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. :) 

Valentine's Day!

Johnny and I are pretty low-key when it comes to holidays. We like to spend quality time together...eating dinner and watching tv shows or movies with each other. I love our nice, comfortable life together. We don't have any drama, there's no fighting...everyday is just...contentment...and I really appreciate that. 

I did splurge a little bit this year. I've been seeing commercials for edible arrangements for years and always thought that it would be neat thing to do for Johnny. He really likes fruit and flowers aren't very "manly" so a fruit bouquet just seemed like it'd be perfect. I ordered an arrangement that had some pineapple hearts, strawberries, and chocolate covered strawberries with a valentines day balloon. I wanted something that didn't have everything covered in chocolate, because I knew he'd want to share it with the puppies. 

I ordered it around 1am on February 13th for valentines day delivery on Saturday. It arrived shortly before 2pm and came in a case in an insulated bag. The balloon was tied to the handles on the bag...and Bozley immediately hated it. :P He ran to the hallway and started barking at it. Then when I was finally able to get him to sit on the couch next to me, he kept shaking really bad. I ended up putting the balloon in my office, and then Johnny opened the bag. I was surprised to find two vases in there...I'd only ordered one and it didn't say anything about it including two of them. Johnny loved it...and the doggies liked getting half a piece of a pineapple heart. ;) Since Johnny liked it so well, I'm going to get another one for his birthday that has a wider variety of fruits. I would have gotten it this time, but it had birthday balloons with it. :P 

Ashlyn came over Saturday afternoon to do laundry (tons of laundry!) and I did her taxes while she was here. She brought Neko with her and he seemed to enjoy seeing Johnny. It took him awhile, but he was also playing with Nova a little bit. She'd lay on the floor and let him jump on her. It was cute. 

It was late by the time Ashlyn left, so we decided to just have leftover cheesy chicken chili for dinner Saturday night. Then tonight we had Hibachi Boy for our valentines day dinner. :) We also finished watching Fool Me Once on Netflix. We watched an episode during dinner Friday night and then watched a couple more episodes in the bedroom. And then tonight we watched the last three episodes during/after dinner. We thought it was a pretty good show. Then on Thursday Season 3 of Night Agent will be on Netflix, so we'll watch that until our other shows come back from hiatus. 

Work has slowed for February, but I'm still doing better than February 2025. Last year, from February 1st through the 15th I had 37 orders...this year I already have 50 orders. So I'm hoping the momentum keeps up for the rest of the month. :) 

On that note...I have some new sticker sheets that I want to work on a little bit before I go to bed. Goodnight!

Another slow February

I've actually had this blog post up in my browser for several weeks...I'd start it but then I'd get distracted or busy with something else and forget to come back and finish it. :P 

I've been working a lot in my office the last several weekends. We have two metal file cabinets in the office closet and I've been working on scanning everything so we can shred the paper documents. We're wanting to do a lot of decluttering, and I decided to start there since it's been something I've wanted to do for, like, ever. I think once I have the file cabinets emptied, I'm going to move them downstairs and then put all the "scrapbook stuff" in them...which I've also been keeping in the closet in my office. My goal is to get that closet cleaned out (or mostly cleaned out) and expand the space in my office. I haven't decided how I'll rearrange yet since it'll still be quite awhile before I get that closet completely cleaned out...but I'm looking forward to changing things up. I also need to get the shelves that I'm going to be using in the basement so I can get that all squared away. I'm going to be using Aubry's old bedroom as storage. Between our stuff and Johnny's mom's stuff (she moved to a care home in Washington back in 2019) we have a lot to get organized and I want to use vertical space as much as possible. 

I took a break from organizing my office this past weekend to work on some new stuff CandiMaker stuff. I have another personalized name sticker sheet that I'm working on right now. I've worked on bookmarks off and on...but so far, I'm still putting those on hold. I really want my magnetic bookmarks to have the full magnet backing--because that is the type of magnetic bookmark that I prefer using myself--but the best way I've found to do that so far is manually lining up the die-cut magnets with the die-cut bookmarks which is hard to get perfectly straight...not to mention the fact that it takes more time. So...I may revisit the magnetic bookmarks at some point, but right now I have other things I want to get done first. I still haven't even finished my website yet. :P 

I had to restock most of my supplies in January. While I was at it, I also decided to change the laminating sheets that I've been using. I started using Oraguard 210 glossy in August 2023. It worked well for awhile, but the last several packages from Creative Craft Vinyl have had very poor quality control. The last 250 sheet package I ordered had more than 120 sheets with imperfections and debris under the laminate. I was already using Oraguard 215 matte for my door sign stickers and magnets, so I decided to switch to Oraguard 215 glossy instead and I'm really loving the change. They have a much higher quality look and feel to them...and very few sheets had imperfections, thank goodness. 

January 2026 was quite a bit busier than January 2025. Actually, I had more orders in January 2026 than I did each month of 2025 until July. I'm interested to see how this month goes. Last year, February was the only month that I didn't get at least 100 orders...I'm hoping this February will continue the trend and be better than last year. The first week, so far, is a little better...so we'll see how the rest of the month goes.

I'm sure I've talked about this before, but I definitely appreciate how supportive Johnny is. It makes a world of difference as a business owner to have someone who doesn't criticize. He frequently tells me how proud he is of me and that he admires how well I'm able to run my business. The first several years, I wasn't even making a profit after expenses (mostly because I had a lot of larger equipment purchases to get started and trying out different materials and things) but he has never once been critical at all. And now I'm actually making a profit that continues to grow each year...and my income even allows for me to upgrade or replace equipment when needed and still come out ahead for the year. It just feels really good not only to be successful, but to have a husband who is always in my corner. 

I've been working on taxes a lot over the past month. I've already filed my dad and grandma's taxes, doing my mom's taxes tomorrow, and then I'm doing Ashlyn's taxes this weekend. I haven't talked to Aubry yet about her taxes. I've already finished our taxes, I just haven't filed them yet. I've been waiting for the best time to pay our federal taxes. Johnny has missed some work lately because of his health issues flaring up, so I want to wait and make sure he'll have a full paycheck when I file and pay the taxes. I had to wait for Johnny's W-2 to finally be posted, but I've had my portion of the taxes done since, like, the beginning of January. :P I keep a running spreadsheet of all my business income and expenses as I go so all I have to do is plug the numbers in and I'm done. This is the first year that my home office deduction and carry-over didn't cancel out my profit. 

We got quite a bit of snow a few weekends ago (not as much as predicted, of course). It's finally been melting in the last week...so we've been spending a lot of time washing muddy dog paws. :P I need to make a groomer appointment. I've been putting it off...waiting to see what the weather is going to do. Their feet are a lot easier to clean off, though, when they're all nice and trimmed instead of grinch toes. 

Ugh...I'm super tired all of the sudden so I think I'm going to get a few more things done before I head to bed. Goodnight!

Last day of June!

It's hard to believe it's the last day of June already! 

Johnny and I are officially empty nesters! Aubry moved in with her boyfriend over the weekend. She's had it planned for several months to move out during the week long plant shutdown at work. She got everything except her dresser moved...she has to wait until she can make some room for it and then use my grandma's truck to get it over there. Aubry moved most of her stuff on Friday and then came back on Sunday to get the rest of her stuff and then clean up her room and bathroom. 

So now it's just us, the three cats, and our two golden retrievers. I'm looking forward to reorganizing the basement and cleaning out everything that we're going to either get rid of or put in the garage sale. We are still storing all of Johnny's mom's stuff (she's in a home in Washington)...and I want to reorganize it all in one spot. It started out in Aubry's room until she moved back in. Then I had all been in the closet of the cat room (which used to be Ashlyn's room), but when the room flooded from the broken pipe, I moved out everything that wasn't up on the closet shelf into the family room. I'm thinking about moving it all back into Aubry's closet where it was originally...but I haven't decided yet. It'll probably still be a little while before I work on all that, because I have a lot of work-related projects that I want to get done first. 

Oh, and we had to replace the front door handle. We'd talked about replacing it before so that it would match the rest of the hardware that we have going on in the living room, we just hadn't gotten around to actually doing it. Well...the existing door knob broke last weekend so now it matches. ;) The only thing we really have left to switch out in the living room (aside from eventually getting new furniture) is the ceiling fan. Aside from not being the same colors as everything else in here, it also doesn't move much air at all. Even on the highest speed...it's pretty slow. 

