Happy Shopping

Saturday was a holiday shopping day for me. I like internet shopping because there aren't the crowds I didn't enjoy shopping in before the wheelchair. But honestly, I do miss the decorated malls and the peppermint lattes!

I would have been exhausted doing everything I did in person. I started surfing around noon. David was home so we shared talk, music and meals. There is no way he'd spend the whole day Christmas shopping with me and not be miserable. With me cyber shopping, he could play poker online and I could still show him things I saw in stores. I enjoyed the social part of shopping and he didn't have to step foot in the estrogen-filled stadium of "shop til you drop."

I'm doing Secret Santa with a women's group I'm in. My Santee is someone I've never met before. It's just like the Secret Santa Soirée was done only I don't have years of her blog to get to know the person I'm giving to. I just have her Facebook wall. We life-bloggers and craft bloggers share more details about our passions and preferences than is usually shared on Facebook. Still, between the Facebook Wall and her paragraph about who she is and the things she likes I was able to have several ideas that I could pursue to find just the right gift. I found it around 11 o'clock Saturday night. There was one other person that I was shopping for but I knew what I wanted to get, down to two possible pictures of it in my mind. I found one of the pictures I had in mind after a couple of hours but, as is a regular shopping thing, I found something else that I just loved. I hope it's opened with as big a smile as it gave me to find it. I'm behind on my page-a-day scrap goal for December already, but it was totally worth it to spend a day traveling all over internet stores and finding the right gifts for two different people!


When shopping the specialty stores to collect my traditional Italian goodies and other special things for the holidays, I like to find occasional edible presents and I also like to try something new myself. In years past I tried cranberry mustard, rum cake cookies and even chicken tortellini.

This year I tried a jar of creama di pistacchio, pistachio cream, from Supermarket Italy. At first glance, it's a jar of green goo. It's greener than I was expecting from the photograph online but since it was creamier, than Lake Erie water during an algae bloom, I decided I wasn't so grossed out that I couldn't give it a try.

O-M-G... I swiped my finger on the pistachio cream that was on the lid and the taste is amazing! If you like pistachios imagine peanut butter only with pistachios. The flavor is a little more pungent than peanut butter but that's because pistachios are a little more pungent than peanuts. Where I could take a spoon and just scoop peanut butter out and eat it, I really think I need crackers or biscuits for the pistachio butter. But, oh my, it is good!

I talked to my dad last night and told him about it. I also wanted help on the pronunciation of pistacchio, pistachio in Italian. Pop said, no kidding, that he didn't remember ever saying pistacchio when he was a kid and only remembers saying it in English. Since I'm not bilingual, I've never thought about there being things you'd learn about while speaking in the new language that you didn't know the word for in your original tongue. I was told that when I was learning to talk I had to learn the English word butterfly because I first saw butterflies often at the park with my grandmother. Noni called them "farfalle" and I didn't know that word was a different language than the one I was learning. Of course since I don't actually remember that one, I don't remember how it felt. I still think it would be more strange to an adult. I also think it's a bigger deal to me than Pop.

Oh, we decided because of the vowel sounds and double-c, it is pronounced
| pee-STAH-chee-o |

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.

Let’s NOT Talk About The Weather

This week I posted a new profile picture on Facebook:

This photo was taken on Christmas day 2013, just a month ago. I have no makeup, my hair is messy and it’s one of my favorite photos of me I’ve seen in a while. I asked David to hand me my camera as we were getting ready to head out of the hotel to go to my dad’s for Christmas morning breakfast and he took the photo just before he handed it to me. So it’s a fairly candid photo except that, just like Tori, when I see a camera pointed in my direction I smile. What I love about that photo is that David took it.

Years ago when I was an assistant editor for a wedding videographer I scanned a set of photos I’ll never forget. You see part of my job was scanning and editing to music “growing up“ photos of the bride and groom before the even met and doing the same if honeymoon photos were provided. One couple in particular provided growing up photos of the slender boy in glasses who was not in a rock band in high school and there were no sports photos. He would’ve been what was probably a “geek,” maybe a “brainiac,” not one of the super popular or even well-known kids at school. The bride was the adorable little girl in dresses and cute poses with professionally done photos and high school photos that included the prom and her varsity cheerleader photo. From the wedding photos I could see that the “cheerleader” was not the ultrathin beauty queen she’d been in high school. I’m not saying that to disrespect the bride. What made their photos memorable were the honeymoon photos.

On an Alaskan cruise there weren’t as many photos of them together as there were photos they took of each other. In the photos her new husband took of her she was incredibly more beautiful than even the professional wedding photographer could show. A professional can set up the classic poses with different people and produce great photos. A nonprofessional captures a moment, a millisecond when they see exactly how their mind perceives the subject. It’s that point where the subconscious makes you click the shutter. I was almost in tears looking at those photos, as I’m often almost in tears talking about them years later, because in his mind eyes he grew up, fell in love and married “his beautiful cheerleader.” The photos from the heart will always be more amazing than a professional could take. David still clicks the button when he sees that split second where I look cute and fun; it’s what he sees when he thinks about me.


I got lots of “likes” and comments on my new profile picture. I posted my new cover photo on the top of my timeline and got very little in the way of response. Hmph. Actually I’m very pleased, even proud, of my new cover photo.

Credits: Snow Fun by Sheri Ferguson Designs.

 

I had the idea that if I used the right mask I could make it look like I wiped the snow with a mitten to expose the baseball. Considering that it replaced the December cover photo when I usually don’t remember to replace that photo for six or seven months I thought it would get more response. Oh well, I think it was a pretty creative idea and a good-looking cover photo.


