My daughter is getting married at the end of this month. The only wedding preparation experience I have is comprised of planning and executing my own wedding thirty-three years ago.
But my daughter who has never been a planner, who has - for most of her thirty-year life - waited until the last minute to plan and execute has her wedding plans under control. I'm - to say the least - surprised and thrilled. I don't have to do anything but drive the one thousand-plus miles and show up to attend.
My daughter's future mother-in-law has a different approach to the wedding plans and wants desperately to involve herself. From the phone calls I have received from my daughter I can only shake my head and pity her and her fiancee.
For instance, I received a call from my daughter two days ago as she drove to pick up her fiancee from work.
"You want to hear the latest news?" she asks with sarcasm that oozes through my cell.
"Sure... Shoot," I respond anxious to hear what the future mother-in-law, Marsha, has thought up this time.
"Marsha told Chris (the fiancee) not to tell me but she wants to blow up of picture of me. She wants a huge picture of me for all the guests (attending the wedding) to sign." Exasperation from her now flows through my cell. "Chris' sister-in-law had it done and now she has an enormous picture of herself with tons of signatures hanging on her wall."
I emit a snort.
"Mo-omm! I don't want an enormous picture of myself with signatures scribbled all over it! What am I going to do with that?" she wails.
"Didn't I tell you she was going to come up with something else despite you and Chris telling her not to plan any surprises?"
"Yes," my daughter concedes. "You know what else she wants to do?"
"I can't imagine."
"She wants to hand out bottles of bubbles to everyone to blow at me and Chris."
I laugh out loud.
"Can you just see Maw-maw, Pa-pa, you, Dad, and (brother) Erik standing there blowing bubbles at me and Chris? I mean, we're not even leaving the church by ouselves! We're all leaving together to go to Marsha's house for the reception. What will everyone do? Stand there blowing bubbles at me and Chris while he and I stand there looking like idiots before we all leave for Marsha's house?"
I'm at a lose for words. "Well, Honey..." This is beyond funny now.
"And now she and Chris' dad told us they won't help us pay for a party for everyone who we didn't invite to the wedding," she whines.
"Oh?"
"Yeah, they spent ten thousand dollars on Chris' brother's wedding but they won't help us with the party. I mean, we're not talking but maybe five hundred dollars. Chris said he feels worthless."
"Awww, poor guy."
"Yeah, and Chris' brother and his wife aren't even responsible. Their baby went without shoes this winter, they have maxed out their credit cards, the wife wanted another baby so she got prenant then quit her job! They can't even take care of themselves and the baby they have! Chris' mom said she can't help us because she has to help Chris' irresponsible brother!"
"Sounds to me like you and Chris have to be irresponsible in order to get help."
"I know," she yells.
"Dang it. I wish I had money to help you," I lament.
"No, Mom. You have helped me and (brother) Erik tons over the past twelve years. That's not what upsets me. Marsha said she and Chris' dad would help us but now tell us they won't."
"What a bitch," I say.
"Yeah..."
"I hate her liver, tongue and vocal cords," I continue as anger swells. But this makes my daughter laugh.
"Mom, I love you. I'm so glad I can talk to you."
I smile and say, "I love you too, Baby."
"Thanks for letting me talk to you. I have to go now. Chris is coming out (from work)."
"Okay, Sweetie. Hang in there."
"I will, Mom. Bye."
""Bye, Baby."
Visit my store: Visages Gift Store
Custom Personalized Candy Wrappers & Party Supplies
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Watching My Garden Grow
I find myself in an emotional tug-of-war. It stems from not holding down a job outside the home and bringing in a scheduled salary.
On one hand I am perfectly happy to remain at home while John leaves every morning to sell inventory to hospital gift shops. Twice a week I do donate plasma for which I'm paid twenty dollars for the first donation of the week then thirty the second donation. The two hundred dollars a month I bring home remains in savings and is our only source of savings.
