HOLY Shirts & DEMONIC Shoes

 Bet that title got your attention!!!   Well, let’s get started cause I got a lot of 'splainin to do!

    Remember when Desi would say that to Lucy?  (Showing my age!)

Let’s start with my HOLE-y SHIRTS.  A couple of years ago I began to notice that some of my shirts & sweaters (mostly shirts) had 2-5 tiny holes…and they were always in the same general area around my belly button.  At first I was just aggravated but then as I found more and more hole-y  shirts I also became flabbergasted.  What in the world was going on?  Before I knew it I had had to discard more than a few very good shirts and two or three sweaters. 

I began to research (via Google) to try and solve this mystery.  Lo & behold!  I found that I was only one among MANY that had the same problem but yet no one could come up with a conclusive cause or a solution.  At least I wasn’t in the boat by myself! I also found 2 friends and a niece were having the same problem!

Some of the many thoughts about this “hole” situation were:

*abrasion from car seat belt

         BUT!  I had traded cars and still discovered new holes

*rough place on counter top or sink area

         BUT!  I went over every surface where I knew I leaned against it…and

         I mean I went over it like a detective looking for clues to a serial

        murderer….and found nothing

*a mysterious little bug that….warning! this is yucky!...liked the smell of your belly button

         BUT!  I keep my belly button clean and dust bunny free

*moths

         BUT!  do you really think a group of moths would all get together &

         say, “Now let’s eat holes in this gal’s clothes but let’s only go for the

         belly-button area”???????  I don’t think so!  And besides…I took

         everything out of that closet & washed or dry cleaned EVERYTHING…

         and also fumigated the room (just in case)!

*cheap fabrics

          BUT!  I had it to happen with some rather expensive items

Absolutely nothing seemed to fix the problem.  Well, after discarding at least 20 (if not more) perfectly good shirts & sweaters (both expensive brands like from Talbots and less expensive from places like Old Navy), I thought my problem was solved😊  For the past few months, NO NEW HOLES!  I was elated!  But this week the wind was taken out of my sails because I found holes in two basically new shirts.  One I bought recently from Old Navy; the other earlier in the summer from TJMaxx.  And by the way…why doesn’t my husband get holes in his shirts????

Evidently I like stripes A LOT!

As I was researching solutions yet again today I came across an article you can read here: http://www.cleverly.me/t-shirt-holes/ .  (sorry but I can't get the link to work!)   It basically gives 5 different possible reasons for the #@$#% holes, but I’m not really buying any of them because of the exact reasons I gave in the earlier part of this post.  I’m just still not convinced. 

I also came across a product that is “supposed” to be the cure-all for the problem, but I’m not buying it…literally or figuratively.  It’s these button covers called HOLE' (hole-ay) that you are supposed to put over your buttons/snaps on jeans & pant fronts.  (Reviews say they are hard to get on & off.)  But... (yes another BUT!), I have had holes in tops that I wear only with pants that are slip-ons…no buttons or snaps in sight. 

https://holebuttoncover.com/

I don’t really know what I can do about this problem, but if anyone discovers a cure-all I’ll be first in line to buy it. 

                                    

                             * * * * * * *

NOW….on to those demonic  shoes!  Well, that’s just my term for them because they too have given me the devil in the past year.  

A better term would be crumbling shoes.  Have you ever been walking down the street or in the mall (or in my friend’s case the airport) and you look down and see all these little black pieces of “something” following you like Hansel & Gretel’s trail of crumbs????  If so, you have had crumbling shoes.  (As if crumbled potato chips or crumbled cookies aren’t bad enough!)  

*Disclaimer:  these are not my shoes...borrowed from internet!

Or have you gotten all dressed, ready to go, but have to quickly put on matching shoes before running out the door….only to pull the shoes out of the box and realize they have disintegrated???  

Yep!  I’ve had both situations happen…not pleasant. 

Again let me say I have had this problem with both expensive brands and less expensive ones.  And I’m not in this boat alone either.  GOOGLE “crumbling shoes” or “disintegrating shoes” and you’ll see what I mean!  Many folks have dealt with gooey, delaminating, or cracked shoe bottoms including Clarks, Crocs, and other "comfort" shoes.

But there is an explanation for this phenomenon…just no real solution!!!!

The basic culprit is polyurethane that is inside the soles & heels of shoes (and sometimes upper parts).  The polyurethane degrades through a process known as hydrolysis.  It also seems that storing shoes for a long period of time aids the process.  I have for years stored my shoes in plastic shoeboxes (all nicely labeled, thank you😊)  but now I’m wondering if that is the best thing to do.  (They sure look nice & neat all stacked on my shelves though!!)

