This week at Vacation Bible School, I'm in charge of running the Missions project. I gave the director a quick overview of past projects that I had done and she and Rev. K chose for me to do a kid-friendly food collection to benefit a local charity.
The first few nights were a little thin. The director was very sad, but I told her that things would start to come in. They started coming in today. 13% of the items donated have expired, including some from 2008. I know that I've touched on this in regard to the collection that we do at the school each year.
Cleaning out the cupboards just for numbers kills me.
We're to give from our first fruits. Particularly in this case, we're collecting for those in need. If we wouldn't see fit to feed our families expired evaporated milk, soup from 2008, boxes of potatoes and so forth, why would we think that people who are in need would be wanting the cast offs?
For K-, I went to the store and purchased things that I knew that she loved. I wanted her to not only give, but to sacrificially give. I bought her favorite cheesy crackers, fruit snacks that we don't buy but she loves, gold fish, banana chips (which I thought she liked but she doesn't) and macaroni and cheese. I loved the initial, "Mom! I love those!" I loved it because I knew that to her, she was truly donating something that was a love of hers.
For this evening, I'll be going down to my shelf in the basement to find more things to donate tomorrow. I need to beef up the givin's.
Yes, I'll check the dates.
Smiles in my day:
- My MIL took K- to her very first county fair. They had a truly lovely time and turns out that K- was a clown in the children's circus. She played games and won lovely things. She had a grand time and reports that she was thankful and let grandma know so.
- K- is having a fantastic time at VBS.
- The grocery is across the street from the church and I was able to dash in to get a sandwich before the evening began.
- The church sponsors a uniform swap and I was able to swap 3 uniform pieces for 3 that fit.
- I'm getting to know a lot of people from the church is this week. They kind of seem happy to have me there. That's always a good thing. The very beginning started out a hair rough, so I'm glad that it all shook out.
- Grandpa's house appears to have sold. I'm so glad that my dad won't have to go through another never-ending house for sale saga like they did with Poppy's house. That took 2 1/2 very long years. I don't think that they even buried a St. Joseph in the front yard.
Have a great night!
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Sunday, July 22, 2012
It's like planning a party and all of your guests are late.
My regular readers will know that we have butterfly gardens out back. Our out back is part of our 40' x 120' plot of dirt.
It's not so big.
Still, I have planted, tended, watered in the drought (not crazy, but reasonable enough) to the point that our water bill greatly reflects that. We've traded for plants, bought them, raised them, lost them, thought we'd love them, then had to rip some out when they were found to be invasive. We've weeded, despite being a bit wild and woolly. A perfectly manicured bed isn't really how I roll. I like to have the butterflies flutter about on our little city plot in a way that might mimic what they find elsewhere.
The last few years have been tough on butterfly numbers here. It isn't anything we've done wrong. We still have their lovely plants and bushes, garden organically and so forth. Weather has not been our friend. Last year, we had flooding and I only used municipal water twice. This year, we've been in a drought.
Those are not conditions that butterflies truly love.
Last year, monarchs were so low in number that we were having difficulty finding the number we needed for the tags that were purchased. In the end, it worked out fine and me in a cast, but we used them all.
This year, we've had little action. Truly, we have had years when monarchs were hanging by 30 at a time on the bushes. I saw my first monarch here just a few days ago.
Wow.
But now, our guests are finally arriving. We've had some monarchs. We've had more tiger swallowtails. We've had black swallowtails. There have been silver spotted skippers and some red admirals. The Peck's skippers have finally returned, along with our hummingbird moths. Early in the season, we had commas and question marks-- butterflies we aren't used to seeing here. Just a few days ago, I got photos of a spice bush swallowtail. That is the first one we ever saw. We also had the never-seen-here fiery skipper and Zebulon skippers. (They were a pair that I took photos of and Hubs very tactfully said that they were "courting.") That was certainly my guess. He said that he has never seen that before. Score one for me. :)
Finally, they are starting to visit. My camera batteries are all charged. When I have time, I'll even be able to download all of them!
Smiles in my day:
- Checking on K- (as I always do each night) and finding that she is actually sleeping with the pair of clearance marked (hooray) Twinkle Toes light up Skechers that I bought her for school this year. She has wanted them for years, and finally their price was what I was willing to pay. I did take a photo and know that will be a part of some photo collage when she graduates or gets married. ;)
Have a great day!
