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Archive for September, 2010

worth WAY MORE than $3.75 a year

September 17th, 2010 at 07:18 pm

This weekend is my wedding anniversary and some years I'm inspired (or just lucky) thinking of a good gift. Such as the time just after we DIY'ed on a wood burning stove in the weekend house I presented him with a good (thrift store) fireplace tool set, a basket of tinder, another basket of cut logs and a (thrift store) ash pot. Usually though nothing stands up and shouts 'Pick Me'! To make things a little harder, my husbands birthday is the day after our anniversary.

Now we are the odd couple in some respects. He is still happy to get surprise gifts, and cost is not a big issue (he likes and can afford decent 'toys'). However, I am a creature of habit. I can go to Taco Bell once a week for lunch for years. He likes to try new things.

So after peeling and straining about 10 lb of backyard tomatoes about a week ago he found out from a co-worker of a tool that helps do the job faster. Oh - did I mention this guy lives is living proof of the fact that there is a tool for every and ANY job? He knows the solution to life! Get the tool.

Pffft. Anyway, my neighbor had also independently told me of the same tool so I looked it up. It is basically a hand mill, but seems to have a long history with grandmas, etc.

Victorio Food Mill



After I mentioned to him that we had too many tomatoes this year and it would be kind of silly to get one, he replied, 'Of course not! I will plant MORE tomatoes next year!!' Oh sheesh.

So I found one on Amazon and that's the tool, err... I mean gift for anniversary/birthday combined. The cost, divided by our years together, well that is what the title is all about.

Thanks for reading. Here's another nice gift for someone this year.

Sparkling Smoky Quartz and Pearl Earrings



Lots of karats in these classic semi-precious stone earrings. Show your mom, sister, wife or friend your good taste. Ask for free gift boxing. Order
Text is here and Link is http://www.etsy.com/listing/17554402/smoky-quartz-briolette-earrings-by
here

kitten, mouse, dwarf hamster, bird, or dagnabit!

September 9th, 2010 at 05:15 pm

just why not go for the whole enchilada???!!!

I always start holiday gift shopping in August. Or earlier. It's not always easy to guess what might be loved by a recipient at the end of the year, but I am getting better at choosing unique one-size-fits-all items.

For example, the past couple years I have discovered handmade soap. WHADDA luxury for a small price! The soaps can be amazingly lush, smell heavenly and you are going to want to bite into others! Yum. And, guess what, everyone uses soap. So easy to box it up with a scrubby, new washcloth, small fancy towel or a vintage glass dish.

My shopping list is fortunately decreasing steadily as my relatives get older. We no longer give to everyone, most of the nieces and nephews are college age for example. My husband, rightly so, always wants to honor his parents with a gift, and I do the same.

So mostly we are delighting our own two kids, still school age.

What does a little girl want? She is past the pink sparkle stage and entering the more sophisticated hairstyling stage. Her dreams involve anything that has fur or feathers and breathes. Um, know where I'm going?

We've gone through 2 long lived and loved guinea pigs over the years and I am NOT doing anymore 5lb weekly litter changes. I don't know how to take care of a bird (never had one) and I think it's not suitable for her age. A kitten? As much as I would do this in a heartbeat, our dog would eat it.

Maybe another mouse? Her brother has one and it is so easy to take care of it! But the lifespan is only about a year (On second thought, maybe that is a good thing).

Or just throw in the towel and get the horse she wants when she's 15. JUST KIDDING!!!!!! (about getting it, not about her wanting it).

Here's something not furry or feathery, and requires no cage cleaning.

Starfish Pendant

Sterling silver hammered shape enhanced with amethyst wrapped dangle, pink swarovski crystal and glass beads.

Doomed Cost-Benefit Analysis

September 1st, 2010 at 08:48 pm

I am less sentimental person than the average joe, for example, tossing the anniversary cards and even cleaning my hard drive of last Christmas's digital photos. I don't keep any more of my kid's childhood mementos that don't fit in the under-the-bed storage boxes (they are full, so guess what that means).

And I was rather practical when my really long time companion cat Sage just had to be put to sleep. (He was 17 and I resisted the vet's offers of doing blood work when he started losing weight because I knew it was the beginning of just a months long decline due to OLD AGE). I met this pet before I met my husband and then AFTER I met my husband, he followed me like a pup every night in the middle of the night to feed my baby boy. Every night for over a year.

So you can tell I am not a marshmallow, but also not a drill sergeant, right?

Sooooo, &)(#&)+*!!

I am about to take a pet mouse, A PET MOUSE, to the vet. Argh. It is my 12 y.o.'s pet and a good choice of his in spending some Christmas money last year.

The kid has been responsible in the mouse's care and the mouse has added to my kid's well being in lowering stress, slowing down to take time to handle gently etc.

Ms. Sasha has had many days of waking up with a puffy right eye, which usually cleared up more or less each day. We do not know why or how it happens. Perhaps scratching the area on part of the cage or on the rough straw ball bed?

See?


So this past week it worsened and is not clearing up. Ugh. In the spirit of teaching my kid to do the right thing in calling on a doctor (after a reasonable time of self-evaluation and medication if possible), I made an appt.

Don't even ask what the estimate is. I could open a mouse store.