A bunch of rings

Tuesday: I put together a couple quick tags before I went to bed. 

A kawaii:

 And a flat item:

 Wednesday: the world was dead, there was one car in the parking lot of the grocery store I pass, all the mail trucks were still at the post office, they're usually gone by the time I pass them in the mornings, the streets were pretty dead too. One of our custodians told me we'd all be collecting unemployment next week. Our local university is going to online classes until early April. Next week is spring break, so they don't have to worry about that, but the two weeks after that. I heard they were threatening to cancel graduation in May (not sure on the truth about that).
I know I'm hiding it well, because I always do, but I'm kinda worried. I just keep thinking about the movie contagion. After reading about Italy, and other places overseas, I'm just worried. I haven't changed my routine, but I don't do much but go to work anyway, so not a huge deal. Of course there were a couple programs this month I want to go to (which is pretty big for me), I don't know.
On the plus side, my medical insurance said they would cover testing for the Corona virus (I keep finding things that tell me it's pretty good insurance). Also my credit card company sent an email saying if you get in financial troubles because of all this stuff going on, let us know, we'll try to work something out.
My mail has been wicked slow this week. I realized I've pulled back a bit on art stuff, and it was dead week for one of my mail groups last week.
I did receive something unique:

 I find it unique, but not anything I'll use. Spent the rest of the day reading, and it felt really nice.
Thursday: went down south and shopping. First stop was Dollar Tree:

 mesh strainers, eraser, soap, socks, decorative canvases
I've been using these mesh strainers in my bathtub, just the small ones, I now have an abundance of the large ones. The eraser is for work. I couldn't pass up the fuzzy avocado keychain, it's way too cute. I do need some more soap because of all the hand washing. I always washed my hands, but now I wash them after like every customer interaction, and then my hands end up being very dry. I was looking for lotion, but I didn't get any. The socks and faith canvas are for a swap. I couldn't pass up the butterfly one, it's so cool looking.

 dinosaurs, stickers, erasers, Care Bear, bunny "eggs"
I totally picked up the dinosaurs and bunny "eggs" for Easter baskets. The stickers are way too cool, the wall ones are mermaids and narwhals, there's layered pineapples, kawaii looking food and puffy cats. I couldn't pass up the Dr. Seuss erasers, because books and stuff. The Care Bear was for me.
Like I said I picked up some stuff for Easter baskets, but then when I was thinking about it later, every time I do something nice for other people I get annoyed later because I don't get anything in return. I know that's not the point, but after years of the same behavior, I just get tired.
Next up, Walmart:

pants, shoes
I found the pants I was looking for on Tuesday. Someone's got to explain Walmart pricing to me. We have two super Walmarts in town. One, down south, we got years ago, the other, up north, we got a couple years ago. Last Saturday, I went to the north one with my mom and got a pair of fleece lined joggers for $2, originally $15. I go back on Tuesday, none to be found. There was a pretty big display of them on Saturday. Today, I go to the one down south, find the same ones marked down to $9, originally $13. I don't get it. I got a couple pairs, obviously not as good as $2, but I'll use them. These I might go out in, unlike the fleece pants I got at Penney's the other day. I picked up the shoes because the Skeetchers I was wearing I could feel my heels rubbing, so I picked these up, hopefully they'll be ok. I always have issues with my heels rubbing.

 stickers, ornaments, dinosaurs, stuffed llama.
I picked up the stickers and R2D2 ornament for a swap. The dinosaurs were for the Easter baskets and the llama for me.
When I left, it was supposedly around 50 degrees and sunny. I picked a fleece jacket and was sweaty by the time I got halfway to the store. It was wicked warm and sunny. By the time I left Walmart about noon, it was wicked windy and there was this giant dark cloud over the city. I kept watching it on my way home and hoped it wouldn't let go on me before I got home. It didn't. I stopped at Fareway and bought a couple bottles of Mountain Dew.
I found a few things in my mailbox when I got home. It must've been the day I got the overseas mail.
A wish of tea:

 This from Switzerland.
A sticker flakes tag:

 How cool is it that they are Little Twin Stars? Technically they're not sticker flakes, they are epoxy stickers. They told me this was a re-send, that they had sent one package already, and this was a second one.
It's from Australia.
A send me something unique:

 I'm not really a ring wearer. These are from wish/Ali, so China.
I was thinking about the re send thing. I've had a couple people tell me they've sent me things, but can't provide proof of sending, and then I never receive the first item, but I always receive the second thing. No offense to the people, but if you sent the first one, I should have received two.

I spent the rest of the day watching TV and avoiding the world.

Gummy bears

Monday: Maybe Mondays are more annoying than I think. I feel I'm grumpier on Mondays, though it's not because it's Monday. I think it's worse now that I open on Mondays, maybe it's just the part about having to remember to go to bed about 10, though if I just did this routinely it wouldn't be an issue. I'm not sure. The last few Mondays the world has felt like all the annoying people just come out on Monday mornings.

