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! 

Busy August so far!

I've been super busy with work lately! At least this year I kind of expected it. Last year I had a huge influx of orders for the back-to-school season. Between the custom stickers in my CandiMakerStickers shop and the custom name label sticker sheets in my CandiMakerPlanners shop (in addition to my regular orders), July and August were my best months of 2025 for both numbers of orders and revenue.

This year, I had nine less orders in July 2026 compared to July 2025, but my revenue was almost $300 higher in July 2026. And for the first seven days of August, I've had nine more orders and $214 more in revenue this year than I did during the same time period last year. 

One thing that made a difference this year is that in July I added tear-off notepads to the products I offer...and I got two large orders for them earlier this week. As I'm writing this...I'm in my office printing 56 notepads that will go out on Monday. One order was for 41 of my notebook paper design notepads personalized with teacher names and then another order for 15 of my notepads personalized with names in "signature" fonts that they ordered with magnets on the back. I'm very thankful for the large orders! :) A lot of my sales are single-product orders, so I like to encourage larger orders with buy-more-save-more discount codes.  

I'll be finished with all the notepads tomorrow...then I'll spend Sunday printing and cutting the rest of my regular sticker, magnet, and sticker sheet orders. And then I package all the orders before I go to bed so they're picked up by USPS on Monday. 

I think adding new products periodically has helped my growth each year. The first year, I was mostly focused on creating new sticker designs. But after I decided to offer the option of magnets for each of my sticker designs during my second year, I saw a large increase in orders and revenue. Since then, I've tried to add new products each year. I have several new product ideas floating around in my head right now...but I haven't worked on new designs of existing products for several months, so I'll probably use any free time I have to focus on that through the end of the year. February and April are usually pretty slow months for me, so I'll probably hold off on any new products until then. 

One thing I've noticed while I've been spending a lot more time in my office (at one time, anyway) is that this chair is UNCOMFORTABLE. My elbow hurts, my knees and hips hurt, my back hurts...everything hurts. :P So I finally decided to go ahead and get a new office chair. Having hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, I really need something that's versatile. I looked at a lot of different kinds of chairs, but I settled on this one from Walmart. I really hope it helps. 

I also decided to try some compression products...the JellieBody and Korform shorts. So many people in the hEDS community have talked about them helping with pain, stability, and dysautonomia...so since I've had such a successful summer with work, I decided to finally order them. My back, hips, and knees have really been bothering me lately (in addition to my neck, but they probably won't help with that). Johnny and I did get some new pillows, though. He saw an article that talked about these pillows so I decided why not...couldn't be any worse than the old pillows that we've been using for, like, a decade. There were mixed reviews, but I was hopeful...and so far we've not been disappointed! I've been having a lot less neck pain. I had to remove some of the stuffing, but it's a lot more supportive for my neck and head. So I'm pretty happy about that. 

And since I've been having such a good July and start to August...I splurged and got something that's pretty much just cosmetic for my desk. :P My desk is 18 years old and the desktop is definitely showing it's age. My binding machine also caused a pretty big scratch before I realized it had a sharp spot on the bottom. So...I was looking for a desk mat that would cover the desktop...but the sizing was pretty limiting. I actually ended up finding this mouse pad that works pretty perfectly. It doesn't go across the whole desktop, but it definitely covers the part that shows the most wear. 

I did take a bit of a break from work last weekend to celebrate my husband's birthday! It's the 29th anniversary of Johnny's 29th birthday. ;) We had dinner at Village Inn with Aubry (and Danny), Ashlyn, mom, and my grandparents. Then we came home to put our leftovers in the fridge and let the dogs out to pee before going over to my grandparents' house to play Flip 7 with my mom and grandparents. It was the first time Johnny and I had played...and we had a lot of fun. :)

Well...I finally finished the first order of notepads, so I think I'm going to head to bed so I can get started again early tomorrow on the second notepad order. I hope everyone has a good weekend! :) 

**post contains Amazon affiliate links

Johnny is finally home!

This post has been open in my browser since Sunday and I just keep adjusting and adding to it without finishing it. LOL. It's now Thursday...and hopefully I'm posting this without changing that day again. :P 

I'm so happy that my husband is back home safe and sound. Mom and I took Johnny to the airport Saturday, May 16th and we picked him up on Sunday, May 24th. It was a day longer than his trip to Seattle over Labor Day last year. We had to play around with the dates to get the best price...the tickets were quite a bit higher this year. But Johnny was still able to fly first class in his favorite seat, so he really liked that. He was able to spend quite a bit of time with his mom plus do a few things with his brother like going to the Seattle Market and exploring different areas by the water. He was pretty sore when he got home from all the miles of walking they did. With the way my back and joints have been lately...there would've been no way I could've done it! There are days when my back seizes up just walking past the neighbor's house to the mailbox! 

I didn't do a whole lot while Johnny was gone other than work and get some stuff done around the house. Last time he was gone, my mom and I cut our king size adjustable bed in half, but I didn't really have a big project this time. A lot of my time was spent going outside with the dogs. :P I don't think they knew what to do with themselves having their routine disrupted. I played Sims4 a bit on the weekends since I hadn't played in awhile. Of course when I say that I "played" I mean that I just worked on building our Sims house. ;) It's AMAZING and if we decide to build a house in the future, it's definitely going to inspire our real house. ;) I also watched Scandal again on Netflix (mostly just for background noise) and made it from Season 1 to Season 6...then finished the series (it has 7 seasons total) yesterday. It's been so long since I'd watched it that I'd forgotten most of what happened in that show.

Neither one of us got much sleep while he was gone. Luckily Johnny was off work on Monday for the holiday so he could unwind and get some much needed rest before starting the workweek again. We lounged around watching some YouTube in the living room together. Johnny has lots of channels he subscribes to...plus we enjoy watching funny animal clips and funny "fails" videos where people fall down. It's our guilty pleasure. lol. Most of our messenger conversations consist of just sending funny video clips back and forth. ;) 

This past year I discovered Celina Spooky and her sleepwalking videos. The first clip of hers that I saw was when she had been sleepwalking in a hotel and woke up naked in the hallway. I think what I love most is the way she reminds me so much of Aubry! Her mannerisms, gestures, and the way she throws her head back when she laughs...Aubry does the same thing! Aubry also likes old, eclectic things and even had a skeleton (which she named Boner) riding in her car for several years. Anyway...I kind of went off on a tangent there. :P  

Work is going well. I passed 4350 sales on Sunday in my CandiMakerStickers shop. I started the year at 3695 sales (my goal last year was 3500). I feel like I've been setting some pretty "easy" goals, so my goal for this year is to hit 6000 in that shop. So...we'll see! While we were watching TV on Monday, I was going back and forth printing and cutting stickers, magnets, and sticker sheets. I had 20 orders that I packaged to put in the mail Monday night. I had two eBay orders, two sticker sheet orders, and the rest were from my regular sticker and magnet shop. My custom name label sticker sheets have already started selling this year. Last year I sold one custom name sticker sheet in January then didn't sell another one until I sold four at the end of June. This year I've sold at least one (and as many as six sheets!) every month from January through April. This month, I've sold 11 of the name label sticker sheets just since May 19th. Last July I sold 209 individual custom name label sticker sheets (then August was a bit less with 157 before it tapered back down to single digits). So I'm really interested to see how many I sell this July. My goal in my CandiMakerPlanners shop this year is to get to 1500 (I am currently at 576 sales). 

