It’s Small Business Saturday

The holiday shopping season is in full swing as of yesterday with the shopping equivalent of the Super Bowl. The biggest differences between Black Friday and Super Bowl Sunday is that on Black Friday the fans are the ones competing and instead of eating standard homemade football party fare, competitors eat standard mall food court fare during halftime. Holiday shopping is best done however any individual finds the joy of holiday giving. For some it’s the competitive allure of the “doorbuster” deals. For some it’s the joy of knowing their shopping is already done by Thanksgiving so they can enjoy peace during the holiday season. I think the important thing is when you are shopping for gifts, let that spirit of giving wash over you and shop with that attitude. Not everyone does that, but whenever and however you do gift shopping, wouldn’t it be better for everyone buying and selling if we did that, or at least tried?

When I was in trade school, in 1990, I worked the holidays at San Francisco Music Box store. That was the coolest place I can imagine to work retail during the holidays because music boxes are very personal gifts. Even people who stopped in asking “do you have something nice for my mom?” or “I’m looking for a gift for my wife for Hanukah, do you have something thats not Christmas?” would leave with a thought to come back or a package in hand because they found that “ah-ha” gift they didn’t even now they were looking for. It was non-commission sales during the holidays, maybe because it was so easy, but it was so gratifying when I sold a music box because the person buying it was buying it as a gift most of the time and the gift they chose was very special. It captured the magic well. And music boxes are not at all just gifts for women! There was a very nice, masculine, wooden trinket box with a frame on top and space for a custom music box tune. With a kitten picture of Azreal in the frame and Spanish Eyes, a song my father loved to play on the accordion and my employee discount it was a Christmas present my dad loved.

Pop and I were talking about gifts for this year’s family celebrations on the phone the other day. Last year we drew names, so instead of choosing then finding gifts for everyone, we’re concentrating on just one person. We have a minimum set with the “rule” that past that you can spend as much as you want, but don’t expect the person who has your name to spend more than the minimum; Concentrate on the thoughtfulness of the gift and don’t spend more than you can afford. I drew my aunt who is a creative person, has some similar taste in books to my own and loves girly spoil things. I am just loving shopping for her!

Pop is not crazy about the suddenly he has to shop of it. LOL When my mom was with us she did all the shopping and the only gifts he bought were for her. Pop was a Christmas Eve shopper. As much as I don’t like being out shopping on Christmas Eve, I shopped with my dad for my mom on Christmas Eve. I joked at him about it but I really loved those few hours at the mall on Christmas Eve every year, just me and Pop. My mother was often pragmatic when she asked for a gift. She would actually ask for vacuum cleaner if she needed a vacuum cleaner and my father would tell her to go buy the vacuum cleaner and buy her something else for Christmas. Pragmatic gifts were neither special enough for Christmas nor for is wife. Something else was usually her favorite perfume and jewelry. We’d usually go into a couple of jewelry stores and look at jewelry until he found the piece or pieces that he felt were just right. Of course he would ask me what do you think often, but even if I wasn’t so sure he’d buy the one he though was right and Mom would gush over it an wear it to death. He obviously didn’t really need my help to pick out jewelry. I think I was really there for moral support for being in the mall and for our grown up daddy-daughter day. Then we’d go to Coffee Beanery for coffee and snack and he let me know that we needed to go through fine perfume on the way out of the mall because he needs to get just one more gift. As much as he always said he didn't like doing the shopping, he has told me a number of times that he did enjoy our Christmas Eve tradition.

Today, we acknowledge that holiday shopping may be about memories and special gifts to give, but we give another gift when we buy gifts because we add to the economy, moreover, when we shop small, that gift is a direct gift to the small business owner too. One of my sweet shopping memories is when Mom and I used to spend the weekend at Grandma’s, shopping in Tawas the day after Thanksgiving. Shopping in a small downtown was wonderful. It was as busy as a summer day during tourist season, sill room to move in the shops and time to talk to the shop owners and sales associates. I’m not a competitive shopper. I like to browse and really think about the gifts I’m buying. Some things I have around the house for the holidays take less thought than gifts. I still pretty much just throw a bag of almond holiday M&Ms in my cart. Some gifts are easy too, the ones that jump off the shelf and say “I’ve been waiting for you to find me for…”

Now I’m the Cyber Monday type, although I’ve already done most of my cyber shopping. I wasn’t the Black Friday at the mall type when I balanced well on two legs. Can you imagine trying to navigate crowds in a wheelchair?? I love that I can literally shop all over the world and take hours searching for the right gift. The other thing that I think is cool about the cyber world is that I have bookmarked sites for small businesses and family businesses I frequent too. I’ll finish this post up with a few of the small/family business my mouse frequently leads me to, also where I’ve already done some ordering in the past week or so.