Had that same issue this week. I believe part of it was that it was raining and cold and I wanted to go shopping, but it was way colder when I left at 1 than when I went in at 8. I found this bag of heads in our receiving room:

 It's really a bag of people puppets, but the way it's packed it looks like a bunch of heads.
I ended up just going home and reading for the afternoon. It was nice to get in my warm clothes and cuddle up on the couch.
I did receive a rainbow pocket letter:

 and the goodies:

 I'm not particularly happy about it. I love the pocket letter, but we were supposed to have the goodie coordinate with the colors on the front. Yellow, green, red, etc colored goodies. I'm upset that I followed the directions and my partner didn't and that nothing's going to be done about it. I was even feeling a little bad because I didn't have a bunch of goodies to go with some of the colors.
I also finished a March goody bag:

 we were to make a spring themed goody bag and fill it with spring themed items. I like how it turned out. I want to do a butterfly themed swap now.
I put together a Letter A tag:

 I picked this up at the Dollar Tree awhile back.
Tuesday: I ended up going shopping. My first stop was Walmart:

Five packs of pop snots, a Mickey Mouse mystery squishie, and a spring bird.
These things have slime and at least 2 tiny figures in them. I like the figures, I just don't like the "snot" that comes with it. They were originally $5, I wouldn't pay that, but I'll pay $1 for each, that's only fifty cents per figure.
 Me and mom had gone on Saturday and I picked up some really comfy fleece lined sweat pants and wanted more. Unfortunately, I couldn't find them. There were two displays on Saturday and they all disappeared, I was so bummed.
Next up was JC Penney:

 I got two pairs of these pajama pants.
I just wanted some warm pants to wear at home, I would've preferred the $2 ones from Walmart, but these will work.
Next up was Claire's:

 4 mystery packs, a set of gummy bear earrings and some earring backs.
I try not to be dragged in to their promotions, this time it was buy 3 get 3 free. I was hoping they'd have some monster earrings, but I didn't see any. I spent about $30, that happens every time I get sucked into their promotions, which is part of the reason I try not to. There's nothing I need there.
Close-up of the earrings:

 I just realized there's no green. Bummer.
Next up was TJ Maxx

 a set of Easter gnome note pads, Bob Ross paint by number, truffles, pistachio nougat, razors, nurse note pad.
I couldn't pass up those gnomes, I got the Bob Ross for my brother. The food is for me and I needed razors anyway.
Last stop was Walgreen's

I love these Ooey Gooey butter cakes, they usually only have one each time I go, I got lucky today. I've been on the lookout for these blind bags, Target stopped carrying them and I find them so fun.

I spent too much on me, but I'll use it all. I have to go down south on Thurs as there's still a few things I need for a swap that I was hoping to find today, but the stores let me down. My credit card bill is going to be big this week.

Flamingo

Friday: I have discovered old school notes on one of my flash drives and have been reading those. Some of them are very interesting, others, not so much. I'm amazed at some of the papers I wrote, some of them I had no idea what I was reading, others I was amazed at how well I 'said' things.

I found my monster earrings in the mailbox on my way in to work. I wore this pair:

 And will be wearing this pair on Tuesday:

 I decided they were great purchases. I'm getting a little worried about the Corona virus, we've gotten large containers of Clorox wipes sitting around the library, we're wiping down surfaces much more frequently and I have the strong urge to watch Contagion.
Saturday: I went to a class on Serendipity dyeing at our local horticulture gardens. I had mentioned it to my mom a few weeks ago and said it sounded like something fun we should do together. It ended up being a pretty good day. We arrived rather early, so shopped in the gift store.
I found a cute keychain for a friend's upcoming birthday:

 Their accessories were 75% off, so I got a great deal on it.
The class was fun. We learned about dyeing and then dyed a silk scarf and a cotton piece. For this technique, you sprinkle things on your fabric, add some alum, wrap it up, wet it and let it sit in a plastic baggie for a month. I will show what my pieces look like around Easter.
I talked my mom into going to an estate sale, it wasn't that exciting, but I found a couple things. Like this bag of magnets for $5:

 I really just wanted it for the sheep, the bugs and the Story City magnets. I really like magnets.
I also picked up some Christmas stuff:

 I may or may not give the Santa to my mom, it kinda matches a Father Christmas I got last year at a garage sale. She's on this kick about not getting stuff, so I might keep them for myself.
By that time, it was lunchtime and we were close to the mall, so we went to a restaurant neither of us had gone to in awhile. As we were sitting there looking at the menus, a friend of mom's happened by and we invited her to join us. It was a nice lunch, we talked about life and reading. I didn't realize how much I have in common with my mom's friend.
Our last stop for the day was Walmart, because it's right next to the mall and I needed a loofah. My haul was kinda boring, got my loofah, some body wash, double stick tape, some socks, a pair of jogging pants and I found some cool shirts for $3 in the men's department:

 And this one:

 And this last one, which is sadly rather tight:

 The size tag had been torn off. I'm not sure what to do with it, it was tight in the shoulders when I put it on, that's not likely to change much. The guys' section always has much cooler screen print shirts than the women's department.
I wore the pants the rest of the day and convinced myself I needed to go back on Monday after work to get more.
Sunday: Had to get up early (felt really early due to the time change) for the last basketball game of the season. It was women's so slower. I had another great conversation about reading and books with a co-worker.
Walked home and did some art.
This one is from a card sketch, we were encouraged to make it in shades of green:

 Also, made a Paris tag for Tag Tuesday, I keep telling myself to participate in this challenge more often.

 And finished a rainbow pocket letter:

 And put together a flamingo tag:

I started something else that needs to be mailed out on Wednesday.
And learned there are 3 confirmed cases of Corona virus in Iowa. I'm a little more worried now. I watched a Buzzfeed video where a doctor tackled some of the most googled questions about it. Apparently it can live on hard surfaces up to a few days and it's not airborne. So, good news bad news. Apparently we should all be six feet away from people, I like this idea, we should practice this.

Once Upon a Book Club

I subscribed to the Once Upon a Book club subscription box in January, apparently when I signed up they had already sold out of the January boxes. I was so excited when I subscribed that I didn't read the email they sent me that said that. Their mail out days are the 17th-20th, I waited until those days passed and then sent them an email asking about it, and they reiterated what their first email said about being sold out for January, which meant I got Feb-April boxes.
February comes around and they email me a tracking number on the 18th, and I wait. A week later, the USPS website says it's just been printed and they don't have it. I emailed the company, they got back to me two days later saying the post office found the lost boxes and they should be moving by tomorrow (2/29). Mine finally did and arrived on Monday. I was wicked excited.
This is what the box looks like:

 When it arrived, it was in a large white poly mailer as one of the gifts didn't fit in the box.
Here's what was in it:

 The book, Remembrance by Rita Woods, a pack of tea, a couple promotional codes for other boxes, and the four gifts.
Each gift is nicely wrapped with the page number when you're supposed to open it. I kinda wish it wasn't printed right on the item so I could reuse the packaging. I can find a way around that. Also, the book has sticky notes telling you when to open the gifts. I was thinking about just opening all the gifts and then getting to the book when I had the time, but I wanted the full experience, so I sat down and read the book straight through that night.
First up, on page 37:

"Her grandmother stood in the doorway, a wooden bowl of water in one hand, herbs tied with rough twine in the other." There is some faux lavender tied with twine in the bowl, it's like it just popped out of the story when we got there.
I was thinking it was a cup when I opened the package.
Next, page 101:

 "Then, bending, she swapped the lockets Grandmere had given them." Again, it's like it just jumped out of the book. It even has some material tied up in it to simulate their Grandmere's hair as it says earlier when she gives the locket to them. Very cute.
Next, page 110:

 "She rooted around in her pocket until her fingers brushed against the small wooden disk she'd taken from Hercule's shop, all she had left of him." Like I said before, it's like it jumped out of the book. There was also a card in it saying join us on March 25th for a craft day on Facebook, looked like a way to decorate the disk. That sounds like fun.
Last one, pg 245.

Actually, it was pg 275, "He placed a cup in her hand, then propped himself on the opposite end of the log. Margot inhaled the steam from the cup. She took a sip and sighed." Obviously it's a tea strainer, but it doesn't really go with the story. They don't use a tea strainer, they're in a settlement in the middle of the woods where they make everything they use. I was a bit disappointed in this gift. Partly because the page number was wrong, I was reading and realized I was past 245 and was wondering if they forgot the sticky note. There's a pamphlet that comes in the box with the pages and some discussion questions to discuss on Instagram and Facebook, in there it said pg 275, which is where the sticky note was. You can see a little card for Apple tea, they were drinking apple tea where the sticky note was. There were so many other things they could have picked, and for this one they picked a random thing,
I enjoyed the experience of reading the book and finding the gifts. I'm not sure what I'll do with them. I will be passing on the locket and the tea strainer. I usually don't need any boost to read, but I've been doing a lot of reading on the computer lately, so having a reason to read the book right away was nice. I also like the fact that it was a fun fiction book. I don't read a lot of fiction, but as fast as this one went, I kinda wanna read more.

