Parent Teacher Day

The kids got out of school early today because of parent/teacher meetings. I had four of them. Two of them at the exact same time. Now is that amazing or what?

At the end of the day we teacher met for a faculty meeting. My principal's voice broke several times when he spoke to us. I've never been in a meeting like that before. He addressed some things that were very painful for him to say and uncomfortable for us to hear. This is just such an upsetting time for us all.

Darryl has a telephone interview tommorrow. He seems more excited about this job. The job would be in Hunstville, Alabama. I found the job and submitted his resume to the company. It's going to sound strange but I had a good feeling about this position. I hope that I'm right about this.

Looks like I won a JC Penney's canvas tote bag!!! The email I received made it sound like I only had until this afternoon to respond. So I don't know if I will get it or not.

I did receive the DVD's I won today. One of them was the movie Sideways, which Darryl and I have already seen. The other one is a movie called Bottle Shock. We haven't seen that one.


Here are the blog contests I entered today:

Prize: Digital Foci Pocket Album.

http://mywoodenspoon.com/2009/03/30/paula-deens-the-deen-family-cookbook-tsv-at-qvc/

Prize: Windex Outdoor All in One starter pack.

Prize: Handy Manny: Manny’s Green Team DVD.

Prize: Fairytale Brownies.

Prizes (5): Five Lean Cuisine free product coupons.

Prize: Apron from SpiceRak Designs.

I'm Back

I was running late and had to hustle up to the cafeteria for morning duty. I walked down the hall that looked so familiar to me. Maybe it was all a bad dream. Maybe the news was wrong. I had questions. I didn't know who to ask. I prepared a statement that I would deliver at the beginning of each class.

I would say, "We will not discuss any inappropriate gossip in this class. If you feel sad, confused distressed and need to talk to Guidance let me know and I will send you. No problem. You are free to make up your work. If you don't want to go to Guidance but you do want to interrupt my class with gossip then I will have Mr. Johnson speak with you about the situation." I wasn't going to write the kids up. I would send them to Mr. Johnson I just didn't want to tell them that I wasn't going to write them up.

I was amazed how well things went. Kind of amazing considering they just got back from break and prom is fast approaching. Not only that, but the kids will be getting out early tomorrow. So even without the gossip there was a lot to cause the kids to talk. We didn't need this.

Today eighth graders went on their tour of Rome High School. Tomorrow parents will come for conferences. Wednesday the parents of eighth graders will be at school. We didn't need this.

It's interesting that I'm quick to comment about other tragedies in other places. It's easy to speak about things when you have no vested interested in the story. It's easy to develop commentary about people you don't know.

When you know the people behind the story there are things you want to say but can't. There are things you wish you could get out there but you know that it would be inappropriate to do so at this time. I even debated posting the news article here on my blog but i decided against it. Even though it was straight from the paper with no comments I just don't feel comfortable in doing so. That I guess is the difference between a newstory you hear and one to which you have a front row seat. Maybe I will rethink my decision but for now I just can't post the news article.

Here are the blog contests I entered:

Prizes (2): Rain-X Latitude Wiper Blades, Rain-X Weatherbeater 2-in-1 Glass Cleaner & Rain Repellant, and Rain-X X-treme Clean.

Prize: $100 Marriott gift card.

Prize: iRobot Roomba Pet 562 (ARV $399).

Prize: Fairytale Cocoa Duo.

Prizes (3): Copy of Copy of Chicken Soup for the Soul: Power Moms: 101 Stories Celebrating the Power of Choice for Stay at Home and Work from Home Moms by Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen and Wendy Walker.

No Comment Today

A local story that is so egregious has come to my attention and I can't bear to comment about it at this time. Lots of calls coming in and that's all I can say.

Eerie Figure Haunts Scottish Castle

I was very blessed to have won a trip to Scotland last year. It was an amazing opportunity to see the land where some of my father's people had come from. One day I hope to win a trip to Ireland where the ancestor's on my mother's side come from.

While we were there we saw the infamous Loch Ness as well as some famous castles. That's one reason this news story caught my attention.

Tourist Christopher Aitchison caught the eerie image in a photograph taken by in May 2008 at Tantallon Castle, which sits on a rocky outcrop along the Scottish coast, east of Edinburgh. The "person" appears to be wearing an old-style greenish ruff around the neck.

Tantallon Castle was built in the 1350s by a nobleman and soon became the stronghold of the Douglas dynasty. For 300 years, the Douglas earls of Angus held sway at the castle as one of the most powerful families in Scotland, according to Historic Scotland, which looks after historic sites for the Scottish government.

The castle also was the scene of violence, enduring three great sieges: in 1491, 1528 and 1651. The last, by Oliver Cromwell's army, resulted in such destruction that the fortress was abandoned.

It remains the "last truly great castle" built in Scotland, with enormously thick and high stone walls enclosing large courtyards, and high stone towers.

Michael called today. He said a car bomb woke him at 5 in the morning. He also said that someone tried to hit his vehcile the other day with an IED.

He did tell me that he plans to ask his girlfriend to marry him when he goes on a cruise with her. Mike's Dad is looking for a ring for him to give his girlfriend.

Well here are the blog contests I entered today:

Prize: Windex Outdoor All-In-One Starter Kit.

