Red, White and Blue

I'm a fan of using peanut M&M's as part of my seasonal decorating and love that they make appropriately colored bagsful throughout the year.  Last summer a Facebook friend posted a picture of a bowl of red, white and blue ones and I wanted some. I searched all over town to no avail and was totally bummed.  This year I decided to start my looking early, but still no luck.  I even looked on line and did find some--for some pretty amazing prices,  Apparently the M&M people don't make many bags and some people are price gouging.  I didn't purchase.

Fortunately back in March when I had some Valentine's M&M's left over as I changed over to Easter hued ones, I noticed I had a few white ones left.  In a light-bulb moment, I scooped out the whites and put them in a ziplock baggie...just in case.  I bought a huge Costco bag of the usual multi-colored ones last trip and picked out some red and blue ones.  And so it is that I have a bowl of red, white and blue peanut M&M's to add to my summertime Americana decorating.

And I tell everyone to only eat the red and blue ones.  ♥

Post 417: Wherein I Discover Dusting Can Be Fun

Yes, I realize it's been three months since I've written. And one would think that I would have something more earth-shaking to write about than dusting, but trust me when I say that this is earthshaking.

NOTE: For those of you who have already discovered this amazing item, my apologies and you have my permission to stop reading at any time.  

While at my parents' house weeks ago, I spotted a strange looking thing in the laundry room and my brother told me it was a Swiffer duster and that it was, well, I can't remember his actual words, but something to the effect that it was amazing.  Fast forward to a week or so ago when I was surveying the dusty living and dining rooms and our bedroom, mentally gearing myself up for a marathon of dusting when I remembered The Swiffer.  

A trip to the grocery store was on the agenda so I added "Swiffer duster" to the list and away we went. (I need to have a list because, well, I'm getting old-er and the memory...).  We finally found the Swiffer and threw the box into the cart, mentally noting to transfer Swiffer to the Costco list (in other words, The Swiffer is not cheap).

At home, I opened the box, pulled out the handle and noted it came in two pieces.  I managed to ram the pieces together and then pondered how to put the actual duster thing-y on.  I read the instructions and still no wiser, consulted Dan, who pointed to the picture. Ah. The picture. Worth a thousand words any day!  After realizing we'd put the dust thing-y on upside down, I was in business.  

I thought I'd give it a little spin so I tried it out on the dining room table and before I knew it, I was done with the dining room itself.  I even dusted the chair legs!! This little gizmo ↓

is truly amazing.  There must be some dust attractor on those fluffy strips because even corners and crevices become dust-free in a flash.  I attacked our bedroom and then the living room.  I was still smiling when I was done, and let me say I was done in record time.  (Please note that there is no picture of the duster thing-y when I was done because I was truly embarrassed at the amount of dirt on it.)  Who knew dusting could actually be easy and fun?  ♥