What Would You Do?

Last week I had to pick Leia up after school. As we were leaving the school, a car pulled out behind us. Leia said, "Hey, that's John and Joe."

I know John and Joe. In fact, I am pretty good friends with his mom (who I like IMMENSELY). So, as I watched them in the rear view mirror behind us, I saw John, who was driving, texting. Yes, texting while he was driving with little brother Joe in the car.

That's a HUGE no-no in my family. Eowyn will lose her phone if I ever catch doing that. And since she doesn't have her own car, she could also lose her car privileges too.

Anyway, back to the subject.....do I tell his mom, who is a good friend, what I saw? I am pretty sure he would be in really big trouble.

Do I tell John I saw him texting while driving, and if I see him doing it again, I will tell his mom?

Do I tell Eowyn, who is John's friend, what I saw and let her tell him I saw him?

Or do I just stay out of it completely?

What would you do?

Monthly Update

Yes, I seem to be neglecting this blog again. Yes, I am posting more at the other blog. No, I did not start a 3rd one.

There really isn't a whole lot going on now. This is Leia's last week of school. Yay! Because of the 2 week teachers' strike last fall, the kids have had the never ending school year.

Eowyn is at training for her summer camp job this week. We'll see her again in a couple weeks, and then she's off for a camp in Louisiana : ) She sounds like she is having a good time at training. I hope it all goes well for her.

I've probably mentioned this at one point or another....I have been dieting and trying to lose weight. As of today, I lost at least 20 lbs : ) I do slim fast and then really watch what I eat. I also have been exercising as much as I can stand. Which amounts to 20-30 minutes/day. Which is more than I was doing a few months ago : )

Business is slow but steady....no complaints there. Etsy has brought in several new orders for me : ) In my free time I try to paint a new design. I have a new wedding piggy bank that matches my personalized wedding plate. It's really hard to see the design in the picture, but it is a raised design and kind of cool in person. The piggy bank is personalized with names and dates on the other side. I just have to get it added to my website.....

And I guess that's it for now. Looking forward to the last day of school and the chance to sleep in til 7am : )

Just a Couple Thoughts

So I bought some summer clothes on clearance last year at the end of the season. They were cheap and I needed shorts and capris. My old ones didn't fit too well.

I am happy to report these ones aren't fitting too well either. In fact, I need to wear a belt with them now : ) Yay! Can't wait til I can go shopping again.....to go down a size or two, and not up.

I am thinking I may need another blog. I already have this one and the other one. Bet you didn't know I had the other one, did you? There's some things I can't post here....I could post them there, but I don't have too many readers there.

I have to think about this.....I could send some of you the link to the other blog, but it's really personal, and I don't know if I want you to know me that well yet. You may runaway screaming and never come back.....or send the men with the white coats out to find me.

*sigh* What to do....what to do.....

Catching Up

A couple of you faithful readers have contacted me to make sure I am okay, and to see if I will ever write again. Thanks for your concern. I am alive and well, but life is pretty dull, dull, dull.

Really. Nothing much is going on. The cat is NOT killing like he did last year, the dogs have sort of settled down, and business is, well, business. I could copy and paste all of my to-do lists from last year and they would fit in perfectly. *sigh*

In a nutshell, Eowyn is home from college and is planning on working at a camp this summer. Leia has school until the June 22nd (that is a monday and a half day of school. yeah, I'm getting up at 6am....) because of the teachers' strike. Hubby and I celebrated our 26th anniversary. Well, celebrate isn't the word, because we didn't. But we did wish each other happy anniversary.

Oh, I know something exciting. At least for me. While at a family function, my Aunt C invited Leia and I to go on Vacation with them this summer. They rented a house on the beach in Delaware, in late July. Yippee! I have a vacation to look forward to now!

And that has inspired me to really try and lose some weight. And I am doing okay at that. I think I've lost about 10 lbs in the past 4-6 weeks. Maybe longer. I'll never be Valerie Bertinelli, but at least my clothes will fit again and I won't embarrass myself in a bathing suit.

And one last thing....last night me and the girls went to the orchestra banquet. I know now that I truly am old. When they got to the dancing after dinner, I did not know ANY of the dance tunes. Not a one.

Apparently not listening to the radio has affected my knowledge of pop/dance music. Gone are the days of The Love Shack, What I Like About You, The Chicken Dance and Hokey Pokey. What songs do you remember dancing too? Are you into the new music?  Am I the only one out of touch?

Is It Oink or Moo?

So I had time the other day, and I painted this piggy bank...

and this one : ) They make me happy.

I found a couple tutorials online for making a "light box" and I am going to attempt to take better, more professional looking pictures. We'll see how it goes. Not sure how good you can make a piggy bank look....

Update

Leia is finally back to school today. She did not have strep. Her case of the runs was from the antibiotics she was/is on to treat her sinus infection that started from her allergies. Whew. So glad she is back at school. She was getting a little bored here at home, and I was getting tired of losing at Mario Kart : )

Business is slow. And when it is slow, I start worrying myself sick keeping thinking of other things that need done. Or things I should do. Or things I want to do. Oh, this is all business related : )

Today I plan on organizing my garage/kiln area. It's starting to get filled up with stuff. And I have 20-some slip buckets that need washed too. It's going to be close to 70 today, so they'll get hosed down as well.

