One Person's Trash Is Another's Treasure

Since I've done some heavy summer cleaning, I've recently begun selling random things on ebay. It was so easy to get started and now there's no stopping. I have my system down now starting with taking digital photos of each item, putting the items up for auction, then printing the shipping label with the postage on it and dropping the packages off at the Post Office or FedEx. I started by selling some Madame Alexander Dolls that have been sitting in their original boxes and unplayed with for the last 16 or so years. I've also sold a 3-year old digital camera, some name-brand jeans, and some old Disney memorabilia. There are billions of people out there willing to buy just about anything. Now, it's like I'm looking for things to sell around the house that we don't truly need. It's not only the thrill of seeing the money come into my Paypal account, but also the satisfaction of getting rid of stuff that I know I'm not going to use. Like the saying goes: One person's trash is another's treasure!

Hunan Hand

I had a terrible night last night. I made salsa with some chili peppers from my garden and about 30 minutes after that my fingertips started burning. It felt like I was holding all of my fingertips on top of a hot griddle. We tried everything, cold water, ice, vaseline, cortizone cream, some organic cream, aloe vera, etc. David looked it up online and found that what I had is a condition called Hunan Hand. They originally discovered it because of people working with the kung pao peppers in Chinese food. I guess the oil from the peppers soaked into my skin. So then the internet said to wash with abrasive soap and lemon juice to cut the oil. I have never felt so much pain! Needless to say, that didn't work much and it just made me cry and shake. At one point I asked David to take me to the hospital, but there wasn't much visually that they could see, just very RED tips. I laid on the couch with ice on them, took 4 advils and finally went to bed with the ice and fell asleep. It was only then when I was sleeping that the pain got better. I woke up this morning and the pain is all gone I just have some very dry, rough fingertips! I'll be using rubber gloves when I make salsa from now on!! The crazy thing is that this happened before about a month ago. I made salsa in the morning, showered, then I was driving to my parent's and that's when my fingers started burning. That time it went away in about an hour. David read that after the first time it happens, you develop a sensitivity and it gets worse with each successive time!! Crazy!! I'm going to buy a box of disposable gloves today!!

Birds, Birds, and More Birds

On a recent trip to New England, I bought a bird feeder that I'd been wanting for our backyard. The first day I filled it and carefully hung it with some wire from the tree outside our living room window. Then I waited and waited and didn't see one bird visit it until 4 days later. One House Sparrow came and nibbled for a few seconds and flew off. Another one came, then another and another and before I knew it there were four birds on the feeder at once and four more lined up on the fence for their turn on a perch. I have House Sparrows and House Finches visiting the feeder now and these birds can sure eat!! I have to refill the feeder two times a week, but it is so worth it as I enjoy watching my birds while sipping my morning coffee. I even feel protective of my birds. Twice I've ran out to the backyard in my robe to shoo away the neighbor's cat off the fence! I love birds!

Crafty Carianne

I thought I'd share a few of my projects I've been busy working on:

1) Project Paint:

When my husband was in New Orleans last week, I painted our light wood hutch black to match the rest of our furniture. It was quite a project, masking off the glass taking the doors and handles off and putting them back on. Priming and painting it was the EASY and enjoyable part! I actually watched Star Wars Episode I and drank a couple glasses of wine while I painted.....and I thought it was just the paint fumes:) Anyways, I love how it turned out, especially the contrast of the silver handles that were once black! There are a few spots that I'm not so proud of, but unless you're really inspecting it, they're not noticeable. To top it off, my dad, nicknamed Earl after Earl Scheib Paints, was very proud of my craftiness!

2) Project Centerpiece:
(See above photo)
I don't know how or when the vision came to me, maybe from an old issue of House Beautiful or a Pottery Barn catalogue, but anyways I thought of it and headed over to Michael's Crafts to buy the supplies. I wanted it to be Asian inspired to go with my bamboo placemats. I bought the vase (with a 40% off coupon of course) and river rocks all for $25. And yes, the bamboo is alive, I bought it at Ikea for $2 each. I really like the way it looks and so do all of our visitors when the see it.