Prize: Any pair of non designer prescription eyeglasses with single vision lenses from EyeBuyDirect.com (ARV up to $49.95).

Prizes (2): Copy of Chicken Soup for the Soul: Power Moms: 101 Stories Celebrating the Power of Choice for Stay at Home and Work from Home Moms by Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen and Wendy Walker.

Prizes (3): Yoplait Yo-Plus gift bag.

Prizes (3): Yoplait Kids Get Active prize pack.

Record-high Red River Prompts Evacuations In Minnesota, North Dakota

While it is raining here and we are under a flood watch we are in no way in the same predicament as the people in Morehead Minnesota have it. Officials in Minnesota asked thousands of households in a city bordering the river to evacuate Friday. The red river is expected to crest at 41 to 43 feet. About one-third of the households in Moorhead — 2,660 in all — are affected.

In other evacuations, Fargo police ordered residents living in about 150 houses in a neighbourhood south of the city's downtown to evacuate at about 2 a.m. on Friday after a "significant leak" was found in a dike at a crook in the river, said police Capt. Tod Dahle.

I've never been North Dakota or Minnesota. I did have a student who was frome Pierre, ND. For me, when I think of the Red River I think of a song I learned in elementary school when we were studying cowboys. It was called "The Red River Valley."

For days though, I along with many other Americans have been watching people of all ages laying down sandbags as snow fell. We watched as chunks of ice seemed to flow past the tops of stop signs. It puts things in perspective as we complain about getting six inches of rain today and tommorrow.

Speaking of perspective, I just saw on the Glen Beck show a segment on the Food Safety Bill. He mentions that the bill does not define what is a farm. Now you might feel a farm is a big huge thing with a silo, a heard of 300 cattle, and twelve pigs. My sister might feel a farm is a house with a chicken coop in the back and ten chickens. The government might feel if you have an area of four feet or more that is used to produce fruits and vegetables for human consumption. This is why we really should take a hard look at HR 875.

Tell me if you think Category Three could be your kitchen in a broad legal sense. Ah come on now. No one is going to go into your kitchen? Take a look at any law and see what lawyers turn it into and then get back to me on that. Read the categories listed below taken directly from the bill.

(5) CATEGORY 1 FOOD ESTABLISHMENT- The term ‘category 1 food establishment’ means a food establishment (other than a seafood processing establishment) that slaughters, for the purpose of producing food, animals that are not subject to inspection under the Federal Meat Inspection Act or poultry that are not subject to inspection under the Poultry Products Inspection Act.

Help me out with this because I want to know who decides what is a ranch or farm. It's not specifically defined. When I took Business Law in college I was taught anything not specifically outlined is up for intepretation, even what is specifically outlined is subject for interpretation:

(14) FOOD PRODUCTION FACILITY- The term ‘food production facility’ means any farm, ranch, orchard, vineyard, aquaculture facility, or confined animal-feeding operation.

(6) CATEGORY 2 FOOD ESTABLISHMENT- The term ‘category 2 food establishment’ means a seafood processing establishment or other food establishment (other than a category 1 establishment) not subject to inspection under the Federal Meat Inspection Act, the Poultry Products Inspection Act, or the Egg Products Inspection Act, that processes raw seafood or other raw animal products, whether fresh or frozen, or other products that the Administrator determines by regulation to pose a significant risk of hazardous contamination.

(7) CATEGORY 3 FOOD ESTABLISHMENT- The term ‘category 3 food establishment’ means a food establishment (other than a category 1 or category 2 establishment) that processes cooked, pasteurized, or otherwise ready-to-eat seafood or other animal products, fresh produce in ready-to-eat raw form, or other products that pose a risk of hazardous contamination.

Here are the blog contests I entered:

Prizes (3): Honey Kix cereal free product coupon, cereal container, cereal bowl, insulated on-the-go cereal container and honey pot.

Prize: One dozen fancy Easter cookies or Signature Strawberry cookies from Shortycake.

Prizes (2): Two-year All You magazine subscription (ARV $17.95).

Prize: LG Vu cell phone.

Prize: Windex Outdoor All-In-One Glass Cleaning Tool starter kit.

Prizes (3): Yoplait Kids Get Active prize pack with coupon for free Yoplait yogurt, travel cooler, jump rope, water bottle, and outdoor game set with beach ball, paddle ball, jai-ali and frisbee.

Prizes (2): Peek Pronto with one-year of service (ARV $320).

Prize: Too Faced Lock Down Ultimate Creaseless Cream Eye Shadow in Bedroom Eyes, Dramarama, I'm Guilty, Jailbait and Prisoner of Love.

Prizes (2): Pair of Keds Green Label shoes.

Prize: Aurora bracelet from Twisted Silver (ARV $30).

Pearl bracelets (3 prizes)

EyeBuyDirect Fashion Eye Glasses - Contest Alert

OK I'm ready to announce the other contest I have going on. As I said before I'm working to promote ThriftyMaven. Right now I'm struggling with this blog but I think Thrifty Maven is starting to take off.

I think this is a great contest because the prize is worth $100.

http://thriftymaven.com/?p=1079

A winner is then randomly selected from all eligible entrants on ThriftyMaven. The winner will receive a promotional code that is valued at $100 and allows them to select one free pair of prescription eye glasses (with the exception of designer frames and sunglasses).

