SUE IS A BLOGGING MANIAC!

( and I am LAZY!)

-Cheryl

If Walmart doesn't have it....
You don't need it!

After the big disappointment last night of Target discontinuing my pineapple salsa, I didn't know how I was going to be able to live. I tried a new one, a peach mango salsa, and it came with a big WARNING on the label: MAY CONTAIN PEACH PITS! Oh terrific. So I may break a tooth.

After a trip to Wonder Walmart tonight, my testimony is once again confirmed, If Walmart Does Not Have It...You Don't Need It. There it was...Newman's Own PINEAPPLE SALSA! So there! I do NEED it afterall...because Walmart has it! I just love Walmart!

Wallets come and go...and so do Blueberries!

Why must they do it to us? We get something we really like, and then they discontinue it. Like the much discussed wallet. Today's topic is the Yankee blueberry candle. I had my first one in 1994 I believe. I can remember it burning in the living room, and the guys working on our ROOF, OUTDOORS, asking what that smell was? It was going out the windows and up! On the heels of that came blueberry muffin. I may possibly be mistaken, but I want to say that they actually overlapped. I had the muffin candle in 2001 because it was my maternity leave with Jillian candle. It burned fast because I was home for 3 months and I lit it all the time.

THEN...what were they thinking? They retired them BOTH and we were left with NOTHING. No blueberry fix at all what so ever!

Last night was like coming home again. At the very newest Yankee shop in Great Northern, there it was...the newly released, Blueberry Scone. It is absolutely amazing. I may need to hoard them along with my French Wallets.

Another day, another wallet, another Vera...

Of course nothing can just be simple. With all the panic over the damn French Wallet, and what is to come 7-10 years down the road, I decided that I better not get too comfortable with just ONE wallet. So I had been looking at Vera wallets all along. But again, I can't touch them or look at them because there is no authorized Vera retailer in the area. But even so, I always look.

Tonight I happened to see this one, for just $9.99 buy it now (actually or BEST OFFER, which I hate because you have to make the offer, email it and then wait to see if it has been accepted) with only $2 shipping. So after comparing it to the ones on the authorized website, I saw that I could buy this exact wallet from Vera herself for $15 (because it is a clearance from 2 seasons ago) and then of course shipping. So a good deal. I decided to jump on it. I now have $ in my paypal account from selling some of my crap in my closet...so that made it worth it. I figured if I get it and hate it, I can always relist!

Remembering Love's....












So here are those 2 ads I found. The one on the top I can remember. You sent in $2.75 and could get that shirt. I WANTED that shirt. But I do not believe that I ever actually got it. Now the ad on the bottom is downright WRONG. It is disturbing. There was a lot of feedback on this ad all over the sights I went to in search of ads. How this girl appears to be 10. I was thinking 7, myself. There was one more ad that I tried to download but for some reason it didn't work. It was as disturbing only for different reasons. A college aged girl dressed up to be 10. It was all very odd. So the one on the top is really the only appropriate one. The young high school aged girl advertising the product in a sweet and innocent way. But hey...maybe we are just reading into it too deep. Was there an outrage in 1976 when this ad was out? Probably not. Perhaps the advertisers really were just innocent and were using slumber parties, nail polish sessions and such as inspiration, kind of like Katy Perry? It really probably wasn't that big of a deal. Maybe it was supposed to bring BACK your innocence and all that went with it? Let's ask Katy...

Isn't it great to have a GIRL?

Yesterday, while waiting for prescriptions at Kinney, Jilli and I wandered over to look at the perfumes. There it was, Love's Baby Soft. I told her how much I used to love it. We tried the tester on, but there were none of the shelf. Because it was just a body spray version, it was pretty inexpensive, and I was in whip it in the cart mode so I was kind of bummed. Not bummed enough to get the $11 spray version, but a $4 fix would have been fine. I told her we'd look at Walmart.

Sure enough, Walmart came through. We whipped it in the cart. I was on the look out for the powder, too. I remember having the powder and loving it. I was describing it to Jillian, and how I loved the clear pink plastic bubble that covered the top. Of course, there it is on ebay. I don't know if I'd pay $10 for it with shipping, but even so I have a watch on it.

That led to other searches for images of my pre-teen perfume. I found several ads. Of course what I hate about this blogger is that I can't get the images to insert like RIGHT HERE. Not at the top, above the first picture. And if I start a new one it will publish on top of this one. **sigh**

A little Sunday morning shopping...

