Catching up. Again.

And a great good Saturday to you!  It is the most gorgeous day outside.  I have no idea why I am inside typing on the computer instead of hanging around outdoors.

Oh right, the flipping allergies!  I pay for it each and every time I spend big chunks of time outside.

But, that is not what I want to share with you.  I have things to talk about and pictures to show you.  So, get up now and go pee.  Go get a refill of your favorite beverage and settle in to see what you shall see.  : )


First up, I saw that I was running low on Downy.  Yes, I still use Downy.  No, I do not feel guilty about it.  When I was at the store I had to keep looking at the bottles to see which one is the same as the one I have at home because it was slightly different.  So when I got home I set them next to each other to make sure I had bought the right flavor.  And what else did I spy???

Here is a close up of Bottle A, aka the old one, the one that was already here:  Spend a few minutes perusing the label, won't you?

And here is a close up of the new label.  Go ahead and check it out and notice the differences.

They are both Downy.  They both contain 1.84 liters. They are both lavender scented.

Here's the deal:

THE OLD ONE SAYS IT CONTAINS 78 LOADS worth of softener.

While the new one only does 72 LOADS!!  ???

I took the caps off and looked at them since they are the measuring devices to know how much product they recommend.  And guess what?

EXACTLY THE SAME CAP, EXACTLY THE SAME MEASUREMENT.

Anyone else confused by this?

Those dicks over at the Downy offices have done some very creative math to come up with this.

And by the by, I don't follow their recommended quantity per load.  The first thing I do is to pour half the new bottle into the empty old bottle and then refill both with water and mix them well.  This is following the Rule of Half.  Half of any recommended amount of product will do the job just as well.  Try it with your shampoo, conditioner, laundry products, liquid hand soap, etc.  I promise you won't miss the other half and you just saved yourself a bunch of money and time shopping to replace these things.


In other news, the lovely and talented Miss Rachel Pie has been working with small children.  And you know what that means, don't you?

She got sick!  You have to have a really strong immune system to work with the wee ones, as they bring in germs like nobody's business.  Anyhoo, she was S. I. C. K. She went from feeling a bit poorly to running ridiculously high fever, throwing up and sick as a dog overnight.  And thanks to the Affordable Healthcare Act, she is still on our insurance (at least until her next birthday).  Our insurance has this great local business partnered up on it called White Glove Health

Go check out their website and see if they are near you or if you can sign up for them.  Essentially, they are in business to get people well as quickly as possible and back to work.  It keeps up productivitiy and that is why Mr. Big Ed's company has gotten this policy for all the insured employees.

Anyway, Miss Rachel Pie was sick as a dog and there was no way she was going to be able to sit for hours at the med clinic waiting to be seen, so we called the White Glove Health people and they sent a nurse practitioner right over.  She examined Rachel Pie, she looked down her throat, in her ears, listened to her heart, asked tons of questions, you know, the same thing the med clinic doctor would have done.  Then she said Rachel Pie has a sinus infection and a ear infection and prescribed medication, antibiotics, bed rest, liquids, etc.

And did Miss Nurse Practitioner then hand me a bunch of prescriptions to go fill?

No she did NOT!  She reached into her Mary Poppins-style bag and brought out a bottle of antibiotics, 2 bottles of Mucinex, 2 bottles of nose spray, 1 bottle of ear drops which you will see below sitting on a box she also gave Rachel Pie called a Well-Kit.

See the Well-Kit box?  With its cute little carry handle?  What do you suppose is inside?

Let's look, shall we?

I spy with my little eye:  cough drops, 2 packs of tylenol, 2 packs of motrin

1 can of chicken noodle soup, 1 bottle of Gator-ade, 1 pack of jell-o, 1 can of Ginger Ale

1 pack of Kleenex, 1 snack sized apple sauce, and a box of saltines.

We didn't have to go to the store.  We didn't have to go stand in line at the pharmacy.  We didn't have to get Rachel Pie out of bed for 24 hours, actually.

She may call herself a Nurse Practitioner but I think she might have been Florence Nightingale reincarnated.  : )

And FINALLY!!!!  I know, I know, first I don't blog for a month and then I go on and on f o r e v e r . . .

But this is cool, so you will want to stay tuned for this last part.

Have I ever told you about the glass ball collection I have?

Well, my mama travels to Germany a lot.  She used to, anyway.  We have relatives over there so she goes to visit and takes a suitcase full of Mexican food items that they can't get and refills that suitcase with lovely things for all of us.  Anyhoo, she goes to some glass factory and buys these gorgeous blown glass balls.  All different sizes, and colors.

And we string them up with ribbon or fishing line and hang them in the windows like sun catchers.  They are just gorgeous.

Well, we moved to this house in May of 2005 and I have never found a great place to hang them in this house.  So they have been sitting in a cabinet in bubble wrap, just waiting.

And you know how one thing leads to another and then another and then BAM!!!! The light bulb comes on of how to think outside the box?  Well, that is what happened to me.

Why do they have to just be unused sun catchers?  Why can't they be Christmas ornaments?

But what kind of tree would they really be showcased on?


And BAM!!!  I got hit with another picture on Pinterest of a gorgeous wrought iron tree with loads of space between the branches for just such baubles as my glass balls.

So, I ordered it and it arrived!

Yay!

I spent yesterday putting it together and hanging all my little glass balls, some of which are egg shaped and some are heart shaped.  And here is your photo montage of this!

Here is the shipping box as it arrived and I took it to the corner of the dining room where I am going to assemble and display it.

Once I opened the shipping box, here is the box that was inside.

And when I opened the box this is what I found.

Each of the corrugated paper wrapped items had a label on it identifying what piece this is.

Once I unwrapped every piece and lined them all up in alphabetical order, way on the bottom of the box was this instruction sheet.

Here it is all put together and naked.  I think it might need a skirt of some kind. What do you think? Any suggestions?

And here it is with all the beautiful balls, eggs and hearts in place.

And here are some close-ups of the ornaments.  Sadly the glass reflects the light so much that they don't show up as beautiful as they truly are.

What do you think?  I think it was well worth the $$ to buy a new item to showcase these beauties rather than letting them languish in a drawer.  And besides, you all know how I am on a campaign to quit using the shitty quality Made-in-China Christmas lights.

As always, I am happy to get some comments and hear your thoughts.

p.s. Should I write or call the Downy Dicks to see what gives on their bottle information?