Distraction

4 kids wrapping up the school year.

Backyard garden bursting with veggies, and demanding harvesting.

Family vacations to Disneyland.

Looming Mexico trip for just the adults.

A bright coral-red nail polish that catches everyones eye.

Online classes

A child support battle going to court.

Life is complex right now, and some things are sliding to the side...my blog, my jewelry, my ebay resell business. I intend to return to them all - hopefully soon - but please understand that right now there are just too many distractions.

Driving in Portland

It's official - Portland drivers (the Oregon kind anyway) are the politest in the nation.

This surprises me not at all. I've had several 4-way stops drag on while multiple people "after you" too much. I learned to drive in New Jersey - if someone motions me forward, I'm going. Even if they don't, I might go anyway.

Still, nothing illustrates the insane overpoliteness of this area like the following totally true story from last week.

Our town is located off a 2-lane highway...we'll call it Highway A for all the stalkers in the audience. To get onto Hwy A, you take a long, sweeping on-ramp. The speed limit for Hwy A is 55 mph, but thanks to the long on-ramp, you have plenty of time to get up to speed AND see cars already on the highway.

So it's a weekend morning, and I'm driving the kids in our minivan. As I start up the on-ramp, I see exactly one truck barrelling down Hwy A. (Doing 55 - they don't speed much around here either) There's nobody behind him for miles, so I take my time up the ramp.

Except, he slows down. A lot.

Yep, some crazy driver ON A HIGHWAY slowed down to probably 35 mph to let me on. FOR NO GOOD REASON.

And sadly, this is far from the first time.

I almost miss the offensive driving of NJ...

Things I'm Loving Right Now

L'Occitane Shampoo and Conditioner - When hubby and I spent a night at the luxurious Heathman Hotel in Portland, we were treated to L'Occitane bath products...and I've been hooked ever since. When I found a 50% off special on their shampoo and conditioner, I decided to splurge! Truly, I can tell a large difference between their products and my usual L'Oreal and Pantene - my hair is smoother and softer, with a soft sheen. It looks so good that a quick blow-dry is all it needs - no curler, iron, etc. To stretch out my enjoyment (and mitigate the $18-per-bottle price pain), I alternate it with my normal products.

Verde handmade soap by Bonghinatura - I've reviewed this soap before on my blog so I won't go into too much detail again, but just had to include it! It's a rich glycerin soap that lathers incredibly well, leaving my skin soft with no residue. Best part for me, however, is the crisp mint-and-lime scent. Like combining a mojito with a margarita! I think it's the perfect "welcome summer" scent, refreshing and light - and I'll enjoy it all summer and into the fall.

Benefit's Hello Flawless powder foundation - A new pressed-powder foundation that people seem to either love or hate. Me, I love it! I previously used Bare Escentuals foundation, but found it too light a coverage at times - and the powder didn't travel well. However, with my oily skin, I hate using liquid foundation as it just doesn't look natural (and applies oddly). So Benefit's formulation is great for me. The powder glides over my skin and absorbs oil well. The compact travels without mess. Best of all, you can change the coverage - a light dusting with the brush, or heavier application with the sponge, or somewhere in-between. Like Bare Escentuals, it's not cheap - thank goodness I have a hookup for a discount!

My BlackBerry Curve - Yep, I'm officially a CrackBerry addict. The convenience of checking email and surfing the web anytime, anywhere...how can you not get hooked? As a small business owner, however, I've truly found it invaluable; I can make buying decisions on the fly, and never have a "get home and regret it" moment again! I can check real time resell values on eBay while holding an item in a store, I can research an unusual brand name (is it an up-and-coming designer, or some dead-end line from Target?), and I can respond to customer questions within minutes, rather than hours. All of this is greatly helped by the Opera browser I added (for free!) - the standard BlackBerry web app being rather lackluster.

Men of the US: You've been insulted

So I'm at the on-site fitness center at lunch today, elliptical-ing my way towards summer. The TV is tuned to ESPN, of course - 95% of users are men, so that means we must watch sports of some flavor. I usually tune it out, but today I forgot my iPod. And hey, did you know we're in countdown to Mother's Day?

Based on the frequency of flower-delivery commercials, I'm guessing the average Guy doesn't.

This wasn't just frequent ads, however. This was downright insulting. For those with a developed frontal lobe, this was the subtext:

Are you a guy?

Do you think you should buy your mom something?

Are you inept at everything?

Buy flowers from us, moron!

This was a ProFlowers commercial, with men talking about how satisfied they are with the flowers from ProFlowers. (Ok) Followed by commentary from an actress-mom saying "when I get flowers, I feel remembered and appreciated." (Cue gagging) Then, to top it off....

"Go to our website

Click on the microphone icon

Type in the keyword MALE for your special savings. "

That's right gentlemen! Admit that you are a guy to save on obligatory flowers for mom! Thinking not required! Heck, you don't even have to turn off Sportscenter to make her feel 'remembered'! If I'd had the breath to laugh, I probably would have fallen off my machine.

This Needs to End

The Great Recession is hitting home...

Thankfully, hubby and I still have our jobs - but our kids are about to be massively impacted. And that really, really bothers me.

