We like to stop at several stands around town to support the young people. Some of my favorites serve cookies!

Our local volunteers have already been busy preparing for the big day. You can find out more about the local Lafayette, Indiana efforts here. There is also a national site where you can see what is going on in your city. Mark the date May 18th on your calendar.

There is such a long list of vendors coming to the Indy show. One of my friends has prioritized the list. She might keep me from wandering aimlessly from booth to booth as designs catch my eye, but I am making no promises. I expect to have trouble narrowing down my wish list no matter how I shop. Maybe I can spend a little less on groceries next week

I am so happy to have another vintage Springbok puzzle! This one was found by one of my friends…it is so nice to have people that care enough to watch out for neat old puzzles. Springbok’s from the 1960′s are not easy to find.

This pretty round puzzle is Song Birds by Don R. Eckelberry, dated 1965.

I haven’t opened the box yet, but my friend assembled it to make sure it was all there before giving it to me. Unfortunately, she did not take photographs of the assembled puzzle. So, it looks like we have another project for the drafting table. If it is in good condition you will see it listed in the store soon. Stay tuned!

Today you can load a FREE egg beaters coupon to your card. Just go to the Kroger site right now because the coupon is only available January 25, 2013 and expires February 9th. I saw this in our local Payless grocery ad and got mine. Don’t miss out!

It is fairly easy to prepare for postage rate increases for regular first class mail – just use forever stamps. But the shipping options continue to change with each rate update, giving us more and more services to choose from. Beginning January 27th the price of a first class stamp increases to 46 cents. I have that covered and you probably do too.

The part that has me a bit baffled is the change to Parcel Post. We can now pay for “Standard Post” at the post office counter, but not online nor through eBay.  We can purchase “Parcel Select” online, but not through eBay until March. Ebay sent me a note today announcing that the current Parcel Post option in my listings’ shipping calculator will automatically update to Parcel Select – but I will not be able to print labels until March. So, I will either have to upgrade my shipments to Priority to ship from my home office or drive packages to the post office and stand in line. (I am thinking Priority upgrades!)

I apologize for not being more of an expert on the new changes. I will study up, but it is going to make more sense to me when I can see the differences in the USPS price calculator on their site. Right now it just shows Parcel Post, not Parcel Select, even when I use a date after the 27th. They do have a new rate sheet. 64 pages long. Enjoy!

You can go directly to Staples web site to print coupons for free-after-rebate multipurpose paper and pastel colored paper, along with some other good deals. There are more coupons in their ad, which you can also find on their site if you did not get a paper copy this week.

I have found some very good deals in the emails that Staples sends to me. I recommend signing up here so you don’t miss out on any special offers.

Today has been a good example. I cooked breakfast and gradually worked on kitchen cleanup between updating our checkbook and listing items on eBay and Amazon. He, on the other hand, pulled the toilet from our master bathroom to replace the leaking seal. It has been a messy job that involved several trips to local hardware stores.

My only contribution was retrieving a new roll of paper towels for him as he was sopping up the water from around the toilet drain in the floor. He did everything else. I never once got my hands dirty. Just the way I like it!