Wordy Wednesday! (Now with Pictures!)

Today's word of the day is Majestic!

Mind-Blowing, radiant, beautiful, exalted, grand.... there are all kinds of words that could be used to describe the things I see when I am here at the out-laws (aka, my BF's parents home in Asheville NC), but instead, I think today, I will just show you the Majesty that I cannot find words for today...

This is the view of the mountains from the bedroom window where we typically stay when visiting the out-laws.  It's even more stunning at night with the lights of the towns in the valley all lit up with the mountains and clouds in high relief from the almost full moon.

 

And this was the view that I had yesterday when we arrived at the Biltmore "house".  Standing at the top of the long hill near the statue of Diana, Goddess of the Hunt.

The interior was even more stunning, but alas, they do not allow photos to be taken of the interior.  The whole of it is positively stunning...and the views from the windows of the upper levels are amazing - but in the end, they are much the same as the views from the bedroom here...

In the end, it has been a lovely weekend.  The "vacation" from reality has given me wonderful inspiration for the coming year and I can't wait to get back into the kitchen and start creating new and wonderful products for everyone!

This is why I do this - Say It Sunday!

So, yeah.  December was one of those months that had me in tears from the stress of life more times than I care to admit to or that I wanted to count. But the last few days I've gotten some wonderful feedback from people who have used products from my shop for a long time, and some who have just recently started using them, and that feedback reminds me why I keep trying to improve and why I keep on chugging along even when things seem like they couldn't get any worse.

Like this:

Wow is an understatement for this product. I've lost count of the many very expensive facial products I've tried in the past. NONE of them offered me the kind of exhilarating experience that these items have. I HIGHLY recommend this wonderful set and I will definitely be purchasing more. Thank you so much!

Oh my goodness I'm in love! This little soap is amazing.. super easy lather, nice scent, & cleans without over-drying! A little bit goes a long way! The mask is amazing as well. I love that it's all natural. The toner tingles with freshness, & has a nice grapefruit scent. This little box set is a perfect way to try out some great products at an amazing price.. I will definitely be back for more. Thank you so much!

This one was one of my faves:

I just LOVE these sugar scrub cubes! They are the perfect size for one shower, they crush easily into just the right consistency, and the lather is nice. Skin feels soft and refreshed afterward! Thanks so much.
 and this:

I cannot WAIT till the Little Heathens shop opens, cause if this balm is anything like the rest of the goodies, I am gonna lose my MIND!! Amazing!
 ~which is for the Calm Your Balm! Ointment for calming eczema and skin rashes that I am currently listing custom until the Little Heathens has its Grand Re-Opening in January.

So thank you everyone.  I am so glad you are enjoying the soaps, and so happy I can continue to bring these fantastic products to you :0)

Wordy Wednesday! (now with numbers!)

Todays word is F*ck!








I admit... its my favorite word.  And I've been saying it a lot lately.

As in "The Post Office has really F*cked things up", and "Oh my F*cking god are you serious?!?" and "I'm going to F*cking go Postal - LITERALLY"

10 days - that's the number of days the post office has taken to deliver priority mail packages on average since December 1 (not including the 3 international packages (so far) that have taken more than 30 days to arrive - including 2 priority mail packages that took 30 days!).

4 days - the average number of days the local post office sat on packages from the time they were dropped off till they were scanned at the sorting facility before being shipped out.

5 - the number of packages destroyed or partially destroyed by the post office since November 15th of this year.

2 - the number of packages delivered 2 days late by FedEx

4 - the number of packages sent UPS that have been delivered (or attempted to be delivered) on time as promised.

$1000 - the estimated total loss this month due to mishandled, misdirected, lost, damaged, late packages (including postage, materials, and potential profit on the duplicate items). 
$500 - the estimated total amount of packages shipped via other carriers and reshipped via usps carriers to correct postal mishandling of packages.

$5 - the average cost of domestic postage for orders.

$10 - the average cost of domestic shipping for orders via UPS.

total number of orders for the month of december - 90
total amount that would have been paid had all of them been shipped UPS - $900 (estimate)
total amount paid via USPS (both original and reshipped packages)  - $745.52
total amount paid to other carriers (UPS & FedEx) to get packages to destination by deadlines after 12/15: $289

total cost to the PO or due to the PO's negligence: $1034.52

yeah.  Next year - ALL packages are going via UPS.

Testing!

is this on?

Blue - Frankincense and Myrrh 
Gold - Amber
Red - Patchouli & Nag Champa. 

THUD Thursday

I just printed postage for 42 packages... on top of the like 10 that were already packed and posted and waiting to go. 

I want to go THUD so badly right now.  I'm trying to decide if its the better part of valor (or something) to just go to bed and rest and sleep for 7 hours, and then get up and finish tomorrow. 

You see... someone posted a new truism on Twitter... "Procrastination is like masturbation...in the end you're only F*cking yourself".   

I don't think I've procrastinated, so much as been lethargic from whatever is going on with my health, but it works out about the same...even though I feel a huge relief at seeing the light at the end of the tunnel I still have that rather dreadful feeling that I'm f*cked.   I slept almost 40 hours straight from Saturday night through till Monday afternoon at 1pm.  I was technically awake, or at least, physically ambulatory, for about an hour and a half during that time.  Long enough at any rate to alarm my husband because of how slurred my speech was and how lethargic I was - and long enough to become physically ill from attempting to eat. 