Etsy is basically a craft mall online! I’ve purchased some dgital supplies from Etsy vendors. In fact this year’s Christmas cards wouldn’t have happened without Resale Clipart's Build-a-Snowman kit at Maddie Zee’s store. My Tigers “Turn Down For What t-shirt in 2014 was from an Etsy store and I’ve given beautiful hand-crafted gifts every year during the holidays.

Photojojo was a source of lots of stocking stuffers the year David switched to digital photography. They are a small company in San Francisco with a big web presence. They have wonderful gifts for pretty much any digital way you take photos, including how to upgrade your creativity and quality in that handy phone cam!

Ron & Franks is one of my favorite places going into winter! They are a small business out of Cheswick, Pennsylvania, that offers hot drink mixes in a greater variety of regular and sugar-free flavors that you’ll find in any chain store! They started selling their great drink mixes in 2001 at a local craft show and still sell their fabulous products in-person the same way. But with the website, I am sure to make at least one big order a winter to restock my supply of hot chocolates and instant cappuccino (What this once removed from the boat girl call cheat-a-chino) in great flavors sweetened with sugar, Stevia, Splenda or unsweetened. I recently tried Snick-AAH Hot Chocolate. STOP! I got unsweetened and added my own Stevia and with a 8-oz cup of water from my Keurig, I had a cup of Snickers heaven! I’ll be sending a gift to a special friend who will not go without a wonderful treat in spite of type 2 Diabetes!

Local Small business meets cyber-small town for me with Kohne Photo. They are our local camera shop, where my Canon G11 came from and where our Christmas cards have been done for as long as David and I have been together. I create the cards digitally at home and upload and place the order from home too. When I get the email that they are done, David goes to the shop across the Maumee River and picks them up. It’s using the internet to make it even easier to access your local business, but it also increases the reach of that business because if I wish I can give my business to them and have the cards shipped to me.

I spent a few years searching for a good source for the Italian treats I grew up with at Christmastime. One of the best things about the Internet is that small specialty stores are often crowded during the holidays and very difficult to maneuver with a wheelchair. (That’s not an excuse, just a reality) Finding a store on the web with the special things is much better than going to the local specialty store and MAYBE finding what I want . Torrone Candy is a family business that sells their classic Italian candies and sweets at their stand at festivals in the Northeast and has them available for one-stop internet shopping for all of us!

Nutscom! nuts.com is forever known to my family as nutscom, thanks to Pop. I got him a bag of chestnuts to go with a nuts history/cookbook a few years ago and he read the bag out loud in his not-so intent savvy direct way. One thing was for sure, Nutscom delivered good stuff! Nuts is a family business that started at the beginning of the Great Depression and has grown but remains a family business through the generations to a web presence and large selection of products. I get nut flours and candied fruits for baking, dried fruits and roasted nuts for snacking, even my most commonly used salad topper from Nuts-dot-com. At this time of year, it’s a great source for gift trays and baskets and wonderful things to offer on your holiday table.

Monday Mug Shot

Uncle John’s Pancake House

Toledo, Ohio

This week’s mug shot is not a nostalgic trip down memory lane, at least not yet, someday it will be. This is my newest mug!

Yesterday David and I went out to breakfast, which we do on occasion, even when we’re at home. He had a couple of coupons for a free breakfast, with the purchase of a drink, at Uncle John’s pancake House, so we decided to give it a try. It was a little farther a drive than we usually go for breakfast, but not really any farther than we do when we are j the mood for IHOP and with coupons for 2 free breakfasts, the price was nice!

