Been a little while...

It's been over a month since I wrote an "update" kind of post! 

I went to the eye doctor today. I've been having pulsatile tinnitus with headaches for awhile that I've been assuming are related to high blood pressure. But...I thought I'd make sure everything is okay with my optic nerve because pulsatile tinnitus with headache can be a sign of intracranial hypertension which can commonly occur with hEDS. And since my sister has had it, I thought I should check just in case. Hers was found by her eye doctor, so I figured I'd start there, too. 

They initially noticed that one of my pupils is larger than the other...but I was just born that way. There are pictures of me as a baby with one pupil larger than the other. The eye doctor said that both of my eyes react normally, so the size discrepancy is nothing to be concerned about (which I wasn't lol). But I think he's the first eye doctor to actually mention it to me (and I've been going to the eye doctor since, like, 2nd grade). But anyway...they dilated my eyes to get a better look at my optic nerve and it still looks good (I've had it checked several times since 2006 when my doctors were still thinking I might have MS). So I'm going to go ahead and consider intracranial hypertension to be ruled out. 

I do have to go in next month for glaucoma testing, though. They said normal ocular pressure is 10-20 and mine was 23 today. They mentioned something about it being slightly elevated last time I was there in 2023 but nobody mentioned anything to me at that time. He wants to check it out though...since we have a family history of glaucoma (and cataracts and macular degeneration). And if nothing else, we can establish a baseline in case it gets worse in the future. They'll also check the thickness of my cornea because that can affect ocular pressure readings as well. And then I think after that appointment I'll get my new eyeglass prescription which will probably include bifocal lenses. And it actually looks like I won't need as strong of a prescription as my current glasses...so that's good. 

Right now I'm just waiting for my eyes to start wanting to focus again after being dilated. :P I can see far away with my glasses on, but I can't see close-up with my glasses on. My eyes don't really want to work on focusing through my glasses right now. :P So I keep having to take my glasses on and off depending on what I'm looking at. 

I've been having some issues with neuropathic pain the last few days...which is making it really hard to sleep. I have small fiber neuropathy (which is also common with hEDS). I was first diagnosed with it back in 2006. It's the worst when I have a fever...but I don't know what else triggers it for me. And it seems to always be in random places. This time it's my left leg's turn, apparently. It started at the front of my leg by my knee and traveled down the back of my calf and then to the bottom of my foot. It's not extremely painful...just extremely frustrating. :P 

And in other news, Aubry was officially diagnosed with Hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome and MCAS...and is being evaluated for POTS (or orthostatic hypotension, which is what I have). I think they're also going to look into some supports/braces that might help her as well. Aubry started going to a new health clinic in the last few months and she's really liking it so far...so that's good. And it's really awesome to have a healthcare provider in the area that is knowledgeable about EDS...because it's definitely not common. 

We celebrated Ashlyn's birthday last weekend with dinner at Olive Garden and then playing Flip7 at my grandparents' house. It's hard to believe my youngest baby is already 22 years old! She's settled in at Johnny's daughter's house. She's staying there for awhile so she can save up for a new vehicle and her own place. It seems to be going well so far. 

Other than that, though, there's not really a whole lot to update about. Work is going well but it's been a pretty slow September. I think this is the first month that my orders and revenue were lower for the month compared to the previous year. But with things being slower, it has given me a chance to work on some new things as well as work on some administrative stuff that I've been slacking on. I finished my dog breed listings for bookmarks and magnetic bookmarks (to go with the notepads, stickers, and magnets I already had). I also created a bundle that includes all the products featuring the dogs that is available on my website. And now I'm working on the same products for all the different cat breeds! :) I may do rabbits and/or horses in the future...but we'll see. 

And on that note... I'm going to get back to work. :) 

RECIPE: Lemon Raspberry Jell-O Poke Cake

I haven't made a poke cake in forever! I've always made just the regular strawberry flavor with white cake, but I decided to branch out and try something new this time. Johnny and I both really like lemon, so I decided to go with a lemon cake and paired it with raspberry Jell-O. It was definitely a yummy combination!  

Lemon Raspberry Jell-O Poke Cake 

Ingredients:

1 box of Pillsbury Moist Supreme Lemon Cake (you can use any brand but I used this one)

    - 3 large eggs 

    - 1/2 cup Oil 

    - 1 cup water  
1 3oz pkg of Raspberry Jell-O (save and set aside about half a teaspoon of the powder)
1 cup boiling water 

1/4 cup cold water 

1 tub Cool Whip

Directions: 
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. 
Prepare cake according to package and bake as directed. 
Remove cake from oven and let cool for at least 30 minutes. 

Using a fork or skewer, poke holes all over the cake. I used a large serving fork.

