Thursday, April 26, 2012

Life's Little Surprises

I don't like big surprises. You know, like birthday parties or anything that might make me do the ugly cry in front of everybody. But, I do love little surprises. Like finding money in the wash or an unexpected piece of candy in the bottom of my purse. (as long as it isn't old or covered in fuzz!) Or....



Fresh flowers in a mason jar,
 given to me by my sweet dc kids!
What a perfect way to start the day!


Thank you Lucas and Faith.
It was just what I needed.




Tweens Aren't All That!

Life is so unbalanced. Why is it when one part of your life is going great, another one starts to unravel? The saying, "You can have it all. You just can't have it all at once." is soooo true! In February Landon turned ten. He's not a teenager, nor is he in the single digits anymore, so that makes him a tween. Honestly, I'm not digging the tween years. Having watched several girlfriends go bald tearing their hair out from their sassy little hip swayin', gum snappin', "talk to the hand," charmin', little darlin' girls, I felt immense relief thinking I was "safe" with my boy. Not to be. Sob.... I don't know what happened. He just woke up one morning and decided he knew everything there was to know, about everything and anything under the sun, and his poor dad and I just fell off the turnip truck. Not only that, he also grew pomegranate's the size of Texas! If it wasn't for the fact he isn't a cat, I'd take him to the vet in a heart beat and get him fixed! That'd teach him! O.k. just kidding there. Kinda. But, seriously....what kinda deal is this??? I thought that wasn't suppose to happen until the TEEN years! I'm a little scared to even think that far ahead. I am trying really hard to pick my battles and keep my cool, but this walking on egg shells isn't working for me at all. I have no grace and it's a darn near impossible feat for me to accomplish! I am open to any suggestions anyone might have. I'm running out of ideas and slipping midol in his milk is starting to sound reasonable. Something's gotta change soon or I might be running away from home for the next eight years. O.k. just kidding there. Kinda....Anyway, thanks for letting me vent. Feel much better now. Think I'll go and pop one or two of those midols. Or ten.

P.S.
This is the post I plan on showing Landon when someday, his own child suddenly turns into a genious, just as he did. I won't have the answers, but I will let him know that taking the child to the vet is unacceptable, but to go ahead and try the midol. Can't hurt. Might help. 6,234,221 women can't be wrong.

Mud Therapy

Landon came home from school today, crabby, tired and just plain ol' ornery! After taking all I was gonna take, I told him to go outside and chill. So, what did he do? Jumped in the puddle of water in our driveway and made mud pies! It kept him busy and HAPPY for an hour, so I bit my tongue and let him have at it. It was worth the dirt for the new attitude and peace of mind. Kinda makes me want to try it out myself. Kinda.




Getting his happy face on!


Care for a few sprinkles?


Presentation is everything!




Sunday, April 22, 2012

Screen Window Art Center!

My dc kids love to color. I think coloring is a wonderful, relaxing, activity for them. What I don't like, is the 2,344 coloring pages all over my counter! Especially when it's dinner time and I'm trying to cook and load 3,442 plates of food and the kids are worried because their papers are "touching each other" and "getting mixed up!" Oh dear....Sooooo.....I put on my thinking cap and Ta Da! Screen Window Art Center!


Now the kids can hang up their art
until it's time to go home.
I plan on having a few smaller personal size
art screens available at the Farmer's Market this summer.
 Don't forget to go to the Market!

It's not quite finished yet.
I still have some stenciling to do, to jazz it up.
 But, that's a project for another day!
Rosie thinks it's just fine the way it is.
She's so cool.


Landon personalized the clothes pins!



Friday, April 20, 2012

Stumped

I'm stumped. I wanted to name my new business, "Lucky Charms" but because of the cereal, I didn't want to run into any problems down the road. So, I settled for "Lucky Charmed." One thing I am good at is thinking on my feet and coming up with quick solutions to most situations. Names, ditties, etc. can come to me on the spot. However, this time....I'm stumped. I can't think of anything clever or funny to put on my business cards using both the words... Lucky and Charmed. I even tried using charming instead, but nothing. So, I am sending out a "help!" request. Put on your thinking caps and send me your ideas. If I use your idea, I'll reward you with a sweet, charming, lucky gift from my new shop!

Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy!!!

We got a brand spanking new laptop! That's right. The  computer repair people decided replacing the hinge would involve replacing the whole screen, and that it was cheaper just to give us a new computer!Works for me! :)

Sunday, April 15, 2012

I Miss You Old Friend

A few months ago, my ancient dinosaur desktop computer bit the dust. Luckily we had a laptop to use as a back up. Then "someone" (No one is fessing up!) dropped it or "something" and one of the hinges broke off and one of the two wires snapped apart. Why it still worked is beyond me. Anyway, this is all old news as I posted about it before when I discovered we had a warranty on it! It is now at the computer hospital and I miss it dearly. I am using Landon's little tablet computer and it is not fun! The keys are so close together, I have to keep backspacing and correcting every other word.The screen is really small and I can hardly make out some of the pictures when I need to place a purse order or when I need to check out anything. I have to set the zoom to 200,000 to see it! (It's great for Landon though, as all he wants it for, is to play computer games.) I didn't realize how much I rely on my computer until I didn't have access to it. I can't post pictures or email them. (I do this a lot!) I no longer have access to a printer, which I've come to use a lot with my new business brewing in the works. When I need to reply to my business emails or even just personal emails, I keep it really short, as it is so hard to type on this little thing here of Landon's. I think about something I need to check on and when I go to get the laptop to do a little research, I cringe when I have to pick up the little dinky computer. How did I get so spoiled? It's just nuts. Anyway, I just wanted to let you know, since I won't be blogging over here a whole lot, until my laptop is safely back home, where it belongs. Might even break one of my rules and wrap my little hands around that laptop and say the word we aren't allowed to use around here. Mine!! (For the record this little post took me over 20 minutes! I kid you not! Oh yeah.... It's MINE!" )