This contest will begin Friday, March 27 through Sunday, April 5, 2009 at 11:59 PM EST. The winner will be notified by email and will have 48 hours to contact us with their mailing information or another winner will be drawn.

If you don't need glasses, tell someone who does.

Consumer Queen Savings Challenge. Win A Vado Pocket Video Camera

When checking my email this morning I was thrilled to discover this great contest. Creative Labs is providing 10 “Pink” Vado Pocket Video Cams for Consumer Queen to give away on her blog to 10 lucky readers. In return she wants you to create some money saving videos to share with other moms on the internet just like you.

How do you enter?

Visit Consumer Queen here.

Contest ends 4/19/09 Winner will be chosen by Random.Org and you will have 48hrs to claim your prize!

Wishing you good luck!!!!!!!!!!!

England Dan Has Died

When people ask what kind of music I listen to I can honestly say it is diverse. Oh I still love Zeppelin but I also love some classic country music, classical music, R&B, easy listening music, heavy metal, and well just about everything except death metal and hard core rap.

I always loved the song, "I'd Really Love to See You Tonight". It's kind of funny that I did because it went against my beliefs about love. In a way it's like the song "Love The One You're With" I don't like that one because you should love someone who's at hand even if they are not who you really love. With this song the singer basically requests a night between the two lovers but asked for little more.

I'm not talking 'bout moving in,
And I don't want to change your life.
But there's a warm wind blowing,
The stars are out, and I'd really love to see you tonight.

Still I loved the song. I loved the voice, I loved the melody, I just loved that song and it's on my iPod right now. Well today on my way home from the post office I heard some bad news.

Dan Seals' childhood nickname was "England Dan" because he was a fan of The Beatles, and occasionally affected an English accent.

Daniel Wayland Seals, the Texas-born, CMA-award-winning singer who piled up 11 No. 1 songs between 1985 and 1990, passed away yesterday after a battle with mantle cell lymphoma. Mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) is one of the rarer of the non-Hodgkin's lymphomas (NHLs), comprising about 6% of NHL cases.[1] There are only about 15,000 patients presently in the U.S. (The prevalence seems to be somewhat higher in Europe.) While it is difficult to treat and seldom considered cured, investigations into better treatments are actively pursued world-wide. Median survival times were about 3 years, but are now estimated as approaching 6 years for new patients.

I feel very sad about this loss.

As an almost fifty year old woman, I'm thrilled to death for Valerie Bertinelli. At one point her weight was 172 pounds and now she's down to 123. About six years ago I panicked when my weight became 160. I freaked because that's how much I weighed when I was getting ready to give birth. The thing was I wasn't pregnant and I was that weight. Valarie lost her weight with Jenny Craig. I lost mine after doing a lot of online research about weight watchers. I weigh 125 pounds. Now unlike Valerie I didn't have any plastic surgery, I didn't have a masseuse and I didn't hire a personal trainer. She looks beautiful though and I'm happy for her.

She and I had gotten married the same year. Her marriage suffered through drug and alcohol abuse I understood because I endured physical abuse at the hands of my husband. Through all this Valarie is a survivor and I admire her for that. You go girl.

I'm doing some more research on planting our garden. I found an article that said you can plant a whole garden with the leftovers from your food shopping trip.

When you prepare peppers for dining, remove the seeds. Dry them, and plant them when the weather has warmed. Do the same with cucumbers, squash, and nearly anything else with a seed.

You can also plant the seeds of cantaloupes, honeydew melons, and nearly any other type of melon on the produce shelves.

But what about apples and peaches? Here you may experience a slight problem. The apple seeds will germinate, but you may get an apple that is not what you expected or wanted it to be. The same is true of peaches.

What about sweet potatoes? Generally you should shop at the roadside markets rather than at the supermarkets. Supermarket potatoes or yams may be grown in other countries under radically different conditions from ours. They may also have been treated to prevent sprouting.

Another day of rain for my little plants. I'm sure they will enjoy it. As for me, well this is my spring break. In between packing and rain I'm certain you get the gist of how great it is for me.

I received an email from US Sweepstakes & Fulfillment Co. I'm not sure what it is but I wonder if it's those DVD's I won earlier this week. Two other people from OLS say they received the same email. I sure could use an affy.

Blog contests I entered:

Kitchen Aid Artisan Stand Mixer

Prize: CozyCare Cape, Mat or Cap.

Prize: 32GB iPod Touch and iPodRip copy and transfer companion (ARV $420).

Prizes (2): Copy of The Food of Love: Your Formula for Successful Breastfeeding by Kate Evans.

Prize: It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown DVD, Easter Beagle plush toy and Easter Beagle egghunt book.

Prize: $25 Bangerang Bakeshop gift certificate.

Prize: Windex All-In-One Window Cleaning Tool starter kit.

Prize: Windex Outdoor All-in-One Glass Cleaning Tool.

Prizes (2): Febreeze Prize Pack Brazilian Carnival Air Effects, Hawaiian Aloha Candle, and Moroccan Bazaar.

Prize: Sister Shubert's gift basket (ARV $45).

