What is a monkeybox?

When I was a little girl, we had a pet monkey named Amanda. My Dad worked in the produce business, so each night he brought home that days culls in a big box - spotty cucumbers, pithy apples, limp celery, moldy oranges and the like. We called it a monkeybox. It was really just trash, but my Mom would take each piece of fruit and trim it, pare it and cut it up to make a beautiful fruit platter for Amanda. Even though it was deemed trash by one, it still had life left in it and was good for the purpose we needed it. That's how I live my life - thrifting, yard saling, looking for another's trash to be my treasure.

Wednesday, March 12, 2014

Working, Saving, Living

Hello poor neglected blog.  I really need to think of something blogworthy to post.  But, golly, things around here are just sort of boring, yet busy.  I've been thrifting a bit, but I leave empty handed more often than not.  Yesterday I bought 5,000 teeny little envelopes.  They are 2" x 2"  - two boxes of yellow, one box of off white and one box of PINK.  What am I going to do with them?  Well, that I have no idea.  But, sometimes when you see something, you just buy it - especially if the price is right.  The price was right yesterday, so I bought them.

Yesterday it was nearly 80 - and today it is 40 and windy, so it seems colder.  At least it's sunny.  We're on our way to upgrade our internet and disconnect HBO.  WOW isn't that interesting?  zzzzz.  I am hell bent to get wifi hooked up in this house so I can cut our cellphone data plan way down to save some $$$.  I am looking down the barrel of having to get a ............job.......and I am NOT HAPPY ABOUT IT.  The more money I can save around here, the less I will need to make.  Now, that doesn't mean I will be at the drive thru handing out fries.  That means I could maybe find a part time thing or a few hours a week.  I am not done being a MOM to The Bean and certainly seem to have my hands full of things to do.  I really don't know how to work "work" into that equation. I know most everyone else does this, but I have been out of the job market far longer than I was in the job market and I is SKEERED.

I sold a few things on ebay lately.  One package arrived broken but the PO puts insurance on Prioirity packages now, so I got the money back.  They didn't refund the postage, and I think they should have - but I don't know the rules.  I am still out $10.00 to the shipping and that stinks.  One item I sold shipped to VA and then on to Canada and one shipped to WA and then to the Netherlands.  One person never paid.  And on one item, I shipped the wrong one, realized it about ten minutes after I mailed it, mailed the right one out the next day, apologized to the buyer - told them to keep the first one and the second one would be on the way - all of this for a five dollar sale!  I'm not even complaining about that - what I am complaining about is that they never sent me a thank you for correcting it and letting me keep the first one too or left feedback.  Isn't it weird how when you are trying to do things for a reason that it never works out great?  I did sell some things and I paid some bills, so all is good.  

Last week we finally had a pretty day once most of the snow melted so we headed to our favorite spot.  We saw some geese (that's a log in the center - but it looks like a goose butt, doesn't it? )

I've shown this building many times before.  I have been trying to document it at different times of the day and during the different seasons. 
 This was the first time I was able to get a shot of it with snow behind it.  
This is one of my favorites.  Look at all that GREEN!

The weather seems to be shaping up and warming up - things are budding and I saw my first Daffodils of the year today.  The happiest flowers on the planet.  I am not ready for the heat, but I am ready to be outside a bit.  It has been a very long Winter.  

*Adding tonight before I post - I hooked up the Wi-Fi ALL BY MYSELF and I am feeling QUITE PROUD.  Knocked off the HBO, upped the power on the Internet and our bill only goes up $5.00 PLUS I was able to cut down our data on our phones and saved $70.00 a month.  Woohoo!  

9 comments:

  1. I know what you mean. I never seem to do anything worth talking about and yet I'm busy all the time. Congratulations on the savings.
    Sheryl

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  2. WOO HOO ~ you go Girl!
    I am soooo technically challenged when it comes to this whole world-wide-web/computer thingy, it isn't even funny!!! THANK GOODNESS J likes doin' it! ;-)

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  3. Way to go Shara! I have been busy and cutting back on things but not much to blog about it seems. Am I burning out? I hope not, I love the blogging community. Enjoy your home time as long as you can!
    hugs, Linda

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  4. Anonymous11:56 AM

    It was a little 'rude' of those buyers not to at least give you a quick 'thank you' for not only correcting an issue FAST but giving them the first item FREE! I have gotten a few items by eBay and I always stay in contact with the sellers until the item in IN MY HANDS. Well, and love the water pictures! NICE! Good savings on the phones. But then, I HATE cell phones and don't want to be at everyone's beck N call 24 hrs a day. So I refused to go on plans and did a 'go phone' for a few years and said enough with that.... I am back to having land phone that has caller ID and I screen the calls! I want my quiet time every night!!!
    GADawn57

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  5. Off for spring break so I have been hitting dif thrifts, have bought bupkus. I made a trip to the GW outlet since I was only 20 min away. Spent a whopping 64¢, almost not enough to measure on the scale. I wish this bipolar weather would just go to it's happy place and quit jacking with my allergies, tired of feeling like I have the flu. PFFTT

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  6. Yay for Wi Fi! Last month Q went over his data and cost us money. I never go over even though I use my phone all the time but I think the major difference is that I am home more often and using the Wi Fi instead of the data. Makes a big difference. We don't even have data hooked up on our iPads because it's just so darn expensive. Would rather use Wi Fi!

    I love your photos of that building. They all turn out so stunning! Maybe you need to put together a calendar with photos of it from each month of the year. :)

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  7. Were you watching True Detective when you had HBO? Wait, is that HBO?

    I think you should separate those envelopes in batches of 10 and sell them at the sales you have coming up and/or on Etsy. You've got plenty to keep AND sell, and I think they would go fast! You could even do something really low, like $2 a pop, and still make quite a profit (although i don't know how much you originally paid for them, but you said it was a really good deal so I'm guessing you could make a profit selling them for that low). When I see something like that I just have to buy it, because it has so much potential!

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  8. Well, I am just going to say that everyone else wrote what I was thinking! For some ungodly reason my husband set the alarm clock last night for 3 instead of 3:30, that's am and usually he wakes up before it goes off. Not today, so I have been up too long but I had to read what was going on with you Shara! Also, I hope you can stave off that job thing for a while.

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  9. I remember when I had to go back to work after the joy of being a stay home Mom for about 10 years. I didn't think I could do it but I am looking in the rear-view mirror of 25 years now and it was exactly what needed to happen on many levels. I do believe things happen for a reason and, trust me, you are stronger than you think you are!

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