It’s time again for Five Things That Make Me Happy And One Thing That’s Pissing Me Off. Why add the “One Thing That’s Pissing Me Off?” Because I’m a realist, that’s why.
Five Things That Make Me Happy:
- I stopped by my father’s house to borrow his Squeezo Strainer, which allows me to make applesauce without having to peel even a single apple. My family has been using this contraption for decades, and I expect it will last longer than any of us.
- My father had a small box of spotty apples to add to the 40-lb box that my husband brought home the other day.
- It is a wonderful, amazing, sunny and affirming day here in Portland, Oregon. This is normally a grey, wet and depressing time of year, but our weather forecast calls for at least another week of sunny and dry weather. We native Oregonians know to soak up any and all vitamin D we can before the inevitable gloom sets in.
- After realizing that my increasingly blurred close-up vision was making it difficult to read books, I finally stopped at The Dollar Tree and picked up a pair of +1.00 reading glasses. (My long distance vision is still fantastic.) $1 reading glasses, people! Plus, I can now rock that sexy librarian look. Shh . . .
- I stopped at the N.E. Broadway Goodwill on my way home, and found a $6.99 pair of brand new looking Levi’s for my younger son and an adorable $2.99 framed cross-stitch for my mother’s birthday. I also bought a Lane Stressless-style leather chair for $49.99, I will sell it through Craigslist to plump up my sons’ college fund. (Click those links to see pictures of my Goodwill finds!)
One Thing That’s Pissing Me Off:
- My husband is apparently unable to say “no” to free stuff. Whether it’s through his multiple soccer related non-profits, workplace or a space alien offering free doodad polishing kits, (true story, bro) the man is constantly coming home with cluttery and unnecessary stuff. You’d almost thing that he and I are different people. Sheesh . . . .
Now your turn. What’s making you happy, and conversely what’s pissing you off? Please share your thoughts in the comments section below.
Katy Wolk-Stanley
{ 23 comments… read them below or add one }
Ah to have a Squeezo Strainer the things I could do with it. On the person who brings free things home: I have gone through all the earthly things I have at my parents and boiled it down to 4 boxes…. now to find a place this stuff and I’m still looking for my watercolor paints and assorted supplies.
FYI, those glasses from the dollar store are fun (I have had 6 pairs). I love them! You can get really wild ones and only have to commit to $1, not the $20 ones from the drugstore or hundreds for prescription ones. My favorites are the red cats-eye ones with the rhinestones 🙂
I am rocking my new $9 frames from Walmart … they are nice and simple and are a feminine rosy-lavender shade – it certainly helped to keep down the cost of my prescription.
I am happy to see you get a stream of black goo running down from the Squeezo handle, as well. My family is always horrified when I make applesauce and it starts dripping everywhere. The dogs assure me the goo is pure apple goodness, though. I found my strainer at Goodwill. My most expensive goodwill purchase to date at $20. I almost didn’t buy it because I wan’t sure I needed it. Makes some fine applesauce, though the best apple price I could find was 60 some cents per pound for local apples (east coast)
I’m pretty sure that the black goo is a combination of oil and aluminum rubbing together. I hope it’s not going into your applesauce!
Katy
On mine, it appears to be oxidizing apple juice combined with rust (I’m basing this on smell) from the spring inside, warmed up by the friction. No oil is in evidence. The goo is on the outside of the strainer only, not on the inside. My dogs might enjoy specs of the dark splatter, but I’m sure I would not.
Enjoying a warm cup of coffee on a chilly, rainy fall day. Since here in central IL the four seasons have different personalities, I can & do really enjoy the beauty of colorful, wet leaves. Yesterday I was sitting on the back deck soaking up sunlight.
Enjoyed working a half day at DH’s office, and getting the sense of being useful to his hard-working staff.
Stopped at the health food store on the way home. Followed Bea Johnson’s example and got the tare weight of my own storage containers, so I avoid bringing home my groceries in plastic bags. Bulk cumin and curry powder, Brazil nuts, and oat bran. Got some of the local dairy’s Jersey milk, some Gala apples marked down, and some shea butter to make magnesium lotion for Son #2’s eczema.
And finally, stopped at Goodwill. Found a set of nine plain white ironstone plates. Only .99 each. Yay!
Ah, I remember the days of getting by with reading glasses…sniff, sniff.
I am happy to have taken a box of books to our library for their sale along with a bag full of VHS tapes. We FINALLY found the time to sit down and go through them and all but 4, I think, are gone!
Irritating me is recieving birthday presents that are just more stuff I don’t want! Both my partner and I were gifted with presents from her sister this year that neither of us want (hers was completely “not her”). Ugh! Luckily, I am collecting for a charity sale and they are going straight out of here…well, not for 4 more weeks.
This family also does a gift exchange at Christmas that I would love to see discontinued….I just ask whoever picks me to make a donation to the Vermont Food Bank or another charity local to me.
The strainer looks like it will last for decades. Wished they made things like that now. I tried to look at the picture of the recliner, but was disappointed to see that it’s posted on Instagram which requires a membership to view. I guess that I am one of those rare people still in this world with no interest in joining Facebook or one of it’s businesses.
I find both Facebook and Instagram to be wonderful community building sites.
Katy
Hmmm…I don’t have an instagram account, but I could view the photo. Nice chair!
I went to the fall Home Show over the weekend – at the last Home Show in April, I had purchased a pillow and when I told the pillow lady on Saturday that I had chosen the wrong support/thickness pillow 6 months ago – she said to bring it back on Sunday for an exchange and she also very kindly gave me a ticket so I wouldn’t have to pay admission. Superb customer service and I now have the perfect pillow for me!