Since I was all caught up on orders, I took a break on Tuesday to play the new Paralives that was released on Monday (this is not a compensated review at all). It's a new life simulation game that is being compared to Sims. I decided to get it while they currently have a 10% discounted Early Access price. The good news is that's all you have to pay...ever. They've vowed not to put any new content behind paywalls...it'll all be delivered for free through game updates. 

So far, I really love the ways that it's different from Sims. It has an open world which was removed in the evolution from Sims 3 to Sims 4. It has color wheels so you can recolor pretty much everything. It has sliders for almost everything...height, every body part, many of the build items (like sliding furniture to make it shorter or longer), etc. One thing I really love is that not only is building not limited to a grid, everything is still completely usable. For example, I purchased an existing lot and completely remodeled it...but everything was a very odd shape. I wanted to add a staircase to a rooftop loft (because building a roof is still pretty basic and clunky...so with such odd shapes, I didn't have the patience to keep trying) so I wanted to add a staircase and make a rooftop patio area. The space for the stairs to the rooftop really wasn't big enough for a door to open...but it still let me put it there and the people use it as normal without a problem. So that's definitely an improvement. And it gives you a lot more freedom to clutter desktops, counters and everything because you're not limited to 1-4 "slots" to place things like in the Sims. The graphics are completely different from Sims, but I don't think they're bad. It's just a different aesthetic. And a lot of people are complaining about lack of options...but this is an *Early Release* of a *base* game. Sims 4 base game was pretty lacking as well when it was first released. I don't think Paralives will stop me from playing Sims, but I think it will be another game I enjoy.  

Tuesday ended up being a pretty good day for me to take a break from work...because I've been surviving on very little sleep and feeling really uncomfortable and irritated. TMI...but perimenopause is horrible. I've been dealing with it since late summer 2020. My cycles haven't gone away, but they'd gotten a lot shorter and lighter. Well...I didn't have my period at all in April so I was starting to get excited...until I'm now apparently having two periods in one. I've never had such heavy bleeding from a period. I'm talking...having to set a timer for 50 minutes because 60 minutes is too late to change my S+ tampon (hey, I warned you it was TMI!). It started late Monday night and continued until about 8am yesterday. It's still here today but not heavy anymore. The last time I bled like that was when I had a miscarriage at 12 weeks in April 2007. I only got lightheaded when I was standing too long trying to cut the vegetables for dinner on Tuesday. I was standing too long and got too hot. So I ended up postponing fajitas for dinner and ended up going to bed (only to wake up four hours later wide awake until 7am). Last night I was finally feeling better and finished making fajitas for dinner. Mmmm! 

Alright...gonna eat some leftovers for lunch and then gonna work on orders to put in the mail tonight. :)

I never know what to write for a title...

It takes a lot more effort than necessary to think of titles for my blog posts that aren't the same thing all the time. :P I know it's a trivial thing...but my brain gets hung up on things like that. I mean...my essays in school always took just a little bit longer because I couldn't use the same words in close proximity to each other. I don't know...it's a thing. lol. But...at least I have a lot to update this time instead of just droning on about the same ol' things all the time. :P 

The last week of April and into the first couple days of May, I had a really bad migraine. Several days it was so bad it even woke me up early in the morning. It had been awhile since I've had a migraine last that long and be that intense. Since I have hemiplegic migraines, I'm not supposed to take the triptans that are commonly used as rescue meds for migraines due to an increased risk of stroke. Basically all I can do is take 4 ibuprofen, a Benadryl, a promethazine, and put an ice back on my head or neck. Some days that just doesn't cut it. I've been taking nortriptyline for 13 years now as a migraine preventative for my hemiplegic migraines. While I've only had two hemiplegic migraines since then (one was NYE 2013 and the other was after I had a scratched cornea in 2019 and the ER doctor shined a light for too long in my scratched eyeball), I still get regular migraines pretty frequently. My doctor prescribed me topiramate as a preventative a few years ago, but that didn't make much difference. 

Johnny had a phlebotomy appointment on May 1st and since he needed to make a regular doctor appointment to refill his prescriptions, I went ahead and made appointments for both of us with our family doctor the same day (so he only had to take off work one day instead of two). I was going to get an allergy shot while we were there, but I totally forgot about it. I talked to our doctor (who is amazing) about the migraines and we decided to try Aimovig as a migraine preventative. It's a CGRP (calcitonin gene-related peptide) monoclonal antibody that is a receptor blocker. Previously, my doctor had given me samples of CGRP receptor antagonists to use as rescue meds. Ubelvy isn't covered on our insurance, and Nurtec is $150/month (my doctor also gave me a few samples of Nurtec in case I need any rescue meds, though.). Meanwhile, Aimovig is only $100 a month and we have a copay card from the company which takes it down to $50 a month. And I don't mind doing injections...needles don't bother me at all. 

It took forever to actually be able to get my prescription for the Aimovig. It requires prior authorization with our insurance...and that took awhile. Then when the prior authorization finally came through, the pharmacy didn't have it in stock. In fact, none of the area locations had it available. But we were finally able to get it Monday night. Johnny picked it up at about 8:30pm and I waited half an hour (it's kept refrigerated and it's recommended to wait until it's room temperature so it doesn't sting as much). It's a SureClick Autoinjector which was really simple. Prep the area with rubbing alcohol, remove the white cap, pinch the skin on my thigh, push the pen all the way down, press the button (it'll click) and hold it down for about 15 seconds until the window is completely yellow (and it clicked again). Then dispense then pen in a sharps container (I used an empty detergent bottle that I already had) and that's it. 

