hopeky94

This was posted on FB today by an employee of the nursing home in my hometown specifically for their facility, but I thought it would be a timely reminder for all of us... I know it's got me to thinking and wanting to do more!

Interesting ideas, Pnambic- thanks! With the computer speakers, I'm thinking the cord length would be an issue, unless there are longer cords available... And I'm not sure how/if Bluetooth speakers work in relation to HDTVs-- I know they can be used for iPads, iPhones, iPods, etc, but I've never seen or heard anyone using them with a TV... Can it be done, and if so, how??

I'd like to buy and hook up a very small (but hopefully decent quality!) surround sound system for my parents' house. My dad's hearing gets worse every year, so I'd like to get something where I can position a 1-2 speakers closer to him and 1-2 other speakers in other parts of the room-- so he no longer has to turn the TV up so loud (and maybe Mom and I can still have conversations in another room while he watches his westerns- LOL!). We've tried the wireless headphones for him, but he found them uncomfortable and stopped wearing them, so this is the only other option I'm aware of! Can anyone help me find something (BF or otherwise) that will work for this? I'm guessing under $50 won't happen, but is there still hope for $75 or less?? Thanks!

How can I find a listing of all of the fitness tracker bands that will be on sale for BF? Also, of the ones that come with chest bands, can they all be used fine without the chest band, too? (I have a friend who wants one but hesitates because he wouldn't be able to get the chest band on and off by himself due to physical challenges.) Thanks!

Hopefully, it'll be like last year and all the great deals at CVS will be in their Sun-Wed sale Thanksgiving week! Last year's BF ad for CVS was pretty small, too- but the 4-day Sun-Wed sale had like 2 PAGES of Free after ECB's stuff... I'm really hoping someone has that ad and will share it at GD, too!!

Thanks for the added pages, Brad! Hmmm... found this disclaimer at the bottom of one of the last few pages: "Generally, merchandise prices in our stores, catalogs, and websites will be the same. However, due to sales, clearance events, or market conditions, prices may vary. No mail, COD orders, or dealers, please. Bass Pro Shops® reserves the right to limit quantities. Please be aware that descriptive, typographic, or photographic errors may sometimes occur, and are subject to correction." Still doesn't really answer my question... So, did anyone here order (or look at) their website on BF last year and find out if the prices were the same?

Actually, from looking at what I have saved from last year, it was the 4-day sale Sun-Wed of Thanksgiving week that had the best deals, including lots of freebies... I wonder if whoever submitted this ad would have that one too? <crossing my fingers that they do AND it's as good as last year's! LOL>

I see that their 6-hour BF sales are in-store only, but does anyone know if their 5-day sale also includes catalog/internet orders?

This will be the first time in many, many years that my parents & our family hasn't gone thru basically the same this as the OP, with my aunt, uncle, & various cousins (and their families) coming in from another state. Thankfully, my uncle enjoys cooking and splits the meal-making with my mom, so that's a huge plus-- but the one big thing the two of them always do as soon as he gets there is sit down together and write out a rough "menu" of all the lunches & dinners they plan to fix. This helps them figure out what ingredients they still need and gives them a concrete plan of action. Once the menu is decided upon, it's hung on the fridge, both for them to reference and in case any of the guests want to know ahead of time (especially for picky eaters or food allergies). Also, all of the non-perishable ingredients needed for the meals they typically keep separated from the regular pantry stuff, to hopefully prevent any last-minute fiascos. Yes, sometimes meals need to be rearranged (or occasionally revamped completely) due to unforeseen circumstances, but for the most part, this has worked really well for us over the years! As for what to serve, the suggestions so far have been spot-on to what my mom and uncle typically plan! They do always try to have salad at every meal as well. My cousins have always brought along whatever snacks they like, and if any of those happen to be crackers, we also use those when we have soup/chili-- so I agree that asking your guests to bring items is fine! I would probably ask them to bring plenty of whatever snacks their family enjoys, then mention one or two of the meals you've planned and ask if they could bring as specific item to go with it (i.e. "I'm planning to have a big pot of chili on Wednesday night; could you possibly bring some cookies or another dessert to go with it?" or "I'm thinking we'll have sandwiches for lunch a couple times this weekend. I'll have plenty of meat, but could you pick up a couple loaves of bread & bring them?") Hope this helps- good luck!

No, this one does SOME other holiday stuff, too (I saw the Charlie Brown Halloween special on there and a couple of Thanksgiving movies, for sure)... But there'll probably be a lot of scary-type Halloween stuff you won't find there, as they try to keep the listing "family-friendly"...

For the past several years, this Christmas TV Schedule listing at "It's A Wonderful Movie" blog has been my go-to source for finding out when all of my old (& new!) favorites will be airing... as well as getting more info on some of them!

Thank you, Lisa-- I hadn't been on GottaDeal in a few days (and apparently don't have my email notifications set up right- lol), so I just now saw this! Your advice is basically spot-on with what the wonderful Christian lady in PA that I've been emailing said... So it's great to have her advice and suggestions reaffirmed!! I have a rough draft of our service written up (we're having it Dec 23) & am now working on recruiting musicians and readers to help. Please remember us in your prayers! And if anyone else would still like to share, in answer to my questions in my original email, I would love to hear from you!