Johnny had a productive weekend. The pile of branches that were in the backyard had been sitting there since storms we had in the last couple years. So when we had all the branches hauled off, there was a big bare spot. So over the weekend, Johnny put down some grass seed and topsoil. He also installed the light kit for the ceiling fan in the garage. Luckily it was easy to add on without having to take the entire ceiling fan down. It came with some lightbulbs...but Johnny hates yellowy lightbulbs so I ordered some more of the white LED bulbs that I've been getting from Amazon. They're a lot brighter and don't have the yellow hue. 

I'm still working on the Holiday Every Day sticker sheets. I finished August today...so just a few more months left! It's taking longer than I thought it would, but I like how they're turning out. I was hoping to have them listed by July 1st, but hopefully I can get them done by the end of this week. I also ordered some new matte sticker paper that is 11x17, so I can fit more sticker sheets on each page. With a regular sheet of paper, I can only fit one 5x7 sticker sheet on the page (and an additional 4x6 sticker sheet if I want), but I can fit four 5x7 sticker sheets on the 11x17 page. 

I also ordered some foldable brackets for $10 that I want to put on the wall under the window in my office. Since rearranging my office, I haven't had a good place to take product photos. My office is pretty small, so I wanted something that wouldn't take up more space. This way...I can just lift the shelf up when I'm taking pictures and then fold it back down against the wall when I'm not using it. So I'm excited about that...hopefully it works out well. 

My customized name label sticker sheets have started selling again. They're most popular when kids are getting ready to start school again. I've already made 4 of those sticker sheets this month...which is actually the same number that I'd sold last June as well. It picks up a lot more in July and August and then I just get a sporadic order for them here and there. 

June was my best month so far in 2025. I tied May with number of orders (134) and I surpassed my previous month of highest profit (March) for 2025. I'm glad for the progress. :) 

I'm going to get back to work on these sticker sheets before I go to bed. Hope everyone has a good week! 

2024 Year in Review

Here's my annual "Year in Review" post! :) 

1. What age did you turn in 2024? 43

2. What was your relationship status in 2024? Johnny and I celebrated our 7th year of marriage and 12 years together! And we've been in love with each other for 19 years now! 

3. Did you move in 2024? Nope. I've been living here for almost 11 years now and Johnny has lived here for 18 years!

4. Did you purchase a new vehicle in 2024? Nope. It's lasted 5 years so far...hopefully it'll last quite a few more! Johnny is wanting to trade it in for something else, though. 

5. Did you add any new family members in 2024? Nope. Although Aubry and Ashlyn's boyfriends were introduced to the rest of the family this year. I made a rule a long time ago that boyfriends don't come to family functions/holidays unless they've been around for a year...because I don't want a lot of random guys coming and going. 

6. Did you lose any family members in 2024? Unfortunately. :( My Uncle Billy died in August. He was a Chief Petty Officer in the US Navy for over 20 years and served in Desert Storm. He had been in California since I was young, but we remained very close over the years. Then he moved back to Kansas a few years after he retired. I was really glad that my kids were able to meet him. My stepdaughter lost her husband and 11-year-old stepson in September due to a wrong-way driver on the highway. :( And my good friend, Micki, passed away in December. She was one of the sweetest, most generous people I've ever known. Everyone just loved to be around her because she could elevate the mood of the room with her humor. 

7. Did you have any school or work changes in 2024? In February, I added magnets to my CandiMakerStickers Etsy shop and they've done really well. At first, my listing photos still showed the image of a hand holding a sticker...but in September I changed all my listing photos including the main listing photo which was now just the sticker design by itself. I also included the words "Sticker or Magnet" and that 3 sizes are available and I think that's made a huge difference...I started getting a lot more magnet orders as soon as I made that change. Magnets are also a higher price point, so that's increased my income quite a bit since last year. I also offer custom text stickers and magnets which have been doing well. And in November I started adding some more custom name stickers/magnets that have gained some traction. I changed my CandiMakerTransfers Etsy shop into CandiMakerPlanners to sell sticker sheets this year, too. Originally I was selling them in my sticker shop, but it just felt more cluttered. Progress is slow with CMP though because I spend a lot more time working on CMS.

8. Did you travel anywhere in 2024? Nope. Maybe one of these days! 

9. Did you make any big purchases in 2024? Too many, actually! I'd already planned to get my new laptop in January...which is basically an updated version of my old laptop and works SO much better. And my sticker shop has done so well this year that my shop had already "paid off" that expense by the end of March. But then in April we had to replace our entire AC/furnace system (which was luckily paid for mostly by insurance since it was a failure as a result of a power surge). But then in August a storm blew down two sides of our fence. So we had to get that replaced. THEN we had to replace the refrigerator in October because our Samsung side-by-side refrigerator that we'd purchased in 2014 stopped cooling again. But we really like the new Frigidaire French door refrigerator. It feels like there's a lot more room. Apparently this was the year of replacing broken stuff. :P Hopefully that isn't repeated in 2025! Oh! And we got a Litter Robot 4 during Black Friday/Cyber Monday! It was my birthday present from Johnny. :) 

10. What was the best gift you received in 2024? Well aside from the Litter Robot...we got a new Carote White Granite set of pots and pans. I really love them so far...they're very non-stick so they're easy to clean. And it's nice having a complete set instead of a really old set (my previous set of pots and pans were from 2005) and some miscellaneous pieces thrown in. :P Johnny also got me some Sims4 games for Christmas. :) 

11. Did you learn any new skills in 2024? The only thing I can really think of is just making die-cut magnets...which isn't really a whole lot different from making my die-cut stickers. But I did figure out how to make both magnets and stickers on the same sheet of paper with my Cricut. :)

12. Did you redecorate in 2024? Not that I can really think of. I added more organization to my desk, but not really any "decor" stuff. 

13. Did you read any good books in 2024? Nope. Most of my time is spent on CandiMaker things and I just never make time for reading unless I'm waiting somewhere. I always have at least one book in my purse all the time in case I have a long wait for an appointment or when I had jury duty. I keep "collecting" books...so maybe one of these days I'll get around to actually reading them! I do read really fast...so most of the time when I do sit down to purposely read a book, I usually finish it in a day or two. Maybe I'll try to start setting aside some time for reading this year. :) 

14. Did you see any good movies in 2024? We watched Damsel, The Painter, The Beekeeper, Carry On...those were the only ones I can remember that Johnny and I watched together. Oh and he also watched a couple Kiefer Sutherland movies with me: Forsaken and Behind the Red Door. We usually watch more TV shows than movies. 

15. What TV shows were your favorite in 2024? Reacher is probably my top favorite. I can't wait for Season 3 on February 20th! I was also excited for Season 6 of Virgin River that came out on December 19th. I really like a lot of TV shows...and it's kind of "our thing" to watch episodes while we we're eating dinner. Shows that Johnny and I started watching together this year: Tracker, Tulsa King, Rabbit Hole, Once Upon a Time, Secrets & Lies, Black Doves, and The Terminal List (we haven't finished that one yet). Shows I watched on my own: The Killing and High Potential. Shows we still watch together: NCIS, SVU, and Organized Crime. We've watched a lot of stand-up comedian specials, too. Oh and I've watched a lot of documentaries (true crime and cults are my favorite subjects). 

16. What things did you do in 2024 that you'd never done before? Dealt with the dogs getting sprayed by a skunk...twice! That was NOT fun! We've had skunks around here a lot, but in the 11 years that I've lived here with dogs, we've never actually had any get sprayed...until this summer. I also discovered that the strong skunk smell triggers my trigeminal neuralgia which makes it even worse. :( 

17. What do you wish you'd done more of in 2024? Probably slept, honestly. LOL. I tend to work late a lot of nights because the dogs are usually more calm when it's quiet outside. So that's when I tend to be more productive. I try to go to bed no later than 2:30am, but sometimes I get in a groove and get to sleep later than that. :P But since Johnny doesn't have to start work until 10:30am, I'm able to sleep in. So that helps. 

18. What were you proud of in 2024? For me personally, I'm proud of how things are going with CandiMaker. My original goal for the year was to hit 1000 sales in my sticker shop...which I reached in July. Then I hit 1800 sales in December! My revenue for 2024 is up over 300% from my revenue in 2023. So I'm really proud of my progress. Since the second half of 2024, I'm making about the same amount of money I was back when I was working a part-time job outside of the home. And then my kids... Ashlyn finished school at WSU Tech in composite fabrication and Aubry got a crew lead position at work. She's been working for the defense section of a large aircraft company since getting her sheet metal assembly certificate from WSU Tech in 2022. 