It's not so big.
Still, I have planted, tended, watered in the drought (not crazy, but reasonable enough) to the point that our water bill greatly reflects that. We've traded for plants, bought them, raised them, lost them, thought we'd love them, then had to rip some out when they were found to be invasive. We've weeded, despite being a bit wild and woolly. A perfectly manicured bed isn't really how I roll. I like to have the butterflies flutter about on our little city plot in a way that might mimic what they find elsewhere.
The last few years have been tough on butterfly numbers here. It isn't anything we've done wrong. We still have their lovely plants and bushes, garden organically and so forth. Weather has not been our friend. Last year, we had flooding and I only used municipal water twice. This year, we've been in a drought.
Those are not conditions that butterflies truly love.
Last year, monarchs were so low in number that we were having difficulty finding the number we needed for the tags that were purchased. In the end, it worked out fine and me in a cast, but we used them all.
This year, we've had little action. Truly, we have had years when monarchs were hanging by 30 at a time on the bushes. I saw my first monarch here just a few days ago.
Wow.
But now, our guests are finally arriving. We've had some monarchs. We've had more tiger swallowtails. We've had black swallowtails. There have been silver spotted skippers and some red admirals. The Peck's skippers have finally returned, along with our hummingbird moths. Early in the season, we had commas and question marks-- butterflies we aren't used to seeing here. Just a few days ago, I got photos of a spice bush swallowtail. That is the first one we ever saw. We also had the never-seen-here fiery skipper and Zebulon skippers. (They were a pair that I took photos of and Hubs very tactfully said that they were "courting.") That was certainly my guess. He said that he has never seen that before. Score one for me. :)
Finally, they are starting to visit. My camera batteries are all charged. When I have time, I'll even be able to download all of them!
Smiles in my day:
- Checking on K- (as I always do each night) and finding that she is actually sleeping with the pair of clearance marked (hooray) Twinkle Toes light up Skechers that I bought her for school this year. She has wanted them for years, and finally their price was what I was willing to pay. I did take a photo and know that will be a part of some photo collage when she graduates or gets married. ;)
Have a great day!
Friday, July 20, 2012
You know, we've gotten a lot of heat over the years.
Hubs and I have gotten some heat over the years since we decided to stay with the 1 1/2 child count. (Bailey, bless her, was a half baked baby.) There are folks who just don't go there because they know the details of what happened with Bailey. There are folks who frankly, just don't consider that.
K- came to us as an incredible blessing. My friend, Holly (the reason for K-'s existence in our family) sent me a link to a blog today. She said that she knew that we were a more than one child family, but thought the posting to be appropriate.
How right she was.
Days before Aunt Donna's death, she told me that, "You could have had more kids, you know." :tip of the head: "I talked with someone about it and they said that you could have had more, you just chose not to have more." :deep breath to contain anger at someone who didn't know me or the circumstances: "Well, we chose to stick with what the doctors and specialists in charge of my care told us to do. When asking the OB in charge of my care at that point what we would do if, God forbid, I would become pregnant again, she said, 'We'd do the best we could and pray.'" Really, there was someone out there telling my aunt that I could have more kids? I understand that my aunt wanted us to adopt more, but it didn't happen. We kept our foster parenting/adoptive license open for 4 years. At the 4 year point, we opted not to renew. That was a choice that took many months and piles of tears to make. It was a choice that we made for us-- for our family. We considered ourselves so blessed. We still do.
So there you have it. In regard to the number of children you have, you need to pray about it and do what is best for you.
To that I say, Amen.
Smiles in my day:
- Being involved in VBS. Though we are at a new church and have decided to go forward for membership, I felt my summer lacking without the hustle and bustle of being deeply entrenched in VBS. I helped to decorate today and have been put in charge of the missions project. My sister will be bringing her kids a few days this week and staying since she lives a ways out, and I am excited for her to check out a new church that may be a good fit for her and her family. We'll be working together as a team (as we normally do) and gathering/counting missions donations together. :)
- Rachael went to the doctor today and found out that her ankle required quite a bit of hardware. She'll be unstapled and casted next week. By my understanding, her healing seems to be on target, though her leg is a bit unsightly at this moment. (By what she says.) That goodness for good insurance and for folks talented enough to fix that stuff.
Have a great weekend!
