Avon, Kitten, Easter Eggs, Fish Fry and Lizards

I've had an eventful few days!

I've gone out to sell my Avon more. I've actually sold over $300 in the last week.

The diner where I work is seeing a lot more business (and we are SO glad to see that!) We had gotten so used to having no business, though, that it is taking some re-adjustment to get our minds and bodies working to receive it all "normally" again. I am NOT complaining!

I've had to order more Skin-So-Soft. I'm thinking about taking a Skin-So-Soft Road trip across the country soon. This time of year, I sell more Skin-So-Soft than anything. I can never seem to keep it in stock, no matter what time of year it is.

And, my hand lotions are big sellers in the restaurants, what with servers and cooks who wash their hands a lot and tend to get dry hands easily.

The perfumes are also always big sellers.

My web site makes it possible for me to save money on ordering new books.

Yesterday, I found a baby kitten under my car. Fred has named him "Tom". They are feeding and caring for him because he seems to have an eye infection and can't open his eyes. But he is really rambunctious and loves to explore.

I made sure the guys understood that we are NOT keeping him. We are just caring for him until he is well enough to put him back outside. Period.

I did spend nearly $20 on kitten milk and a bottle for him, though.

On Mother's day I spent some time with my Mom and my family. They had a fish fry at her house. The kids enjoyed riding her 4-wheeler. And, my greatest nephew, "Tank", as we've nicknamed him, found an Easter egg that was left over from Easter. He thought he had found gold.

Then his dad, my nephew, found a green lizard that was about as long as my hand, running across the back patio. He and his brother finally corralled it so he could show it to "Tank". When he picked it up by the tail, it turned around and bit him and held on to his finger. Calmly, my nephew said, "Okay, ya'll. Help me get this thing off my finger. It's starting to hurt."

The lizard apparently bit down harder when he tried to pull it away. It took my other nephew prying it's mouth open to remove it.

I told him, "Don't know what you were whining about. That thing don't have no teeth."

My bitten nephew said, "Like H*** it didn't! That s*** HURT!" LOL

It didn't even break the skin.

Milo and Otis (my baby-dogs) went with me. They ran around the yard, excited to be able to go see MeeMaw. At one point they disappeared. I went looking for them. The next door neighbors (my step-uncle and his family) were shooting their guns. I heard the gun shot and my stomach leapt through my throat. All I could think was "Please don't shoot my babies!" Then I saw Milo and Otis running as fast as they could back to me. Milo doesn't like loud sounds.

My step-dad said, "He wouldn't shoot those dogs." LOL

Then it was time to go home. I made sure to tell my Mom I loved her.

Ya'll have a blessed day!

Mylee and the Chicks

I am so proud of my 11-year-old niece, Mylee. She has taken to raising Chickens over the past year or so. She has recently started collecting eggs to sell for $2 a dozen.

Her step-dad even went and got her a tax number so she could get her supplies tax-free. I told her, "Mylee, I'm so proud of you! YOU are now an official BUSINESS!"

She has been through dogs getting in the chicken pen, and snakes stealing her eggs. She has learned how to reinforce her cages and use nest eggs.

That has really been an experience for her. She uses the money to buy feed for her chickens. Just recently, though, she has decided to raise some of her own chicks.

She bought an incubator and had 42 eggs that were in it, waiting to hatch out.

Well, the other night, a big storm blew through. It knocked out her electricity. For four hours, the incubator was down. Her babies were in danger and she was frantic!

Her step-dad, Ronnie, called my mom -- who is just about 2 miles down the road from them. Mom's home still had electricity. So he loaded up Mylee and the incubator with all the eggs and transported them to Mom's house.

Mylee sat with the chicks all night until she fell asleep. She woke up with a surprise!

"MEEMAW!!!!" she screamed! "I GOT TWEETERS!"

Some of her chicks were hatched out.

I was so excited for her!

Learn how to build your own Chicken Coop!

Here is a video of some chicks hatching I found on YouTube!

Wrestling with Politics

I am starting to come to the conclusion that all that is happening in politics is a show. You know, like when you sit down to watch wrestling?

You have the one side yelling and screaming at the other "Hey, I'm great, you are scum and I'm gonna beat you!" and the other side yelling back "Hey You are scum, I'm greater than you, and I'm gonna show you!"

For the first time in my life, I'm watching politics for it's entertainment value.