Tomorrow is my half-birthday! At 7:45 AM I will be 47 ½ years old. I have never expected gifts or greetings or anything like that for my half-birthday. I think the half-birthday is a personal acknowledgment point and for me it also marks the point in the year where I start to round up the next age when someone asks how old I am. It won’t happen right away; if someone asks me how old I am on Thursday I won’t necessarily say I’m 48. But I’ll start the segue to 48. The funny thing is that yesterday I went in for my second steroid injection in my lower back and my hospital bracelet said I was 47.5 years old. When I noticed that after I got home I giggled and feigned an offended tone and told the bracelet I am NOT 47 ½ yet!

I really don’t buy myself presents for my half-birthday although this year it seems I may have accidentally done exactly that. What I mean is I’d purchased some “presents” that were originally scheduled to be delivered on the 29th. Now most of them, according to the shipping information I was emailed, has been delayed a day. I said I wasn’t going to talk about the weather so I have no idea what may have delayed the shipments but they’ll be here late. On the 30th my closer to 48 and 47 self will be expecting a box of coffee (Golden French Toast), my order from drugstore.com that includes citrus body wash so that’s kind of presenty, and my full spectrum light desk lamp. Light as bright as a sunny day will not only help me see better but also feel happier.

I am so looking forward to coming out of the shadows!

So there is my taste of Tuesday Nani. I hope everybody has a great, bright day and if you don’t I’ll let you know how the sunny lamp works.

I Found The Good Stuff!

That was my breakfast this morning I finally found my Panettone solo uvetta, senza canditi; only raisins or no candied fruit. That’s not the common and traditional way to make panettone but I don’t like the candied fruit and and never have. Mom didn’t like it either but loved the panettone senza canditi and every year Noni found a panettone senza canditi for her daughter-in-law and her granddaughter for Christmas. Now I make a point of finding only raisin panettone for Christmas in remembrance of my grandmother and my mother and because it just tastes so great.

It usually takes searching before I find my panettone. Shopping online helps! So when I ordered my traditional Italian Torrone candy, I added a couple of the mini panettone like the one I had for breakfast in case I still couldn’t find full size. The candy shop didn’t have panettone solo uvetta in larger packages. But I did find 2.2 pound panettone senza canditi at a different store online and bought two. Now I’ll make sure keep my hands off one of them so I have it for Christmas breakfast.

That was breakfast this is now

Skipped a few hours there because the bus called and I went shopping! Yanno, it is SO cool to use the paratransit bus for something all by myself that’s NOT a doctor’s appointment! I did some Christmas shopping including finishing all of my Secret Santee shopping. Now I’m not going to say what stores I shopped at because my Santee might just read The Chronicles of Nani. Besides I bought a few other things that might also be for someone who reads my blog. You never know.

No one has ever asked me how long it takes me to shop. I never have been a huge shopper. In my teens and early 20s I could spend a day at the mall with my mom or with friends but I don’t think that really counts. I like to shop for Christmas things alone and I really do enjoy that. If I want an opinion I like the unbiased input from clerks and other shoppers. So today I had a mission, one place that I wanted to go and to make my trip reservation with the bus I had to be able to sell them how long I’d be. Hmmm… One store, one list with a few different names and a few different things and some choices I knew I’d have to make for those things. So I guessed two hours. It took me one at the store I planned to visit. Since I had an hour before the bus was scheduled to pick me up and the rain had let up I motored to some of the other stores in the center and did a little more Christmas shopping!

One of the stores was Family Dollar. David doesn’t do dollar stores or discount stores; what Grandma used to call “junk stores.” Don’t get me wrong there, Grandma loved going to “junk stores.” What wonderful places they are for craft notions and the little things we use every day that aren't meant to last. Frankly I’d rather pay two dollars for something that lasts a month than pay five dollars for something that last two months. Sometimes the natural female shopping gene just makes more sense than the male “I hate stores” gene. I don’t get to go to those stores so much anymore because when I get together with girlfriends it’s for catching up over lunch, dinner or coffee. I was very happy when I passed the windows and realized the next door was to Family Dollar. I only had a half hour left so I was careful and well behaved and next time I’m grabbing a bigger basket! But this is where I found a special little something for me:

Isn’t it just SO Nani? I collect coffee mugs and I just adore the word art with a single word or subject in many fonts and it’s the word coffee! My little giftie for me was only a dollar and a large size from my Keurig brewer with a tablespoon of Coffeemate is a perfect fit! I love my new mug! They have a mug that says cappuccino in orange and cocoa in purple too. I may have to plan another trip to Family Dollar after the holidays. The really good news to me was when David came home for lunch I showed him my new mug and I told him it was only a dollar. He smiled. He understands that a good deal on a mug I really like is the same thing as a good sale on model train cars that fit his layout for him. .Ah, marital bliss!

I Love Being a Secret Santa!

I just want to give a “shout out” about how totally awesome Suzanne at The Coloradolady is for taking on the big job of coordinating the Secret Santa Soiree This is the third year I’m participating and I just love it!

I’ve been in a bit of a funk lately. That’s the real reason I’ve blogged so little. I’ve been depressed, actually down, me! I don’t mean to make light of it. I’m a super-optimist and I always have been, so chronically bouncing between happy and sad makes me..well, it makes me sad! I decided to talk to a counselor about it. I want to talk to someone who can professionally ask me the questions I’m not asking myself and someone for whom I don’t feel a need to “fake it” if I’m in one of those sad moods to keep them from worrying. I’ve been feeling happier since making the appointment. I’m confident that this will work and get me back to being me.