K- came to us as an incredible blessing. My friend, Holly (the reason for K-'s existence in our family) sent me a link to a blog today. She said that she knew that we were a more than one child family, but thought the posting to be appropriate.
How right she was.
Days before Aunt Donna's death, she told me that, "You could have had more kids, you know." :tip of the head: "I talked with someone about it and they said that you could have had more, you just chose not to have more." :deep breath to contain anger at someone who didn't know me or the circumstances: "Well, we chose to stick with what the doctors and specialists in charge of my care told us to do. When asking the OB in charge of my care at that point what we would do if, God forbid, I would become pregnant again, she said, 'We'd do the best we could and pray.'" Really, there was someone out there telling my aunt that I could have more kids? I understand that my aunt wanted us to adopt more, but it didn't happen. We kept our foster parenting/adoptive license open for 4 years. At the 4 year point, we opted not to renew. That was a choice that took many months and piles of tears to make. It was a choice that we made for us-- for our family. We considered ourselves so blessed. We still do.
So there you have it. In regard to the number of children you have, you need to pray about it and do what is best for you.
To that I say, Amen.
Smiles in my day:
- Being involved in VBS. Though we are at a new church and have decided to go forward for membership, I felt my summer lacking without the hustle and bustle of being deeply entrenched in VBS. I helped to decorate today and have been put in charge of the missions project. My sister will be bringing her kids a few days this week and staying since she lives a ways out, and I am excited for her to check out a new church that may be a good fit for her and her family. We'll be working together as a team (as we normally do) and gathering/counting missions donations together. :)
- Rachael went to the doctor today and found out that her ankle required quite a bit of hardware. She'll be unstapled and casted next week. By my understanding, her healing seems to be on target, though her leg is a bit unsightly at this moment. (By what she says.) That goodness for good insurance and for folks talented enough to fix that stuff.
Have a great weekend!
Thursday, July 19, 2012
A Fancy Nancy Day for Hannah.
Let's lift up this family and wear something sparkly just for Hannah.
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
The unsolicited review follow-up: Don't wash your Merrell Wonder Gloves in the laundry.
Do you recall the post of love for my Merrell Wonder Gloves? Well, I still love the comfort, but I was sad when this happened:
If you look at my right hand shoe, you'll see that the leather is all discolored. There was nothing in English in the shoe that stated that I couldn't wash these shoes in the laundry. I put them in with a few sheets to keep them from beating against the side of the washer.
I love these shoes.
I paid $100.00 for these shoes.
I pulled them out of the washer, noticed the discoloration and hoped for good things that it would fade.
It didn't.
I went ahead and pulled my trusty shoe box back out. I bought them from Onlineshoes.com and I knew that they advertised a 365 day guarantee. That's why I purchased them through them, because I was stupid and didn't read their guarantee. Yes, they do have a 365 day guarantee for NEW shoes. Really?
When I pulled out said box and looked at the little booklet that came with the shoes-- the same booklet that shows people jumping, running and playing-- on the very back page it states about washing instructions and that involves not laundering the leather shoes.
Gee, I wished that there was something printed in my shoes about that.
I e-mailed Merrell. Here was my bit:
Their response was:
Because I was more than delighted (sarcasm) with his response, I sent this:
There was nothing on the inside of the shoe that gave me any clear indication that they shouldn't be laundered gently in the washer. This is so frustrating. I take impeccable care of things that I own and had I have known (there is nothing that I have encountered that says hand wash only) and I appear to have burned $100.00 on a pair of shoes that look like complete crap. I paid (willingly) full price as they seemed to be the answer to all of my questions. Lovely. They are shoes I bought to wear to work and now can now longer wear them there.
Fantastic. I'll be sure to follow my glowing review up with a caution not to laundering the barefoot shoes. I'll make sure to post a photo so that they know what they'll be left to wear. A shoe company selling shoes for exercise might want to consider using materials that will withstand an occasional laundering since the general reason people buy them is to wear for outdoor sports. Unlaundered gym shoes? Yuck. Hand washing? I'm thinking that they would need a bit deeper clean, but that's what got me into this problem to begin with.
Disappointed.
Amy
Gee, and can you believe that he didn't comment back? I'll give my amended review:
1. The shoes truly do fit wonderfully and are very comfortable. They don't slip or slide, rub weird or give me any issues with my previously broken foot.