Happy Shamrock Day

Tuesday: I didn't do much on Tuesday, ended up in front of the TV all day. I did put together a favorites tag. The person likes strawberries:

I had this squishy from Dollar Tree.
Work wasn't busy, we just had a lot of stuff come in. No mail, except for a postage due on something that was a re send.
Wednesday: Pretty sure I was coming down with the cold we've been passing around in my department. More stress at work, just stupid little things again. Since I felt so crappy I splurged on comfort food on my way home. The mail was late and it finally appeared about 5pm. Got my secret sister package:

Lots of good stuff here. I said I liked blind bags, journals, pens, minions, hedgehogs, chocolate (sort of), gnomes, owls and crafty stuff. I'll probably be passing on the body wash and fragrant mist, the rock art and some of the crafting supplies that I have no idea what they are.  It was a good one this month.
Thursday: woke up feeling like crap, so I spent the day watching movies, I have a ton checked out and probably wouldn't have gotten to them if I was feeling normal. Found my envelope of sunshine:

 It was supposed to be in my hands on Wednesday, turns out it was mailed Tuesday. Still haven't received my red crafting items, which were supposedly mailed last Saturday, I was supposed to have them on Monday. Still waiting on my Once Upon A Bookclub subscription box, that was "mailed" last Wednesday, it wasn't actually, that's when they printed the label USPS say s their still waiting for the item. I was so excited for this one. :(
Also received a destash tag:

It was ok.
Went to bed shortly after 9, and had a long night of coughing and gas.
Friday: was another day of feeling like crap. Spent it in front of the TV/computer.
I received my Send Me Something yummy:

 Not excited about this one. She had originally sent some loose tea bags, which doesn't meet the requirements. I wanted something fun to eat, not boring stickers.
I got a green happy mail ready to be mailed:

 It included 20 loose stickers:

 I also made a flipbook.

 Saturday: I had to work a game, I woke up feeling pretty normal, but after standing for two hours and walking home afterwards, I was exhausted.
I found a this or that tag of stickers and die cuts.

 I like it, it just took her forever to send it.
And a gimmie gimmie of something kawaii:

 I love that it's Pusheen, but I don't use air fresheners, if I did, it wouldn't be a fruity smell. I'll be passing it on to someone else.
I also bought some cool monster earrings, I realized I didn't have any monster earrings, so I found some neat looking ones on Etsy and purchased them.
Sunday: was another day of being sick. I got my laundry done.
Monday: I actually felt normal when I got up, unfortunately I was exhausted about 2 hours later. I picked up a mountain dew on my break just to get me through the day.
I found a 50 loose stickers tag when I got home:

 And a Valentine's Happy Mail tag:

 I also received my Once Upon a Bookclub subscription box:

 I will post a separate review here. I totally spent the rest of the day reading the book and enjoyed it immensely, fairly certain I'll let it renew, once.
Tuesday: was very exciting in my neighborhood. About a block away, the FBI and other government agencies raided a house, it took all day. Never really heard why. I found out about it on Facebook, figured I'd wait until it came out in the paper instead of going over there to gawk and see nothing.
Put together a Winner Takes All of Happy mail:

 Not sure what I put in here that made it so heavy, it was more than I expected when I was at the post office. I'm thinking it could have been the cardstock envelope I mailed it in.
A grant a wish tag of something I love:

 I love minions, I also included a sheet of stickers.
A gimmie gimmie of anything chickens:

 The mail hadn't arrived when I left for work. Work was slowish, nothing exciting.
I found a red tag when I got home:

 same person that sent the cupcake stickers above for the SMS yummy. Again disappointed, the first time she sent a handmade card, the second time she sent something that required extra postage, this time she sends a folded up sticker sheet. Again, I get gypped because you couldn't follow the rules.
I also got some spring happy mail:

 These are cute.
Wednesday: Nothing exciting, I received a gimmie gimmie of fruity tea:

 I'm hoping it was all there, it was opened by customs. That's the first time I've had that happen.
I also received some green happy mail:

 There seems to be a new thing where we have to pick from a list of stuff to send for happy mail. I'm a little disappointed in the list, I like having the freedom to pick what you want, plus sometimes people just send random stuff. Like last year for Valentine's happy mail I got some socks, a cookie cutter, a spatula, a towel and some goodies. I'd rather get that then flat happy mail. Not sure I'll continue to participate in this tag if we have to pick from the list.
Thursday: was another lazy day. I just didn't feel like doing anything, so I didn't.
I received a red crafting swap:

 It's nice and all, I just hate that the envelope says it was mailed on Feb 27th, she said she mailed it on Feb 22nd. I was supposed to have them in my hands by Feb 24th. I hate it when people lie about when they mail stuff especially since the postage on this one (and others I can track) was printed at the post office. It wasn't I put some stamps on it and that's why you have no idea when it was mailed. This was time stamped at the post office.
Also received a gimmie gimmie of happy mail:

 It's a nice selection, I especially like that card, it looks handmade.
I also got a St. Patrick's Day card:

And wasted the day in front of the TV/computer. I don't really care.