Go, Me!!

Wow!! I finished NaBloPoMo! Not only did I post every day in November, some days I posted more than once! Not much thought went into the Email Forward I posted, but my 10 Random Things for Friday and Tuesday Random Thoughts were varied, embarrassing and sometimes (if you were lucky) mildly entertaining.

There's still time to get in on a couple of the giveaways if you're feeling lucky ;)

Hey, this was about QUANTITY, not necessarily QUALITY! I had fun with it, and I hope you did too! (My favorite picture of the month is still in the Just Freaking Great post!)

Another Freebie!

I saw this over on Smart Cents Mom (sorry if the text reads awfully similar - there are only so many ways to share identical information ;) ). I'm posting to share it with you as well, and also so I won't forget to go do it myself! I've been meaning to get Maggie a photobook for the holidays with pictures of all of her relatives.

It's a great freebie from American Greetings Photoworks! You get a coupon code and then have until December 15th to redeem your code.

They're only giving the codes out for one day - Tuesday, December 1. On December 1st, you go to www.americangreetings.com and be one of the first 20,000 people to request a special coupon code for a gift from PhotoWorks. For your gift you can choose one of the following PhotoWorks products:

*Free 20 page Photo Clutch Book
*Free Pack of 25 Photo Paper Holiday Cards
*Free 11" x 8" Photo Calendar

To take advantage of this on Tuesday December 1st you should:
1. Go to www.americangreetings.com and click on the PhotoWorks graphic on the home page.
2. Enter your email address and select your gift.
3. Receive your coupon code and enter it during checkout on www.photoworks.com.

**Fine print: Offer ends when inventory limits are reached. Offer valid for U.S. and Canada residents only. Coupon valid for one of the following: a 20-page photo clutch book with complimentary standard shipping, a pack of 25 photo paper cards with complimentary standard shipping, a 11x8 photo calendar with complimentary standard shipping, or a $25 coupon to be used toward the purchase of another PhotoWorks photo book, card, calendar, or photo gift. The $25 coupon may not be used to purchase prints or gift certificates and does not apply to shipping and handling charges. Coupon valid for one transaction per email address and may not be shared. Not combinable with other offers. Coupon expires 12/15/09.

Win a Charm Bracelet!

Don't worry - I haven't been holding out on you! For a while I was stumbling across bunches of giveaways, but then they just seemed to stop. I suspect that some sponsors were gathering their resources for the holidays - let the giving away begin again!

Go check out My Loonyverse for a chance to win an adorable charm bracelet with eight charms from Charm Factory. These are the fun sorts of things that just tickle me. I can spend a completely contented afternoon just browsing charms and picturing the bracelet I'll win - yay! Make sure you've got a few minutes before you head over to enter - you'll have to..er..GET to do your own browsing as well!

The contest runs until December 15 - go here to enter. Good luck!

Bucket List?

I swiped this from the Freaky Frugalite (who says she took it from Fenced in Family, who got it from her mom ;) ). Thanks, ladies - looks like an interesting list!

I've followed their lead on this one and bolded the things I've already done. Why don't you post it up too? I'd love to hear about your adventures!