So it's been a while, at least a week, since I have ordered any (won any?) Vera off eBay. My most recent purchase was the matching Vera leash to go with Zoey's collar. Today I spotted this NWT Amy purse in the Peacock pattern. I knew I wanted to get Elizabeth a Vera for her 11th birthday and really like this size and style for the 5-13 ish age group. It is kind of like Katie, only with the shoulder strap. It was also available as a Buy It Now...but I had to check with Lizard (her nick name) first, to see if she was into Peacock. I threw a couple of patterns out there, including Daisy Daisy (seems young and hip) but she shot that one down, giving the thumbs up to Peacock. So I jumped on it....BIN for $20....$3.50 shipping. Nice!

Reading the Sunday Paper
7/27/08

While reading the Sunday paper today, a ritual I enjoy every week with my coffee, I had some comments on some ads and some articles. First...Avril endorsing some line of clothing for Kohl's. My question is...WTF. And please, someone explain to me the BLACK EYELINER. While looking through my son's middle school yearbook, I notice more than half the 8th grade girls following this trend. Why? It doesn't even LOOK good! If Carmindy saw this she would definitely have some advice. Now I am even okay with the pink highlights....I can see that as artsy, funky, self expressive. But the black rimmed eyes? ALL THE WAY AROUND? Not so much.

And speaking of BOOKS....

In today's STAR there is a write up about Danielle Steele's new book. The headline CRACKS me up. Romance author HATES appearances, but comes out occasionally. Well COME ON! Look at her! She is turning 61 and is trying to look 25. The hair has GOT to go. It is making her look 81. It says she was in NY for the TODAY show. Well, certainly she could have stopped by Nick Arrojo's studio for some help. He wouldn't be shy in telling her that her hair is not working for her. It says she publishes up to 3 books per year, I am sure she could afford the $500 price tag on a session with Nick!

Been reading Loving Frank for the past 2 days and am totally sucked in. Makes me think of a blog I posted a few months ago....can one person really meet all of your needs? Just a question to ponder while Loving Frank....

What really bugs me about this BLOG

Alright...what I cannot STAND is trying to get the font size to be what you want. It will do whatever the freak it wants. I go back and repeatedly change some to make it smaller...and still it is larger than life. But then some, it will do what I want. I just cannot stand that. I have changed the one about the Mitsubishi at least 5 times (right now that is set on the smallest) and still it is big. But then, the one about the Santa Fe is exactly how I wanted it...I can't WAIT to see how this looks! As I have the title largest and then this type at normal. Also, the one about the ebay wallet has this strange purple box that I cannot get to go away. UGH! Now I know why I do not have a job that requires computer use!

My wallet, always one step ahead of me...

After finally realizing that my French Wallet was a thing of the past, I went to JCP Wednesday and took the plunge. This is the new version of the French wallet. It got me thinking of that very first French wallet that I had in 1985. Was it called that because the French are thin? Because their lifestyle is laid back? Uncluttered? I guess that would definitely describe my life in June 1985 when I received that wallet! When I bought its replacement several years later, it was the same size, only had an extra flap, for a few extra cards. But it was only a small change. It was an easy transition. At that point my life had not changed a whole lot, other than being married and having a job.

This new and improved wallet is much larger. A full inch wider and a full inch taller, with 2 compartments for bills, and double the flaps for cards. It pretty much is keeping up with the busier life I lead now as a 40 (ish) year old working mother of 2. It actually fits better with my extra 10 lbs since my 1985 body too. When transferring over all my cards and cash (ha!)...it wasn't as difficult as I though. I am still not thrilled with how much room it takes up in my purse, however...and I can't imagine how Lola will deal with it!

But now I am nervous. In another 7-1o years when I need to replace this...what will I be forced to purchase? I saw that one wallet at JCP called, My Big Fat Wallet...will that be it? Will I only be able to buy a Big Ass Wallet and will my ass be bigger to boot?

Bonding with Jill

So you are gone...and I have no one to email with daily. Jill has stepped in. I emailed you just before you left about her asking me if I had a tattoo and where and what and when I got it and where I got it done. So I answered her back and highly recommended Tru at Ink Haven. She said that she was going to go someplace on Marshall St. in Syracuse that John felt comfortable with. So I sent her to investigate his website and told her about my whole experience. Being turned down the first time...being sent away very frustrated, only to soul search and come up with something I absolutely now LOVE.

We kind of went back and forth and she claims to have never seen my tattoo. I don't remember where we were the book club of Oct. 2006 where I would have shown it off. But I am betting that Jill was not there.

So she decided after seeing his website and hearing my testimony, that she would go to him for a consult. She wants a monarch butterfly. Something about her aunt. Anyway, she got stuck in traffic trying to get there on Tuesday only to be turned away because his consult time ran out. She was really set back. So she headed back today, getting there 15 minutes before they opened as I recommended.