Prizes (5): Copy of Mrs. Meyer's Clean Home: No-Nonsense Advice that Will Inspire You to Clean like the Dickens by Thelma Meyer.

Another Day Of Unpacking

I spent part of the day unpacking and part of it just entering sweepstakes. I'm so very behind.

It rained most of the day. This was good news for my garden. I did some more research about Victory Gardens. Did you know that in 1944 nearly 20 million Americans planted Victory Gardens? These gardens produced up to 40 percent of all the vegetable produce that was consumed in the nation. Guess I'm ready to go forward now because I received my first copy of Mother Earth magazine. Wow I'm so excited.

Here are the blog contests I entered today:

Prize: Curious George Hide And Seek Zoo board game.

Prize: Windex Outdoor All-In-One Glass Cleaning Tool starter kit.

Prize: Windex Outdoor All-in-One Glass Cleaning Tool.

Prize: (3) Yoplait Get Active with coupon for any Yoplait Kids yogurt product, travel cooler, jump rope, water bottle and outdoor game set with beach ball, paddle ball, Jai-Ali and Frisbee.

Prize: Windex All-In-One Window Cleaning Tool.

Win "Friday Night Lights" The First Season 5 disc DVD Collection

A package of assorted Energizer Batteries and even a plush Energizer Bunny! Value $35

A good-sized bag, with a 32 oz. water bottle, a notebook, and a coupon for a free 4-pack of Yoplus

Unpacking and Uneventful

I got ambitious today and threw a little water on our veggies. I'm nervous about watering. I don't want to overwater and I don't want to underwater. I will have to read the new book Darryl's Dad got us, The idiots guide to Vegetable Gardening.

After Darryl got up I unpacked a bunch of boxes and hung up a bunch of clothes. I also helped set up the living room. In the meantime we need to get ready for the yard sale Darryl hopes we will be having.

I heard from Michael today. He's starting his Master's Degree program. guess I'm now officially the least educated of the family. I am proud of him. He seems to be doing well over in Iraq.

blog contests:

Prize: Keepsake gift box with one dozen cookies from San Francisco Cookie Company.

Prize: Lunchbox filled with 24 individually wrapped cookies from Pacific Cookie Co.

Prize: One dozen gourmet treats: Chocolate dipped homemade marshmallows and hand-dipped Oreo Cookies.

Prize: Baker's choice cupcake from Bangerang Bake Shop.

Prize: Cookie gift basket of choice from Mrs. Fields (ARV $39.99-$44.99).

Grand Prize: The Fragrance Collection by Glade candle in choice of scent.
Runner-Up Prizes: $3 The Fragrance Collection by Glade coupon.

Prize: Personalized copy of The First Adventures of the Incredible You from Custom Made for Kids (ARV $32.95).

Prize: Yogoco yoga bag (ARV $89).

Prize: Yogoco yoga bag (ARV $89).

Prize: Twilight prize pack from Walmart (ARV $150).

Prizes (3): Fiber One chocolate spa gift basket with snack bars, bath pillow, chocolate scented soap, lotion and bath salts and coffee scented candle.

Prize: Windex Outdoor All-in-One glass cleaning tool.

Prizes (10): Quantum of Solace DVD.

Prizes (5): Pair of Keds Green Label Willow Lace Up shoes in choice of size and color (ARV $55).

Prize: Windex Outdoor All-in-One Glass Cleaning Tool starter kit (ARV $19.99).

Prize: Epson Stylus NX400 all-in-one inkjet printer (ARV $99).

Prize: Pinocchio 70th Anniversary Platinum Edition DVD.

Checking Off The Tick list

The first thing on my tick list was to get my eyes checked. Thankfully I still have vision insurance. I used it while I still can because who knows what I will have next year. My vision hasn't really changed that much but I took my new information and ordered my glasses from eyebuydirect. I won a pair a few weeks ago and I can't wait to see how these turn out. I ordered the cheapest frames, the progressive lenses, and anti-glare, anti-scratch lenses. I was able to get the whole thing down below $100 so even the shipping would be covered. Yippeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The second thing on my tick list was to go to CVS. I was able to use a coupon from my thriftymaven site (it will be there tommorrow) that allows me to buy two 12-packs and get one free. I used that and a $2.99 ecb so I was able to buy three 12-packs for only $4.59. I also earned a $2 ecb for another day.

The next thing I checked off my list was getting an oil change. I was able to negotiate the price down to $22.97. Who knew I could do that. Darryl told me to try to force the situation so I did and they were so desperate for my business they agreed to do just that.

After all that I went home so Darryl and I could go to Euharlee to check out the next Dallas DVD. We didn't have one in the house all last week. I'm looking forward to watching it again soon. The area around the library there is really pretty but in the near distance you can see the cooling towers of the power company. So basically you could go to the covered bridge, picnic by the fresh running stream but if you looked up you'd see the cooling towers looming very large and very near. What a shame.

After listening to the weather report for later this week I decided not to water my plants today. It's supposed to rain on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday so I think that will more than make up not getting watered today.

The blog contest I entered today:

Prizes (2): Copies of A Rotten Person Travels the Caribbean and Cruise Confidential (ARV $30).

Win a special edition 3-Disc combo pack of Disney's latest animated feature 'Bolt' on Blu-ray!