What's wrong with this picture?

And..isn't that scary to anyone but me?

So I did a search on YouTube and found this...hmmmm...guess I'm NOT the only one thinking like this!

Kicking up some dust...

Hello, World!

It's been a very interesting and educational quarantine time!

I have started playing the stock market. I started out just investing my tips from work. Then I started investing my profits from Avon. Then I started investing what I had left after paying my bills...then I started buying and selling...Suddenly, in less than 2 months, I had about $645 invested.

Now wait a minute...that don't sound right at all. I only make minimum wage, and since the pandemic started, I haven't sold much Avon or made any tips. So that was quite a bit to have in my account. Where did all that money come from?

The only thing I can figure is buying and selling. The Stock Market has no place to go but UP right now.

I kind've feel guilty. this "pandemic" caused economic hardship for a lot of people. But all it did to me was keep me from selling more Avon than I did. I didn't hurt at all. AND I actually gained from it by using it as an opportunity to play the stock market and make even more money. I took full advantage of my stimulus, too.

My 11-year-old niece Mylee washed my car to earn money to buy a starter kit for some chicks that are fixing to hatch. She has taken to raising chickens. She is selling her eggs for $2/dozen. I bought 2 dozen today to help her out, as well as paid her $20 for washing my car.

It's so nice that I can see out my windows again. LOL

And, I am so proud of her for exercising her "opportunist" gene. She gets that from me. LOL

My housemate, Gary, got his money. He bought me some M&M's.

I've already sold about $60 worth of Avon today! I am ready to get out and sell!

Ya'll have a blessed day!

Coronavirus Rant by Yours Truly

I might have to do more of these in the future. This was kind of fun, as well as helpful de-stressing therapy. LOL

Not Desperate

I love it when old boyfriends decide to come around to see if it's safe to try to come back into my life to use me some more.

They tend to get mad when they find out I don't need them anymore. I've learned to take care of myself better than they ever could...and I don't need a relationship just because I don't have one.

Just got blocked. LOL

If I EVER have another relationship, it is going to be with someone who has become my best friend FIRST.

I'm too old for the traditional dating games.

I sleep hugging a pillow that is so comfortable -- and less dramatic when I push it away to get even more comfortable.

I've learned I don't HAVE to have sex. And, some man pawing me or undressing me with his eyes doesn't turn me on.

What DOES turn me on is knowing that someone thinks I'm worth the time of day to hang out with, is never too busy to talk to me when I need to, and doesn't try to impress me by being someone they aren't just because they want to get laid. I want to love someone for who they really are, not someone I hope they will be. And I want consistency.

And, honestly, I'm just plain not looking. I really don't want someone who is. If it happens, it happens. But, I don't want a situation in which not wanting a relationship with someone is going to ruin being friends with that person.

And if I can't have that, well, I'll just consistently stay where I am.

#notdesperate

Corona Bug Blues

Hello, World!

I am so looking forward to selling some Avon soon! It is just so much easier when you are face to face with your customers.

Plus, my hours are getting cut back at work. Not sure how much longer my job will hold out in this bad economy today.

I found out, yesterday, that some members of my family have contracted the virus. (Please keep praying for them! I hear it is working!)

I called my mom, who lives just a few minutes away from them. I asked her if she knew about it. She said, in a frustrated tone of voice, "No. I don't have Facebook. I depend on ya'll to tell me what is going on." LOL

My mom, to this day, STILL refuses to get on the internet.

I don't think I can live without it.

Rules for Safe Commerce online:

Never give any information to anyone you don't know.

Never do business with anyone you don't know that doesn't have an established reputation. (for example, Amazon is an established business on the internet. George's fruitcakes is not. Never heard of them. They don't have any affiliate marketing links anywhere. They don't have a security certificate anywhere...etc.)

Never click links to make payments through Email, unless you have a heads up from someone you KNOW and TRUST that it is coming. (I have received emails from someone saying they are paypal and I owe this amount of money for something, and it asks me to put my password in the link they provide -- so they could steal it and take my money from my REAL paypal account! Thank goodness I am not that stupid!)

Never pay for anything over the phone. Make them send you a bill. ALWAYS have a paper trail.

ALWAYS know who you are talking to. Name, company they work for, position they hold and contact information in case you have questions BEFORE anything else is discussed.

Never offer information for anyone to verify. Make them give YOU what they know for you to verify.