2. My feet do get hot in them. My feet can actually sweat in them. I do not normally have this issue and it was brought up in the comments when I read them before buying. I would suggest giving a few breather holes. After all, sweaty feet in shoes (though the treatment that they give them does keep them from smelling) still makes you want to launder them. Sweaty feet and glove-like fit of shoes = the want to launder all that was locked in. Call me crazy.
3. Stamp on the shoe on the inside IN ENGLISH "hand wash only." There are tiny symbols in there but for the love of Pete, those who only know what those mean are probably people in the industry.
4. The sole, even after wearing them nearly exclusively for two months, shows very little wear. Vibram is a good thing.
I have chosen not to replace my newish shoes with another pair. It's not that I wouldn't love them, but when people ask, "What happened to your shoes?" I can tell them. I laundered them gently in the washer. I mean, it was lovely for Merrell to offer a discount and all, but it was hard enough for me to part with the $100.00. A discounted pair would be $80.00. Thanks, but, I'll just have to embarrassingly wear my discolored ones.
Who knew?
Smiles in my day:
I love these shoes.
I paid $100.00 for these shoes.
I pulled them out of the washer, noticed the discoloration and hoped for good things that it would fade.
It didn't.
I went ahead and pulled my trusty shoe box back out. I bought them from Onlineshoes.com and I knew that they advertised a 365 day guarantee. That's why I purchased them through them, because I was stupid and didn't read their guarantee. Yes, they do have a 365 day guarantee for NEW shoes. Really?
When I pulled out said box and looked at the little booklet that came with the shoes-- the same booklet that shows people jumping, running and playing-- on the very back page it states about washing instructions and that involves not laundering the leather shoes.
Gee, I wished that there was something printed in my shoes about that.
I e-mailed Merrell. Here was my bit:
I purchased a pair of Wonder Gloves in Aluminum 2 months ago. I dearly love these shoes. I noticed that they had gotten some surface dirt on them and laundered them in cold water, light soap and with a few sheets to buffer the washer. The one shoe looks like something has started to work out of the leather somehow. Frankly, they look ruined and I am beyond broken hearted. Other than suede, I've always laundered shoes lightly because, as my husband asked, who doesn't launder shoes? Shoes get wet and while these didn't get tremendously wet during my wear of them for the last few months, I was shocked and mortified that they did this. I paid $100. for the shoes and purchased them to wear because I had broken my foot in early fall and found that traditional shoes were making my foot ache. These did not at all. I have the box, order slip and packing materials. I even blogged about my love for these shoes (http://baileysleaf.blogspot.com/2012/05/unsolicited-review-merrell-wonder-glove.html). What can you do to help me?
This email has been delivered to the
service staff of MERRELL.COM
Their response was:
Hello Amy,
Because the Wonder Glove is a full grain leather, we would not recommend putting them in the washing machine. The ONLY styles we would suggest putting in the washing machine are the Barefoot styles that do not have leather in the construction. All of our other shoes are not to be put in the washing machine, but only hand washed.
I am sorry to hear that the washing machine ruined your shoes, and we would like to offer you a special accommodation so you can replace those. I do have a promotional code that is good for a 20% discount plus free shipping. This code would be valid on your next purchase at http://www.merrell.com/. Please let me know if you would like this special offer.
Thanks for your inquiry,
Chris
Consumer Relations Account Specialist
Consumer Relations Account Specialist
Because I was more than delighted (sarcasm) with his response, I sent this:
There was nothing on the inside of the shoe that gave me any clear indication that they shouldn't be laundered gently in the washer. This is so frustrating. I take impeccable care of things that I own and had I have known (there is nothing that I have encountered that says hand wash only) and I appear to have burned $100.00 on a pair of shoes that look like complete crap. I paid (willingly) full price as they seemed to be the answer to all of my questions. Lovely. They are shoes I bought to wear to work and now can now longer wear them there.
Fantastic. I'll be sure to follow my glowing review up with a caution not to laundering the barefoot shoes. I'll make sure to post a photo so that they know what they'll be left to wear. A shoe company selling shoes for exercise might want to consider using materials that will withstand an occasional laundering since the general reason people buy them is to wear for outdoor sports. Unlaundered gym shoes? Yuck. Hand washing? I'm thinking that they would need a bit deeper clean, but that's what got me into this problem to begin with.
Disappointed.
