ebay

Ebay......I love it and hate it!!!!!.......I am the very first to say that I have no skills on the computer what so ever.....but ebay is one of them!!!!......my husband set up the account several years ago (hence the silly name of ekim96 ....his name backwards!!!).....and started selling stuff.......I browsed around a bit and saw that the possibities were endless!!!....I'd have him help me list some things here and there....and when Cubby was a baby and taking two naps a day,I started getting into it....selling all of the wonderful baby gap and hartstrings clothes he was growing out of .....I got busy and closed up shop....and then last year I got into it full blast!!!.....I wanted christmas shopping money and this was the best part time job I could think of!!!.....I didn't need baby sitting....and I could work in the middle of the night if I wanted too!!!......so I got a little routine down....on Wednesdays when I do my cleaning I rustle up my inventory....Fridays I take the pictures and load them into the computer and then Sundays I do my listing......even my Mom has helped me out immensely by sending all of her cast offs to me from Florida.....gorgeous things.....many with tags still on them!!!!....I keep a notebook of where I send things.....so far I'm up to 34 different states and 7 countries world wide!!!.....for the most part I love getting things out the door and clearing the clutter.....and getting money for stuff that don't fit or the kids don't play with.....I love my "mad money"....( however I need help on changing the password to my paypal account....my family keeps raiding it!!!).....but when I get those crabby customers who feel the need to leave negative feedback to the world without contacting me first so I can try and help to work it out .....I take it very much to heart!!!......then I say I'm quitting ebay!!!.....but a few days later I'm on there looking for something .....and I start all over again!!!.....my husband got me my laptop so I can do my ebay in our guest room.....I love it!!!!!......as you can see from the collection on the bed, I had the kids go through their closets last week and we are overloaded with inventory!!!!......lots of treats to be sold!!!...I look at almost everything in my house as rental property!!!....anything has the potential to be sold!!!...I am fanatical about saving the original box and manual too...comes in handy when I list it......so when some asks me if I work....I usually say I'm retired from the airlines.....and now I sell crap on ebay!!!......I know my parents are still cringing from the lack of use I have put to my very expensive college education.....but I do think I will do something with it someday!!!!

aprons

I saw these aprons on a blog called blissfull living a while back and I just fell in love with them!!!!......I love aprons!!!.....I don't wear one very often.....but it's just something that I would hate to think could be become extinct so I want to do my part to keep them alive.....my mom sent me an adorable one from a really cute boutique from her hometown in Delray Beach and I wore it all day while I cooked Mother's Day brunch......anyway......I saw this really cute fabric over the summer and the thought of that apron was still nagging at me.....and when I had gotten in touch with my dear friend in Ebensburg for our annual reunion, I knew I had to make them for us!!!!!....she is the only one I know that truly does wear an apron every day!!!..I only had a picture from a blog to go on...but I found a pattern looked extremely similar, I added the pockets and I am just thrilled with the results!!!.......today was my visit out to Ebensburg and I treasure it every year......I feel like it's my very own personal holiday!!!......and as you can see......we are both delighted with our new treats!!!

love what you do....

.....do what you love. A friend has this printed on a t-shirt and I've been thinking about it for a few days now.......it is so simple......and it should be so easy.......but in a nut shell I think that's why I am so stressed out these days.........I love to do so many things and I truly don't have enough time to do them!!!......things that should be enjoyable and relaxing.....are constantly calling me.....and the days and weeks have been going by and I just can't seem to fit anything in.......scrapbooking is the big thing thing that I would love to spend a weekend, or even an evening doing ....and during the summer months I just can't get to my craft room......I have a few subscriptions to some favorite magazines and I'd love to sit for an hour or two on the patio and flip through them.....nope!.......go to lunch with a dear friend whose birthday present I've had since APRIL!!!!......but she's just as busy as me!!!......don't get me wrong...I'm not sitting on the couch eating bon-bons.....I am doing a lot......going to the Y is a true priority and I won't let that go......and having fun with the kiddos during summer vacay....all the yard work since my husband shattered his ankle...watering the flowers....keeping up with this blog....selling crap on ebay .....cleaning/laundry/going to the store etc....and now that football has started I'm at the field for two hours every night....but at least I'm cranking out knitting some mittens while I'm sitting there!!!...I just keep staying up later and later......trying to fit some "Pam time" in when the house is quiet......I will always try to love what I do, and do what I love....life is too short not too!!!!

a giant cupcake!

