I saw my sister Marcia today for the first time in a year. She only lives about 25 miles from me, but her job keeps her so busy that she never makes it out my way so I seldom see her. It was nice to catch up, and she brought me a great Sinatra themed Barbie doll for my birthday.
I felt like I got a lot accomplished this weekend - the plants Andy's mom brought are in the ground, the hedges in the front are trimmed and ready to winter over, the flower beds were attended to and weeds were pulled and I got all of the potted plants arranged in the front as well as my new flag out. It felt very domestic and nice until Marc started in on the fact that she felt like I should be on Hoarders because I have way to much stuff. Andy then teamed up with her to talk about how ridiculous I was with all the boxes of stuff that I have. I love winning stuff but I have an awful habit of wanting to keep it around rather than use it because it is a "major award". I guess I'm the dad in A Christmas Story who wants the whole neighborhood to see the spoils of a contest winner. Over the next few weeks I am going to be cataloging and photographing most of the stuff I have won so I can show pictures and do posts on the sheer amounts of cool free things that have shown up. Then I am going to sort through it and donate or sell or possibly swap some of it so it goes places other than here.
I may be a tiny bit carried away, but it seems like a much healthier addiction than some of the other available ones. Maybe I'm just a shopafreebaholic. That doesn't sad so terrible.
In exactly one hour I will be a whole year older. Weird. I don't feel any older. I never do. I feel younger if anything!
Much love to all of you - I'll be watching my dear friend's little boy tomorrow so I don't know if I will be on, but I will try to leave a note to let all of you know how it feels to be 37. (I am expecting it feels exactly like 36 with an extra twist of sarcasm.) Goodnight!
Sunday, August 26, 2012
Saturday, August 25, 2012
Getting a little older every day
I am going to be 37 very soon. I don't feel old, but when I think about my perception of people's age when I was a child and how I see people now I start to wonder. When I was 10 anyone over 21 was ancient. Anyone over 40 was over the hill. Now as I see my parents lose their minds to Alzheimer's dementia I wonder just how old I'm going to end up becoming. I certainly don't feel that and I assume my parents didn't feel their age either. Hell, my mom had me when she was 38 and that was back before every woman in Hollywood was having a baby at 45. It was a big deal to wait to have a child in the 70's and an even bigger deal to have one with an 11 year gap between it and your next oldest child. It's kind of a miracle I'm here at all I guess, but I still wonder how others see me. I don't get carded when I buy alcohol anymore so I must've crossed a fine line at some point.
My mother-in-law Lana dropped off some lovely plants and a glazed planter for my birthday today. She also brought me a china bowl that she picked up at a flea market almost a year ago after I told her I liked it but it was too expensive. She said it was intended for a Christmas gift last year but she just found it because she hid it and forgot it existed. I guess that's the kind of stuff I have to look forward to. She also used the phrased "well, when I drop dead" four times today when she brought my gifts over. She is a loon, but I'm lucky to have her.
My husband Andy stopped at Ten Thousand Villages on the way home from seeing The Expendables 2 in the theatre. He bought me two gorgeous candle holders that he picked out all himself and a candy bar that was outrageously expensive but also incredibly delicious. It has ground up espresso roasted coffee beans it it and it made me swoon. You heard me. Swoon!
I hope all of you have reason to swoon today and are thankful for each day you get. They aren't endless. Much love to all of you.
My mother-in-law Lana dropped off some lovely plants and a glazed planter for my birthday today. She also brought me a china bowl that she picked up at a flea market almost a year ago after I told her I liked it but it was too expensive. She said it was intended for a Christmas gift last year but she just found it because she hid it and forgot it existed. I guess that's the kind of stuff I have to look forward to. She also used the phrased "well, when I drop dead" four times today when she brought my gifts over. She is a loon, but I'm lucky to have her.
My husband Andy stopped at Ten Thousand Villages on the way home from seeing The Expendables 2 in the theatre. He bought me two gorgeous candle holders that he picked out all himself and a candy bar that was outrageously expensive but also incredibly delicious. It has ground up espresso roasted coffee beans it it and it made me swoon. You heard me. Swoon!
I hope all of you have reason to swoon today and are thankful for each day you get. They aren't endless. Much love to all of you.