Been to Canada
Been to Mexico
Been to Florida
Been to Hawaii
Visited All 50 States
Been to Europe
Been to South America
Been to Central America
Been to Asia
Been to Australia
Been on a plane
Been on a helicopter
Been in a hot air balloon
Been sky diving
Been on a Cruise
Been to Washington, DC
Been on the opposite side of the country - what, like the bottom? Silly phrase...
Driven across the United States - is ridden close enough?
Been to the top of the St. Louis Arch
Been down Bourbon Street in New Orleans
Been deep sea fishing
Enjoyed the beauty of Old Faithful Geyser
Seen the Statue of Liberty
Gone to the top of Seattle Space Needle
Swam in the ocean
Swam in the Mediterranean
Gone on a blind date
Watched someone die
Been lost in a neighborhood
Cried yourself to sleep
Played cops and robbers - probably...
Recently colored with crayons
Written a letter to Santa Claus
Sang Karaoke
Paid for a meal with coins only
Done something you told yourself you wouldn’t
Made prank phone calls
Laughed until some kind of beverage came out of your nose
Caught a snowflake on your tongue
Danced in the rain
Watched the sunrise with someone
Blown bubbles
Been kissed under the mistletoe
Been skinny dipping outdoors
Gone ice-skating
Gone to the movies
Gone snorkeling
Skipped school
Gone snowmobiling
Lived in more than one country - for three months, anyway
Lay down outside at night and admired the stars while listening to the crickets
Seen a falling star and made a wish
Truly believe in the power of prayer
Seen whales in the ocean
Ridden on an elephant
Ridden on a camel
Swam with dolphins
Saw and heard a glacier calf
Traveled by train
Traveled by motorcycle
Traveled by subway
Been horseback riding
Ridden on a San Francisco cable car
Been to Disneyland or Disneyworld
Been in a rain forest
Been to Niagara Falls
Walked on the Great Wall of China
Been to the Olympics
Been spinnaker flying
Been water-skiing
Been snow-skiing
Been to Westminster Abbey
Been to the Louvre
Been to a Major League Baseball game
Been to a National Football League game

Done Shopping Yet?

If you didn't get your loved ones' wish lists filled on Black Friday, I've still got some great ideas for you! Check with your local direct sales folks - we've got great gift ideas, especially for those hard to buy folks.

Dove Chocolate Discoveries has a super-fun 'chocolate of the month' special available. You can have a special pre-chosen product from the exclusive catalog sent to your chosen recipient once a month for three months or six months! The January through March club, for example, would include the Sea-Salted Caramel Collection (my personal favorite), the Dark Chocolate-Covered Fruit Collection and the Chocolate-Covered Cappuccino Biscottini. Trust me, they'll love it! Contact me through the information on the website anytime before December 12 to ensure Christmas delivery for this or anything else from the catalog.

Now through Monday, be sure to check out Partylite's 4-Day Cyber Sale. Lots of wax (candles) and accessories listed at great prices! You can order right through the website and everything will be shipped to your door within a couple weeks.

Do you have a direct sales special you'd like me to share here? Let me know in the comments! I'm all about supporting other women and mothers in business, especially around the holidays :)

10 Random Things for a Friday

1. I'm freezing, but still chewing ice cubes. Go figure.
2. Once I'm done with this post, I get to go crawl in the crib with Maggie (arguably my favorite part of the day...) so she'll wake up and we can go to the Fantasy of Lights parade - yay!
3. I still have an odd urge to bake. Maybe I'll get around to making some spritz cookies this weekend after all.
4. Why did it suddenly start getting cold when we're going to an outdoor parade tonight?
5. The only shopping we did today was for some bolts hubby needed while he works on the car. Maggie was happy just to go in a store - the girl loves sshhhhoppin!
6. Tomorrow morning I think we're going to tackle the tree - yay again!
7. I still need to find out about going to a bounce place this week. Maggie had so much fun jumping around on Friday. I want to find one - and some friends to go with us..hint, hint - one day this week.
8. Mom reminded me that I haven't yet written my wish list/12 days of Christmas posts. If I get home early enough to get on the computer tonight, that should be on my list.
9. Are your holiday cards done? I ordered some today, and hubby is supposed to order the rest this weekend. My dad took some good pictures for us to use yesterday :)
10. Is laundry ever truly finished? I think not.

Finally!

It's after Thanksgiving (practically...). Don't get me wrong, I love Thanksgiving, and fall is my favorite season, but now I can listen to my holiday music radio station guilt-free, and people will start putting up their gorgeous artificial christmas trees and getting live ones too! Let the holiday decorating begin!

Over the last two days hubby has decorated a little tree outside our front door - love it! It's a new decoration for us, and I love it :) Either tomorrow or Saturday we'll put up our tree and I'll start putting up the rest of our decorations next week - yay!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Yeah, good luck with that one, Turkey! ;)

Hope you're enjoying your holiday with loved ones.

