Which is nothing like a red sports car anymore...

That actually made me feel a little better.

LOVE OF VODKA DAY

2007-10-03T09:15:00.001-07:00

October 4 is National Vodka Day. I'll drink to that! Vodka was my first hard liquor. Susie and Chris and I made vodka gimlets and drank them in my room the summer before we left for college. the first time I ordered one in a bar (with my fake ID) the bartender asked over or up? I hoped I answered cooly so I was not revealed as the novice I was. I can't remember what I said.

Later my dad said classy women drink scotch, so for many years I drank scotch and water. I still do sometimes. I had my first martini at my little sister's wedding 10 years ago this month and while I didn't make a complete switch during the cosmopolitan craze, I have enjoyed a fair number of the wonderful flavored vodka martinis. When my family vacationed in Puerto Rico this summer I had several Pomegranate martinis I think I could have lived on they were so flavorful and smooth...Cheers!

A HAPPY ANNIVERSARY

2007-09-30T21:05:00.000-07:00

We celebrated our 23rd Anniversary this weekend. We had a restful, peaceful weekend aided by beautiful weather and a simple plan.

We went to the spacious and inviting health club we belong to and had a nice workout afterwhich T had reserved a massage for me as a surprize. It was a lovely massage and a wonderful gift! We then sat on the sunny deck overlooking the pool area and enjoyed the warm sun and cool fall breeze until we were too hungry to linger longer.

We found our way back to a local boutique hotel, kidding about what a long road trip we had taken. The room was lovely, decorated in fall colors with lush textures and a fireplace. The bathroom featured a huge walk in shower and hand laid marbe mosaic tile. We unpacked and dropped the blinds and then something rare occured - we took a nap.

Later we strolled down the main street poking into shops we had never visited before. We walked to dinner in a place we had never tried and then listened to a blues band for an hour or so before walking back to our beautiful room.

Sunday breakfast was fresh fruit and salmon - yum. Then we went back to the health club for another work out and snooze in the sun.

Twenty three years of marriage is not always blissful - but this celebration certainly was.

NEVER GET A MIME TALKING. HE WON'T STOP.

2007-09-28T10:13:00.000-07:00

I loved seeing Marcel Marceau on TV when I was a kid. He seemed so exotic and yet his mime was so communicative. He died this week at the age of 84.

Marceau created "Bip" the clown, wearing his striped pullover and battered, silk opera hat, had become his alter ego, even as Chaplin's "Little Tramp" became that star's major personality. Bip's misadventures with everything from butterflies to lions, on ships and trains, in dance-halls or restaurants, were limitless.

As a young woman I saw a young Shields and Yarnell perform on the streets of San Francisco, they did a playful sort of mime, but always you remembered Marceau. He was without peer. Today there is a negative attitude about mime, it is considered a lower form of performance, but in mime, Marceau said, gestures express the essence of the soul's most secret aspiration. "To mime the wind, one becomes a tempest. To mime a fish, you throw yourself into the sea."

SOCCER MOM, SOCCER HATER

2007-09-28T08:42:00.000-07:00

I am a soccer mom who hates soccer. There, I said it. It is my least favorite of all the sports my kids have played. Youngest daughter loves soccer and is quite good at it and plays two seasons of the year so I watch a lot of soccer.

My secret to survival is the camera. When you photograph a game, you don't watch the game in the same way. You are watching for photo opportunities. You are watching for moments. Actually for seconds at a time. Somehow that works for me.

And what do we do with all the photos? We have a website for the team. That is what my husband does and has a blast with. He keeps the statistics and game schedules and puts the photos up every week. this season he has added music!

At the end of the season, I do a scrapbook for the girls on the team. So, at least unless someones asks me, I am an undercover soccer hater.

PEDDIES WITH THE BIRTHDAY GIRL

2007-09-24T10:02:00.000-07:00

Fourteen and a freshman in high school tends to bring big changes. The first birthday party with boys in attendance is one, the first "date" to the Homecoming dance is another. So it is also time to upgrade the grooming. The chipped black toenail polish has got to go. Time for a professional pedicure - or peddie as they say.