A couple weeks ago I opened my Etsy Shop. I figured more exposure can't hurt. I hope to make it my "in stock" shop. Whatever is listed there, will be ready for immediate shipping. It's not that way yet....but I am working on it. Anyone have any tips for photographing piggy banks to make them look AWESOME? I'm trying, but I can't seem to get professional looking pictures. (could be because I am NOT a pro?)

And finally, while I have time, I have been painting some new piggy banks : ) The Lammy Piggy Bank is done.

And I am finishing up the purple cow (remember the poem?) and the brown cow (you know, the cow that gives us chocolate milk : ) If business doesn't pick back up, then I will be thinking of more designs and trying to get some stock ready to paint for the fall. Got any ideas?

Allergy Schmallergy

Yeah, I've been neglecting this blog.  I've been in a bit of a funk and didn't want to write about that here.  And really, nothing much has been happening here.  Nothing worth writing about anyway.  But just so I don't lose all my readers forever (I love you guys) I thought I would write about the past couple weeks and Leia.

Leia and I both have seasonal allergies.  It is tree pollen season here in SW Pa.  I can pretty much keep mine under control with drugs, but Leia's inevitably turns into the a sinus infection from hell.

So, the friday before Good Friday I took her to the Dr.  "Dr." I said, "I do believe my most beloved daughter has another frickin sinus infection."  "By jove," he told me, "you're right!"  (okay not exactly like that, but you know what I mean.)

He put her on a mega dose of amoxicilln.  Really, 1000mg/day for 14 days.  That's a lottamoxicillin.  Her sinus infections tend to hang on forever.  And they usually beat 2-3 different antibiotics.  But this Dr. felt sure the new megadose would kick this sucker outta her head.  Cool.

So for 7 days we gave her the megadose.  No problemo.

Meanwhile, Leia's best friend's family (Hi Candi and family, if you still read this : ) had the stomach flu.  Of course Leia was over their house in between outbreaks.

Good Friday evening Leia starts complaining of stomach aches.  And gas.  And nausea.  Shit Great, I thought, just in time for Easter.

Is it side effects of the amoxicillin?  (if you're a mom, you know this stuff can cause belly aches and soupy poopy) or is it the highly contagious stomach flu, that I had hoped we missed out on?

Well, saturday she threw up a couple times and all in all wasn't feeling well.  I didn't give her any megadoses because her stomach was too upset and she played Wii all day just laid around the house.

Sunday morning wasn't much better, but she made it to church, then fizzled out.  She ended up staying home with Hubby, and Eowyn and I went to the inlaws for dinner.  When I got home, she was looking better and was hungry.  So I fed her and gave her a megadose.

This morning she woke up with hives.  Big, blistery hives. Argh.  And WTF?  So back to the Dr. we went.  Nevermind the sinus infection or stomach flu.  She may have strep (who knew that strep caused hives?) or she may be allergic to penicillin.  In a couple days the throat culture will be back and we will have our answer I guess.

I want to know how the heck she could have got strep while taking a megdaose of amoxicillin.  Or why she didn't get hives sooner if indeed it is an allergic reaction.  And will the new penicillin-free antibiotc she is on kick the sinus infection.  And whatever happened to the stomach flu?  Or maybe I shouldn't worry about that one. Answers??? Anyone????

Not Much To Say

So I went to the Dr. Pepper website a couple weeks ago and asked them about the missing Diet Dr. Pepper Cherry Vanilla. And they wrote me back! A real, hold it in your hands, letter.

They said it was up to the local bottlers if they wanted to make the DDPCV or not. But that they were coming out with Diet Cherry Dr. Pepper as a replacement and that should be available soon. Plus they threw in a $2 coupon. I was impressed that they actually got back to me at all.

And I have found the new Cherry DDP, and it is a suitable replacement. Not AS good as the DDPCV, but it will keep me happy : )  Hubby drinks beer to stay happy....I drink Diet Dr. Pepper.

And that is the end of this not-much-to-say post : )

We've Come to a Decision

So, I found out yesterday that Leia would miss another school activity if we went to Florida when we had planned. That would be the second one......funny how everything always falls at the same time. Sheesh.

So after discussing it with her, and explaining the financial situation, we decided to postpone vacation. Which is good. I knew we needed to do that. My problem was that I had promised the girls we would go to the beach. I chose Daytona, because my cousin lives there and it would give us a chance to visit him and his family.

But, there are other beaches, closer to home, and a whole summer in which to visit them. So vacation is on hold until school is out and we have some money saved. Until then, we will just enjoy driving around in the new minivan : ) Woohoo!

A Little Better Today

Thanks for all the comments yesterday. I appreciate it.

What got me down was that I should have known better. I should have known taxes would be higher. And I should have been prepared.

I am just such a terrible business manager, I pay no attention to all that. I love to paint, but the numbers side of the business is my downfall. It does not interest me, and I, honestly, don't have time for it. At least not enough time to do it correctly.

That being said, I am going to try and get myself organized and in a better place with Quicken and Quickbooks. I am trying Quicken first. Quickbooks looks a little too time intensive for me right now.

Maybe once I am comfortable with Quicken, I'll move on up to Quickbooks. We'll see.....I just know I have to have a better grasp on things if I want to be happy and stay in business. Now if I could only get rid of this sinus headache once and for all.