Friday, August 24, 2012
Check it out
Here is a neat site offering a free engraved keychain when you link to them. They offer customized engraving services and sell key chains, name plates, book marks and other engraved metal items.
Check them out here: nameplates
If you have your own blog or personal website you can link to (not Facebook) you can also sign up for the free item. They explain it all here:
http://www.cengraving.com/s/free
So give it a go!
Check them out here: nameplates
If you have your own blog or personal website you can link to (not Facebook) you can also sign up for the free item. They explain it all here:
http://www.cengraving.com/s/free
So give it a go!
Thursday, August 23, 2012
Missing Puck
I am struck today at how terribly I miss my beloved dog Puck. We had to put him down a few months ago because he was in a great deal of pain and had been for some time due to his Lyme disease. His joints and hips made it very difficult for him to get around and he was struggling daily. In his last few days he stopped eating and was just miserable. I hated to take him to the vet, knowing he wasn't coming home with me that day. He had been several times in the weeks leading up to it because he was declining so rapidly. Sometimes I am completely wrecked when I think about him. Perhaps it is unnatural to have such an attachment to an animal but I get a lump in my throat every day when I let Obi outside and I have forgotten before and called to Puck, thinking he was just around the corner and playing keep away to stay outside and run for a few extra minutes. He was a great dog. A big stinky, shedding, drooling nightmare of a dog at times, but he was mine and he meant the world to me. I am lucky to have had him for the nearly eight years he was with me, but I still wish he were here. Now I worry about losing Obi. A lot.
Sorry for such a melancholy post. I am thankful to have had all the joy he brought me. I'm thankful for it far more than I am sad that he is no longer with me. Much love to all of you - I hope that you appreciate your pets and give them an extra hug tonight.
Sorry for such a melancholy post. I am thankful to have had all the joy he brought me. I'm thankful for it far more than I am sad that he is no longer with me. Much love to all of you - I hope that you appreciate your pets and give them an extra hug tonight.
Wednesday, August 22, 2012
Sticking to it
I said every day, and by golly I will post something every day!
There wasn't a ton happening today aside from me being dreadfully tired but I did win three things. My Favorite Pet Shop has a Facebook contest right now where they give away 100 items a night for three days to the first 100 responses at 8:30pm. I won a glittery cat collar tonight which will fit the teeny neck of my chihuahua Obi Wan Kenobi. I also won two Twitter Trivia contests today. I got a box of Cafe' Escapes K-Cups for my Keurig for knowing that the swimming distance record was set in the Amazon river, not in the ocean (because I am a weirdo and I knew it but double checked myself on Google to be sure). I also got a Riunite Wine bottle opener for knowing that the cork on their sweet wines said "Chill - Enjoy" because I had just seen a photo of one on their Facebook page. I love little serendipitous occurrences.
It was a slow freebie mail day but I received the Tom's of Maine deodorant sample, a box of free books and other fun stuff that I bought with the $25 Visa gift card I won a few months back from Camel, Shape magazine, Newsweek magazine and OK magazine all of which were 1 year subscriptions that I got for free from a variety of sites. I collect points on Recyclebank, My Coke Rewards, Rewards Gold, and Free Biz Mags to get these and I have also won a couple of subscriptions for entering contests. Purex sent me 2 years of Ladies Home Journal and I also won subscriptions to Self and Everyday Food from random contests on Facebook.
There's more, but my bed is calling. So much for going to sleep at 8:30 tonight since I was really sleepy. Too bad I got sidetracked 30 times! Much love to all of you, and may you all get a good night's sleep!
There wasn't a ton happening today aside from me being dreadfully tired but I did win three things. My Favorite Pet Shop has a Facebook contest right now where they give away 100 items a night for three days to the first 100 responses at 8:30pm. I won a glittery cat collar tonight which will fit the teeny neck of my chihuahua Obi Wan Kenobi. I also won two Twitter Trivia contests today. I got a box of Cafe' Escapes K-Cups for my Keurig for knowing that the swimming distance record was set in the Amazon river, not in the ocean (because I am a weirdo and I knew it but double checked myself on Google to be sure). I also got a Riunite Wine bottle opener for knowing that the cork on their sweet wines said "Chill - Enjoy" because I had just seen a photo of one on their Facebook page. I love little serendipitous occurrences.
