Note to Self:

22 random lessons I've learned this week.


1: Sometimes a $5 jewelry-and-beads-grab-bag is worth it.



And sometimes it isn't. I used to be a Nurses Aid and I can handle just about any human waste and/or fluid that comes my way except for phlegm, snot, drool, etc... And I don't abide sharing lip balm or public pens. This just creeps me out! I couldn't even touch it when I found out why it was so greasy. Ewww. And sometimes the treasures come from unexpected places.

I could ditch the rest of the strand, but I love these blue striped beads!

2. Read the fine print.


(They get away with it by calling it honey SAUCE)

3. Size does matter.


When I hand sewed everything (like, a month ago) it didn't matter how short my simple little pins were. When I bought the Grabbit, it came with a few of these longer pins and now I won't go back, I hate it when I run out of the longer ones and have to use the short stubby ones!


4. Caffeine Free Pepsi really does taste better in a wineglass at the end of a hard day.





5. Just because it's a farm stand doesn't mean it's locally grown. Or ripe.

This peach was so hard, I had to cut it in four before I could leverage one of the sections off the pit! I still ate it. See Blue Yonder's boy's comment about unripe peaches. I wholeheartedly agree! Turns out, this peach came all the way to New Hampshire from South Carolina! What, South Carolina didn't want it?



6. People care. They really do.


7. The remnant bin is still a good substitute for ice cream.



8. Don't try to get fabric cut on lunch break. I have no picture of this because I didn't have the fabric I wanted cut because I ran out of time because there was THAT lady in front of me with seriously two stacks, STACKS, of fabric bolts about two feet high EACH that she wanted 1/2 yard increments of. Two!!! If I'm ever THAT lady, I pray it's at the least busy time of day! Sorry, those of you who are that lady, I'm sure you had fantastic excuses and really really tried not to go at the BUSIEST time of day. Thank you for letting me vent. Not that you had a choice...


9. No handles = more effective clutter control.



(Note the box, not the pretty stuff inside it.) I used to use a basket for the purpose of corralling all the little things that end up in the car. I'd bring it inside, unload half of it, load it back up the next day, (with 1/2 the basket still full of things I'd brought in the night before) and bring it out the the car, and so on...but a shallow box with no handles = harder to tote back and forth = makes me think twice about bringing things in and out and in and out...


10. Darning socks isn't just something Gramma used to do in the olden days.

It's a really great idea.


11. Crying is good. It's really really good. No picture for this one either. You'll just have to take my word for it.


12. One woman's loose change is another woman's foreign coin. I found this among my shell collection. I have no idea when I stumbled upon it, but it reminds me that I'm now a part of a global network of friends and acquaintances. (Of which I'm incredibly grateful!)




13. Small and thin really is beautiful.


(Although it's not the ONLY beautiful thing on the face of the earth)



14. Men like to get together and look down holes. And when the storm drains fill up, sometimes it finds the path-of-least-resistance right into your next-door-neighbor's house via the bathtub. Oi.





15. You don't always get what you pay for. Sometimes you get more. I found this at a yard sale for 50 cents a few weeks ago and just got around to tracing the symbols stamped on the bottom. It comes from the Lawrence B. Smith Company out of Boston, Massachusetts which was in business from 1887 to 1958.






16. I don't always get what I ask for, but I really don't think it's because I offended God by calling Him "Honey."


17. I really really need to cut down on some of the things on my sidebar. (You know what I'm talking about.)


18. I not only enjoy cross stitch, I miss it too. A lot.

I love the texture of the Irish linen that I prefer to use, I love the softness of the floss, I love the feel of the finished stitches, I love completing the project, I love giving of my time and talent to show people that I love them, that I'm thinking of them, and that they are treasured.



19. And I miss my little Korean sister. I've mentioned her once before, I'll tell her story here since I miss her so much. Hyung is living with my parents during the school year (which runs from the end of August to June here) for three years until she graduates High School. When she comes back next month, she will be in her Senior year! When we first met, we hit it off right away. She says and does so many things that remind me of how I was at her age. This past school year we spent even more time together than the first year. I got a text message from her yesterday while I was on my lunch break. It was so good to hear from her!
She makes me feel good about myself. Not by telling me I'm great and encouraging me, although she does that too, but she laughs when I'm trying to be funny and she asks me hard questions and I manage to answer them and she's so grateful. She tells me she can be herself when she's around me, she is fiercely loyal to me, and so proud to call me her sister.

I miss her a lot, and hopefully the next month will go a little faster than the last one did!


21. A princess never hurries. I don't remember the exact line, but it comes from the movie The Princess Diaries with Anne Hathaway. I was moving small furniture items Tuesday night and was told to take it slow or I'd get hurt. I just didn't want to seem like I was working half-heartedly (especially since I couldn't really pitch in like I wanted to) but it reminded me that life is not a sprint.


22. I really REALLY don't like it when people pat me on the head. Right after the older guy (but not much older) told me not to hurry, he patted me on the head. Now I know why my mom never liked that. Since I'm short, I get it more often than I'd like to admit. And when I'm not wearing makeup or dressed professionally, I look about 18-23. Seriously. The head patting thing gets old quick when you're 30+!




So far that's all I've learned this week. I was shooting for 10. I guess I exceeded expectations!