Category Archives: What I Learned This Week

What I Learned This Week – 11/17/13

Posted on November 17, 2013 by funnygurl2

This week I learned that scar tissue is less dense than regular tissue.

I found myself near my favorite tattoo place, Studio 14, this week and stopped in to get my ear lobe repierced. It got infected a few years ago and it closed up. I was sick of my earrings being at two different levels, so I figured it was time to get the situation remedied.

The guy pierced my ear with an actual needle. Previously, I had only had the piercing guns do the job. But I totally get that if you are going to be piercing strange parts of people’s bodies, it would be way easier with just a needle.

The piercing guy told me, “Oh, I can tell there is scar tissue in there. Scar tissue is less dense than regular tissue. That went through like butter.”

Um, ew. That grossed me out. Now I picture my earlobe looking like a sponge on the inside.

New earring is the fake diamond bling one.

New earring is the fake diamond bling one.

I also learned that you should never underestimate the amount of chocolate you need to buy.

Before I went to the tattoo parlor, I was shopping at an outdoor mall I had never been to before, Levis Commons. (A direct quote from my asbestos friend: “I just don’t see the logic of an outdoor mall in Ohio. They were big in Arizona, but you never had to deal with snow and rain and coats and such.” And I would say that I sort of have to agree with her.)

It wasn’t very stroller friendly, and the only stores my son & I really liked were the Crazy 8 children’s clothing store (which is like a Gymboree clearance store) and Schakolad Chocolate Factory. Hey, I just sounded out the name–funny!

Anyway, I only bought 6 pieces of chocolate at the chocolate store. And I had to share some with my son. It was more expensive than a Hershey bar from the grocery store, but totally worth it. The Milk Chocolate Red Velvet tasted just like a cake pop. The White Chocolate Lemon was also awesome. I sooo wish I had more to eat, like, right this second.

This is the empty bag from the chocolates that are long gone. But it still smells chocolatey inside!

This is the empty bag from the chocolates that are long gone. But it still smells chocolatey inside!

Comments Off on What I Learned This Week – 11/17/13

Posted in What I Learned This Week and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

What I Learned This Week – 11/3/13

Posted on November 4, 2013 by funnygurl2

This week I learned that a crunchy peanut butter and Nutella sandwich is delicious. It tastes almost like a Reese’s peanut butter cup.

But in sandwich form!

You can call it lunch!

Crunchy Peanut Butter and Nutella Sandwich

Crunchy Peanut Butter and Nutella Sandwich

And you actually need to spread on very little Nutella to get a big complimentary taste. I am not a big peanut butter fan, but we have accumulated a lot of it in our house. I feel a need to eat it up. I find I prefer crunchy to regular.

This might sound like an odd combination, but you have to realize you are listening to a person who had never eaten a peanut butter and jelly sandwich in her life. Peanut butter sandwich-yes. Jelly on toast-yes. The two substances together? That just strikes me as completely disgusting.

This week I also got to wear my Halloween costume that I have been planning for a year, and made a large portion of myself.

Curious? I will give you 3 clues.

1. She is a female.
2. Born in 1976.
3. She is three apples high (but my costume is much bigger).

Hello Kitty!

Hello Kitty costume

Hello Kitty costume

I saw a Hello Kitty outfit at a costume store last year, and that gave me the idea. But the costume looked cheap and flimsy and had like a tutu on it. I was like “I can totally make something better than that!”

Commercial Hello Kitty Costume Photo: SpiritHalloween.com

Commercial Hello Kitty Costume
Photo: SpiritHalloween.com

You should know one of my rules for a Halloween costume is that it be reusable. (I am a Capricorn, I like to get my money’s worth.) One year I invested in a short skirt, short black jacket, and gray velvet tank top. I wore them for YEARS in numerous costumes:

Slutty Witch
Pirate Wench
Slutty Fairy
Juno (I wore the skirt over jeans–I was pregnant that year)

As you might remember, last year I was Jem from Jem & the Holograms. Instead of paying big money for a slutty plastic dress made in China, I bought a pink wrap dress I could reuse on other occasions (also probably made in China). Notice I said “could” reuse. I am anti-dress for most occasions, so I have probably only worn it once since last Halloween.

