Sunday, March 28, 2010
My New Computer
I think I’m in love with technology! Does that make me a geek? The new lap top was ordered on Monday and arrived on Thursday. Now, keep in mind that the last time I bought a computer was in 1999 when my old windows 3.1 finally needed to be replaced. It was windows 98, which of course went to blue screen soon after. Circuit City ended up replacing it for me with a windows 98se, which worked great until around 2006 when I finally replaced the hard drive and installed windows xp. Well, as of last year, the computer itself had gotten to slow for the programs on the internet, I could only hook up with dial up, it had no Ethernet card, and I decided it wasn’t worth buying one for that computer. So, Rick and I shared his computer, which he bought around 2000. His computer has Ethernet and was already windows xp so it started out a little fasted than mine. Sharing a computer is fine, but now his computer is too slow to play games on facebook. Yes, I moved out of Yoville and Farmville because of my computer! It was a good habit to break in the long run (have you heard about all of the viruses being blamed on Farmville attachments??). So we finally decided it was time. We had to get a new computer! We found a nice Toshiba on walmart.com in our price range and ordered it. Now the fun part. All of my files for the store were written on Microsoft word processor version 2000, now we have version 2007 and the two programs are not compatible. So, I have now begun re-entering all of my store information, all of my Sanctuary information, and all of my previously saved recipes manually. But on the plus side, this computer is so fast, I don’t have time to run to the bathroom while I’m waiting for the page to load! I had gotten in the habit of turning on the computer in the morning when I get home from work, getting changed, emptying the dishwasher and making a bowl of oatmeal while I waited for the computer to boot up and the internet to load, and I still had time to eat my breakfast before it was finished loading! Now, I don’t even have time to fix breakfast before the internet is up and running! I can switch between my facebook page and Rick’s without waiting, and the games load! I’m currently hooked on Mahjong Dimensions, but that’s another story… But I am having so much fun! I have been clicking on icons on this computer to see what they do. I love the sticky notes! I’m a Virgo, I have to have a list… I’ve been using the sticky notes to remind myself of things I need to search and websites I need to go back too. I love it! I don’t have access to the internet connection at work but I can write blogs on the word processor and copy and paste when I get home or when I finish writing. I have also started re-entering all of my store and Sanctuary information. So, I imagine it will be a while before needing an internet connection at work is even an issue. Of course, on the nights that the baby isn’t feeling well or had a late nap I won’t get much done, but as a chronic multi-tasker, I am in my element! It’s always bothered me that I am at work with work to do at home and I can’t do both at once. The lap top is definitely a good choice. Maybe I’m not quite ready for geek-dom, but I have certainly enjoyed the adventure of learning a new computer! I’m thinking about uploading some novels…. Any suggestions?
Friday, March 26, 2010
Charlie
Charlie is 12 years old now. I got him from the Pound in 1999, he was about a year old then. He is a German Sheppard / Collie mix. Charlie was terrified of everything when I brought him home. Every sound, every person, just everything. He wouldn’t eat anything but table scraps, and he certainly wouldn’t eat if anyone was around. He wouldn’t bark, and he didn’t know how to play “fetch”. I took him to a trainer to have him evaluated. I had decided that if there was no chance of improvement, I wanted to take him back to the Pound before I had a chance to get attached. The trainer explained that he had obviously been mistreated. She said that the way the fur was matted around his neck, even after a few baths, showed that he had been left out on a chain. He was also, in her opinion, left alone most of the time. He was very timid around people. He was terrified of sticks, she thought that this may have indicated that he had been teased, maybe even poked at. But, she also said to give him plenty of time and he would come around. Of course, this was not what I had in mind when I went to get a dog. I’ve always been envious of those folks who can leave their dog off leash and the dog stays with them and never creates a problem… Charlie is still timid around some people, not all, and we’re not sure how he would react if someone tried to hurt me, but what a difference! He loves to be the center of attention, and if the neighborhood kids are outside playing he barks and barks and barks. He wants the kids to come and play or at least talk to him! If he hears one of the kids crying he gets upset and barks and cries until they stop or are out of his hearing range. He loves doggie ice cream (Frosty Paws) and this year during the holiday’s I made home made dog biscuits for him. (no, he’s not spoiled, just well loved!). I’ve always had this vision of the perfect dog for me. This is a dog that can be off leash and stay there beside me. And my “perfect” dog is supposed to “stay” when he’s told, and “come” when he’s told, and not beg at the dinner table… Well. Let me tell you about Charlie… One day last week, Rick and I were sitting at the dining room table working on packaging for Wildflower’s Organics. Charlie must have thought we were eating something. He came dancing into the room, tail wagging, ears up and just as pretty as he could be. He sat pretty, begging for a treat. Rick reached across the table to the bag of dog treats just as Casey, our cat, came flying in through the doggie door. Charlie stopped mid-beg, he had to sniff and nuzzle Casey. By the time he was finished, he had completely forgotten that he was begging for a treat!