The Kodak photo frame has a 7.6" AMOLED display, 800x480 resolution and a contrast ratio of 30,000:1 (made by CMEL). It has built-in Wi-Fi, 2GB of storage and accepts USB drives or memory cards. It's a great looking display - the best place to showcase your photos!

Pentax OptioE30 7.1MP Digital Camera with Bonus Kit

Baker’s choice cupcake from Bangerang

Prize: Autographed hardcover copy of City of Glass (The Mortal Instruments) by Cassandra Clare.

Prize: Twilight Blu-ray.

Prize: Spectacular! DVD and soundtrack CD.

Prize: Windex Outdoor All-In-One starter kit.

Prizes (5): Copy of Mrs. Meyer's Clean Home.

Prizes (10): Arm & Hammer gift basket.

Prize: Windex Outdoor All-In-One kit.

Prizes (3): Disneynature Earth-branded canvas tote, biodegradable tumbler and tree seedling (ARV $60).

Prize: Lunchbox filled with 24 individually wrapped cookies from Pacific Cookie Co.

Prize: Audiovox Homebase digital picture frame, message board and magnet strip (ARV $115).

Prize: Purex Laundry Detergent and Fabric Softener.

Prize: Two bottles of Country Bob's All Purpose Sauce (ARV $16).

The Atlanta Home Show

Today we went to the Atlanta Home Show. Honestly I when I received the ValPack and saw the contest I KNEW if I entered I would win tickets to the show. I hadn't been to a home show for a few years so I was curious how this one would be. The last one I went to was in Rome and that one was very small. The one before that was in Richmond, Virginia. This one was about as big as the one in Richmond. There seemed to be a lot of exhibitors but nothing I could really use. We did find someone who sold books on growing veggies and fruits in Georgia. Darryl and his Dad said I should keep track of everything I do to the garden so we can see how successful it is.

After the show Darryl's Dad took us out for an amazing dinner at the Marrietta Dinner. I didn't know what to expect but I had their butternut squash ravioli with creamy pesto sauce and it was amazing. Darryl had this perrogi dish with chicken, spinich, peppers, and mushrooms in a creamy sauce and oh my it was sooooo good.

I worked on the garden a little more. That's because I stopped off at the local starbucks to ask for used coffee grounds. I used them in the remaining pots and lightly watered all the pots again. The lady behind the counter was nervous about giving me the grounds because she said someone told her that he wanted all the grounds no matter what for his garden. They gave it to me anyway.

Some more good news about the garden, we might be able to borrow a tiller. Is that great or what. That means I will be able to plant some corn and stuff. I'm so excited. We bought my favorite corn in the whole world, Silver Queen Corn and my mouth almost waters thinking about how great that is. Corn in the stores is always so small and never sweet. I miss that. Silver Queen corn is like candy. I can hardly wait until thes veggies start coming up.

Here are the blog contests I entered:

Prizes (5): Copy of The Engine 2 Diet: The Texas Firefighter's 28-Day Save-Your-Life Plan that Lowers Cholesterol and Burns Away the Pounds by Rip Esselstyn.

Prize: $35 Sweet Boutique gift certificate.

Prizes (2): Copy of Three Times the Love: Finding Answers and Hope for Our Triplets with Autism by Lynn and Randy Gaston.

Prize: Pet bed with two slipcovers and cushion saver in choice of size and pattern from petLINENS.

Prizes (2): Workout: Pumping House 2-CD set.

Prizes (3): Spa Break gift basket with Fiber One Chocolate Mocha Chewy Bars free product coupon, bath pillow, chocolate scented soap, lotion and bath salts and coffee scented candle.

Prize: Two JCPenney canvas tote bags.

Prize: Kimochi Plush Doll of your choice.

Victory Garden

–noun

a vegetable garden, esp. a home garden, cultivated to increase food production during a war or period of shortages.

When my father retired from the police department back in 1976 you would have thought he was living an episode of Green Acres. While Dad was not a lawyer trying to live the simple country life, he was raised in the city, was a cop until he retired, he imagined himself a gentleman farmer for oh about a year or so.

We planted a Victory Garden, bought chickens, two cows, and had two goats. I really didn't have much to do with the garden. Mom and Dad were kind of nastalgic about it because back in WWII people were encouraged to grow them. Our budget was so tight Dad thought if we could just raise some food it would help things out.

I didn't do the gardening but my brothers and sisters did. Once things began growing they hardly did any work to it really. Once things were ready for harvest I was baking and cooking like a real fool. Every day I would gather about a dozen eggs. There were nights I had zucchini and had to look for any and every recipe I could find for it. We had so many vegetables they were actually rotting in the field. I'd never learned to can anything but I was sad when after that we never had another victory garden.

I guess I would have felt differently if I had been out there working the garden. Ths year, after watching all these docmentaries about Monsanto and hybrid fruits and vegetables, Darryl and I are going to try our hands at gardening. That's right this year we are going to have a container garden. We feel it will be better for us because we won't be using harmful pesticides.

I won't get the same amount of publicity for having one as Michelle Obama. After all she's growing a Kitchen garden. (a garden where vegetables, herbs, and fruit are grown for one's own use.) We do plan to veg-up our summer though. We're doing it for our health but also to make a quasi-political statement. We are concened about HR875 Read the original bill here. The name of the bill "Food Safety" sounds good and might make you wonder why anything would be against it except the government can even come onto your property to find out how your garden grows. Thanks but no thanks.

