Small Business Saturday

Small Business Saturday is a day intended to relieve the pressure and the mobs and the sheer craziness of Black Friday. Taking my own path as usual, La Petite and I decided to visit a few small shops yesterday, Friday.

Shop Number One: a few blocks from my workplace, a shop with an eclectic mix of vintage and upcycled items for the home. We picked up some cute frames and wine cork boards in a variety of sizes. Better yet, I got some great ideas to substitute for wrapping paper.

I gave up using commercial wrapping paper a few years ago, and I’ve stuck to that vow. I’ve used a few scraps of leftover paper, finagled a few bits of tissue into service as packing and wrapping, and salvaged all kind of larger scraps for reuse. A more accurate motto might be No New Wrapping Paper. More later on the trimmings and trappings – now back to regularly scheduled program, Small Business Saturday.

Downtown Appleburg had some goings on to draw customers downtown. Shops planned cookies and beverages. Some had prize drawings. Many participated in the window dressing contest. Participants had creative displays that showed their wares and celebrated the season. I’d offer you pics, readers, but my little camera doesn’t do the displays justice. Imagine bright red ballet shoes hanging alongside a tutu made of tulle, with silver bells and more, all in the front window of a dance apparel shop, and you’ll get the idea.

We finished up the morning at two vintage and crafty shops directly across from each other. I treated myself to a cool vintage hat, one that goes well with both of my winter and middle-weather jackets and works with my hearing aids, too. So many hats make them squeak and squeal; this was a deal for that point alone!

With a final stop at Walgreen’s for hearing aid batteries, we were done. Fun times, money spent at small local businesses, and found some unique gifts. For the real Small Business Saturday, I’m thinking of visiting thrift stores.

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Dear family; ’tis the season

It’s gift giving season again, which means gift buying, which means spending. I’d like to suggest a few possibilities that save money and might even be practical.

Might even be practical? Oh, family and friends, you know practicality is my middle name. You know that anything related to canning is a good bet. As I see my net pay shrink and my right to a contract wind its way through the courts, putting up stores for the winter is an investment in both groceries and health. The corn I bought and froze in August was cheaper by the ounce than a bag of frozen corn in the stores, and it will taste oh, so much better. The same goes for the peas, the beans, the asparagus – hey, Amigo, we have asparagus in the freezer! Your favorite vegetable! But I’m going off topic.

Any tools related to food storage are a good investment. Keep an eye open for a mortar and pestle. We’ve learned from experience that the herbs that are so prolific on the deck in season do not do nearly as well in the house over winter. Drying these herbs and crushing them will make the kitchen smell great and fill the spice rack.

A kitchen scale would come in handy, too. Making tomato salsa and marinara sauce was interesting. I measured out one pound on my tiny little scale that measures in ounces up to one pound. Since the Roma tomatoes called for were fairly uniform in size, I then estimated enough one pound piles to make the full amount I needed. It worked, but a real scale would work better. Four to five Romas make a pound, in case you were wondering.

Last time I watched an Alton Brown recipe video, I noticed how he used the gravy separator. How is it I’ve gone this long without one? I’d use it for making soup stocks, too. I like the one with the removable strainer on top.

Don’t spend a bundle, though. If you spot jars in a thrift store or at a rummage sale, go for it. If you see a second hand mortar and pestle set somewhere at a ridiculously low price, grab it. A well known kitchen supply store asks $40 for a ceramic set. Ouch. That’s ridiculously high; don’t bother.

Chuck needs jeans. He wears them a lot, and he wears them out. Contact me for size and style. He pretends he knows, but…. you know the drill. Don’t tell him I said so, but second hand jeans are fine as long as they’re the right brand, style, and size.

Amigo? He needs independence. If only we could wrap it up and put it under the tree for Christmas. Until then, he’ll keep doing his own laundry and making his own lunch and setting the table for supper.

La Petite is working her way into the real world of, you guessed it, work. If anyone can deliver more work to her, in particular work with health care benefits, please tie it up in a bow and place it in her stocking.

Oh, did I get distracted again? The underlying message is this: our world is a scary place. The future is uncertain, and sometimes I feel like the odds are not in our favor. Save the cash for the important necessities in life. Holidays are important, but spending oodles of money isn’t necessary. 