Pour Jell-O packet into a bowl. Pour in boiling water and stir until all of the powder has dissolved. Stir in cold water. 

Pour all of the Jell-O liquid over the entire cake, making sure that it's evenly distributed. 

Cover the cake and refrigerate for at least an hour.  

Remove the cake from the fridge and cover with a layer of Cool Whip as frosting. I also like to take the remaining Jell-O powder and sprinkle it on top of the cake for something a little extra. 

Then slice and enjoy! 

Make sure to store the cake in the refrigerator. 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Candace Pride (@tinycandi)

Another long week (and it's only Wednesday)

It's already been a long week and it's only Wednesday. :P 

Our water heater has been leaking. We were going to take advantage of 18 month no interest special financing through Home Depot to purchase the new water heater and have them install it. So I went through the Home Depot website to book the free consultation. Their website says that they send someone out who comes out and takes a look at what we currently have and makes sure the water heater we've picked out will work...then gives us a quote. Well...we had "Jim" from Plumbco call us and said he didn't need to look come out and look...we just buy the water heater and he picks it up and installs it...then we pay Home Depot $900 for the labor. I ordered the water heater online and put Plumbco as the party picking it up. He was supposed to come out on Wednesday. Well...Jim ended up texting Johnny and said he wasn't licensed in Derby. Um...WTF? I had to provide our address when I set up the free consultation, so I guess they don't pass the address on to the contractor? Oh...and Jim from Plumbco is also the only contractor that Home Depot uses. When I called Home Depot's in-home service department, they said they would "try" to find a local contractor who can service our area and "if" they find someone, they'd call us in 24-48 hours. Are they going to call if they don't find someone? Of course not. So I said never mind and just had them cancel and refund the order. So now we're starting all over finding someone to replace our water heater. We were only using Home Depot for the special financing, but I have a credit card that has no interest for the next year now...so we'll just use that and find a local plumber. I found one on Facebook that has a lot of good reviews, so Johnny is going to call him. Hopefully it'll work out...I hate trying to find contractors for home repairs. I haven't been a fan of several we've used so far (like the guy who replaced two sides of our fence). 

Ugh. It's always something! 

That's true for work, too. I did finally get the replacement part for my Romeo cutter. I've also not been pleased with the 11x17 vinyl sticker paper that I'd been using for sticker sheets. There has been an issue with the adhesive separating and spots where it doesn't cut through very well. Getting a new blade and a new mat didn't solve anything. And the batch of paper that I'd used at the beginning of August was so much worse. It basically wasn't cutting the stickers at all. I tried increasing the pressure, slowing it down...it either wouldn't cut through or it would cut all the way through (which doesn't work for a sticker sheet). And it had to be the paper...because my letter-sized pages from a different brand cut just fine with the same settings, blade, and mat. And of course I didn't realize the problem until I had a customer contact me about it. I've sent out three replacements and then provided a refund for one customer because a replacement wouldn't arrive in time before school started. When I started using the 11x17 sticker vinyl so I can print four sticker sheets per page, Koala was the only brand that had that size. They only sold it in packs of 30 and there was a "digital label" watermark on the back of the page...which I covered up with my own text logo printed all over the back. Now I am using the Uinkit 11x17 pages that I can order in quantities of 100 or 200...plus it doesn't have anything printed on the back. And most importantly...it cuts so much better on my Romeo. 

Oh and speaking of work issues...I had a crappy "customer" today. I say "customer" because I'd canceled her order. I have free standard shipping for my sticker and magnet orders because I use Etsy's letter mail labels which allows me to send orders using metered mail prices (currently $.78 for 1oz). However, Etsy's shipping process doesn't allow sellers to send merchandise via letter to US territories and APO/FPO addresses. Etsy won't even let us print the label...we can only choose package shipping. This particular customer had ordered two 2" stickers to be sent to Puerto Rico. Her order total was only $6.50 and my cost to ship a package via Ground Advantage to Puerto Rico would have been $8.40 (because USPS recently decided to start charging lightweight packages the same as a 1lb package when shipped to what they consider to be rural zip codes). So, I sent her a message and explained that since her order was less than the cost of shipping, I canceled her order and said that if she wanted to repurchase the order, she could upgrade to Ground Advantage shipping so I could send the order to her. I also have this statement in every single one of my Etsy listings: "Because of the way Etsy shipping is set up, US Territories and APO/FPO addresses will require being shipped as a package. If the package shipping rate is not automatically applied to your order, I may have to create a custom listing for you to be able to pay the postage for the order. If you don’t want to pay the postage, I can cancel the order for you instead." (Side note: I've since changed the wording to say that the order will be canceled instead of creating a custom listing because I ran into complications with that, too). 

