Category Archives: shopping

>The quest for a — jello mold?

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>La Petite wanted to make a jello mold for her boyfriend’s birthday. It’s a long story, but she watches the show “The Office”. Never mind.
She’s handy in the kitchen. I can trust her with the boiling water needed to make this fine cuisine. The only problem is: we own no jello mold. Not one. None.
I owned two such molds at one time in my life. In our first year of marriage, we used to go Rummage Sailing, and I picked up the cutest little jello mold for a dime. A dime! It was just the right size for one box of jello with a little canned fruit. How cute is that? Later on, my mother-in-law (or was it my mom?) gave me a nicer quality mold, complete with pretty flowers or stars or some other shapes. I don’t recall, exactly.
After years (I tell you, years) of non-use, I finally gave in and either donated both or sold them myself for a few quarters. I no longer own a jello mold.
La Petite went to WalMart. She went to the grocery store. She checked the Dollar Store on the same commercial strip. The only jello mold she found wore a $10 price tag, too high for an underemployed college student.
She called Goodwill. Success! She looked over the three molds, bought the cheapest, and came home.
I can’t wait to see what she puts in it.

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>Random Thoughts and random links on a lovely spring day

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>Can I call it window shopping if I’m looking at a computer screen? I was surfing through some of the deals the pretty Mir discovered at Overstock.com, and I found this. I’m not sure why anyone would want a serving platter held up by elephants, but it is, um, well, unique.

It’s Friday. It’s a true TGIF. I’d love to do nothing all weekend, but I have a heavy bag full of papers to correct and score before Monday. Maybe I’ll do them on the deck with a cup of hazelnut coffee by my side. Ah, now we’re talking! I made these muffins last weekend. Maybe it’s time for a batch of rhubarb muffins. I could use up the rhubarb in the freezer before the fresh stuff grows and ripens.

I ordered/ downloaded the ebook Jumble Pie by Melanie Lynne Hauser. It’s a definite “girlfriend” book, and I plan to read more of it this weekend. Just me, my laptop, and a bagel and I’ll be happy.

We’ve had a cold week, and our heater was temperamental. Husband changed the batteries in the thermostat, and now all is well. Is that all it takes to heat a house — two AA batteries?

I’ll be judging another music festival next weekend. Amigo’s IEP is coming up soon. After that, I have a long day at a track meet with my students. And then, well, I’ve arranged for a personal day to regain my sanity and bring a few empty boxes to La Petite to help expedite her move home for the summer. And if I just happen to stop at the outlet mall on the way there…well, it IS on the way.

And then I’ll have another three and a half weeks to finish teaching my students everything they need to know, pack up my own teaching materials, and clean up the classroom I’m leaving. Included in that time period is a school-wide field day, a tour of the middle school, and numerous other events. Somehow, I know I’ll get it all done. I might have to buy out the neighborhood Starbucks to gather enough energy, but it’ll get done.

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>Spring Break reading and rain

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>Most of the books I read fall into certain categories: professional books, young adult literature (also a professional task), enrichment, family, and frivolous.

Frivolous is fun. Frivolous is good. It means a book that makes me smile — a book that I’m not obliged to read, but I read just for me. Spring break is a great time for books like this, and Gigi Anders’ Men may come, and men may go, but I’ve still got my Little Pink Raincoat fits the category perfectly.

Priorities. It’s all about priorities. Gigi Anders tells a great story – several, in fact, – connecting fashion with life, specific fashion pieces with the men in her life, the quest for the perfect raincoat with the quest for (you guessed it) the quest for Mr. Right.
The quests made for my favorite parts of the book. Call all over the country for the perfect coat in just the right size? Done that. Dream of the perfect pair of shoes and refuse to go out until they turn up? Done that, too. Covet and eventually buy an overpriced pair of earrings to attract the perfect man? Well, no, I haven’t, but I can totally understand her motivation when she does. Her taste in clothing, accessories, make-up, and more is impeccable. Her taste in men? You’ll have to read the book to find out. Make reading this book a priority – just like that little black dress or the perfect little pink raincoat.