Some people are contemplating growing their own veggies because they feel that we our financial institutions are collapsing and we should raise vegetables to sustain us. Darryl argues that we should grow a survivalist garden. A survivalist garden will have nut trees, fruit trees and berries and most types of vegetables. The vegetables in the survivalist garden will contain several that have a high protein count such as chickpeas, sunflowers for their seeds, and pumpkin. Pumpkin gives you a "twofer". You can use the shell for pumpkin pie puree, the filling for pumpkin pies, and also for their seeds.

Darryl suggested that I keep track of what we spent on the garden and how much time we spent. Today we bought a bunch of vadalia onion starters. That cost us about $3.99. We also bought potato starters and silver queen corn seed. Altogether that cost us about $8. We also bought seed packets of broccoli, tomatoes, squash, lettuce, and peas. That cost us about $5. The dirt for the containers cost us $3 a bag and we used two bags. Most of the containers that we used we'd had form a few years ago. We did use three new ones that we had bought not too long ago for $5 a piece. Of course these things are reusable to next year we will be able to factor these costs out.

Darryl also feels we should factor in the cost of our time so I will say that we spent an hour planting everything that we planted today. We still have lots to plant but can't do that yet because it's not time to put those things in the ground yet.

Today was the last day over at the house in Acworth. Not that we spent time there this week We didn't. We drove by the house to make sure we got everything that we came with and then we drove away. I walked to the bottom of the street like I used to. I stared out at our beautiful view. I said goodby to my house and tried not to cry.


Here are the blog contets I entered:

Rain-X Latitude Wiper Blades, Rain-X Weatherbeater 2-in-1 Glass Cleaner & Rain Repellant, and Rain-X X-treme Clean

Prizes (5): Copy of Mrs. Meyer's Clean Home: No-Nonsense Advice that Will Inspire You to Clean like the Dickens by Thelma Meyer (ARV $19.99).

Prize: Max Fleischer's Gulliver's Travels DVD.

Prize: World Championship Games video game for Nintendo DS.

Prizes (3): Garbage - The Revolution Starts At Home DVD.

Prizes (3): Spa Break gift basket with Fiber One Chocolate Mocha Chewy Bars, bath pillow, chocolate scented soap, lotion and bath salts and coffee scented candle.

Prizes (5): Finish Quantum Powerball dishwasher detergent tablets.

Prizes (3): Hannah Montana: Keeping it Real (Vol. 5) DVD.

Prize: Friends Forever doll (ARV $59).

Prize: Zenses Ocean video game for Nintendo DS.

Prize: Magellan Maestro 4350 GPS (ARV $399).

Prize: Choice of eyeglasses from EyeBuyDirect.com [excluding designer frames and sunglasses] (ARV up to $100).

Senior Skip Day/Senior Prank

Today was Senior Skip Day. Now technically there is no such thing as Senior Skip Day. I quote the whole school policy on the subject, tell the kids the documentation they must present in order to have today off from school and yet I know they kids decided to skip. It's just another sign that the school year is almost over.

The day had just started and Dr. Evans was pretty upset. Turns out that some seniors decided to write all over a bunch of lockers. Harmless fun you might say but those lockers need to be painted and with the budget shrinking by the day we really didn't need this extra expense.

The Blog Contests I entered:

Prizes (2): Two Stonyfield Farm Organic Yogurt free product coupons and two Healthy Ones Sliced Deli Meat free product coupons.

Prizes (2): TurboTax Deluxe online (ARV $65).

Prize: Personalized romance novel from Yournovel.com (ARV $49.95).

Prizes (3): Freshwater pearl bracelet with heart charm from Charity Charms.

Prize: Bunnytown: Hello Bunnies! DVD.

Prize: Advance readers copy of Everyone Is Beautiful: A Novel by Katherine Center.

Prize: $10 Wendy's gift certificate.

Prize: Kite Runner Blu-ray.

Prizes (3): The Haunting of Molly Hartley DVD.

The Walmart HOAX

At the beginning of the day one of my students asked me if I heard what was going to happen at Walmart tonight. I bit. "What's going to happen at the Walmart tonight?" "Mrs. Copeland, you need to stay away from Walmart tonight because there is some gang that's going to kill three women tonight.

I asked for more information. Just what does that mean exactly. Then it seemed to have caught on fire. Different girls in the class had heard that they shouldn't go to Walmart this weekend because there was some kind of gang initiation going on and it required killing three women.

"Gee do you think it everyone knows about it they would be really stupid to do such as thing? Which Walmart anyway, there's two in Rome." I had my doubts. Usually I begin to play Cathy PI but this just sounded so very far fetched.

As the day progressed students became more convinced this was not only true but something worth their while to watch and take pictures of so they could put it on their myspace. Some of the boys said they were going to go so they could hurt these people. Depending on the person who told the story the gang members were Black or sometimes Mexican.

Around noon the mystery finally solved itself. It turns out this was a hoax. Isn't this amazing. It's interesting to see how quickly this one piece of information spread across the US. Advertisers would pay BIG money to figure out how to make their message go viral so fast.

