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Post by zenamidievel on Oct 14, 2021 18:58:25 GMT
Good Morning,
I understand the insistent pet antics. Our cat has similar insistent behaviors, except meowing. There is the mournful meow, the attention meow, the "am I alone?" meow, etc...lol. I'm glad the paperwork for the admin stuff is going well and will be better for you! Good job on the yardwork!
Craft: -I spent many more hours yesterday than originally intended painting ornaments. -Avatar is one of the teddy bears. I'm not sure if you saw the graphic angels, I'll post the other bear and couple of those in future for you to see. -got the two teddy bears, male/female version and 4 WSU graphic angels, painted, sealed, photographed and listed. This all takes time. -got out the rest of the decks of playing cards, photo'd what needed to be done there so I can get those listed as well -ordered more clear bags Craft: todo- fold and package the bird collage cards and set in storage area and fold the 12 days of christmas cards as well , few more packs and put those in storage area as well. Craft Putawy: Then I will put away the craft supplies as we are having guests this weekend and I need to spend time on the house and taking care of the guestroom situations, there is still excess of boxes and what not to figure out what to do with.
Home: -load pictures I knwo need to go donate -work on bedrooms, more picture hanging, and general clutter in den area -get my walk in today!
Z.
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Post by michelle on Oct 15, 2021 3:29:17 GMT
Z, That's adorable!!! I'd love to see the other bear. I thought the playing cards were so sophisticated! I am seriously addicted to reading these fun posts about your crafting. Hope you got your walking in today. I got my raking in Ha Ha. Seriously I managed to get one bag plus some more from the sections of the planters in the yard that have pine trees with long needles. I feel like being inside the yard is like a vacation after working in that huge area yesterday. Is it cold there? It is unseasonably cold here. I decided to give the hole I put the yard refuse in a name---Pine Needle Haven or PNH.
Some good news! A former employee called me today to see if I had part time work for her. She worked for us for a number of years and knows a lot about the business which is complex to say the least. Today I jammed through a complex audit so I could get it out of my life. Now I have very bad piles of work papers of things partially complete. Tomorrow is clean up day. I mean business!!!
Your cat sounds sounds totally cute, manipulative and in control of all humans just like Buttercup. My dogs all have jobs. Clair is an assistant chef, which means she tries to eat things off the counter--but in her habitual cute way and also a Therapy Dog which she spent two entire years training to become. Sam is in charge of the yard and patrolling it. And Buttercup is the Recreation Director. However the recreation is all about keeping her amused and her alone.
Onward>>>>
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Post by zenamidievel on Oct 15, 2021 14:47:39 GMT
Good Morning,
I love hearing about your dogs! That is great news about ex employee making contact if she's good and you can use her. Keep me posted! Good work on the audit! You and I are both on serious clean up duty today!
Home, yesterday Tadas: -took a stool out on the deck and cleaned the upstairs, exterior windows, they look good. Were a mess from when we had that top soil blown in on the area below on that side of the house. -took spaghetti sauce out of freezer and we had that for dinner, this is a victory when I actually cook meals sort of. I have a goal to have three things in freezer I can take out for dinner, Spaghetti, Inchiladas and a soup of some kind so when I don't want to cook I can grab one of these things. -washed all hand wash dishes, kitchen island sink is clear! and ran the DW this morning -blind installer came, the solar roller blinds are in, all with remote control! The color of the valance is perfect with are wood trim, blends perfectly and they are great! -DH installed another hanging storage rack we already had, he'd just never hung it in other house in garage, this is great and takes more load of shelving in garage -took care of some office/bill things DH asked me to do.
Craft: -Playing Cards, honestly I over ordered playing cards, but glad I got them all out to realize what I'd done and got them photo'd and listed. This took a lot of time yesterday! I'm not sure if playing cards is something that people buy on Etsy. We'll see when holiday season ramps up. It would be nice if they did, because some of my designs lend themselves well to that format. However, $14-$15 might be too much for someone to want to spend on such a thing. Sadly I cannot find my hard plastic clear cases I bought from a company to offer that as a packaging option for the cards cause I could mark those up 100% and make a couple more dollars per deck if that was chosen and I think people would like more than the paper tuck boxes. But I can't find them! If people buy a lot of playing cards, there is another style I'd like to offer. But I'll wait until next year to see what happens with the current supply. THere is a "company" by this I mean, it's not a person, it's seems to be a graphic design company, they probably do their own printing etc. called "Lantern Press" and their cards are $11.99. But I can't off mine at that or I'm giving them away and not covering postage. Thanks for listening, we'll see what happens. Some playing cards are offered at $20.00 plus dollars and I know where they printed them and they are not best quality. THose are sets I offer at $12.00.