I stay busy cleaning the house, planting vegetables and flowers, running errands, making phone calls for John who can't find time during the day. I pay our bills, run our financials, tend to our five pets, and fill the remainder of the time creating.
On the other hand we have debt the latest of which comes from the IRS caused by ignorance of tax law. Otherwise, the car I bought four years ago has a small loan balance. John has a cataract. It will cost no less than three thousand dollars to surgically have lens replacement. I decided it was time to check into medical insurance as an alternative. Because John takes blood pressure and diabetic medicines, insurance will cost upwards to five hundred dollars a month. We would NEVER spend that money on medical expenses in a year!
So I endure guilt for not working outside of our home. The fact is I don't want to. I spent thirty two years working my way up the corporate ladder; endured some pretty nasty managers who were not only micro-managers but insulting too. I don't have any desire to work for someone else ever again. That's not to say I won't at some point and that I'm the only one experiencing this frame of mind as millions of others find themselves in the same predicament.
I gave up the house cleaning business I started to be a 1099 contract employee for a company that went under a few months back. I'm physically incapable of restarting the house cleaning business because of compressed discs and arthritis in my lower back and neck. But, there again, if I was physically capable I wouldn't restart the house cleaning business.
I have the candy wrapping business but in order to market it I would have to travel outside of town since Lawrence isn't the proper market for personalized wrappers. This is more of an excuse than anything because there again I simply do not want to work more than what I'm working now.
Hence the guilt. Do you find yourself in the same emotional position? I tell myself to suck it up and begin marketing personalized candy wrappers. After all, the success of selling them would certainly alleviate the guilt. On the other hand, maybe watching my garden grow then reaping what it produces will rid me of the feeling.
On one hand I am perfectly happy to remain at home while John leaves every morning to sell inventory to hospital gift shops. Twice a week I do donate plasma for which I'm paid twenty dollars for the first donation of the week then thirty the second donation. The two hundred dollars a month I bring home remains in savings and is our only source of savings.
I stay busy cleaning the house, planting vegetables and flowers, running errands, making phone calls for John who can't find time during the day. I pay our bills, run our financials, tend to our five pets, and fill the remainder of the time creating.
On the other hand we have debt the latest of which comes from the IRS caused by ignorance of tax law. Otherwise, the car I bought four years ago has a small loan balance. John has a cataract. It will cost no less than three thousand dollars to surgically have lens replacement. I decided it was time to check into medical insurance as an alternative. Because John takes blood pressure and diabetic medicines, insurance will cost upwards to five hundred dollars a month. We would NEVER spend that money on medical expenses in a year!
So I endure guilt for not working outside of our home. The fact is I don't want to. I spent thirty two years working my way up the corporate ladder; endured some pretty nasty managers who were not only micro-managers but insulting too. I don't have any desire to work for someone else ever again. That's not to say I won't at some point and that I'm the only one experiencing this frame of mind as millions of others find themselves in the same predicament.
I gave up the house cleaning business I started to be a 1099 contract employee for a company that went under a few months back. I'm physically incapable of restarting the house cleaning business because of compressed discs and arthritis in my lower back and neck. But, there again, if I was physically capable I wouldn't restart the house cleaning business.
I have the candy wrapping business but in order to market it I would have to travel outside of town since Lawrence isn't the proper market for personalized wrappers. This is more of an excuse than anything because there again I simply do not want to work more than what I'm working now.
Hence the guilt. Do you find yourself in the same emotional position? I tell myself to suck it up and begin marketing personalized candy wrappers. After all, the success of selling them would certainly alleviate the guilt. On the other hand, maybe watching my garden grow then reaping what it produces will rid me of the feeling.
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Recession Sparks New Dreams
I read or hear whenever this country is in financial trouble, when jobs are scarce and employers aren't hiring that the number of people starting new businesses rises.
