Dresses

Dresses purchased since March:

 

Calvin Klein dress purchased from someone on Poshmark. (This is their photo.) Originally $109. I paid $33.62 after shipping and tax.

 

 

Eliza J dress. Purchased from ThredUp. (This is their photo.) Originally $148. I paid $23.58 after shipping and tax.

 

 

Boden Marilyn dress. Purchased from someone on Poshmark. (This is their photo.) Originally $158. I paid $49.63 after shipping and tax.

 

 

Talbots black eyelet dress. Purchased from someone on Poshmark. Originally $178. I paid $40.02 after shipping and tax.

 

 

Boden Selina dress. Purchased from ThredUp. (This is their photo.) Originally $198. I paid $77.37. More than I usually pay for a thrifted dress, but I really love fuschia and Boden's Selina dress.

 

 

Hobbs London faux wrap dress. Purchased from someone on Poshmark. Originally $210 (another listing says the original price is $290). I paid $38.96 after shipping and tax.

 

 

Talbots polka dot dress. Purchased from someone on Poshmark. Originally $139. I paid $17.61 after shipping and tax.

 

 

Talbots chambray dress. Purchased from someone on Poshmark. Originally $129. I paid $38.96 after shipping and tax. I've been looking for this one in my size and for a price I like for several months.

 

 

A few more dresses than I would probably normally purchase in a 3-4 month period, but in my searches for certain dresses I'm looking for (some for the past three years or more) I came across these and really liked them. And the prices weren't bad at all for most of them.

 

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Dresses and Songs

Dress purchases since November:

 

Eliza J faux wrap dress. Purchased from ThredUp. (This is their photo.) Originally $148, I paid $48.67 after shipping and tax. I'll wear a light pink or blush tank top underneath it for modesty.

Boden shirt dress. Purchased from ThredUp. (This is their photo.) Originally $130, I paid $60.19 after shipping and tax. I wore this a couple Saturdays ago and a man complimented me: "That's a beautiful dress." :-)

 

 Talbots dress. Purchased from someone on Mercari. (Their photos weren't good, so I'm using this photo from someone's listing on Poshmark.) Originally $168, I paid $47.54 after shipping and tax.

 

 

Eliza J dress. Purchased from someone on Poshmark. Originally $140, I paid $56.04 after shipping and tax.

 

Calvin Klein dress. Purchased from someone on Poshmark. Originally $135, I paid $34.69 after shipping and tax.

Laura Petites chambray dress. Purchased from someone on Poshmark. (This is their photo.) Originally $90, I paid $26.68 after shipping and tax.

It's funny. Blue isn't my favorite color (though I do like it), but I think I probably have more blue dresses than any other color. Blue may be the most common color for clothing (besides maybe the neutrals like black, white, and gray), so maybe that has something to do with it?

 

By the way, my favorite color is green. Followed closely by red and fuchsia. Then after that would be plum, lavender, some shades of pink and blue, light yellow, and then a couple shades of orange (depending on what the object is). 

 

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Songs purchased for my iPod since November:

 

Bounce Back by Kevin Davidson and the Voices

Stubborn Love by Kathy Troccoli

Shout! by Rev. Milton Brunson & The Thompson Community Singers

Not Forgotten by David Jennings 

 

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New A/C, DNA, Dresses

The a/c quit working again on Tuesday, September 23rd. I turned it off for awhile and had fans running throughout the house. Ceiling fans in the living room, dining room, kitchen, our bedroom, and the office. Smaller fans in Kelly's room, the living room, and our bedroom. A tall fan at the end of the hall blowing down the hall. I turned the a/c back on that evening and it kept the house cool during the night.

 

Our a/c would work for about 10-12 hours a day, so I'd turn it on around 2:00 PM and turn it off around 1:00 or 2:00 AM. Thankfully, it wasn't too warm outside and the fans kept the house comfortable.

