Category: Random Rants and Raves

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Trendy Jewelry

I don’t know about you, but I am a big fan of inexpensive and trendy jewelry. I love things like monogram rings, and flashy necklaces that have your name on it. One of the reasons, I think, that I like customized jewelry with my name or initials on it is because that makes it less likely for one of my friends or relatives to borrow it!

You may think that is a horrible thing to say, and I might actually feel guilty saying it, but, let me explain. Over the years, many of my friends, and relatives, have borrowed things of mine and never returned them. At some point in time, I sometimes ask for the item back, because I want to use it myself. The majority of the time, they have forgotten that they borrowed it from me, and deny having it! This has led to hurt feelings, and damaged relationships beyond repair, which is very sad.

So, now, I try to purchase inexpensive (but trendy) jewelry items to wear “out in public.” That way, when one of my friends or relatives admires it, I will thank them. If they ask me where I got it, and how much it cost, I will boast about what a bargain it was, that it cost less than a certain amount of money, and they usually lose interest in it after that!

You know, thinking about it, I could probably start wearing my “good” jewelry out in public again (it has been about six years) and deploy the same tactic – claiming that it is cheap costume jewelry, even if it isn’t!

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Anticipation is the Worst

As much as I hate going the dentist, I am OK with it after I get there. My new dentist is very good and a nice guy. He does not hurt me at all and is very considerate of my comfort level. But I still get freaked out when I know I have to go, and I know I have to go on Monday morning. So I have all weekend to worry.

I think just knowing that I have an appointment on a certain day just adds to my stress. I sure wish we could just walk in and have a chance to get treatment instead of having to make appointments. But I know that will never happen unless I end up marrying a dentist.

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Personalized jewelry

One of my favorite types of jewelry is the necklace. I love the new, trendy look of layering necklaces because it allows me to wear several of my favorite necklaces at the same time! I have a very large peg-style rack (think old-fashioned, accordian-style hat/coat rack) hanging on the wall behind the door in my bedroom that is overflowing with necklaces. At the time that I put the rack there I thought it would help me keep them from getting all tangled-up, but to be honest, they still get easily tangled. I find that frustrating.

But, I digress. I was writing about how much I love the necklace. I especially love the personalized necklaces that I have been given as gifts over the years. I enjoy them so much that I have made a point of buying some for my nieces over the years, and they always tell me how much they love them, too. I especially like the ones that include a gemstone that represents the birthday month of the person that I am giving the necklace to.

I used to buy sterling silver necklaces because they are so pretty when they are new and clean. I have found that they tarnish quickly, however, even though the so-called experts say that if you wear the silver frequently they won’t tarnish. I find that my sterling silver still tarnishes, and then the tarnish rubs off onto my skin or clothing. I have stopped buying and wearing sterling silver now, and buy white gold instead because that won’t tarnish.

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Bakers Twine

Have you ever heard of Baker’s Twine? Me neither. I have, for years, always kept some special twine in the kitchen that I used to tie the legs of poultry when I was roasting it. This twine is on a large cone, and I have had that twine so long that I don’t remember where (or exactly when) I bought it, and the label is long gone. But I do remember that when I got it that I had to go to a specialty place because I wanted to make sure that it was food-safe twine. I had read a recipe that called for using food-safe twine to tie the legs of poultry together, and that piqued my interest in finding it.

Before I purchased that particular twine, I never used any kind of twine when I was cooking, because I didn’t trust it to be food safe. This kitchen twine that I have now, I use it for everything that I need twine for – including bundling cardboard and newspapers together for recycling.

Last weekend I went to a birthday party, and saw that some of the gifts were tied with a very pretty, decorative twine. In the past I’ve seen gifts wrapped with yarn, but not this pretty twine before. I asked the people that had wrapped the gift “where did you find that pretty twine?” and they told me that they had found it online, and that it was called Bakers Twine. It didn’t take long for me to find a few websites that sell it! There are a lot of really pretty color combinations! I don’t know how I am going to choose which colors to buy!