That actually does tie-in to the Secret Santa Soiree. When I got my Santee for this year all kinds of ideas started. I did some reading; my Santee’s blog, looked up and learned about some things she likes, looked up some photos. This is one of my favorite parts of the swap. I love learning new things and getting a feel for what gift or gifts would be very special.

In the past there’s been one idea, one part of the gift that was a mission for me. Something I had to search for. Christmas shopping has always been like that for me; there are one or two gifts every year that I get in my mind and have to search for. It’s so much easier now with the Internet. That’s how David got his jar of Argentinian Dulce de Leche last year. For a few years he’d comment about the incredible caramel spread he had in Argentina. One of my holiday missions was to find a jar of it even if I had to pay to get it imported. Both years so far I was inspired to search for part of the gifts I gave my Santee and this year was the same.

There was a perfect item that I really wanted to find. I knew in my mind a general idea of what it would look like and was sure I'd just “know” when I saw it. I spent a few hours searching today. A few hours on the internet is the same as a few weeks a couple decades ago! I saw it and I did just “know.” I hope my Santee “knows” when she sees it!

I’ll be taking advantage of the powerchair and paratransit to finish my SS shopping and do a little more Christmas shopping next week Don’t worry, the UPS guy won’t miss me; I still do most of my shopping the week of Cyber Monday!

And that is all it took today to keep me out of the bad and into a really great mood!

A Fragmented Mind With Blanks To Fill In

So this is the one day that tells the retail chains if they will make a profit this year. I’ve read in a few places that Black Friday’s name comes from the fact that the day after Thanksgiving is the pivotal point where stores can forecast the rest of the year’s sales. Considering that most corporate fiscal years start November 1, that’s pretty impressive. I’m not saying I doubt any of it; marketing has become quite a science.

  
Since I have a few of them, we’ll call that tidbit that I believe to be true, my first fragment this week. I’ll add that the “I believe to be true” is because I think I remember reading it on the Internet and you can’t trust things you read on the web abut Black Friday because it might be a Cyber Monday shopper just trying to make the crazy Friday shoppers look silly. Of course, carpal tunnel and camping out on your own porch might be considered cra….

………………………………………………

I’m back. Sorry, doorbell; I had to go get a package off the porch.


Where was I? Oh yes, Fragments! So here’s some more!

*  A Facebook friend did some questioning of employees at Target about working on Thanksgiving. At Target, working on Thanksgiving was volunteer only, they were paid time and a half and got a $100 bonus for taking the shift. I’m actually kind of glad for that because I usually find a thing or two at Target and I like their novelty Christmas candy selection. I’ll again consider them a store I’ll shop at this holiday season.


*  This is mostly a photo-fragment: Last week when David was working nights and there was some sun, enough sun, because Norfolk Sothern’s Southern Heritage Unit was in the area! (I’m wearing my Southern t-shirt as I type this) Isn’t she beautiful?

*  As 2012 draws to a close, there is a little somethin-somethin I for me. I bought my first real Smash book!

I know, I know, why would I want to buy a Smash brand book, when I’ve already put my “smashables” from all the years up through 2011 in binders with repurposed scrapbook paper? Well, first off the stock of scrapbook paper won’t last forever and the price of decent weight 2-sided paper pus a binder and glue starts to get near the price of a Smash Book, but not bound quite as solidly.

There’s also what I call the “London Fog Effect.” My Joey Votto jersey has the London Fog Effect too. I am really not a champagne taste kind of gal. I like nice restaurant now and then, but going out for dinner at Cracker Barrel is a fine treat to me. Kelly made me that beautiful Pandora-styled bracelet and I love it. I love looking at Pandora, but if I’m buying beads and a bracelet, Pugster is a lot less expensive and I have no gnawing desire for an actual Pandora. (Although I often still use Pandora wallpapers on my computer) But London Fog was one of those things for me. I had a few okay raincoats over the years, but in the back of my mind I wanted a nice real London For dress raincoat for work/interviews. When Mom and I saw a London Fog tent sale at an outlet mall we went to, we stopped to look and there was a beautiful taupe double-breasted trench with a button-in lining for winter. It was my size and Mom told me to try it on just to see how it looked. It looked great, it felt luxurious! Tent-sale prices, Mom is the one who told me it looked good and very professional and I ought to have it. She made it a gift. That coat still makes me feel like a million bucks when I wear it.

The authentic Joey Votto jersey with his name and number and all of the official Reds accents has the same effect. You can just feel that it’s the real deal. So I wanted a Smash Book for the same reason. Yes, I bought into the branding. The pages are thicker than the ones in my books, more durable, especially for thicker or heavier items I put in it and the way it’s put together is sturdy, quality. Of course, it feels special with nothing in it. Time will tell if that feeling stays as I use it if it truly is in the class of my London Fog coat or Joey Votto jersey. I have a folder full of 2012 smashables to help me find out!


I’m going to take a fragments break to visit Hilary’s Friday Fill-in.

This week’s statements:
1. I put ___ on a hot dog
2. when it___ I ____
3. If my house____then I would be able to___
4. If I was getting married tomorrow I would _______________ differently so we could ________________differently now.


My Answers:

1. I put mustard and nothing but mustard on a hot dog unless I’m having a Coney, then it’s chili with onions and mustard. I usually add yellow mustard when I have chili to enjoy it as a “dogless Coney” too.

