MAKE things....like, decorate paper plates with
drawings of what you like -- pictures of family
events, family history, etc. You DON'T have to be
a good artist...just someone with family history memories!
Visit branches of your city's public library that you have never visited before -- and take out books from them. I've found that every library branch -- especially the older ones -- has it's own "personality". Going to a (some) different library branch(s) could be a real treat!
Find out where there are near-by "haunted houses", and go on a day and time when it's not crowded and the admission charges drop!
Take out some Dvd's from the public library....the children's section has a lot of good ones, too!
Go to www.fancast.com, and/or www.hulu.com, and watch tv and movies for free!
Discuss what went on during the holidays when you -- and/or your parents -- were young.
Eat out for almost nothing! The secret? Eat the meal at home....then go out for coffee, soda, and cake!
Look for REAL bargain books on Amazon.com! I found some great, previously owned, in "like-new" condition, computer books....for 1 cent plus 3.99 shipping!
If you can find two public phones next to each other, you go in one, and a family member goes in the other, and one calls the other! (I did this once with my sister, years ago! Never had SO much fun for a quarter!)
If you have old family albums, and/or papers from when you or your husband went to college, now is the time to look through them with your children!
Go food shopping, (or any other kind of shopping), in a different, but nearby neighbourhood....and soak up the atmosphere!
Go on www.youtube.com, and find videos on your favourite topics -- and people! (I put up my mother's maiden name....and found a cousin who is a city politician in Vancouver, Canada, giving a speech!)
Put up your married name, maiden name, or husband's mother's maiden name, or any other family name, on Amazon.com. You may find, (as I did), that you have authors in your extended family!
For the college-bound child: Take out a year's subscription to TIME Magazine. Somewhat expensive, perhaps -- BUT IT COMES WITH WEB ACCESS TO
EVERY ARTICLE TIME HAS EVER PRINTED, AND EVERY ONE OF TIME'S CLASSIC COVERS!
If you're lucky enough to have a car, take the bus for just one day, (or week). You'll feel rich again, using your after that!
Remember that Abraham Lincoln split rails, and that J.K.Rowling was on welfare, and that Susan Boyle was unemployed!
If you don't already do so, listen to the RADIO show, COAST TO COAST AM, and visit the website: www.coasttocoastam.com . EVERYTHING about alternative medicine, UFOs, witchcraft, conspiracy theories, hauntings, ghosts, and everything else that's NOT fit to print, is on that show! In the upper left hand corner of the website is an "Affilliates" link. Click it to see where and when the show is on in YOUR area, (free for people in the USA & Canada!) On late at night for most places...with reason. A great gift for all the days of the foreseeable future!