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Mail order brides

Have you ever watched any television shows where the theme of the show revolved around mail order brides? I seem to remember a movie a long time ago called “Seven brides for Seven brothers” that revolved around that theme. I remember a Star Trek episode that was dedicated to the adventures of the crew that was transporting a man who was delivering mail order brides to his customers. Every now and then I watch a more recent television show that features the story line around russian brides. Usually the story is a murder-mystery type of show like Law and Order or Elementary.

When the more recent TV shows started to feature stories about mail order brides I have to admit that I was surprised to think that this type of match-making was actually really going on! I find myself wondering how many of these types of marriages become long and happy marriages, and how many of them end in a more unhappy way. I guess that as I gotten older, I’ve become more skeptical about other people’s motivations.

I don’t know how I would react if someone in my family told me that they were getting married to someone they had met online but had never actually spent face-to-face time with that person. I would be very concerned about how they will feel after a few months of reality. I would strongly encourage them to date for as long as possible, and maybe even get a pre-nuptial agreement before the marriage took place. But then that would be meddling, wouldn’t it? Oh dear…

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Have you ever wanted to get published?

I have a lot of friends that tell me that they would love to be able to have some of their writings get published, but they don’t know how to get started. I often tell them that they could start their own blog, for free, using WordPress, but that seems to scare them off somehow. I think that they are afraid that they will then have a huge commitment to write everyday.

Some of them try using Facebook, but I don’t really think that is the best platform for creative writing, and to be honest, I’ve struggled with trying to find older posts on Facebook. A lot of people will post something on Facebook and write “Share on your own wall so you can find it again.” I have not had good luck finding that thing I shared again – ever!

Believe it or not, I get a lot of emails from people asking me if I will pay them money for them to write a guest post on my own blog. I wouldn’t mind doing that from time to time, except that the people then want me to pay them big money for inferior writing that is really all about promoting their own services or product! They claim it will help my search engine rankings, but I know better than that. I get angry that so many people think I am that ignorant!

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Decorating Ideas

Although I don’t have a lot of money, I love to look at magazines and websites that showcase interior decorating. I like to fantasize about how beautiful my house could be “if only” I had plenty of money and the kind of family that wouldn’t break everything within two hours of the arrival of the items I had purchased! Today I was looking around at the domestications bedding section of a website that sells home and patio decor and was surprised to see that they were selling melamine serving ware for what I would consider a hefty sum of money!

I can remember when I first moved out of my parents’ house, my first set of dishes was melamine. I bought them because they were the least expensive set I could find. I was really pleased with them because they were not likely to chip or break, and they lasted a good long time. (I don’t remember whatever happened to them – did I donate them to charity?) Anyway, I was surprised to read the descriptions of these particular melamine products, how the descriptions said that melamine was highly valued for their durability. Made me wish I still had those plates (maybe they would be worth some serious money!)

But continuing to read the fine print about melamine, I saw that it is not recommended for use in the microwave, and that hand washing is recommended. The description said you could wash them in an automatic dishwasher but over time it would ruin the finish. Thinking about how almost all of my cooking is done in the microwave, and how much I use my dishwasher to wash my dishes, pots and pans, I was quite surprised to learn that there really is still a market for melamine dishware at all!

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Easter and garden supplies out

I went shopping yesterday and could not believe it!! Easter items are out already. To me, this is getting a bit out of hand. I asked the store clerk how long they had been out, since it looked like the shelves were pretty much picked over and I hadn’t gone to that store in awhile. He told me they had stocked Easter things right after Valentines Day. (SMH)

The great thing though, is that the garden supply section is now nearly fully stocked. Looks like I’m going to get an even bigger jump on shopping this year for my garden. I’m at least excited about that!

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Information Highway Helps With Shopping

One of the ways that the Internet can be helpful is to compare options from different places without feeling a lot of high pressure from someone. I always hate it when I have to buy something “big” like an insurance policy, or a new car. So I like it when I can find a website, like the one that allred insurance burlington nc put up that will answer a lot of my questions without me actually having to talk to a person. My shopping around is a lot easier with the Internet’s help!

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Sleepless night

Last night I had a terrible time falling asleep. I kept turning out the light and turning of the TV, then I would just lie in bed with my thoughts racing. So I tried to put infomercials on TV to bore me to sleep. But some of their stuff was pretty interesting and I couldn’t stop watching the show. So I didn’t get much sleep last night.