Real Simple

This mag is one of my all time faves and I simply cannot get enough of their "New Uses for Old Things" lists. I really wish I could remember all the clever ideas I've read here over the years.
They've done is again with this post on their web site.

A First

I'm going with Chuck to the tailor later this afternoon.  He's getting some suit pants hemmed for his high school reunion and I'm getting some jeans tailored.  I'm hoping to anyway.  I've heard Stacy and Clinton (from the TLC show What Not To Wear) say over and over again, "Get pants that fit your hips and then get them tailored to fit your waist."
I get so frustrated with the lack of "curvy" options out there for women whose waists are smaller than their hips.  You'd think that was every woman, but apparently not.  The majority of pants I try on, especially if they have no stretch to them, gap in the back at the waist.  I suppose these pants must fit somebody, but not my body.  I happen to know a few other girls with this same issue and then there's all the African American women out there who must also have this problem.  They must!  I see them with their belts on, walking around the mall, and in the back, I can see that there's a pucker in the waistband under the belt.  All that to say that I am not the only one with this problem.
Even Gap's Curvy fit doesn't really work for me.  Old Navy's Sweetheart fit is the best I've found, but I don't want to be confined to shopping for pants at Old Navy the rest of my life!
So, last week, I bought a pair of Ann Taylor jeans at a consignment shop for $5.  They are too big in the waist and I thought it was the perfect opportunity to see if Stacy and Clinton are right.  I'll let you know in about a week.

Cute or Corrupt?

All too often, I run across things targeted for kids that make me do a double take.  Are adults really going to continue to complain that abstinence doesn't work and that kids and teens are too out of control to be trained if they think things like this are ok!!?
It's REDICULOUS to assume that things like this are innocent, buy it for your child (who will see it, memorize it, be wrapped up in it every night) and then have any credibility whatsoever when attempting to train your kid not to be promiscuous!!!
Grrrrr. It makes me so angry.
Look to the right hand column for similar items they recommend.... DORA FOR CRYING OUT LOUD! Linens 'N Things would like me to consider Dora bedding right along with this bedding.  You know who likes Dora?  My two-year old!  I can see it now.  "Hey Eden, tell Mommy what comforter you want for your big girl bed.  Do you want Dora or Sex?"
Did I say it was rediculous?  Well, I wish I could think of a stronger word.  It's downright dangerous to let that kind of thinking invade your home while your child is still, well, a child.  Equally dangerous to allow a teenager to think this was just cute and nothing else.
I'm so steamed.  Satan is so crafty.

Job Hunt - The Memories

Browsing the Anthropologie website this morning got me thinking about my days of job applications, interviews and employment.  I don't know if I'll ever revisit those days again, but I was wondering, if I ever did have the option, where I would put in applications.

I remember being so desperate for ANY sort of job... well, not desperate enough to not be somewhat discriminatory about the applications I filled out.  I remember walking the mall and bringing home 25 pieces of paper to fill out and planning to fill out 5 or 6 more online as well.  

I remember taking them all back and being frustrated by not being able to see a manager and no way to find out if the store was even hiring at that time.  Everyone was so vague.  And, of course, the current employees had no interest in truly helping me.

I remember thinking an interview went well and never getting a call.

I remember being offered the position of manager, but then being told that the pay was only 50 cents more and hour and no holidays off.  No thanks.

I remember filling out an online application with all sorts of moral questions about honesty and integrity and thinking that my answers were definitely going to be more than satisfactory.  A few days later I was told that my online quetionairre answers were not acceptable and that I could try again in a couple of weeks.  I did.  I got the same response.  What?  Why don't they want an employee with high moral standards?  Did they think I was lying because no one really could answer like that honestly?  I still wonder... and I'm still offended.

I remember working for the Disney Store and what a really, truly fun and positive environment it was.  I wanted to keep working there and rise through the ranks to become a manager, but then I went to college.  Bummer.  :D

I remember, while in college, getting fired from not one but two different jobs.  That hurt my heart even though, in both instances, it was a mistake on the part of the manager and not me.  The first time, I was fired because I didn't show up when the manager thought I was on the schedule, but I really wasn't.  The mistake was recognized and I was offered the job back, but I just couldn't bring myself to work with someone like that.

