Warm weather

We had an unseasonably warm day yesterday. It go up to around 70 if not more. I sat in my office with the windows and door open trying to cool it down. Of course, I had on hot socks and tennis shoes along with a sweater. I just about burned up.

When I got off work, I had to run home and get ready for my Thirty-One party at a friends house. I couldn't help myself. The weather was perfect for it. I knew it was only February, but what the heck. I decided to go for it. 

Yes, you guessed it FLIP FLOP time!

This morning we woke up to torrential rain and howling wind. So it's back to shoes and socks today. But I am not putting a hot sweater on. Going to revert to a long sleep cotton top.

If you are going through these storms in your area, stay safe.

The Pillow Possibilities....

Yesterday the new spring Thirty-One catalog launched. I think one of the most exciting things about the catalog is the fact that it they now have custom designed pillows. You pick the style pillow and personalize it with whatever you want. 

I decided to play with the program yesterday to see what they looked like. Here is one I designed for my beach bedroom using colors that are in my quilt.

I want this one for the bed as well. It has words from mine and Allen's favorite song. 

But I think this one may be my favorite of all. 

And those are just a couple of styles there are several more. But I think they are going to be a big success.

Monday, Monday

That just about sums it up.

Grief vs. Celebration

I thank God daily for the inner strength He has given me as I deal daily with the loss of my sweetheart. Allen was a wonderful husband and I miss him every moment of the day. 

People deal with grief in many ways. I have had to dig deep within to find the strength I need to go on. Do I grieve? Oh, yes I do. I have moments when it literally brings me to my knees and I cry till I don't think I will ever stop. But it is then that I turn to God, take a deep breath, and move on. 

But I have noticed something these past few weeks. I have changed the way I think about him being gone. When the grief hits, instead of crying over my loss, I try to put a positive spin on the memory and rejoice in the fact that I have so many memories. I celebrate the love we had and the moments that meant so much whether they were big or small.

A perfect example is in music. When I listen to a country love song, I have learned to not think of what I have lost. Instead, I take the lyrics and apply them to a wonderful memory that makes me think of our love and think..."Oh that was so us!" Then I can happily sing along and celebrate our love instead of grieving for my loss. 

Does that sound sad? It shouldn't be. He loved me so much and he made sure I always knew that he did. So instead of him leaving me grief stricken, it is more like he left me with enough love to carry on the rest of my lifetime.

When you lose a loved one, the world considers you single. I am sorry but I am not single. I am still very married to my husband. I still love him with every beat of my heart. I still wear my wedding ring on my left finger. I will not become single. I loved being married to him and in my heart I always will be. So rules and regulations may dictate that I mark the single box on a form, but forever and always I will be in my mind, married.

It's Saturday....

First, I want to share a little excitement for my Pyrex lovers. Look what I got! I put a few items in my trade group and said I was looking for the turquoise mixing bowl in any size. In my area, this turquoise is hard to find and hard to get anybody to trade once they do get them. 

Imaging my surprise when the aunt of my friend Stevie posted that she had one she would trade me for my barbed wire divided dish. And she brought it to my house that very night and we swapped out. This baby is in mint condition. I am so happy. It's the 403 which is the perfect size for making cookies, cakes, frosting. So this weekend I am going to break it in by making a white cake (Duncan Hines) with my homemade chocolate icing. 

I am loving the new blue tons of funds wallet. I've been carrying it all week with my zip top organizing utility tote to work every day. 

I got my product cards in and a few samples of some of the new Jewell by Thirty-One purse swatches. I am in love with the yellow. I need to find something in that pattern to earn for my upcoming open house.

I picked up Alexis after work yesterday to spend the weekend with me. We playing a great game of Life last night. We had a blast. I think she wants to learn to play Mille Bourns tonight.

We have a busy day planned. Starting off by heading to McKay's this morning to exchange some books. These are just my two bags of books to cash in. She has two in my car that are even fuller and heavier than my bags. Her bags were so heavy we agreed it didn't make sense to carry them in last night. I think we will have to take hers in and drop them at the drop off then go back and get mine. Out of all four bags, they are all too heavy for her to carry. We got a good laugh out of it when we realized I have four bags to carry.

