Sewing Madness

There are times sewing can be sew not fun. I crack myself up.

My mom gave me her old sewing machine which she must have stored in dust. I did not know that storing it in dust was the preferred thing to do and it was polished on the outside so nicely that I just sat down to use it.

Two broken needles later, my mother-in-law came over to look at it. At my mom's suggestion, we looked at the inside to see if it needed cleaning. We pulled out clump after clump of dust. We think we found the culprit wedged deep inside one of the moving parts. I was a long piece of black thread with several knots in it. Mom, when was the last time you used that machine with black thread? (Clearly before you stored it in dust.)

The machine appears to work fine now.

Goodwill

I am thrilled because a Goodwill shop opened just a few blocks from my house! My mother-in-law and I went there this evening and I found a few toys for my little one. I am most impressed that I found a starter set of Duplo (Lego) blocks! I've been considering purchasing them for some time. I'll take $1.99 over regular price any day!

Unexpected Bills

Don't forget to sign up for our giveaway which ends Monday, December 8 at noon!

I was showering on Tuesday morning and all was fine until about halfway through my shower when I realized I was standing in about 3 inches of water. It all happened quite suddenly. The shower was draining fine at first then it was not draining anymore. I turned off the water and watched the tub drain ever so slowly. I mentioned it to Mr. Bean and he shrugged it off.

The next morning, Mr. Bean got up to shower only to find "black stuff" that he had to scrub off his tub before showering. Then he showered and had a very similar experience to mine the day before.

This morning we both showered and again had the backed up tub that didn't drain. Cue plumber.

We live in a condo, so every time we've called the plumber, the problem has been in a shared line and the plumber has been paid for by the homeowners association. The joys of living on the first floor is that your sink/tub gets backed up with everyone else's gunk when the shared pipe gets clogged. Oh, yes, it is fun.

The plumber was at my house for a long time (says my mother-in-law who was babysitting String Bean when he arrived) and found "hair and wax" in the pipe in the wall between our bathrooms. Our regular maintenance person is on vacation so her substitute was handling the whole thing and isn't sure just yet if the bill belongs to us or the association.

$363. Ouch.

Amazon.com Wishlists

For several years now, I have been using Amazon.com as the "host" for my Christmas and Birthday wish lists. I am in love with their new feature. It is called the Universal Wish List. You simply install this little tool (which is more like a bookmark with your web browser) and you can add ANYTHING to your wish list. It does not have to be from Amazon at all. On my wish list, I have items from Old Navy, Ann Taylor, Kohls, and Sharpie.

Another great feature I've fallen in love with is the ability to have more than one wish list. I used to be a teacher and had a wish list specifically for things I needed for school. I don't believe anyone ever purchased items for me from that list, but it was nice to have them handy when I needed a few extra bucks to earn the free shipping from Amazon.

Now I have a wish list of things I want for String Bean. That way when my mother or mother-in-law want to know what to get her, they have several ideas of things she needs (or things I want) available to them. You can name your wishlists, too! My mom has her wishlist on Amazon. My dad, however, doesn't get around to those things. So one of my mom's extra lists she's renamed as his wish list.

If you start a wishlist on Amazon, your friends can search for your wishlist. That way, if you have a birthday party or do something really nice for someone, they can just look on Amazon to see if you have a wish list. It is a really awesome feature that has revolutionized the way my family shops for Christmas!