See, in Oregon, there's some screwy way they fund schools. Even in good times, they don't get much money (kindergarten is only partially funded, for instance - so we have 3-day-a-week kindergarten, and some PUBLIC schools charge TUITION for the other 2 days). So with the economy tanking, unemployment in the state at 10% and rising...that state income tax isn't generating near the revenue it used to.

So our schools are facing a HUGE revenue shortfall - they've been warned to plan for a 15% reduction.

My lovely little town has just 3 schools - elementary, middle, and high school (all in a row no less). All told, a bit over 1200 kids between the three. Pretty small, huh?

And yet, Monday they are having a community meeting to discuss the need to cut $1.2 MILLION from the 2009-2010 budget. I just can't wrap my mind around that - it's roughly $1000 less PER STUDENT.

How are we going to do it? I just don't know. There's all kinds of rumors - going to 4-day-per-week schedules, laying off multiple teachers, cutting out music and PE. There's even a rumor of combining 2nd and 3rd grade - and that's just what I'm hearing from the elementary school. All I know is, this is HORRIBLE for the kids and their education - but what the hell can I do about it? Not like I could sell my house and move - all the other Oregon districts are in the same boat. And finding another job in another state right now - yeah, right.

I'm so frightened.

Round 1: I'm not the winner

So I had this great idea - encouraged by an article on my jewelry supplier's site - to dye some pearls. Not any dye job either, mind you, but a lovely ombre blue. Imagine - a pearl necklace that naturally shades from light to dark blue - how lovely would that be!

I understand the concept of ombre, and since I've seen pearls in every shade imaginable, figured I could make this work. I'm an engineer after all!

I purchase a packet of the darkest blue I could find (since I want some REALLY blue), and patiently dipped my pearls in blue water over the stove. (No, I'm not sharing all the details, in case it does finally work) After 30 minutes, I rinse...and instead of blue ombre, I have all one shade of blueish-grayish-purple.

Admittedly, it's a pretty shade - it's just not what I want! (That white one is the original color, just for contrast)

Got to figure out what happened, and how to make the next batch successful.

Swimming with sharks

Being quite the bargain-hunter - and probably insane - I've decided to venture out to The Lost World.

You know it as the local car dealership.

With prices low, rebates plentiful, and a great rate from my credit union, I figured we should at least LOOK. Our 04 Explorer runs fine, but when you pile all the kids in there, little space is left for other necessities, like groceries or luggage. We need a minivan - a big one.

My first trip out this weekend didn't yield much. The sales people looked only mildly desperate, and the reaction wasn't what I expected. (Since I have been offered meals before to buy a car - a cup of coffee on a rainy day would seem like the least they could do)

Perhaps I'll try again - I wasn't feeling well, hubby wasn't there, so it might not have come across as serious. Still, for an industry struggling...not the way to bring in this customer!

Missed opportunity?

Am I the only one to think of this?

With so many consumers trying to save, why aren't more companies marketing "we'll help you save money"? (I've only seen a few Discover ads like this)

Home Depot should offer free sessions on home gardening and energy-saving upgrades - people will buy pre-cut lumber, plants, weatherstripping...

Auto shops can offer discounts for MPG-improving services to 'keep your big investment on the road longer'.

Where are the companies lining up to help us FIX what we own (shoes, clothes, computers)? It might generate less revenue per shopper right now, but you'll get more people in the door...and most people still spend more than planned.

Wish this applied to eBay - but I'm doing what I can. I've written a "mini-book" (now 21 pages and counting) with almost 100 ideas for saving money...and I'll shortly be offering it for sale for just $3.

Depressing

What in particular? So many things...

Rarely seeing the sun (all that Oregon rain).

Hearing about the dissolution of a long-term marriage.

Watching the workload at your business slow down week by week.

Struggling to make friends in the limited free, adult time you have as a parent. (And no, befriending my kid's friends' parents hasn't been so successful)

Wanting to make a change - new job for spouse, new car, vacation somewhere sunny- and being terrified of commiting to a possible mistake.

Life isn't terrible, but it sure is harder and harder to be happy, relaxed, optimistic right now.

Ouch

So I'm doing my 2008 taxes this weekend. The personal part isn't so hard - two W-2s, some mortgage statements, few goodwill receipts.

The business part however...wow. I've easily spent 4 hours putting everything together (s0 far), and along the way, I've noticed the following:

1. The first half of the year was OK. My total sales and profits were on track to beat 2007.

2. Starting around August, everything tanked. Views and sales were DOWN. Big time.

3. Averaging the year out, my net profit actually shrank $2, about 10%.

So I'm starting to wonder...should I keep going? I'm going to report a loss for 2008 - I can deal with that, since it includes things like vehicle depreciation that don't really hit my wallet. But at what point do my profits become small enough to make this not worth my while?

You'd think that a resale business would do well right now - everybody wants a bargain, right? But I have two major problems going on. For one, more people are shopping "my" thrift stores, so there's less good inventory available. And for two - people are seriously bargain hunting. It's not enough that a brand new, designer pair of shoes is listed for 20% of original retail - darn it, that's still $50! They want it for $45, or $40...or even $20.

For the moment, I still enjoy my bargain and thrift hunting - so I'll keep at it. (And the jewelry business will stay open, just because I enjoy creating so much)