This isn't news, really. The majority of people - when forced - opt for survival over a slow financial death. Creativity flows. How do I feed myself and my family? How do I pay the monthly mortgage or rent? Where do I find money for gas just to run a few errands?
These are hard questions to answer. And if one is wont to stand up and fight for survival rather than running and hiding or throwing up their hands in defeat, one will find the means to meet the end. Face it, it's much easier to wallow in self pity, lie on the couch watching television while creeping into depression.
This brings up a pet peeve of mine. Commercials for anti-depressants induce a rage within me I can not control. I holler at the television whenever I see an actor portraying a depressed person. "Get up! Exercise! Take vitamin B. Take a butt-load of vitamin C! Get productive!" All of these have proven effective toward what the psych people call depression.
But back to what I was saying. Yes, during financial crisis studies show an increase in the pop-up of new businesses. These people have found how easy it is to begin one and have discovered a niche to fill. Starting a new business is simply a matter of finding what is needed and wanted. Think about it. Someone out there came up with the idea of clothes pins to hang clothes on a line. How did he come up with the idea? He observed a need and fulfilled it. A need could be something as simple as providing competition to a business whose fees are high and out of control.
Some ideas are easier to implement than others. If you've come up with a new design for a wind turbine blade, then you'll have to fork out money to patent it, market it to businesses that build wind turbines then find a company that will manufacture it. But if you're starting a recycling service, house cleaning or lawn service, you need only to aim your marketing efforts at businesses or home owners that use these services.
How? Get out there and knock on doors. It really is that simple. You would be surprised at how many are interested because they're sick of paying high prices, the providers do a crappy job, aren't reliable or the person doing the job dropped their customer.
No, I'm not surprised at the rise of new businesses starting. It's par for the course and is - for many entrepeneurs - a matter of survival.
This isn't news, really. The majority of people - when forced - opt for survival over a slow financial death. Creativity flows. How do I feed myself and my family? How do I pay the monthly mortgage or rent? Where do I find money for gas just to run a few errands?
These are hard questions to answer. And if one is wont to stand up and fight for survival rather than running and hiding or throwing up their hands in defeat, one will find the means to meet the end. Face it, it's much easier to wallow in self pity, lie on the couch watching television while creeping into depression.
This brings up a pet peeve of mine. Commercials for anti-depressants induce a rage within me I can not control. I holler at the television whenever I see an actor portraying a depressed person. "Get up! Exercise! Take vitamin B. Take a butt-load of vitamin C! Get productive!" All of these have proven effective toward what the psych people call depression.
But back to what I was saying. Yes, during financial crisis studies show an increase in the pop-up of new businesses. These people have found how easy it is to begin one and have discovered a niche to fill. Starting a new business is simply a matter of finding what is needed and wanted. Think about it. Someone out there came up with the idea of clothes pins to hang clothes on a line. How did he come up with the idea? He observed a need and fulfilled it. A need could be something as simple as providing competition to a business whose fees are high and out of control.
Some ideas are easier to implement than others. If you've come up with a new design for a wind turbine blade, then you'll have to fork out money to patent it, market it to businesses that build wind turbines then find a company that will manufacture it. But if you're starting a recycling service, house cleaning or lawn service, you need only to aim your marketing efforts at businesses or home owners that use these services.
How? Get out there and knock on doors. It really is that simple. You would be surprised at how many are interested because they're sick of paying high prices, the providers do a crappy job, aren't reliable or the person doing the job dropped their customer.
No, I'm not surprised at the rise of new businesses starting. It's par for the course and is - for many entrepeneurs - a matter of survival.
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Psoriasis Control
My husband has psoriasis on his hands, legs, elbows and buttocks. From what I understand he has had it for much of his adult life. The creams he has been prescribed were of minimum effectiveness resulting in - at best - a slight recovering of the scaling skin but did not remove the redness.