Here's the story:

Delaware State Police are investigating a hoax text message about violent gang attacks at Wal-Mart stores in Delaware and Maryland.

Investigators said they have been inundated with telephone calls regarding a text message that has been circulating throughout Central and Southern Delaware and portions of Maryland.

The text message reportedly read: "i don't noe how tru dis is but here it is. Dont go 2 any walmarts 2nite ther will be a gang initiation n dey have 2 kill 3 women at each store. Tell ur love 1s.

The message warns of an alleged gang initiation in which women will be killed at Wal-Mart. The message also warns women not to go to Wal-Mart. The text messages did not threaten any specific Wal-Mart stores.

Investigators have found no credible information deeming the message as a real threat and "open source information reveals this as an urban myth."

Wal-Mart spokeswoman Kelly Cheeseman released a statement that read in part:

"The safety and security of our customers and associates is our top priority. We are aware of the message being circulated and are working with local authorities to enhance our security efforts at our stores in the area. While we take these types of situations seriously, we regard this as being only a rumor, much like similar rumors that have circulated via e-mail in previous years."

The alarming text messages remain under investigation.

blog contest:

Prizes (5): Copy of The Engine 2 Diet: The Texas Firefighter's 28-Day Save-Your-Life Plan that Lowers Cholesterol and Burns Away the Pounds by Rip Esselstyn.

This week at Shoe Blitz we are giving away three pairs of Keds Green Label shoes. Check out the Green Label line at kedsgoesgreen.com.
To enter the giveaway, leave a comment here about what you are doing to be more eco-friendly. By leaving your green tip, you will be automatically entered into the giveaway

Prize: Pair of sterling silver Eternity Circle earrings from Kira Ferrer Jewelry Design (ARV $28).

Prize: Sister Schubert’s hand-painted gift basket.

Prize: Accutron by Bulova women's diamond watch with two bands from Diamondshark.com (ARV $450).

Prize: Philosophy Candy Hearts Lipgloss Duo and Philosophy Cinnamon Buns Shampoo, Shower Gel and Bubble Bath (ARV $36).

The Final Move Is Tommorrow

Darryl and his Dad have been working hard on the move all week. I go to work, come home, and more of it is done. I was going to go over to the other house today but I had car problems. The radiator light came on when I was almost home so I pulled over at the BoJangles and called Darryl to come help me.

I woke up at 5 a.m and felt as though I was pregnant. Just the thought of eating caused me to want to throw up. I felt dizzy and when my head hit the pillow I said, "I'll just close my eyes for a few seconds." Fortunately I was able to wake back up by 6:30. I'm feeling better today than I have in awhile. Even yesterday I felt sick with a bad headache but that extra bit of slip really seemed to improve things for me.

About a hundred people have entered the contest I'm sponsoring on ThriftyMaven. I can hardly believe it. I'm hoping this will be the first of many sponsored contests. I've been working hard on that site. As a matter of fact yesterday I posted an article about a program that provides cell phones for people in financial trouble and next week I will be publishing a post about a service for people who need an eye exam but have lost their insurance.

All this week I've been listening to the book 'Tis by Frank McCourt. I read his book Angela's Ashes a couple of years ago. This one is not as depressing. I know some people who talked about how they just couldn't imagine people living like he did when he was young. I guess because I grew up pretty poor it wasn't as difficult for me to imagine. 'Tis talks about his time in the Army, how he went to college and how he's teaching English at a Vocational High School. Sounds like things haven't changed as much as I thought. People wrote off vocational students even back then.

Blog Contests:

Win a Method Prize Pack: Lavender Dishwashing Soap, Sweet Water Hand Soap
Cucumber Wipes and Grapefruit Dishwasher Tablets

Prizes (10): Twilight DVD.

Prizes (4): Copy of Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Home (ARV $19.99).

Prize: Bratz Magic Hair Grow and Cut doll (ARV $27.99).

Bratz Kidz Snap-On Swimming Mermaid Giveaway

Contest Up And Running

I'm pretty excited because I have a contest up and running at www.ThriftyMaven.com. The best part is we are giving away THREE PRIZES.

Each Prize contains: Fiber One gift basket with nutrition journal, water bottle, pedometer with calorie counter and kitchen scale. So head on over and enter

Live From Mosul It's Michael

It was incredibly wonderful to hear from Michael today. He called today and it was thrilling to hear his voice. He said he's doing OK and I hope he really is. He told me that this is still considered front lines but he assured me over and over that he's pretty safe.

Today began a very important week for us at school. It's testing week. Our Juniors have been encouraged to try to pass all their tests with a score of 516. This score is actually above and beyond on almost all of our state tests but we've had lots of students who were able to do this in previous years. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this will be the case this year.

I feel so very much better today. I guess I just needed some sleep and some Nyquil. Darryl said that there is still no word from these people about my webpage additions. I'm hoping I hear soon or I will have to change the rules before I launch the contest. I really can hardly wait to announce the contest. I want it to be successful. I received my sample today.

Here are the blog contests I entered today:

Win an 8" HP Digital Picture Frame, day two's listing for Mommas March Mania at MommasReview.com.