3) Project Garden:

Last year was my first year of gardening although I was thrilled to get a few ripe tomatoes and a handful of green beans, I'll just say it was not a bountiful harvest. This year, Things Are Different! My tomato plants (I have 3 different varieties: Brandywine, Celebrity, and Better Boy) are in full bloom. Yesterday for lunch I steamed some tasty green beans from the garden and made homemade salsa with my green chili peppers. I am also growing cucumbers, yellow squash, basil, rosemary, dill, and parsley. I'm learning more each day:)

4) Project Backyard:

I separated this from the garden project because it was actually my wonderful husband who planted me the grass on a hot Saturday after getting up early to help move some furniture at church. He did a great job! I love looking out my windows and seeing my blooming petunias and gladiolas. And it's a good workout when I use the weedwacker to cut the grass:)

Happy Tears

As I mentioned earlier this week, I work with autistic children. There are difficult days in this job working through various behaviors or modifying a task so my kiddos can grasp a seemingly simple concept. And there are the days that end with happy tears. Today was one of the later days. My little girl I've been working with for six months actually looked at me and addressed me by name without any prompting. I had tears in my eyes as I gave her a big hug and a kiss. A perfect ending to my week:)

Tea Tree Oil

I have a new favorite item in my medicine cabinet made of Tea Tree oil. It's the Desert Essence Blemish Touch Stick and can be found at Trader Joe's with a small price tag under $6. This stuff is amazing, it really works on those unsightly blemishes! It comes in a small glass bottle with an easy to use roll-on applicator. I put it on a blooming blemish at night and the next morning it was almost gone. It can also be used on insect bites. I put it on a mosquito bite I got in the Bahamas and it stopped the irritating itching right away. I think I'm going to try the face wash next:)

Spring Cleaning

Maybe more like Summer Cleaning! We started this past weekend by tackling the biggest spot first: The Garage. We loaded up the dumpster with empty boxes that once contained items such as a food processor, sewing machine, computer software, microwave, etc. We were really able to donate a lot of things that I previously had some attachment to. In the midst of my cleaning frenzy I realized that the more things I got rid of, the lighter I felt. It's a nice feeling:) And this is just the beginning of more cleaning projects. So, if you get a few moments, start small and clear out some clutter too:)

Small Steps, Great Joys

As some of you know, I work in Special Education providing Applied behavioral Analysis Therapy for children with autism. During the last six months I have learned so much about the autism spectrum and have gained a new perspective of the condition. I have also seen my little kiddos grow and learn too. Whether we are working on their letters, numbers or social interaction, each step is of great joy. I had been working for a few months with one of my little girls on playing Hopscotch. Well, just yesterday she hopped from square to square on her own!! I felt like a proud mother as I cheered her on and gave her the much deserved positive reinforcement:)

Taco Tuesday

Now that I'm a wife and one of my duties is to cook, I've enjoyed trying out new recipes and varying the menus. One of my favorite nights is Tuesday, which has been deemed Taco Tuesday at our house. It's not always tacos, sometimes I make Taco Salad, Burritos, Fajitas or Tostadas just to mix things up. We always make a point of inviting at least one other person to join us for Taco Tuesday whether it's at our home or at a local taco place such as Catalina Fish Kitchen (They have Yummy Fish Tacos). This way we can make a point of connecting with our close friends and friends that we don't see very often. We're now considering starting "Wasabi Wednesday". I just need to practice the art of rolling sushi:)

First Time Blogger

I must admit I was feeling left out of the Blogger world until now. It took me about 3 minutes to create my Blog and now I'm posting! I promise not to turn this into a diary of my daily activities. Although, tonight we went bowling and I'm proud to say that I got one strike even though my overall score was 62.