19. What was the one defining moment of 2024? I would say probably the end of our bankruptcy! We'd filed Chapter 13 back in 2019 after we'd fallen behind when Johnny was having some medical issues. It was a pretty big chunk of money that was taken out of each of Johnny's paychecks. So it's definitely a relief to have that out of the way. Oh! And his student loans were also forgiven through the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program back in April...so that was a weight off his shoulders as well. 

20. How would you describe 2024 in three words? Loving, productive, and expensive. :P

And now for some 2025 questions... 

1. What did you NOT have in 2024 that you would like to have in 2025? Hm...probably full-time income from CandiMaker! :) But if not in 2025, hopefully I'll at least get there before Johnny retires. 

2. What skills do you want to learn or improve in 2025? It's not really a "skill" but I want to improve my magnetic bookmarks to start selling them again. I'd sold them early on, but I want to find better cardstock/laminate combination that holds up to heavy use without peeling. So I plan to work on that.

3. What do you want to do more of in 2025? Aside from work stuff, I do want to get the stationary bike from my mom's house and exercise more. Perimenopause has been BLAH and between that and all my back and joint pain from hEDS, I want to start with the lowest impact option. I'd swim, but we don't have a pool and I don't want to go anywhere to swim. :P So I'm going to start with the bike. I think mom and I are going to start walking the dogs together once a week or something, too. 

4. What do you want to buy in 2025? Split king mattresses! We have a king size adjustable bed, but Johnny and I have very different sleep positions. But...we need to bring in a lot of dirt for the low spots in the yard first and get some other things done around the house...so we'll see. 

5. What is your number one goal for 2025? I've written pretty vague goals the last several years...so my specific goal for 2025 is to reach 3500 sales in my CandiMakerStickers shop. :) 
And maybe this year I'll make a goal of reading 12 books this year (at least one a month)...but we'll see how that goes. ;) 

Over already?!

I thought I'd posted again in October...but apparently not. And now October is already over! It's hard to believe it's already November...soon the year will be over. Right now I'm just ready for this dang election to be over. I used to love politics. I loved learning about all the candidates and debating the issues. I was in middle school arguing with adults on AOL message boards about politics. I wanted to BE a politician until I realized it was mostly BS lobbying instead of just working to make the world a better place. Well...that and in high school I realized during a very unfortunate student council election that I have a fear of public speaking. :P lol. But now? Just get rid of this shitshow. I'm over it. I still have very strong opinions about the issues...but I'm just so exhausted by all the lies and conspiracy theories. I'm a person who shows up with receipts. I'll show you exactly where I got the numbers from and cite my sources for information...I believe in transparency and FACTUAL information. But people out there are clinging to confirmation bias like it's a security blanket. And I just really, really don't like the direction some people are wanting to take this country and their inability to see the writing on the wall. But...I digress. 

So anyway... still loving the new fridge! It definitely feels like we have a lot more room than the old fridge. I like having two doors that open when we have casserole dishes going in and out of the fridge or large pizza boxes. And it's so nice having a working ice maker again...as well as a working fridge in general! LOL. But all three of us (me, Aubry, and Johnny) have randomly said "I really like this new fridge" a few times. We did spend a little more than we were originally planning to when we were considering just replacing our old fridge with another side-by-side fridge. The French door was a bit more expensive...but I like it a lot better. And the weekend after getting the new fridge, Johnny and I were able to get the old fridge out of the kitchen ourselves. We took off the doors and that made a big difference in weight...so it was a lot easier to manage. We ended up putting it in the garage for now. I'm not sure what we'll ultimately end up doing with it, but I'm just glad that it's out of the kitchen. :P 

We celebrated my birthday last weekend. We went to Village Inn for dinner with my mom, my grandparents, Aubry and her boyfriend (Ashlyn and her boyfriend already had plans). We were talking about getting ready to leave when the waitress ended up bringing Johnny another iced tea. Grandma said something about getting a to-go cup, but Johnny said he'd just drink it really fast. While Johnny was drinking it, Grandpa made the comment that the tea looked weak, and Johnny started to laugh but he had a mouthful of tea so he had to stop himself and hold the tea in his mouth so he didn't spit it out at Grandpa who was sitting across from him. Johnny made a comment about almost spitting out his tea at Grandpa and then Grandpa said he was just making an observation and started laughing *so hard* that he was crying. He took off his glasses and covered his face with his hands...I don't think I'd ever seen him laugh so hard in my life. And of course we all started laughing, because it's one of those things where it's just contagious. We all laughed so hard for probably a good five straight minutes. It was so funny. Definitely makes for a good birthday memory. :)

Then after dinner, we went over to my grandparents' house to play Hand and Foot. Aubry had a Halloween party to go to so it was just my grandparents, mom, then me and Johnny. We had an odd number of people so we couldn't play teams like we usually do. So we played individually with 5 people, which we'd never done before. It ended up taking longer to play, but it was pretty fun. There were actually two rounds where I had a book of deuces (which are wild cards)...the first was a clean book and the second was a dirty book (dirty has jokers). It wasn't intentional either time...I just kept drawing them and didn't have enough regular cards to match them with. But the bad thing is that BOTH of those hands...someone else went out before I was able to get into my foot. :P So while I got a lot of points for the book of deuces, all the cards I had left in my hand subtracted a lot of points, too. :P I ended up finishing exactly in the middle. My grandpa was first, Johnny beat me by FIVE POINTS, then mom, and then Grandma came in last. It was a fun night though. It was actually 10:30pm by the time Johnny and I got in the car to home. The dogs were definitely excited when we got home! Bozley has quite a bit of separation anxiety so he really whines and cries and freaks out when we get home. Nova gets excited too...but I also think she was wanting us to hurry up and give her dinner. ;) 

Work has been going well! Last night before I went to bed, I updated my spreadsheets for the month of October. Each month I make sure I have all my receipts entered and update my Profit/Loss worksheet for the month. October 2024 has been my highest monthly profit since opening CandiMaker by more than $300. It wasn't my month of highest orders (I had 137 in July and only 105 in October) but my profit in October was more than $385 higher than July. Part of that is customers making orders with larger quantities. In July, I had several orders with 4, 5, and one order with 6 stickers...but in October I had one order each with a quantity of 15, 20, 25, and 50. Each of those orders except the one with 15 stickers only count as one "sale" in my shop since they ordered that quantity of the same item, but they definitely increased the profit of those orders. The order of 25 was actually for 4" magnets! I think I mentioned this before, but I'm getting a lot more magnet sales now that I've changed my listing photos to say "sticker or magnet" on the main listing photo...and they have a higher price point than my stickers. Oh! And I also got my first bestseller in my CandiMakerStickers Etsy shop! I noticed today that my spreadsheet design had the bestseller badge on it. :) That's always nice to see. 

I'm also excited about more product ideas that I am working on. I have a couple ideas for both my sticker shop as well as my planner shop. And on that note...I'm gonna get back to work! :) 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving snuck up on me this year. About a week before, I was like...oh crap, I need to get groceries! I made a ton of food for Thanksgiving again...which means now I have a lot of dishes to do. :P 

This year I got two 3lb boneless turkey breasts to cook in the pressure cooker. The last 3 years I got a bone-in turkey breast but it's always extra work to cut it all off the bone...so it went a little quicker this year. ;) I love using the pressure cooker... tender and juicy turkey in less than an hour. Then we had gravy, mashed potatoes, corn, Reames noodles, green bean casserole, cornbread casserole, candied yams, stuffing, macaroni and cheese, banana bread, and then the only new thing I made this year was cinnamon and sugar pumpkin bread which was super yummy. All that food...just for me, Johnny, and Aubry (Ashlyn went to have Thanksgiving with her dad). We always make a lot of food for Thanksgiving though...which I love because it means I don't have to decide what to make for dinner for a few more days since we have plenty of leftovers. ;) 

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The dogs enjoyed their Thanksgiving dinner too. ;) We added some pumpkin puree and a little bit of plain macaroni noodles to their dog food. They LOVE noodles. Well...Nova loves all food but Bozley is very fickle. He can like something one day and then want nothing to do with it the next. Even people food. Like cheese? What dog doesn't like cheese? Bozley about 95% of the time. :P But he ALWAYS loves pasta. They like turkey too, but I didn't leave any unseasoned for them so they didn't get any this time. 