Avatar: Girl Bear, same as boy exepts has shawl, ribbon instead of bow and flowers on shawl rather than polka dots
TOday TOdos: -go to store and get laundry detergent and few other things -fold my cards and get them packaged and rest put away appropriately -return the Halloween Picture to the store -maybe stop by HD and see about sink grid for kitchen sink -continue hanging pictures and set aside pictures, general continued clean up
New House: Loving the view every day!!! Still can't believe everything went in the master closet! DH has done amazing work with shelving and cabinet solutions in the garage Landscaping looks good!
Okay, I'm hoping I make good progress today!
Weather: Our weather was a little colder last couple days but it's supposed to warm up again this week to low mid sixties. After this week, I will address the outdoor conversation set furniture and rug on deck for winterization.
Update: -picture return done -got cash from bank -went to cash and carry, got DH some plastic bar pitchers for his bar so I could put the "nicer" plastic pitchers back in pantry -grocery store, got stuff for the tailgate for football game tomorrow and the beer for DH, gassed the car -put groceries away -attacked the downstairs family room area and guest room three, boxing, moving, shifting, lots of still unpacked boxes, mainly DD's and got them put into guestroom 3 closet, also shifted some of DH magazine boxes to help this happen, the guest room is now I'd say clear and the family room is also of random boxes of carp. I will not claim that all of this has been dealt with appropriately but at least it's out of the main living spaces of house. -brought 2 packs, 1 suitcase, 2 antlers, 2 lamp bases, 1 harp, 1 shade, all up and put into the garage, these need donated or trashed. -set all the unhung pictures to one side of guest room three wall, found one more to donate, was in DS' baby room, was hard, but there's no where for it really -I have a bunch of pictures in the laundry room which am contemplating making a hodge podge colorama unmatching picture haven. Still pondering this. -6 - 7 pictures are set where I'd like them hung, actually got input from DH on one, so that was good, he likes the picture and location -swiffer dusted sills and boockases -roomba is running
Craft: -corrected listing for playing cards, had a little fit and ordered more plastic hard cases for them for packaging option for all. I felt this was necessary because you'll have two types of people, one that will want to keep the cost low and not mind the box. And the other that doesn't care about cost and would definitely want/pay for the case. Not offering the case could actually be a deterrent to some people purchasing. I had some already, but not enough and that was a problem because it's either all of them or none of them. SO that is taken care of and I will report later, if any sell, what buyers choose. I've had two people "Favorite" different sets of playing cards today. -consolidated all sale product to appropriate areas in storage room for proper access, also I had to order more clear cello bags to package things, I did that yesterday. -did the Crafting put away back to mechanical room from dining area downstairs where was working, including cart and table cover, this went well, all went back appropriately as well as all the photography supplies for listing items. Considering we only got back on the 7th, I got a lot done, three different sets of cards printed, 13 or 14 hand painted ornaments done, all the sets of playing cards listed appropriately so they're not lanquishing on my shelves as well as the other 7-10 metal ornaments that were in a bag.
Now I need to go fold and package some of the cards I had printed and put them on the shelves and put the boxes away of that stock. I think DH is happy/relieved that I DID actually get the craft stuff out, and then put it away!
Z.
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Post by michelle on Oct 16, 2021 2:45:55 GMT
Z, You got an amazing amount done!!! And are doing a great job getting organized to complete the sales! Errand day for me today. I had a lot of places to go to and got all done but one and that was Walmart. The only time I will go to Walmart is in the early morning so I will have to go another day to pick up birdseed. Three returns got done but I have stuff piling up from the deranged shopping spree which I hope is over.
Tomorrow I am going to make a list of 10 items, get those done and then make another similar list over and over until I get rather caught up. FlyLady says--You are not behind. Begin where you are. The avatar is adorable! Hope you have a great weekend!!!
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Post by zenamidievel on Oct 19, 2021 1:43:12 GMT
Hello,
I'm sorry, I'm not laughing at you, but with you over the wording used for your recent shopping escapades. I'm sorry and hope it is over too, if you hope it's over, I hope with you.
