Happy Birthday, Jadyn!!!

Yesterday, we had a really nice time at my great niece's birthday/pool party. I can't believe how cool this summer has been! We had very little sun and it was just a tad bit nippy. I was a little nervous about the water. But!!!! It was 86 degrees...the water that is. It felt soooo nice!

I was in the pool for quite awhile; long enough to get wrinkly fingers and toes. I was not looking forward to getting out, so my sister in law and I just treaded water for a loooong while.....

Finally, I got out and put on dry clothes. The kids were still in the pool and I just sat there watching and taking pictures. I really find it hard to believe that I have GREAT nieces and nephews. For a minute there I felt as if I was watching our kids, and my sister in law's kids. Unbelievable how the time has gone by!

We don't have grandchildren yet, but someday we will. We were late in starting our family, and will be late in getting grandkids; but that's ok, I think that is maybe why everyone think's I'm younger, because our kids are younger.

Something else I enjoyed while sitting there in my own little world was all the beautiful flowers and other plants in their garden. In all it was just a very nice day.....!

Welcome to Wonderful World of Bags, etc...

Well, got my Facebook group all set up. It's called Wonderful World of Bags, etc...

Hope ya'll come visit my site soon and "like" it. When you head over there, click the about button, and you will see why I've started this, and my website for shopping, ordering, and just getting to know the company.

I'm A Thirty-One Consultant!!!

mythirtyone.com

Well, I did it! I am now a Thirty-One consultant. My sister started selling these bags, and since they are such a good quality bag, I decided to try to go into the business too. Heck, I have kids (yes, that is plural) in college, so I decided to see about making a little extra money. All of us use bags...a lot. We use them when we go out of town, when we go shopping, or to put our lunch in or our scrapbooking stuff in, knitting and crochet and other crafts, etc. 

Sure you can buy bags most everywhere, and yes, they are cute, but the quality of many of the bags is just not there. You wind up spending less at first, but in the long run, when you have to replace that bag in just a few months, you wind up spending more.

A few months ago, I took a cruise with my husband and our mothers to the Bahamas. While we were there, I bought this bag. Cute, don't ya think? Well, of course I like it, it has pink flamingos on it...

I was carrying this bag back and forth to the gym and pool. Yes, that is yellow duct tape holding it together. I love this bag. It has been to the beach numerous times and was a great bag, but alas, I needed to get a new one.

In March, my sister started selling bags from Thirty-One. I had never heard of them, but decided to give it a try. My first purchase was this cool bag. I love the color and it has been a great bag for the pool and gym. Funny thing is, everyone at the pool has one like it.

I also bought this bag. I love all the pockets and it is great for my crochet crafts. I do believe I need another one. While this is big enough for several projects (unless you have a big blanket you are working on), it does get a bit confusing and messy if you have more than one project going on in the same bag. Right now I have my crochet stuffed birds and my crochet ladder necklace stuff in this bag.

Back in May, I decided to have an online party, and was able to get this bag thermal bag for half  price. It is great to take when we go to Sam's. My husband took it to work the other day with a bunch of fish and hushpuppies. It kept everything nice and warm til they were ready to eat. Yes, it had a fishy smell in it afterward, but I just sprinkled some baking soda in it and it went away.

As a hostess, I got this thermal bag too. It will be great to take when we go on trips. I also took this to Sam's the other day, and it sure came in handy.

Last month I had another party. Thirty-One was having this great deal; if you bought $35 worth of stuff, you got one of these totes for $10. I wound up getting two. They also came in handy when we went to Sam's. We only go to Sam's every couple months or so, so we tend to buy a lot when we go. It's nice to have these bags so our stuff doesn't go rolling over the back and when we get home, we don't have to take so many trips bringing our food in.

These things hold quite a bit too!

Well, if anyone is interested is these great bags or any other purses or bags Thirty-One sells, let me know, even if you don't live here in our town. Your order can be shipped right to your doorstep for an extra $4. Or, better yet, have a party...a virtual party. You can head on over to my web page, which should be set up in the next few days. Just leave me a message, and I'll make sure to get back to you with the details. I'm sure once I get everything started up, I will be blogging about this adventure. Hey! In a few days, I will be getting my start up kit, and I will be showing you some of the cool products. 

By the way, my web page is https://www.mythirtyone.com/379433/

WE HAVE THE CRAZIEST WEATHER!

As I have mentioned before, we have moved...A LOT! Every place we have lived, and a lot of places we have visited, we hear the same ole thing, "We have the craziest weather!" 