She emailed me this afternoon and was successful at meeting with him. She has an appointment to be inked on August 4. She is very excited. I told her about my blog on the correlation between sex and tattoos. Then I found it, cut n pasted it and sent it to her. I told her she could wait till after her tattoo if she wanted to have her own opinion. She said she was going to wait to read it, but only could wait 3 hours before she caved and opened it.

I began to worry about sending it to her. Like, was it too personal? But she wrote back that she loved it and was printing it for John to read.

So this has been passing the time along while you have been away, too. Ebaying wallets, acclimating dogs, analyzing libraries and shopping here and there. It's all been great, but, can't wait for you to come home!!!

Field Trip to the Newly Renovated Library

Not sure if you have ever been or not, but the old library was about more than the books. It was an experience for all the senses. While Jillian has no memories of the old library, as the last time we were there, she was 3ish...Ethan does. They were excited when I mentioned going on Monday. We began our trip with a stop at Dunkin', then went over to see it.


Upon walking in, you could see that the main room was bigger. The addition is built onto the back and stretches straight out ahead of you. The circulation desk which used to be on the right, is on the left. Something immediately felt out of place to me, and I realized that it was the tall wooden book shelves were missing! They have been replaced with short, white metal shelves. Ok, so what's the big dill, right? Well, the shelves also have NO BACKS. So while you are in any given row, you can see straight through ALL THE ROWS and see everyone in the entire room through the books! It totally removes the cozy, aloneness one used to feel in between the wooden shelf lined rows of the old library. The smell was also different. I was deeply saddened.


A librarian, noticing the lost look on my face, directed us to the elevator where the BOOKS are now kept. The downstairs is all reference, magazines, computers, videos, dvds, and a young adult section. My hope was renewed as we went to the 2nd floor. Maybe that library FEEL is up there!

Not so fast. Same white, metal shelves. Whose idea was THAT? It is wrong. Half the idea of the library was feeling alone when tucked between those nice tall wooden shelves! We wandered around a bit, the kids being overwhelmed with a lack of understanding where anything was, and the fact that 100 toddlers and kids in strollers were there for some kind of story hour! I recognized a girl from Js church school class and I asked her how to use the computers (I noticed that she was quite good at looking up books). She showed me how to use the digits on my card and what the pin number was to gain access. Of course mine did not work. My card was a dinosaur card that needed to be updated. So back downstairs we headed.


Or so we thought. We stood waiting for the elevator for what seemed 10 minutes. In the mean time, a woman we were waiting with noticed my tattoo and commented on it. She asked if it was a cave art horse. I told her that it was and that I teach art. Well, guess what? SO DID SHE! We got to chatting and I thought she looked familiar...ends up I used to sub for her when she taught at OMS. If I had been thinking...I would have remembered that she started her career as DAVE'S art teacher...one of the ONLY people he has any memory of from elementary school. She is retired now...shared HER tattoo story with me...and then the elevator was fixed and our visit ended.


What a small world!


To end this story...we all got new library cards, the kids each got out a stack of books...and I had Riversend syndrome. The Claire Cook book I wanted was out...so I checked Elizabeth Berg. My memory was working SO WELL Monday that I checkout out a book that, not only have I read before, but it is ON MY SHELF AT HOME !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ugh!

Today on eBay!







You are considering a Ladies French Wallet made by Buxton in a pretty taupe color. If you like this French Style wallet, then you know, as I do now, that they do not make them anymore. The ones they make today are wider, designed to hold many credit cards, ATM cards, grocery store cards, and whatever else we use in lieu of cash today.

So here is the story with this wallet. I received one very much like this as a gift when I graduated from high school...about 20ish years ago. I loved this wallet! It was gray, and was the first nice leather wallet I ever owned. I carried it for the next 15 years, until it literally fell apart. I replaced it with a brown one, but it just wasn't the same. For one thing, when you opened it, you had to turn it around to take out cash with your right hand. My original one was obviously designed by a right handed person. Also, the new one had extra bulk that I just wasn't used to. More flaps for credit cards. Eventually I adapted to this newer Buxton wallet, but I never forgot my first love.

It's been about 5 or so years, and I am desperately overdue to replace my Buxton French Wallet again. Mine is ripping, and the snap doesn't want to stay closed. I have looked everywhere, including online, and the French Wallet as I know and love it, does not exist anymore. So I turned to ebay, and there it was! My original BUXTON FRENCH WALLET! Only in a different color. It was listed as new in box, although admittedly older. I am estimating it is from the mid to late 1980s, as that is when I received my first one as a gift. It is still in its original box. It is everything I remember.