The second time, I was fired because I showed up ready to work because I couldn't remember if I was working that day and I didn't want to miss a shift if I was supposed to be there.  What?  Yes, you read that right.  The manager saw me there and asked me why I showed up when I wasn't on the schedule.  I told her I wasn't sure about my schedule. I just wanted to come check so I didn't accidentally miss a shift.  She fired me on the spot.

Ah, the joys of working hourly wage jobs.

So back to my original thought.  I was thinking I would like to work at Anthropologie a couple days a week.  It's funny, even though I'm 30 now, just the thought of job applications takes me right back to my late teens, early twenties.

I guess I'll keep my current day job for now.

Love

  

Wherever this is (I found it here)... I MUST have my picture taken there someday.  Or have this piece of art, which looks very much to me like Frank Lloyd Wright, in my home (the quote in the background, not the photos themselves... creepy).  One or the other.  Or both would be fine.

I went back to the post again and read it instead of just looking at the pictures.  Amazing what a wealth of information you can find just by reading.  ha.  The location is The Cliffs Restaurant in Laguna Beach. Perfect.  Our next trip is planned as of now.

I Wish

The beauty in the words of this belief statement I wish I could say originated with me.  My feelings coincide, but the words are not mine.  Ann Vonkamp wrote them here and I am only pasting them because their beauty should be shared and used to stir others of like faith.  Read on:

I believe in Jehovah God who created the whirling galaxies, the birds soaring in the sky overhead, the endless crashing waves and all that dances within them. I believe in Father of all who knits together life, made in His very own image, in the secret quiet of our beings.

I believe in Jesus Christ, the One with no earthly Father, with the dust of this earth between His toes, and with our names etched onto the palm of His hands, right beneath the nail scars…Who now sits at the Father’s right hand making endless intercession on our behalf. I believe in the stone rolled away, in the Body being raised, in the first fruits of the dead…and us all following soon, very soon.

I believe in the Cross as our only Hope, our only Claim, and our only Foundation. I believe that in the pounding surf of life we have only one thing to cling to: the feet of our Lord, hanging on that tree, His lifeblood flowing down, washing us whiter than snow.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, moving, whispering, indwelling our very skin. I believe in living by the Spirit, walking in the Spirit, and producing fruit in the Spirit…in the Spirit who helps us in our weakness with groanings that can’t be expressed in words.

I believe in the infallibility of the Bible, God’s Word - a sure Word, a pure Word, the only secure Word. I believe the words on those pages are breathed from the very throne room of heaven, are the love letter penned from the heart of the Lover of our souls; a beacon of light for stumbling feet to find sure footing on a dark path.

I believe there is more than believing. There is living what I believe.


I have posted another selection from her very amazing blog over on My Cup Runneth Over.

Quite the Opposite

We decided to leave that first house and it's owners in the dust.  We went back and forth with them, but they were unwilling to budge and we were unwilling to pay more than our realtor told us the house was worth, so we walked.  The very day we decided to quit and go back to the drawing board, our realtor went by a house that wasn't even on the market yet that a fellow realtor was getting ready to sell.  She told us she had just found our perfect home. 
We couldn't resist looking, even though it was out of our original, somewhat arbitrary, price range.  Wow.  It's a really great house.  Chuck fell madly in love.  I saw some details that weren't my favorite, but, overall, it had great potential to be our next bid.  We had our realtor feel out the owner to try to see if he was interested in a particular price which we thought we could afford even though it was less than he thought he could sell it for on the market.  He said he'd certainly look at it, so we made an offer contingent on the sale of our home.
He returned to us with a suggestion and that suggestion ended up being an amended offer that he accepted and we officially have a contract!  Now we had someone that really wanted to work with us.  His suggestion was that we take ownership of the house in August, but then rent it back to him for two months to give us more time to sell and him a place to live while renovating the condo he's moving to.  The rent he will pay us is more than the amount we will owe on the mortgage and will cover not only the months he's there, but a month or two more after he vacates.  This arrangement give us until January to sell our current home without feeling any repercussions in our wallet.  Even better, if we can get someone to buy our home sooner, but wait to move into ours until he vacates, we'll be able to just pocket the extra rent. 
We've taken a big step and the only things left to do are secure our financing and get the inspections out of the way.  Oh, and sell our house.  We're using this Wednesday as a work day.  Chuck's taking a vacation day and we're going to do as much as we possibly can to get our house on the market. 
I've already started posting about some of the changes over at The Pretty Pickle.