One of the main (maybe only) solutions to the issue of crumbling shoes is to WEAR THEM FREQUENTLY.  Seems that wearing them squeezes all the chemicals in there together & this slows down the breaking-down process.  However, I have read in several places that many shoe manufacturers say we should only expect 4 to 5 years of wear!  Are you kidding me???  I still have my BE-BOPS (saddle oxfords) from high school and that was….well, more than a few years ago!  My problem is I have sooooo many pairs of shoes, by the time I get around to wearing all of them the first ones will have disintergrated!!!  (But my shoe inventory is a post for another day.)

A good article to read about the shoe problem is here:

https://www.iol.co.za/dailynews/consumer/want-your-comfort-shoes-to-last-1310918  

I love clothes & shoes in particular, but it sure is disheartening to go to your closet to look for a favorite shirt or just-the-right pair of shoes for an outfit only to find they are no longer wearable.  I’m beginning to think it’s true what we often hear:  They just don’t make things like they used to.  After all, right now in my closet I have 2 pairs of my 90-year-old mother’s high heels that she wore many, many years ago and they look like they just came from the store!

So….have you had either of these problems?  I’d love to hear about it if you have.  And if you find a long-term solution for either situation, bottle & sell it cause you'll end up with more money than if you'd hit that billion dollar lottery...and I'll be your first customer:) 

THESE ARE A FEW OF MY FAVORITE THINGS!

 I just read a really old post on someone’s blog where the writer was talking about some of her favorite things.  So….since I yet again haven’t had anything worth writing about….I decided I’d go on a photo shoot among my belongings to see what some of my own favorites were.  (OK….so I’m bored and needed something to do today😊 …and besides, maybe it will be fun!)     (WARNING:  PICTURE HEAVY!!!)

HOUSEHOLD FAVORITES

We have quite a few antique family pieces in our home….things we’ve inherited from our parents or grandparents.  This antique ICE BOX  is definitely one of my favorites.  You would not have believed how this thing looked when we got it!  In fact, nobody else in the family even wanted it because it looked SOOO BAD.  But I have to give my husband credit…he saw a diamond in the rough!  We had it restored and we just love it.  The ice box actually belonged to an elderly farm hand that lived in a little shack on my husband’s grandparents’ farm.  She was like part of the family and always helped Grandmama with the cooking, cleaning, gardening, or whatever else needed to be done.  She was loved and affectionately called DUMP (don’t ask me why!!!)

This antique PENDULUM CLOCK was a gift to my husband and me from my stepfather shortly after we were married.  It was his passion to find old clocks and restore them.  I love to hear this one BONG the hour, but my husband doesn’t, so (sadly to me) it remains silent.  It is sitting atop an antique PIE SAFE that belonged to my husband’s grandparents.

One more antique to show is this beautiful HALL TREE that belonged to my husband’s other grandparents.  My husband would sit on the seat every year on Christmas Day as he grew up opening presents at their house, so she wanted him to have it.  For years it was ugly & black because we thought it was supposed to look like that (seriously????)  Then my husband decided to refinish it and what beauty was lying underneath!!!

These two LAMPS are not antiques but I like my “Tiffany wanna-be’s”!!!  The first one was a gift from my mother-in-law and the second we bought at auction.  I love how they look at night when they are turned on.

This little GREEN CHEST has really seen better days but it’s a favorite because it was my first (and only) attempt at painting with chalk paint!  I found it (all blue and ugly) in a thrift store.  It now holds many of my craft supplies.

And one last antique is my IRON BED.  Long story that I won’t go into about how I came to have it, but I do love it.  This is in what we now call my granddaughter’s room where she absolutely loves to spend the night!

THIS  &  THAT  FAVORITES

My PORCH is probably my favorite part of our home.  I have spent many hours sitting in my swing reading, watching the rain, or just pondering on things.  The CANDELIER hanging from the ceiling also has a funny story.  Found it in a consignment shop in FL on one of my girlfriend trips.  You should have seen me pack our vehicle (which was carrying 6 ladies and all our luggage) so that it would fit!!!

This is an ORIGINAL OIL PAINTING done by…..a second-grader!  Years ago it was a gift to me from one of my students.  His mother is an artist and evidently he inherited some of her talent.  It is displayed in my kitchen.

These sweet  TEDDY BEARS are just 2 of my collection.  I don’t really collect them anymore as they were beginning to take over and multiply!  But I do love them all.  These two were gifts from my sweet husband. 

Years & years ago I was going through a very difficult period of grieving and would sometimes just take off for day trips on my own.  One such day I discovered this precious TEA SET in an antique store.  It just called my name and so I HAD to bring it home with me!

Can you guess what this is?????  Well, I couldn’t for many years.  However, through lots of research I finally found out it is a…….WINE BOTTLE…..and it is an antique as well.  It was given to me by a very sweet and special elderly lady (in her 80s) while I was her Sunday School teacher.  She actually thought it was a RABBIT and since she knew I loved rabbits she wanted to give it to me.  Turns out it’s really a SQUIRREL…but I never told her that😊  She told me it belonged to her late husband…..I later found out he was….well, let’s say he wasn’t a tee-totaler!