Our friends came and spent the night and went to football game with us. Game was good, great weather, we had a nice time with them, I made good breakfast. We dropped them at the airport then picked up DS' car from where we were storing it, which was toward airport. DH will be making a cross country trek to Oklahoma to deliver DS car to him as that is, I think, his permanent place he will be stationed. Things are going well for him and I'm glad DH volunteered to take the car and that I do not have to go. DD is still going through the Rush process at college which is somewhat drawn out process the way they do it. It should be culminating soon and I'm crossing fingers she gets into something!!! Please cross your fingers too, for me, for her!
ENgine warning lights and three different warnings came on my car Sunday, so today we dropped that off at the dealership and I have access to other vehicle to drive.
ETSY: I took care of a card print thing and did a couple Etsy things. I had an error in my shipping setup for my ETSY I was not aware of until yesterday when a buyer took advantage of that error, not their fault, it was mine, so I had to roll with it and eat the cost and they got priority shipping for free. This was quite ridiculous, but I fixed the setting, (which I'd never set in the first place, I believe it was a default setting and just got lucky nobody had used it before) and disabled it so that cannot happen again. But I sold set playing cards.
Paid a bill, did few other things, not much got done today.
Z.
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Post by michelle on Oct 19, 2021 15:51:22 GMT
Z, How fun to entertain in your new home!!! I bet the view at night is spectacular! I know the right and perfect outcome will happen for DD. She has your knack for making friendships so all will turn out wonderfully--just need a little teenage drama to enhance the experience.
Right now we are experiencing a high level of drama due to the ball situation. Clair, Buttercup's big sister has taken her ball and won't give it back causing very loud barking. Well, I stopped typing and begged the most beautius and gracious queen to please, please, please give us the ball back which she did and now the cycle is beginning again. The stuff that is going on is really making me really laugh!
Back to the homemaking plot. Busy days for me lately trying to keep the leaf/pine needle situation under control. Also working again now that I have stopped endlessly online shopping (fingers crossed on that one). Today is a bright and sun shiny day which is good because yesterday we had snow flurries.
Clair has the zoomies now so she is crazily running back and forth through the house, riocheting off the couch while Sam and Buttercup chase her. The sound effects are an insane amount of happy barking.
Hope you have a great day!!! I am on it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Onward>>>>
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Post by zenamidievel on Oct 19, 2021 21:59:06 GMT
Good Afternoon,
I'm glad you're enjoying your pooches antics! Hooray for sunshine!
Home: -progress is bein made in the den, things thrown away, consolidated, file basket going, donate bag going, the floor is sloooowly getting cleared of random carp! -found my extra key fob that was missing, yay (those cost $400 plus dollars to replace!) -I've hung 12-13 random, smaller, eclectic selection of pictures in the laundry area. THis was fun because one, there's a lot of wall space in there, plus it's kind of dark, so this mix of stuff, some of which is quite colorful, actually brightens things up in there, and it's a fun place to hang things that make me smile but I don't want hanging in main living areas of the house. Yay!
Craft: -more ideas are coming into my brain, not sure if they're good or bad, but I'll end up trying a a few of them. Some of my ideas are quite juvenile in that they are things an elementary school art class would do, oh well, if they're cute, they're cute. We'll see.
Good News! DD's rush is OVER and she DID get into a house, she is a Theta, which is Kappa Alpha Theta. I know nothing about the Greek system, I'm just happy she got in somewhere and that she is happy! Yay!
We leave tomorrow morning, early, for two nights for Parents week there and will see her. We're having beautiful weather here.
Z.
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Post by michelle on Oct 20, 2021 19:47:48 GMT
Z, Great job working on the organizing and decluttering. Also, wonderful news that DD has joined a Sorority, this will be such furn for her. I enjoyed reading about the interior decoration of your laundry room. I have some pictures in mine also. Yesterday I raked in La Mariposa and La Fiesta again since there was a major wind event the other day which caused a significant needle cast. I wanted to get them raked up before it rained. This time I got seven huge bags and last week eight. I have named the hole and I think it is very appropriate--Pine Needle Haven. I am trying to do some artsy type of dumping in there and managed to get the pine needles dumped from each bag so that they sort of resemble haystacks. So far today of significance: The recycle is put where it belongs, a bunch of paper from work has been dealt with, a load of laundry and I am in the middle of getting all returns ready to go back--these are the returns from the hoarding spree which I am trying to undo as much as possible. This is the worst attack I have had so I am glad that it is behind me. Best to process the stress than shop. Too bad that didn't occur to me at the time.Thank goodness I quit eating my feelings a number of years ago!