2. When it snows I am happy to stay indoors with a big mug of mocha.

3. If my house was self-cleaning then I would be able to get more accomplished in a day!

4. If I was getting married tomorrow I would approach the photos differently so we could enjoy the scrapped pages differently now. My only regret is that I didn’t go a professional photographer or at least a dedicated photographer with a list of shots to get for our reception weekend. I would have loved to have 2-shots or 3-shots with each of our guests and a few of the balloon release we did. I would not have done anything else differently. :)


*  Windows 8 is Windows moving toward the smart phone, tablet and computer all working the same. There are touch-screen laptops out now and Windows 8 really is made for those! There are things I really like about it and one thing I really hate. I can’t stand the fact that if I move a window too close to the edge it instantly becomes full screen. I also don’t like the way windows will snap to either side for 2-window viewing that fills the screen. I know that’s supposed to be a “cool” new feature, but I’ve always used three to five windows open, sized and spaced so I would see the contents of all of them to select elements for scrapbook pages. That takes having windows in the corners, but if I get them too close, snap they go and I have a full screen of one of them instead of five. It messes with my organization. I’m slowly getting used to it, not dragging things too close to the edge and when I do, I curse under my breath and pull it away to snap it back to where I wanted it. That’s a pain, but for the most part, Windows 8 is pretty user-friendly.

David will give you quite a different opinion!


*  I have been too lax on tweeting and scrapbook gallery commenting! That’s a project I’m going to work on! I find I use Twitter a lot more during baseball season because a lot of my tweeps are fellow Reds or Tigers fans and I follow a lot of baseball players, who also tweet less in the off season. We’ll see if I get to tweeting more.

I know I‘ll be sure to be leaving more gallery comments at Ginger Scraps because I was invited to join the praise team there, essentially the cheerleaders who make sure every layout gets some love. There are perks in the form of scrapbook kits for meeting comment goals. Yeah, that sounds like copping out and using the freebies to encourage myself to do the polite thing I wanted to do anyway, but it does mean I’ll be commenting even more than the minimum I’d set for myself, so I consider it a win-win.


*  Finally, I’d like to take some suggestions for Friday memes. I kinda like doing three smaller memes but sometimes I can’t really answer the 5 Question Friday questions in any serious way because the questions assume I am a mom. And I am a cat-mom and was sort of a fill-in mom when my nieces were growing up, buy I really can’t answer questions about being with human kids every day, so I’d like to do one or two others too and choose the ones that have the questions I’m best capable in answering on any given Friday. Does anyone host a trains meme?? :) Just if you have a suggestion, I’d love a link!


And so I’m ready to post on this day after Thanksgiving. In the Nani-David household It’s not Black Friday, but dark gray Friday for sure; lots of serious wind and some rain. I’m glad to just be inside blogging, smashing and scrapbooking…oh, and I guess a little laundry too.

Thinking About Thanks

The first part of today has been some kitchen clean-up and a little beating the Cyber Monday broadband crowds. Yeah, the broadband crowds are the most I’ll put up with in the world of competitive shopping. The first boxes came in yesterday! There were two on the porch when we got in from Cleveland. One was for Rina and I’M impressed with that one after looking at the real thing and not a photo and one was for my Secret Santee.

The trip to Cleveland was a good one. My MRIs from before and after starting my medications are pretty much the same, which means the MS is not progressing anymore. YAY! My strength is not notably different in my arms and legs and my medication was just slightly adjusted for pain at wake-up and stiffness after riding in the car for a while. Then we had lunch at Eat ‘N Park, which always makes for a good day, and since it’s Thanksgiving week, we had a slice of pie for dessert. David had chocolate crème and I had, oh my, pumpkin crème; to die for!

Okay, now let’s join Joyce at From This Side of the Pond for the Hodge Podge!

1. Turkey-love it or leave it? White meat or dark? What's your favorite thing to make using leftover turkey?

I love turkey! Especially with my Mom’s recipe stuffing and mashed potatoes; classic Thanksgiving! I prefer white meat to eat on its own, but a mix is okay in soup. I can take or leave the gravy, but if it’s there for Thanksgiving I’ll use it.

My favorite leftover is turkey congee! I make broth from the carcass and serve it ladled over an assortment of leftovers; turkey pieces, stuffing cubes, a dollop of potatoes, veggies and I’ll sometimes add some noodles. MmmmM!


2. Gotta burn off all those carbs the day after a holiday feast so which would you rather do-run a 10K or climb a mountain?

-sniff- I’d love to be able to do either! But, with perfect mobility, I’ve always hated running and loved walking and climbing, so I’d have rather climbed the mountain.


3. Do you feel like social networking has made your relationships better or worse? Explain.

A little of both? Social networking has enabled me to reconnect with friends and relatives I otherwise wouldn’t have and it allows me to meet new people and stay in touch. However, it also employs that sense of anonymity, that isn’t at all there, and people say things that hurt other people without even thinking. They also do and post things that make people who haven’t been in contact with them for many years happy with that fact.


4. How do you find and express gratitude for the hard things in your life? 

I don’t express gratitude for the hard things in my life. I look for the good, look for the lessons and allow hard times to see the best in me and in other people, but I’m not grateful for the trials, just what I can do in spite of them.


5. In the US, the day after Thanksgiving has been dubbed 'Black Friday'. Is most of your holiday shopping done live and in person, or is it done more through the magic of the Internet? How do you feel about stores opening at midnight Thanksgiving night? Will you be out amongst the masses on Friday?