 

A repair guy/HVAC guy came on September 29th and Charlie and I decided to get a new system. On that day, our a/c was only cooling the house for about 6-8 hours a day.

 

On Wednesday, October 1st, our new a/c system was put in. 

 

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Last month, Ancestry DNA had an update. 

 

My results:

 

• Central Scotland and Northern Ireland -- 24%
• Northern Wales and North West England -- 14%
• Southern Wales -- 5%
• Leinster, Ireland -- 4%
• Munster Ireland -- 2%

• North East England -- 15%
• Southeastern England and Northwestern Europe -- 14%
• East Midlands -- 2%
• West Midlands -- 2%

• Northwestern Germany -- 6%
• The Netherlands -- 6%
• Southern Germanic Europe -- 2%

• Denmark -- 3%
• Finland -- 1%

 

As I've said in the past, we have African ancestry on my mom's side (I've found records for them in eastern NC), but it only shows up in my mom's oldest sister Wanda's DNA. So I check her results every time there's an update so that I can know where they were from. The last update said 1% Nigeria. That hasn't changed.

 Charlie's results:

• Northern Wales & North West England -- 26%
• Central Scotland & Northern Ireland -- 10%
• Southern Wales -- 4%
• North East Scotland -- 3%

• Southeastern England & Northwestern Europe -- 29%
• West Midlands -- 5%
• North East England -- 2%

• Northwestern Germany -- 6%
• The Netherlands -- 4%

• Denmark -- 3%
• Norway -- 3%
• Sweden -- 1%

• Benin & Togo -- 2%

• Eastern European Roma -- 1%

• Sardinia -- 1%

My mom's results:

 

• Southeastern England & Northwestern Europe -- 21%
• North East England -- 15%
• West Midlands -- 7%
• Devon & Somerset -- 3%

• Central Scotland & Northern Ireland -- 23%
• Southern Wales -- 11%
• Northern Wales & North West England -- 9%
• Leinster, Ireland -- 1%
• Munster, Ireland -- 1%

• Northwestern Germany -- 7%

• Portugal -- 1%

• Finland -- 1% 

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Purchases since my last blog entry. Not including clothes I've bought for Lydia.

 

 

Tahari sparkly blue dress. (I removed the necklace.) Purchased from someone on Poshmark. (This is their photo.) Originally $100. I paid $41.58 after shipping and tax.

 

 

Talbots shirt dress. Purchased from someone on Poshmark. (This is their photo.) Originally $129. I paid $32.55 after shipping and tax.

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Songs purchased since my last entry:

 

Jesus Saves by Rev. Gerald Thompson & The Hi-Prayz Crusade Choir

I Believe by Charity Gayle

Name Above All Names by Charity Gayle

 

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We took two trips to the mountains last month. (We were going to go a third time, but that didn't work out.) I'll write about that in a separate entry. 

 

 

 

This and That

Our a/c quit working in the middle of the night Tuesday. I noticed some time around 3:00 or 4:00 AM (so, technically Wednesday morning, Sept. 17th) that it was getting hot in the house. By the time Charlie got home from work a little after 3:00 PM (he had hoped to be home before noon) and could try to fix it, it was about 78 degrees in the house. Which wasn't too bad. I had fans going all over the house, so that helped.

 

Anyway, he managed to get it working again. Though it took longer to cool down to the 73 degrees he had it set on than I would've expected on a day that was only in the 70s.

 

He had contacted the home warranty company, but since he fixed it himself, he cancelled the request. I think he should've had them come look at it anyway just to make sure everything looks okay, just to be safe.

 

Our unit is 27 years old, so I really don't expect it to last much longer. I'm surprised it's lasted this long.

 

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Lydia had her 18-month check-up last Friday. She's very healthy, everything looks and sounds good, and she weighs nearly 26 lbs. now.

 

My heart fills up with so much love when she sees me and her face lights up and she comes running to me with her arms raised. I love that little girl so much! What a blessing she is to our family.

