As a kid, my dad lived less than 100 yards from my brother’s house at the time. My niece is 2.5 years younger than me, so we were really close and played together all the time. We would often want to change back and forth between my house and hers, but were afraid of the dark, even though it wasn’t super dark as there were yard lights. So we always wanted to drag a flashlight along. My dad had several flashlights, but 95% of the time they didn’t have batteries because someone had stolen them to use in the remote, the cd player, or something else. On the off chance that they did have batteries inside, they were usually dead. I remember pledging to myself back then, that i would always have flashlights in my batteries. I haven’t held up to that very well, though! It seems like our flashlights are always out of batteries or having dead batteries. So when I discovered the Problem Solver solar powered flashlight, I knew it would be a great solution for us. I had never seen a solar powered flashlight before, so I was curious if it would be as bright as our other flashlights. Turns out, it lights up brighter than our other flashlights and covers more area as well. Needless to say, we are hooked. We’ve used the problem solvers flashlight several times in the last couple of weeks and it hasn’t needed recharged yet, or even shown signs of dimming at all. However, once it does need to charge we simply need to set it in an area where it can receive direct sunlight. This flashlight would be great to keep in an emergency preparedness box for tornadoes, hurricanes or other power outages.  It also works well for camping or other on the go situations, as it has a carabiner hook that allows it to attach to a belt loop, the strap of a backpack, etc. As you can see, it’s a uniquely shaped flashlight due to the solar panel. It’s rather wide and flat but it fits really well in my hand and has grooves for your fingers to fit comfortably, regardless of where your hand is on the handle.  Read more...

The Toledo botanical garden is a public garden that is free to the general public. I had never been to a botanical garden before, and I hadn’t heard of anything similar from my area. The Toledo botanical garden is a unique and relaxing experience. There is a huge variety of plants and flowers to look at on their 60+ acres of gardens. Although I’m not a gardener or very knowledgeable about plants and flowers, it was fun to see so many different types of plants that I had never seen before. I can only imagine how special the Toledo botanical gardens would be to a gardener. In addition to the pretty plants and flowers, there is also a small bridge, pond and and gazebo. When I first saw the bridge and gazebo, my first thought was that it looks like the perfect set up for a wedding.  Read more...

On Friday I had a dentist appointment. I was leaned back in the chair with tools in my mouth when the dental assistant squealed and jumped back, frantically. “Was that a TOOTH?” she says.

Um, what? a tooth? where?

Turns out, a white spider came down from the ceiling and landed on her knee. So we laughed, the spider crawled a few feet away and she kept a close eye on his movements. I forgot about it after we got back home until I look over on the wall and see a small grey spider.  Read more...

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