NO WAY! Keep me as far away from the Black Friday insanity as possible. I don’t want to know how I’d physically react to being pepper spayed and I’d prefer to keep my Christmas Spirit intact.

(See my random rant, er thought, to see what I think of stores that encourage that mob behavior.)

Because of my mobility issues, I prefer to do cyber-shopping. There are more choices in good, not picked over condition and there is seldom something I want that I can’t find.


6. Speaking of the color black-which black item in your wardrobe would you say is your favorite?

My black and white polka dot footies with the turquoise toes and heels. :) What? I like socks! hehe


7. What do you appreciate about your life today?

There is a definite difference between that for which I’m grateful and that which I appreciate. I’m grateful for people and the things I can’t live without. I appreciate things that make life easier or fun, but I wouldn’t perish without them.

I most appreciate paying taxes and having health insurance. Paying taxes means I have and health insurance means I will continue to have.


8. Insert your own random thought here.

I really do want to avoid shopping at the chain stores that will be open tomorrow this year. I can’t believe they will be open to get our money ON THANKSGIVING. Because their employees have no family to be with, I guess.

I saw some graphics on Facebook depicting soldiers and saying those who work retail have no right to complain. Well, when I worked retail I knew I would be working in the insanity of the day after Thanksgiving and I knew I’d be at work on Christmas Eve. The mall wasn’t open on Thanksgiving or Christmas, no place that was chain-retail was. So first off, retail workers may not have “signed up” for a job that works on holidays. This working instead of sharing family time is new. I had a job where I worked on all of the actual holidays in the summer; it paid a lot better than retail and I had insurance too.

I mean no disrespect at all to our men and women serving in the military who are not home with their families. I appreciate their decision to serve and protect us and our way of life, but to compare them to retail employees and compare the importance of serving our country to serving bargain hunters is disrespectful to both professions.

Many of the employees in retail are high school/college aged kids or retirees. What a great way to teach family values, huh? Why would the kids care about the family time if Grandma isn’t even there? Military personnel are sacrificing their family time for the country’s safety. Retail employees sacrifice it for a sale. I’ll also add that no sales associate will get a medal and recognition when an overzealous shopper runs them down for getting between them and a toy and I’ve never been at a sporting event where the PA announcer has asked everyone to “remove your hats and honor our retail workers as we sing.” There are no free college or job assistance programs for them after the holiday season is over either.  Retail workers have every right to complain about not having the family time off and don't even compare them to our military.  Military personnel are trained in combat and a retail worker shouldn't have to be.  And when it comes right down to it we respect our military.  We don't even treat retail workers like people.


Off soapbox now.  Everyone have a wonderful Thanksgiving day with your loved ones.  God bless our troops.  And if you will be one of the shoppers tomorrow be kind to other shoppers and to the retail associates; remember the sacrifice they're making so you can shop.

Models and the Alphabet

Menfolk: you may not understand this one, but you’re welcome to read it!

I’m differently endowed than many in the bust department. Whether it’s a curse or a blessing; depends on opinion. At 46 years old a plus-size bra size that cannot be found in stores is both essential and difficult to find. Braless is something that ended at 11 years old and probably could have, should have, earlier because I never wore a training bra or even double A, I was an A at 11.

For the past 15+ years I’ve worn one style and only that style of bra. It was an excellent bra for me, fit and supported well, was comfortable. There was a Bra World store near where I lived in Michigan which is where I discovered that wonderful bra and they actually had it in my size. I was a regular customer because it was the only place I’d ever been able to by my size “off the rack.” Unfortunately, smaller sizes were more easily found in lingerie shops and a handful of women who needed the larger sizes weren’t enough to keep the business going. My friends who went in with me told me that they were an expensive shop, but they were the only place I could get bras!

My bras were priced in the $30-40 each range in the mid-90s and I waited for a good sale when I needed new bras and stocked up. When Bra World closed, I turned to catalogs and then the internet to find that one style that was worth every penny of its price to me. I had a site that I got my bras from on the Internet and my style bookmarked. At the end of last year it was time to replenish my bra supply. I stock up every couple years. My bra, the style I’d worn since before I finished college, had been discontinued.

When I went to my bookmark, the site offered two different styles from the same brand that were supposed to be comparable. I ordered a couple of each, figuring the same brand and a comparable style should have a similar fit. NO WAY! One style mashed my breasts against my chest with leftovers spilling out of the cups all the way around! The other style fit but funneled “the girls” into a 1980s Madonna shape. Those ones were returned; all 4 of them.

So now I am searching for a new bra. Given that my size is still not one you find in stores, the internet is my bra mall. This morning I had to laugh, then almost cry. I did a search for plus-size bras. I found a bra on sale for only $19…but it was only available for $19 n a C-cup. Then there were few like this one:

Plus size, really?  Plus what?

Wacoal Inspiration Underwire Bra

In a search for plus-size bras? The model doesn’t look like a plus-size anything and I have to wonder how many pins were used in the photo session; this bra doesn’t come in anything smaller than a D cup. That’s NOT a D-cup in that photo!