Meanwhile, I plan to make a trip downtown on Small Business Saturday, the antidote for Black Friday at the malls. It’s so much calmer and so enjoyable that I might even time my trip to the small shops on the Friday itself. Join me, anyone?

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A chair can hold flowers, too.

curbside find #1

Curbside Find #1

Here’s the chair we adopted and converted two years ago.

Curbside Find #2

Here’s the chair we found last week.

Below: behold Chuck creating a hole in the “new” chair.

Chuck, hard at work

 And finally, the completed project.

Chair completed!

The story told in pictures above is the story of Petunia’s gift for Mother’s Day. We found the chair earlier this week. It reminded us of one we’d already converted to a planter (see first photo), so we brought it home and cleaned it up. Chuck cut the hole in the center (no easy feat; this chair was sturdy) and I planted petunias in it. Done!

 

 

 

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>I dreamed a dream

>In recognition of Dr. King’s Dream, below is a re-post.

I dream that differences will be valued, not disdained.
Eye color, hair color, body shapes, and skin shades will be appreciated for their beauty and variety.
Cultural traditions will not disappear, but will thrive and grow together into a rich and fascinating sharing of knowledge and beliefs.

I dream that blindness will be merely a different way of seeing, and deafness impair only the quantity, not the quality of the language ‘heard’.

Children will matter because they own the future. Their education, academic and social, will become and remain of utmost importance.

Questions will come from curiosity, not ignorance, and the answers will breed respect.

Knowing each other, knowing ourselves, will lead to recognizing that fights and conflicts, wars of all kinds, have little value.


The mediators and the peacemakers will be recognized as the strongest leaders.
Together, cooperation will lead, and collaboration will be the norm.
Together, we’ll dream the dream into reality. Together.

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>Taking Stock of Christmas

>What can I give you this Christmas?
Something sparkling to go with your eyes?
I’ll give you the light of a Yuletide star
from the cold December sky.
What can I give you this Christmas?
Something soft like the sound of your name?
I’ll give you the hush of the falling snow
as it settles on the ground.
There isn’t much that a boy like me can give to a girl like you.
I’ve searched the Christmas shop windows and now I know it’s true.
What can I give you this Christmas?
Not a thing that I’ve seen will do.
So I’ll give you my heart and my own true love
that will last the whole year through.


Something sparkling, to go with my eyes?
I’m not much of a jewelry person; I’m a casual dresser. No tiaras here, just fingerless gloves to keep my hands warm at my desk before the office heat kicks in But my eyes – I’m hearing impaired, so my eyesight is precious. My sweet husband saw me through cataract surgeries in both eyes. He even agreed to the expensive and not-one-cent-covered by insurance multi-focal replacement lens. Now, the world sparkles a lot more brightly than it ever did.

Something soft? My new Snuggie in a Green Bay Packers print is very warm and snuggly, soft and sweet. And since my ever-patient husband, a.k.a. Chuck, has a whole different outlook on the football season, it’s really sweet of him to buy this for me.

But his heart and his own true love – my supremely wonderful spouse outdid himself this time. When I mentioned my desire, he called it “…a worthless piece of paper.” He wasn’t far off. It doesn’t pay dividends, I can’t sell it, it’s so non-transferable that I can’t even leave it in my will. But in spirit, it’s worth a million, and when I opened the box, I had a lump in my throat.

Readers, I received a share of Green Bay Packers stock for Christmas. I am officially – literally, not figuratively – an NFL owner, an investor in the Green Bay Packers.

Lyrics to ‘What can I give you this Christmas?’ were hard to find, and I still can’t find the songwriter’s name to give credit where credit is due. It’s a lovely song, and it fits the true sentiments of gift giving at this time of year.

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>The Twelve Days of Walker in Wisconsin

>2011 has been difficult year for me and for Wisconsin teachers in general. Thanks to our soon-to-be former governor, Scott Walker, we have lost salary, benefits, and bargaining rights. But our state has lost much more. A colleague found this online, and I thought it was worth sharing. Credit goes to the Solidarity Singers for spreading the word; I don’t know who wrote the lyrics.