It was a slow freebie mail day but I received the Tom's of Maine deodorant sample, a box of free books and other fun stuff that I bought with the $25 Visa gift card I won a few months back from Camel, Shape magazine, Newsweek magazine and OK magazine all of which were 1 year subscriptions that I got for free from a variety of sites. I collect points on Recyclebank, My Coke Rewards, Rewards Gold, and Free Biz Mags to get these and I have also won a couple of subscriptions for entering contests. Purex sent me 2 years of Ladies Home Journal and I also won subscriptions to Self and Everyday Food from random contests on Facebook.
There's more, but my bed is calling. So much for going to sleep at 8:30 tonight since I was really sleepy. Too bad I got sidetracked 30 times! Much love to all of you, and may you all get a good night's sleep!
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
Zippo-Dee-Doo-Dah
Even though I don't smoke, my husband does. As much as I would love for him to quit it seems like whenever he goes through periods of stress he snaps right back into the comforting lull of the habit. I feel fine about playing instant win games on tobacco web sites because if I ever won cigarettes or coupons they would just go straight to Andy, and if I got some cool freebie or prize then I would jump up and down and do my patented "I won I won" dance. This dance is not rare. It happens a lot. It is rarely seen though by people who do not have the joy of living with me. My friend Brooke Harrison knows just what it looks like. She used to call it the happy dance. It involves having both thumbs up and rolling them in slow circles towards yourself while making a face that might be described as a duck face in the current cool kid lingo - I did that dance today.
From the Black and Mild website I am going to receive a Zippo Black Ice lighter. Now you may say "Why the heck would a girl who doesn't smoke be so excited about a lighter?" If you said that I'd tell you - "BECAUSE THEY"RE STUPID AWESOME!" I'd say it just like that in shouty capitals so you'd get the point. You can feel my excitement can't you? When I was in high school and college I spent inordinate amounts of time with Zippo lighters belonging to my boyfriends. I learned how to do tricks. I could snap my fingers next to the flint and not light it. That was my best trick - I was a master at it. I was also very good at the trick I call "letting the metal case get gloriously hot and then shoving my thumb down on it, burning myself and crying". I only did that trick every once in awhile because it was very difficult to master it, but master it I did and I had the blistered thumb pads to prove it.
Soon I will be caressing the sleek black exterior of my very own Zippo. Black and Mild can't be held responsible really. They tried to convince me that my obsession with winning one wasn't going to come to anything good by awarding me a really cool looking pair of branded ear buds that were made from blonde wood, but I would not be so easily swayed. (Although thanks for the ear buds too guys - I'm sure they will be cool.) Other tobacco instant win games have also tried to keep their Zippo prizes out of my hands. Copenhagen and Skoal (who admittedly are smokeless tobacco products and I find it a little weird they even offer lighters as prizes but hey, who am I to judge?) sent me barbeque sauce and a "hamburger" speaker for my iPod. Marlboro is sending some awesome looking Wayfarer sunglasses that will most assuredly make me look like Detective David Addison on Moonlighting (that's Bruce Willis to you kids under 25). I'm getting some freezable coasters from them too and someone is sending me a deck of playing cards. Camel has even gifted me with virtual dice (which is the lamest instant win gift of all time) and a $25 Visa gift card which I used on a site where I wanted to see what it was about but didn't want to give out my credit card information so it kind of rocked.
I am very excited that Black and Mild finally gave into my magic chant of "Zipp-o, Zipp-o, Zip-Zip-Zipp-o - Come onnnnn no whammies!" If you would like to try the chant for yourself, by all means do. I want you all to practice your non-skilled tricks and accidentally light your cutoff jeans on fire. (Which I never did by the way - I was falsely accused.
Go play games. Be thankful for the awesome stuff that shows up randomly. Don't be super disappointed when your chants ("Ranch! Ranch! I really like ketchup too!) don't always work, because sometimes you will walk away a winner. My fingers are burning just thinking about it!!!
Much love to all of you and good vibes and magic chants too.
Play the Summer of Enjoyment Instant Win Game here for a chance to win your own:
https://www.blackandmild.com/tconnect/index.action
P.S. They have the most fabulously funky (Gotta Be A Love by Greyboy) song that plays in the background on the site. It goes amazingly well with my Zippo chant. Good luck.