Aubry had gone to the store the other day with a friend of hers and bought two card games: Cards Against Humanity and What Do You Meme Family Edition. After we ate our Thanksgiving dinner, we played What Do You Meme for about 20 rounds or so and then we spent a couple hours playing Cards Against Humanity. It. Was. HILARIOUS. The funniest part is that Johnny would be reading through his cards and just start giggling...which made Aubry and I laugh and the more he read his cards, the more he would laugh. There were multiple times he was literally laughing so hard that he was crying. I laughed so hard it gave me a headache...which I didn't even know was actually a thing. lol. It was the three of us and "Rando" (random card from the pile each round) and we played 75 rounds. I got a lot of crap cards (I even traded in one of my cards to get almost an entirely new hand) but I did manage to win about 15 times. Rando beat me with 17 cards. :P Then I think Aubry had 19 cards in the end and Johnny had 24. It was a lot of fun. 

Johnny has to work tomorrow. :( Aubry has a long 4-day weekend, though, so she's pretty happy about that...especially since she's been working some 10-hour days and a few 12-hour days here and there. We don't really have anything planned for the weekend...just relaxing around the house. Saturday it's supposed to snow...so I'm definitely not going to be leaving the house if I don't have to. :P I'll probably just work this weekend and enjoy all the leftovers. :) Oh and I got three Sims 4 expansion packs during their Black Friday sale for an early Christmas present so that's always fun. :) 

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!

End of October!

It's hard to believe October is almost over already. Soon it will be the end of the year! The weather has gotten colder already...because of course we can't have fall for more than a couple of days. :P My health doesn't really like the change in weather. My neuropathy has been bothering me and I've had a headache for the last week. 

In somewhat-related health news...I officially have a diagnosis in my file for Hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome. I've talked about hEDS in my blog before and how it explains every health issue I've had since birth. I've been talking to my doctor about it for the last year or so and after I got the genome sequencing back showing that I don't have any other types of EDS, that was the last thing I needed to meet the diagnostic criteria. We've been actively searching for answers since 2006, so it really feels good to have that particular chapter closed. No more testing or "specialists" who think it's all in my head. That's the thing about rare diseases, I guess...specialists would rather think you're crazy than consider a "rare" disease (although hEDS isn't really that rare...just underdiagnosed). But also...it's not like my hypermobility was obvious to medical professionals. Doctors and health questionnaires never ask if you can bend your fingers backwards or put your leg behind your head. :P And since it didn't hurt or cause any problems, it's not like I ever thought to bring it up. I was literally born that way and I just thought it was normal...because it was normal for me (and many of my family members). I do remember I asked the doctor I went to when I was in elementary school if I was double-jointed and all I got at that time was that there's no such thing as "double-jointed." But double-jointed is what I heard people say whenever they saw me do bendy things. So...I just never thought about it again until recently. And actually...someone from a parenting message board that I used to be active on suggested Ehlers-Danlos several years ago. But when I read the description, I saw "rare disease" and "abnormally" flexible joints...but I thought I just had "normally" flexible joints and even I dismissed it since it's a "rare" disease. That and it said that it's genetic...but no one else in my family had been diagnosed with it. I should've done more than a quick check of the definition though because there were so many other symptoms than just hypermobility that fit me perfectly. Section 2 of the hEDS diagnostic criteria have a list of different symptoms and at least 5 out of 12 have to be present for a diagnosis...I have 8: mitral valve prolapse, pelvic organ prolapse, abdominal hernias, dental overcrowding, arm span longer than my height (from my scoliosis), unexplained stretch marks as a teenager, soft skin, and mild skin hyperextensibility. 

We also just celebrated my 42nd birthday! Johnny and I had Hibachi Boy and watched Expend4bles for my birthday. I also got a new wedding ring set. I actually got three rings...a tungsten band just like my old one that I can wear all the time (even in the shower) and then a new bridal set that I really only plan to wear when I leave the house. It's a big emerald cut engagement ring in a halo setting and a half eternity wedding band that goes with it. I have always wanted an emerald cut and it's so beautiful. :)

We also went to my grandparents' house for dinner Saturday for my birthday. Grandma made a yummy chicken spaghetti pasta, we had lemon Chantilly cake, and we played Hand & Foot (a card game). We played in teams and I was with Grandpa and mom...then Grandma, Johnny, and Aubry were on the other team. We won! There are several rounds in the game and there for a little bit Grandma's team was ahead. But then the last round Grandpa went out early so we came from behind to win by a lot. ;) I was also super excited to get an Amazon gift card which I've already used. I went through my Amazon wish lists yesterday and picked out lots of good stuff that is supposed to arrive tomorrow. :) Of course...it's lots of stuff for CandiMaker/my office. ;) 

Things with CandiMaker are going well! As of yesterday, October has been my most successful month so far. A lot of people are seeing a slow October...but my September was slow. I had only 26 sales in September (although one of those sales was for 25 of the same sticker) and 46 sales so far in October. I sold 60 stickers in September and 72 stickers so far in October. I've also passed 300 sales (I'm at 311 right now)! It took me from January to August 21 to reach 200 sales...and just a little over 2 months later I hit 300. :) Yesterday alone I had 5 orders...and one was an order for 8 different stickers. I have my Black Friday sale going on right now through November 28th: 28% off orders of $20 or more. Discount is automatically applied to qualifying orders at checkout! If anyone is interested, check out my shop and see what you like! 

This week I'm planning to make some more Christmas gift label stickers as well as decorative Christmas sticker sheets. I made one 5x7 Halloween sticker sheet which was a custom request, but my idea right now is to make several different Christmas sticker sheets so I'll probably make them in 4x6 size. I like to keep my sticker sheets between 4x6 and 5x7 because I can ship them via letter mail in my current materials that I use for die-cut stickers. 

I also finally finished creating all the die-cut sticker listings for my Faire shop. I applied on October 2nd and was immediately accepted. I set up my shop story, cover and feature photos, etc. but it took me awhile to get all my listings up. I finally got that done yesterday and my shop is live as of today. I'm super excited to start selling wholesale. For any of my friends that are resale business owners, you can sign up on Faire and order stickers in bulk for 50% off MSRP in my Faire shop. If you're new to Faire, you can use my link to get some awesome benefits including $100 off your first order, 1 year of free shipping, 60-day payment terms, and free returns on your first order! 

And if any of my crafty friends are interested in signing up to sell on Faire, you can use my link to apply. I'd been putting off signing up on Faire because I heard that the application process could take a long time and many weren't approved when they first signed up. However, I signed up with a friend's referral link and my application was immediately accepted. My shop just went live and I've already had someone send me a message saying they're interested in my products. :) 

I'm trying to decide if I want to open a TikTok shop now. Same with Facebook. I previously had a Facebook "shop" but it was just tied to my Etsy shop so the products took them to Etsy checkout. Facebook did away with that option and I just never did anything to set up my shop directly on Facebook. So I've been thinking about that now that I've got my Faire shop set up. 

Other than that...the joint graduation party for my sister, Aubry, and Ashlyn was a success! The Friday before we went to the shelter house at the lake to set up all the decorations. My mom, sister, and I were there almost all day. Dad was also there for a big part of the day helping blow up balloons. And then Saturday morning I got up at 6am to make Lazy Lasagna and Crackpot Chicken. I made double batches of both. Then Aubry and I got to the shelter house several hours early to finish setting up (Johnny and Ashlyn drove up for the party later). The balloons needed to be finished, we set all the food out, and Aubry helped set up the tables and chairs. The party went really well. I got a lot of compliments on the food and my cousin also loved the invitations so much that she wants me to make some baby shower invitations in a few months. :) Then after the party was the cleaning up. Ugggghhh...that felt like more work than setting up did. :P But Johnny was there to help this time. :) Even the girls and Aubry's friend who had come to the party helped with popping balloons and taking down decorations. I was SO SORE after the party though...and for about a week afterwards. My back just can't handle things like it used to. :P

Well...I think I'm going to head to bed. Hope everyone has a great week! 

Hello Fall!