Honestly, I wondered if I did it right at first because I felt absolutely nothing. But after I tossed the pen, there was a dot of blood so obviously it worked. A little while later I could feel where I'd done the injection...but it wasn't what I'd describe as painful. However, the next day I started feeling kinda crappy. I thought it was allergies (especially since I'd forgotten to get my allergy shot) but after four Benadryl and two Sudafed and it didn't really make a difference on my runny nose and sneezing. Then when my throat started hurting and I just felt kinda blah and achy...I realized it was probably the "flu-like" symptoms that can sometimes be side-effects. I felt a lot better by the next day, though. 

I also talked to my doctor about my issues with pelvic adhesive disease and the possibly of surgery for a total hysterectomy, bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy, adhesiolysis, and possible colporrhaphy if necessary. I've had horrible pain that has just gotten worse over the last 16 years. I had to have a rectopexy and colon resection in 2010 that had to be done via open surgery. Then when I tried to get my tubes tied a year later, the surgeon couldn't even find one of my fallopian tubes because there was so much scar tissue from my previous surgery that has attached all of my pelvic organs together. So my doctor referred me to a urogynecologist and I'll have that appointment in a couple months to see what my options are. It shows he specializes in pelvic reconstruction surgery and I found that he was also recommended in the local Ehlers-Danlos FB group...so hopefully it'll all work out well.  

In other news, we took the dogs to the groomer a few weeks ago. They had some major grinch toes goin' on! We had the groomer use a hypoallergenic shampoo for Nova, but she's still been having allergy issues. I'm thinking it might be the doggy perfume. We made their next appointment while we were there, so I'll have to remember to talk to her about it then. We also need to make their appointment for their vaccines and Nova's allergy shot. 

I finally got around to printing my planner. I haven't had a paper planner in years...but I've been missing it. Especially now that I can print my own stickers! I also still have a lot of Happy Planner stickers to use, too. 

Work has been going well. April was a bit slow, but still better than it was in April 2025. I need to finish listing products on my website. I'm also thinking about giving TikTok shop another try, but we'll see. I was able to create the shop this time without any problems (as opposed to last time when it was a nightmare), so I suppose that's at least progress. 

We've also been getting ready for Johnny's trip out to Seattle. His mom had another stroke last month and isn't recovering like she had with the strokes she'd had before. He'll be staying with his brother again. I'm glad he'll get to spend the time with his family, but the doggies and I will definitely miss him! 

A Productive Weekend!

I got a LOT of stuff done this weekend! And...Johnny and I got some new desks! :)

Friday morning I decided to start working on my office right after I woke up. I needed to empty everything off of the hutch bookcase so I could move Johnny's old desk (the one that my Romeo was on) to that spot and then put the hutch bookcase on top of the desk where it belongs. That bookcase holds all my cookbooks, art books, some writing books, and then I have all of our wedding decorations on top (which I'm very glad still fit up there when we moved the hutch onto the desk).  

Friday afternoon my mom and grandma stopped by so I could fix Grandma's phone. She had inadvertently turned off the full-screen notification of when she's getting a call...so the phone was ringing with just a black screen and she couldn't tell who was calling. We had some Taco Tico for lunch and chatted for a bit. The dogs definitely liked having company. :) 

After mom and grandma left, Johnny's new desk arrived (an hour later than FedEx originally estimated). I got the top and the bottom of the desk put together and then I took a break so we could have some Casey's pizza for dinner. After we ate, Johnny helped me move both pieces of his desk into the bedroom and I attached them together. Then all I had to do was put the LED light strip up (which was not designed well because it lays flat so it can't go around the corner and still be flat against the board). But other than that, it really looks great. It'll definitely be better than the old, slanted art desk of his mom's that he was using before. 

I went to bed around 12:45am. Unfortunately...I woke up to Milo puking on the bed at my feet about two hours later. :P  I didn't want to wake Johnny, so I decided to just go ahead and get up. I didn't do a whole lot during the night...just kinda played around on my phone and the computer. But after Johnny woke up, I started washing the bedding and then got to work in my office. Apparently only two hours of sleep leads to productivity! :P 

Last month I started scanning some of the documents in the file cabinets that we have in the closet in my office...and I decided that I wanted to get those shredded before I put my new desk in the office. My desk ended up getting here around 9:30am (5 hours earlier than FedEx originally estimated) but I wanted to finish scanning first so I could get the box of paper out of the office. It seemed to take FOREVER...but I got the entire box done (which filled almost five 13gal trash bags). Then I vacuumed and moved some things around...and finally put my new desk together. It went pretty quick and it fits perfectly. I really like how my office is coming together. It's a pretty small room, but I'm trying to make the most of the space that I have. Later I'll update my office collection post with all my new stuff. :) 

I made creamy chicken enchiladas for dinner on Sunday night. They're SO yummy...but it makes my back hurt from standing so long. Usually I get my orders that I got over the weekend done on Sunday, but I needed a break after putting the desks together and reorganizing my office. I didn't have any orders due until the 17th, so I took a break on Sunday and then got back at it on Monday. I had a LOT of magnets to print and cut. I'm so glad that I started selling magnets as well as stickers, because it has really helped my business grow. The new layout of my office also helped a lot with my workflow. 

Ooh and I figured out how to create a playlist on Amazon Prime to play music while I'm packing orders. I had been playing shows on Netflix or Hulu on my tablet while working in the office, but I feel like I'm more productive and efficient when listing to music instead. I don't really want to pay for Amazon Music Unlimited every month, but I wanted to play music on the Echo dot that we got forever ago. So I figured out that I could add songs to "My Likes" playlist and then just have Alexa play that list to shuffle all the songs I actually like. I liked having my shows playing in the background, but playing music is more motivating and productive. ;) 

I also made some adjustments to the settings for my cardstock cards. Since my ET-16650 prints so fast, I'd completely forgotten how much slower other printers are...including my new WF-4833. But instead of printing high quality, I went ahead and bumped it down to standard, turned on bidirectional printing, and increased the contrast, saturation, and density. So now it looks pretty much the same, but it prints a lot faster. I like it when things are efficient. 

Oh and I finished the new season of Virgin River on Friday. The last few seasons feel pretty slow a lot of the time, but it wasn't too bad. And every season ends on a cliffhanger...which I never like. It's just a tool to make sure people come back and watch the next season to see what happens...which feels manipulative. But I still come back to see what happens. :P Well...most of the time. There are some shows that I completely lost interest in and don't even care to see what else happens. 

Well...I'm going to get back to work. 

What a mess!