I did a paper about images of women in advertising for my Women’s History class in college in 1997. In that paper I talked about the plus-size women’s clothing industry and the lack of plus-size models in advertising and catalogs. About how the images created unrealistic representations of the clothing and it was not only false advertising, but detrimental to self-image of their customers; bad business. It’s a decade and a half since I wrote that paper and there are more plus-size models in larger women’s clothing advertising but that demeaning Madison Avenue image of women isn’t gone yet. I’m not even going to try that bra pictured above because even if the model is wearing the smallest size available I have no idea what size to buy. If that’s a D, what am I, a Q?? David had suggested that maybe it was a bra for plus-size women but with average to small breasts, but  that's not a plus size models and again, the smallest size is a D; still doesn't work.

Not all of the larger-sized bras are modeled on small, skinny women. I just find the ones like that to be misleading and frankly, insulting. I realize that a special size that has to be ordered cannot be photographed to replace actually trying it on, but at least provide an image that has some semblance to reality. I won’t even try a “plus-size” bra that’s not modeled on a plus-size model or a model with plus-size cups

A much better representation of a plus size bra

Underwire Lace Top Full Support Bra by Aviana®

There are a few that I think I want to try based on realistic photos and descriptions of what they might look and fit like, but I’ll order just one of the style to be returned or to order more after I try it on. I still just find the gross misrepresentations frustrating as my struggle to replace 20 years of support.

Free Is Good

I’m in grumbly money mood. Okay, not that grumbly, but David and I went out and did grocery shopping before he went to work Monday. It was the big shopping trip where I bought all of the ingredients for my Davinities as well as groceries and some of the non-perishables for UNO and the Fabulous Dessert Bar, less than 2 weeks away! When you put all those items together, well, my pocketbook is still warm. At least a few hours later it stopped smoking!

I love to give, but not to the stores! So to get the nasty money out of my head I thought about some of the things I’d been given for free!



I got this ornament from Bronners, my favorite Christmas store, in Frankenmuth, Michigan. Yes, it’s true, I got the free ornament because they had the right way to say “Merry Christmas” to enough special people on my list, but it was still a nice freebie!


This is a freebie I didn't have to buy anything for! Café Escapes had joined my followers on Twitter! So, I checked them out and saw that they’d offered a sample of their 4 K-Cups to someone and asked them what I needed to do to get a sample. They told me to send a private tweet with my address!


I’ve tried the chai latte and the mocha. I wasn’t crazy about the Chai, but the Mocha is awesome! I have a dark and a milk hot cocoa left!


So the internal tremor of my grocery bill has calmed and I am ready to put hands and heart to the first Dainties of 2011 tomorrow! And while I’m appreciating the freebies that brought me the inner peace I craved, I want to share a freebie too!


It’s Christmas All Over The World was the first professional scrapbook kit I did when I had my store at Scrap Bird. The shining jewel of that kit was the ornaments that say Merry Christmas in English, Italian, French, Spanish, Polish, German, Swedish and Portuguese. I still like how those and the world map ornament turned out and I’ve repackaged the ornaments to share! Just click the preview to go to the download.

And ya know what? Now I feel even better!

Merry Christmas!

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

Good Things By Mail!

I hate paying for shipping, and look for the free shipping whenever possible, but I love internet shopping and having things arrive here without having to go fight parking, crowds and shelves that empty just before you get there, especially at this time of year. I also hate wasting time. Finding what I want and ordering it takes, on average, five minutes for every hour driving, parking, walking and finding the item in a store. Much as I hate paying the shipping, I’ll gladly pay reasonable shipping to save wasting time. I hate wasting time more!

Amazon Prime is my best shopping friend. I have it right now because I’m a student and they offer it free to students. I buy a lot of my text books at Amazon because they are more affordable than the bookstore most of the time. I shop and compare prices. The textbooks are often from other sellers at Amazon and not eligible for the Prime free shipping, many other things are sold through Amazon and available with Amazon Prime. So, for Christmas shopping, I’ll look on Amazon first. See how that works? Free shipping = more sales! Hehe

There are a few specialty items that I definitely order online because I can’t otherwise find them or if I do find them, it’s for a premium price! Yesterday was a two-box day, not even Christmas stuff yet!

The first box was from Amazon. I got a My K-Cup. My K-Cup does two awesome things. First, since Starbucks is not contracted with Keurig, I can now make my own Verona K-Cups! But it does more!

My Keurig maker makes water the perfect temperature for tea, hot chocolate and instant soups, anything would add hot water to. By taking the filter basket out, it heats perfect water into a cup or cream pitcher. Truth – when you put boiling water on a tea bag, it shocks and to an extent closes up the tea leaves, making the steeping process take longer and changing the flavor of the tea. That’s not so terrible with herbal teas, but with a regular tea, it can be disastrous! I like Earl Grey on occasion. The boiling water method makes hot weak tea initially and when the waster cools a little, the tea releases quick, making a bitter, very strong cup of tea. Remember that some of the tea leaves were scalded and the more delicate nuances of the flavor is gone forever, making a very harsh tea. Hot water through the Keurig maker allows the tea to brew naturally and instantly, preserving all the flavor!

Another one of my wonderful Internet finds has been Ron and Franks Gourmet Drink Mixes. They make hot chocolates, apple cider mix and cheat-a-ccino in a huge selection of flavors! This includes that they make every mix in regular and sweetened with Splenda for a low-calorie, sugar-free drink. They also make several of their mixes with no sweetener at all. I love the unsweetened Pumpkin Spice Cappuccino. I got the decaf mix and I can have a cup at night with dessert and can sweeten it as much as I want. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE that I can get my Pumpkin Spice at Speedway this time of year, but I usually mix it half and half with regular coffee because it’s sweeter than my taste. That does cut into the pumpkin spice flavor. With the unsweetened mix, I get the flavor I want at the sweetness I want. I have placed an order for Christmas of some hot chocolate mixes, cappuccino and spiced cider. Rina is especially excited that I’ll have 5-calorie hot cider mix at UNO this year! She mentioned I might want to order and extra bag!