What are You Making?

I know with the holidays coming while most peoples' finances still aren't what they used to be, many folks are getting crafty for gifts. Are you doing this too?

One of the things I've seen that I like are the clear or solid colored glass tiles with the decals and such on them to decorate. Have you seen what I mean. They can make great accents on window sills or other ledges that can hold little knick knacks, or you can put the decals on the glass of a picture frame to really spruce it up.

I'd also seen snowman kits where you give a family the coal for eyes, a carrot nose, stones for the mouth, a pipe and a scarf and it gives them an afternoon of fun building their own snowman!

So where is your craftiness leading you?

Tuesday Random Thoughts

Hubby made it home from jury selection today while Maggie and I were eating lunch. Yay! The bad news? He was actually selected for the jury, so he has to go back tomorrow. We're really hoping the courts aren't open on Friday as well - that would seriously suck for our family weekend :(

And now? Hubby gets to do job 'work' on his day off. At least Maggie is cooperating and napping so I can get my computer/chocolate/ornament exchange stuff done and not have to spend all afternoon keeping her quiet so daddy can work ;)

I'm still mostly confused about what day it is, but have decided I don't care much. Tomorrow I have a meeting with the Mommy & Me networking group, and Thanksgiving day we'll head out to my parents. Other than that, the date is just another number on the calender.

Hubby just had a good half hour with my profile up on Facebook and didn't change my status. I think he's losing his touch ;)

Memories...

As I tried to redeem yet another 'free photobook' I heard about online (third one this month that has given me nothing but an hour of wasted time and watching their site crash, but that's another rant entirely...), I perused my old pictures of Maggie. I realized as I looked at February 2008 that there were no pictures of our Bahamas trip. Sure enough, the Bahamas trip was its own folder, which I very much enjoyed looking through again. The sun, the sand, the surf, the great friends and relaxing times - and of course the warm weather as I shiver in my office. Maybe I'll go check out medical travel Mexico. Why medical? A nice vacation would be very, very good for my mental health right about now!

Color Me Confused

Today is Monday, right? The holidays have already sapped any trace of sense from my head. Because hubby was so busy with other stuff over the weekend, I barely noticed it was the weekend. And since he's off tomorrow for jury duty and then the rest of the week with vacation time and the Thanksgiving holiday, I've spent half of today thinking it was Friday. Ugh!

To help me feel better about my apparently ongoing confusion, I'm going to make myself a nice 'done' list instead of a to-do list so maybe I'll be able to sleep tonight and wake up refreshed. Why don't you try it too? We spend too much time stressing about what needs to get done, instead of appreciating what we've already accomplished.

DONE - on or before Monday, November 23, 2007

• Show invites for show on Dec 3
• Assembled cards for ornament exchange invites (next up: address those bad boys and put the info on the inside)
• Addressed nearly 100 postcards letting chocolate customers know that December 12 is the deadline for Christmas delivery
• Got my nails did (yay!)
• Bought groceries for meals for the week
• Went to the post office and got postage for all the above referenced stuff
• Still caught up with NaBloPoMo (go, me!)

Really?

I have to admit I was surprised the other day when I posted asking about everyone's holiday wishes and my mom said they want a Wii and Wii Fit (I keep typing Wee instead of Wii...hehehehe). Really? I remember when I lived at home that mom was totally into her morning workouts, but that's the sort of thing she could do when they were traveling too. Will the Wii et cetera be covered by rv insurance on the road? Or will they not pack it and just stick with hiking and such when the scenery is more interesting? I'm so glad to have an idea though...mom, watch your stocking!

Another Weekend Gone...

Boy am I glad this weekend is only leading to a short week - I need another break and hardly got to see hubby all weekend. Luckily he'll have some time off around the Thanksgiving holiday, so hopefully we'll be able to spend more time together.

Yesterday and today hubby (along with a couple helpers) put a canvas garage over our boat parked in the backyard. It's BIG. I didn't really see it all set up in the light yet, but he said the dark green he picked for the canvas doesn't stand out as much as a lighter color would have.