When I sent her the message, I mistakenly said USPS wouldn't allow me to send merchandise as a letter to PR when I meant Etsy wouldn't allow it...just like I state in my listing description. Well, she jumped on the "USPS" part and accused me of trying to blame USPS instead of my "business decision" not to offer free shipping to PR like other businesses in the continental US that she's gotten free shipping from. She said she, "would have appreciated having that explained clearly rather than having it presented simply as a USPS restriction," and, "Thank you for canceling the order. I'm happy to take my business elsewhere." Uh...with her attitude...yeah, I'm also glad for her to take her business elsewhere! I've covered the cost of package shipping to Puerto Rico multiple times in the past when the order total was more than the cost of shipping...but I'm not going to pay more for shipping than the total amount of the order. Especially when the explanation she wanted was already available to her before she ever made the purchase. While it's extremely common for customers not to read listing descriptions...it's still not my fault. I provide the information and that's really all I can do. 

So anyway...I responded and apologized for saying USPS wouldn't allow it when I meant Etsy doesn't allow it, copied and pasted my listing description which explains that Etsy doesn't allow it, and explained the fact that her order total was $6.50 and the cost to ship it would've been $8.40. Her only response was, "Puerto Ricans are not gullible. Please educate yourself," and then pasted a ChatGPT link to Postal Explorer and blocked me. Um...I worked for USPS for 3 years (and Johnny still works for them and has for more than 25 years now) so I'm fairly certain I'm more "educated" about USPS than she is. :P And considering I'd already said that I hadn't meant to say USPS in the first place...I'm assuming she didn't even read my response.

But...luckily she's only the fourth rude customer I've had in the last 5 years. I have a section on one of my many work-related spreadsheets which lists "problem customers" with their name, address, and the reason why they were a problem. I believe two of them with large orders were trying to scam me for a refund (because they were pissed off about going through Etsy's Purchase Protection Program to get a refund for an order they claim wasn't delivered instead of me refunding them directly...even though my policies clearly state I only provide replacements, not refunds) and a guy who ordered a 3 inch sticker and was pissed that it wasn't bigger than 3 inches (which honestly makes me laugh...because of course it's a guy who doesn't know how big 3 inches is). :P 

Overall my customers are wonderful. Even when I've made mistakes or there has been issues with a product, nearly all of them are very gracious about my apology and correcting the problem. I've had a few who were rightfully upset about an issue, and I have a lot of patience for their response...because I was the one who caused the problem (versus something like shipping issues that I can't control). Some days my brain seems to work less than others. Gotta love perimenopause and chronic health issues. :P 

I've also noticed my eyesight seems to be causing more issues lately, too. I need to make another eye appointment. It's been a year since my last appointment, and I think I'm going to have to end up getting bifocals this year. Because of the amount of correction that has to be done for me to be able to see far away...my glasses start to affect being able to see close up. Plus I'm getting older and my eyes are already slower to adjust from seeing far away to close up. I also need to have them check my optic nerve. I've been having pulsating tinnitus which I really just assumed was high blood pressure, but since I have hEDS and a family member that has already had to deal with intracranial hypertension...I figure I should probably rule that out. 

Johnny and I talk a lot about our medical issues...and I think my approach really bothers him. He's very much a "do everything reasonable to save me" kind of person. On the flip side, I'm very much a "I've had a good run, I'm going to die of something" kind of person. If treatment is more uncomfortable than my daily life already is...I'd honestly have to really consider whether I want to deal with it. I've even started rethinking having the hysterectomy and adhesiolysis surgery. I do think my quality of life would improve overall with the surgery...but I just keep thinking back to my last abdominal surgery and how hard the recovery was...UGH. At any rate, I won't be making that decision until after the first of the year. If I do decide to have the surgery, I'd want to do it in February when I'm the slowest with work. I also need to get in for a mammogram...since I'm supposed to have them every 6-12 months (I have a history of fibroadenomas since I was 17) and I haven't had one since 2018. I still have the one they've already checked out and I've paid attention and it hasn't really had any dramatic changes, so I just haven't worried about it much. But I did develop a new one in the last year, so I figure I'll go ahead and have it checked out. 

Well...I wanna get some more stuff done before I go to bed...so that's enough rambling for now. :)

Happy anniversary to us!

Johnny and I celebrated our 9th year of marriage and 14 years back together this week! I truly love our relationship. Johnny and I fell in love more than 21 years ago...but it wasn't the right time back then. I knew from the moment of our first kiss in June 2005 that he was "the one" for me, though. Our life together is even better than I could have imagined back when we met. :) It hasn't been perfect by any means...but it has all been worth it to get to where we are today. 