It was fantastic! The restaurant was pretty full, but we were still seated quickly (although there was a wait by the time we left) Our waitress was at our table pretty soon after seating, but not at all too quick, we didn't feel rushed to sit down. I was impressed with the coffee service. There is a color code to differentiate between regular and decaf so the staff with coffee for refills, which seem to be everywhere and constant, can know without asking which to refill. And your coffee cup only goes empty if you insist.

I had a Greek omelet with pancakes as the side instead of toast or hash browns. Two things were at play there for me. First, how can you go to a pancake house for the first time and not at least try the pancakes? Second, and this is the important part, I couldn’t decide between an omelet and pancakes when we left home and seeing the menu didn’t make it any easier! The Greek omelet, which I had made with Egg Beaters was super fluffy with asparagus and feta and I t was SO good. I’m going to try that at home, but I’m not sure what the secret is to making it that fluffy! I was planning on having one pancake and taking the other two home, but David was hankering for a little more and… well, we didn’t take any pancakes home. The pancakes are light, fluffy and everything a pancake house pancake should be. YUM!

After finishing breakfast, David went to pay the coffee bill and get change for a tip. When he came back to the table he had a bag. I asked what was in the bag and he told me he wasn’t telling. I asked, a little surprised, if it was a half-birthday present. I never expect gifts for birthdays and especially not half birthdays, but he told me I could think of it as that. When we were leaving, we passed a display case full of coffee mugs. I didn’t even mention wanting one because I kinda figured out what was in the bag!

A great sign of love is to acknowledge someone’s passions, no matter how trivial the trinket seems. It was a wonderful morning.

These Are Some More of My Favorite Things

I told everyone I was following Marti’s lead at Marvi Marti on the “Things I Love” and yesterday she did list 2, “10 Websites I Love.” My lists are in no particular order. There might be a website I love more than one of activities I love that I listed a couple weeks ago.  So, in NO particular order, here are 10 websites I love!

10 Websites I Love

1. Digital Scrapbooking Studio
This is the Digital Scrapbooking site I call “home.” I’m not as challengey as usual right now because the project I’m working on doesn’t so much lend itself to challenges. It IS the challenge and it would take too much of my work on it time to t4y to squeeze it into a challenge mold. I figure I’ll be back to challenges and Creative Team duties by the end of next month.

2. Playlist
Thanks to Edna of Miss Edna’s Place for directing me to this site. It’s the source of the playlist at the bottom of The Chronicles of Nani and also I site I’ve often gone to when I want some music while I’m cooking. They have some great featured playlists, including pretty much whatever genre my mood calls for be it dance music, hip hop, country or classical, and yes, the mood will strike me for any of those. I even favorited a Frank Sinatra list for myself!

3. Amazon
I LOVE Amazon! It’s not just Home of my personal collection of Kindle books, but I pretty much always get my textbooks for school there too, always a little to a LOT cheaper than the bookstore at school. I also got my first year as an Amazon Prime member free because I’m a student. Now I still get half off as a student and even at full price it’s worth every penny! How can you beat free 2-day shipping on pretty much everything! There are other sellers who post through Amazon, so if Amazon doesn’t actually carry it, they can hook you up with someone who does. I’ve also gotten MP3 credits when I order text books and, oh yeah, Amazon is where I spend 45 minutes a day, sometimes twice, to watch episodes of Buffy The Vampire Slayer for free as a Prime member. Most of my gift shopping is through Amazon. My fuzzy red slippers were from Amazon and most recently, my feather duster set got here just in time for the ceiling dusting!

4. IKEA
This one is recent. IKEA is key in a lot of the shelving and organizing items I’m using for the white tornado project. It’s also where I found the kit for the chest of drawers and night stand I’ve needed to replace for a while.

5. Site Meter
I’m a stats junkie! Site Meter is where I see how many people visit the Chronicles of Nani and from where they come when they visit. It lets me know what posts get the most hits so I can “serve the drinks everyone in my Cyber Coffee Shop likes the best!”

6. Pinterest
This is new for me, thanks to Marti for the invite! I read a pinned quote on Pinterest that “Pinterest is like Fantasy Football for women.” I think that’s fairly accurate! It’s a great place to share ideas. I’ve repinned and pinned some great recipes and craft ideas. It’s where the Stuffed Pepper Soup recipe came from and an organizational craft project I’m working onto. I also pin things that I want to think about purchasing. Cool thing there is it links to where the photos come from so Pinterest itself organizes and keeps recipes, craft directions, my White Tornado plans.