The problem is, sadly, I have outgrown that original Buxton from my young adulthood. Back then I only carried cash, coins, photos of my friends and my prom date. I had a library card and one store credit card. My college ID joined all that and we were happy as could be. But now, as I reevaluate my needs, I am one of those 40 year old adults who has the gas card, the ATM card, the credit cards, the Wholesale Club card, and the frequent punch card at the coffee shop. I hardly ever reach for cash, so the turning to get to it with my right hand doesn't seem as big of a deal. Photos of my friends have been pushed aside to accommodate photos of my kids, nieces and nephews. It is time to face the fact that, I need to graduate up to the bigger, bulkier wallets I have been sticking my nose up at.

I enjoyed a brief reunion with this wallet, as it arrived today, still NIB. But I have to place it back up for bid, for someone who can give it the proper home it deserves, in a downsized purse. I did bid quite a lot for it...but it was actually worth it, even if I have to take a loss. It was a nice trip down memory lane.

Shipping will be $3.95. I prefer paypal. Thanks so much!

Slowly finding her place in the family...

Heading into our 2nd week with the Zoester, she escaped being returned to Canjo. We have a daily little routine that we go through. Dave puts her on the run at 6am- ish for potty and such. When we get up (around 8ish to the pool pump kicking on) we bring her up on the deck. She enjoys this sad old lounge chair that Dave brought up from the cellar because he HATES my wicker furniture! After breakfast we put up the baby gate, close bedroom doors, hide the cat toy bag...and let her in. If we kind of stay low key and ignore her a little, she will settle down. I love how she found the cat bed! And actually kind of fits in it! Good thing Colemy hasn't seen this!

Is this it?
Could she REALLY be gone?

On Sunday Dave decided that we should let her off the run and just see what she does. We can't possibly have a dog just chained up every single minute she's out! So here goes! FREEDOM!!!!!!!!!!!

If a picture is worth 1,000 words, this has to be it! The dog took off like a bat out of hell. Running like she's never ran before (well, she hasn't!). Into the woods. Dave and Jilli headed out to find her, while Ethan heads back, giving up...my dog is gone, I knew it....she'll never come back. This all went on for about 5 minutes. Dave headed back to get in the truck to drive up to the other road to see if she made it across the creek and ran there. Just then...ears a flappin', tail a waggin', tongue a hangin'....she came running back home as fast as she could. That was it....just wanted to explore...I'm home now! When I told my brother about her excursion, he said that she got away from them once. Tom and Julie went in the house and closed the door. Oh well....she's gone. 10 minutes later there was a little scratch scratch at the door...she had returned home.

Goings on with Zoey

Well, Zoey was here 1 week to the day when you left for your VWOD. She does a little bit each day. On Saturday night we loaded her into the car for a trip to the parents. My father really enjoyed her, being the beagle man himself. After that brief visit, we stopped at Bev's for ice cream and she had her first experience at the lake. It was a lot of fun trying to keep her away from all the dead fish, but she did love rolling in the rocks.

While Cheryl is Away

I decided rather than to flood Cheryl's email, while she is away on her VWOD (vacation without dog), I would post on our blog, what I might have randomly emailed her about. Since my title as BLOG PARTNER has dwindled to Guest Writer, I thought this would also give me the opportunity to catch up a little.

I will start with Friday, July 19 and work my way to today.

We fired him then, we fired him again...

On Friday, even though Cheryl was technically still in the state, the story begins. Dave and I headed to Syracuse to look at vehicles. This is never one of my favorite shopping outings. Shopping is fun because you can look, decide what to buy based on the price and what kind of coupon you have or what kind of sale is going on. There aren't any games, it is all up front. Vehicles are not like that. There are the sticker prices, the rebates, the invoice price and then the secret dealer price, and God Forbid if you have a trade in, that adds another element of surprise and mystery. I just hate it.

We had 2 vehicles we were looking at Friday. The Mitsubishi Outlander first, then the Hyundai Santa Fe. I could basically care less. Pick one, get it, drive it and move on. But for Dave it is all about the prep, the hunt and the kill. So we get there, find them, get out and look...and wait to be approached by the dreaded sales rep. Here he comes...towards us...and it all begins. He introduces himself and shakes our hands...I am already hearing blah blah blah. He tries to make personal connection, talking about kids and family...needing a vehicle to fit everyone and friends, too. Once we decide to test drive one, Mr. Sales Rep goes to get plates and keys. While he slips away, I pull out his card and look at the name. My jaw hits the ground. Could it really be? I show Dave the name and ask him if it rings a bell. This was the man we hired in 1992 to be our wedding photographer, then fired 2 months before! Slowly, the details all come flooding back.