On the first day of his term, Scott Walker took from us:
An unarmed populace.
On the second day of his term, Scott Walker took from us:
Stem cell research, and an unarmed populace.
On the third day of his term, Scott Walker took from us:
Safe drinking water, Stem cell research, and an unarmed populace.
On the fourth day of his term, Scott Walker took from us:
Fair union contracts, Safe drinking water, Stem cell research, and an unarmed populace.
On the fifth day of his term, Scott Walker took from us:
HIGH SPEED RAIL!! Fair union contracts, Safe drinking water, Stem cell research, and an unarmed populace.
On the sixth day of his term, Scott Walker took from us:
Good public education, HIGH SPEED RAIL!! Fair union contracts, Safe drinking water, Stem cell research, and an unarmed populace.
On the seventh day of his term, Scott Walker took from us:
Russ Decker’s shining virtue, Good public education, HIGH SPEED RAIL!! Fair union contracts, Safe drinking water, Stem cell research, and an unarmed populace.
On the eighth day of his term, Scott Walker took from us:
Health care for the poor, Decker’s shining virtue, Good public education, HIGH SPEED RAIL!! Fair union contracts, Safe drinking water, Stem cell research, and an unarmed populace.
On the ninth day of his term, Scott Walker took from us:
A United DNR, Health care for the poor, Decker’s shining virtue, Good public education, HIGH SPEED RAIL!! Fair union contracts, Safe drinking water, Stem cell research, and an unarmed populace.


On the tenth day of his term, Scott Walker took from us:
Lower than average unemployment, a United DNR, Health care for the poor, Decker’s shining virtue, Good public education, HIGH SPEED RAIL!! Fair union contracts, Safe drinking water, Stem cell research, and an unarmed populace.
On the eleventh day of his term, Scott Walker took from us:
The shrinking middle class, Lower unemployment, a United DNR, Health care for the poor, Decker’s shining virtue, Good public education, HIGH SPEED RAIL!! Fair union contracts, Safe drinking water, Stem cell research, and an unarmed populace.


(Dramatic tempo change and a grand pause — )

On the twelfth day of his term, Scott Walker took from us:
Domestic partner benefits, the Shrinking middle class, Lower unemployment, a United DNR, Health care for the poor, Decker’s shining virtue, Good public education, HIGH SPEED RAIL!! Fair union contracts, Safe drinking water, Stem cell research, and an unarmed populace.
In response, we say to the Grinch a.k.a. Walker:
In the first twelve days of the recall we gathered over 500,000 signatures.

‘Nuff said.
Enjoy your family and the holiday season, readers. Remember, your vote counts. When the time comes, please go to the polls to preserve the best gift of all: a democracy.


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>Eating the Opponent: Chicago!

>Why are you reading blogs? It’s Christmas Eve! Oh, yes, it’s NFL football day, too. My Green Bay Packers play tomorrow, though. However, Green Bay maintains its popularity in the NFL schedule by playing on the national stage again, this time on a holiday: Christmas Day.

In the Okay By Me homestead, we’ll eat the opponent on Christmas Eve. Tonight. After a day of wrapping presents and organizing gifts and cleaning the house, I just don’t feel up to cooking something special. Neither does Chuck. It’s a good thing the Packers are playing the Chicago Bears. We picked up a Chicago style deep dish pizza yesterday from a take and bake place. Followed by Christmas cookies for dessert, it will be the perfect Christmas Eve supper.
After the presents are unwrapped, the brunch eaten, the naps taken (believe me, I’ll need one), we’ll gather around the Christmas tree and watch our Packers take the field once again. It’s Aaron Rodgers’ neighborhood, remember, and Sunday promises to be a beautiful day.

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>Rouxbe Cooking School

>It was an impulse. I admit it. I signed up for a trial of five lessons with Rouxbe Cooking School online. I thought, “Why not?” After all, I enjoy playing in the kitchen, I like to post recipes on my blog, and the folks at home (mainly Chuck, my ever-tolerant and loving husband) will enjoy the results. On top of that, I teach online; surely I can learn the same way.

Each lesson follows the same structure. First, goals of the lesson. We teachers would call those objectives. Second, the lesson video. Rouxbe recommends watching, rewinding, watching again. Next comes the fun part: Practice, also known as Edible Exercises. Last, I’ll take an interactive quiz and then participate in a discussion board.
Readers, my dearests, be prepared for reviews of the cooking school. I’m more of a simple cook, where my husband is more of an Iron Chef type in the kitchen. Whenever he’s interested, I invite him to look over the lessons and participate in the practice portion with me.
Meanwhile, I’m baking cookies. It is, after all, the night before the night before Christmas!

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