If you’d like to see what I’m in to or follow me, I’m Nani_Noted on Pinterest.


7. Craft Crave
I check out Craft Crave every couple days to see what’s new in the scrapbook freebies. Sometimes I’ll see one element that finishes a layout to my satisfaction or a word art that inspires an entire layout. It‘s also a great place to see kits from possibly up and coming designers!


8. Good Search
I try to remember to use Good Search whenever I need to search for anything on the web. I’m signed up so that when I use Good Search it credits a few cents per click to our local chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. If you’re looking for something simple to do to “give back” and you’re looking for an organization to help out, try Good Search and use National MS Society Northwestern - Ohio Chapter as your charity of choice! I’d really appreciate that, but there are so many organizations that would benefit from a few cents per click, every click, every time and spread the word. It adds up!

9. Toledo Blade
I read my national news through assorted links from iGoogle, but the Toledo Blade is my local newspaper! I get my city and state information here!

10. Patients Like Me
I stop at patients like me at least once a day to check in and fill in the “Instant Me” feature. Remember, love analyzing stats here. I allows me to record how I’m feeling by time of day, day of week. I also communicate with others dealing with MS, even people taking the same medications as me!

Photoblog Wednesday

The Lights Before Christmas
Toledo Zoo


Anthony Wayne Trail Entrance to the Main Zoo



These were actually the lights after Christmas
Wednesday night, December 28, 2011, David, Rina and Nani.
It was cold, gorgeous and fun!

Halloween

The Overstock Bucket

Last night was just awesome! Although it was cold, really cold, we still had 157 kids visit. Only the last 7 got candy from the overstock bucket, which was 2-tier 2 candies instead of the 5-piece bags.

Sample of the Goody Bags

The 2 best costumes were both kids on or near their last trick-or-treating Halloween. Over the years you learn the ropes and get better. The cell phone reminded me so much of my brother’s last Halloween costume. The day before Halloween he didn’t have a costume, but he became inspired. He drew some buttons on a box, cut out arm holes and wrote the letters E-V-A-D across the top. When he put it on, Dave became the robot, Evad!

The Cell Phone visited just as it was getting dark, near the half-way point of trick or treating. I watched as he crossed the street on the way to our house and I was already impressed. The box made it kinda clunky, so of course it must have been an old school phone, but the front of the box was up-to-date; he was a very well-done cell phone, including the caller ID readout that said “home." I smiled when he came up on the porch and told him his costume was just awesome. He was quite sincere in thanking me for the compliment.

The other best costume that was definitely no last day inspiration, but carefully thought out and planned was “Abducted by an Alien.” I squinted as she came to the house because it sure looked like 2 people. Her top half was a girl in pajamas and her bottom half was the alien’s legs in a black cloak. The top of the alien was in the hooded cape behind her with the classic alien face ala Roswell, with alien arms around her waist and stuffed legs in pajama bottoms under the arms in front of her. It was done SO well, it really looked like two people. That’s why I was squinting as she walked up. I couldn’t tell! She smiled and said, “I’ve been abducted by an alien!”

I SO wish it was cool to take pictures of the kids’ costumes!

There were a few little ones that ran from house to house like that ladybug that scared Kaline and Baggle the first year I was here and two first timers that were so sweet. One little boy, a Teenage Mutant Ninja turtle, was too afraid to say trick or treat. His Mom said he’d been practicing all week and hadn’t said it all night. Practicing and performing can be very different! I gave him his candy and told him he could say it twice next year. Another little girl, a princess, said “tick-o-teet” and “tankoo!” Her Dad said it was the first time she’d said trick or treat all night. I thanked her and told her I was honored to be the first she said it to.

The big costumes last night were Pirates and Princesses and costumes you couldn’t really see well for the winter coats. Perhaps the smartest costume was on a young man who was so proud of his costume. He almost danced on our porch with a smile and told me, “I’m a polar bear!” It was definitely the warmest outfit of the night and at about 7ish years old, the cutest polar bear I've ever seen!