I always go to the same little nail shop in town, they are very clean and reasonably priced and it is my special treat to myself every couple of months. On special occasions I take one of my girls along. So last time in honor of the birthday, I took A with me. We picked out our colors, red for me and hot pink for her. Enjoyed making fun of each other jiggling in the massage chairs and the ladies in the shop painted tiny little flowers on her big toes as a birthday gift!

So much nicer to see in her flip flops than that chipped black polish.

NEW TV SEASON COMING RIGHT UP

2007-09-20T22:10:00.000-07:00

There is another season coming. No - I am not going to write about Fall again. I am writing about the TV season!

Last year when we first started blogging and writing articles, we had a lot of laughs coming up with gifts for people based on TV shows. We are particularly enamoured of Greys' Anatomy and had gift ideas for the McDreamy in your life and for the favorite nurses and even for the naughty McSteamy.

Then there is Top Chef and Next Food network Star and all the cooking shows we like. All the Lovers of TV shows like Extreme Makeover Home Edition.

All the HGTV show about decorating and selling a house and organizing. And for the realtors we know.

I have always loved the Law & Order series and can watch them over and over, CSI, too. We have some cool unofficial badge gifts for the law enforcement side and nice choices for the law side, too.

Survivor is going to China this year and Lost is making us wait until October to see what will happen next. The Reality show Amazing Race goes all around the world to beautiful places. Fan of those show would like to find this Palm Tree pill box in a gift wrapped box!

So those are a few ideas from previous TV seasons, I'll blog some new ones when I choose my favorite new shows in the next few weeks.

THE MESS IN THE KITCHEN

2007-09-18T19:45:00.000-07:00

I got one of those phone calls we mom's just live for. Oldest daughter called from college after less than 2 weeks in the on campus apartment she shares with 3 girls. In fact - she called 4 times desperate to talk to me. I called her back after the younger daughter's soccer game and she told me "I finally understand why you get so upset when you come home to a messy kitchen!"

Quite frankly, I never thought that they didn't understand, I just thought they didn't give a damn!

She told her tale of cooking a veggie casserole with cheese for dinner for all the roommates and having to leave before dinner was over. She was the first up in the morning and found that not only were the dinner dishes still unwashed, but that the brand new KichenAid mixer we sent her had been used to make cupcakes. If that wasn't bad enough, all the ingredients, pans and cupcakes were scattered about the small kitchen. The final insult - the frosting was terrible and the cupcakes inedible.

I listened and soothed and suggested a frank talk with the roommates. And I smiled.

FALL COMING SLOWLY TO CALIFORNIA

2007-09-09T21:50:00.000-07:00

Fall always comes slowly to Northern California. I never realized it until we lived in the Pacific Northwest for a few years. There it is as if turning the calendar page to September causes the trees to turn and the air to crisp.

When I came back to the Bay Area I was more aware, not thet we don't have seasons, but that they are drawn out. In early September the leaves lose their deep greeness and begin their fade to yellow. Daytime temperatures are still in the 80's, but there is a sense of something creeping in.

I refreshed my patio pots last weekend with some new color. The plants I put in back in April were leggy and sad. The tomatoes are well past their peak and the fruit remaining turn from green to red very hesitantly. I am not sure they will all make the transition before the vines go completely limp.

Of course the kids are back to school and grumbling about homework. Husband is working hard to prepare for the law school class he will teach this semester. The days are shorter. Time to update the home page and make it match the new season!

A LITTLE E-MAIL ETIQUETTE PLEASE

2007-09-07T09:33:00.000-07:00

As a person who answers hundreds of customer service e-mails a week, I wish that there was a bit more civility involved. I can understand getting e-mail with no greeting, but no signature? Am I supposed to reply to "Hey You"? I just write a general Hello, but it flashes through my mind to be sassy about it, maybe make up names like in the Dear Abby columns. "Dear Looking for Monkey Face Pill Box."

It also bothers me that people will put something into the subject line and the only thing in the body is "I need this." Okay - I know I am the customer service person, but could you put a bit more effort into your inquiry?

Then there are the people who are pricing things out for whatever reason. They put in about half the necessary information, and want a "quote". Geez. Or they write a complete list of the things they have obviously spent time finding on the site and ask how much the order would cost. (Put it in the shopping cart and all will be revealed.)