Although I’m omitting a lot of my favorites, I couldn’t leave out these….all the LOVE LETTERS from my husband while he was away at National Guard Training Camp for 4 months (way back in 1971); and the little stack is LOVE NOTES from high school….yes, I said HIGH SCHOOL.  How could I ever throw those away???

FAVORITE  CLOTHES  (shoes are a whole different post!!!)

I love, love, love CLOTHES and probably have more than I should.  And yet I often look in my closet and say, “I don’t have anything to wear!”  Is there a woman anywhere that has never said that????  I don’t really get to shop a lot since my little town is 70 miles from a decent shopping site.  And another thing….I’m NOT a CLOTHES SNOB.  If I like it, it doesn’t matter to me if it comes from Nordstrom or Wal-Mart!  I’m an equal opportunity shopper! My style now leans much more toward casual since I am retired and spend most days at home or doing something with the grandkids, but here are some of my favorites right now…….

Give me polka dots, tassels, & pompoms and I’m a happy dresser!  The NAVY POLKA DOT SWEATER is new from Old Navy.  The colorful TASSELED TOP I have enjoyed all summer and it came from Goody’s.

I love both of these SWEATERS from last year.  The first one is RUBY RD. from BELK & was a gift from my husband last Christmas.  The other also came from BELK last year….since it’s my college colors I wore it to a GEORGIA SOUTHERN alumni party😊

These 2 TOPS are new & I “think” I got them both from BEALL’S (or maybe it was TJMaxx).  Neither was very expensive but really look cute with jeans.

I love to wear these sleeveless INSULATED VESTS, and I have several.  They are often all I need when I run to the grocery store or do errands during the cooler months.  This was also a Christmas gift from my husband but you can find them in many places online.

Well, I told you this post would be PICTURE HEAVY and sorry it’s so long.  Maybe it at least helped my readers to get to know me a little better…and it will be something my granddaughter can look at in years to come (and probably laugh)!  I did another post on some of my favorites back in 2012 if anyone is interested....go here

So, what are some of your FAVORITE  THINGS…..besides raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens?????

LIFE SURE GETS B*U*S*Y

Is it really already OCTOBER???  Where has this year gone?  Seems like only yesterday I was watching that glittery ball drop to welcome in the NEW YEAR!  I honestly don’t know how I made it all those years of working.   RETIREMENT seems to keep me very busy.

So what have I been doing lately?  (Definitely not writing much on my blog…because there just hasn’t been time!)            I have been…

*GOING TO CHEER COMPETITIONS with our granddaughter (3 Saturdays in a row)

*GOING TO THE GYM (I finally lost another 2 lbs. after being stuck at a brick wall for awhile😊

*RUNNING TAXI SERVICE for the two grands!

*TEACHING SUNDAY SCHOOL while our usual teacher is out of town.

*VOLUNTEERING at our local CHRISTIAN KITCHEN.

*REORGANIZING my CRAFT AREA…that’s been a chore and a half!

*FALL CLEANING…going through every closet, drawer, & cabinet & decluttering. 

*HELPING A FRIEND who is going through a difficult time.

*DOCTOR APPOINTMENTS (always a joy…NOT)

*And for my hubby...COOKING & LAUNDRY...he likes to eat & have clean clothes:) 

Life, please slow down!  My grandbabies are growing up so fast (now 15 and 12)…AND I still have a lot I want to accomplish in this lifetime!!!  Why is it that when you are a child a year seems like an eternity but the older you get the faster time seems to fly by? 

So...what have you been doing with your time?  Hope you are enjoying life!

PUMPKIN SPICE & EVERYTHING NICE

That’s what F A L L  is made of😊

At least to me, it’s not F A L L without the taste of pumpkin and the smell of cinnamon, nutmeg, & cloves.  And how I do love a PUMPKIN SPICE LATTE!  (Of course, right now in my neck of the woods it’s still in the high 90s and the last thing I’m thinking of is drinking something hot!)

However, I have “visions of sugarplums (pumpkins, colored leaves, scarecrows, long-sleeves, cowboy boots, & plowed-up peanut fields) dancing in my head.  I am SOOOO over summer and wishing I would wake up one morning soon with the smell & feel of 

F A L L in the air!  F A L L is definitely my favorite time of year, even though it doesn’t really get cool here until later.  But the sights & smells and just the feeling of a new FALL season sure can set my heart aflutter. 

Since I can’t really “experience” any of my autumn joys right yet, I thought I would share some things I’ve found around the net that have me drooling.  Plus…all these ideas look so easy that I think even I can pull them off! 

