Eve Penman: An Empowered Housewife in Rural America

Q: What do Bing Crosby , Darren McGavin , Burl Ives , Stan Boreson , and Harry Stewart (Yogi Yorgesson) have in common? A: Washington State...and Christmas! 💁🎅🎄 Here are five famous and fondly-remembered entertainers that my holidays wouldn't be the same without (and maybe yours, too!) who are connected to my home state of Washington.  Map created with Google Maps & information compiled via Wikipedia by Eve Penman .  Following the order on the map above; top to bottom, left to right: TOP STAR   > Burl Ives (1909-1995) best known at Christmastime for being the narrator Sam the Snowman in the 1964 classic Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer ; an Illinois native where he was laid to rest, he passed away while living at his home in Anacortes, WA, in 1995. Find Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer  for listening and watching at Amazon (see disclaimer below) . MIDDLE STAR  > Stan Boreson (1925-2017) best known at Christmastime amongst Washin...

Vacuuming literally sucks, especially with my sensitive ears. 🙉 It's not that I hate the act of vacuuming, it's that I hate the sound of the vacuum; I always have. As a kid I would want to hide from the vacuum cleaner just because of the sound -- LOUD. 💢 Ever since learning about misophonia  a few years ago due to my issue with the sounds of chewing, I have concluded that my over-sensitivity to vacuums might be part of it, too; along with my dislike for the sounds of blenders and food processors. 😣 While I haven't always wanted to vacuum, I have never made the sound an excuse not to vacuum. Pure laziness seemed to be a good enough excuse, but maybe my sound sensitivities were subconsciously stopping me, only I didn't know it all those years ago. 💁 It's not that the sound makes me have to cover my ears in order to function, but it is unsoothing to my ears and I do not like it, period, so it does not motivate me to clean, and that's really not good. 😞 I h...

(Disclaimer: This is not legal advice; this is information on how to conduct online research to find public documents.)  A few things I learned as a court reporter: Divorce happens, divorce is not pretty, and divorce comes with paperwork...lots of paperwork. So, where does one find the paperwork for filing a divorce? Where else in the 21st Century but online, of course; and it's a wonderful convenience, too. Searching for any state's divorce forms is very easy thanks to search engines. > Open any search engine and type the state's name with the words 'divorce forms' after it. For example, I tested it out on Mississippi, a state I have never lived, worked, nor breathed in.  When I typed 'Mississippi State divorce forms' the first non-ad link that came up in the search was the forms page for the  Administrative Office of Courts for the State of Mississippi Judiciary . Under the Statistical Reporting Forms section is the link Civil Case Filing...

Thanks to the reader who left this curious comment on my blog post Where Do Tote Bags Come From : "Hmm it looks like your website ate my first comment (it was super long) so I guess I’ll just sum it up what I wrote and say, I’m thoroughly enjoying your blog. I as well am an aspiring blog writer but I’m still new to the whole thing. Do you have any tips and hints for first-time blog writers? I’d definitely appreciate it." Thanks for reading and commenting! Sorry for the annoyance of the eaten comment, I know how irksome that can be. Here is my list of tips and hints for first-time blog writers,  by request and in no particular order : > Do not spend money on a blog if you do not know what you are doing. 💸 > There are numerous free blogging platforms for a reason -- so people don't have to spend money! Learning for free is awesome in the 21st Century; take advantage of it. 📚 > The best way to learn how to blog is to sit down and actually do it onc...

Thank you, Enbrethiliel , for leaving your insightful comments -- for over 2 years! -- on my Marilyn Monroe/Monica Lewinsky/Bill Cosby quote-mash-up blog post ! Her first comment was left in July of 2015 and her most recent comment was left in October of 2017; while there are only four comments in two years, the fascinating thing I find is that all the comments deal with different issues that have similar social dynamics as to what I discussed in the Monroe/Lewinsky/Cosby post. From 'Team Woman,' to Cecil the lion (remember him?), to Donald Trump, and finally Harvey Weinstein's bout in the Court of Public Opinion, Enbrethiliel does not miss a step when it comes to seeing the public repeat itself every time a new issue takes the spotlight. You can read the full blog post here  including comments, or read the comments posted below (copied/pasted/unedited). Thank you, Enbrethiliel, for sharing your insights from your own unique perspective with me and others; they ha...

Some days, you tote the bag 👜 Some days, the bag totes you:  I got a tote-ally unexpected surprise when I woke up the other day and discovered someone purchased 45 tote bags from my Zazzle shop . HOE.LEE.KOW. 🐮  Needless to say, I tote-ally toted the bag that day. 👜 Tote-ally needful to say, though, is the biggest  THANK YOU to the anonymous buyer for making this the largest tote bag order, and amount spent, in my shop ever; and for tote-ally making my jaw drop from the awesome shock! 😲 While I only design the tote bags from the comfort of my home, the real work of production and manufacturing occurs thousands of miles away from me on the opposite side of America, in Hendersonville, North Carolina, by a company that's been in business since 1932: Manual Woodworkers & Weavers . How awesome is that? Tote-ally awesome. 🎈 And it's Zazzle , in California, who serves as the hub that serendipitously brings us all together online for the sake of e-commerce aro...