Life – Rachel Greensleeves

November 25, 2017April 1, 2018

Transform Tube Socks into Snowmen

photo of DIY sock craft

Found this cute crafting project to transform tube socks into snowmen. I got some old socks from my dad and have a jar of odd buttons – I always cut off the buttons before throwing out a shirt or jacket.

It looks pretty easy – I think I have enough things on hand to make a couple of these sock snowmen this weekend – while we are snowed in!

Yes, the weather forecast is for snow, starting this afternoon and going through the rest of the week, including Thanksgiving. I guess last year’s mild winter has put us on the hook for a colder and wetter winter this year.

November 20, 2017April 1, 2018

Not Particularly Wishing the Ex a Happy Birthday

I wonder how many years have to go by before I stop thinking about my first love – now my ex – and special days like his birthday and senior prom and those special dates that are a big part of my history and life? I don’t really want to think of him on his birthday anymore. We broke up 3 years ago. But here it is November 20 and I know that it is his birthday. I wonder who is he celebrated his birthday with? What are they doing tonight? What gift did she buy for him? And I know I shouldn’t care and it sounds like I am jealous – but I’m not jealous. Just curious.

Not particularly wanting to be wishing the ex a Happy Birthday. I am certainly not going to call him and say that. But I am curious and don’t really like it that I am curious. I should not care enough to even think of him at all. But I can’t help it. I guess it is hard to give up all those dreams and plans and that we made and realize that they won’t be happening with him. And probably not even with someone else. I’ve moved on to a different path and my dreams have changed, too. I just wish I didn’t think about him on the days that were special to us. Does that make any sense?

October 28, 2017April 1, 2018

Pumpkin Decorated like Cinderella’s Coach

I found a photo of a pumpkin decorated like Cinderella’s coach and it gave me the idea to do this at home. I bought 3 pumpkins at Fred’s Discount store for only $2 each. I also found this little plastic Cinderella doll and the rhinestone crown in the toy section of K-Mart for only $3 for the doll and $6 for the crown. I can’t find the Prince Charming doll anywhere locally and I shopped all the different store toy sections looking for him. Maybe I will check Amazon and see if the Prince Charming is available there. I would not mind paying another $3 to have Prince Charming greeting Cinderella.

I’m going to embellish my pumpkin with bling and put it on my porch so the kids who come trick or treating can see the vignette and I won’t be too worried about teenagers vandalizing or smashing my pumpkin like they did last year when I had it closer to the road. I dare them to come up on my porch and try that shit!

June 13, 2017April 1, 2018

Getting Ready for a Yard Sale

This time of year my neighborhood has “Yard Sale” signs popping up on every street corner every weekend. It’s the perfect time to get serious about clearing out your clutter and getting ready to sell it off to strangers who happen to drive by and see all your stuff in the yard – or garage. Most of the houses on my street have a garage that faces the street, so if it happens to rain during the yard sale, we just move it all into the garage and people will come.

I’m the first one to admit that I have hoarder tendencies, but I try to keep everything organized and clean. About twice a year I will do Spring Cleaning and toss a bunch of things that I don’t want into some big plastic tubs that I keep in the garage in anticipation of having a yard sale. There are some things that were easy to discard, such as all the old VHS tapes that I’ve had since the 1990’s, a bunch of old CD’s that I have to admit that I don’t listen to, and this weekend I will be purging my closet of clothes that don’t fit.

Today I realized that I have 4 media shelving units full of DVDs and they are covered with dust. I seriously cannot remember the last time I walked over to the shelves and looked for a movie to watch. Everything is pretty much on demand digitally, so why are all these old movies taking up space and collecting dust? I’d be better off selling the old DVDs for a little cash and put that money toward my vacation this summer.

My last boyfriend was a big movie fan and loved to collect DVDs. It seemed like every time we went to WalMart, he would pick up one or two movies to add to our collection. The only problems is that they are all guy movies. You know, the action movies with Bruce Willis or Mel Gibson. A few comedies with Adam Sandler or Ben Stiller. And those crime dramas with Robert De Nero or Al Pacino. As far as I’m concerned, once I’ve watched those kinds of movies, I’m not really interested in watching them a second or third time. So, what’s the point of having them on the media shelves?

There are probably only 4 or 5 movies in each different genre that I can watch over and over again. Maybe I should grab 10 desert island picks from each genre to keep and then just sell off all the rest. My boyfriend left them all behind when I had to kick him to the curb, since I’m the one who actually paid for most of him while he was “looking for a job” for so long. It will be nice to having a little extra money when I head to the beach in August, and selling the DVDs – that I don’t even watch – in a yard sale is a pretty painless way to raise that extra cash.