 

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Dress purchased since my last entry:

 

Talbot's dress. Purchased from someone on eBay. This is not their photo or mine. I found it on Google search and/or someone else's listing, but I can't remember where. I don't know what the original price was, but I paid $30.83 after shipping and tax. 

 

Funny thing is, I used to have this dress. I bought it for Easter 2009! lol But, I bought the petite version and even though I'm short, it wasn't quite long enough for me and I ended up getting rid of it. I've been trying to find this dress in the right size and length since I discovered Poshmark and other thrift sites in 2020 and I finally did!

 

There are a few dresses that I've noticed over the past five years tend to sell quickly and this is one of them. When I finally found it on eBay I was so excited and bought it immediately after checking the condition.

 

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Songs purchased since my last entry:

 

Glory by The Pentecostals of Katy

Bendiceme by The Pentecostals of Katy

 

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Oh, I did get a new bar stool for the older gentleman to sit on in the church foyer. I bought it at At Home. (The height is adjustable and it has a gray faux leather cushion.) I wasn't going to say anything to him about it, but since Kelly and I had to put it together ourselves (I bought it before going to clean the church the Saturday evening following the blog entry where I mentioned wanting to buy one) and I wanted to make sure it felt comfortable and safe. lol He said he loves it. 

Ring Cameras, Birthdays, Lydia, Church Cleaning

We ordered a Ring doorbell camera from Amazon and it arrived on June 10th. A few weeks later, we ordered a Ring camera with motion detector lights (are those called something else? can't think of it right now) and it arrived on June 28th. That second camera is on the corner of our house by our garage facing our driveway, yard, and the street. So far, nothing nefarious has been detected. Just deliveries, joggers, walkers, dog walkers, sales people, neighbors coming and going, etc.

 

 

Speaking of June 28th, that would've been my dad's 74th birthday. Hard to imagine him that old. He died a little over a month before his 55th birthday.

 

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July 21st was Ashley's 29th birthday. We gave her money and a card. I forgot to ask her what she got, but she loves dresses and books. So maybe that.

 

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July 24th, I bought some new perfume for every day. Well, not every day. Just for days I leave the house that aren't for church on Sunday. I had been wearing Daisy Dream by Marc Jacobs for several years and was getting tired of it. (I still have about a half a bottle of that left.) So I went to Macy's looking for something new (or new to me anyway) that was kind of light and floral. I chose Miss Dior Blooming Bouquet.

 

My Sunday church perfume is I Want Choo by Jimmy Choo.

 

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July 25th was my mom's 74th birthday. She didn't want anything, so we just got her a card. I may grab something for her (non-cluttery) if I see something she might like. Especially if it's purple. She loves purple.

 

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Lydia has been getting ear infections nearly every month this year. Why the doctors haven't done anything about it, I don't know. At her last appointment a couple weeks ago, they said she had fluid in her inner ear. She was supposed to have tubes put in her ears on the 11th, but that didn't happen for some reason.

 

By the way, she gets more and more freakin' adorable every day! Yes, I know I'm biased, but it's true. lol

 

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I've had to take on more cleaning duties at church. The couple who used to do it had to quit doing it a few years ago. So another lady and her sister started doing it. But then she started having health problems. When she had to quit, I thought someone must have been doing it (bathrooms - there are 2 big bathrooms, men's and women's - the main bathrooms, and two single toilet bathrooms that only people who work at the church or are in the choir know about; hallways, foyer, windows) because it didn't look bad at first. But then I started noticing that things weren't as clean as they usually are, so I started just doing quick checks of the bathrooms - mainly the toilets and checking the toilet paper and paper towels. But as time went on, the worse things looked.