So...my Epson ET-16650 has been having some issues. It still prints my stickers and sticker sheets beautifully, but the rollers seem to be having some issues with auto duplexing and recognizing that there is paper in the lower two cassettes unless they're full. I've opened it up multiple times and tried cleaning the rollers and everything...but it's still having issues. But the only things I've been having issues with are when I'm printing my packaging inserts and packing slips...so I don't want to replace the entire printer when it's still printing my actual products without any problems. 

I decided I would go ahead and get a cheaper printer for regular office printing. Since I don't need it to be pigment, I was looking at the regular Epson Ecotank printers. They had a "certified renew" Epson ET-3853 which was the cheapest ($179)...so I went ahead and got that one. It arrived yesterday and it was HORRIBLE. The very first print...there were black smudges all over the page. These weren't smears like the ink I printed hadn't dried or the paper was curled and it hit the printhead or anything. It honestly looked like someone took the paper and stepped on it with their dirty shoe. Just random smudges. I did paper guide cleaning, printhead cleaning, print quality adjustment, printhead alignment...all of it. I even cleaned the rollers off with a cotton swab as explained in the user manual which helped a bit until I had to do another printhead cleaning because there were missing spots in the nozzle check pattern...then it all came right back. I spent HOURS trying to get this damn printer to not make shitty prints to no avail. And I tried to print auto duplex (since that was one of the main reasons for getting a new printer) and the back of the page shifted while printing every time. I was so excited...just to waste the day on a defective printer. 

I've had THREE Epson Ecotank printers...an ET-16650 that I'd converted to sublimation (my sister has that now since I'm not doing sublimation anymore), an ET-5800 that I'd purchased from Epson's refurbished eBay store (that my mom is now using), and another Epson ET-16650 that I have been using for almost three years to print my stickers and sticker sheets. All three of them worked perfectly right out of the box including the refurbished ET-5800. I'd get another ET-5800-series printer if they weren't so dang expensive ($600-800) especially considering it's just for office printing and not products. 

The Epson store customer service line you have to call for returns (because, unfortunately, you can't just do it online) is only open from 7am-4pm PST...which means they close at 2pm my time. The first time I called was at 12:14pm. I explain the issue...and they say that I have to go through tech support to be approved for a return label and refund. So they transfer me and I explain every single thing I've already done. She wanted me to go through it all again...uh, no. I've already followed EVERY troubleshooting step and packaged the damn thing back up last night. So she just goes with it and says that she'll send me an email with the reference number...never got an email. So at 12:39pm I call the return number back. They said that they see no record of tech authorizing the return and they don't know why she would send an email anyway...so I'm transferred and have to explain ALL the things I already did AGAIN. This time I get a ticket/reference number saying it's a hardware failure and told that I have to call the return line back again. So now I call the return number again at 12:58pm. I give the guy the reference number I was given...and he says that there is no mention of a hardware failure, only troubleshooting. So I am transferred AGAIN and have to explain ALL the things I did AGAIN. She assured me that the hardware failure was now attached to the reference number and tried to transfer me back to the return number, but it wouldn't work so I had to call the return number again. FINALLY when I call back at 1:13pm I end up with an email for a return label. Now I just have to get it dropped off for FedEx. UGH. SO frustrating. 

So...I decided to go a different route. We had an Epson Workforce printer before I started my business. It worked fine for awhile, but we didn't print very often and it just went downhill after a few years. It was also a cartridge printer and went through cartridges pretty quick. That's why I originally wasn't going to get another Workforce printer...but I don't want to spend a lot of money on a printer just for my office stuff. So I decided to reexamine the Workforce printers. And after the headache dealing with Epson, I decided I didn't want to go through them directly. I actually found a pretty nice option at our local Walmart that could be delivered same day. Ideally I wanted a printer that could handle auto duplexing cardstock and even better if it had two dedicated paper trays so I could have one for plain paper and another for cardstock like I've had in my ET-16650. The Workforce Pro WF-4833 is actually a lot like my old ET-5800. The only thing it doesn't have that I would've liked is a rear feed paper tray...but that's a pretty minor thing. And, of course, I wish it was a tank printer instead of cartridges. But since the printer is only $129, getting cartridges aren't that bad at this point. 

I got the WF-4833 all set up...and it worked beautifully right out of the box. I printed my double-sided cards that are printed on cardstock...and it had no problem auto duplexing the cardstock from the paper cassette. It does print quite a bit lighter than my ET-16650...but I don't know how much changing I'll do because I don't want to use more of the ink than I really have to on things that a lot of my customers probably throw away anyway. And we'll see how long the cartridges last. But so far I'm pleased with my purchase. :) 

And...I'm really running out of desk space for all my stuff...especially with the new printer. So I found a cheap desk on Amazon that I think will work well for my small office. I'm going to move Johnny's old desk (the one my Romeo has been on) over next to the armoire where the hutch (more like a bookcase) that goes on top of that desk already is. On the hutch I just have my cookbooks, art and writing books, and then all the stuff from our wedding displayed on it. I used to have all my planners and everyone's yearbooks and stuff on it too, but I took all those downstairs when preparing for one of the storms that they were saying would basically take out our town (it barely stormed at all, of course). I decided to go ahead and just leave them in the basement instead of bringing them downstairs every time there might be a tornado warning. 

Anyway...the new desk I got should fit where Johnny's old desk had been. If it all works out, it should fit my new printer, the Romeo, and my Cricut on the new desk. Then I can move a few random things (like my paper cutter) onto Johnny's old desk. Right now it's just sitting on the end of my desk and I have to keep moving it to use it or when I need more space on my desk. I'm really excited to be making a little better use of the space in my small office. :) I'm all caught up on orders and my desk is supposed to be delivered on Saturday...so I'm going to use the next few days to clean up and rearrange in my office. That way I'll be all ready to put the desk together and move it to its new home. :)

We also got a new desk for Johnny to use for work. He's been using his mom's art desk that's set up in a corner of our bedroom. It has a slightly slanted top which really isn't suitable to use as a computer desk. So it's definitely time we got him an upgrade to something that has much more of an "office" feel to it. I found a perfect corner desk that I think he will love. It's supposed to be delivered on Friday, so I'll put it together when it arrives and then he can get it all set up the way he wants over the weekend so he can have a fresh start to his work week on Monday. :) 

Right now I'm waiting for the new season of Virgin River to start. The new episodes are supposed to drop on Netflix at 2am...so I'm going to wait up for it. I'm only going to watch the first episode tonight...I'll finish the rest tomorrow. Season 6 ended on a cliffhanger...the very last scene is Jack walking into the twins' bedroom at Charmaine's (after Charmaine was a no-show at the wedding and no one could get a hold of her) and he has a shocked look on his face after he opens the door...and that's it. That's where they ended it. I just want to know what the hell he saw! :P lol. 