And people, people - the spelling, the grammar. Use spell check, it doesn't really take much time. And let's face it, people take a well written request more seriously than a poorly written one. A couple of times I have recieved such mispelled, disjointed e-mails that I have deleted them because I was concerned that they was some sort of phishing going on.

Oh, one more thing. When you first write and you are "Bob" and then if you have a complaint and you are suddenly Robert Jones, Esq. - we are not impressed.

I AM TRYING TO WRITE ABOUT RECYCLING...

2007-09-06T10:24:00.000-07:00

...but it is turning into an Andy Rooney rant.

I wanted to write about recycling - we have a new recycling design, and I am proud to say that we are a pretty "green" company.

I had read somewhere that those little stickers they now put on fruit at the store were going down the drain and causing big trouble at water treatment plants. They don't dissolve or something and I thought I would just look up the article and report on it here because I know I have put them down the drain and now I don't. Just thought I would help spread the word

Well, of course I can't find anything about it on the web. I couldn't think where I read the article. So then I had to try to think what the little stickers might be called, then I had to figure out what exactly was getting clogged up by them. I found out all kinds of stuff about the stickers - like they identify organic fruit versus modified fruit, but couldn't find the article on the clogging issue. So just take my word for it. Throw the little sticker from the fruit in the trash, not down the sink.

There was also something in the news about recycling water bottles with or without caps on. Apparently the caps are not recyclable. Some recyling plants won't bother with the bottles with caps on and will toss them, so it is best to always recycle with the caps off.

Where we live they don't give us bins for separating our garbage and recyclables. They sort it at the "dump". I have seen them do it - sort of. I have seen the conveyor belt with people picking through stuff, but I am unsure how effective it is. When we had bins we rinsed things out and took some care with the cans and bottles - like the lids and labels off. With everything just tossed together - it just seems too gross to be able to recycle. So I take my newspapers to work and use them for packing. We take the Styrofoam and cardboard to the recycling center. I reuse my paper grocery bags until they fall apart - they love it when I still have the Christmas bags in August - those little wintery snowflakes on the bags really stand out when it is 95 outside.

My family thinks I am weird because I rinse and reuse Ziploc bags and made a fuss at the store when they stopped carrying wax paper bags. Doesn't it seem like the more aware people get about being"green" the more disposable stuff comes out and the more "individually wrapped" stuff is becoming the norm?

Costco stopped carrying the big bags of Foster Farms frozen chicken breasts and changed to bags of individually wrapped chicken breasts. I shop at Costco, in part, to reduce the packaging of things, and now they are wrapping each breast inside the big plastic bag in more plastic. How is this a good thing?

NO SUCH THING

2007-09-03T23:15:00.000-07:00

So that saying about no such thing as a free lunch comes up pretty often around Kyle Design.

We have a flat rate shipping charge - so no matter if you buy a feather weight pair of earrings or 15 pounds of switch plates - it is $6.95 for ground shipping. for the past couple of weeks I have been spending time on the order desk and let me tell you - $6.95 doesn't cover most of our actual shipping cost. Much less the packing materials and labor.

But we frequently have indignant little notes on our orders or rants in our e-mail about ''OUTRAGEOUS" shipping charges. It is always such a surprise to me. I was a long time catalog shopper and an early adapter to shopping online - hey - I am the mother of twins. Catalog shopping was retail therapy without the reality of shopping with octopus like limbs flailing out of a double wide stroller. I swear their father trained them to act up when I slowed down enough to look at the merchandise. But I digress...

When I look at the receipts from some of my online adventures, I generally pay upwards of $12.00 shipping for lightweight orders. I always figured it made up for the sales tax - at least when I bought from out of state. Ok - lame rationalization, but it's all I've got.

So - we figure the people who complain about our shipping charges are new to online/catalog shopping and have no basis for comparison. Or maybe they think we will treat them to free shipping to sooth their outrage.

Same goes for people who want to make an exchange - people sometimes whine about the shipping cost - I have always looked at that as the cost side of the benefit of online shopping - you take a chance and sometimes you are out the shipping. Usually, though, you are saved the hassle of driving around and fighting the crowds and it is worth it because you find something different than you could have found at the mall anyway.