I did some research on natural remedies and skin moisturizing and found glycerine to be a major factor for both. It is an organic compound used for:
Topical pure or nearly pure glycerol is an effective treatment for psoriasis, burns, bites, cuts, rashes, bedsores, and calluses. It can be used orally to eliminate halitosis, as it is a contact bacterial desiccant. The same property makes it very helpful with periodontal disease; it penetrates biofilm quickly and eliminates bacterial colonies. (See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glycerol)
Doing further research, I discovered common kitchen vegetable oil to be a component for homemade creams and lip balms.
With this knowledge in hand, I prepared a (coffee) scrub and lotion for John to use. The scrub is a simple combination of 3/4 vegetable oil, coffee grounds and 1/4 glycerine. The lotion is made up of 3/4 vegetable oil and 1/4 glycerine.
It's too bad I don't have before and after pictures. It is incredible what the combination of liquids have done for John's psoriasis. After approximately three months, the patches of psoriasis are no longer scaly, and the red patches on his hands have faded to nearly normal skin color. Further, he no longer uses the prescribed cream on his hands. He uses only the homemade lotion.
While the glycerine is rather expensive if purchased from the hobby store, it does last quite a long time. I highly recommend adding glycerine to the lotions you have on hand or making homemade lotion with vegetable oil and glycerine if you have psoriasis or cracked, dry skin. You will see a remarkable difference in a few weeks.
I did some research on natural remedies and skin moisturizing and found glycerine to be a major factor for both. It is an organic compound used for:
Topical pure or nearly pure glycerol is an effective treatment for psoriasis, burns, bites, cuts, rashes, bedsores, and calluses. It can be used orally to eliminate halitosis, as it is a contact bacterial desiccant. The same property makes it very helpful with periodontal disease; it penetrates biofilm quickly and eliminates bacterial colonies. (See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glycerol)
Doing further research, I discovered common kitchen vegetable oil to be a component for homemade creams and lip balms.
With this knowledge in hand, I prepared a (coffee) scrub and lotion for John to use. The scrub is a simple combination of 3/4 vegetable oil, coffee grounds and 1/4 glycerine. The lotion is made up of 3/4 vegetable oil and 1/4 glycerine.
It's too bad I don't have before and after pictures. It is incredible what the combination of liquids have done for John's psoriasis. After approximately three months, the patches of psoriasis are no longer scaly, and the red patches on his hands have faded to nearly normal skin color. Further, he no longer uses the prescribed cream on his hands. He uses only the homemade lotion.
While the glycerine is rather expensive if purchased from the hobby store, it does last quite a long time. I highly recommend adding glycerine to the lotions you have on hand or making homemade lotion with vegetable oil and glycerine if you have psoriasis or cracked, dry skin. You will see a remarkable difference in a few weeks.
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Means to the End
The best I can guess the old Montgomery Wards machine is 70 or 80 years old and had been sitting in my mother's damp basement for nearly 40 years. I wasn't sure I could make it work again but I dove into the project with both feet.
As you can see, there was rust and grime covering it. I gave the wheel a spin and determined I needed only a belt and needle clamp. I found a man here in town who restores old machines. I bought a belt, a needle clamp and special oil from him. I removed the machine from its cabinet and cleaned and oiled the rods housed beneath the machine. Then I removed the end plate and cleaned and oiled everything I could find in there.
It took an entire day but the ancient sewing machine works like a champ now.
To my great surprise the original manual was in one of the cabinet drawers. I found the illustration to thread it and have been sewing with the newly restored Damascus ever since.
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Personalized Touches
I've been busy. I see that my blog says it has been three weeks since I last posted. As I said, I've been busy.
My daughter is getting married in May, 2010. Funds are slight. I needn't ramble on about how the economy stinks and jobs are scarce. Still, I want to give my daughter and her fiancee something for their house despite them already everything they could possibly need.