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>Every story, new or ancient

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>Christmas is a time for family lore: remembering and recounting the stories of Christmas past. One of my favorites was Amigo’s first Christmas.
Amigo was 11 months old, just shy of one year, and a very happy baby most of the time. He was also a very noisy baby, full of babble and talkative baby noises.
The day after Christmas, Baby Amigo woke early. I fed him and changed him, and then wondered what on earth I was going to do with this noisy little one. You see, Husband had just gotten home from working an overnight shift and needed to sleep. La Petite had stayed up late for the holiday and needed to sleep in, too. At the time we lived in a small duplex with tiny rooms and thin walls. Happy baby noises would wake everyone. What to do?
Well, it was December 26th, after all. I dressed the baby and dressed myself and we headed out to the post-Christmas sales.
At that time in our lives we had very little money, so we bought next to nothing. But we had all kinds of mommy-baby fun just roaming the aisles, with little Amigo perched in the shopping cart babbling at me and smiling his adorable smile for the other shoppers. I think I bought a few bows and some cards for the next year, but that was all. And that was all we needed.
When we got home, La Petite was just starting to stir. Husband was sound asleep and not likely to be awakened. I fed Baby Amigo his morning snack and settled him in to nap, content in the feeling that all was well with the world.
Now, almost 15 years later, Amigo loves Christmas shopping. He doesn’t perch in the shopping cart anymore, thank goodness, but he grabs his white cane and sprints down the main corridors of the mall. And every year he enjoys hearing the tale of the fun we had at the post-Christmas sales when he was just a baby.

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>It was a night of small disasters.

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>Friday night, Amigo was going to a freshman basketball game at his school.
Unfortunately, he couldn’t find his wallet with his school ID in it.
Fortunately, the wallet turned up — in the wrong pocket of his backpack.
Unfortunately, the doors to the hallway leading to the right gym were locked.
Fortunately, we were routed through the big gym past the ticket-takers to get there.
Unfortunately, I needed a ticket to get in, too.
Fortunately, I work for the school district, so my school ID gets me in to most games free.
Unfortunately, we didn’t see any of Amigo’s friends immediately.
Fortunately, he befriended a few fans in the stands with kids on the team. He then told me, “It’s okay, Mom, you can leave to run your errands.”
Fortunately, the high school dance team was sponsoring a book sale in the school auditorium. I got a few great deals at 50% off. Then I left for my other errands.
Unfortunately, I got stuck in a long line of traffic behind a big accident.
Fortunately, the detour was going the way I was headed anyway.
Unfortunately, it too much longer than planned to get there, so I didn’t get my package shipped after all.
Fortunately, I did pick up what I needed for my class’ goodie bags, and had a good handful of change for the red kettle on my way out of the store.
Unfortunately, I didn’t know how long the game would last, so I hurried back.
Fortunately, I arrived in the last five minutes of a dramatic finish.
Unfortunately, the team lost, 46-42.
Fortunately, I ran into an old friend on our way out.
Unfortunately, the fire alarm started blasting as we were talking.
Fortunately, we were parked nearby, so we left quickly to avoid any ensuing chaos.
Fortunately, it turned out to be a false alarm.
And all in all, we had a good night.

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>It’s not easy being Green at Christmas time.

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>Martha Stewart doesn’t live here. Let’s make that clear right off the bat. Once in a while I do something crafty, but that’s as far as it goes.

That said, Christmas is a tough time for someone who teaches environmental science and wants to walk the talk.

Take wrapping paper — please. It can’t be recycled, it can’t be burned in the fireplace, it doesn’t compost. The only reasonably “green” option is re-use. Skip it? Not unless I want “Scrooge” to be my middle name. Well, my family gets all over me about re-using wrapping paper.

“Mom, just rip it open! Hurry up! Why are you folding the paper? You don’t have to be so careful with the tape. Mom, it wasn’t expensive. Geez.”

I drive them crazy.

But this tendency to reduce, re-use, and recycle can come in handy. I take good care with the wrapping paper we do buy, re-using gift bags until they fall apart, saving the bows every year, and refusing to throw away the small pieces of wrap that seem useless. I said SEEM useless.