From the Black and Mild website I am going to receive a Zippo Black Ice lighter. Now you may say "Why the heck would a girl who doesn't smoke be so excited about a lighter?" If you said that I'd tell you - "BECAUSE THEY"RE STUPID AWESOME!" I'd say it just like that in shouty capitals so you'd get the point. You can feel my excitement can't you? When I was in high school and college I spent inordinate amounts of time with Zippo lighters belonging to my boyfriends. I learned how to do tricks. I could snap my fingers next to the flint and not light it. That was my best trick - I was a master at it. I was also very good at the trick I call "letting the metal case get gloriously hot and then shoving my thumb down on it, burning myself and crying". I only did that trick every once in awhile because it was very difficult to master it, but master it I did and I had the blistered thumb pads to prove it.
Soon I will be caressing the sleek black exterior of my very own Zippo. Black and Mild can't be held responsible really. They tried to convince me that my obsession with winning one wasn't going to come to anything good by awarding me a really cool looking pair of branded ear buds that were made from blonde wood, but I would not be so easily swayed. (Although thanks for the ear buds too guys - I'm sure they will be cool.) Other tobacco instant win games have also tried to keep their Zippo prizes out of my hands. Copenhagen and Skoal (who admittedly are smokeless tobacco products and I find it a little weird they even offer lighters as prizes but hey, who am I to judge?) sent me barbeque sauce and a "hamburger" speaker for my iPod. Marlboro is sending some awesome looking Wayfarer sunglasses that will most assuredly make me look like Detective David Addison on Moonlighting (that's Bruce Willis to you kids under 25). I'm getting some freezable coasters from them too and someone is sending me a deck of playing cards. Camel has even gifted me with virtual dice (which is the lamest instant win gift of all time) and a $25 Visa gift card which I used on a site where I wanted to see what it was about but didn't want to give out my credit card information so it kind of rocked.
I am very excited that Black and Mild finally gave into my magic chant of "Zipp-o, Zipp-o, Zip-Zip-Zipp-o - Come onnnnn no whammies!" If you would like to try the chant for yourself, by all means do. I want you all to practice your non-skilled tricks and accidentally light your cutoff jeans on fire. (Which I never did by the way - I was falsely accused.
Go play games. Be thankful for the awesome stuff that shows up randomly. Don't be super disappointed when your chants ("Ranch! Ranch! I really like ketchup too!) don't always work, because sometimes you will walk away a winner. My fingers are burning just thinking about it!!!
Much love to all of you and good vibes and magic chants too.
Play the Summer of Enjoyment Instant Win Game here for a chance to win your own:
https://www.blackandmild.com/tconnect/index.action
P.S. They have the most fabulously funky (Gotta Be A Love by Greyboy) song that plays in the background on the site. It goes amazingly well with my Zippo chant. Good luck.
Monday, August 20, 2012
Hi, it's me - the woefully bad at organizing her thoughts gal!
Ah. Remember when I said I was going to get better at posting? For reals?
I didn't get any better.
I aim to change that. I have a ridiculous amount of things to talk about and post about and they are coming. Pronto. Definitely this time. Soon!
Today was a stellar day and I decided that I need to make sure the folks around me have stellar days too so I'm going to share all the fun stuff that has been turning up in my mailbox with you. Starting today I am going to make a super human effort to post something every day. It might not be awesome, but it will be about the things I am thankful for and the little tiny joys that keep popping up around me.
Oprah sent me some BB cream today. How freakin' awesome is that? I will tell you about it tomorrow. I promise!
Much love to you dear readers.
I didn't get any better.
I aim to change that. I have a ridiculous amount of things to talk about and post about and they are coming. Pronto. Definitely this time. Soon!
Today was a stellar day and I decided that I need to make sure the folks around me have stellar days too so I'm going to share all the fun stuff that has been turning up in my mailbox with you. Starting today I am going to make a super human effort to post something every day. It might not be awesome, but it will be about the things I am thankful for and the little tiny joys that keep popping up around me.
Oprah sent me some BB cream today. How freakin' awesome is that? I will tell you about it tomorrow. I promise!
Much love to you dear readers.
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