This is an unpublished post I found from August 2009 that I found when I converted from Blogger to WordPress. Enjoy!
Carol Anne
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I found out yesterday that the family-owned photo developer that I’ve been using for years will close up shop by the end of the month. This is the only place (other than the photo shops of China) that I trusted to develop my precious China photos because they do it in-house.
They found they’re not doing as much business because of digital — and because people aren’t traveling as much anymore. Pictures are snapshots on a cell phone, not something to be cherished.
Tonight, the owner of another local shop I frequent asked me and the other customers in the shop if we’d still come if he had to raise his prices. I don’t think he was joking either.
There are quite a few houses for sale in the neighborhood. The house that we called “The Republican House” (because it always had pro-Bush signs out during election years*) has either finally sold, or they took it off the market after 12 months. It’s hard to tell, because it looks as deserted as it always had these past 12 months.
One house that sold in the neighborhood has a great big “SOLD!!” sign on it. As if to celebrate that finally, someone, somewhere sold a house. There was also a celebrating in the newspaper that housing prices in the Twin Cities didn’t drop as much as they had in previous months.
We’re holding in there. The kids are getting some serious economic lessons every night at the dinner table, and every time we go grocery shopping.
Today at Target, we got most of their school stuff. The kids were happy to scrounge around to find things. Another mom doing the same type of shopping with her daughter was pointing out some bargains we had overlooked in the crayon department (24 colors for 29 cents!) The daughter was throwing a fit because she couldn’t get “cooler” folders. Sarah and Rachel were wide-eyed.
I thanked them later for not throwing a fit about the “coolness” of their stuff. I think they understand we splurge when we can (can you say Scottie stuff from Gymboree?), but try to watch our money otherwise. It’s a fine line, and I don’t know how much longer it will last. Sarah’s getting to the age when clothing, folders, etc. will start to matter as status symbols.
* Our neighborhood is heavily Democratic-leaning. Republicans stick out like a sore thumb around here.