As I said before, I’m not Martha. No one would come into my house and think she lives here. But I am rather proud of these two presents. Using a strip of green shiny foil (too small for a box) and a batch of plain brown packaging paper that came with a cookbook, I made these two gifts look pretty. Pretty good, even. The tags are made from last year’s Christmas cards.

(haha, Petite one, the smaller package is for you!)

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>Life is what happens when you’re not looking — or counting

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>Keeping track of numbers must not be too important in my life — I missed the chance to “celebrate” my sesquicentennial post on Compost Happens. Maybe it hasn’t been 150 years — but today’s post is number 153, so any real anniversary discussion would have taken place three posts ago. I must have been too busy preparing Thanksgiving dinner, cleaning up after it, contemplating (but not actively participating in) Black Friday, ringing a bell for the Salvation Army, and the daily chores of life. Come to think of it, all of those things were more interesting to do (and to blog about) than the simple number of 150, anyway.
With Thanksgiving over with, I can start to work on (drumroll, please) Birthdays! Hahaha, you thought I was going to say Christmas, didn’t you?! In our home, the Christmas season is also the birthday season. Mine is in November (ahem, today), Husband’s is in mid-December, La Petite’s is the day after that, and then we can put up the tree. After the New Year’s ball drops and the Christmas tree comes down, we have about two weeks until Amigo’s birthday. That’s just the immediate family; there are other birthdays in and around this time in our extended family as well. I wrote up my “Holiday Gift Inventory Notebook” today to make sure I don’t overshop or inadvertantly miss someone.
I am taking some advice from an article in today’s paper and wrapping presents as I buy them. I have almost everything I need for my Secret Santa project at work, so I will wrap these and hide them in my classroom’s locked closet, in the space that was filled with test booklets a week ago.
Now that I have reclaimed the kitchen at home (stored leftovers, threw away what was left of the turkey carcass, prepared soup stock for freezer), I can focus on real life again. Real life, coffee mugs, lesson plans, and the works. We have a saying in my workplace when things get frantic: “Never a dull moment.” Life, such as it is, isn’t dull. Not at all. Not even at Post #153.

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>"Love" Thursday

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>Some children with autism wander. Escape. Run. El Grande doesn’t, and never has. So when this happened, it wasn’t scary — just odd. I was working on my laptop in the den when he got up to use the bathroom and didn’t come back. When I realized he’d been gone for a while, I got up to see if he had a stomach-ache or other problem. He was out of the bathroom already. He hadn’t come back to the den, he wasn’t upstairs listening to the radio, he wasn’t on the old computer in his sister’s room. I looked outside in the backyard; he wasn’t on the new backyard swing, either. Then, out of the corner of my eye, I saw a tail wag. It was our neighbor’s dog. Sure enough, El Grande was there on the driveway with the dog. This is an old and mellow dog (Shades of the old Beast) who thrives on attention. When she’s outside, she’ll come to the side of the yard and make little noises for El Grande to come pet her. It’s a win-win for both; El Grande gets to develop a relationship with a friendly dog, and the dog gets attention that the neighbors (parents of an adorable toddler) don’t have enough time to give.

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>No more excuses — I bought a bike!

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>It’s not fancy, but it’s solid. Husband and I went to The Man’s Mall (you midwesterners, you’ll know what I mean) and looked over the fall sale bicycles. Several were in our price range (cheap), so I tried them out for quality. And yes, I do mean I tried them out. The bikes were in an outside display area that had a lot of open space with only a few obstacles — a kayak or two, a stack of lumber here and there — so I rode the bike around before I bought it. The price was knocked down by $30, and Husband has been moaning about how his bike is wearing out, so (you knew this was coming) he bought one too! We now have “matching” his and hers bicycles. We were quite a sight, dragging these bikes around the store while we looked for the other things we needed. Fortunately, we had parked the minivan near the store exit, so it didn’t take much to get out and load up after checking out.

If you’re wondering, I didn’t buy a helmet yet. Yes, I plan to get one. I didn’t like the selection they had in stock. I have a small head (no comments from the peanut gallery, please), and I’d also like to get a helmet that will accomodate a ponytail. If it’s cute I’ll post a picture.

Now I can join Da Boys on their evening and weekend rides!

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