Hope you are having a pleasant trip!!!
Onward>>>>
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Post by zenamidievel on Oct 21, 2021 21:31:40 GMT
Good Afternoon,
We are here in San Luis Obisbo. Saw DD briefly last night, her room, the roommates. We will pick her up in a couple of hours here this afternoon, take to dinner, go to a Farmers market downtown, then drop her off back at dorm. Tomorrow we'll get her, go get somethings from Target, maybe BBB to help her store some things in her room a bit more easily.
We drove around this morning to see a bit of the area, beaches and water front were a bit socked in with fog so was not super exciting, or much to see. I got some specialty bakery items and salt water taffy for DD and her two roommates. Not sure how that is all going, I will kill them with kindness.
I cannot believe the number of bags of pine needles you rake up!!! Especially as you are regularly raking. It is really A LOT! I undeestand the shopping thing and look at you stepping back, taking stock, and making appropriate steps to resolve and return unneeded things! You are doing great. Sometimes when I do go out shopping, I will get into a state of stress and indecision, particularly about clothing, and then I will just bring home more than was ever needed! I'll usually sit with that, think about it, and then take appropriate steps to evaluate/return. But when IN the state of mind, IN the moment, In the store itt's like I just dont' know, I'll take, this, this, this, this, that, this....it's a little nutty at times! When I'm home, it's calmer, I can think straight and fix it.
I am working on some sketches for ideas for different things. We fly home late tomorrow afternoon and get in pretty late at night. Etsy: so, a few of my playing card designs are coming up on the first page of "Playing Cards" search term, of which there are 82-83K items in that category search term to scroll through! There are one design maybe two, that also come up on the second, third, fourth page of scrolling. This is actually quite good and amazing. Also when other search terms are used, many of them are coming up on the first page. So it is really a matter of whether anyone buys those. I hope I get good review on the deck I shipped out before leaving on the trip. Also, Zazzle made a mistake on one my orders so was able to cancel that order and then take advantage of 50% off deal and so I did that. If I had a sales goal for the cards, I'd say to sell 15 decks of cards by Christmas, that would be great.
Z.
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Post by michelle on Oct 23, 2021 5:25:41 GMT
Such a busy day for me today. I spent the day working on finishing DH's project. It turned into kind of a complex situation but I prevailed.
I recall SLO from a trip we took years ago to that area. It sounds like it has grown a lot since then. I am not much of a restaurant foodie but we managed to eat in a fantastic one that I still remember. It was remarkable because it didn't look like much at all but all the cars parked there made us think that the food must be good and it certainly was. I haven't thought about taffy in years.
Tomorrow I am hoping to do my errands. We'll see. I'd much rather take a day off!
Hope your trip turned out fantastically!!!
Onward>>>>
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Post by zenamidievel on Oct 23, 2021 13:58:28 GMT
Good Morning,
We are home safely from the trip. It went fine, it was good to see her, her time was limited and so I don't think the trip really was worthwhile from a quality or quantity of time we saw DD. This is nobody's fault, just the way it was. I don't think we have another trip until we get her in the spring when school is out for the year. She will be here for holidays. I went to this shop called "Junk Girls" and it's a shop I can spend hours in with vintage goods, some vintage, some reproduction vintage, etc. I bought a silver bracelet made from antique typewriter keys, this sounds strange, but it's quite interesting really as the keys are mixed and matached, some black,some aged white, some round some 3/4 round with flat base, with letters, symbols or numbers.
We got home late last night and now I must get ready for the football game day in Pullman WA, this is in the Palouse. If you've ever viewed images of the Palouse, that is what we drive through to get to Pullman from Spokane.
I found my new Fitbit charger upon returning home from trip. I thought I'd lost that already.
Okay, but get ready to for the day.
Hope you have a good day today!
Z.
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Post by michelle on Oct 24, 2021 5:08:36 GMT
Z, The bracelet sounds cute! You mentioned the Palouse before. I remember looking at the images--I'd really like to see it in person. I noticed that actually being at such places as the Coliseum in Italy is such a different experience than having seen many pictures of it.