And that's about all that's going on around here. I lead a super exciting life. ;) 

March?!

Well...I ended February with 97 orders...so didn't make it over 100, but hopefully it'll be the only month with less than 100 orders just like it was last year. And I still had almost 20 more orders this February than I did last year and my revenue was also quite a bit higher. It did pick up more in the last few days. I had 20 orders from over the weekend that I made and packaged last night before I went to bed so they'd be in the mail today. 

Since I worked on my website all day Friday and Saturday then worked on orders Sunday, I decided I'm going to take a break from work today. I've also had a horrible migraine for most of the day, so I haven't really felt like doing much anyway. I even laid down to take a nap for about two hours with an ice pack hoping it would help...but it didn't. I just found an old sumatriptan in the cabinet so I'm hoping that will kick in and make the migraine go away. 

Johnny had surgery this morning to remove the stitches from his surgery last week and to remove another spot of skin cancer. Last week we were home by 9:30am, but it was a bit busier today. We'd been talking all morning about getting McDonalds breakfast since we were out and about. We ended up having to order Door Dash to have breakfast delivered...it got there about 10 minutes before we did. ;) So we enjoyed some breakfast sandwiches and burritos while we watched Playdate. Honestly...I like Alan Ritchson (LOVE watching Reacher) and he was funny in this movie...but the movie itself was not great. It was more corny than funny, and those aren't really my type of comedies. My favorite genre is action movies with funny one-liners...like Reacher! lol.  

Out of  the seven skin cancer surgeries Johnny has had now, this is the only one where he had any issues after we got home. He'd been sitting for awhile but then when he stood up, quite a bit of blood started coming from under the pressure bandage which was no longer secured at the bottom. He has to keep the pressure bandage on for 48 hours after surgery, so I'm wondering if that was part of the problem as far as why it had started bleeding. I went ahead and took the bandage the rest of the way off and there was a small spot about a quarter inch long that had a little bit of blood seeping through the incision (so it was already no longer dripping). We were out of butterfly bandages, so I used a regular Band-Aid across the incision to hopefully hold it closed a little better and then put a new pressure bandage on. He went in the bedroom to lay down a couple hours ago and so far it seems to be doing fine and there hasn't been more bleeding. 

I finally got around to making a groomer appointment for Boz and Nova. They reeeeeally need a spaw day. Unfortunately we couldn't get in until April, but I did see that she posted on FB that they're not taking on any new dogs so the wait doesn't get even longer for their existing customers. She's been our only groomer since Bozley's first groom and with his anxiety, we try not to change things up very often unless we have to. I also need to make their vet appointment so they can get their shots. Nova already has a scab on her head so we'll get her an allergy shot, too. We have to remember to have the vet look at a lump on her chest while we're there. Bozley has had one for years and the vet said it seems to just be a lipoma, so we're hoping that's the case with Nova, too. 

Well...the migraine meds kicked in and helped the pain, but now I have the uncomfortable tightness feeling, so I think I'm actually gonna go to bed early. Goodnight! 

Keeping busy!

Well...I'm glad I didn't spend too much more time working on my "website" at GoImagine...because they're shutting down next month. Honestly, I can't say that I'm surprised at all that they're shutting down. It seemed like they spent a lot more effort attracting sellers than buyers. A lot of sellers talked about how they liked that it wasn't Etsy and it focused more on sellers...but Etsy actually has traffic, and GoImagine doesn't. It doesn't really matter how they treat sellers if the sellers don't have any buyers. That's why I was just using it as a "website" instead of a marketplace...because you still have to drive the traffic yourself anyway. Their UI was really clunky and their analytics left a lot to be desired as well. 

So anyway...I decided that I still want to build my own website, so I'm utilizing Shopify's $1/mo intro offer to see how I like things there. I went through all the settings to get my account and everything set up yesterday. Then today I finished up the theme and editing the design. Now it's just a matter of getting all my products added. Luckily there is an Etsy integration where I can import all my Etsy listings, so that helps a lot. I just have to go through and tweak a few things like changing the prices. My prices on Etsy include not only the fees that Etsy charges, but also the cost for First Class letter mail labels on Etsy. I'll only be doing tracked shipping on orders from my website, so the item price won't include shipping anymore. I'll be charging for shipping, but I'll be offering free shipping for orders over $35. I'm hoping to have my website completely finished by the end of this weekend. :) 

It's hard to believe it's almost March! February is always my slowest month...but this February has already been better than February 2025, so that's good. I'm not sure that I'll break 100 orders this February, but hopefully it'll be like last year and it'll be the only month that doesn't break 100. And the slower pace has given me time to work on my website anyway. 

Johnny has been off work because he had another skin cancer surgery earlier this week. He has another one next week and hopefully that'll be the last one for awhile. We watched The Wrecking Crew last night and it was SO good. It's definitely the best movie we've watched in awhile. It's my favorite genre...funny action movies. Then today Aubry and her boyfriend stopped by to drop something off and ended up staying awhile. It was a nice time...lots of laughing, so that's always good. :) 

Well...I think I'm actually getting tired. My allergies have been terrible today so I think I might take some more Benadryl and go to bed. :P

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!

November Update

I can't believe it's November already! I'm glad though. The sooner the next 3 years go by the better, as far as I'm concerned. :P 

We spent several hours at my mom's house on Saturday. She needed a new garbage disposal and faucet for her kitchen sink...so Johnny replaced those for her. He's always been such a wonderful help for our family. :) And then after Johnny was done with that, he chatted with my dad while I set up my old printer for mom and connected her additional monitor to her laptop. So it was a nice, productive evening. Although...Nova wasn't very happy that her dinner was 2 hours late. ;) 

Oh! And thank goodness for Walmart delivery being available in the small town...because the faucet didn't come with the hoses to connect to the water lines and we were able to have them delivered within an hour. But the funniest thing is that when I went to make a Walmart order on Monday, I'd forgotten to change the address back to ours so our groceries were delivered to my mom's house. :P Oops! 

I spent most of Sunday working. I had 15 orders to print, cut, and package that went out in the mail today. I also finished the last new sticker sheet listing in my CandiMakerPlanners shop. I added seven new Christmas gift label sticker sheets. I was hoping to get them done earlier, but at least they're done now. I also set up my Black Friday sales...they'll run from November 24 at 12am until December 3 at 12am. I always have a buy-more-save-more sale for Black Friday. So...if anyone is looking to make a big purchase, that will be a perfect time. :) 

Let's see...what else has been happening? 

