Pampered Chef Consultant

 Hey, I'm back! And better than ever, since I've started selling Pampered Chef!

I had a Facebook page

And my very own website

I ordered the Ultimate Kit because of the great value. Starting as a consultant also helped out my friend who recruited me, and may prove to be profitable for me. It's already been a lot of fun, just looking through all the gear and trying to get my head around the idea. Bob and Ced helped me do an unboxing video, which isn't QUITE finished yet. And I wrote my first item review. I'll probably do some video and some written reviews.

So, here's my first item:

Up for review today is the dual-sided cleaning brush!

I’ve had this brush for exactly two days now, and can say with confidence that every kitchen needs one. My grandma used to say that her favorite cleaning tool was an old toothbrush; this is like a toothbrush on steroids. The head is angled (as are the semi-stiff bristles) for ultimate reach into corners and tight spaces. On the other end is a hard tip, like a super toothpick. I used mine to clean my coffee maker basket, and it looks better than it has in a long time. Then I cleaned my sink drain, and it worked great there, too.

I’m thrilled that my Ultimate Consultant Kit came with two brushes – one with my mandoline  and one with my blender. I’ll keep one at my kitchen sink and one in my Consultant bag. Unless Bob finds out, and takes one to his shop! ;)

 

Update 3-7-2023

I am no longer a consultant. 

Covid blather

I just realized I haven't time to type this out right now. sigh.

I think the virus itself shouldn't be a cause of concern for most people, but the government response should be. Of course, the outcome is the opposite - many people are worried about the virus, and few people are worried about personal freedom.
When I think about the levels of conspiracy, mistrust, corruption, and violations of rights, I get very frustrated and upset, and feel powerless to do anything about it. When I think about God's sovereignty, and His love and care, I feel peaceful and empowered. I know that all the schemes of man cannot stop His plan for us. I know that He can do what is needed, and so can I! I can pray. I can share. I can listen to those who need to vent. I can get lots of work done at home since all our appointments have been canceled.
The first week that Arkansas was "shut down" - in quotes because we haven't shut completely like some states have - our family did go to a church meeting anyway. It wasn't crowded, and people refrained from shaking hands and hugging. I enjoyed the meeting , but some others thought it wasn't worth going out if we couldn't go tour regular fellowship. So the following 3 (?) weeks, we have stayed at home, and either had our own service, or watched one online.
I was initially prepared to "dare" someone to stop me from going to church, or to arrest me, or whatever. I had my dander up, so to speak, and wanted to rebel against the stupidity and the system. Let me be clear: I never thought that "church" would protect against the virus. I felt that it was better to exercise my rights than to be safe from the virus. I thought it was right to do my reasonable service to God, whether or not it put me at risk. I remembered the martyrs and the persecuted church throughout the centuries, who risked life, limb, family, job, and just about everything else, in order to fellowship with believers. And I thought that the worst we can do is maybe get a ticket, or get sick. Since there are numerous viruses going around at any given time, we already risk getting sick when we go to meetings.
But, somewhere along the way, I felt that desire to fight was fading away. I still get frustrated when I think of the governments' behaviour, but I don't feel that I am on a personal vendetta against it. I believe God is making a way, even in this. And if it's the way to the end, so be it.

Meanwhile, we have plenty of food and toilet paper, and everyone is healthy. The boys haven't got their braces yet, but I guess that's ok. We are working on the house, anticipating a mortgage which will allow us to renovate the kitchen, replace the roof, and pay off our credit card debt. People in town display a lack of knowledge about how to stay sterile, and the recycle center is closed. The counting at the door of Walmart seems a little over-the-top, but so far I haven't had to wait outside.
And I was right; I didn't have enough time to write. Must go fix supper.

What else - Corona

I'm getting frustrated at this virus thing. Restaurants closed, churches closed, curfews, etc. Because of a cold!
Would love to blather on, but I have work to do

blah!

The mental noise! Naysha's trip tp Ireland, dental insurance, budgets, shopping, taxes, family! In case it doesn't show up there, I will share here what I typed to my brother Wil in response to his response on his blog, to our grandma's letter to him.

