Soul Carving

What do you do when your husband is laid off from a job he's given his all to, and you realize that this means you will no longer be able to redeem the airline tickets he won from a work raffle? What options are left when the 2-week Italian getaway you were planning to celebrate your 15th anniversary is no longer a possibility? How do you cope? You get thrifty, of course! Yes, it's true, Richard was one of the unfortunate ones to be let go from the company a month before Christmas. And yes, we had to come to terms with the fact that not only would this deprive us of our source of income, it would mean saying "arrivederci" to our plans to go abroad. We'd been researching places to stay, we'd arranged a caretaker for all seven kids, and we'd been dreaming of a Roman holiday for just the two of us. But regulations stipulated that the recipient of the airline tickets must be employed with the company at the time of travel. Our plans were scheduled for the e...

       What to do for a date with your spouse when it's winter, you're 7 months pregnant, and you don't want to spend too much? Try the local nickelcade! There's one just down the road from us, and I found a printable coupon for discounted admission on their website. Of course, then we had to trade in some cash to get nickels in order to play. We cashed in enough that we had some left over for a follow-up date!         Pros: I'm too pregnant to play any type of indoor sport, but some of these arcade games required just enough physicality that I felt energized without overdoing it. The double player games added an element of friendly competition which Richard and I liked! Plus, unlike a date at the movies or a restaurant, we had a lot more control over how long it took. (When you've got little ones with a sitter, it's nice to have a flexible timetable).        Cons: Too many gory or sleazy games! They were pretty e...