consumer affairs

Last Friday night my clothes dryer went out. So after graduation on Saturday Mr. B and I went out to Sears to purchase a new one. We made our selection and prepared to pay and the conversation went something like this:

Did you want to purchase the 5-year extended warranty for $69.95?

No thank you.

Are you sure ma’am? That $69.95 is cheaper than a service call.

Well hopefully I won’t need a service call.

Five years is a long time, are you sure ma’am?

For an appliance, or at least one that is of good quality, five years isn’t very long.

OK, ma’am, so that’ll be it for ya’? Your total is blah, blah, blah.

Oh, would you like the electric cord that goes with it?

What? Seriously? That is sold separately?

Yes ma’am.

So Mr. B put the old cord on the new dryer. Seriously. Isn’t that like selling shoes without shoestrings?
What is this world coming to?

a perfect blend of friendship...

I've been so busy lately, so my blogging has been sporadic...imagine my surprise when I took a moment out to play on blogger and discovered I had been gifted this cute little friendship award. Thank you Lisa
from "My New Thing To Do"...you've just made my week with your thoughtful kindness ~ truly, I thought this was so sweet!

In accepting this award I understand I have to answer a few FRIENDSHIP questions, so here goes:

1. Do you have the same friends since childhood? I have a few friends I keep in touch with from "way back when" but most of them live pretty far away. Annette is the only friend I can meet up with for coffee from my childhood days. I've known her since the third grade!

2. What do you value most about your friends? Every word that they speak, every smile they share and every thought they trust me with...I value everything about them.

3. Are your friends sounding boards? When it comes to bouncing ideas around, yes! When it comes to getting advice from them, no...not usually...when I need help I go straight to the Master.

4. What is your favorite activity to share with your friends? It depends on the friend. I can be a coffee drinker, a shoe shopper, a backpacker, a yoga buddy, a recipe swapper, a bible study companion, a meal server...any of these things at the drop of a hat.

A friend is one

to whom one may pour

out all the contents

of one's heart,

chaff and grain together

knowing that the

gentlest of hands

will take and sift it,

keep what is worth keeping

and with a breath of kindness

blow the rest away.

~ Arabian Proverb ~

I would like to pass this FRIENDSHIP award on to

Kimberly

and

Annette

Some days they are the wind in my sail

Some days they are a quiet walk

always they are a friend,

with a kind word

or

a smile to share.

Indeed a thankful thursday

The UPS truck pulled up in front of my house and I reassured my husband that I didn't buy anything...and then I turned the box over in my hands to see the sweet familiar name of a blogging friend. Family members gathered around because they were being nosey...and then I opened what would turn out to be a gift from the Pay-It-Forward game we played a few months back...I opened the cup first and the little note with the pretty scalloped edges made me smile...and then when I read one of my past posts carefully adhered to the wrapping paper I was touched...truly touched that a gift could be so perfectly chosen...I actually got a little tear in my eye and my family thought I was crazy I'm sure...

Kimberly, from the bottom of my heart, I thank you for my sweet gifts.

The Willow Tree "Quiet Strength" plaque was in response to a post I wrote about how I liked whispering in a horse's ear...and this little wall decor captures that sentiment perfectly and the coffee cup is almost too pretty to use, but I will and it will make each morning more celebrational!

Again, thank you...

imagine that

I always marvel at nature and for some reason I have been particularly awestruck with the pine cone this week. Don’t laugh…I’ve never stopped to really think about the stages of a pine cone before and yet here I found myself at school beneath a pine cone tree with the most inquisitive look on my face. I stood and stared in disbelief…Could it be possible that I have lived 43 years without ever having noticed what they look like before they fall on the ground? Now I’ll admit I have a tendency to be naive about some things, but I never thought that would include nature…now be honest, did you know how pine cones form?
Look at these pictures…
are you as fascinated as I am?

Each little pod is filled with a soft pollen-like

material that crumbles at the slightest touch.

Pictures are just to illustrate the fragility.