I chose him because, as an artist, I wanted someone GOOD. He took my brother's first communion portraits and I remember being impressed with his work. We went for our engagement pictures and I put down a $100 deposit and saved our date. When I got the pictures back, although nice, I was upset by my favorite, being off center. My head was cut off a little on the left side. As the months went on and I booked florists, ordered a cake, invitations, everyone asked who the photographer was. I distinctly remember the invitation printer saying, is there any way you can get out of that? For reasons I have since chosen to block, I secured another photographer. Ok, so he was a city cop....but I felt that due to a GUT FEELING, I had to get out of this other commitment.

2 months before the wedding, he contacted me about specifics (place, time...) and I told him that we decided to forfeit our deposit and go with someone else. Yeah. Kind of awkward.

So here he comes back with the plates...and we hop in for a test drive. I wonder now why he didn't really bite on the opportunity to share with us his OSWEGO connection when we told him where we were from and for that reason we would not buy a WHITE vehicle due to driving in white out conditions? So I come out and ask...So...didn't you used to be a photographer in Oswego? He said yes, but the tone was strange. I told him that he actually took our engagement picture 16 years ago. He asked my maiden name. I told him and he echoed back the mispronounced version of my name. He asked how to spell it (he was writing it down) It occurred to me at that moment...my Uncle was in the wedding business (flowers) along side him for YEARS (they alllll know each other) and yet he chose not to ask....if we were related. The whole thing was ever so strange. He mentioned that he probably still had our negatives. If he honestly did not remember anything about me firing him at THAT moment, on THAT test drive, I am certain that he went home and looked up our negatives and had some kind of record that we let him go.

After test driving the Outlander it didn't impress us, nor did the sales rep. So we fired him, yet again...and off to Hyundai we went for a completely opposite experience.

Do you still believe in Santa honey?

So at this point, we move on to the Santa Fe. The Hyundai dealership was WAY laid back. Our rep wasn't even legal to hold a driver's license yet. Dave knew more about the vehicle than he did. He was dressed like a high school kid doing his own laundry. On the test drive, however, we did decide that we really liked the Santa Fe. The one they had on the showroom floor of course was gorgeous. Leather interior, sun roof, power everything and gadgets we would never use in our lifetime, but Ethan would probably know how to operate.

While checking out the back end, we were impressed with the removable liner that covers the rug. It was so dog friendly. We made a private little joke about the DOG and of course the little boy picked up on it and asked what kind of dog we have. I embarrassingly admitted that we have a Beagle. Well...I guess the boy should have been working as a vet assistant, or as a breeder or trainer, because this is where all his knowledge was! He is was a total beagle lover. He told us all about his love of them and how he was working for the Save the Hound Foundation to save hounds rescued after Katrina....oh my. He went ON and ON about how beagles are just the BEST dog.

It was kind of funny...how the vehicle we hated had such negative aura tied to the rep, and here this vehicle we love came with this enthusiastic pep rally about the dog we are still so unsure of. I am sure Zoey set this all up...to help us get the vehicle that will work to her best interest in staying!

But of course they were closing at 6pm, and it was now 5:58 and the deal process was going no where. We decided to walk away...and continue the hunt.

...and if we have to have these dogs creating havoc in our lives, we may as well have some fun with them, eh?  Matching Vera Bradley Botanica collars, anyone?  Zoey is looking most stunning, but Lucy is NWT!  Ahhh, eBay!

-Cheryl

Need to start blogging this summer.  SO much has been going on already, and  we have been entirely off the radar.  Of course, this, in part could be due to Sue's and my tandem jump into dog ownership.  I am calling it "Dog by Design, Dog by Default" because we really planned to get a dog, whereas hers, literally, fell into her lap. Her brother needed a new home for a one year old beagle in the event of his second child being born, and her son, needed a dog.  I mean, Sue and I had LITERALLY and on several occations discussed Ethan's desperate want, but she felt like if they did get a dog it would have to "just happen."  Well, it did, and we did, and now we all are living the doggy life...and what a change in life it is.  Anywhoooo, you may as well meet 'em.  Above please get to know Lucy May Howell and Zoey Sincavage Hall!  Lucy May actually is Lucy May Merlot Cause I Like Ya A Lot Better After Some Merlot, and uncanny as it seems, Zoey is the one member of Sue's household, that shares her maiden name.  As I told Sue, as much as the pup is, at the moment, cramping her style, someday they will both sit down, her with a glass of...Merlot... perhaps, Zoey with a bowl of cool water, and discuss their similarities.  For now, though, we will just try to hang in there, right Sue?  Summer chaos, here we come!

-Cheryl