Now, as you can probably guess I froze my ass off with a lot of these past costumes running around on the streets on October 31 in Michigan. Sometimes I had uncomfortable shoes on as well.

So, this new Hello Kitty costume needed to be both warm and comfortable, in addition to reusable.

I searched online and found the cutest (and reasonably cheap) Hello Kitty winter hat. The face is the most important part, and it is important that it look good. Plus, it was reusable, warm, and comfy.

Hello Kitty wears many different clothes for her many personalities, but the most iconic are her red overalls. I decided to make the overalls out of red fleece, as it does not unravel and would require less sewing. I used some denim overalls I already had as a make-shift pattern. I pinned it up and had my asbestos friend sew up the long leg seams for me. I own a sewing machine, but can’t manage to work it. Then I hand-sewed on the buttons, the button holes, the tail, and the pockets. (The Hello Kitty material I used for the pockets is supposed to help clue in those who may still have trouble figuring out my costume.) It is very warm, very comfy, but resusable? Hell ya! I am planning to use it as pajama pants.

Nice Tail!

Nice Tail!

The only people who really seemed to love it were the little girls, but that is alright. I got to wear it to Trick or Treating at the mall and around town on Halloween. Unfortunately, the weather on Halloween was windy and rainy, and the annual parade and bonfire where canceled. So, I don’t feel like I got as much mileage out of my costume as I would have liked.

Maybe I will not turn it into pajamas so quickly. Maybe I will wash it up and wear it again next year.

…It was just so dang warm!

2 Comments

Posted in What I Learned This Week and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

What I Learned This Week – 10/20/13

Posted on October 21, 2013 by funnygurl2

This week I learned that my asbestos friend was writing a post about an issue dear to her heart. This made me realize that maybe I should do the same as well. I believe our veterans (of all branches) are the truest heroes that we have in our nation. I took this opportunity to finally get out my credit card and donate to Honor Flight Network, which has been on my to do list for years.

Honor Flight Network (which can be found at www.honorflight.org) “is a non-profit organization created solely to honor America’s veterans for all their sacrifices. We transport our heroes to Washington, D.C. to visit and reflect at their memorials. Top priority is given to the senior veterans – World War II survivors, along with those other veterans who may be terminally ill.”

You might think that your donation just goes to cover the cost of a plane ticket. But priority is given to the veterans in the worst physical shape, as they literally may not live long enough to catch the next Honor Flight. Your money goes to purchase everything for these veterans while on their trip, including food, wheel-chair assessable transportation, oxygen while they are in Washington D.C., and coordinating people to push and assist them to get around.

Have you ever taken your grandma who doesn’t get around so good to Walmart? Ya, it is sort of like that, times a whole airplane full!

But this is a great cause. WWII was the biggest conflict in our recent history. More of these veterans die everyday. Think about it. If they were 18 when Pearl Harbor was bombed, then they would be 90 years old today!

Why didn’t they go visit their memorial sooner, when they were young and spry? Because we didn’t complete it until 2004! The question should really be, what did we wait so long for? (Local Trivia: World War II veteran Roger Durbin introduced the idea to U.S. Representative to start the process. Roger Durbin’s son was an English teacher as my high school.)

Most of all, this is important to me because my dad served in WWII. He was an ambulance driver with the medical corps in Germany. He was there when they liberated a concentration camp. He saw some bad stuff. Sorry I don’t know which camp. I only know what my mother told me. See, my dad died in 1975 of a heart attack. He never got to see his memorial. He never knew that they built one. He never even got to meet me. My mom always said the biggest thing he did in his whole life was his time in the Army. That is why I sort of think of Memorial Day as a family holiday, and I feel closest to him on that day.

So, I will add Honor Flight Network to my “What I Support” page. But not today. I have to head to work in a little bit.

But before I head out, I also learned a little something about pumpkins.

This is a picture of our pumpkin.