On a happy note, I have been looking everywhere for my little Letters of London mini-wallet. It is perfect for when I just need my license and some cash to run to the store. It has been missing about two month. But when I went to get back for my books, I found it neatly tucked in the front pocket of my tote.

After McKay's we are going to the big launch part for Kelsey's new CD. 

We have a full day planned. 

My rambling thoughts for Thursday....

A couple of years ago, hubby and I were at the beach when it was a Harvest moon. We watched the entire rise of the moon. It was awesome.

I am finally getting motivated to write my book I have said I wanted to write for years. I wrote a little one about 42 pages about 10 or more years ago. This is a photo that was on the back cover. It is our yard and the view of our old country road.

I saw this post and it made me shudder. I guess this is what you get when a dog lover marries a Pyrex collector. But oh, I cannot see me doing this with my beautiful Pyrex.

Thought this was just a cute post.

I found this on an old post. I need to find the directions for it. It's too cute.

I would love to find this little hob nail milk glass piece. I have never seen it before. Isn't it a beauty.

I got this card at a yard sale for just $2 or $3 a couple of years ago. I still haven't done anything with it. It has taken me this long to finally decide on a color. I am going to go with yellow. Question for you refinishers....spray paint of brush paint?

And last but not least....Not the first time I saw this and I'm sure it won't be the last....but it makes me laugh every time. 

And I have a question. Do any of you see your followers number fluctuate. I have lost 9 followers in the last two weeks. I just found it strange. I lost seven of them overnight last week. Then another one two days ago and one yesterday. This hasn't happened before and I thought it was strange. It's no big deal because my page views have continually climbing. I hat the highest page views ever on my blog one day this week. But it just makes me wonder why all of a sudden like that. Am I getting boring? Have I done or written something offensive? Who knows. Just curious if anybody else ever had that happen. 

Some things I tried....

I try things I see on the internet that are great failures and things that actually work. Here are a few of my success stories. 

I have always heard you can clean a microwave easy with lemon juice. Well, I had a spaghetti re-heat explosion. I didn't realize how bad it was because I was heading out somewhere and forgot to clean up the mess in there first. So a few days later, I realized it was all over the ceiling of the microwave. I looked up the instructions to give it a try and OH MY GOODNESS it was the easiest clean up ever and my microwave looks brand new inside. Here are the instructions from Life Hacker.

Another thing I've heard I use all the time now. It is the original blue Dawn detergent for just about anything you can imagine. I use it constantly for hard to remove stains. I have found the best way to remove most hard to remove stains (chocolate, blood, grease, etc.) from clothing is to spray with Peroxide, then squeeze in some blue Dawn and I add some spray for the Dollar Tree called Totally Awesome Stain Remover. I rub it in gently to the stain and 99% of the time it comes right out. When Allen fell and hit his ribs on the tub, the wound bled for over a week at night. This concoction got all the stain out of my tan sheets. I swear by it. 

Have you ever went to write on a dry erase board only to realize you used a Sharpie? Have you ever left something written on one so long that when you wiped it off you could still faintly read the words. Well, never fear Germ X is here. That's right, regular Germ X (or most hand sanitizers) can remove Sharpie marks or long standing marks off a dry erase board and make it like new.

Do you know what the best thing to use for immediate spills on most furniture is? Baby wipes. Yes, that's right. They are soft and gentle yet the formula in there will even remove stains on some furniture. I do advise you to test in a hidden spot first though. Some micro suedes it almost bleaches the spot, but it has worked perfectly on my couch.

And what about when you buy that beautiful new glass vase or dish and there is that horrible sticky residue after you remove the price sticker. Simply use a nail polish remover pad. Press it against the residue for a few seconds then simply rub back and forth gently till it is all gone. Wash thoroughly and rinse clean.

Well there are some of my favorite things I have tried that I can vouch will work.