Maggie and I went visiting yesterday. My brother and sister-in-law had some people over and Maggie had a blast playing with the older kids. She loves kids and doesn't hesitate to try and go up to kids she doesn't know and hug them :) This time she got hugged back, since they were my cousin's kids and enjoyed playing with our little Maggie. I had a fun time visiting with grown-ups while Maggie was otherwise entertained - yay!

This afternoon I went with a friend to see The Twilight Saga: New Moon. The squealing teen-aged girls were very annoying. I'm assuming they weren't as bad this afternoon as they would have been a couple days earlier, though. The movie was good. Sure, Jacob has a fine set of abs, but I still like Edward better. But if I had to cast an honest vote? I'd like to cheer for Team Alice :) Oh, and Dakota Fanning did an AWESOME job as Jane.

Let It Begin (Holiday Shopping, that is...)

I think Maggie is the easiest to buy for this year. If I ask hubby what he wants, he spouts off big words about tires and automotive stuff I don't understand. Maybe he'll get some (much needed) new clothes again this year, unless he comes up with some way to use a barcode scanner or something to give me a clear 'list' of what he really wants. Remember using those for your bridal registry or whatever? The guys go crazier with those than the ladies, I think...

An Email Forward...

Usually these things just annoy me, but I really liked this list and hadn't seen it before. Hope you get a chuckle out of it too :)

1. I think part of a best friend's job should be to immediately clear your computer history if you die.
2. Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realize you're wrong.
3. I totally take back all those times I didn't want to nap when I was younger.
4. There is great need for a sarcasm font.
5. How the hell are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet?
6. Was learning cursive really necessary?
7. Map Quest really needs to start their directions on #5. I'm pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood.
8. Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you how the person died.
9. I can't remember the last time I wasn't at least kind of tired.
10. Bad decisions make good stories.
11. You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work when you know that you just aren't going to do anything productive for the rest of the day.
12. Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after Blue Ray? I don't want to have to restart my collection...again.
13. I'm always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if I want to save any changes - to my ten-page research paper that I swear I did not make any changes to.
14. "Do not machine wash or tumble dry" means I will never wash this thing I have-- ever.
15. I hate when I just miss a call by the last ring (Hello? Hello? Damn it!), but when I immediately call back, it rings nine times and goes to voicemail. What'd you do after I didn't answer? Drop the phone and run away?
16. I hate leaving my house confident and looking good and then not seeing anyone of importance the entire day. What a waste.
17. I keep some people's phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to answer when they call.
18. My 4-year old son asked me in the car the other day "Dad what would happen if you ran over a ninja?" How the hell do I respond to that?
19. I think the freezer deserves a light as well..
20. I disagree with Kay Jewelers. I would bet, on any given Friday or Saturday night, more kisses begin with Bud Light than with a Kay jewelry product.

10 Random Things for a Friday

1. I scratched my own nose last night trying to pull my covers up. Now there's a big red boo-boo. What a doofus!
2. Are there a ton of homes for rent around you? I'm amazed around here. And it's mostly sad, since a lot of them are houses people couldn't afford to keep. I'm ready for the 'recession' to be over, folks!
3. My afternoon is all in an uproar all of a sudden - lil miss fell asleep in the car on our way home from lunch (til I reached back and tickled her to keep her awake). When we got home, she went straight to her crib and asked for help to get in. Now she's fast asleep. Huh.
4. Tonight I get to go make cards with friends - yay!
5. After several frantic chocolate-y weeks, I'm off (except for networking meetings) until December 3. The breather will be nice right about now!
6. I got really cute lil 4 oz plastic glasses yesterday for martini samplings, but apparently they're a little too 'crisp.' Just trying to use one last night for measuring, we had to throw away like five that were cracked before we got to an intact one! Darnitall.
7. Once I'm caught up with some computer stuff (and entering the last of my orders from the chocolate show last night), I'm going to make the invitations for my ornament exchange on December 11! I'm so excited! I'll share more details later, but it's like a cookie exchange without the baking.
8. There was a lady at my show last night who owns a nail shop and does awesome gel nails. Listening to her made me really miss my nails - especially since I now have two broken down to the quick :(
9. I get to see my brother and sister-in-law's new puppy tomorrow! Isn't puppy breath so sweet?
10. This weekend's to-do-list highlight has got to be taking or finding a picture for holiday cards! I can't wait much longer...