Errand day for me today. I had returns that needed to get done and also some office supplies to buy. As usual I had a couple of fun experiences talking to people, laughing together. I have sort of a quirky way of looking at things that other people tend to complain about which make people laugh. After so many years of diligently trying to make lemonade out of whatever lemons I run into I can often see the humorous side of things or at least have an unusual perspective. Life is what I make it!
Tomorrow I am going to try to not come up with a list of chores that take me all day to get done. However, much really does need to get done so we'll see. DH raked up all the leaves inside the formal yard. Hooray for that!!! Actually he got out his lawn mower and that picked them up. However the ones piled up against fencing disappeared also. Actually I have raked so much and worked so hard at having a good attitude about it that I actually like to do it now. My favorite gardening chore.
Hope you had fun at the football game!!!
Onward>>>>
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Post by michelle on Oct 24, 2021 16:13:06 GMT
IT'S RAINING!!!! Doing my Happy Dance for sure. 2.4 inches of rain in Reno so far. I can't even begin to say how much we need this rain even if it floods the basement, even if our power goes out, even if it washes out our roads. This is a miracle for us!!! Right now it is watering my almost dead natural vegetation ---all 11 acres of it. And also watering those pine trees that I slaved over all summer long to keep them hydrated. Hooray!!!! Now on with my homemaking life--starting with the K. BBL
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Post by zenamidievel on Oct 24, 2021 16:43:12 GMT
Good Morning,
Glad you had some fun while taking care of errands yesterday. Yes, we could all use to learn to try to reframe things in a more positive/humorous way, including me! Wishing you success on your planned errands and chores today!
The Game yesterday was fun, we lost, weather held off, only rained very slightly.
Crafts/Etsy: -I have had several sales in the last week, two from people I know (that's okay!) and many likes of some different products including cards and playing cards. Sales and "Favoriting" items by browsers changes algorythms (sp) in Etsy and bumps things up in visibility on searches in Etsy. So any activity is good, even if it's not a sale. -Today I need to prepare packages for mailing orders out. Ideas/ToDos: While trying to stick to "Use what you have!" ideas -Idea 1: Use either actual miniature chrismas cookie shapes, or borrow and make make own templates this size, paint coordinating base color of paint on smaller wood ornament bases, or wood disks (I have both types on hand) and then cut shapes from decorative paper and mod podge to the ornaments. THis is not "new" it is like using die cut, but smaller to suit ornament sizes. What is sort of "newish" about this is if I do them in sets of 4, 5 or 6, all with coordinating paint, paper, they can be sold as a set that way. It would be faster production type item, easy to make, and....although such a simple idea, I don't see any, or hardly anybody doing this. When someone wants a bunch of coordinating ornaments for their theme, or wrapped packages, will be darling! -Idea 2: Not a new idea, I must work on my photo shop and figure out the "12 Days of Christmas" ornaments I had planned. IMO, my designs are one of the cuter ones out there, and would be affordable and come in cute gift box. But, I need to work on trying to figure out how to do this! These would also assemble quickly as above. -Idea 3: I need to reprint the smaller 12 Days tags, because I would like to make/assemble 8-10 sets of these to offer again this holiday season. The last test prints were a little dark and I already have the rest of those materials. -Idea 4: Paint at least 4-5 new "Snowy Church" ornaments, those were popular last year and I think people would buy more of those and try to do the more "ornate angel" designs I worked out. All of these are done on a larger, 4" round sized ornament. The ornaments I was referencing before are a smaller ornament that are I think 2.75" rounds. -Idea#5: Paint some sleigh ornaments from hobby store red with Nordic designs, list in pairs of 2, cut and paint some star shapes and my last years shapes, mitten, bird, bell, ball, sweater, Skinny cicle, Fat Cicle and tree and paint red with Nordic design. List in 4 each assorted set.
So All of this is a lot, but would be really great if I could get it going on this week! DH will be done Wednesday through Sunday, and I could really get through a lot of this I think if I start today. Thanks for listening as always.
TaDas: -I've made the bed, picked up some laundry, cleared my side of the bath vanity.
Todos: -need to make some Snickerdoodles for cousin who is coming over today to help blow out our sprinkler system.
More later.
Z.
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Post by michelle on Oct 25, 2021 4:25:59 GMT
Z, Your ideas sound wonderful. I have a ghastly headache so this is gong to be short. Worked relentlessly today cleaning and made much progress in the K, LR, FR, laundry room, one bathroom. entry, 8 loads of wash--those K etc rugs. Onward>>>>
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