 

The daycare ladies actually normally do a good enough job with the two main bathrooms and the most I usually have to do there is vacuum the floors, and sometimes they mop the hall that the daycare is on. But, as I said, things just weren't as clean as they should be in other areas. (Including the two smaller bathrooms.) So I started doing a little more, sometimes with Kelly's help - vacuuming and mopping the halls, vacuuming the foyer, cleaning windows. Then I noticed that the floor in the foyer was looking dingy. Something most people probably wouldn't notice if they didn't really look. So, now I also mop the foyer.

 

Since cleaning the sanctuary (which I've been doing for over 10 years), halls, bathrooms, foyer, and windows is a lot to do in one day, I now clean the sanctuary on Thursdays and then the rest on Saturday nights. It takes me 2-3 hours to do the sanctuary (vacuuming, straightening rows, cleaning spots on chairs, etc.) and about 3-5 hours to do everything else. Oh, I also check/set thermostats throughout the building, make sure all lights are off (except the outside lights), and make sure all doors to the outside and office doors are locked on Saturday nights. 

 

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There's a bar stool in the church foyer, off to the side, that one of the men in our church always sits on after service on Sundays. He's a tall man and one of his feet has been amputated because of diabetes. Anyway, that bar stool is looking rough (there's a tear in the cushion, for one), so I'm hoping I can buy a new one somewhere today. Things should look as nice as possible in the church. Plus, I don't want that gentleman having to sit on that ugly, old bar stool anymore.

 

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It's been two years yesterday since a tree fell on my car during a bad storm. I sometimes still can't believe that happened.

 

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Songs purchased since my last entry:

 

Lift the Savior Up by Chicago Mass Choir

Better by Calvary Tabernacle

Friend of a Wounded Heart by Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir

It's Revival Time by UPCI Music

Been So Good by UPCI Music

 

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Dress purchases since my last entry:

 

Boden Selina dress. Purchased from someone on Poshmark. (This is their photo.) Originally $198. I paid $49.05 after shipping and tax.

 

 

Boden Mischa dress. Purchased from someone on eBay. Originally $180. I paid $32.99 after shipping and tax.

 

 

Tommy Hilfiger pink, eyelet shirt dress. Purchased from someone on eBay. Originally $129. I paid $31.75 after tax. Shipping was free.

 

 

Dress Purchases Since August

Dress purchases since August 2024:

 

Tommy Hilfiger dress. Purchased in August from someone on Poshmark. (This is their photo.) Originally around $100, I think. I paid $37.33 after shipping and tax.

 

Boden Mischa lemon print dress. Purchased in August from someone on eBay. Originally $125, I paid $49.05 after shipping and tax.

 

Boden Mischa aqua print dress. Purchased in November from someone on eBay. Originally $110, I paid $21.40 after shipping and tax.

 

Tommy Hilfiger dress. Purchased in November (a dress I had been looking for for a couple years) from someone on Poshmark. (This is their photo.) I paid $40.54 after shipping and tax.

 

 

Calvin Klein dress. Purchased in February from ThredUp. (This is their photo.) Originally $98, I paid $38.84 after shipping and tax. As you can see, the belt was missing, but I have this same dress in black (I've had it for many years) and I use the belt that came with that one. It's ivory.

Brooks Brothers dress. Purchased in April from someone on Poshmark. (This is their photo.) Originally $125, I paid $43.76 after shipping and tax.

Elie Tahari dress. Purchased in May from someone on Poshmark. Originally $448, I paid $91.75 after shipping and tax.

Boden Selina dress. Purchased on the 14th from someone on Poshmark. (This is their photo.) Originally $198, I paid $56.87 after shipping and tax.

I have also purchased a couple purses, some dresses for Lydia, a pair of pink Blowfish Malibu tennis shoes, and some long-sleeved and short-sleeved Lauren Ralph Lauren T-shirts.