Fall is my favorite time of the year. I love the colors, the weather, comfy clothes...just the overall atmosphere of fall. And when I was a kid...I loved back to school shopping and the first day of school. I LOVED getting new school supplies every year. And I remember back before the internet when the elementary school posted class lists on the doors and everyone gathered that day to find out which teachers you and your friends had. I liked the excitement of the first day...I'd plan my morning out to the minute. I'd write down every single thing I would do that morning and what I would wear, eat, etc (yes, I'm a nerd). ;) It was my own little tradition. 

This is the first year that I didn't have a kid going back to school and it feels pretty weird. :P My youngest just turned 19 years old. It's crazy how fast the years go by. She actually moved back in with us last month. It's been...rough. :P She's having a hard time adjusting to the fact that she is an adult now and is entirely responsible for her own bills and expenses...and following the rules of being able to live here as an adult. They are expected to pay rent and the only meal that I provide is if I'm making dinner (and we have staples like sandwiches, mac n cheese, etc). Well...Ashlyn doesn't like everything that I make for dinner. One evening after she first started staying here, I was making tacos/burritos for dinner and she didn't want it...and asked me to buy her a Casey's pizza. Um...NO. She also wanted me to buy her new shampoo and stuff because she left hers at her ex-boyfriend's apartment instead of grabbing it the two times she'd gone back there to get stuff. So she talked her dad's other baby mama into taking her to the store and buying her a bunch of stuff. And baby mama had the nerve to tell Ashlyn that I'm a piece of shit for treating Ashlyn that way. LOL. Choosing NOT to cater to my ADULT child's every whim and instead making them be a responsible and self-sufficient adult does NOT make me a piece of shit. XH is 42 years old and living with his grandparents and driving one of their cars...because he is NOT a responsible and self-sufficient adult. I'm not making that same mistake. IF that's the kind of life Ashlyn chooses to live...it isn't going to be because my side of the family enables it. I told Ashlyn she is going to have to pay rent and buy all her own stuff...and she got a job within 2 weeks of moving back in here...after "trying" to get a job for 8 months before that. She didn't work very hard to get a job because she didn't have to. She was living at XH's parents' house and they were financing everything...then she moved in with her boyfriend and he was. But I made it clear that we will NOT be doing that so anything she wants...she has to work and save for it herself or do without. And if she's wanting to save up to get her first car...she's going to have to budget her money a little better and either ask for more hours at work or get a second job. :P We also don't allow her to drive our car...so she walks to work (although I have driven her to work like when it's too hot outside or if it's raining). 

I've been an adult child living in my mom's house...more than once, actually. The longest time I lived there was when I quit working and went back to college. Since I already had my kids only 50% of the time, if I was going to college full-time AND working full-time then I'd never see them. And they were only 5 and almost 3 when I went back to school so those were years that I didn't want to miss. But...there were rules to living in my mom's house as an adult. I had to keep my living area clean and quiet. I couldn't touch the thermostat. If I cooked, I had to clean up after. I mean...it's pretty normal stuff. And when I moved into subsidized housing a few years later, I still wasn't working. While my rent and utilities were covered by the subsidy and we were on state medical insurance and food assistance...the only actual money that I had was the $72.92 that I got every two weeks in child support (when he was actually working). So there was a lot that I just did without. I didn't have cable and I tethered the internet from my phone for my laptop until my neighbor and I went in half/half on wifi. Each semester I had a little money left over from my Pell grant (I didn't take out any student loans)...which paid my liability-only car insurance every 6 months. I would ask for cash for my birthday in October and then I would use that money to buy the girls' Christmas presents. All of my furniture was hand-me-down (except for the queen size bed my Grandma bought me for Christmas one year) and everything I owned was well taken care of because I couldn't afford to replace anything...so it all has lasted a very long time (for example, we're STILL using the couch I got from my brother-in-law in 2007 which his family had since the 90s or something). So...I know what it's like to live with my parent and how to budget a very small amount of money each month. It's definitely possible for the kids to do the same. 

Their rent is, like, at least 1/4 of what they'd be paying for their own place...and helps cover the increase in utility bills and extra food. Their lease agreement includes rules such as not leaving dirty dishes or trash around, taking care of their dog, cleaning up any messes they make anywhere...like...normal stuff. They each have things they do to help out around the house. Aubry takes out the trash and recycle and takes the carts out to the curb and back every week. Now that Ashlyn has moved back in, she unloads the dishwasher (Aubry was doing it before), feeds the cats, and scoops the litterbox. The only things I think could really be considered not that normal is being quiet (and no talking on speakerphone!) and not using lotions or perfumes that will give me migraines. And it's basically all the same rules as when they were living here as teenagers...it's just now they're also responsible for all their finances and any food they want outside of what I make for dinner. 

Ashlyn just doesn't seem to "get" it, yet. She was appalled that I won't buy her food (and complained to her dad so he takes her to get groceries now). After she finished high school, she was going to have to pay her portion of the phone bill...but XH's parents just paid off her phone, got her a new phone, and put her on their plan. After she moved back in here, they removed her from their phone plan. Ashlyn wanted us to put her back on ours and said she'd give us $25 a month for it...when just her portion of the phone bill was $50 a month. She didn't seem to think that was a problem. Even though she has a job...she only works 1-3 days a week. So there's a lot of "I can't afford that" without doing anything herself about being able to afford "that" (and not wanting to do without). And I don't think moving in with XH's parents after high school--and having them treat her like a child they're providing for--did her any favors. But...I'm sure she'll eventually get the hang of adulting. Most of us do eventually.

And I know some parents are all...this is always your home and if you ever need anything just come and get it...but that's just not me or how I was raised. Occasionally helping out when I can for something truly needed...absolutely. But mooching just because they don't want to be responsible for themselves...absolutely not. As a parent, my job is to raise them to be responsible adults who can provide for themselves. They have to be prepared to live in the world without me. And I'd much rather my kids figure that out now...than when I'm actually dead. 

My oldest turned 21 this year...and currently on her first road trip with a friend of hers. The girls left EARLY Saturday morning to check into their Airbnb. Aubry has sent me some pictures and videos...and they seem to be having a good time so far. Yesterday she went on a train ride and today they went to an aquarium. Aubry financed the trip all on her own (well and her friend that went with her contributed as well). She's been "adulting" very well since she moved in with us in December. She'd finished school and started her big girl job in February. And then a couple months ago, she bought a new car and purchased her own insurance. Her next goal is getting her own place. :) She's doing very well for herself and we're really proud of her. Aubry pays all her bills herself, buys all her own groceries and toiletries, and even has money to splurge on things like the life-size skeleton sitting in the backseat of her car. ;) Aubry is also the first-born...and I think adulting comes more naturally to those of us who are the oldest child. It's probably the whole bossy, take-charge personality thing that helps.  

I've been super busy lately. We are having a joint graduation party for Aubry, Ashlyn, and my sister. Aubry graduated HS and Chrystine graduated college in 2020 when everything was being canceled or postponed. And then Aubry graduated from WSU Tech in 2022 and Ashlyn graduated high school in 2023...so we're having one big joint party for all of them. Mom came over and we came up with the general idea for the invitations and went over the plan for food. On the 18th I finished up designing the invitations. I had a big 25 sticker order to print and cut on Tuesday so on Wednesday I printed the invitations, drew the map to the venue and printed those, plus I designed, printed, and cut the return address and mailing labels for the invitation envelopes. It's nice to have that part done! Now we have a little bit of time to work on the decorations before the party next month.

This past Thursday and Friday I spent the days designing, drawing, printing, and cutting a new product for my Etsy shop: small business packaging sticker sheets! They're stickers that other sellers can use to decorate their product packaging and shipping materials. These stickers come on 5"x7" sheets in three different sizes: (30) 1", (12) 1.5" and (6) 2" stickers...all the same price with free shipping (since I can ship them as First Class letter mail). I have three separate "sets" of designs so far: pastel unicorns, cute spooky ghosts, and some cute Halloween cats. Before I make more designs of those...I'm working on another new product that I will be listing ASAP: Christmas gift tag labels! I'm planning to print and cut these as full letter-size sticker sheets and shipping them in rigid mailers via USPS Ground Advantage. 

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

Officially the end of an era!