Monday, April 9, 2012

Lucky Charmed

I finally got a shed to call my own! (In the next post you will see the hard work I did.) I've been wanting to dip my toes into a few handmade/re-purposed/re-done items to sell at the Farmer's market and at my purse shows for a long time now, but, I just didn't have the space to work on it. Now I do. I am so excited! I just need to get a few shelves put up and a couple of work benches made. I already was able to make one "junk/treasure run" and felt like I hit the jackpot! I will share with you one "before" photo and later when I have added my special "lucky charmed" touch to it, I'll show you the "after." I will also share with you one photo of a "handmade" item I will be selling. But, that's it. Just a little taste. You will have to wait until the Market to see the rest! I will have the first booth as you come in the door from the west side. It's right next to my purse booth. (Oh yes! I am still doing purses!) For some reason, I've always been a little lucky. I don't know what it is, so I like to think it's good karma. I will never be able to say, "I never win anything," or "I've never been blessed." I am lucky and blessed. Everything from winning flat screen t.v.'s at the fair, to our son, Landon. (Unknown to us, Landon was a one in a million shot. We got him on the first try! That is a blessing, indeed!) So, I decided to call my new business, Lucky Charmed. (Oh yes! I will have horse shoes and four leaf clovers included in there somewhere!) Maybe some of my good luck will rub off and my treasures will bring others a little good luck, not to mention complete giddy happiness for picking up something super cute and charming at a reasonable price! (Well, it's true!) So here's the first photo....



Here is a cute little iron lamp. It's hard to tell from the picture, but it has a white milk glass shade over the bulb, (Yes, it works!) and it has little iron leaves above the glass and around the base by the bottom. It's cute, but it's a little on the Plain Jane side. Now, just wait until you see it all CHARMED up!! Just waiting on the UPS man to bring me my treasures.


Here is one of my handmade items. (Made by me!)
Bubble Wands!!


Just one of many colors that will be available at the market.
Once again, waiting on the UPS man!

See ya'll at the WHEATON FARMER'S MARKET in June!!



Hobby Shop

I know I've mentioned before how I want to turn one of our little garages into a hobby shop. It's the little white shed that has tons of peeling paint on it. To me it's cozy and charming. To the neighbors it's more than likely an eyesore. The only problem was, it had become Tim's "dumping grounds." It was filled to the gills with junk! Left over carpet scraps, old putty buckets, broken tools, broken chairs, etc...I had been asking him for a few years to clean it out, so I could use it. Never happened. So, on Saturday I told him if he brought home a trailer, I would clean it out. Presto! Within 12 seconds a trailer magically appeared! I rolled up my sleeves and dug in! After 6 hours of hard work, I had the trailer filled! Since I was on a roll, I went over to the big garage and started tossing the junk in there. Two huge trailers full! After another four hours on the big garage, I had to stop. I could hardly move. My arms and legs were so sore. But, man what a good feeling it was to get it done! Tim wasn't very talkative when he came home to check up on me and when he hauled it all away, but later he did say a small thank you and admitted it felt pretty good to have a clean garage! I'm happy with that.

Here's the first load!
I was too tired to get a picture of the second load.
It's packed in tight!
Doesn't the dried up Christmas tree add a nice touch? 

Thursday, April 5, 2012

Buy The Extended Warranty!

A year ago, Tim bought a laptop. I had an ancient dinosaur desktop, which died about 3 months ago. While I didn't think he needed a laptop as he never, ever used my computer, I was secretly glad as I really wanted a laptop too! He brought it home and once a month he does his sales taxes for his carpet business and he checks his email and facebook account (that I set up for him!) when I remind him to check it. For the first six months, Landon played games on it daily. Then for Christmas we bought him a small tablet computer, so he wasn't tying up the computer all the time. Sometime between a year ago and today, "someone" (No one is admitting it!) dropped it or something and one of the hinges broke and one of the wires pulled apart. Why it still works is beyond me. But, it does. I almost took it into a repair shop, but kept putting it off. "Something" kept telling me to wait. (I get these "feelings" and I think it's part of why I have these little spurts of good luck, but that's a whole 'nother story.) So, the other day, I was cleaning off a shelf in the basement and I came across the box that the laptop came in. (Tim saves EVERYTHING!) For once, I was thankful for my husband's hoarder-like quirks. (There's a saying...."You're one pile away from having your own hoarder t.v. show, and that would be Tim!) Anyway, when I opened the box, I was shocked and super happy to discover that Tim had purchased a two year warranty when he bought the laptop! (He forgot!!!) So, we called it in and they said to send it in! They also said it would take 7 to 10 days for them to repair it, but I'm not holding my breath. It will probably be more like 7,010 days! I have to admit, I'm gonna miss it. I still have Landon's tablet, and my android, but I will be without access to a printer and won't be able to send my dc parents pictures and will probably have to get out my glasses just to check my email. I never thought I would be the type of person who would miss a computer. Guess I'm growing up. A little bit, anyway.