Car Update, Storm, Carne en su Jugo

Charlie has had some issues trying to paint my car, which has been frustrating for me - I expected it to be done by now. He thinks he may have it figured out now (something about the moisture in the air effecting how the paint is applied to the car), but probably not in time for me to drive it this weekend. I really hate that. He's going to move my car from the canopy/tent in the backyard and into the garage (where he's had his project car, a '68 Camaro, for years now; he'll move that into the canopy) and hope that it will be better protected from the humidity (all that moisture in the air from the tons of rain we've been getting - even before tropical storm Debby came along) and then hopefully the paint will come out better.

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Speaking of tropical storm Debby. It came ashore recently and has been dumping tons of rain on eastern and central NC since Wednesday night or Thursday morning. It's still going now as I type this. There has been some wind, but nothing too crazy in our part of the state, and some flooding. There have been several tornado warnings, mostly in eastern NC, and a few tornados. Last I heard, one person has died - in Lucama. A tornado caused his house to collapse in the middle of the night.

 

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There has been a little more progress with the new flooring in the front hall at church. I don't know what's taking so long to finish it, but I reckon slow progress is better than no progress. 

 

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In mid-to late July, a Facebook friend who pastors a church in North Wilkesboro, posted a picture of a bowl of carne en su jugo, which I'd never heard of before, and it looked really good. I looked up a few recipes, watched several YouTube videos (only one of which was in English), and then finally made it this past Friday night. It was delicious! I was like, "That's definitely going on the menu!" I'm trying to wait a reasonable amount of time before I make it again. lol

 

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Purchases since my last blog entry:

Boden dress. Purchased from someone on Poshmark. (This is their photo.) Originally $110. I paid $40.54 after shipping and tax. I love the colorful flowers and birds.

I wore this to church this past Sunday (with a white shrug and nude heeled sandals) and when I was holding Lydia in my lap, she couldn't stop staring at all the pretty colors. :-)

 

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I've purchased one new (to my iPod) song since my last entry.

No Way, No Way (You Won't Lose) by Fred Hammond.

 

 

DNA, Church Flooring, Car Update

For some reason, I can't upload photos at the moment. Hopefully that gets fixed soon. I will describe what I can and upload photos if and when I can.

 

There was a new DNA update at Ancestry last July, but I wasn't able to blog about it at the time because my computer was messed up. (And still is.) And then I forgot about it when Charlie got me this laptop. So, here are the updated results from a year ago:

 

My DNA:

England & Northwestern Europe 49%

Wales 15%

Scotland 15%

Sweden & Denmark 8%

Ireland 7%

Germanic Europe 5%

Finland 1%

Charlie's DNA:

England & Northwestern Europe 71%

Scotland 10%

Wales 5%

Ireland 4%

Sweden & Denmark 3%

Benin & Togo 2%

Germanic Europe 2%

Norway 1%

Eastern European Roma 1%

Sardinia 1%

My mom's DNA:

England & Northwestern Europe 57%

Scotland 24%

Wales 11%

Norway 3%

Sweden & Denmark 2%

Ireland 2%

Finland 1%

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Over the past few months, our church has been updating the flooring in a couple halls, the nursery, and maybe the daycare. Someone said they'd be doing the ladies bathroom next. 

 

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Pictures of the progress of my car getting repainted. These were taken a couple weeks ago. I'm really hoping Charlie finishes this week. I'm tired of not being able to drive my car.

 

 

***Photos aren't working (though I keep trying; for some reason they keep disappearing), so I'm not going to try with the car update photos again at the moment.***

 

 

The pictures are of my car with a red primer. Last night, he did the sealer (?) and hopefully he can do the final color painting (I don't know what it's actually called) and the top coat tonight. Hopefully it won't need more sanding. He's had to re-sand it a couple times and re-apply base coat. :-\

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Clothing purchase since my last blog entry:

 

 

 Talbots dress. Purchased from someone on Poshmark. Originally $158, I paid $30.93 after shipping and tax. This is their photo.

 

I was able to copy and paste this photo here. I haven't been able to upload from my computer, which is what I normally do.