My youngest graduated from high school yesterday! We've now reached the point where all of our children are grown adults out of high school. The graduation ceremony was nice...and luckily we avoided the rain walking to and from the car. It rained earlier in the day, but stopped by the time we left for graduation. Then it rained while we were inside for graduation, but quit again by the time it was over. Since we had to walk quite a distance, we lucked out! Johnny, my mom, and I all rode up there together and then Ashlyn's dad drove her up there since his parents weren't going. And then sometime a little later in the summer, we're going to have a joint graduation celebration for Ashlyn, Aubry, and my sister (who graduated from college). Aubry and Chrystine graduated during 2020 while we were still going through the pandemic lockdowns...so we couldn't have a gathering at that time. We figured it would be a good idea to just have all three celebrations at the same time. And Aubry also graduated from WSU Tech in December 2022 (but decided not to walk at graduation) so we have lots to celebrate! :) I'm a very proud mama. 

And here is a photo I took of Ashlyn during the ceremony...looking very happy after crossing the stage and receiving her diploma. :) 

It was also a pretty special graduation ceremony...as it will be the last one presented by the high school principal. Ever since my oldest started high school here in 2016, every interaction I've ever had with the DHS principal has been wonderful. He oversees the third largest high school in the state of Kansas...as far as the number of students. There are over 2100 students enrolled in the high school...there were over 520 students just in Ashlyn's graduating class. But the principal has been very attentive to the needs of the student body and you can tell he genuinely cares about the kids. And you can also tell that he is beloved by the community. The roar of applause for the principal when he first spoke at graduation was very bittersweet...knowing it's his last year at the school and why.  

This might get a bit uncomfortable for some...but it needs to be said. I've tried to keep my mouth shut on Facebook...because I tend to get very argumentative when I feel strongly about a particular subject. And sometimes the responses people post...let's just say it causes my faith in humanity to take a nose dive. :P 

The "why" for the principal's early departure is largely the district's Board of Education. Several board members ran and were elected solely on hot-button conservative issues like masks. And since their election onto the board...they've taken extremist positions against masks, of course, (the BOE president actually sued the school over it...a judge dismissed the case), banning books/curriculums, and being terrified of anything having to do with diversity. Literally...the BOE president (and several other conservative members) vetoed an initial 5-year strategic plan largely because it had the words "diversity" and "inclusion" in it. He didn't approve of it including plans for "increasing positive culture and climate (equity, safety and belonging)." Because heaven-forbid our students feel a sense of equity, safety, and belonging!  One board member even stated, “schools are not in the business of mental health.” That's weird...because there is literally a psychologist on site at the high school. Why? Because mental health ABSOLUTELY affects education AND the school environment. As someone who has studied forensic psychology and behavior analysis...I can tell you with absolute certainty that mental health (and other social-economic factors) plays a huge role in the development of children and teenagers. It's interesting that schools focus a lot of attention on "active shooter drills" but when it comes to learning and dealing with the problems that can lead to such actions...oh we can't have that. It's not like it's a mystery. We have been studying the psychology behind such events for DECADES. But why do the work to prevent problems when we can just use reactive measures backed by lots of thoughts and prayers? Because that clearly works so well. Some BOE members are also very concerned about educational assessments and academic scores...but want to completely ignore all the issues that can affect those bench marks. Seriously...they have no idea what they're doing. They're just full of buzzwords, ignorance, and intolerance. 

One board member was outraged after learning that the beloved principal--in an effort to address issues that some students were actually facing in the high school--showed an educational video about being sensitive to racial concerns. A teacher complained to the BOE member that it was "offensive" and created a "hostile work environment." I'm sorry but if learning about problems faced by people who are different than you is so scary for you...maybe you should rethink your occupational decisions...or quite frankly, your life decisions in general. I mean...getting upset over a video that discusses white privilege and then displaying your white privilege by demanding an apology because you got hurt in the feel feels (as my oldest daughter would say)...that's pretty ironic. Way to prove the whole point, dumbass. The BOE member demanding an apology (indirectly) from a principal who was trying to do right by his students because the small-minded adults in the room can't handle being uncomfortable learning about the uncomfortable things that others face?! Are you seriously kidding me right now? Grow the fuck up. 

The beloved HS principal sent an apology via email. The fact that he felt forced to do such a thing...it's absolutely disgusting. I honestly can't blame him for taking a $30k cut in pay to take on a different role in a different school district...instead of his plan to to retire from this district in 2025...a district that he has devoted the last 28 years of his life to (including his final role as principal for the last 13 years). The announcement of his resignation was heartbreaking...but unfortunately, not shocking. I wouldn't put up with that bullshit either. 

The BOE even decided in executive session--seemingly out of nowhere--not to renew the contracts for the superintendent (27 years with the district in multiple capacities and superintendent since 2017) and two assistants...and then quickly reversed their decision about a week later (well I say quickly...it was a 3-hour long executive session to come to that decision). And guess which two still opposed the vote to renew the contracts? The extremist BOE president and his little side-kick. Now...I personally have very little personal experience with the superintendent outside of the speeches she has made during ROTC and graduation ceremonies...but it's still pretty surprising. Also...the timing is very suspect. 

The principal showed the video in January, a board Member complained to the superintendent in February, and then a week later they decide not to renew the contracts of the superintendent. But then a week later BOE President said, "No member of this board was seeking retribution or retaliation. There were no threats made to anyone that would jeopardize anyone’s employment in the district. Any assumptions or statements otherwise are simply false.” Really? Because the timing of HIS vote not to renew the superintendent's contract shortly after the incident and after stating that her response to the situation was "a month too late" seems retaliatory to me. Seems to me that the BOE President is the one making statements that are "simply false."

And their claims that "most of the community" would have a problem with it...I'm sorry...when did you ACTUALLY ask "most of" the community? Oh that's right...you didn't. You just ASSume that "most of the community" holds the same extremist views that you do. They don't. Considering how many community members who showed up in support of the principal...clearly their ASSumption of how the community actually feels was "simply false." 

All I can say...is that my vote for BOE positions will absolutely be retributory. That principal was far more beloved in this community than the extremists that currently serve on the board. We lost an amazing and prominent administrative figure in this district who truly cared about the students as individuals and championed for their success. And my hope is that when it comes time to vote...the current board members will feel the consequences of their actions through their dismissal.

But ANYWAY...all I can say is that I am so glad that both of my children were able to graduate high school under the guidance of a wonderful principal...and that they are no longer students in the school district. Because the decisions being made by this current BOE and the long-lasting implications of those decisions...nope. My children...the oldest was in high school from 2016-2020 and the youngest from 2019-2023. And I can tell you that the atmosphere before and after the 2021 BOE election...it has been a palpable difference and NOT for the better. Thank goodness for the good teachers, staff, and administration...who were basically manning a sinking ship. There have been MANY teachers, staff, and administration who are jumping ship. And I, for one, don't blame them at all. I can only hope for better decisions in the future...but I'm grateful that I won't have to deal with the ramifications of BOE decisions directly anymore since I no longer have a child in the district. :P 

Approaching the end of 2022!

I can't believe the year is almost over. Time just goes by so fast! 

We had a nice, relaxing Christmas. Our original plan was to have our annual Christmas Celebration at my sister's house on Christmas Eve...but she was sick so it was postponed a little bit. Christmas Day we went to my grandparents' house here in town like we always do for chatting, dinner, desserts, and presents. It was the first time we've been able to go since 2020. Before that...we've gone to my grandparents' house for Christmas day every year since I was a child. We used to celebrate Christmas Eve at my dad's side of the family with all my aunts, uncles, cousins, etc...but when my Grandma died in 2020, that was no longer carried on. It's just not the same without her. :( 

Ashlyn finished all her classes for the semester which means she's officially done with high school! She'll still be able to go to Prom and then will still walk at graduation at the end of the school year with her classmates...she just doesn't have to go to class anymore. She turned 18 in September, but I told her that she wasn't allowed to move out until after she was done with her classes. She has wanted to move back to our hometown and live at XH's parents' house (where Aubry had been living since she graduated in 2020). Ashlyn has been excited so she started packing about a month ago. She moved some of the boxes she already had packed the Friday before her last couple days of school. Then she wanted to move the rest on Tuesday--her last day at school--but she wasn't anywhere near ready to go. She had a ton of packing and cleaning left to do. Then Wednesday, she'd gotten more done but still wasn't finished...and then the weather got bad so it didn't really matter anyway. She finally finished cleaning and packing on Friday and was able to move out the rest of her stuff. Aubry was excited...because she's been really anxious to move back here. 

