Deal of the Week

How about a new feature? able mabel has some "oldies but goodies" that we'd love to clear out. Before we go ahead a open a clearance section in our shop, we're going to let our blog readers have first dibs on them. None of the merchandise is defective or flawed, unless specified. Sometimes the deal of the week will be a certain item. Sometimes it'll be a coupon code to our shop. Sometimes you'll have to go thru Etsy to purchase the item, other times you can purchase it straight from the blog.

We'll kick off with this apron. Reg. price: $24.50 with $2.50 for shipping.

Now: $16.50 with free shipping.

Click here to purchase it.

Ready, set, go!!

Wordless Wednesday

Weeding Out

When I first started Facebook, I had one goal in mind. To drive traffic to my Etsy shop. My name was "able mabel", instead of my real name. I added random people to my friends list, not caring whether or not I knew them.

At one point and time, I did start a business page for able mabel but quit it because it felt like I was doing the same thing twice.

As the weeks went by, I realized how many of my "real" friends were on Facebook. Yet, I hesitated to invite them to be my friends because I worried that they'd get annoyed at all my postings about able mabel.

I was also hesitant to share too much information about my family or to post pictures of them because I didn't really know my "friends" on Facebook. One can never be too careful on this World Wide Web.

In the last few months, I've realized the drawbacks of Facebooking in this manner. The amount of spammy messages and requests for all sorts of Farmville type games I've received has gone thru the roof. Annoying. Trying to keep up with my "real" friends is a joke (even when they're organized into lists).

Time for a drastic change.

I fired my business page back up. Click to become a fan. Most able mabel related postings will be done there.
I weeded out my friends list (from 2021 friends down to 160 friends).
I changed my name to my real name.
I updated my profile picture to a picture of Hubby and I. (slightly fuzzy but it's works)
I can now update my birthday and allow my friends to write on my wall again. (I had to take that off because I was getting so much spam on there.)

I'm loving the change! I spend way less time on Facebook now. (always a plus!)

Happy New Year!

Yep, this picture, although taken at another time, pretty much sums up our New Years. Our plans to get together with a few other families got nixed when our household got hit with an unwelcome bug.

First, a low grade fever and chills set in, followed by a sinus headache, coughing and a double barrel snot gun (aka runny nose).

The bug got the best of me on New Years Eve. I was still able to function, but barely. I had to rely on sinus meds to keep me somewhat sane. At 8pm, I started doing the 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1, but instead of joining me, everyone just looked at me like I had three heads. Come on, it was midnight somewhere, right? ;)

By 9:30 pm, my nerves were shot and I again suggested we put the kids to bed. Hubby looked at me and said, "I have a better idea. Why don't you go to bed and I'll stay up with the older kids." "Why?", I protested, "I'm not cranky, they are." His rely was a raised eyebrow. I got the hint and snuggled into the sheets, cranking my heated mattress pad on high. I gotta admit, he was onto something. Sleep was simply blissful.

I got the scoop on how the rest of the night went from my 8 yr old:
"First Dad started snoring on the chair. Then we sent Clay (age 4) to go check the what numbers were on the clock. '1-0-5-3' he said. After a long time we sent him to check again. '1-0-5-5. The girls decided to go to bed. Then I decided to go to bed. Clay was the only one who stayed up. I don't know what he did."

Hubby was awaken at midnight from his slumber by some loud noises. "Will you quit banging on the house?", he asked the kids, his eyes still closed. Clay answered him, "It's fireworks from the neighbors, Dad." Happy New Yearzzzzzzzzzzzz.

As the bug made it way thru most of the family, we relied on two things to keep us out of eachother's hair. The ice rink in the backyard (started on Friday, ready by Sunday thanks to some MN-like weather) and the game Apples to Apples Jr. First try out on the rink. He pretty much had the whole thing to himself, he just had to dodge a sibling or two.Later when friends were over. Can you say traffic jam on ice? :) They didn't care. The more the merrier!

Apples to Apples Jr. is a wonderful family game! Our 6 yr old can play, although barely, and it's priceless to see her face when she's playing. I'm trying to get it captured on camera and will post pictures when I do.

May you all have a happy and blessed New Year!