Amy
Gee, and can you believe that he didn't comment back? I'll give my amended review:
1. The shoes truly do fit wonderfully and are very comfortable. They don't slip or slide, rub weird or give me any issues with my previously broken foot.
2. My feet do get hot in them. My feet can actually sweat in them. I do not normally have this issue and it was brought up in the comments when I read them before buying. I would suggest giving a few breather holes. After all, sweaty feet in shoes (though the treatment that they give them does keep them from smelling) still makes you want to launder them. Sweaty feet and glove-like fit of shoes = the want to launder all that was locked in. Call me crazy.
3. Stamp on the shoe on the inside IN ENGLISH "hand wash only." There are tiny symbols in there but for the love of Pete, those who only know what those mean are probably people in the industry.
4. The sole, even after wearing them nearly exclusively for two months, shows very little wear. Vibram is a good thing.
I have chosen not to replace my newish shoes with another pair. It's not that I wouldn't love them, but when people ask, "What happened to your shoes?" I can tell them. I laundered them gently in the washer. I mean, it was lovely for Merrell to offer a discount and all, but it was hard enough for me to part with the $100.00. A discounted pair would be $80.00. Thanks, but, I'll just have to embarrassingly wear my discolored ones.
Who knew?
Smiles in my day:
- This is Dash, the baby bunny who lives in the backyard. He gave out an all call to other rabbits. I now find large bunnies lounging in the very same way. As far as Dash is concerned, he knows us and as I was cruising around yesterday, realized he was about 2 feet away. I pulled out my camera and took some photos. How could I resist? The dash of white on his noggin? That's why he's called Dash. ;)
- Rachael came through surgery well and J, K-'s sister, does not need surgery to reattach the sliver of bone to her hip. Hooray!
- We hit a lovely sale at Old Navy the other day and got K- some clothes for next summer.
Obviously, I was not paid for my review of these shoes. Other than the offer of a 20% discount and free shipping (which I did not take), I received nothing for my honest opinion.
Friday, July 13, 2012
Middle of the night snackers.
At work this week, there were a few people talking about middle of the night eating. Stories were about middle of the night trips to the fridge, full glasses of milk, bites of cupcakes and so forth. It all just struck me as odd. Color me surprised when I found out that it is of regular occurrence for people to be up snacking instead of what I do-- sleep.
My brother Billy can give stories of his late night hunger. Once, he decided that he was hungry for bacon. He started making the bacon and then fell back to sleep. I think that he awoke some crazy 5 hours later and found that he could have burned the house down since the bacon was still on and cooking.
My brother Dumpy ate nearly all of a sheet cake one evening. I can't recall if he is a sleep eater, though. Still, nearly an entire sheet cake. That's a lot of cake, people!
LeAnne reports that she started having middle of the night snacks when she was breast feeding and just never ditched the habit.
Is my house in the minority for sleeping and not stopping to eat sometime in the middle of the night? It strikes me as odd, but we may be the oddballs of the group.
Switching subjects-- And now for this episode of Snap, Crackle and POP! You'll see that J-, sister to K- who has lived out of state for a year, was visiting with her Ohio mom when the horse that she was riding got spooked, flipped her, she bounced on one hip, bounced on the other and now may have to have a sliver of her hip screwed back into place. Oh yes, you'll see that she's the same kid who rides horses competitively and will be turning 13 at the end of the month. Georgia mom is on her way up in case surgery is to take place on Monday.
Speaking of surgery, we have our beloved friend to all internets-- Rachael-- who will be having her snapped ankle surgically stabilized on Monday evening. Girlfriend had an incident on stairs, with a toy, a box of clothes and something in her post about a cat thinking that "hoomins are filled with jelly beans" and wanted to see if they broke open like pinatas. She didn't break open, but she did send me an awesome photo of her swollen ankle. This is the same ankle that she boofed when she was 16 and my understanding is that the doctor is going to clean up a bit of that damage while he is in there toolin' around. She has a VERY active 2 year old who can have the tendency of getting into things when Rach is mobile and quick-to-move. Needless to say, she is a bit concerned about Ellie and her adventurous ways while she is on the mend.
Keep these two ladies in your prayers, please?