There was rain forecast in Michigan, so Scotty didn’t make it down, but I was good! After realizing that the legs on the wheelchair put my arms out of reach to open the door, I pulled the walker right up to it and sat in the seat. The walker with a seat was the best investment! That put me right up to the door so I could just open it without standing up. The walker was an obvious enough assistance device that I didn’t feel weird not standing up, in fact the kids helped hold the door while I got the treats, one boy even held the door for the next group that was right behind his. Our Toledo kids are pretty cool. If left to their own devices kids are, for the most part, as cool to you as you are to them. Okay, yes, giving candy helps!

It was a great evening!

How Far Have We NOT Come?

I was incensed when I read this story this morning.

Some real Shock and Awe:
Racially profiled and cuffed in Detroit

Shoshana and I both live in Ohio and have similarities in backgrounds. Just the father I look like doesn’t frighten the childlike minds of the paranoid.

I don’t say that to insult children, most of whom are smarter than the prejudiced fools who base “suspicious behavior" on how a person looks. Idiot adults have to teach children to be stupid.

We have to beware of the terrorists from outside out country and just as aware of the small-minded terrorism inside our country that will point out someone based on appearance while they don’t even see someone who looks like them actually acting suspicious on the other side of where they are sitting and pointing. In many ways the terrorists who attacked us ten years ago have won as long as their accomplices in this country point their paranoid little fingers without actually seeing anything, our way of life is disrupted and our freedoms have changed, many of them gone.

Please read Shoshana’s story and share it wherever you can.

Wrapping Up January With a Bow

From Holiday Elegance by RK Designs

Happy end of January! Man the first couple of months just seem to fly by, don’t they? It’s not time itself speeding though, not really. I always think, “yikes, fast!” at the end of January, but by the end of the year I think back and January seems so long ago. I think it’s just that everyone is so busy planning their projects for the year and making and breaking resolutions. It could be too that I am busy trying to break the mid-winter doldrums and that accelerates the time. Whatever the reason, I really don’t mind if the winter passes a little faster.


Speaking of the Weather

I have been watching, reading and listening with all the empathy I can muster as my friends and family in the states that have been hammered so bad with snow this year. One thing I NEVER did was giggle because it wasn’t us, which is what David says is the reason a major snow is coming through again and making a point of stopping in Toledo. Oh, he knows it’s not me, but he also knows there are people who laughed because it “missed us again.” Well, this time we’re gonna get it. The snow is supposed to start tonight, with 1-3 niches expected. Then Tuesday afternoon into Wednesday all day, we’re expecting up to a foot by Thursday morning! They are calling for wind too, making near blizzard conditions. :( Nani doesn’t like snow!

I’ve already canceled my afternoon therapy for Wednesday and Rapid LLC is scheduled to do driveway scrapes tomorrow morning and Wednesday night so David can get in and out for work and then the full plow-shovel-salt after it all stops. I am entirely blessed to already be on the regular customer list with Rapid. I won’t be scrambling all over trying to figure out how we’ll ever get out of the house before March while David is trying to dig a tunnel to his car. Whenever possible, proactive is the way to go!


A Black Eye

No, that’s not a metaphor for anything. I have one! I can’t tell you how much I DO NOT fancy this becoming an annual thing! If you’ll recall, last January I did a number on the left side of my face with a fall. This year, Thursday, I stumbled on some shoes by the door and couldn’t regain any balance. I fell face first into the corner of the refrigerator, putting a gash in the side of my face with the hinge on my glasses and leaving the right eye pretty well blackened! I didn’t hurt anything else, in fact, some of the things that are sore seemed to loosen up a little, but the shiner is so ugly! Yeah, I look tough, no one will mess with me, but I’m a people-person! The scary look just doesn’t suit me!


MRI Results

So Friday I went to therapy in the morning and my appointment with the doc to discuss the results of the MRI, sporting my new colorful eye. Well, see the back and eye are related like every other issue is related to the back. What makes me so unstable and makes me fall is the disk trouble and subsequent nerve trauma from more than on troubled disk! After doing some research and talking to some people who’ve had back surgery, I knew what I wanted. The doctor kept talking about pain management and steroids and I’d rehearsed my line. My Idea of pain management has no drugs – I’m in pain, I’ll manage. Except that I’m really not in pain. My pain is mental, I’m frustrated because I’m too weak and too unstable.

