Sunday, October 30, 2011

Snow in October

Yes, first the first time in many many years (before I was born in 1980), it snowed in October.  It was actually very beautiful seeing snow on the autumn colored leaves.  Though it did pose a problem.  The trees still have their leaves and the snow happened to be a heavy wet snow.  This caused many people to have power outages which is to be expected.  Luckily we did not have one at our home.

All in all for where I am, in my town, it wasn't really that bad.  A couple inches and most was off the trees by nightfall.  If you were on Facebook though some people took it like the end of the world.  Now some of my friends live close but higher up on the mountain and did see substantial accumulation.  These however were not the ones that complain the most.

People complained because they were not prepared.  This snow was not a surprise or shouldn't have been since many people posted the night before on Facebook, it was on the radio stations, and just the fact that any talk of snow circulates like crazy in our area.  They even blamed the power companies for not restoring power fast enough. I guess in their world the company only has one line and can flip a breaker to make power come right back on. 

People panicking about what to do with the kids because they couldn't be on computers, watch tv, or play video games.  Kids were bored.  Now, I have my girls and I understand they can say they are bored while standing in the middle of a room of toys.  This just bothered me when I saw it.  I can think of half a dozen things to do right now.  This is a time to get kids to read, make art, choose toys they no longer love to get rid of, play board games, etc.  It just seemed like the parents also were saying they were bored. 

I knew there would be power outages and was actually surprised we didn't have one until last night while we were asleep.   I however thought quickly to prepare myself as much as I could.  I started by charging my phone. That way if there was an emergency I would still be able to call for help.  Next I planned different meals I could make and snacks I had for the kids if I couldn't cook.  Luckily we have gas heat (trust me I do not say that when the bills come) so I didn't have to worry about that.  Finally I thought of the rooms with the best natural light to go to for playing board games or reading. 

I'm not trying to preach or sound like I am better than another.  It just bothers me that instead of planning ahead or taking a minute to think things through people used their phones to go online and complain and blame anyone or anything else.  I am hoping they took this as a chance to become prepared.  To maybe change their dependence on electric. 

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

A New Obsession

What is the new site that has been passed throughout my friends?  The site that has become an obsession to I think everyone but one that I know of?  A site that has ceased the disposal of many seemingly unusable items? 

PINTEREST!!!

You can search anything and find results.  Tons of ideas for crafts, decorating, kids activities, recipes, quotes, and much more. 

As we know, I am a book lover.  I am making a clutch out of an old book.  Now cutting apart a book was hard for me but as luck would have it some patrons of the local library donated some really old books last week.  The librarian said I could take whatever I would like and so I found one that is actually falling apart a little already.  Now I just need to find an old clutch to glue in the middle and some scrap fabric to cover some tears already in the spine.

My mom isn't even on Pinterest and is supplying me though.  : )  She gave me her glue gun and a hard case wallet that is the right size to make it.  I can't bring myself to use the wallet though.  It's so nice and new.  Plus it is purple and my 5 year old loves it.  So my search for a clutch continues. 

My mother also got the wick I need to make a candle in a mason jar.  A friend and reader of my blog loves Mason Jars and I was thinking of making the candle for her birthday.  (Don't worry I already told her about it).

The point is, if you haven't tried it yet you should.  I just sent it to a friend from high school this morning and she is filling up her pins already.  : )