Smiles in my day:
- K- was able to hang with her sibs yesterday at a local swimming hole. (Truly a hole since it is an old quarry filled with water.) J- wasn't able to swim, but it was fun and interesting to get to talk to her. She is a kid with her head squarely on her shoulders and who says what she means and stands by it. It was interesting to learn that she has the same dip-dobbly skin on her upper arms that K- has and also suffers from-- tada!-- reflux in exactly the same way. We got on to talking about changes in a young woman's life, er, you know-- and though K-'s sisters were both in the age of 9 when all that came about, J- assured me that she is barely phased by it and that gives me hope that K- will be on the lighter end of things with that. Breaking away from the gene pool isn't such a bad thing sometimes.
- K- has muffins in the oven and we have declared it pajama day for at least the first half of the day. We run so often that sometimes, it is good to just have time where we sit and just are. At first, she was distressed that the time slots weren't completely full, but when pajama day was declared, all that sadness went away. Girlfriend loves herself a good pajama day.
- Rain! We got rain yesterday. When K- and I were up north with the family, Hubs said that the southern part of our county was doused in an hour long rain shower. It even watered the tomato plants! (Hubs reported that it was sideways rain.) It was nice to skip watering. My water bill came in the other day. I am not lavish with watering, but I am doing what I need to do to keep the plants alive. I have not watered the lawn, but only once and that was 4th of July for hopes not to burn the place down with residual firework sky garbage. The bill was about $40.00 more than usual. No doubt. We're in a drought and the rain barrel couldn't carry me through. :( 102 F calls for a bit deeper watering than just a swig.
- When fence neighbor was putting up the fence, we were so thrilled that we weren't going to have to fill that hole with an expensive fence ourselves that Hubs loaned off some tools to help motivate fence guy to get the job done. The tools were returned and Hubs just went to recharge the drill. The charger said that the pack was defective and it couldn't charge it. Hubs was so upset and like a good man who has a tool that has gone wrong, he wanted to run out and buy a new tool set. Unfortunately, this set wasn't just a drill, but a light and saw came with it. It was Craftsman, so Hubs didn't go cheap, but he did loan fence guy the older set he had. Turns out that Hubs was frustrated and left the battery in the charger anyhow. Thank goodness, the pack charged overnight and now Hubs is no longer harboring ill feelings towards fence guy. I told Hubs that we could have purchased a new set, as I would much rather buy a drill than to have to go through the work and money of replacing fence. So happy that all worked out. My man is happy that his tool works again. It's the simple things.
Have a great weekend!
My brother Billy can give stories of his late night hunger. Once, he decided that he was hungry for bacon. He started making the bacon and then fell back to sleep. I think that he awoke some crazy 5 hours later and found that he could have burned the house down since the bacon was still on and cooking.
My brother Dumpy ate nearly all of a sheet cake one evening. I can't recall if he is a sleep eater, though. Still, nearly an entire sheet cake. That's a lot of cake, people!
LeAnne reports that she started having middle of the night snacks when she was breast feeding and just never ditched the habit.
Is my house in the minority for sleeping and not stopping to eat sometime in the middle of the night? It strikes me as odd, but we may be the oddballs of the group.
Switching subjects-- And now for this episode of Snap, Crackle and POP! You'll see that J-, sister to K- who has lived out of state for a year, was visiting with her Ohio mom when the horse that she was riding got spooked, flipped her, she bounced on one hip, bounced on the other and now may have to have a sliver of her hip screwed back into place. Oh yes, you'll see that she's the same kid who rides horses competitively and will be turning 13 at the end of the month. Georgia mom is on her way up in case surgery is to take place on Monday.
Speaking of surgery, we have our beloved friend to all internets-- Rachael-- who will be having her snapped ankle surgically stabilized on Monday evening. Girlfriend had an incident on stairs, with a toy, a box of clothes and something in her post about a cat thinking that "hoomins are filled with jelly beans" and wanted to see if they broke open like pinatas. She didn't break open, but she did send me an awesome photo of her swollen ankle. This is the same ankle that she boofed when she was 16 and my understanding is that the doctor is going to clean up a bit of that damage while he is in there toolin' around. She has a VERY active 2 year old who can have the tendency of getting into things when Rach is mobile and quick-to-move. Needless to say, she is a bit concerned about Ellie and her adventurous ways while she is on the mend.
Keep these two ladies in your prayers, please?
