Welcome!

I have put in my description that I am a single thirtysomething. Thank you for keeping on reading. I think that there are two extremes of single chicks-the one being like my auntie who married later in her 30s and bought us toys and things that we wanted instead of practical clothing such as cords (trust me, in the 80s they weren't as nice as they are now.) She traveled lots, laughed lots and had the most unique friends and always played cool games with us kids. She told us that we were more entertaining than adults and the world rotated around her in our minds.

The other extreme is the single lady who yells at children and innocent puppies on the street, has a tissue tucked up her sleeve and her house and wool sweaters often have the musty, mothball smell. She also actually likes to eat bran and thinks that it is good for you. Good for you as in having flavor and being an essential part all meals and snacks. I'm sorry but crackers are not meant to have bran in them!

I'm probably between the two extremes but would like to think that I lean more towards the cool auntie. I often have embarrasing or awkward moments that I enjoy laughing about afterwards so I think that would give me cachet. Thank goodness for an imagination.

I often have random musings that I have shared for years through email with my best friends. They are extremely loyal and are still my friends. (Note to self: make them sound angelic in this blog!) Don't look for any deep meaning or themes throughout the themes. Otherwise, your psychologist will just be too rich for his/her own good.

The first musing ever (at least to this blog): Homemade, Easy and Thoughtful Christmas.

So... this August, I was struggling with some difficult life stuff and wasn't coping well (the mental picture you want is of looking at the grocery store for tissues with lotion in them-no joke!). So, I decided that I wasn't going to be intimidated by preserving, canning and making jam by myself like I've been for years. I made strawberry, blueberry/orange, raspberry/rhubarb jams and peach preserves and mango chutneys. As people were kind to me through the difficult season, I'd make a mental note and plan on giving them a jar or two at Christmas as something good out of a tough time.

So... now it is December and I need to make these jars look sort of Christmas-y. No big deal. My mom, who will be affectionately referred to Bargainista throughout this post, always put some nice fabric cut out with pinking shears and pretty ribbons. Ok... I have pretty ribbon that someone gave me that was saved for Christmas time. No nice fabric or pinking shears in the house. A trip to the local big box to purchase some. We're GTG (good to go).

Did you know how sore your back gets sitting on the kitchen floor tracing circles and cutting them out with pinking shears? Now that I've eaten up a good hour on circles, no big deal. Bargainista used to tie them on easily with the ribbon. The fabric won't sit on my jars. It keeps on slipping off. What to use? Maybe dental floss-but no, that is not working, my jars are still lonely.

A brainwave: What about elastic bands? I'll just use those ones that come with the flyers that end up on my sidewalk twice a week. Wow-they work perfectly. Oh yeah, Knittinchick is in the cold basement looking through the recycling for the last three needed elastics. Now that they're on, ribbon gets tied on nicely without bows as they are not working out.

End product: Three hours later and I have pretty 'decorated' jars of jams and chutneys. Not to mention a messy floor, new pinking shears and sore back.

Next year everyone is getting Starbucks cards!