You know...they talk about the "seven year itch" in relationships where people start losing interest or become dissatisfied in the relationship by the time the seventh year rolls around. However, I think the opposite is true for us. The first six years of our relationship were definitely the hardest. Dealing with exes, moving in together, blending families and finances, adult children and their pets and/or families moving in and out, and various other things...we had a rocky start (and that rocky start lasted awhile). We got married on our 5th anniversary and during that first year of married life, there were times I wondered if we'd even make it to our first wedding anniversary. It was an especially chaotic time in our lives and I don't think either of us handled the stress well. The biggest thing at the time was the fact that Johnny's daughter, her husband, their four kids, four dogs, and a cat moved into our living room a couple months after our wedding. We already had Johnny's mom living with us, my two kids, three dogs, and three cats. What was supposed to be "for a couple weeks" turned into six months. 

But by August 2018, everyone else had moved out and we finally had a sense of normalcy for pretty much the first time in our relationship. We were able to rearrange and redecorate the house the way we wanted (which has been an ongoing process). Johnny retired from pool work (while still working for USPS) and I started doing transcription work from home to bring in some extra money. We were able to file Chapter 13 bankruptcy in 2019 so that we could make payments over a five year period which eased the financial burdens that we'd been struggling with years before. We were also in the position to be able to buy our first car together after dealing with our previous vehicles getting old and crapping out. We were still dealing with teenagers, but I think we were in a better place to be able to handle all that comes with raising teenage girls. 

Then when Covid hit in March 2020...things really settled in to a comfortable routine for us. Johnny also started working from home and we were basically spending all day together everyday. It's funny...we talk more about how our day is going now that we're both at home together than we did when he was gone at work for the majority of the day. Then I started CandiMaker in 2021 and Johnny has been wonderfully supportive. He always asks me what things I've sold and says "good job" every time he hears the cha-ching notification from my phone letting me know I got another sale. 

And then in 2025, Johnny and I finally became empty-nesters for the first time ever. It's just us, two golden retrievers, and three tabby cats enjoying a nice life together. My favorite thing is sitting at the coffee table in the living room to eat dinner and watch a show together...which is exactly what we did to celebrate our anniversary. We ordered Hibachi Boy for dinner and finished an episode of The Bombing of Pan Am 103. :) 

Happy anniversary to us! 

What a week!

Man...it's been a long week already and it's only...well now it's Wednesday. :P 

Sunday I was getting ready to print sticker sheet orders on my Romeo...except the black plastic piece of the tensioner (the part that tightens the blade holder in place) broke in half. I found ONE place online that sells it as a replacement part...so I got that ordered. The bad news is that it won't get here until Friday. I really hate when there's no option to purchase expedited shipping. I have a ton of orders that have to be shipped before Friday. I was worried that I was going to have to start cutting them one at a time on my Cricut. My Cricut Maker 3 absolutely sucked for sticker sheets, but I haven't tried making them on my Maker 4. I've just been using my Siser Romeo for sticker sheets (it works perfectly to cut four 5x7 sticker sheets at one time) and then I use my Cricut Maker 4 for my stickers and magnets. 

So anyway...Sunday night, I ended up using a little bit of Gorilla super glue gel to see if it would hold the two broken halves together. I let it sit overnight to fully dry before I tried using it. I had four sticker sheet orders that I needed to send out on Monday, so that morning I held my breath and cut the sticker sheets using the super-glued tensioner...and thank goodness it worked. I stopped after the sheets due Monday and got all my orders packaged so I could go to the post office. I had to buy some shipping boxes for my large notepad orders. When there's just a few notepads, I can ship them in the pretty bubble mailers. I bought with my eBay refund, but larger orders need a box. I bought some 11x8x6 and 10x603 boxes and they worked out perfectly. 

I usually just put my orders in our mailbox (we have a locked cluster box) and any poly bubble mailers I put in our mailbox with a note for our mail carrier (who is pretty wonderful, btw) that it's outgoing mail, but the boxes won't fit. So I took the packages in to be scanned and dropped off the envelopes. I had a lot of sticker and magnet orders from the weekend (mostly custom name stickers and magnets) so I worked on those the rest of the day and put them in the mailbox before I went to bed. 

Today was the real test. I had 12 sticker sheet orders that were due tomorrow (well...now it's today)...and luckily my super-glued Romeo cut all six 11x17 pages without any problem. Thank goodness! So tomorrow I should--hopefully--be able to get the rest of my sticker sheet orders out that are due the 13th and 14th and then I'll have the new part on Friday. 

My new chair arrives today! I'm really excited...hopefully it'll help with the pain and discomfort. My JellieBody should arrive on Friday...so hopefully between the two I'll be able to find some relief.  Especially considering I have some more notebooks to make this week, too. 

Well...I suppose I should get some sleep so I can get orders done tomorrow. :)