Off to the Beach

Well, we are sort of done packing, so it is off to Wilmington with the kids for a few days, so they can enjoy the beach a little before we return to MI. Figure Eight Island is one of my favorite places in the whole world. ;)

The photo I show here is the view from my parent's house. Wonderful!

Gracie

Get Used to Disappointment

So after a small jaunt into the fantasy-land of wanting to create my own website, I have been brought to my senses by my good friend Sean Middleditch. I am sure I am able to make a simple website, with basic features. Unfortunately, I am too high maintenance for something so simple.

I want bells, whistles, widgets, wizzywigs, and doo dads. I want all sorts of functionality, a great design, and all for the price of me learning an alphabet of things, like HTML and PHP and CSS and more.

My brain is not ready to take on something so completely out of my range. Sure, I took AP Pascal classes in high school, but then, my friend Sean, born in 1983 (gah!) laughed at me when I made reference to Quattro Pro.

So now, my dreams of this website have been put off, and I am a bit sad, because I know it would be the greatest. I am not giving up tho - I will keep playing with all the nifty little things in Fantastico. It is just that I am more grounded in reality, although whether that is better or worse, I have no idea.

Gracie

Life, The Universe, And AN Hosting

I feel like I am very old.

A few days ago, I decided I wanted to design my own website. Nothing to it, right? With all the plug-n-plays, the modules, the easy WYSIWYG, certainly I could do it.

I'm a smart person, right?

So now, a few days later, I feel like I am my mother, and the demon sitting in front of me is a blinking VCR.

I went with AN Hosting, which by and large is a pretty good deal. Lots of storage, lots of bandwidth, all the nifty bells and whistles - all for about $6.95 a month. Plus, I even found a coupon code, and got 3 months free (coupon code: HR3).

But now I have all these options, and plug ins, and no idea what is better.

I got wordpress loaded up, which was a step in the right direction. But I am too high maintanance, and want what I envision. I understand now why people hire web designers like Sean Middleditch (who does, by the way, take outside projects, and is quite good). Anyways, I am retreating for now, content in the fact I OWN a website, even if it doesn't work yet!

More later.

Gracie

Are You a Home Depot Regular?

If you are, you can sign up online for a 10% off coupon. Not much if you only have a few things to buy, but if you remodel, 10% could end up being hundreds of dollars.

I found the form via the USPS address change packet. You just log on to www.homedepotmoving.com/mycoupon. Fill in all the info, and viola, coupon send, in the mail.

Of course, you can only get one per address, so send one to yourself at your grandmother's house, your parent's house, etc.

Another quick trick for reducing your costs: price out your lumber first at a lumber mill. Even if it is far away, even if you have to pay outrageously for delivery. Lumber mills charge 10-20% less for wood that Home Depot does, yet Home Depot will match all other offers. When I build my gigantic deck, I went online to a lumber mill in Ann Arbor, and did my pricing there first. They had it all automated, so I could enter in my materials online, and it would print out a price list.

I took the list to Home Depot, and they offered me that price. It ended up being about 16% off their normal price. Also, for big orders, Home Depot delivers, which is a plus. I can't remember if it was a free delivery, but I do remember thinking that whatever we paid to have them truck it to our site was a bargain.

Same thing goes for stone, etc. Go to the direct, wholesale-type source first, then take your quote to the Depot. It will save you tons of money. If you are REALLY good, you can get them to apply that coupon to your order after they proce-match. What a deal!

Stuff

How is it that stuff multiplies?

I have so MUCH stuff, I thought I needed to purge. Thus the HUGE Kanarbage Sale last year, and the enormous Garage Sale. I must have eliminated 3/4 of my fabric stash, half my kitchen stuff, 3/4 of my Kanarbage, plus household stuff and more!

So now, I have A TON OF STUFF!

I am packing box after box thinking, how in the @#$@# did I get weighed down by so much?

At this point, I have decided to let go.

LET GO.

All these belongings, with value and worth, too good to use, for fear of breaking. Too good to throw out, but unused. Doubles or triples of stuff, just in case one breaks. BOXES of stuff to remember things by. This trend must end, and I am going to spend the next year purging.

Did I mention I am now an eBay Guru?

My hope is to clear out, while making enough $$$ on the side to build a second story onto my house, and finish my barn. Tons of other house projects too, but those are the main ones.

I will begin once I arrive in Michigan, and my goal is to empty and settle One box every two days. I will set up three boxes, into which I will sort. One is the eBay Box. One is the Consignment box. And one is the Garage Sale box. Of course I will save a few of my treasures, but the goal is to eliminate enough VOLUME so that I can enjoy my special pieces.

Todd is skeptical, but I know I can do it. I can't live around all this stuff anymore.

Gracie

Free 30% Off Coupon to Borders/Waldenbooks!

The great thing about these coupons is that you can print them out and use them as many times as you want before they expire. I got this one from filling out a survey. I love to read, and am more than willing to share. Enjoy!

Gracie

Ode to Coffee

I am such a Starbucks fan. I love it dearly. But this was totally beyond excessive, and most likely the internet was invented just to give this man the reason to abuse himself this way. Audio, worksafe. OMG. This is dedicated to my friends Kelly and Connie.

http://www.171starbucks.com/

Love and kisses!