Charlie and I usually go for a walk when the weather is nice. Just to the end of our street. He’s still afraid of the traffic and there is almost no traffic on our street. The trainer said teaching him to walk on a leash wouldn’t be too hard. She said start with a longer leash and progress down to a shorter leash. We tried it. It looked like I was skiing on asphalt! He could not remember to stay beside me. If he sees a butterfly, he tries to follow it. If he sees a cat, he tries to follow it, if he sees another dog, he wants to follow him too! We ended up getting a retractable leash! Sometimes, I’ve said that we don’t go for a walk we go for a “sniff-n-pee/stop-n-bark” because that’s what we do! Every blade of grass, every clump of dirt, every mailbox needs to be watered by him! He barks at every dog, and every neighbor he sees., more in greeting than anything else. But if a car comes down the street. He sits exactly where he is. It’s like trying to move a brick wall with kite string!
I said Charlie isn’t spoiled, he’s just well loved and that’s the truth. Rick and I were married in 2007 and Charlie liked Rick from the very beginning (which had a lot to do with marrying him…). Charlie now has a doggie door and a patio completely enclosed by a privacy fence. He has plenty of room to meander and play. He’s even learned to play fetch and sometimes we play “fetch it yourself”! He can see the neighbors through the fence and he loves to bark at whatever it is he thinks he sees in the night. On the days that I help out in our store, Mystik Dove, he spends the day with Rick and I in the store. He doesn’t spend a lot of time alone, and he likes it that way!
Charlie is starting to show his age now. His muzzle is turning gray, we’re not sure how good his vision or hearing are sometimes, he sleeps more than he used to, and some days he seems to have more trouble getting starting in the morning, but if Rick lights the grill, Charlie is like a puppy, all revved up and ready to beg!
Charlie and I usually go for a walk when the weather is nice. Just to the end of our street. He’s still afraid of the traffic and there is almost no traffic on our street. The trainer said teaching him to walk on a leash wouldn’t be too hard. She said start with a longer leash and progress down to a shorter leash. We tried it. It looked like I was skiing on asphalt! He could not remember to stay beside me. If he sees a butterfly, he tries to follow it. If he sees a cat, he tries to follow it, if he sees another dog, he wants to follow him too! We ended up getting a retractable leash! Sometimes, I’ve said that we don’t go for a walk we go for a “sniff-n-pee/stop-n-bark” because that’s what we do! Every blade of grass, every clump of dirt, every mailbox needs to be watered by him! He barks at every dog, and every neighbor he sees., more in greeting than anything else. But if a car comes down the street. He sits exactly where he is. It’s like trying to move a brick wall with kite string!