We went to Village Inn for my birthday last month. It's our new favorite place for family dinners with my grandparents because it's generally quiet. There's also a really funny waitress there...but my birthday was the first time in the last couple years that she wasn't there. She's always teasing and joking around which makes us laugh...and it's always nice to laugh! Then after dinner we went over to my grandparents' house to play Hand & Foot...and I won! I've won some rounds before, but I think it's the first time I've actually won the game. 

We took the dogs to the groomer last month, too. They look and smell soooo good after the groomer! I did notice this time, Nova got quite a few hot spots and Boz has been itching, too. Since it's also affecting Boz, I'm thinking the groomer probably gave them treats with chicken in them (MANY treats do) rather than it being environmental or the shampoo or something. Nova has seasonal/environmental allergies, but they're both allergic to chicken. So I think next time, I'll take some of our treats for at the groomer just in case. I really love our groomer and she takes the most adorable pictures of the puppies. 

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We are hosting Thanksgiving for my side of the family again this year. I think we've just done it twice before...in 2014 and in 2021. I make Thanksgiving dinner every year...but most of the time in recent years, it's just for me and Johnny or sometimes it's us and the kids if they don't have other plans. I love Thanksgiving dinner, but hosting isn't always my favorite because it feels more stressful and hectic...especially making sure everything is done on time. But this is my sister's first Thanksgiving without her girls (she recently filed for divorce), so I thought it'd be nice for us to host. And it'll just be my mom, sister, and possibly my grandma...and the understanding is that dinner is done when it's done. ;) That way it'll hopefully feel less chaotic. And then a few weeks later, we'll have Christmas at my sister's house. We always have our celebration with my sister, our parents, and my mom's mom before Christmas (or sometimes after, depending on scheduling). It spaces things out so it isn't such a big deal trying to cram everything with multiple sides of multiple families in just a couple days. With marriage and divorce...there are more things to schedule around so it just makes things a little easier. It's been that way since I was little. Then we would celebrate Christmas Eve with my dad's mom and stepdad (when Grandma was still alive) and then we would celebrate Christmas Day at my mom's dad's house. 

In completely unrelated news...I have some angry nerve issues. I'd been having problems for a few months with the nerves in my left shoulder making my shoulder ache and tingling/numbness in my fingers. Since it's not exactly painful, it hasn't seemed as big of a deal. Sometimes my shoulder hurts, but it's more of an ache. Now I have a burning pain in my right elbow and wrist...with numbness and tingling in my fingers on my right hand...and it's keeping me awake at night. I spent a lot of time trying to move around and put my arm in different positions trying to find relief. None of my medicine has really been doing much to relieve the pain. And that's just the newest issue. I've been having a lot of problems with neck pain and that causing headaches and migraines. I've tried different sleeping positions, different pillows...it just always hurts. My back hurts if I stand for very long (like...5 minutes). It feels like my back muscles are doing all the work when I'm standing and they don't like it. And to compound my issues...I've also been experiencing exercise-induced migraines (I think it's related to my blood pressure) and getting overheated which triggers my neuropathy and trigeminal neuralgia. It's all just a mess...and exhausting. When you deal with chronic pain for decades...it's just draining. You start thinking about how many years it's been and how many you still have left...and it starts to feel like forever. It's physically and mentally exhausting. 

But...I should probably get back to work. :) 

First (Unexpected) Furniture Purchase!

We've been pretty busy at home lately. We didn't necessarily plan to be this busy, though. Long story short...we had an incident with one of the cats, and we ended up just getting a new couch. :P 

The couch we'd had is the one that I got from my brother-in-law back in August 2007...and it was already about 10 years old when I got it. Here are a couple pictures of it in my last apartment (not the greatest pictures):

It had two recliners, a hide-a-bed, a corner shelf with storage, fold down table, and a drawer for storage in the seat below the table. It'd held up pretty well for the last 20 years with only a couple minor issues after we moved it into our living room here in 2016 (and moved Johnny's couch downstairs). There was a worn spot in one of the seat cushions, a 6" tear from the dogs on another seat cushion that was repaired a couple times, and the cable to pull for one of the recliners had broken off...other than just showing its age in general.    

So...we finally decided to get a new couch. After being together for 13 years...it's our first furniture purchase together. :) We've purchased all new appliances (except for the stove) and little things for my office, but this was our first actual furniture purchase. We didn't want to spend a lot of money since we still have cats and dogs...and we spent hours looking online and trying to decide if we wanted another sectional or something else. 

We eventually found a modular sectional (purchased on Wayfair) that we liked. While I personally like the cream color better, the dark grey color is more practical for our zoo situation. It does have a very "blue" tint to it which I was worried would clash with our sage green, maroon, gold-ish, and brown color scheme that we have going on...but since it's dark it's more complimentary than clashing, The bad reviews that it got--the ones that weren't about the dark gray color being more like a navy blue--were about the couch being firm and uncomfortable. I mean...compared to our previous couch, it's a whole lot more firm. But it's not firm in an uncomfortable way. And Johnny said it's nice not sinking into the couch, which makes it easier to get up from. 

I contacted our trash company to get a price for bulk items. Our town has a contract with them which offers 2 free bulk item pick ups per year (which I think we've only used once in the last decade). Each separate piece of the sectional is considered a separate item...so we only had to pay $30 for one item to have the trash company pick up the sectional. So that was definitely a huge weight lifted...since we don't have a truck or anything anymore to take it anywhere. 

Johnny and I took the hide-a-bed side of the couch and the corner piece out ourselves on Saturday and put them in front of the garage. Then on Monday after Aubry got off work, she stopped by to help us take out the larger side of the sectional and move all three pieces to the curb. The hardest part of moving it was getting it through the door. We had to take the front door off to get it to fit...but after that we could just tip it off the porch. Since we didn't have to worry about breaking it or messing it up...it was a lot easier. 

We spent the weekend of the 10th cleaning up the living room (and dining room while we were at it). We found two of the dogs' bones hiding in the couch...so Nova was excited. ;) The largest piece of the couch hadn't been moved since we moved it in here because it's so heavy...so there was a ton of dog hair and stuff under there. We cleaned the floors and got everything ready for the new couch...which arrived in 8 different boxes (varying from 15lbs-55lbs) on Tuesday, the 15th. 

