FRIDAY FARE

[Kathryn-in-Canada]

We're home from dinner out. Neither kid wrote the newsletter contribution but we had a nice dinner with everyone. Ds was at the library using the laser and the person after him never showed so he got another 2 hours on the machine (he had only a 30 min. slot booked.) So he brought me dgd's First Christmas ornament tonight. It looks lovely. He had about several dozen ornaments made for others. He charges $5 for a custom one (I paid more because he had to license the picture and font) and $3 for each additional one. Regular stock styles are $2 each. He received an order for 32 a few nights ago so is working on getting those done. These are just 3" diameter MDF circles with a hole in them for a ribbon to hang. But they are a pleasing, simple, earthy, design and at the low price, an impulse buy.

The restaurant manager took one of ds's cards (actually a piece of engraved wood!) and said he'd be in touch.

Ds has registered a company name and website and is starting to gear up. At the hospital he has a captive audience of women on an overnight shift who are full of ideas for things to sell and happy to buy as well. So he's having a very good time right now, thinking of ways to create a side-income for himself. He's also working on building a headboard for someone so made a plaque to put on the back with his company name and a serial number. Currently, he's doing wood working, these engraved items, including glassware, and leather work. He started on the laser because he wanted to engrave leather. But instead, he's busy with the ornament and engraved glassware side-line.

[lucylee]

Oh, Dee!!! That is wonderful that the F it B it turned up! * whew * AND so great that you could cancel the other order!

I have a happy shopping story to tell too! BIG SHOUTOUT TO WMART!
Everyone complains about them, it seems -- it's like they are the store everyone loves to hate, you know? BUT...
Last night I was looking at the Black Friday ads, just "idea shopping" really, because I had absolutely NO INTENTION at all of going near the mall or Wmart or anywhere like that today... but then, they had the A pple watch ddil wanted so badly for $129. Which was just great EXCEPT I HAD ALREADY BOUGHT IT FOR $199 + SHIPPING AND HANDLING. So that was ALL she was getting for Christmas from us. I mean, she'd be lucky to find an orange in her stocking after THAT expense.
DH said, "Well, that's all water under the bridge now; just forget about it." But y'all know me, I could NOT forget about it.
So this afternoon, after dh left, I thought, "What's it going to hurt to at least call them and ask if they can give me the new sale price..."
AND THEY DID!!!
So I got the watch plus $76.30 on a gift card. I was ecstatic!

I did a little more shopping at a couple of smaller stores in town and stopped by the drug store for some refills, and I'm tucked in for the night now -- with lots of ironing and lots of tv to catch up on!

I also have a kitchen disaster question.
Remember the scorched celery & onions from Wed. night? * sheesh *
Well, that pan (stainless steel) still looks horrible. I have boiled water w/Dawn detergent in it, I have soaked it overnight (twice) with baking soda and water, I have boiled vinegar and added baking soda to it, and I have scrubbed it with a paste of baking soda and salt. It ain't coming clean.
HOWEVER -- do you think it may still be usable, even though it LOOKS so bad? I poured water out of it, and the water looks clear and tastes okay to me. Even after boiling, the water looks perfectly clear.
I just don't know if dh will be satisfied with it -- and he uses it Every Sunday of the World to prepare his Campbell's gumbo soup. His "favorite" meal of the week, he says. He will probably have in his mind that everything tastes scorched from it now. * sigh *

So anyway -- if y'all have any other suggestions on how to get the black out of it, let me know!

I haven't really cuop yet -- and I need to get to that ironing. I imagine I've got about 4-5 hours worth of work but... I've got all night (and all day tomorrow, too, really, but tomorrow is supposed to be Christmas decorating day!)

I never thought about the F itBit failing to register steps when pushing a cart. Boy... I'm losing a lot of steps if that's the case! I wonder if you could put it on your ankle and it would count then? Hmmm...

And another hmmmm... boxed tv for sale in the parking lot... yep... curiouser and curiouser, as Alice in Wonderland would say.

How disappointing about the jelly, Kathryn! My goodness!

Waving to ALL!!!

[DeeClutter]

I never thought about the F itBit failing to register steps when pushing a cart. Boy... I'm losing a lot of steps if that's the case!

I realized months ago that it wasn't counting steps while I pushed a cart. Tried pushing with one hand -and well.....that didn't work so well. Then someone told me she always put hers in her pocket & wallah it worked! But how I lost it today I'll never know and for it to show up in their liquor store -no idea! Yes, I'm sure the TV in the parking lot was a 'curioser tale', LucyLee.

Have any of you heard of seaweed flakes? Supposed to have a salty taste without the sodium but has iodine.