Great night sleep! Worth a million bucks 🙂
Cooler mornings and evenings 🙂 Days still in the 90s 🙁
Feel free to send some rain to Tucson.
I, too, have found the joy of Dollar Tree $1 Reader Glasses. This is my first year having to wear them and I thought I wouldn’t cry if I accidently sat on them. So far, none have been lost or broken – I have one in the living room, the bedroom, the craft table, in my purse, in my work bag…..
Trader Joe’s dried mangos without sugar – just mangos. Yum!
Plus no waste because they don’t rot.
And the pisser…..
Let me just ask – Why is there no end to really bad managers?
They try to eat your brain, crush your soul, and serve you crap.
1. Chicken week! We don’t eat a lot of meat, but every once in a while I buy a whole chicken. It makes me happy because it is three meals in one–the pieces for sweet and sour chicken, roast breast for sandwiches and the carcass for soup.
2. Gorgeous fall weather with the trees ablaze in color.
3. My son being potty trained.
4. Finishing my grad school applications Sunday evening.
5. Seeing my son playing in leaves.
🙁 healthcare.gov. I applied WEEKS ago, and I suspect we will get a stipend, but only if we actually get offers. The suspense is killing me!
1. Not having to use the AC or heat!
2. Taking my grass clippings to our city’s recycling center instead of chucking them in the trash.
3. Removable couch cushions. They do have to be dry cleaned, but it’s much better than having a vomit-soaked couch that can’t be cleaned deeply.
4. My dad brought me pumpkin bread my mom made when he visited last week. Delicious and better than any nick-knacks!
5. My son wanting me to stitch up his stuffed monkey Mr. Bowtie rather than wanting a new one.
Pissing me off: My son’s PTA wanting to collect funds for more technology and just spending boatloads on little screens called Playaways so kids can watch videos/listen to books. I’d much rather that money went to things that allows the already sitting too much kids to have some tactile stimulation/physical fun.
Let’s see …
I’m SO happy at the growing number of boxes of Stuff that are lining up in the basement to go to Goodwill this weekend. We’ve been on a decluttering spree lately, and it’s nice to see the results as box after box leaves the house. 🙂
One thing that’s ticking me off — well, actually, it’s too long and complicated of a story to write in this comment. So let’s just say that yes, something is ticking me off. 😉
1)The weather here in the northwest is perfect 70’s
2) Had my molar extracted yesterday, so no more pain.
3) Going through clutter to donate, hopefully I can sell some on craigslist
4)since the weather is good, i can get outside for fall clean-up
bad thing, lost my job today, so I have to file for unemployment, and start looking for another. It’s hard when you’re not really trained to do much, plus over 50. That pisses me off!
So sorry about you losing your job. If your county has a job force you may want to contact them (where I live if you file for unemployment you’re automatically enrolled with job force). I’m sure you’ll find something. Good luck
I have been following your website for a couple of years now and really enjoy the tips and stories. I love the links to other similar sites etc. I enjoy your style. I will be really sorry to have to stop if you go Instagram all the way. I, also, could not view the photos you had linked. I am not on Instagram or Facebook and have no intention of joining either. So, if I were to list a bunch of things that make me happy and one that pissed me off — the Instagram link would be the latter. Sorry.
You don’t have to join Instagram to view the pictures. 😉
Katy
1: My brother’s wedding is this coming weekend, and while I’m happy for him, I’ll be happier when it’s all over!
2: My house is (mostly) clean, and I think I can keep it that way until at least next week without too much hassle.
3: I’ll hit the half-way point in my pregnancy next week – it’s our first, and I’m just now starting to feel the baby move around. SO EXCITING!
4: Another half-way point: I’m on the downhill slide of my Masters degree. Graduating in July, four courses to go!
5: Living in Georgia, where the weather is perfect enough for me to leave both the heating AND cooling off! (Except for the space heater in the bathroom in the mornings…)
And my One Thing That’s Pissing Me Off:
The fact that Thanksgiving Break is still so far away, and the students in my alternative school are getting seriously stir-crazy! >_<
Makes me happy:
1. My Lettuce (Mesclun) and Chives I planted the other day have already started sprouting! (My first go-around with using seeds)
2. The weather today is fab-tab-ulous! And it’s going to get cool tonight! Yippee! I love North Florida weather 🙂
3. My new Mother Earth News came yesterday
4. Eating dinner at church tonight, so no cooking. I also made blueberry muffins last night (for breakfast this a.m.) so I didn’t have to cook tonight – so no kitchen duty all day! Altho my passion is cooking and spending time in my kitchen but it’s nice to have an occassional break.
5. My sister is on her way to spend 2 weeks with my mom (they live in different states). That makes me happy because I know how good it’s going to be for both of them. We’ve just lost a cousin last week and it’ll be good for my mom to have some support. <3 those 2 ladies!
Pissing me off
1. Work (but I am trying really hard to not let it affect my day)
My husband also brings home free stuff, mostly samples from work (retail) and 99% of the time it is junk that I would NEVER buy but yet there it is. All over my kitchen and dining room. Do I go to his office and put my things all over his desk? No, I do not. So I feel your pain in the husband department.
And yes, it is quite the irony that the money that supports our frugal, non-consumer-y lifestyle comes from him getting people to buy stuff in his stores, stuff that they don’t necessarily need but rather want. I wish he was in a different line of work (for many reasons, including the travel to trade shows that takes him away from us) but it is what it is. No one pays me to be a homeschooling mom so we’ll have to stick with the whole retailing thing. 😉
My husband is a sucker for free stuff, too, or at least for free promotional items. Sigh. I tried to get him to help me load up a free dresser that had been left by a dumpster, however, and he wasn’t having any of it. Was it the quality workmanship? Was it the clean, mid-century style? Was it the fact that he had been asking for a dresser? Go figure.