Blessings where you don't expect them

Lately, I've noticed a lot of blessings in circumstances that I normally would find annoying, at best. Yesterday was one such case. I bought another 25 lb sack of carrots. I was tired at the produce stand, and didn't inspect the bag very well.

When I got it home, I was disappointed to find a lot of broken or cracked carrots. Well, with those carrots that won't keep very long, I peel and chop them right away and pack for the freezer.

While my daughter peeled, I chopped, and I chopped and I chopped. And I was thinking, "what a blessing this is, to be forced into doing this prep work right now. These frozen, chopped carrots will make dinner prep on busy days, so much easier."

Three good-sized bags of chopped carrots sitting in the freezer. I'd say that's a blessing where I didn't expect to find it.

Making a too-big belt fit a petite waistline

My daughters are on the petite side. One in particular has a difficult time finding belts that fit, without shopping the kiddie department. I shopped and shopped for a leather belt that would fit, as a gift for her for Christmas. What I finally settled on was still too big for her, but I knew I could add holes so it would fit better.

This week, I finally got around to taking her measurements and adding a couple of extra holes.

To add holes to a leather belt, I used:

a cardboard box
a ruler
a pencil
an electric drill with multiple drill bits


I measured the distance between existing holes, and marked with a pencil, where to add new holes, keeping the spacing uniform.

I placed the belt on a cardboard box (so I wouldn't drill holes into the kitchen floor), and with the electric drill and one of the smaller drill bits, I drilled a pilot hole.

I changed out the drill bits about 4 times, increasing the size of the holes incrementally, until "my holes" were about the size of the existing holes.

Voila! About a 5 minute job, and now the belt fits. Sometimes, the manufactured holes in a belt have some of the stain from the surface of the belt, on the inside of the holes. This can be approximated with a sharpie pen, in either brown or black.

In addition to fitting leather belts for my daughter, it has occurred to me that this method will work for second-hand belts for my husband. My husband also has a small waist. (I wish my daughter's tiny waist came from my side of the family, but sadly not.) Finding a leather belt that fits him means paying full-price at the mall. The belts that we find at Value Village, St. Vincent de Paul's and Goodwill are never quite small enough. But I often find one that is just 1 or 2 inches too big. In the future, these belts will work for him, as I can add extra holes with the electric drill.

One other use for adding holes. My belts (from pre-baby days) are not too big, but a tad too small. I can add an extra hole to one of my favorite belts, so that it fits again. Oh, so, so sad, that I have to make belts smaller for some in my family, but bigger for me!