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Songs purchased for my iPod since getting this laptop:

Endless Praise by Charity Gayle

Worthy by Urshan College

Jesus by Indiana Bible College, feature Draylin Young and Jessica Di Giovanni

He's in the Room by David Jennings

Praise by Elevation Worship

It is Well by UPCI Music

Covenant Keeping God by POA Worship

More Than Able by Elevation Worship

If He Did it Before...Same God by Tye Tribbett

Anything Can Happen by Mark Crowder

Holy Ghost by Taylor Fish

Too Good to Not Believe by Indiana Bible College

I Won't Complain by Rev. Paul Jones

Not Afraid by Jesus Culture

Jesus That's my King by First Pentecostal Church of North Little Rock

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I finished Anglesey by Frank Tayell on July 11th (I gave it 3 stars at GoodReads) and started reading Once Upon a Broken Heart by Stephanie Garber on the same day. I'm on about page 150 or 151 in that book.

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I started feeling sick yesterday. I woke up coughing a few times and by the time I got up, I had a sore throat, my left ear was hurting, I was starting to get a little stuffy, and I had a low fever. I slept for a couple hours in the evening while Charlie worked on my car. Charlie and Kelly had leftovers for supper (roast chicken with Cavender's Greek seasoning and lemon), stuffing, and vegetables. I had chicken noodle soup. For some reason, I wasn't enjoying the flavor much, but the warm broth felt good on my throat.

Unfortunately, I won't be able to watch Lydia today. I don't feel up to it and I don't want to get her sick.

This and That

Around the first week of this month, an inflatable garage Charlie had ordered to paint my car inside of came in. It's huge! He only left it up a day or two while he prepared my car. (Any longer than that and I'm sure we would've gotten a letter from the HOA.) He then backed my car out of it and deflated it. He's been doing the primer touch-ups and sanding under a tent thing (it's not a tent, but my mind is blanking on what it's called; canopy?) and will hopefully begin painting it soon. I want it to be the same color that it was, so hopefully the paint he ordered is the right color.

 

 

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Wednesday, June 12th, I babysitted Lydia for the first time. Ashley went back to work that week and will be working Tuesday through Thursday each week. She works at our church daycare and will have Lydia with her on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I babysit every Wednesday. She's hoping to get a job she can do from home because she'd really rather be at home with Lydia. 

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Last Friday, I went to Home Depot and got a new light fixture for the hall bath. I'll have Charlie install it after I pick a new paint color for that bathroom and Charlie paints it. I don't know yet what color it will be, but I'm thinking of a light shade of gray, yellow, or pink. The tile in that bathroom is a mixture of light blue and medium blue.

 

I got a new shower curtain for that bathroom recently. I ordered it from Amazon. It has a bamboo design on it.

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My mom has been driving me to places I need to go for the past couple months. I cannot wait until my car is done so I can drive myself places. My mom is a bad driver. I don't know how someone her age (she'll be 73 next month) has the nerve to drive 15-20 mph over the speed limit on city streets. (In her Camaro that for some reason she seems to think she has to put the pedal to the metal when the light turns green.) She's also supposed to wear glasses when she drives, but only wears them if it's raining or if it's close to sunset. And she has horrible road rage. It's embarrassing. And she talks bad about people. I'm a quiet, peaceful person and her "energy" is so different from mine. I'm afraid I'm either going to lose my mind or she's going to get me killed.

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Purchases since my last blog entry:

J. Crew Factory shirtdress. Ordered from someone on Poshmark. I paid $24.52 after shipping and tax. Originally $90.

 

Eva Franco green tweed skirt with fringe. I had been looking for this skirt in my size for two or three years and finally found it. I bought it from someone on eBay. I paid $54.79 after shipping and tax. Originally $225.

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I dnf'd The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins a couple days ago. I had gotten about halfway through it several months ago and lost interest. 

 

I'm still reading Anglesey by Frank Tayell. I'm more than halfway through.