Found Not Lost

I have one of these Dymo LabelWriter Printers on my desk and I love it. I used to use the address labels that you feed into your printer and those were fine. But if you only use one label at a time like I sometimes have to do, after a while the sheet of label starts getting gray and dirty looking from having been passed through the printer too many times.

I use the turbo model because it also has the capability to be networked. That means other people in my department can print to this label maker. Thank goodness for that feature. Everyone can do their own printing rather than keep asking me.

The turbo model is not the only one available though. There is an even better one with a postage printing feature. I can’t use this feature much here at work since our mailroom usually takes care of stamping our mail, but I was considering this feature for our home business. If we purchase online stamps through the printer’s software, we can eliminate trips to the post office. No more estimating how much stamp to put, you can set exact amounts and not have to pay a monthly fee as when you rent a metered stamp printer from the post office.

Another feature that our mailroom guy likes about my printer is that when I print the addresses, it can automatically include the bar code that I guess is very useful when sorting mail.

I used to think, “I don’t print out address labels all the time. I don’t need a printer just for labels”, but after I got it and started using it, I realized that I’m using the label printer all the time! It’s not just for printing address labels, the label size can be changed and I use it for shipping labels, folder and book labels, stamps, and much more. If you do a lot of mailing, this is a great tool. Check it out for yourself.

The girls (Asi and the Clone) and I went to see Spiderwick Chronicles last weekend. Jade went to go see Juno with her friends. I wanted to see that movie too, but I have to stick with the Clone so we always end up watching a rated G or PG movie. I haven’t read the books but the Clone is a fan of the Spiderwick books so she was really looking forward to seeing the movie.

I liked the movie even though the kids were typically annoying at times. The premise of the fairy hunter turned fairyland keeper was intriguing. I enjoyed the watching the adventures unfold and really loved the CG and special effects; but then I’m a sucker for the fantasy genre. The girls enjoyed the movie, I think, but as book readers they were really annoyed that details that were in the book were either omitted or changed around. But, as we later discussed, books are really hard to turn into movies because how you imagine the book is never exactly like how someone else would interpret it.

According to California Justice H. Walter Croskey who recently published an opinion that parents “do not have a constitutional right to homeschool their children”, it is.

I don’t homeschool my children because I realized that I didn’t have the patience nor wherewithal to give them the education that I know they need. However, I do hold great admiration for parents who are so strongly dedicated to their children’s education that they have taken on the task themselves. I know several women who have gone this route and they are super moms in my book. Their children are well adjusted, happy and most of the time more academically advanced than children in public schools. I promote the idea of homeschooling. I value the option of having the choice to homeschool.

However, some people do not agree and think that parents do not have the right to determine how their children should be educated; that alternative methods other than institutional schooling is unconstitutional. I’m not in a position to say whether homeschooling is right or wrong, but I liked having the choice to be wrong if that was the case. I agree, some parents shouldn’t presume to educate their children when they are not qualified (I’m in that group. I know that about myself). There are parents out there though, who are doing a terrific job educating their children and they are to be commended.

Visit the Reverse The Ruling - Homeschoolers Unite website to learn more about this issue and join hundreds of thousands who share this high regard for freedom by signing the petition and become an active participant in the fight to keep this choice available to all, whether you homeschool or not.

Read the press release below for additional details.

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The girls and I went to the movies over the weekend and of course the girls can’t get near the mall without going into the book store and I can’t seem to help myself everytime I get near a book sale. Even though I’ve resolved not to buy anymore books as I still have a high pile of unread novels by my bedside, seeing this Neil Gaiman book on the sale bin broke that resolve. So now I have this to add to my collection. I haven’t gotten around to reading it yet, as I’m trying to finish another book I’ve already started. I’m trying to not start too many of them at the same time Believe it or not, I have about three books that I’ve started reading.