I put the couch together while Johnny was working. It was super easy and I really like how we could arrange it the way we want. We have a glass end table that has been in the corner of the living room (which is where we moved the air purifier to since it had been sitting on the corner shelf of the old sectional) and with three seats, the console, and the corner piece along that wall, it fits perfectly. Then we have the remaining two seats that kinda separate the living room and dining room. And this sectional has more seating than our previous one, since the corner piece is an actual seat instead of storage (and the dogs really like laying on that piece). At first I had the console in between two regular seats on the longest side (which was where the fold-down table was on the old couch), but we ended up moving it to be between a regular seat and the corner piece (still along the wall)...and I really like it better. It provides more leg room if someone decides to sit in the corner and makes the cup holders more accessible to both sides of the couch. Honestly, I think the only thing that I don't love about the new sectional is that the ottoman doesn't lift up to have storage inside...but that's just a minor thing.  

Here's a picture of our new couch: 

We found some waterproof couch covers on Amazon just to help protect the couch more from pets. We bought the sage green color, but against the dark gray/navy they look more like a light blue color. I expected them to be a little deeper/darker. I actually would've preferred the beige, but we figured they'd probably show dirt more easily...since we have dogs on the couch all the time. And...Johnny pointed out that the color ties in the wall hangings above the couch and a painting that we got from my aunt. The "sage green" still isn't my favorite...but it'll do for now. I really like that they cover each seat individually. That way if one gets dirty, we just have to wash that one and not the whole thing. I didn't order the set with the console cover, because it would basically make the console pointless without being able to access the cupholders and storage. There are also covers for the arm rests on the end and they even have pockets in them (although I don't know of anything we'd ever put in them). I also got some waterproof pet blankets to cover the couch at night (since that's when we've been having problems with the cat) or when the dogs are messier (like when it snows or rains). So far everything has been working out really well! I've even had to wash one of the arm covers already (a different cat threw up...ugh) and it held up great and still looks new.  

And last (for now)...we got a new coffee table. We've been wanting a new one...well Johnny has wanted a new one since before I moved in, actually. But we decided since we were getting a new couch, it would be a perfect time to get a new coffee table. Since Johnny and I eat dinner sitting on the couch, we'd been looking at lift-top coffee tables. I found this one and it fits our needs perfectly. It's one of the few that we liked which lifted up on two perpendicular sides. And with this one, we could attach the larger part lift to either the front or the back. I'm able to lift the larger side toward me to put my laptop on or use as a table when we're eating...and Johnny can also lift the smaller side when we're having dinner. We decided to go with black because I don't like having a lot of different woodgrain colors mixed together. 

The last thing we still want to get is a new tv stand. Johnny wants the kind with a fireplace heater...and we'll get a black one as well so it matches the coffee table. Sometime Johnny wants to get new rugs as well...but that can wait a little while longer. 

I also picked up my glasses this weekend. They fit really well...I like not having to constantly push them back up on my nose. I was right and they were the plum rosewood frames. I think they're really cute. 

Johnny got a lot of stuff done in the yard this weekend. He mowed (probably for the last time this year) and got all the weed-eating done except for the backyard (battery died). He liked using the leaf blower we got from my parents to get all the grass off the sidewalk. :) I'll probably get him an edger for Christmas...he's been wanting one. He also cut down some stray trees and sunflowers that were growing by the house. 

Today I've been busy getting orders done from the weekend. While my production days are listed as Monday-Friday, most Sundays I still work to get out the orders I got over the weekend. But...when we do have things going on over the weekend, I like not feeling pressured to work. And it's not like customers are going to complain about getting their orders earlier than expected. 

On that note...I need to get back to work so I can have everything print and cut before dinner so I just have to package orders before I go to bed. :) 


*post contains Amazon affiliate links

It was a loooong week.

Johnny spent the last week with his family near Seattle, Washington. His mom is in a nice senior care home not too far from his brother. He hadn't seen his mom since she moved out there in late 2019. so he wanted to spend some time with her. Since he was going to be out there for a whole week, I stayed home with the dogs and to work. I didn't want to lose the momentum I've had by putting my shops on vacation mode for an entire week. So this time only Johnny went out there. 

Since I wasn't going, we paid $100 more for him to fly first class...and he enjoyed that. He flew on a smaller ERJ-135. In first class, one side has two seats and the other side has just one seat. Johnny had a seat in the first row on the side with just one seat and he really liked that. He spent most of the flight taking video out the window. He also got a complimentary lunch on his way out there and breakfast on his way back...plus snacks and drinks. He said it was a little bumpy during take-off and landing, but other than that it wasn't bad at all. 

He did a lot of fun things with his brother. They went hiking, to an estate sale, salmon hatchery, and other fun stuff like that. He also sent me a lot of pictures and videos of the wildlife that show up in his brother's backyard. There are lots of birds, ducks, a couple types of squirrels, a weasel, and a larger grey animal that Johnny just saw a flash of in the dark and didn't know what it was. We talked about how Nova would LOVE it...probably a little too much. She's always obsessed with critters in the yard. 

I spent the week working and watching a lot of documentaries. I'd planned to get a lot of projects done around the house...but I've been having bad neuropathy for the past couple weeks and haven't been sleeping much. There have been nights when I haven't gotten to sleep until 4-5am. So I haven't been as productive with projects around the house as I was hoping to be. I think my lack of sleep really started to hit me after Johnny got home...because both Saturday night and last night I ended up going to bed before midnight. Saturday night I woke up a couple times but was able to go back to sleep until I finally got up at 9:30am. Last night I went to bed a little bit earlier and was wide awake at 4am. :P I may try to get a couple more hours of sleep before Johnny has to start work...we'll see how it goes. I never know if it'll make me feel better through the day if I just settle for the 6 hours of sleep or if it'll make me MORE tired if I go back to bed for just 2 more hours. So we'll see. :P 

I did get one project done while Johnny was gone that I was excited about! Mom came over on Monday and helped me cut our memory foam mattress in half. :) It was kinda nerve-wracking to get started with the first cut...but it really wasn't that difficult. We measured and drew the cut line and then mom just used a regular serrated bread knife to cut it while I tried to apply even pressure on both sides of the line to help it cut easier. There were three layers to our mattress, so we decided to cut each layer separately and I held the top layers out a little bit so she could see better. And then it was pretty simple to get it put in the replacement covers that I'd purchased. Then it was just a matter of making the bed and reprogramming the remotes...which was also pretty easy. I'm absolutely loving that both sides of the bed are able to adjust independently now. Johnny sleeps better when he raises the head of the bed, but he doesn't like raising the feet...where my back feels better having the feet raised. So now we can both adjust it however we want. :) So despite getting less sleep lately...I've been waking up in less pain, so I'm pretty happy about that. 