It looks like UNO and the Fabulous Dessert Bar will be the day after Christmas this year. That’s cool because I’ll be done with the semester of school and I’ll essentially have the week before Christmas to bake and everything will be especially fresh for both Christmas and UNO. Not that things get stale in a week, but having everything so close, I’ll be able to schedule even better!


The other box UPS delivered yesterday was from My Spice Sage. I found this online store searching for someplace to get dried soybeans. I have wanted to toast my own soybeans but it’s been nearly impossible to find them at the grocery stores I’ve been looking at. Remember, my physical ability to run around from store to store is still limited, although between therapy and the doc’s manipulation, it’s getting better! So, I searched for someplace I could order soybeans. What a great find! My Spice Sage has not only got soybeans, but every spice you could think of! I ordered the rest of the spices I need to make Middle Eastern Seven Spice. Now, I can finally try the recipe for gallabah I have! My order included a free bag of turkey brine spices, every order gets a free 16-oz bag of turkey brine spices right now, and my choice of a sample spice. I chose the apple pie spice to play with in the kitchen.

My box from 11th Street Coffee came in at the very end of FedEx time tonight. 11th Street has a fabulous selection of K-Cups and I order from them every 6 or 7 weeks. I’m kinda hoping that this shipment will last me through the end of the year, with the additional purchase of the holiday assortment that’s usually available at Bed Bath and Beyond. I ordered two boxes of the Autumn Harvest blend for Green Mountain. That is a limited edition and when I tried it last time, it made the Caribou I usually get taste just a little bit less. Right now I have only Caribou and it is just as wonderful as it always has been, but when the Caribou box is empty, I’ll have Autumn Harvest for a while. I’m not opening an Autumn Harvest box until the current Caribou is gone.

I find I go through more decaf now that I drink exclusively decaf at night. I bought an extra box of Newman’s decaf K-Cups at Kroger because I used up the decaf sampler box from last time, Boy it’s more expensive at the grocery store for K-Cups! This time I got a box of breakfast blend decaf, the breakfast blend is a more robust flavor, which I prefer at night. Breakfast Blend Decaf. Isn’t that an oxymoron? I also got a box of Hazelnut decaf. Hazelnut is the only flavored coffee other than vanilla that comes in decaf. I searched for a cinnamon, but no dice! I can add my own cinnamon, but the flavor is better if it’s brewed into the coffee than added after. Still, I’ll be able to enjoy a flavored coffee at night too.

Back to scrapping. Tomorrow, I’ll show off a little of the fruits of today’s labor!


Links:
Amazon
Ron and Franks Gourmet Drink Mixes
My Spice Sage
11th Street Coffee

Big Blue Radio Buh-Bye!

The Big Blue Radio is the 57” widescreen projection TV that was in our living room. My Mom bought it in late spring 2003. She only got to enjoy her huge TV for a few months before she passed in September, but she loved that TV!

I inherited the TV and it came to Toledo with me in March 2007. David and I enjoyed the picture that was really too big for the room it was in, but we watched many baseball and football games on it, including the Red Sox winning the World Series in 07 and the Giants and Patriots in the Super Bowl in 2008. Then the blue lines started to appear, a prelude to the picture tube dying. After the tube died, the audio was great, but it was just a blank blue screen, thus the Big Blue Radio.

The Big Blue Radio took a huge truck to get it to Ohio and three men to get it into the house. David and me getting it out of our home on our own wasn’t going to happen. Even with help moving it, it wasn’t going to get anywhere strapped to the roof of a Camaro! Even David’s sport utility didn’t have the room to transport it.

So, it sat there. We had a small TV on my cedar chest hooked up to the cable and the Big Blue Radio stood next to it collecting dust. We had no idea how to get rid of it. It was over the weight limit for garbage pick-up for a TV and it would have been very expensive to rent a truck to take it somewhere. It was a huge, non-functioning, piece of furniture taking up space in our living room.

Last night, after a last call to the city to try to get it removed if we could wheel it out, David suggested putting it on Craig’s List. “Free to a good home.” Well, free to ANY home!

I posted it in the Toledo free section this morning and had an email box with about 8 offers to come and get the TV. The first email was from someone hoping there was some kind of working picture on the TV but the second email was from someone who works with TVs, broken ones that need work. He came over this evening, around 8:30. David helped him get the Big Blue Radio out of the house and into his waiting van. The he helped David bring the TV that we brought from Grandma’s out of his SUV and into the house. Very cool reciprocal aid!

Gotta love the Internet for this. Yes, this type of transaction must be done with care! I used my “extra” email address in my ad and didn’t offer a phone number until a few emails were exchanged and I was sure the move was going to happen. It turned out that the man and his wife who claimed the TV were very kind and also grateful for the free TV. We were equally grateful for free removal of it!

In the end, our east side of town neighbor got a TV to fix up and sell, and the Big Blue Radio is still worth some money as a working TV if he has any luck with fixing it. We finally get the broken TV that was too big for the room out of our living room without having to pay movers or disposal fees. And we got the new TV moved into the house for free!

The Internet rocks!

Holiday Baking Day

Mmm... Fresh out of the oven Mr. Goodcookies!