Mums are beginning to pop up on porches and steps around here…although I do fear the awful heat wave we’ve been having will dampen their spirits.  I plan to wait awhile before purchasing mine, but isn’t this plastic hanging-basket makeover just adorable.  It looks rather simple to make but just adds a punch and certainly looks better than plain plastic!

hometalk

I’m also thinking of FINALLY trying my hand at chalk painting Mason Jars.  And I love, love BURLAP.  Wouldn’t these be so “FALLish” on a mantle or entryway table?

homebnc

I like to decorate my (big) porch for the seasons, and these pillows would really dress up our swing.  In fact, I have some cheap inexpensive green pillows I bought at Wal-Mart awhile back, already have the burlap ribbon & leaves…so I’m set to go with this one!

movingforwardredesign

I also have most of the makings for this idea…at least as soon as I go to our church and pick up a bunch of acorns.  So easy, but again so FALLish!  And if it’s inspired by POTTERY BARN you know the original was e-x-p-e-n-s-i-v-e!

livelaughrowe

And this idea is very similar…you can buy really nice looking glass containers at the DOLLAR TREE.

momentswiththemays

“Rustic” decorating just seems (to me) to go along with F A L L and this old chair with the pumpkin would be so inviting on my side porch.  There’s nothing that says “Fall Y'all” more than PUMPKINS😊   

clipzine

I went for my yearly mammo (don’t forget to get yours😊) last week and “just happened” to drop by HOBBY LOBBY.  Their candlesticks and lanterns were on half-price (yes!!!), so of course, I couldn’t pass up a good sale. I plan to use this idea (but my lantern is waaayyy cuter!) It will look great alongside the wooden candlesticks on my mantle.

Pinterest

I could share LOTS more but don’t want this post to get too long.  Hopefully cool weather will grace us very soon and I can use all these ideas I’ve been collecting.  In the meantime, I’ll just enjoy the anticipation of things to come….

falling leaves

yellow mums

scarecrows

Halloween

apple cider

pumpkins

cool, crisp air

fall festivals

simmering spices

the smell of turned-up peanuts

& (of course)...

PUMPKIN SPICE LATTES

What is your favorite thing about FALL?

SUNDAY GLEANINGS

Sunday Gleanings

 I taught my Sunday School class today…I’m the alternate teacher for when our regular teacher can’t be there.  Our lesson was on FAITH vs WORKS.  When I saw that this was what our lesson was about, my first thought was, “Oh, golly!  They’ve heard this a thousand times…what more can I say about it?”  (As a classroom teacher for over 30 years, it always bothered me if I thought a student was bored because he already knew what I was teaching!)

At any rate, I read many resources & commentaries and ended up being surprised that my way of thinking evidently is in the minority.  I have always been taught (and therefore believed) that SALVATION comes from our faith.  When we ask Jesus into our hearts, He grants us grace; and our salvation is our free & unequivocal gift from Him...and I still believe this.  I also thought that all Christians believed the same thing, but after much studying I found out that I seem to be in the minority instead of the majority.  I won’t go into too much length, but let me share with you this fact that has been gleaned through various research projects…..

 When surveyed, 53% of those adults surveyed (including Christians and non-Christians) said that they believed that if they were generally good and did enough good things during their life, they would “earn” a place in heaven. 

Now I don’t really want to get into a long theological discussion, but in my faith (Baptist) we are taught that what gets you into heaven is your FAITH and not your WORKS .  And that’s all I’m going to say about that; but there were a couple of vital points about FAITH that I made in our lesson today that I want to share because they really resonated with me and touched my heart.  These are not MY words…I gleaned them from my study.

 FAITH is like a 3-legged stool….and you know what happens if one of those legs is missing or broken!                                      

                                                                        

The 1^st leg is:  FAITH BELIEVES SOMETHING. The beginning of any relationship with God is a belief in Him and in His son Jesus.

The 2^nd leg is:  FAITH FEELS SOMETHING.  There is (or should be) an emotional component to our faith….when we accept Christ, when we truly believe in Him and all He stands for, when we really want to lead a good Christian life….we are going to be changed...our heart is changed.

And the 3^rd leg is:  FAITH DOES SOMETHING.  If we believe all the right things & feel all the right emotions, then all of that should be manifested in tangible ways.  That’s where our WORKS come in.

FAITH & WORKS are also like a REESE'S PEANUT BUTTER CUP😊  The peanut butter & chocolate go hand-in-hand and if either ingredient is missing you don’t have a true Reese’s!  Our FAITH & WORKS are the same!

Soooo…..in my belief we have to have FAITH first, and when we are filled with FAITH our  WORKS will follow….or at least they should.

I left my class with this question and I leave it for you as well…

If God came to you today and asked, “What have you done for me lately?” what would your answer be?

REMEMBER:  “Christianity” is a noun; but it should also be a verb!

Hoping & praying you have a lovely week and that you will be filled with the love, grace, and FAITH overflowing.