Internet Explorer, a forbidden love affair

As some of you might know, I make crafty things, and sell them, sometimes. My latest (and by far, most successful) venture is body products... mostly fun novelty soaps, as well as scrubs. I love making them... and I'm also pretty fond of selling them. The packaging part in between was never my favorite. To aid in this, I was buying Avery labels, using their online Design and Print function in Firefox, and then attempting to print them out.

I say attempting because the first couple would come out OK...











And then then next row would edge up...








And the row after that would move up 2 cm like it was trying to be one with the label above it



.


It was understandably very frustrating. I would get maybe 4 usable labels off a sheet of 12. It was a giant waste of time and money. I researched the topic, and I couldn't really find a sane solution. It was either adjusting the printer settings on the Avery site (which I'd spent hours on, and didn't work), or use Internet Explorer.  How was that even an option? It's hated, and filled with viruses... and possibly monsters.

Fast forward to now... I'm starting to sell more, and I have a bunch of craft shows to plan for. As I also work a busy full-time job, and do freelance work... time wasting is not an option. I decided that Internet Explorer was worth a shot. And praise everything... it goddamn worked. All of these labels are usable, with minimal cutting necessary. This is a thing of beauty.

I'm sorry Internet Explorer. I was wrong to judge you. But I still love Google Chrome more. It meets all of my other needs. But when I need to print more labels, I'll be around again.

It's been such a lazy day...

That I've been horribly unproductive. Most of it was spent on the couch, munching baby carrots and grape to motors, and playing the cave. I did need to relax, but now I have a large to do list, and only 1 thing crossed off. I figured posting my to do list here, and then putting pictures up when I complete each item would help.

1. Make and package 4 pairs of earrings.

2. Make and package new rainbow soap.

3. Make and package new Easter soap.

4. Make and package 3 necklaces.

5. Prepare 2 bags of veggies for work tomorrow.


Only 5 things might not seem like much, but each item is time consuming.

Jenna Marbles is my spirit animal

So I'd been planning to do a long, depressing post

on my last couple weeks, and what went wrong... But I think I'm just going to sum up, and then move forward. I don't need to revisit that headspace.

The last 2 weeks were a whirlwind of stress, with working 2 jobs, doing freelance graphic design work, working on my business, doing the weight loss challenge, fitting in time for my fiancé, and friends, financial concerns, etc, etc, etc. After a scary encounter at my part time job, I quit.... And panicked, because of the aforementioned financial issues. I went nuts at my
day job (managing an ice cream parlor)... I ate so much ice cream, and toppings, and then I went to McDonalds, ate more ice cream, and toppings.... And then I felt so guilty...

I'm still reeling a little from that setback. I haven't weighed myself since. But I've been good about following the diet, and I started going to the gym again. The next weigh in is next week and I plan to rock it.

Now: three things I've done recently that I'm proud of...
This flyer: I've been doing freelance graphic design for my aunt's business, and it's inspired me to re-do some of the signs around my job.

This zombie cake: I think it turned out really well. :-) I was unsure about the tombstones, but I think they enhanced the overall image.

These octopus lotion charms. I'm really happy with how they came out.

Gratitude: Top Three for the day (I'll do a real post tomorrow, I promise)

I've been really down lately, and these last 2 weeks have been a whirlwind, so right now I'm going to take a deep breath, and be positive for a bit:

The top three things I am grateful for today:

 

And the winner is...

But seriously, how awesome is she:

Top Three Gratitude List

These are the Top Three things I am grateful for today:

 And the winner is...

blood and tears down, onto the sweat!

I was in Atlanta for the last couple days. After a weekend of eating competition level excess with my old college friends, I was super motivated to get ready for my first day of detox. When I got off the plane, I was exhausted, but I went straight from the airport to the grocery store, stocking up on fruits and veggies for the week. Once I got home, I got to work: I put kale and spinach in the dehydrator (in order to grind them up so I'd be able to make green smoothies while at work), and then started chopping veggies to make chili. I had purchased a mandoline specifically for this purpose. I couldn't find the guard that came with it, so I figured it would be OK to use it without it. I was almost done slicing the zucchini when I glanced away for a second... And then I noticed blood pooling up on my thumb. I'd sliced a bit of it cleanly off! I stopped, got a band-aid, put pressure on it... But after an hour, it hadn't stopped bleeding. My fiance took me to the emergency room, where they told me they couldn't stitch it, because too much had been taken off. They stopped the bleeding, cleaned it off, and wrapped it up. They said it would take about 2 weeks to heal enough that I wouldn't have to keep it wrapped.





On top of that, I weighed myself this morning, and discovered that I'd gained 5 pounds over the weekend! Five pounds! I was getting really down on myself until I talked to my coach. She reassured me, and reminded me that I'm getting a fresh start. I'm not back up to my pre-accident motivation levels, but I'm working on it and I no longer feel like quitting before I even really began. I finished all my food prep, and my breakfast (green smoothie!) went well. I already poured a lot of blood and tears into this challenge, time to bring on the sweat!

As I told my Uncle:

Let the challenge begin!