[LadyMaverick]

lucylee - I'm a rule breaker. I use magic erasers on my stainless steel cookware. They say you shouldn't do it because you can make the stainless steel look bad. But I've never had that experience. My stainless steel cookware always looks bright & shiny after I've scrubbed them with the magic erasers. I am careful to only scrub in the direction of the stainless pattern.

Kathryn - Your DSon has hit a hot market! I am excited for him.

I spent over an hour trying to design a weekly layout. I tried to design it on paper and failed. Then I tried designing it in 3 different digital software. I ended up deleting everything. I can't find a simple way to combine & show everything I need to do each day of the week. When I show the details for everything in each day it becomes overwhelming. I could feel my stress starting to climb. So I will just continue to use everything the way it is. Sometimes ignorance is best. I can handle focusing on just the next thing. That is easy.

[Nancy]

We had dinner, and I spiffed up the kitchen afterwards.
Glad I got to that, taking a bit of a break to regroup.

I need to decide on my Dec. Notebook for journaling my other one will be full by the first.

[Kathryn-in-Canada]

Service is finished and all printed out now. The sermon is too short and I couldn't think of a way of making it longer so I put in a long introduction to "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear" talking about praying through singing and the social upheaval that was happening when it was written and how the same is true for today. That will make up for the short sermon and hopefully have them pay attention to the words as they sing.

I'm tired enough so will head to bed now.

[Harmony]

Hello everybody. Oh, Dee, I'm so glad you found your fitbit. Whew! I left a reading notebook, with lists and notes of books I read and wanted to read in the library once and it was never returned. I was devastated. I'm very careful with my reading journal now.

We had another busy day. DD and 1 DGS went home last evening because she had work later in the night and he had basketball practice today. The other 2 DGSs stayed here and went home with their father in early afternoon today. We had time to eat breakfast, lunch, and do some fun things together.

We did go out in the shopping frenzy after that. We didn't attempt it earlier when it is really crazy. We took our paint samples of the paint colors in all our rooms and went to stores to see if we could match the colors and buy those little sample bottles to do our touch-ups. First we went to H-D, then another big store and checked 4 different paint brands. We brought all the close paint charts home to check in the right light and see which matches best. We've tried the computer matching that stores offer and that never worked. Tried the outside color 3 times and didn't get a match.

While we were at the first store I asked to just LOOK at the washers and we did and picked one. Checked at the 2nd store. Then we went to 3rd place (expensive) and looked at 4th place. 3 places had the exact same Black Friday sale on the same 2 machines I was looking at or within $20. We kept gravitating to the same model. Everybody's sales were going until Dec 5 so I have time to look online at reviews.

I have mixed feelings. I'm still able to use the old one. It is annoying and I don't like the spots it leaves. But it still works. I'm dragging my feet justifying spending the money. It's not like I'm going to go out and buy all new sheets because there are a few spots on them. Looking at an upright with regular turn dials and nothing fancy and not a lot of cycles I'll likely never use. Utility and longevity is what I want / need.

We had leftovers today, they tasted better than yesterday! I still need to put the house back "together" after our visitors.

Lucylee, I've boiled 2 pans dry myself. I've used SOS steel pads. I've used that with scouring powder. Both of those helped but they are dull instead of really shiny like they used to be. No odd taste. I will have to try the magic eraser. It can't hurt. One is my favorite sized pan and I use it all the time. It just doesn't look as pretty.

Editing to add here: I looked into the washer online. Practically all washers these days do not use as much water as they used to. Darn energy efficiency run amok. Ok, save the water but don't get the clothes clean. People say the one we picked is the closest to an old fashioned washer. Millennials like all the electronic bells and whistles so they can operate their washers with their smart phones while they are 6 miles away...not me. I. Want. Clean. Clothes. My advice to all: if you have an old machine that works, take care of it, you will not get a similar any more.

[kittykatt]

Hello, everyone!
Lucy Lee, I have stainless steel pans, and when stuff gets burnt on, I have had great success with washing soda crystals (its full name is sodium carbonate decahydrate - not the same as baking soda, you wouldn't be cooking with this stuff! I buy the dri-pak brand available in the laundry supplies section of the supermarket. A 1kg bag costs just over £1). Just put a generous couple of handfuls in the pan (wear gloves if using your hands!) add water and bring to the boil. Let it simmer gently for up to an hour and then pour off the water (it's safe to go down the drain, even with septic systems) anything that's got burnt on should now be easy to remove, and then wash the pan as usual, to get rid of traces of the soda crystals. Your pan should now be clean and shiny again! The soda crystals are also good for slow running sinks and help keep outside drains clear! HTH!