December 8, 2013

Happy Holidays vs Merry Christmas

There are a lot of posts on Facebook this week from angry people who say that its wrong to tell people “Happy Holidays” or to have a “Holiday Tree.” They insist that we should say “Merry Christmas” and that we all have a “Christmas Tree.”

I have mixed feeling about that. I think it is OK to say either one and that people should be happy or glad that I took the time and made the effort to wish something good for them. The intent of the wish is the same. It is about spending the last week or so of the year visiting family and friends, exchanging gifts and celebrating whatever traditions are important to you and the ones you love. It is not about identifying your religion or forcing your religious beliefs on other people.

So, that’s my thoughts on the holiday and/or Christmas greetings. I will probably say Merry Christmas to your face and post that on Facebook, too. And this year I think I will just skip sending cards. I don’t really have the time or energy to put into them.

June 16, 2013

Scored Big on my Yard Sale!

Tonight I am exhausted but over $600 richer than I was this morning before my yard sale. I really scored big on getting rid of so much stuff today. I even sold my futon for a good price and now I have a ton of room in the spare bedroom to organize all my crafting and sewing supplies.

I had set the alarm clock for 5:30 am – which is almost a crime for a Saturday morning! But I knew I needed to get an early start on setting up the tables and hauling all the stuff out to the front yard. At first I was going to just use the driveway, but realized that there was no shade over the driveway, so I used the front yard where I could be a little cooler in the hot sun. Good thing – the temperatures almost hit 90 degrees today. But there was a little breeze and the shade made it much cooler.

I was able to unload two old TV sets, a small bar with 2 leather seated bar stools, lots of kitchen gear that I never use (who needs three crockpots, anyway?) the futon, and some old jewelry that I never wear anymore. I sold about 40 CDs for $5 each. I didn’t think anyone would pay $5 for a music CD, but this younger guy stopped by and said he was starting a mobile disc jockey business and needed to get a lot of music together that people like me would dance to at weddings.

All together, it went really well and I had almost nothing left over – just a few clothes and old pocketbooks. So I tossed them into a big box and dropped them off at Good Will. That $600 is going to my vacation fund – that will come in really handy this summer!

May 24, 2013

Thank God Its Friday!

My friend, Jim Hunt, is a cartoonist who lives in Maryland. I love his style of drawing and lettering. He has a Facebook page where he shares a lot of his cartoons and drawings. This one really fits the occasion today. If today was not really Friday, I think I would go to be dearly and pull the covers up over my head and cry myself to sleep! It’s Friday – and not a moment too soon!

May 20, 2013

Fun at Renn Fest with Wendy

Yesterday my girlfriend, Wendy, invited me to go to the annual Tennessee Renn Fest with her and her two kids. At first, I was reluctant to go. I’m not used to being around little kids and I was not sure I would enjoy the Renn Fest with the distraction of kids running around. I told Wendy that and she was very understanding, and she suggested we take separate cars to the Renn Fest so that if I was not having a good time I could just leave. That sounded like a good plan, so that’s what we did.

Parking was not a big issue although the Festival was PACKED. I was really surprised at how many people went to this event in costume and seem to take the whole Rennaisance era very seriously. There are paid actors who roam about in costume, but a lot of the attendees were also in costume and sometimes you could not tell if they were actors or tourists!

Wendy’s kids are very well behaved and absolutely adorable kids! I think watching them have fun at the Renn Fest actually enhanced my personal experience there. I had a wonderful time, we watched every show and bought a few souveniers and the only reason we left was that the festival was over and packing up for the night!

Thank you, Wendy, for inviting me!

April 11, 2013

Baking Up a Storm in the Kitchen

When the weather turns cold and rainy, it drives me into the kitchen and I start baking up a storm. I love to cook, and I especially love to bake. I think that cookies are my specialty, but I make a fantastic cake – from scratch! – and a pretty tasty fruit pie, too!

I am going to try some recipes today that call for buttermilk. I have not used buttermilk before, but you see it featured on a lot of boxes at the store as something special: buttermilk pancakes, buttermilk waffles, etc. So I am going to make some pancakes and then a recipe that I found calling for buttermilk and fresh berries.

If it is still cold and rainy tomorrow, I will be back in the kitchen working on some cookies. I have a few things in mind that I have not tried yet and if they turn out well then I can take a couple dozen to my vet’s office and share them. I love my vet and doing something nice like baking cookies is a great way to show your appreciation to the staff there!