Smiles in my day:
- K- was able to hang with her sibs yesterday at a local swimming hole. (Truly a hole since it is an old quarry filled with water.) J- wasn't able to swim, but it was fun and interesting to get to talk to her. She is a kid with her head squarely on her shoulders and who says what she means and stands by it. It was interesting to learn that she has the same dip-dobbly skin on her upper arms that K- has and also suffers from-- tada!-- reflux in exactly the same way. We got on to talking about changes in a young woman's life, er, you know-- and though K-'s sisters were both in the age of 9 when all that came about, J- assured me that she is barely phased by it and that gives me hope that K- will be on the lighter end of things with that. Breaking away from the gene pool isn't such a bad thing sometimes.
- K- has muffins in the oven and we have declared it pajama day for at least the first half of the day. We run so often that sometimes, it is good to just have time where we sit and just are. At first, she was distressed that the time slots weren't completely full, but when pajama day was declared, all that sadness went away. Girlfriend loves herself a good pajama day.
- Rain! We got rain yesterday. When K- and I were up north with the family, Hubs said that the southern part of our county was doused in an hour long rain shower. It even watered the tomato plants! (Hubs reported that it was sideways rain.) It was nice to skip watering. My water bill came in the other day. I am not lavish with watering, but I am doing what I need to do to keep the plants alive. I have not watered the lawn, but only once and that was 4th of July for hopes not to burn the place down with residual firework sky garbage. The bill was about $40.00 more than usual. No doubt. We're in a drought and the rain barrel couldn't carry me through. :( 102 F calls for a bit deeper watering than just a swig.
- When fence neighbor was putting up the fence, we were so thrilled that we weren't going to have to fill that hole with an expensive fence ourselves that Hubs loaned off some tools to help motivate fence guy to get the job done. The tools were returned and Hubs just went to recharge the drill. The charger said that the pack was defective and it couldn't charge it. Hubs was so upset and like a good man who has a tool that has gone wrong, he wanted to run out and buy a new tool set. Unfortunately, this set wasn't just a drill, but a light and saw came with it. It was Craftsman, so Hubs didn't go cheap, but he did loan fence guy the older set he had. Turns out that Hubs was frustrated and left the battery in the charger anyhow. Thank goodness, the pack charged overnight and now Hubs is no longer harboring ill feelings towards fence guy. I told Hubs that we could have purchased a new set, as I would much rather buy a drill than to have to go through the work and money of replacing fence. So happy that all worked out. My man is happy that his tool works again. It's the simple things.
Have a great weekend!
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
Measurements of distance.
I had to laugh today. I had a lady come into the store and she was kind of bummed when someone bought something that she wanted to buy, and they did it right in front of her.
Ouch.
The item was one that I thought we had additional stock of, and she hadn't even considered that. I was able to track it down for her and she came back to buy it from me. She was extremely thankful since she stated on three separate occasions that she had "driven all the way down here." All the way down here was from 10 minutes up the road. I briefly considered telling her that I have a customer that, several times a year, travels to Japan and takes gifts from our store with her. She said that the trip is 24 hours door to door.
Me thinks that she wins the distance trip.
We have people say that on a fairly regular basis. We are not on a truly regular course for anyone other than those who work there. Well, and we're rather in the hood. (Fine during the day, but I wouldn't walk the streets at night.)
When I was a kid, we lived in our town. Our town had a grocery, a post office, the corner store, a drug store and a Kmart. We had anything you needed. Truly, if there was a trip to go to, lets say the doctor, it was as if we were going on a trek that was further than driving to California. I remember Mom driving me to one of the local universities for an award ceremony.
You'd think that she drove me to India.
When I started dating Hubs, not only did he live in a different county, but he also lived in the snow belt and! it was 50 minutes door to door. :gasp:
You'd think that he lived on Mars.
Because we weren't people of the biggest means :er, poor: we didn't vacation that often. When we did, we went to the same places. :zzz: While that was trippin' out of the parental unit bubble comfort zone, we went.
They made the drive feel like it lasted an eternity. It was as if we were circumventing the globe by car and my dad had to have the window open the entire time-- rain, wind or shine. Inevitably, I would lose the draw of who's going to sit behind Dad and I'd come back from vacation with a monster sinus infection as a result.
Good times.
This isn't to say that we didn't have good times on vacation. It's just the drive that was, pardon me, hell. Perhaps that is why I have a built-in travel cap on my time spent in the car and I am a home body. I love going to new places, but I also love my own bed.