Since I've been pretty much all over the United States, I can say, every state has it's wild weather. Being from Florida, I have witnessed hurricanes, tornadoes, and very hot and humid weather. Believe it or not, it can get pretty cold too. I know, most of you from the north don't believe it, but I have talked to people who were from very cold states (Idaho, Utah, Colorado), who thought the same thing, until they actually lived in Florida during it's brief winter. I have been told by these people, that they could not believe how cold it was, and agreed that it felt MUCH colder than what the temperature said. "The cold goes right down to the bone!" I believe we can blame that on the humidity.

Awww, the humidity. That is another interesting topic. Most everyone who has been to Flordia knows humidity (unless they have not been there during the summer). The temperatures my say 90's in the summer, but factoring in the humidity, it feels much hotter. Ok, so what about this past January when I was in Idaho and it was 16 BELOW with relative humidity of 77%? What!? How is that? My hair was standing on end, every time I touched someone I would shock them, and my skin was shedding like a snake. How can that be? I mean 77% relative humidity?  Key word---RELATIVE.  Also you need to factor in the dew point.

There is a really good article that explains it here.

Basically, 77% relative humidity in higher, colder climates, are not the same as 77% humidity in the tropics.

Ok, back to wild weather. It is my opinion, that every state has it's wild weather. I've been in Colorado before when we woke up to frost and very cold temperatures, and by afternoon it was pushing 100. Now that is pretty wild! Now let's take Florida...in most parts, you can pretty much set your watch with the afternoon storms that roll in. I can remember going to the beach as a kid. You better get out there early, because by about 1:00, the storms start rolling in. You could see them coming in from the ocean. Everyone would pack up and head home. By the time I got home (which was less than 12 miles) it would be sunny again. Time to jump in the pool and enjoy some more sun! That was pretty much how our summer went while we were growing up.

I guess no matter where you live, you will always hear people say, that their weather is the craziest. In my opinion, every state has it's crazy weather.

By the way here is a good article about "America's Wildest Weather.

Ouch!

About 14 years ago I was diagnosed with plantar fasciitis. It all started with my feet KILLING me! Then my whole body started bothering me. I remember going to the doctor and the first thing they said when they saw my feet, is that I needed to have surgery-- on my bunions. Nope! My bunions were fine, it was my right heel that hurt... a LOT! First they gave me cortisone shots. The shots helped for a couple of weeks, so then I got another one; which, again only lasted a couple of weeks. Well, we couldn't keep this up. They still really didn't know what my problem was, so they said it was probably Fibromyalgia.  I knew it was not, and that it had something to do with my feet, since that is where the pain had started.

A few months before all this, my mom started having the same issues. She had gone to a doctor that diagnosed her with plantar fasciitis and put her in this weird brace to sleep in. It didn't work, and the only thing it did was give her cramps in her leg. After she had worn this brace for awhile, she had heard about Birkenstock shoes. In fact, my youngest sister wore them often. Mom gave them a try and has been wearing them ever since with minimal heel pain. Since they worked for her, I decided to give them a try, and I have also had minimal pain, until lately.

It all started with a pain on the right side of my neck. I went from about half way up my neck and down my shoulder. I even had a little swelling over my collar bone. At first I didn't think much of it, thinking maybe I just slept wrong. After two weeks, I started to worry. The swelling was still there and so was the pain. I really hate going to the doctor, but after my last episode, I decided to go. As usually, the pain was poo pooed, and I was sent home. They did say to maybe try some physical therapy and wrote up some orders. I found that it was going to cost me $75 a week, and wasn't sure that was my answer so I did not go. About a week later, I remember my right foot really, REALLY hurting me; like I could hardly walk on it. Felt just like the plantar fasciitis I had years ago. Soon, my whole body was hurting. I hurt to lay in bed, it hurt to stand or sit. Every part of my body (except for my hair) HURT! So, back to the doctor. Again, I felt like an idiot. They checked my for fibromyalgia, and thankfully, that was not it. Then they took some blood work and told me the results should be back in a week.

Fast forward a week, and all blood work negative. That's a good thing, but now what? I was told I was fine. So, if I'm fine, then why am I hurting. "I don't know" was the answer. I got really angry at the poor girl, said a few choice words (no R or X rated words), and hung up on her. I then left for the pool. That seems to be the only place lately that I feel little pain.

When I got back from the gym, I had a phone call from the doctor office and they wanted me to come it. After talking to the nurse practitioner, I was reminded that I had been bitten by a spider about six weeks ago, so they checked me for adverse reaction to bug/spider bites. In the meantime, I was given a pain killer (that I can only take for five days) and sent home. A few days later, negative on that. *sigh*

So now what? I guess I could move my bed up to the pool, but not sure that would be the best idea. I'm going to give this another week, then see what my next step is, that is if I'm still in this pain. I feel like an old lady. When I first get out of bed or up from a sitting position for awhile, it really hurts! I really don't want to be on pain medication, as I don't do well on those...AT ALL! 