Truth be told, I was looking forward to an empty nest after 10 years of people coming in and out of our house. But...I did have Aubry sign a lease agreement so that everyone knows up front what to expect. In an ideal world, that wouldn't be necessary. But we've found that adult children can often take advantage and not be respectful of others in the house (or property) and it's far easier to establish ground rules up front including how much they are expected to contribute toward expenses. And when it's in writing...no one can "forget" what the terms are. Aubry understood and had no problem with the lease agreement at all. Everything seems to be working out fine so far. She starts her new job next month and is planning to save up for a newer car and her own place. 

The dogs are doing well. :) With Aubry moving in...she brought her chihuahua, Linken, back with her. He's a little more vocal than Ashlyn's chihuahua, Neko. But he's starting to warm up to Bozley and NovaLee. It would be easier if Boz and Nova would calm down more...they tend to get pretty excited. They're fine by themselves...but they seem to rile each other up. It's the same way with the cats...by themselves, they're calm with the cats but together they end up chasing them back downstairs. We've been trying to work with them, but it's apparently a slow process. :P We need to get them to the groomer again too. It's been, like, a year since they've been to the groomer. :P They never need full-on haircuts, but a good bath and trimming their paws and everything is overdue. Johnny gives them baths once or twice a month depending on how dirty they get outside, but they always look and smell so good after the groomer. :) 

I've been busy with CandiMaker stuff...as always! Luckily I love what I do. :) I'm trying to finish preparing for the grand opening of CandiMakerStickers. I'm SUPER excited about this Etsy shop. I keep adding new products which makes me even more excited. :) I'll have die-cut stickers, sticker sheets, planner stickers including weekly kits, laminated and magnetic bookmarks, laminated planner covers and page markers, and planner dividers for classic-size 9-disc planners (to fit Happy Planner brand pages). I may branch out to different sizes and different types of binding in the future, but we'll see how this works out and go from there. I'm still maintaining my two current Etsy shops as well. My goal for 2023 is to really work hard on all my Etsy shops to make them as successful as possible. :) 

I hope everyone has a very happy new year! :) 

I'm still alive!

I just realized that I didn't post again after my last post on September 1st! I've just been super busy lately. 

I've been doing a lot of editing and ordering photos...the 4 generation family photos we had and then the prints of the girls' senior pictures. I waited to order Aubry's until we had Ashlyn's...so I could order the same number of similar poses and sizes. I like to have a balance for when I hang them up. Now I just have to decide where to hang them up and get some frames for them.  

I've also been pretty busy lately working on CandiMaker stuff. I separated my digital designs and my transfers into two separate shops in October. I also revamped my logo to be more representative of my style...and then redid my shop banners to match. I also added important information to the banners (like how to get free shipping, etc.) so it can be seen easily. I created a few new designs...but have been too busy with other things to create more. I need to press a few of my designs so that I can have example photos of how beautifully my transfers appear on finished products. 

I spent all of last weekend rearranging and reorganizing my office. I had to change everything around in order to have room for my new printer! I already have the ET-16650 that I use for sublimation and kept the unused ink that originally came with the printer. So I've been wanting to get another Epson EcoTank printer that takes the same pigment ink. I found a great deal on an ET-5800 in Epson's own Ebay store that was refurbished directly by Epson. It came with a 1-year warranty plus two more full sets of ink. I'll be using the new printer mainly for my third Etsy shop...CandiMaker Stickers! I'm still hammering out all the details and working out what other materials I need as well as packaging, shipping, listing details, etc...so it'll still be a little while before my sticker shop goes live. Right now I'm still using our Epson WF-2650 for printing my mailing labels...but eventually I hope to get a thermal printer so I can print mailing labels and other packaging stickers without using any ink. :) 

But back to my office...I'm really pleased with how it's coming along. I moved my big desk over to be in the corner of the room. Then the smaller desk now sits perpendicular to basically make an L-shaped desk. Both printers fit perfectly on the smaller desk. Then the drawers of that desk have labeled boxes for my pigment and sublimation ink bottles and shipping supplies. I left the small desk a little more than a foot away from the wall so that my tall set of drawers fit in between (with another smaller set of drawers on top of that). The drawers store all my different types of paper, printable vinyl, mailing labels, laminating sheets, etc. Then the WF-2650 sits on top of those drawers. Across from the printers I have the large armoire against the wall in the corner. I've changed that into my packaging center. I already had all my Priority Mail boxes and envelopes in the lower cabinet. Now in the upper cabinet I have the guillotine paper cutter and a rotating organizer for regular envelopes, thank you cards, etc. I used command strips to put up two organizer things (which are actually to stick up in lockers to hold pencils and stuff) to hold my freebie/sample sublimation transfer prints as well as a hook to hang a pair of scissors. So now I can just print the labels and fill the packages all right there in one spot. Then I moved my Cricut Maker 3 (which used to be in the armoire) to the other side of the room. I had some modular drawers that have been in the girls' rooms which I stacked and put together back-to-back with a heavy piece of poster board on top to make a table for my Cricut. So now I have a ton of storage with all the drawers. On one side I have all my sublimation supplies and blanks then on the other side I have my planner and sticker supplies...plus my Cricut supplies. 

Now that I have other places to store a lot of the things that were originally stuffed in my desk...I need to figure out what all I'm going to store there instead. It will probably end up being my planners, writing stuff, and some of my art supplies. I already have some separate little drawers that I moved to my desktop...and I organized all my pens and pencils in those. I have SO many pens and pencils. LOL. I also organized all my clips into drawer organizers...I had a lot of those too. 

So other than finishing up my desk...there are just a few things I have left to finish my office. I am looking for a nice, sturdy rolling utility cart that I can use for my heat press and the toaster oven. I need something mobile so that I can store it in front of the closet and then roll it out of the way when I need to get into the closet or to move away from everything else so it isn't a fire hazard while I'm actually using it. So I've been looking at different types of shelves/workbenches that can hold enough weight, don't have cheap wheels, and are a good size for the space. I also need to get some LED lights to hang up inside the armoire and some white curtains. The teal green curtains that are in there cast a green tint into the room so I want to get some white curtains to fix that. Oh and I also want to get/make a 2-tier shelf to put in the small top shelf in the armoire where I can separate the difference sizes of sublimation paper I have. Right now I just have them in their boxes stacked on that shelf. But that's really all I need for now. I really love how it's coming together. 

The office is really "my" space where I can put my stuff that I don't otherwise have a good spot for. I still have the hutch shelf (it goes with the small desk but it's detachable) holding all of my art books, cookbooks, yearbooks, etc. And on top of the hutch I have all of our wedding décor items. Our jewel-tone wedding colors don't really match the color palette we have going on in the rest of the house. :P Plus with it in my office (which usually has the door closed), the cats don't climb up there and mess with anything. Since a lot of our wedding décor is breakable...I don't need the cats pushing it off the shelf. :P I also have two shelves (one is a skinny bookcase and the other is actually a small, swivel DVD stand) where I have my current selection of books. They fit perfectly behind the bi-fold closet door when opened...and makes use of some space that would otherwise not be used. Most of the books on there are the ones I picked out from my grandma's collection after she died. She was very well-known for her love of books. She also loaned them out a lot...so I just picked books that I would enjoy reading and that she had written her name in. 

Once I get the office completely put together, I'll take pictures of how everything looks. I'm really excited about it. :) 

I still have two more Etsy shops that I plan to open...but I probably won't focus on them much until next year. I want to get my sticker shop all set up and running...plus keep working on my first two shops. But I'm very excited for the future of CandiMaker! Especially now that I'll have more time...since I'm no longer doing transcription. I called them out in October for treating their independent contractors like employees under their control...then earlier this month we reached a settlement agreement. So I've decided to focus on CandiMaker full-time now. And with the settlement I was able to get my printer and a new tablet that I'll use for drawing designs...as well as a few other supplies that I've needed. 

Anyway...just thought I'd give an update since it's been so long. I hope everyone has a happy Thanksgiving! :) 

Still so busy!

August is over and this is the first time I've come back to post again. I've still been super busy...mostly working on editing photos. I'm almost finished with the first batch...I'm just cleaning up some edges a little bit. This is largely why I stopped doing photography professionally...because I'm way too much of a perfectionist and I have a hard time just leaving them alone and saying they're good enough. And especially with these photos...I didn't actually take these pictures. A wonderful photographer who has been taking the girls' pictures since Aubry was just a few months old took them. So I really want them to look good. Really it's just the marks on the white floor that are the most time consuming part. I want it all to look natural and smooth. I'm getting there...it's just taking awhile. The later pictures in the batch are all right...but in the beginning I wasn't doing as much so I'm going back to clean those up more now. Total there are 155 pictures...but luckily not all of them are on the white background. 