I can not say what it is I have done because I haven't sent them to my daughter yet. If she were to check what I have written of late, the surprise would be ruined. But everything I have made is useful. Everything I have made... well, I have made and not some person in a factory somewhere getting 50 cents a day for their labor.
What I have made is 100%, U.S.A. handmade. On top of it all, I don't have a sewing machine so everything is hand stitched. Uh, except for those few things I glued as I was becoming impatient and wanting to complete the project(s).
So, stay tuned. Once I get the gifts mailed to her and she receives them I will provide pictures and descriptions of the items. All were easy, oh so inexpensive, and very useful.
Keep dreaming...
My daughter is getting married in May, 2010. Funds are slight. I needn't ramble on about how the economy stinks and jobs are scarce. Still, I want to give my daughter and her fiancee something for their house despite them already everything they could possibly need.
I can not say what it is I have done because I haven't sent them to my daughter yet. If she were to check what I have written of late, the surprise would be ruined. But everything I have made is useful. Everything I have made... well, I have made and not some person in a factory somewhere getting 50 cents a day for their labor.
What I have made is 100%, U.S.A. handmade. On top of it all, I don't have a sewing machine so everything is hand stitched. Uh, except for those few things I glued as I was becoming impatient and wanting to complete the project(s).
So, stay tuned. Once I get the gifts mailed to her and she receives them I will provide pictures and descriptions of the items. All were easy, oh so inexpensive, and very useful.
Keep dreaming...
Saturday, February 6, 2010
How to Make Your Own Personalized Candy Wrapper
I have added a page called Candy Wrapping Tips and Ideas to my web site... It will take time to grow as I replace an old tip on the home page and archive it in the Tips & Ideas page.
Did you know you can make personalized custom candy wrappers in a word program?
To size the wrapper:
Choose the candy bar of your choice. Unwrap it being careful not to tear the paper. (Of course you must eat the candy!) And if it does tear, no biggy...
Lay it on a flat surface then get your ruler and measure the width and length.
Add about 1/8 of an inch to all sides because you're not going to remove the original candy bar wrappers from the candy bars. Instead, you are going to wrap your wrapper around the all ready wrapped candy bar.
Measure the front of the wrapper that is indicated by the folds. This will be the front of your wrapper.
Get started creating:
You might find a border to be useful for cutting the wrapper to size.
Also, you might find it easier to create text boxes to hold your images. The text boxes are easier to move around.
When wrapping candy bars that have edges not folded or glued under - like a Hershey (R) bar - you'll like the appearance of your finished product better if you fold the edges of the original wrapper under.
I made several mistakes when I first started making my own personalized candy wrappers. But with practice and effort, printing and test wrapping, I honed the skill.
Got questions? Leave a comment...
Did you know you can make personalized custom candy wrappers in a word program?
To size the wrapper:
Choose the candy bar of your choice. Unwrap it being careful not to tear the paper. (Of course you must eat the candy!) And if it does tear, no biggy...
Lay it on a flat surface then get your ruler and measure the width and length.
Add about 1/8 of an inch to all sides because you're not going to remove the original candy bar wrappers from the candy bars. Instead, you are going to wrap your wrapper around the all ready wrapped candy bar.
Measure the front of the wrapper that is indicated by the folds. This will be the front of your wrapper.
Get started creating:
After you've written all your measurements down, take your notes and the original wrapper to your computer and open a new document in a word program. In page settings, change the measurements to your measurements plus .25 inch both width and height.
Create a text box for the front using the measurements your wrote down. Use the original wrapper you removed from the candy bar as a guide. Center the front text box side to side.
Center the front text box top to bottom. Now move it up about 1/4 inch. You don't want it exactly centered because of the glue area.
Also, you might find it easier to create text boxes to hold your images. The text boxes are easier to move around.
When wrapping candy bars that have edges not folded or glued under - like a Hershey (R) bar - you'll like the appearance of your finished product better if you fold the edges of the original wrapper under.
Got questions? Leave a comment...
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