On top of being woefully unprepared for running the shop alone through the holidays this has become an ongoing stress marathon for the last few days weeks months.  Between the health thing (I've lost almost 60lbs - 45 of which was lost over the span of 45 days between October and November), the post office debacle that caused me to have to redo multiple orders on top of the last minute holiday shopping orders, and the sheer volume of holiday orders (to say nothing of having to constantly reorder supplies due to earlier mentioned woefully unpreparedness)...I'm ready for about a week of sleep. 

So my next few days look something like this (assuming I go to bed after making this post):

Friday: get up at 730, package the remaining completed orders and take them all to the PO.  Finish the remaining orders that need to be finished, pack them all.  Pack up the kitchen/shop supplies, load my truck, and drive from St. Louis to Maryland.

Saturday:  Arrive in Maryland/Northern Virginia by 2pm.  Drop off 2 orders to friends between 2 and 4pm.  Drive to Southern Virginia.  Get home.  Die for at least 36 hours. 

Sunday:  If there is a god anywhere in the universe I will sleep the entire 24 hours.

Monday: get up at a decent hour (before 10am) unpack the truck, unpack the shop supplies, unpack any supply orders that have come in over the last couple of weeks, make whatever is needed for the last last minute pre-holiday orders and mail them.

So yeah.  I think its definitely time for bed.  I can still get it done in the morning.  I have faith in myself. 

Goodnight!  I truly hope everyone has had a fabulous pre-holiday season, and wish us all a less stressful week to come!

The Many Mis-Adventures of Me - Introducing Wordy Wednesday

Say that 5 times fast.

I was going to look for some witty way of saying the Many Mis-Adventures of Oh Em Gee... and was looking for a word that fit angsting soapmaker that started with G.  It seemed appropriate since I lost 4 hours last night to a dead car battery because of the cold weather we're having... so,  I hit the thesaurus, I like the visual thesaurus... it amuses me.  Today it amused me more than anything and has inspired me to come up with a new thing to do on Wednesdays to cure mid-week boredom.

Everyone does wordless Wednesday - I'm going to do Wordy Wednesday! :-D

And the word of today is "soap".  Everyone knows soap is a fabulous amalgamation made from the salts of either animal or vegetable fats (all soaps I make are of the vegetable variety, though I do want to try bacon soap - but that's another post).

However, Did you know?

Soap is also these things:

Money to pay a bribe:

A street name for Gamma Hydroxybutyrate aka GHB AKA the Date Rape Drug!

We must do something about this!  Are we going to let soap keep this bad reputation?  Is it not bad enough that all these big companies like to infer that their "detergent bars" are really soap?  I mean, we as a people who love our soap must act!  We cannot allow this disgrace of our beautiful soapy goodness to continue!

Does this look like the face of something as deceitful as bribery to you???

No!  It doesn't!  So join me fellow soap lovers!  Raise your voices and lets be heard! Soap is much better than a drug!  And it leaves you feeling clean and refreshed!  Not slimey and low like bribery!

Who's with me?!?!

~Amy

Its time for the white rabbit!

I'm late, I'm late, I'm late!

I'm not, but I am, and this is rather how I feel lately.  I'm a bit dizzy running around trying to get it all done, but I am determined to get it all done - even the last minute orders coming in hoping for Christmas delivery.  If I can possibly manage it, I will get those done as well...

I think I may have run myself mildly into the ground though.  I slept all weekend.  And unfortunately, that's not much of an exaggeration.  I literally slept from about 10-11pm Saturday night through till 1pm Monday morning with only about 1-1.5 hours of "awake" time in there.  And I hesitate to even call the stupor I was in anything resembling awake.  I was upright, able to walk, and semi-able to converse, but that was about the extent of my awakeness.

I'm fairly certain I'm fighting off something, but I haven't the slightest clue what - and so for now am determined to go on the theory of denial.  If I don't acknowledge it, then whatever is trying to brew itself can just hold off till I am home, the holidays are here, and I can afford a few days to be sick.  :-) 

Has everyone gotten their Christmas shopping done yet?  I'll admit to having mine done - but I have not yet begun to sit down and actually put the gifts together or do my part of them.  I keep thinking "I have time, I'll get it done, and yet, here I am on December 15th, only 10 days left to go till Christmas - 3 days left till I travel back to Virginia (which means 1 gift has to be done by the 18th and 1 has to be done by the 19th) and 3 gifts still to complete. 

At least I've sort of managed to cook!  I started a pot roast Saturday night, and so that was dinner for J on Sunday and for both of us last night.  Today I'm using the leftover broth and starting a stew/soup for dinner tonight and tomorrow.  Then I have to individually pack the rest of the meats to go in the freezer, bleach the kitchen, and then get my tush to work!

Have a great day everyone! 

(Still no word on the shipping mess, I'm hesitant to worry too much about it beyond using a different post office until I get back here in January and know what the resolution was.)

Happy Crafting!

Amy