The Circus

Last night was another night filled with Maggie being (unintentionally) funny. Maggie and I met up with my parents and hubby/daddy and we all loaded into the car to go to the opening night of the circus!

We knew Maggie was in rare form when we got to the circus and my mom was helping to get Maggie out of the carseat. Since she wasn't totally familiar with the carseat buckles, I was giving her a few pointers as we got Maggie out. Once Maggie's shoes hit the pavement, she said, "Good job, Mimi!" We all laughed over that one!

Maggie's favorite part of the circus was the elephants. It wasn't the circus I remembered from growing up. Instead of three rings, the performance floor was more of one giant oval, so you didn't have to choose what to watch at any given time. I like it better like this - I'm not afraid I'll be missing something cool when I'm watching another ring, you know?


We always joke around about Maggie not being at all shy around strangers. At our trip to the circus she really reinforced this! Just before intermission, the woman in front of us got some cotton candy. My mom and I were cracking up again as Maggie almost leaned between the seats to grab it right out of her hand! Luckily the nice lady shared some with Maggie at intermission. Apparently she made a fast friend, as during the second half of the performance, Maggie wanted to go sit with her! That's right - four adults in our party, and the baby wants to go sit with someone we'd never met before. Goofy kid! I've told everyone a hundred times that this is the same thing Maggie does at school or anywhere else we go - since she usually spends all of her time with me (and this is me with Maggie in the pictures), she likes a little variety and grabs some other adult when she has the chance.

I'm sure you'd have a great time at the circus too! If you're in the Southeast Michigan area, Ringling Bros and Barnum & Bailey Circus is at the Palace of Auburn Hills until November 22. You can get four tickets for $44 by entering MOM in the 'MC Promotion' box when purchasing through Ticketmaster.

Be sure to get there early so you don't miss the All Access Preshow! You'll be able to go right to the circus floor to meet performers, try on costumes, get autographs and just generally 'clown' around ;) We got to watch Kelly the elephant paint a picture, as well as a super tall guy on stilts walk right over daddy's head! It's free for all ticket holders.

Here's the discount details summarized for you:
Ringling Bros. Coupon Code Details
* The coupon code will be MOM to get four tickets for $44 for ALL performances!
* The tickets can be purchased from http://www.ticketmaster.com and by entering the MOM code in the “MC promotion” box when purchasing tickets.
* Minimum purchase of 4 tickets required; additional tickets above 4 can be purchased at $11 each.
* Offer not valid on Circus Celebrity, Front Row, or VIP seating.
* Cannot be combined with other offers. Service charges, facility & handling fees will apply.

Your Holiday Wish List?

So tonight at my chocolate show I asked what everyone wanted Santa to bring them. We were all just making small talk, waiting for a few more people to arrive. I got one answer - a blender to replace a broken one.

I expected to hear big stuff like laptop computers, big screen tvs, game systems (although I think everyone already has one of those but us...).

Maybe I should have asked if they'd been good first, to see what they thought they might deserve! Hahaha... What are you asking for as holiday gifts?

Xerox is Doing Something Cool!

If you go to this web site, you can pick out a thank-you card, and Xerox will print it out and send it to a soldier who is currently serving in Iraq. You can't pick who gets it, but it will go to a member of the armed services.

How AMAZING would it be if we could get everyone we know to send one!!! It is FREE, and it only takes a second.

Wouldn't it be wonderful if the soldiers received a bunch of these? Whether you are for or against the war, our soldiers need to know we are behind them.

This takes just ten seconds and it's a wonderful way to say, "Thank you." Please take the time to send a card and pass it on for others to do so too! We can never say thanks enough.

Thanks for taking the time to support our military!