As I stated in another thread, I am the main organizer for a special "Blue Christmas" service at my small country church, especially for folks who are stuggling with loss in their lives that make the holidays rough. We held this service once before (in 2009), but being our first try at it, it wasn't as sort of clunky and probably a little overloaded with stuff, where I'd found SO many different ideas online and tried to fit them all in! I'm trying to make this year's service better: I'm emailing back & forth with a lady in another state who organizes one of these for her church; but I'd also like the perspective of potential attendees... So as I plan this year's service, I'd like to hear from fellow GD members: * If you've ever attended a service like this before, what part(s) of it really stuck with you (either in a good -or bad- way)? Was there anything you'd liked to have seen added or handled differently? * If you've never been to a service like this, what would be some things you would or wouldn't be interested in (and comfortable with) seeing, hearing, or doing? * If you're dealing with loss (or anything that makes the holiday season more painful than pleasant this year), what could be said or done (on paper or online) to make you interested in possibly attending a service like this? FYI, a brief synopsis of what a Blue Christmas service typically entails: vocal and instrumental music (with or without audience participation), appropriate poetry or prose shared, lighting of symbolic candles (and possibly audience participation in lighting individual candles)... all with the basic of message of acknowledging the pain of loss, but also hope of moving forward with the help of loved ones and the ever-present love of Christ. Thanks for any and all help, and my thoughts & prayers are with you all!

How about a nice scarf, gloves, & hat set, along with a nice neutral-colored clutch purse/large wallet? If that still sounds a little too low-priced for the range you're wanting, you could add a $5-10 gift card and stick it in the see-thru ID pocket in the purse/wallet...

I do little plastic tumblers full of goodies for my coworkers every year (Walgreens usually put theirs on sale for 8/$1 sometime before Christmas)... Walgreens usually put their individual candies on sale for cheap (the ones that are bigger that the kind that come in a bag but not full-sixed) as well as other cute little trinket things. And you can usually find the stretchy gloves for $1 a pair at Dollar General or Kmart, which would be nicer (IMO) than paper stuffed in the bottom if you can't find enough other stuff to fill them. I also watch all year for sales on chapstick and miniature lotions. Then last year, I got a big bunch of the mini-hand sanitizers from B&BW for cheap-- they were on clearance from summer & Halloween stuff, but not really seasonally themed! Good luck, and I hope these (and the other great ideas before mine) help!

Thank you for the suggestion, Andrea. I also ordered some credit card-sized 2013 calendars (calendar on one side, Bible verse on the other side), so maybe those will help with that... I think I'm gonna start a new thread, asking for personal suggestions of what GD members would (or would not) like to see at a service like this, since (unfortunately) so many of us have experienced a loss that can make the holidays not as "jolly" as society expects them to be!

Thank you SO much to everyone for the suggestions and kind comments! I did end up going with these dove ornaments from Oriental Trading: Dove Ornaments ...but I really like the idea of the plantable ornaments, too-- I think I'll check those out for next year's service! I wonder if the seeds would still work if I found a good deal on them after Christmas this year and saved them for next year??

I am the main organizer for a special "Blue Christmas" church service, especially for folks who are stuggling with loss in their lives that make the holidays rough. We held this service once before (in 2009), but being our first try at it, it wasn't as organized as we would have liked. One of the ideas I've found that I'd like to include in our service is giving each attendee/family a small ornament to take home, to remind them of the service and (hopefully) the glimmer of hope & love offered to them thru the service. Does anyone have any idea where I could find some simple ornaments at a good price that would fit what I'm hoping to accomplish with these? I'm thinking I'll need at least 50. I'm thinking an angel, a star, a snowflake, or maybe a nicer-looking blue ball type ornament possibly... Can anyone help, please?

amez74-- you may find some good ideas in this thread: Employee Gift Ideas Good luck!

Can anyone offer any suggestions, now that we have most all of the ads??

Is the Samsung 50" LED TV that's online only already at the BF price?? My coworker's looking at it, and it looked like it was to us! Thanks!

Well, how about a compromise? I'm assuming you all get together for a meal... so get there closer to meal time than you usually do, be "super-helpful" in getting everything to the table and everyone rounded up to eat, and be one of the first to start cleaning up afterwards. Being busy with all that has benefits: staying on the move means you'd be much less likely to get trapped into a long, drawn-out conversation that's going to keep you there, and when everyone sees you "working so hard" they won't be surprised that you'll be tired and want to head home soon! Another possible way to shorten the "family time" is to convince one of your friends that "gets you" to have a reason you "need to" stop by their house (or meet them somewhere) that day. Of course, whatever the reason is doesn't have to be something that will take very long... but "oh Mom, you know how Susie is-- once we start talking, we lose track of time and I'll be there all night if I don't head out now!" Can you tell I've been guilty of doing stuff like both of these before?! And it's not because I don't love and value my family-- I just think some of us weren't made with the same tolerance levels for all of the "togetherness" stuff as others were!

Also the same as Elder-Beerman stores here...

The original post in this thread reminded me of a couple-- I've never personally made them, but they sound delish!! Turtles (I don't have the exact recipe, but I'm sure it can be found online!) Get a package of Rolo candies (ya know, the little round chocolates with a gooey center, and they usually come in rolls). Lay out as many miniature pretzels as you have Rolos on a cookie sheet, and lay a Rolo in the middle of each pretzel. Put these in a hot oven, just long enough to get the Rolos really soft. Take them out of the oven, and immediately press a pecan half into each Rolo... Tada-- turtles! Snowmen Melt white almond bark. Dip whole Nutter Butter cookies into almond bark and lay them on waxed paper to cool. Decorate with red and black gel icing to make eyes, nose, mouth, scarf, etc. for your snowman! (Maybe you could even stick a potato stick in each side to make arms?)

Or along the same line as what flosmoney said-- book a hotel room in a city a few miles from where you live: far enough away that you're not likely to run into friends or family, but not so far that you'll have to shell out big bucks to get there... AND you can still go out for your midnight shopping! I live very close to most of my family, and as much as I love them, there are times that I'd welcome a "necessary trip" to anywhere but a hectic, noisy, fussy family holiday gathering... so no, Princess7915, you're certainly not alone in feeling that way!