Good, better, best

I have so many interests and hobbies (and children and animals and chores) and I am trying to find a balance, where I can get the things that need to be done finished, in addition to doing something that I want to do.

In October general conference, Dallin H. Oaks gave a talk entitled Good, Better, Best where he talks about how we need to choose the best things to grow closer to God. There are a lot of good things in the world, but they aren't always the best things to occupy our time.

I have know for quite a while that the internet is a huge time-suck for me. I try to show good self-discipline but I often waste time online. The last few days I've kept my computer off and spent my time doing other things. I'm not giving it up completely, but you'll see a lot less of me from now on. Don't forget to check the renovation blog for updates and every two weeks I'll be stocking my leather shoes and other handcrafted goodies at Majestic Congo. My past items will be available at my Etsy shop until I get my website up and running.

On a related note, we stock at Majestic on Friday at noon eastern. Come check out the hand-dyed yarn, beautiful stitch markers, leather shoes, diapers, and other great items made by these talented women whom I am glad to call my friends.

More cloth shopping bags.

Sorry for the lack of creative, humorous blogging. I did take a picture of my new shopping bags, though.

Shoes, shoes, shoes

I have joined the Majestic Congo at Hyena Cart. We stock Thursday November 8th at noon eastern. Come see what all these talented mamas have to offer! I know all these women personally and they have become a wonderful support group. Keep watching my website for when I get it up and running.

Reusable Shopping Bags

Though I take my plastic shopping bags back to the grocery store for recycling, I still hate bringing them home! Last week I sewed up a dozen cloth shopping bags.

Tomorrow I'll put them to good use when my favorite grocery chain opens a new store just 10 minutes from my house. So long to 30-minute-drives to the store. I will actually be able to buy frozen foods in the summer without taking a cooler packed with ice.

For a tutorial on how to sew cloth shopping bags, visit my Flickr tutorial.

Who doesn't want to be a winner?

I know I posted about my new vacuum and totally trashed the Dyson, but hey, if I win one, I'll have one to keep in the basement of the new house so I won't have to carry my Hoover downstairs. Go here to enter. Thanks to Stacy for the link!

A Cheesy Title

Yesterday I made a quick trip to the grocery store and while there, I waltzed by the deli aisle to check for markdowns. Sometimes I find cheese marked down to $2 a pound because it's close to its pull date. I found 5 2-lb packages of Cache Valley Medium cheddar for $1.99 each. That's a dollar a pound, people! I don't know if I've ever bought cheese that inexpensively. It's pull date was today, but the packages were still nice and tight, so the medium cheddar will probably be sharp cheddar by the time the last of it is eaten, but sharp cheddar costs more, so my savings will just increase!

Dog vomit and dead chickens

I really enjoy reading Meredith's blog Like Merchant Ships. She exudes positive energy as she practices cheerful frugality. It's blogs like hers that help remind me that no matter what happens, your attitude can still be positive and you can be happy.

So, despite the fact that I was awakened multiple times during the night by a crabby 2 year-old, it's raining (and mud is being tracked into the house constantly) and by 9am I had already cleaned up dog vomit and disposed of a dead chicken, I know it's going to be a good day.

We've got roof trusses and roof decking going up as I type, and I promise to update the renovation blog by the end of the day.