I digress.
We've brought K- up to be a child who isn't bothered by distance. Traveling isn't an issue and if, like a dog, you allow me to get out and stretch my legs every couple of hours, I can last a good 6 hours before I start getting to the point where I-want-to-get-out-now, please. The last bit of that drive to Chicago can occasionally be rather long. Traffic makes it no better.
K- and Hubs started having Happy Daddy Day when she was two. That was when Hubs started his "new job" (been there for almost 6 years) and since he had Mondays off and she did preschool only on Tuesday and Thursday at that point, they had travels. They'd think nothing of hoping in the car and driving off to a destination in New York, Pennsylvania, West Virginia or some other place around Ohio for the day.
My question is this: Is distance driving viewed differently now than it was when I was a kid. I mean, a mile still measures out the same. Are people more willing to get out and get moving to places further out now than they were, or were they always willing to get out and I was just oblivious due to growing up in the town bubble?
Smiles in my day:
- Hubs caught a 20" bass yesterday and he said that it was the biggest fish he has ever caught. He thought his hook was caught on a log. :)
- Rev. K- is coming over tomorrow to talk and check out our gardens. Hubs would like to have a butterfly class here in August and she wants to have a sit down with us and get the scoop.
Have a great night!
Ouch.
The item was one that I thought we had additional stock of, and she hadn't even considered that. I was able to track it down for her and she came back to buy it from me. She was extremely thankful since she stated on three separate occasions that she had "driven all the way down here." All the way down here was from 10 minutes up the road. I briefly considered telling her that I have a customer that, several times a year, travels to Japan and takes gifts from our store with her. She said that the trip is 24 hours door to door.
Me thinks that she wins the distance trip.
We have people say that on a fairly regular basis. We are not on a truly regular course for anyone other than those who work there. Well, and we're rather in the hood. (Fine during the day, but I wouldn't walk the streets at night.)
When I was a kid, we lived in our town. Our town had a grocery, a post office, the corner store, a drug store and a Kmart. We had anything you needed. Truly, if there was a trip to go to, lets say the doctor, it was as if we were going on a trek that was further than driving to California. I remember Mom driving me to one of the local universities for an award ceremony.
You'd think that she drove me to India.
When I started dating Hubs, not only did he live in a different county, but he also lived in the snow belt and! it was 50 minutes door to door. :gasp:
You'd think that he lived on Mars.
Because we weren't people of the biggest means :er, poor: we didn't vacation that often. When we did, we went to the same places. :zzz: While that was trippin' out of the parental unit bubble comfort zone, we went.
They made the drive feel like it lasted an eternity. It was as if we were circumventing the globe by car and my dad had to have the window open the entire time-- rain, wind or shine. Inevitably, I would lose the draw of who's going to sit behind Dad and I'd come back from vacation with a monster sinus infection as a result.
Good times.
This isn't to say that we didn't have good times on vacation. It's just the drive that was, pardon me, hell. Perhaps that is why I have a built-in travel cap on my time spent in the car and I am a home body. I love going to new places, but I also love my own bed.
I digress.
We've brought K- up to be a child who isn't bothered by distance. Traveling isn't an issue and if, like a dog, you allow me to get out and stretch my legs every couple of hours, I can last a good 6 hours before I start getting to the point where I-want-to-get-out-now, please. The last bit of that drive to Chicago can occasionally be rather long. Traffic makes it no better.
K- and Hubs started having Happy Daddy Day when she was two. That was when Hubs started his "new job" (been there for almost 6 years) and since he had Mondays off and she did preschool only on Tuesday and Thursday at that point, they had travels. They'd think nothing of hoping in the car and driving off to a destination in New York, Pennsylvania, West Virginia or some other place around Ohio for the day.
My question is this: Is distance driving viewed differently now than it was when I was a kid. I mean, a mile still measures out the same. Are people more willing to get out and get moving to places further out now than they were, or were they always willing to get out and I was just oblivious due to growing up in the town bubble?
Smiles in my day:
- Hubs caught a 20" bass yesterday and he said that it was the biggest fish he has ever caught. He thought his hook was caught on a log. :)
- Rev. K- is coming over tomorrow to talk and check out our gardens. Hubs would like to have a butterfly class here in August and she wants to have a sit down with us and get the scoop.
Have a great night!
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