Our pumpkins

Our pumpkins

I am really into white pumpkins the last few years. And none of the orange ones fancied us, so we picked out this unusual one that looks like a ghost. If you tilt your head. And squint.

The lady we bought it from at Carpenter Farms (cool place, check it out sometime) asked us, “Do you know what this is?”

We replied, “A ghost pumpkin.” Obviously!

She asked, “I mean, this stuff on the pumpkin, do you know what it is?”

“Um, fungus?”

“That is deer damage. We had a lot of deer damage this year,” she explained.

I am not sure I would count it as damage if we still shelled out $3 for the pumpkin!

The great thing is, there is no carving required.

(I have been very leery of pumpkin carving since I required 5 stitches in my hand;)

1 Comment

Posted in What I Learned This Week and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

What I Learned This Week – 10/13/13

Posted on October 13, 2013 by funnygurl2
Yes, sir.

Yes, sir.

What I learned this week was how the PROs and CONs of my job really add up.

I had been out of work for almost 2 years. My husband had found a job, but it didn’t work out. He left like, literally, the same week I got offered this retail customer service job. I had no idea what he would find next or what I would do about childcare for M. I literally took the job and worked as many hours as I could the first week, because I really didn’t know if I would be able to keep it beyond that. (I, of course, never told my boss that.)

And since she was short-staffed, I kept working a lot of hours. My husband went through two more jobs before settling on the one he has now. Since he has been there, he has worked on two different shifts. Luckily, to her enormous credit, my mom stepped up to take up most of the babysitting duties required. But I can’t help but feel as though the novelty of seeing her grandson more often has worn off. She is a 69 year old woman who uses a cane trying to keep up with an almost 3 year old.

I have had this job almost six months now. And I am still very uncertain about if I will be there next week, next month, or next year. I am a planner, so I am always PLANNING to be there. But if something happened to my car or my mom, those plans could change in an instant. They are beyond my control (for the most part).

Since I first applied to the job posting (and never expected to get a call for an interview, let alone the job), I have had the same positives and negatives bouncing around in my head. I finally put them into writing to see how they stacked up.

PROs
1. I like the job and the people.
2. Looks good on my resume.
3. I am building good references.
4. Extra $ for a new car.
5. Helps with my anxiety.
6. If my husband loses his job, one of us is still employed.
7. My boss is a nice boss.
8. My boss is flexible with scheduling.
9. Has helped me get closer to achieving a personal goal.

CONs
1. I am burdening my mom with babysitting.
2. Wear & tear on my car.
3. I spend more impulse shopping than I make.
4. M being shuffled around.
5. Doesn’t pay well for the schedule hassle.
6. Feel like family/house is suffering.

Well, there you have it. With a score of 9-6, the PROs have it. But that is quantity. Does quality count? And how would one ever begin to calculate that?

I implied to my boss this week that I would be open to less hours. Which stinks, because I already am a very part-time employee. But working less hours would only eliminate #4 from the PROs list and it would lesson most of the items on the CON list.

What does the future hold?

Who the hell knows.

Comments Off on What I Learned This Week – 10/13/13

Posted in Job hunting, What I Learned This Week and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

What I Learned This Week – 10/6/13

Posted on October 6, 2013 by funnygurl2

What I learned this week is that my little blog that I started on a whim has reached something I imagined, but was not sure would ever happen.  My little blog of randomness that spills forth from my brain that has reignited my love of writing has hit,

wait-for-it…

25,000 VIEWS!

Actually, as of me writing this, it has reached 25,097 all-time views!

Now, I realize that this is peanuts compared to some other blogs.   But considering I have not done anything big to specifically increase my followers up to this point (My blog does have Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Twubs pages, but I have never blog-hopped…yet) except for trying to post regularly, I am pretty happy about that number.

Thank you everyone who reads every new post I write, and also all the people who just happen to Google “Homefront”, “Barret Oliver”, or “boxelder bugs” and end up here.

YOU ALL ROCK!

Here is to 25,000 more!

Comments Off on What I Learned This Week – 10/6/13

Posted in What I Learned This Week and tagged , , , , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.
← Older Posts
Newer Posts →