This is officially holiday baking Day 1. It’s break time after finishing the Mr. Goodcookies. I’ll have some soup for lunch and then go on to start the first batch of brownies. This year, in addition to the Davinities staples, Krisp Kringles and Mr. Goodcookies, the sweet theme is Brownie Madness! There will be four different gourmet brownies. I bake in segments so everything is fresh when presented. I give or serve Davinities in three places. UNO and the Fabulous Dessert Bar, which is the Saturday before Christmas and for two family gatherings, one in Michigan and one in Connecticut. I’ll bake the same Davinities twice and then I do a pair of Crostadas twice. I’ve been taking some pictures along the way too!

The greatest thing I’m getting for the Capture the Season assignments is remembering to take pictures of the little things, the steps in between. I have a digital camera. It’s not like I’m wasting film! A long time ago, I read in the Mensa magazine the greatest tip for taking fantastic vacation pics– shoot like there’s no film and don’t be afraid to throw away the runners up. That was the hardest part for me. I have a strange, almost ancient Native American, feeling about pictures of people. It’s almost like throwing the person away! Thanks to digital, I can use the best photos, throw them all on a CD, date it and store it. You never know when you’ll want to resurrect those memorable goofy-faced photos that you didn’t use in the scrapbook or when a major physical change will warrant fishing out those less flattering photos for a stellar before and after. Think about weight-loss or gain, the braces/glasses that flared from the flash or too long hair unkempt and in a face would even be a good one to use after a new coif. So throwing all the photos whether or not I use them on a storage CD works for me. I can usually fit a full year of taking tons of pictures on a storage formatted DVD. I also pay a LOT less for all those shots, take more and get better “keepers!”

So, here is the result of shopping for holiday baking:

And here are some of the fruits!

I got a knock on the door while I was making the Mr. Goodcookies. It was a knock and then gone before I could put they tray I’d just taken out of the oven down. That’s the way deliveries are made, especially at this time of the year! UPS knocks so you come to the door if you’re home, but the package is left on the doorstep. Today was the first of my online treasures to arrive this year. I won’t go into details because, as my friend, Edna noted on her blog, you never know who is reading!

I love cyber-shopping! My knee and back walking problems notwithstanding, it beats battling traffic and crowds in the stores, hoping to find what you seek from the bin of picked over merchandise. From the special gift I could only find in Virginia a couple of years ago to gift cards from stores they don’t have at Giant Eagle, the world is my Mall and I can bake or scrap while I shop! I was reading a customer review for the item that came in today and was a bit confused at one comment. The commenter said it was a great item, but one he would NOT buy online because he bought one in the store and most of the ones they had were scratched and one was even broken. That was certainly enough to tell me it was something I’d ONLY buy online. Direct from the warehouse to me with no one else looking through all of them and scratching them up. I took this out of the box and it’s perfect, no scratches! I have a little more I’m planning to add to it, but I can’t wait to give it!

Taste of the season!

I know if David reads this, he’ll comment to me that it’s ALWAYS pumpkin season for me. Not true! Pumpkin is a fall through about the middle to end of January. That’s about when the stock of seasonal stuff I’ve collected dries up, but it’s special because it’s NOT always pumpkin season! There are just some things that are especially good when they have that seasonal tag on them. After groceries yesterday, I had my McEggnog Shake. I may have another one, but I really have to have just one to feel official about it. The McDonald’s Eggnog shakes aren’t like pumpkin spice coffee, but I sure like them! Eggnog is one of those flavors that is really a just for a couple weeks flavor craving. I do like the real thing, but an eggnog FLAVORED shake has far less cholesterol than that yummy concoction that I don’t want to see made!

Okay, now it’s brownie time! I’ll check in a bit later.

There’s Still Time!

There’s still time to save so big you’ll almost feel guilty about it, almost!

I’m sending out a reminder about the incredible deals at Sears on their entire fall apparel line. Remember, 75-80% off the original prices on some great stuff!

Last time I told you about this great sale, I was looking at a great transitional piece that would be great for work. Now I’m feeling very weekend and very night out!

R&M Richards side slit pants

I found R&M Richards side slit pants in the closeouts plus size section. What great black dress pants! They are poly-lined chiffon, flouncy and elegant. They’ll still dress up an after hours work function, make the start of a great suit for an evening wedding or a jazz up a night out with your hubby. Original price on these pants is $68.00, the sale price is $11.99 while supplies last on the close out. My size and the next one down are left and I’m wondering if one of each would be a good incentive program in my dieting goals.

There are closeouts that great on fall and winter apparel for women, men, kids and I saw some tops in the juniors section that looked perfect teenage niece-style to me, blouses, hoodies and tanks that scream “I feel pretty!”

The close out prices will be in effect until April 18, but don’t wait to check out their website. Everything in the sale is while supplies last and you don’t want to just miss the sizes you need at incredible prices.

If you like to save money, if you like to save LOTS of money, click now!!

Scrap Bird Crazy Prices Thursday!

It’s bedtime Wednesday here, but in the Scrap Bird homeland it’s been Thursday for a few hours already and the craziness has begun for this week!

There are some great deals on new and old products at Scrap Bird, including Anything by Digitalegacies Designs that’s over $2.00 regular price is slashed in half until 6:00 PM EDT. Stop by the gallery and see some of the new layouts from my CT with “I Feel Lucky” and “My Blue Heaven!”

Also while you’re at the store, check out all of the new designers! In the last week we’ve added some wonderful new talent! Pick up some of their sample and sale items to go with your deals from Digitalegacies Designs!