I said Charlie isn’t spoiled, he’s just well loved and that’s the truth. Rick and I were married in 2007 and Charlie liked Rick from the very beginning (which had a lot to do with marrying him…). Charlie now has a doggie door and a patio completely enclosed by a privacy fence. He has plenty of room to meander and play. He’s even learned to play fetch and sometimes we play “fetch it yourself”! He can see the neighbors through the fence and he loves to bark at whatever it is he thinks he sees in the night. On the days that I help out in our store, Mystik Dove, he spends the day with Rick and I in the store. He doesn’t spend a lot of time alone, and he likes it that way!
Charlie is starting to show his age now. His muzzle is turning gray, we’re not sure how good his vision or hearing are sometimes, he sleeps more than he used to, and some days he seems to have more trouble getting starting in the morning, but if Rick lights the grill, Charlie is like a puppy, all revved up and ready to beg!
Saturday, March 20, 2010
PopPop's Shop
Blessed Ostara! Happy Spring! This has been a long and cold winter. I'm really happy to see that it's finally ending!
We opened another section on our dovesart.etsy.com shop. It's titled PopPop's Shop. All of the items in the section were made by my Dad, whom the kids call PopPop. PopPop will be 74 years old in April. He retired about 10 years ago from his "real" job and now works full time in the hardware department at Walmart. Mom passed over a few years ago and Dad is alone now. Working at Walmart gives him something to do every day and I know that he's not sitting quietly in the house all by himself.
For as long as I can remember, PopPop has had a workshop. The workshop has been expanding slowly over the years, but it has always been there. PopPop loves to build things. He's made shelves for everyone, Blanket Chests, and anything anyone needed. I lived in one house that was rather small. I gave him the dimensions for the living room tables that would fit and he built them. I showed him a picture in a magazine of another table I wanted and he built that one too! Recently he built himself an Entertainment Center (he needed a new one to go with the new TV!) and he built himself a beautiful computer desk. He doesn't use the computer much, but he has one and it sits on the new desk. (Or some other excuse to build something!! LOL!)
PopPop will make whatever he's in the mood to make. The items in the PopPop's Shop section of dovesart.etsy.com, are those things that he was in the mood to make. Of course, he made 3 or 4 or more of some of things! I like to think of it as a way to encourage him to keep making the things that he likes and maybe make back a little of the money and time he's put into it. We haven't told him about the etsy shop yet... Maybe we'll wait until his first sale. All of the items on dovesart.etsy. com and on wildflowersorganics.etsy.com are also available in out brick and mortar store Mystik Dove.
We opened another section on our dovesart.etsy.com shop. It's titled PopPop's Shop. All of the items in the section were made by my Dad, whom the kids call PopPop. PopPop will be 74 years old in April. He retired about 10 years ago from his "real" job and now works full time in the hardware department at Walmart. Mom passed over a few years ago and Dad is alone now. Working at Walmart gives him something to do every day and I know that he's not sitting quietly in the house all by himself.
For as long as I can remember, PopPop has had a workshop. The workshop has been expanding slowly over the years, but it has always been there. PopPop loves to build things. He's made shelves for everyone, Blanket Chests, and anything anyone needed. I lived in one house that was rather small. I gave him the dimensions for the living room tables that would fit and he built them. I showed him a picture in a magazine of another table I wanted and he built that one too! Recently he built himself an Entertainment Center (he needed a new one to go with the new TV!) and he built himself a beautiful computer desk. He doesn't use the computer much, but he has one and it sits on the new desk. (Or some other excuse to build something!! LOL!)
PopPop will make whatever he's in the mood to make. The items in the PopPop's Shop section of dovesart.etsy.com, are those things that he was in the mood to make. Of course, he made 3 or 4 or more of some of things! I like to think of it as a way to encourage him to keep making the things that he likes and maybe make back a little of the money and time he's put into it. We haven't told him about the etsy shop yet... Maybe we'll wait until his first sale. All of the items on dovesart.etsy. com and on wildflowersorganics.etsy.com are also available in out brick and mortar store Mystik Dove.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Wildflower's Organics
Wildflower's Organics was a dream I had when I was 13 years old. It has taken me a long to realize this dream and I am really excited about it!