I finally had an opportunity to try out my giant cupcake cake pan......we all got together down at the river to go boating yesterday......it was a get together because my dear niece will be heading off to college in a few weeks....and it's much easier for all 27 of us to say goodbye to her all at once!!!!........I got this cake pan on ebay at the beginning of the summer and have been wanting to test it out for weeks.....well, it didn't go so great.....but now that I've done it once, I think I have the hang of it......it doesn't look like it.....but it's about the size of a big honeydew melon!!!....and just a little FYI......if you plan on taking it 25 minutes away, frost it when you get there!!!!.......I had to hold the plate with the cupcake on it on my lap for the ride, holding the top of the cupcake cake with my forefinger and thumb so it wouldn't shift the whole way!!!....and if anyone would like to borrow the cake pan let me know!!!!

times have changed

As I watch my 12 year old daughter grow and change I often think back to my life as a young girl and compare and contrast our lives.......some things are very similar....doing crafts, being concerned about what to wear, fitting in, loving to be with cousins and doing fun stuff, sleeping in....yet some things are very different these days.....I remember at the age of 12 my parents sent my sister ( who was 9!) and I on a Greyhound bus from Buffalo to Watertown N.Y......with a bus change in Syracuse......I remember my mom taking us to the bakery to pick out petite fours and cookies for the trip....she pinned a $20 dollar bill inside the pocket of my cardigan sweater and we were off!!!.....we were going to visit my grandparents who were on vacation at Cranberry Lake in the Adirondacks and they were picking us up in Watertown at the gas station that also served as a bus depot......I sat with the white box wrapped in string with the treats inside on my lap while my sister played old maid with the elderly lady sitting next to her......on our layover in Syracuse we sat at the chairs with the t.v.'s attatched to the armrests and watched Leave it to Beaver.....we almost missed our bus being called and made a run for it....when we ran up I realized I had left the tickets back at the tv chairs!!!.........well, we made it there and had a wonderful week....but looking back on it I can't help but think how times have changed!!!........I could not even fathom leaving my daughter at the mall, let alone sending her on a Greyhound!!!!.......wow!....have times changed!!!!

seven up

The other morning at kickboxing while we were jumping rope..(yeah! they finally got some new jumpropes!!)....I was thinking about how much fun jumping rope used to be when I was in fourth grade.....not so much anymore!.......then I remembered a game we played all the time called seven up......I would go over to my friend Nancy's house and stand in her front yard and yell "Oh Nan-cy, can you come out and play?".....this was way before texting!!!!....she would run out and we would play all day....and when we got thirsty we would drink from the hose!!!...I asked around to see if anyone remembered the rules because I thought it would be nostalgic to play it with my daughter, and no one could remember .....so of course I did one of my favorite things, and googled it!!!.....and if you'd like to try....here are the rules.................this is a game for 2 or 3 players that requires a wall (usually the side of a house or school) paved ground and a medium sized ball.....each of the seven levels is done seven times and then repeated seven times with seven different additions. You continue up the levels until you make a mistake, at which time you turn the ball over to the next player. When your turn comes again you begin from the level you missed previously......the levels are as follows:
1. throw the ball against the wall and catch it seven times
2. throw the ball against the wall and allow it to bounce once and catch it seven times
3. throw the ball against the wall , hit it back to the wall and catch it seven times
4. throw the ball against the wall, hit it back to the wall , allow it to bounce once and catch it seven times
5. throw the ball against the wall allow it to bounce once, dribble it once and catch it seven times
6. throw the ball against the wall , hit it back to the wall , allow it to bounce once and dribble it once and catch it seven times
7.throw the ball against the wall hit it back to the wall allow it to bounce once, dribble it once, hit it back to the wall and catch it seven times

Once you've done each of these seven levels, do each level again with the following additions:
1. clap once after throwing the ball
2. clap twice after after throwing the ball
3. twirl in a circle after throwing the ball
4. do the seven levels using only your right hand
5. do the seven levels using only your left hand
6. do the seven levels throwing the ball under your right leg
7. do the seven levels throwing the ball under your left leg

........and there you have it!!!!!!!........something to try one of these days when you realize the kiddos been watching tv way to long and you yell at them to go outside and find something to do!!!!!

cedar point

Just back from the family vacay at Cedar Point.....it was with my husband's family....in past years we have gone to Myrtle Beach, house boat vacations, beach houses, cottages on a lake......but this was a first!!........we had beautiful weather to go to the park and Soak City....but I have to admit I am NOT a thrill seeker!!!!!....(and I hate scary movies too!)...I am very happy to hold everyones stuff, take picutres, eat junk and take Cubby around to his rides.....I can't even ride in the back seat of my mini van let alone go 125 mph on a roller coaster....I did ride a few with Cubby and one of my nieces and felt truly compelled to scream her name the entire time, like it was her fault that I was hating it and felt utterly out of control!!!...and I've never seen so many tatoos in my life!!...is it an amusement park thing??....we took some pool breaks...cocktails included!.... ate out in restaurants......which was wonderful!!!.....because all of the other trips entail the moms taking a turn cooking a night for the crowd of 25 plus breakfasts and lunches.......so this was a treat!!!....at first glance the cabins we stayed in were really cute.....but on closer examination they were just really mobile homes tricked out to look like a cabin....I can see how a lot of domestics can start in a trailer if you were living in one full time.........the girls even sneaked in a quick trip to Target .... it was all good.........until my 11 year came down with a 104 fever and threw up on the way home!!!....bummer.......