Never give any information to anyone that isn't explicitly asked for, and then make sure that you trust them first.

Don't be scared to do business online. Everything you do, even if you are not doing it on the internet, goes online at some point. That credit or debit card you used? The information about what you bought, where you bought it, and who you gave the money to can be found online. Every time you bank, your information is put into a computer and that information can be accessed.

It isn't a matter of not giving information online. It is a matter of WHO you give the information to. Just like anywhere else. How secure is their website? What steps are they taking to keep your information safe? ON AND OFFLINE!

Days of Quarantine

Hello, World!

How is everyone's quarantine going?

I know one thing, I am ready for NORMAL again. I want to go out and sell my Avon! And, I want time to pass by faster at work.

I mean, where is the challenge anymore? All I do is twiddle my thumbs at work. Everything that can be cleaned is cleaned. All we do is sit around waiting for customers to call...and on Graveyard that isn't happening much.

I sure hope things get back to normal soon.

I had a customer call me the other day after I delivered her order to her. She said, "Did you say Avon was going to start selling household cleaning supplies?"

I said, "Yes, Ma'am! We have de-greaser, all-purpose cleaner, dryer sheets and laundry detergent sheets. We will be getting more as we progress."

She went on to explain how she was unable to get simple things at the grocery store, due to everyone hoarding supplies. She asked me to order it for her.

"All of it?" I asked. "Are you sure you want to do that? It's going to be about a month before all this is available. We'll probably be back to normal by then..."

She assured me she didn't want to chance it. LOL

I'm selling stuff we haven't even got yet! LOL

I've started updating my personal web site lately with all I am doing online. Plus, I decided I needed a central place to put all my bookmarks, and since I've been wondering what I should do with my web site since I have all my blogs...I figure I could use it as a doorway to all my stuff.

You can visit my website by clicking HERE

NO, FACEBOOK is not a web site. FACEBOOK is a blog. Facebook is run by people who tell you what you are allowed to post and only show what they want you to see. Just clarifying that for those of you who wonder why I would need another web site. You see, at my website, no one can tell me what I am allowed to post. It is MINE to do with what I want to. And, everything I post gets seen by those who really are interested enough to visit.

So, ya'll come see me!

Hope you all had a great Easter!

I keep looking for my stimulus check to arrive any day now...

Have a blessed day!

Thinking outside the box...

Hello, World!

It's been a few days since I updated you here, so I figured I would. LOL

We have now been in "shelter in place" measures for a month. It has taken a toll on the business where I work, but I see small signs that people are getting bored. We actually are picking up a little bit on some nights. Other nights just drag by...

It's so slow, that we have had to keep our meats in the freezer to be pulled as needed, because even in the refrigerator, the meat does not last and starts to go bad. We don't prep anything except on an as-needed bases, and we stopped selling grits because not enough people order them and it takes too long to make them on an as-needed bases.

We even stopped making tea. But, I found a way around that. I am not going all night without a glass of tea. So rather than make the regular 5 gallons we usually make, I make one gallon and put it in the refrigerator. If it don't sell, I drink it. LOL

This whole situation has made me appreciate the small business owner who is struggling. If it weren't for the new bills that Congress is enacting to help them, I know I would not be working right now, and I really appreciate it.

I had been afraid of selling Avon, because I didn't know if I would get into trouble doing it. BUT, we had a meeting last night on Zoom (a video conference website) and my Upline Leader, Miss Dana, said that we, at Avon, are ESSENTIAL. We sell essential products, so we can continue to sell as needed.

She encouraged us to "think outside the box" during these trying times, and gave us a lot of great ideas on how to go about it. We each shared our own experiences and ideas, and things that work for us. And, I am now highly motivated again!

I will be doing a live video soon to show off my bucket sale items. I am looking forward to it! AND, I think some of these ideas will be things that I will continue to do once we get back to "normal". In the meantime, nothing is stopping me from making sales ONLINE, so ya'll make sure to visit my store!

Also, I've been updating "The Ponder News" a lot more. I've just about got all of my sources arranged in one place so I can work more efficiently to that end. Ya'll make sure to visit to see what those in "the know" are doing that effects YOU as a citizen of this great country! And, make sure to join the Facebook group to stay updated when new news items are posted!

Ya'll have a blessed day! (And, remember, in spite of all this, we all ARE still blessed!)