When I was growing up we moved about every 3-5 years, so I never had a chance to make a lot of friends and can't ever remember having a "best friend", some days I can't remember which kids were from which school. From age 6 until 11, we lived in a neighborhood that was mostly vacation homes. Neighbors only came down in the summer and most were older adults. So, for the most part it was my brother and I and our 2 little sisters. Then we moved into a Sub-Division (we called them "Developments" back then) There were kids there, lots of them! Most of whom, my Mother thought, were not such a good influence... But I had one favorite friend whom my Mother did like. Her name was Lois and she had a bunch of brothers and sisters and of course, she spent a lot of time helping out at home. We spent time together when we could, either at her house or mine or just walking around the neighborhood.
When we were about 13, the teachers at school started talking to us about what we wanted to be when we grew up. Mostly to get us ready to start picking out our classes for High School. Lois and I talked about it a lot during those months. She wanted to be an Artist. She was pretty good at it already so it seemed most likely for her. I wanted to open a store and sell bath salts and home made beauty products. We were children of the 70's after all, and the hippie influence was strong in our area. Part of my vision was to display the bath salts in apothecary jars. For Christmas that year Lois gave me an apothecary jar. It was the best gift I had ever gotten, because it allowed me to believe that my dream was possible. Until I moved to Virginia in 1998, that apothecary jar stayed in the bathroom in every home I lived in as an adult. I don't know if it got lost or broken in the move, but I haven't been able to find it.
In the mean while, life happened. Education, career, family responsibilities, relocation... During the past few years, the home made bath products idea has resurfaced. Hubby said, just do it. We have the internet now, we have a store of our own, we have Etsy and we have our wonderful facebook friends and we're not going to move(!). The time seems right. So, here we go! Wildflower's Organics is born with thanks to the best husband in the world and with special thanks to Lois, my favorite friend in Collings Lakes, NJ. Lois, you gave me a gift that kept me focused on my dream and for that I will always be grateful! Thank you!
When I was growing up we moved about every 3-5 years, so I never had a chance to make a lot of friends and can't ever remember having a "best friend", some days I can't remember which kids were from which school. From age 6 until 11, we lived in a neighborhood that was mostly vacation homes. Neighbors only came down in the summer and most were older adults. So, for the most part it was my brother and I and our 2 little sisters. Then we moved into a Sub-Division (we called them "Developments" back then) There were kids there, lots of them! Most of whom, my Mother thought, were not such a good influence... But I had one favorite friend whom my Mother did like. Her name was Lois and she had a bunch of brothers and sisters and of course, she spent a lot of time helping out at home. We spent time together when we could, either at her house or mine or just walking around the neighborhood.
When we were about 13, the teachers at school started talking to us about what we wanted to be when we grew up. Mostly to get us ready to start picking out our classes for High School. Lois and I talked about it a lot during those months. She wanted to be an Artist. She was pretty good at it already so it seemed most likely for her. I wanted to open a store and sell bath salts and home made beauty products. We were children of the 70's after all, and the hippie influence was strong in our area. Part of my vision was to display the bath salts in apothecary jars. For Christmas that year Lois gave me an apothecary jar. It was the best gift I had ever gotten, because it allowed me to believe that my dream was possible. Until I moved to Virginia in 1998, that apothecary jar stayed in the bathroom in every home I lived in as an adult. I don't know if it got lost or broken in the move, but I haven't been able to find it.
In the mean while, life happened. Education, career, family responsibilities, relocation... During the past few years, the home made bath products idea has resurfaced. Hubby said, just do it. We have the internet now, we have a store of our own, we have Etsy and we have our wonderful facebook friends and we're not going to move(!). The time seems right. So, here we go! Wildflower's Organics is born with thanks to the best husband in the world and with special thanks to Lois, my favorite friend in Collings Lakes, NJ. Lois, you gave me a gift that kept me focused on my dream and for that I will always be grateful! Thank you!
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