Helpful Hints!! Goodwill Donation Guide, PayPal shipping, & Control + F

I hope everyone had a fabulous Labor Day!! 

We had a great holiday weekend... & right now we still have so much going on.  One thing to keep me extra busy it that our computer unexpectedly tanked.  By God's grace I had **most** of it backed up, but it has been quite a maze trying to get some things recovered and transferred.  Some things just will not transfer so I am trying to work around that, if at all possible.  I have been working fast & furiously trying to get things all set up once again on the new computer, while also learning a new operating system (we chose Windows 7... don't even get me started on Windows 8... sigh...). 

I saw this & it actually made me LOL LOL, so I had to share it!

In the mix we've also celebrated some birthdays, been busy with family from out of town, had colds, etc.  The kids are back in school, so that adds to the busy season of life as well.  Once we get all settled in & adjust to our new schedule, it won't seem so crazy.

Anyway, while working on trying to set up the new computer I have come across a few random tips & links I have found useful so I wanted to share them:


1. This is a link to a chart you can use to estimate the value of donated items to Goodwill:

http://www.goodwill.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/Donation_Valuation_Guide.pdf

It can help you decide if that garage sale is really worth having instead of donating & writing off the donation.


2. For anybody who mails packages, books, etc. here is a link to print a handy label via PayPal where you don't need to receive a payment 1st to be able to print the label.  I use this link pretty much every time I ship something because it is very convenient with the tracking info in your PayPal account, you can email the recipient to let them know a package is on the way, & you can pay easily with your payment methods. 

You DO need a PayPal account to use it:

https://www.paypal.com/us/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_flow&SESSION=jEsORBpiOdYCwa1aZSGTiw-VakwkLyFSovqlTvyh0EdnyiQP3x4yZBRSs_0&dispatch=5885d80a13c0db1f8e263663d3faee8d48a116ba977951b3435308b8c4dd4ef1


3. One of my brothers told me about using this beauty of a shortcut in Google Chrome.  I found that you can use it outside of Google Chrome too, SCORE!!  It can even be used within some documents (depending upon your software the document was written in), on various websites, etc.  It is FANTASTIC & a great time saver!!

So what is it?!  All you do is hit "Ctrl" + "F" at the same time & a search box will come up.  In the search box you enter the word you are searching for & it will show the first time it is in said document, on that webpage, etc.  Hit the "enter" key & It will skip to the next time that word is used... keep hitting "enter" until you have found what you are looking for.

Your turn:


What computer time saving tips do you know of??  Do you go to the post office or print shipping labels from home??  If from home, how do you print your shipping labels??  Do you find having a garage sale is worth the effort & time, or are you in MY camp & think donating is the way to go?? 

Have a Safe & Fun Labor Day!!

Just wanted to wish everyone a safe & fun Labor Day!!  We will be visiting with family, celebrating birthdays, & eating GF birthday cakes (posts on those to come)!! 

There has been so much going on lately & I will catch up on that soon... I have some great posts coming & look forward to sharing more recipes, reviews, tips, etc. 

We are going to attempt to make this fabulous gluten free "Easy Lemon Poppy Seed Cake"  just for fun because everybody needs some fun, right?!  I say "attempt" because it will be my first ever Bundt cake AND I am going to use a homemade mix... so I will report back how it goes.  The recipe above was posted by blogger I recently discovered... & what a treasure her blog is!! 

Oh, & you can easily make a standard gluten version by using a non-GF boxed mix. 


What will you be doing for the holiday weekend?!  Will you be indulging in any sweet treats?!

Have a fantastic weekend,
<3 Mama Lee <3

Fun With A Phone Solicitor

We have experienced a crazy number of phone calls from solicitors.  Calls as late as 9:30p.m... you know, the kind of call that makes you think someone is hurt because NOBODY calls that late?!

I am SO very T.I.R.E.D. of rushing to the phone for solicitors... if we don't answer they just KEEP. CALLING. AND. CALLING. AND. CALLING!!  So one particular phone call I did it.. I finally baffled a solicitor!!

I honestly don't know what came over me, but after telling the millionth solicitor that we are on the "Do NOT Call List" I guess I thought I would change things up a bit.

So here is how the phone call went:

Me: Hello!?

Yes, that is our CURRENT phone... remember way back
to the days of the 900MHZ cordless phones :)?! 

Solicitor: Hello, is Mrs. Lee there?

Me: Who is calling??

Him mumbling: Uh, what?!

Me: Well YOU called ME... who is calling??

Him mumbling again: Joe from... (couldn't quite understand what company he was supposed to be with)

Me: I have been WAITING for your call!!

Him: WHAT?!

Me: I have been WAITING for YOUR call!!

Him: What?!  Uhm... uh... M'am, you have a NICE day if you have been waiting for my call...

The last line he snarked with some sarcasm & then, he did it... HE. HUNG. UP. and did NOT call back ever since!!

Insert smiley & me doing a happy dance... my kids were amazed & wanted to know what he said when I said I was waiting for his call... as soon as they heard me say those words, they all stopped & watched me... waiting to hear what I was going to sat next... LOL.

So there you go!!  Apparently I must have freaked the solicitor out because he never called back... after calling multiple times a day for months on end, in spite of my telling him we are on the "Do NOT Call List" & in spite of me filing complaints at donotcall.gov he called mercilessly.

If you keep receiving phone calls from solicitors, why don't you try answering Mama Lee style & see if it works for you too?? Oh, & be sure to come back & tell me about it (be sure to keep it clean though as this is a family friendly blog... I am sure I don't have to say that, but for the sake of full disclosure I will ;0).

What is YOUR favorite way to answer a phone call you suspect or know is from a solicitor??  Have you ever convinced one to not call back??  What is your favorite response to end the solicitor call madness??  A friend of mine used to answer the phone "Insane asylum, please hold..."... yep, true story!!