So...if anyone out there wants to replace their king-size memory foam mattress with two TwinXL mattresses (or resize their current mattress to a smaller size), it's very possible (and not that hard) to cut the current mattress down! Our mattress no longer had a warranty (since my grandma bought it for herself back in 2014) but was still in wonderful shape, so we figured we might as well try it and save having to spend at least $3k on new mattresses. I'm definitely not disappointed! 

It was really weird having Johnny gone for a whole week. It was the first time we've spent a night apart since 2015 when the girls were still going to school in our hometown. I'm glad that Johnny was able to spend some time with his family and had a good time...but the doggies and I were definitely ready for him to be home! Nova was SO excited to see Johnny when he walked in the door. Boz was actually nervous and stayed glued to my side, but after a few minutes he realized who it was. Bozley is just weird like that. :P 

Work is still going well. I wrapped up August with my second highest orders per month, revenue per month, and profit for the month since I started CandiMaker (last month is the only month that had higher numbers, largely because of my name label sticker sheets). And on September 2nd, I hit 3000 sales in my CandiMakerStickers Etsy shop. My goal for this year is to hit 3500...so if things continue the way they have, I should be able to hit that goal. :) I just need to average about 5 sales per day...which is doable. I hit 450 sales in my CandiMakerPlanners Etsy shop mid-August, but sticker sheet sales have slowed to a crawl now that kids are back to school. A lot of it is the fact that I only have 8 listings in that shop and don't work on it as much as my regular sticker shop. I have been trying to work on it more...but I just have so many things on my to-do list. 

I think my next point of focus is going to be to get my website up and running. I'd really like to have it done by the end of the month. There are a few quirks about GoImagine's infrastructure that bug me, though. My biggest complaint is that I was trying to bulk delete the listings that they'd pulled from my Etsy data upload (because it's going to be quicker to just start from scratch rather than edit 300+ listings). But after awhile, it started deleting the listings that were NOT checked in addition to the ones that were checked...including the template listing that I'd just created. So...I gave up working on it that day out of frustration. My plan next week is to make as much progress as possible with it, though. 

On that note...I'm gonna try to get some work done while I try to decide if I want to get a little more sleep or not. ;) 

Slowing Down

It never fails...if I go to bed before midnight, I end up being awake at 3am and can't get back to sleep. So here I am! :P It's storming right now...mostly just thunder and some lightning. I love listening to the thunder. Nova Lee doesn't like the thunder, though. She prefers to hide in the hallway during storms. 

Work has slowed down a lot now that kids are back to school. My regular sticker and magnet orders are still regularly coming in, but the custom name label sticker sheets that dominated in July and the beginning of August are now just an order here and there. 

After orders started to slow down, I decided to start working on some new designs. I added a new set of cleaning sticker sheets for planners to my CandiMakerPlanners shop as well as about 20 new regular sticker designs. There are three animal-related designs and the rest are humor/sarcasm designs (actually, the animal ones are humorous as well, but they're under animals). I got them all printed, cut, photographed and listed...and have already had a couple orders for them. 

And now I'm working on getting my website set up. For right now, I'm just using GoImagine to create my website because it's only $15/month. Etsy has a $15/month plan with a website, but I wanted to diversify the platforms I use. At some point, I may migrate over to a true e-commerce website like Shopify, but right now I'd rather save the money. I have my own domain (www.candimaker.shop) so I'll be able to switch platforms easily in the future without having to redirect customers. 

I've also been busy getting everything ready for Johnny's trip to Washington to see his mom and brother. We splurged a bit and he's flying first class! It was only about $100 more...plus we could use the cash back rewards from our credit card to take off another $130. I also got him an 8 piece luggage set on Amazon when it was on sale for just $85. It has two large checked bags, a carry-on bag, and a smaller personal bag plus 4 packing cubes. It seems pretty sturdy so hopefully it'll hold up well! One of his checked bags will probably be mostly stuff for his mom. She is living in a care home and we've had all her stuff here in our basement. So he's going to take some of her things out there to her. Johnny is impressed with how organized I am with getting everything ready for him. He's a procrastinator so if it weren't for me...he'd probably be doing all his packing the night before he left while I've been prepping for a week already. ;) Hopefully he'll have a great trip! 

I'm going to tackle at least one project while Johnny is gone. The sync cord for our adjustable base was damaged (darn ol' cats) so we haven't been adjusting the bed for about a month now. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find a replacement cable anywhere since it's pretty old. We've been wanting to get a split king (two twinXL mattresses) but we also don't want to spend the $3k+ right now. BUT...I realized that we can actually cut our memory foam mattress in half. Our mattress is still comfy, so I figured we might as well try this first. Tempur-Pedic doesn't have replacement covers for 11" mattresses, but I ended up finding a company where you can order some generic ones. I already have the new mattress pad and sheet sets...and the replacement covers should be here Friday. Mom's going to help me cut the mattresses and get them in the covers. Hopefully it will go smoothly! 

All right...I think I'm finally getting tired again, so I'm going to see if I can fall asleep. :) 

Finally taking a weekend off!

I'm taking a much needed weekend off...at least that's the plan so far. Last weekend, I had so many orders coming in and didn't want to fall behind...so I ended up working all weekend. 

I ended the week last Saturday with 148 orders...a new record. I also set a new record on Saturday for daily revenue...beating my previous record on July 30th by more than $60. I dropped off 81 orders at the post office on Monday. I was up until 3am getting them all packaged before I went to bed. I had 49 orders for sticker sheets, 1 sticker order from eBay, and then 31 regular sticker and magnet orders. I made nearly the same amount last week as I did the entire month of December 2024. My gross revenue for the last week was only $300 shy of my gross *monthly* income at my last payroll job in 2007! 

The custom name label sticker sheets will likely slow down once the back-to-school rush is over, so I've been working on more sticker sheet designs. Yesterday I listed a set of Christmas sticker sheets that include 14 different designs for return address labels, gift tags, and envelope seals. I'm almost done printing and cutting all the orders I've received so far, so I may create some more designs today before taking the weekend off. 

We also have dinner for Johnny's birthday this weekend with my mom and grandparents. We postponed it to this weekend because we had nice weather last weekend and Johnny wanted to fix the lawn mower (needed a new battery and cables) and get some stuff done around the yard. I got Johnny some new clothes for his birthday. He was wanting some new stuff to wear for when he goes to Seattle for a week to see his family. 

Our anniversary is coming up, too! We will have been together for 13 years and married for 8! We usually just do dinner and dessert for our anniversary. We'll probably just rent a movie or something. We like low-key nights at home. :)