The Day After (Thanksgiving)

November 25, 2011

We had a really nice day yesterday. We were blessed to have nearby family members join us, although we greatly missed those of you who were not able to. We love you all!

As those of you who follow my blog already know, these past two years have been filled with selling our home in Indiana, making a 400-mile move back home to Illinois where we have spent most of our lives, downsizing the considerable number of possessions we have amassed over the last 40 years and getting things on an even keel so we can get back to daily living and work. Whew! It’s been a trip, so to speak, but the last storage unit has been emptied and we just have some things in the garage and basement to sort through. The big donation to Goodwill hasn't happened yet, but it is imminent. Can't wait to be able to get my car in the garage again! :-)

Because of all the busy-ness of the recent past, it’s been difficult…almost impossible, really…for me to get back to what I know and love…designing. I’m happy to say that as of Monday, I’m back on track and my designer hat is firmly in place. My husband, Carl, begins a new contracting job on Monday, so it’s full steam ahead for both of us.

I hope you all enjoyed your holiday as much as I did. I am glad it’s behind us, though, because I’m really looking forward to dragging out the Christmas ornaments and kicking off Christmas 2011.

Also on the agenda is spending more time writing and blogging. I've taken quite a few photos lately, so I'll meet you back here soon for more updates and photos! In the meantime, here's a sneak peek at our newest family member, Gracie, a little black Shih Tzu puppy who recently came to live with us. She's just as sweet as she is cute! :-)

When Life Hands You Lemons...

...make lemonade! Or, in this case...barbecue sauce?!?

I hate it when I do stupid things. Unable to find my favorite barbecue sauce locally, I resorted to ordering it from a food seller on Amazon on Monday, July 4th. When I logged in, I found specifically what I wanted and was thrilled to find it so easily. Six bottles of my favorite sauce for $23.99. Not bad, but then came the $9.99 shipping and handling fee. :/ Sigh. Ok, I can live with that. A little pricey but what the heck. It IS my favorite sauce and it's still cheaper than driving halfway across the state in search of the elusive red stuff.

But WAIT! There on the same page was another food seller offering 12 bottles for only $3.00 more each for the retail price of the sauce and shipping and handling. So, for $6.00 more, I can double my order. What's to think about? Without further ado, I pressed the "purchase with 1-click" button and the sauce was mine!

On Tuesday, I checked in on my order to see if it had shipped yet. It hadn't. But then, I saw it. I had ordered a different flavor than the one I intended to. Same company. Same brand. Different flavor. Ugh. Ok, so I like this one, too, but it's my 2nd favorite, and the local store shelves are brimming over with it. What to do? Aha...there it is. The "email vendor" button (or whatever it is actually called, but you get the idea). When I clicked on the button, it gave me a list of suggested subject lines. Among them was "cancel this order." Yippee! I could see my way out of this. I hurriedly scribbled (typed) a short email outlining my dilemma and sent it off. Within minutes, I had a canned reply stating that they were currently reviewing my email. Uhm, hmmm...sure they were...

On Wednesday morning, I checked both my email and the Web site to see if there was a response. There wasn't. What I found instead was a notice that my order had shipped and will arrive within 3-5 days by FedEx. (You saw this coming, right?) So did I, but the eternal optimist in me kept hoping I was wrong.

So, what to do now? If I return it, I will have lost nearly $20.00 in postage. Better to keep the sauce, methinks, and either learn to love it or, better yet, add my own touches to it so it better suits our tastes.

In retrospect, 12 bottles of ANYTHING seems like a lot. It will probably take us until the day after forever to eat all of it, so I'm thinking I may have to find a creative way to get rid of some of it. Maybe I could include some in gift baskets for Christmas along with some of my crocheted dishcloths, hot pads and other yummy foodie things?

I'm really glad my kids don't read my blog, or they would see the handwriting on the wall and "know" what they are getting for Christmas. Shhhh...don't tell them. :-)

The Hurrieder I Go...

When I moved into my first apartment, I purchased a small sign for my wall that said simply, "The hurrieder I go, the behinder I get..." I thought this nonsensical little sentiment was funny at the time, and seeing those words on the wall in my kitchen always made me smile. But, there is an element of truth in it that has stayed with me all these years.

The little sign is long gone now, but those words spring to mind whenever I'm feeling overwhelmed with work, short deadlines, etc. And, it  pretty much sums up my spring and summer so far. While our move is months behind us, there are still things to unpack and sort out in the basement and remaining storage units. I know we’ll get it all done and sorted out eventually, but it makes me tired just thinking about it. I think we're getting closer and closer to a major donation to GoodWill so we can be done with it. Sounds good to me!