My first thought was happy and victory when the doctor came in holding the MRI results and said, “Well, we need to get you to a neurosurgeon for a consultation." Then it kicked in. If my steroid-advocating doctor is jumping to surgery, it’s bad! I’m waiting on the call-back from the Neurologist to set up an appointment for the consultation. There are several disks that range from deteriorated to herniated and screwed up nerve endings to go with them. Beginning with the end in mind, I’m ready to begin the six months of rehab after surgery. Then the surgery word hits me. Wow. Scary stuff. I’ve had oral surgery, but I’ve never been unconscious while someone carved me up before.

Well, right now is the consultation, finding out what insurance will and won’t cover and figuring out what I can afford that they don’t. This is big and I don’t want it done half way! So, I’m going to take it one day at a time, says the recovering ibuprofen addict.


Flying Grocery

The definition of “flying grocery” USED to be that I’d stumble to the door, sore from grocery shopping, and toss the bags in the house, hoping I didn’t break anything I’d forgotten I’d bought that was fragile. As of last week, Flying Grocery is how my groceries come to me without being tossed anywhere! I’ve been getting sorer quicker lately and David will get any groceries I put on a list for him except fresh produce! Most of what I cook, what I eat is fresh produce. So I did a search for grocery stores or markets that deliver locally and found Flying Grocery, a small service company in the Toledo area.

I expected the prices to be high or for a large delivery charge for that kind of service. I was so pleased! Delivery is $5.00 and the prices are so slightly higher than I pay when I hobble in on my own. The delivery charge is waived for the first order, so I figured I’d take a chance. I selected a delivery time, between 5 and 6, when I knew I’d be home. At 5 minutes past 5 there was a knock on my door. The owner of the company made my delivery herself. She refused a tip and instead gave ME a bouquet of flowers as a thank you for the business. The produce was all but perfect! Instead of the easy to grab bag with red delicious and granny smith apples with oranges, I got gala apples, my favorites, bananas and Bartlett pears. I also got a cantaloupe that is still making your refrigerator smell like a piece of Heaven with one piece still wrapped up on the shelf. I got beautiful, crisp and unblemished bell peppers in 4 colors, cucumber, celery and a bag of salad plus a bag with some beautiful zucchini. I got a couple of other things too, some lunch meat, a couple frozen dinners and egg beaters, to try out the non-produce part of the service too. Flying Grocery is a godsend now as I’m sure it will be through surgery and recovery for my back.

Let me add another thought, if you are in the Toledo area, imagine going on vacation and submitting a grocery order from your computer that will be delivered the next morning instead of trying to scramble to fill the cupboard and refrigerator after your plane gets in or after driving all day so you have basic lunch items for work and school the next day. With Flying Grocery, it’s that easy! I can think of a ton of great reasons you might use this service on occasion, sick kids, major project at work, anything that would have you picking up dinner on the way home instead of cooking a healthier meal, and in the long gun, more expensive than the delivery price.

I’m getting ready to place this week’s produce order, but for Friday, after the snow.


Okay, January blogging is a wrap! Back to school!

Links
Rapid LLC, Toledo snow removal and more!
Flying Grocery, awesome grocery delivery service in Toledo, Ohio

ATTENTION COCA COLA COLLECTORS

That’s what the sign said.

I just got a call, that familiar Kenny Chesney tune that says hubby is calling. David was chasing a couple of trains before work, on his way to a meeting in Wauseon, when he saw that sign. He said if it said M&Ms collectibles he’d have stopped to look for me. (I LOVE that man!) But thought he’d give me a call to see if I had any friends or regulars at this coffee hop who were near the area and might be interested.

The sign said “Attention Coca Cola Collectors, Garage Sale, Over 500 items.” David wasn’t sure if that meant 500 Coke items or 500 items including Coke collectibles. The Garage Sale is running through Saturday at 222 East Legget Street in Wauseon, Ohio. If you are a collector and in the area, it might be worth a look!

If you find any treasures, drop me an email!