But...Johnny and I did take some time for ourselves on our anniversary! Our anniversary also happened to fall on National Fajita Day...so Johnny and I cooked fajitas together for dinner, cuddled up with the pups and watched some documentaries on Netflix. We always enjoy our Netflix and chill time. :) I'd much rather spend time curled up at home together than going out. I love our quality time together. My favorite part of the day is when we sit down to eat dinner and either catch up on our shows, watch a new documentary or stand-up comedian on Netflix...or if it's a weekend we'll watch a longer movie together. 

Ashlyn is doing well in school so far this year. If she passes all her classes this semester, she doesn't have to attend class next semester...so she's been working hard to keep her grades up. It's still hard to believe that she's already a senior! We're getting her senior pictures taken in October (the same photographer that I'm editing photos from now). We'll have to order her graduation invitations, tassel, and some 2023 clothes and accessories like we got for her sister in 2020. 

Speaking of...Aubry is doing well at WSU Tech. As of last week she was still getting all As in her classes. She's passed most of the online coursework and then she will have the lab work to do. She is really enjoying her college experience. Of course, she's also really looking forward to the job--and paycheck--that she'll be getting after she finishes the program. ;) 

Other than that, I've also been keeping busy with CandiMaker stuff. I started selling sublimation ready-to-press transfers in addition to sublimation designs. I haven't had as much time as I'd like to create new designs...but hopefully things will calm down and I'll have more time to devote to it. :) 

August already?!

I can't believe school starts this week! It's hard to believe that Ashlyn will be a SENIOR this year! She met with her guidance counselor last week to make some adjustments to her schedule. She actually only has to go to her classes during first semester to graduate (as long as she passes all of her classes). She'll still be able to go to prom and graduate in May with her class...she just won't have to attend classes during the spring semester. Hopefully she will have a great senior year! 

Aubry started her first day of college yesterday! I talked to her off and on throughout the day and it was nice to hear her enjoying it so much. Despite Johnny and I telling her that it's so much different than high school, I think she thought we were just telling her that to try to convince her to go...but she found out that it actually *is* different than high school. ;) She liked the instructors and the fact that the courses she's taking are hybrid...meaning partially online as well as in-person coursework. The sheet metal program she is taking is just one semester long and she'll earn a technical certificate that she can use to get a job in that field. :) I'm so proud of her for taking this step and I'm so glad that she's excited about it and enjoying the experience so far. 

I've still been working on editing photos. I just have two photos left to finish the first "batch" of pictures my mom is going to order. I've also been focusing a lot on my Etsy shop. I have a set of school designs that I finished and uploaded to my store. I added them later than planned but I'm pleased with how they turned out. And they're not specifically "first day of school" designs so that helps a bit. I also decided to create a bundle for these designs since there are 9 similar designs all together. Since Etsy limits the number of files and the size of the files that can be uploaded, I am actually utilizing Google Drive for the bundle. I still have so many ideas I want to make happen for CandiMaker and I'm excited for the future of my little business. :) After I finish this batch of photos, I'm going to spend some time really focusing on my Etsy shop for a week or two and then get back to editing more pictures. There's a lot of pictures to get through! 

In other news...we had to take Bozley to the vet on Friday. Thursday morning he didn't eat much of his breakfast and he didn't want to eat any of his dinner at all. He's a horribly picky eater...and sometimes he's less inclined to eat than others. But he kept eating grass and throwing it up. He was still drinking water and urinating fine so I just watched him overnight. Friday morning was much the same. We got some ground turkey, turkey breast, pasta, and pumpkin...and he didn't want any of that either. He wasn't even interested in his favorite duck treats...which is when I decided to take him to the vet. At first they thought he might have an obstruction...but 4 different vets pressing on his belly and looking at the x-ray...and they couldn't definitively say if it was really an obstruction or not. They wanted to keep him overnight but not only is it expensive, but I don't like our pets staying overnight at the vet unless absolutely necessary. They aren't staffed overnight plus Bozley has anxiety so much as it is...I wouldn't want his stress to cause even more/other issues. So I asked the vet if there was anything that we could do at home for him. He suggested omeprazole and keeping him hydrated. He kinda moped around throughout the evening. The pups were laying on the couch with Johnny and I while we were watching movies. Johnny went to bed and I stayed up a little longer to work. I grabbed the container with the cooked ground turkey to see if Bozley would eat anything...and he snatched a piece right out of my hand! I got him a bowl of turkey, pasta, and some pumpkin and he ate it all! He didn't throw up anymore after taking the omeprazole, either. And that night before we went to bed he finally had a bowel movement...so we were happy about that as well. Luckily, it seems that Bozley was just constipated instead of obstructed. We fed him the easily-digestible ground turkey, pasta, and pumpkin through the weekend and yesterday we started gradually adding his regular food in as well. Now he's all back to normal. :) 

I really like our animal hospital here in town. There are multiple vets that work in the office and most of them are really great. I do have a favorite, though. He goes by Dr. Q and he's always so great with the animals. He's seen our dogs as well as our cats and he is always caring and knowledgeable. We saw him on Friday and he said that he was going to be worried about Bozley and he wanted me to call back on Saturday to let him know how Bozley is doing. And then Dr. Q even called me yesterday to ask how Bozley was doing after the weekend. I just really appreciate such personable care. 

Well...I better get back to work! 

July is almost over?!

I can't believe July is almost over! School supply displays are back up in the store. I enrolled Ashlyn for her SENIOR year of high school a couple weeks ago. We scheduled the appointment for her senior pictures (same photographer who took Aubry's). Then...soon it will be Christmas and before we know it...Ashlyn will be graduating high school! And then...that's it! Our last kid in school! Well...through high school, anyway. 

Next week, Aubry is meeting with her advisor and attending an informational meeting for the sheet metal program that she's wanting to take. The program she originally signed up for isn't being offered anymore, but there's an 8 week program that she's looking at now. And I think Ashlyn is planning to start out at a local community college first (which is what I did) and then transfer to the same university that I went to. That's her plan so far anyway. 

This week the girls have been on vacation with XH's mom and their younger sister. Their family owns property in southern Kansas so they usually go out there every summer for fishing and enjoying the great outdoors. So Johnny and I have had the house all to ourselves. Well...with the cats and dogs. ;) 

I was working on transcription files over the weekend. Johnny still hasn't been working overtime on the weekends so I worked in the bedroom again. The adjustable Tempur-Pedic bed is SO comfortable! The dogs seem to think the bed is comfy too. ;) I took this picture when both dogs were in the bedroom. Bozley was in the lower part with his head up on the raised foot of the bed and then Nova was basically laying with her butt on my shoulder and her head on Johnny's pillows at the top. 

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Speaking of things that are hard to believe... it's already been two whole years since we brought Bozley home and a year since we brought Nova Lee home! In July 2020, we drove more than 8 hours roundtrip to pick up Bozley from a breeder we found through Facebook. And in a spur of the moment decision in July 2021, we drove about half an hour away to pick up Nova from a Facebook post by someone that -- as it turns out -- I went to high school with. I think they're definitely two of the best decisions Johnny and I have ever made in our relationship. :) Boz and Nova have brought so much joy to our home. They're both such sweet (and funny) puppies...they always keep us smiling! 

Anyway, I got my last file turned in on Monday and then I created new listings in my Etsy shop for ready-to-press printed sublimation transfers of some of my designs. I'll be adding more designs as transfers in the future as well. I really want to get back to making some more designs and working on new products for my Etsy shop, but I have to spread out my time between my Etsy shop, finishing transcription files, and editing all these photos. I think once I get the photos done it'll be a lot better. I'm already used to managing my time between CandiMaker and my transcription files, but the photo editing was an unexpected task that popped up and is taking a bit longer than planned...but it's going well. :) 

We tried a new recipe the other day...but it wasn't really my favorite. I used crescent roll dough...but I think I'll try it again with pizza dough sometime. It tasted alright I just think it could be better. So I'll make that change and we'll see how that goes. Then I'll post the recipe if we like it. :) I've been so busy lately that we haven't tried many new recipes...but this one is pretty quick and easy so I'll probably try it again soon. I was going to make roast beef salad with leftover roast that I made before that...but we ended up not actually having leftovers. :P 

Well...I better get back to editing photos!