Hi.
First of all, let me assure you that Mom and Dad read and reread and talk and agonize over every word you write. They may not respond, being at a loss as to how to communicate effectively, but they do not ignore what you say.
Anyway, I had some thoughts on the matter, and will let you decide if my attempts at communication are effective. :)
We - your relatives who have reached out to you, and probably many others - value you as a person, even when we disagree with you. I, personally, would like the opportunity to show you that I care about you (and I assume the same is true for the others, but do not claim to speak for them). Our shared history (not to say, necessarily, our blood relation status) seems to me to be a claim at least as strong as that of location. That is to say, if you can "put politics aside" - not to deny your values, but to choose to find common ground or non-controversial topics of conversation - for the sake of a neighbor or co-worker, could you not do the same for your extended family?
If I thought someone was claiming a "right" to my time, money, and company, I would probably be somewhat irritated. However, on further consideration (as regards Mom, Dad, and Granny), it does appear reasonable for them to feel that way. They have given so much of their time, money, and company to me (and you) that they really do have a right to expect some return on the investment.
I feel like there should be a concluding paragraph here, though perhaps I have said enough for the present.
Still loving and praying for you,
Shari

Anyway, time to get a couple other things done.

Yes, I do

Recently, the children were trying to recreate the Yellowstone trip, and I said that we could check my blog, and they were all shocked that such a thing existed. haha.

I should do a nice write-up on our trip to Petit Jean State Park, but I think I've forgotten how. Anyway, I'm supposed to be filling out the FAFSA... so, see you around

March already

Quick thoughts:
We went to TTD NWA Thurs-Sat, and learned some and spent some money (about $500, including supper after, but not including hotel or meals we brought). Wow.

I've started having reactions to my allergy shots, so I'm back to taking Zyrtec every day, which  makes me sleepy. So I drink 2-3 cups of coffee instead of the 1 I had been doing ever since I had the stint put into my groin last May. Yeah, it's a year of self-improvement. First the legs, then the allergies, then the T-Tapp. Well, I did 4 weeks of T-Tapp, and lost a couple inches off my waist, but not much elsewhere. We're starting up again today.

The hyacinths Ruth and I planted in the shade garden are blooming! So many of the bulbs I bought are lost because we never got soil for the garden. :( Hope and waste and carry on.

Bob SHOULD be able to "apply" for a full-time position this week, and then only another week or two until he gets a raise and a day off each week! We've been holding on for this since December, when the retiring guy went on terminal leave, but being a government agency, they couldn't even post the job as available until the guy's leave was up and he officially retired, then the postmaster had to email somebody, they had to approve it, email back, THEN they could post it. :eyeroll: anyway.

I just went online to check when Riah's next heart appointment is, and re-evaluated his last few ECHOs.  It's really hard, because each time they record different things in a different way. For instance, in '15 they recorded a dimension of 4.1 and a gradient mean of 16. In '16, the dimension was reported as 4.6x4.6, and no gradient (or else I didn't jot it down; hehehe). In '17 the dimension was 4.7-4.9x4.4-4.5, and the mean gradient was 13. In '18 the mean gradient was 11.2, and the dimension was once again in a single measurement of 4.67. So I looked up the gradient for the first time that I remember, today. Smaller is better! He's been going down for the last 3 years! Smaller is also better on the dimension, but as you can see, it's hard to get a bead on that when they report it in different ways. I had looked at the MRI reports pretty thoroughly last year and found that it had decreased slightly from the previous one to the more recent one, but when we saw the doctor, he said it had increased slightly, so that has been bugging me ever since: wondering if I had read it right or what. Maybe he only looked at the ECHO and not the MRI. Anyway... Even if it got a teeny bit bigger, that was during Riah's growth spurt, and by all expectations, the valve should have looked much worse after the body growth.

I have a cool app called Automatag that can change "unknown" albums in your phone's music into known albums, complete with artwork and song lists. You just have to be patient with it.

We put in new septic lines last week. By hand.

I suppose I'd better go be useful.

howdy

I'm still alive. Still homeschooling. No longer pregnant or nursing. Busy with garden and kitchen and allergy shots and dentist visits. Never get to the computer because: teenagers.
:) Miss typing out my day. Oh well; stuff to do.