So, in the mean time, I will be swimming and stretching my body, as both those things feel good to me. I might even go get a massage...

Another Garage Sale Find

A few weeks ago, we did some yard work in the back.  At first everything seemed, well, a little wimpy. Things have come along pretty nicely lately and the flowers and veggies are filling in beautifully.

We have a pretty nice area in the back, but no tables. I had a bench, and four chairs. I bought cushions for them, and it sure made things look a lot more....homey.

I've been wanting a table and chair set so we could actually eat out there without getting the plastic fold up tables out. Yesterday, as we were turning onto our street from a trip to Evansville, we noticed a garage sale sign. It was 9:30 at night, so we assumed it was for the next morning. I jokingly mentioned I should go check to see if they have any outdoor furniture. You see, I have been scooping out garage sales for YEARS trying to find a table. I do not want to buy a new table for what they are asking....at Walmart, a cheap outdoor table runs almost $200, and I don't even really like it that much. If I'm going to spend that kind of money on something, I want to like it.

Well anyway, this morning, I got up early and decided to head to the pool early before my water walking class and get in my mile swim. As I was backing out the driveway, the traffic was horrendous! We live on a quiet street and I couldn't figure out what was going on...then I remembered...THE GARAGE SALE!!!  So I turned toward the sale, and boy, was I surprised! They had oodles of outdoor furniture! First I saw a teak table with four chairs, then I saw the table of my dreams! A black wrought iron table! That was it, then they told me it had four chains. hmmm...I've been wanting a bistro table set to put by our fountain.  Decisions, Decisions...

As I was contemplating what I should do, they came down, on both the sets, and pretty low, I might add; lower than if I had gone to Walmart and bought a new cheap table. So...I took them...both!

Here is the wrought iron table and chairs. I will have to say, they have some weight to them, so even though I did not get my swim in this morning, I got a good workout moving furniture. I will have to replace the cushions soon though.

I will probably choose green when I do replace them.

I love the detail.

Here is the teak set. I need to wash the tables and chairs off, but it was a bit warm. I will have to wait to do that tonight when it gets down to....80.

What I like about this set, is that it all folds up, the chairs and table, so if we needed more room out there, I can fold these babies up and set it aside.

Well, I'm glad I remembered the garage sale. Got what I've been wanting for awhile and didn't have to chuck out a hunk of money either.  Now I just need to find some outdoor fabric on sale and get busy replacing those cushions. 

No Acer Computer For Me!!!

We have been in search for a good computer; and one that has good customer service. My daughter had a Dell. Not three months after she got it, she started having BIG issues. We called customer service, on a daily basis for over a month, and they never could get that stupid thing to work. Eventually, she got a MAC.

My youngest son got an Acer for Christmas last year. Yesterday, Ben opens his laptop and the screen is cracked...little boxes all over. He has less than a month of school left, and two of his classes are online...he NEEDS his computer.  He took it to the computer doctor on campus and they had him order a screen and they will fix it for free. In the meantime, I did some research and called Acer (which was not an easy task). When I finally got someone, we had a language issue. Yes he speaks English, but not American English, so we had a bit of a problem understanding each other sometimes. He was very nice, but it would have been a lot easier if I could have spoken with an American.

Once I finally got a hold of a live person, I found that yes, indeed, Ben's computer was still under warranty. But!!!! We had to send it to Texas. That is the only place in the U.S. that fixes Acer Computers. Then it would take 10 to 14 days to fix it and then they would have to send it back to my son. Guess what? School will be done before that time, so if he decided to go that route, Ben would fail all his classes and we would be out quite a bit of moola; even though they would fix the computer for free, except shipping to Texas. 

Why is it that these companies do this? If you sell a product, and have a computer fix it person in that store, you should have the certification to fix the item you sell in that store. 

I have a birthday coming up soon, and my husband wants to get me a computer. Right now, I use an old desk top that came over on the Mayflower...lol. Well, not quite, but I'm sure you get the picture. With me into photography and all, I need something a little more updated, but it won't be a Dell, and as I told the little guy over the phone, it won't be an Acer either. I was really looking into getting an Acer, but since it is such a hassle to get it fixed, nope, I'm not getting one. 

What I would really like to have is a MAC, but not sure I want to spend the $$$$ for one, although, as my daughter says, in the long run, it is probably cheaper. She has had her's for over three years, and it is still going strong.  She has yet to have any issue...knock on wood....