Prize: Copy of The Human Body: 25 Fantastic Projects Illuminate How the Body Works by Kathleen M. Reilly.

Prize: Kung Fu Panda DVD (ARV $19.99).

Prizes (3): Banana Nut Cheerios free product coupon, banana tree with fruit basket, bread loaf pan and two cereal bowls.

gift basket includes a nutrition journal, water bottle, pedometer with calorie counter, and a kitchen scale.

Blog Contest False Start

I honestly thought i was going to be able to launch my blog contest on Thrifty Maven today but as of right this minute it doesn't seem like this is in the cards. You see I already have about 90 or so people signed up for that blog and once i have 100 people registered I won't be able to allow anymore. Darryl is supposed to fix that for me but the program he bought to do that didn't work. Now he is working on getting that fixed.

That Nyquil we bought yesterday did wonders for me. For the first time this week I've begun to feel human.

I heard about a new movie that I'm interested in seeing. It's called a Haunting in Connecticut. We had seen it on TV as a very frightening TV show. Now it's been made into a movie. Supposedly is a true story but I hear that was debunked a long time ago on the Sally Jesse Raphael Show. Gosh remember that show? Turns out the boy had mental issues and was allegedly groping the girls.


blog contest:
Prize: Fairytale Brownies Easter box.

Prize: Rice-A-Roni.

Prize: Keurig Platinum Coffee Brewer (ARV $169.95).

(3) Fiber One Fiber Friend Gift Basket

Prizes (2): Air Bud DVD.

Prize: Pair of glasses from EyeBuyDirect.com.

Prize: Book club edition of Intent to Kill: A Novel of Suspense by James Grippando.

Prizes (2): Pair of Keds Green Label shoes.

Prizes (2): Pair of Keds Green Label shoes.

Prizes (3): Pair of Keds Green Label shoes.

Prize: TurboTax Deluxe online (ARV $65).

Prizes (8): Australia DVD.

Prizes (3): Fiber One gift basket.

Prize: Box of personalized My Fruit Roll-Ups (ARV $30).

Hoping To Launch Contest

You knew it would eventually happen. I spent some time last week talking to my students about how everything they post on the web can impact them in some way. I warned them about posting suggestive photos and TMI (too much information).

Some of the kids think that only their friends find out about their stuff on myspace. This is not true. I told them to check out addictomatic.com and put their information in the search and they would be amazed what others can find out about them. I also told them about mydeathspace. What is that you say? Well I found out about it several years ago on a news show. At first I felt it was pretty creepy. If you die they put your myspace link on their site. Some people send notes of encouragement or support but others are evil and post with malintent.

Then what happened was periodically I did check out the site if a news article mentioned that a victim had a myspace account and police were looking at it. OK so I'm a news junkie, I'll admit it. For me the site was like an obit page only filled with young people. When people get my age they often read the obit page to see if they made it through the day. So far for me I have.

I hadn't checked it out in awhile but I did today because I wanted to get some clue about what possessed the Joker to do what he did. You'd be surprised to discover how explicit some people plan things leaving behind the details on their myspace. Then today I noticed this account.


http://www.mydeathspace.com/article/2009/03/12/Daniel_Kemp_(17)_killed_David_Esslinger_(19)_behind_a_Kmart_during_a_late_night_altercation


I teach the victim, David's brother. this has been very difficult for the family. From all accounts David was a special young man and didn't deserve this. The last I heard there would be more arrests forthcoming but then I didn't hear anything else.

David's brother, James is even mentioned in the article:

"He was a good kid," said his brother James King Jr. "He's probably laughing right now watching us out here in the cold."

We just started season Five of Dallas. Season Four ended with Kristen dead in the Ewing pool. Just in case you don't remember Kristn, she was the one who shot JR and then claimed she was pregnant with JR's baby. Oh and don't forget that's Sue Ellen's little sister.

We went to the house in Acworth today and packed some boxes. I was so sick I just needed a nap. I was able to persuade Darryl to cancel our get together tomorrow because I'm just way too tired.
blog contests I entered:

Thom Filicia’s new book, Thom Filicia Style

OhMiBod (a $69.99 value) and a $10 iTunes gift certificate

Necklace/earring set

Win Fairytale Brownies

Win a copy of H&R Block's Tax Cut Premium Federal + E-file.

One lucky reader will win a coupon code good for one free pair of prescription eyeglasses (not including sunglasses and designer frames) including any upgrade up to $100 and 100% free shipping.

Prizes (2): Five Clorox Decor Canister free product coupons.

Prizes (20): Clorox Disinfecting Wipes Décor canister free product coupon (ARV $5.49).

Prize: Pair of glasses from EyeBuyDirect.com.

Prize: Insignia 7.0 megapixel digital camera in pink (ARV $75.99).

Prizes (3): Spa Break gift basket from Fiber One.

Prize: Hoover Platinum Collection Lightweight Bagged Upright with Portable Canister Vacuum (ARV $399.99).

Prize: JVC Everio GZ-HD320 Camcorder (ARV $800).

Prizes (2): Beverly Hills Chihuahua DVD.

Prizes (10): Clorox Disinfecting Wipes Décor canister free product coupon (ARV $5.49).

Prizes (3): Spa Gift Packs including a coupon for 1 free box of Fiber One bars.

Prize: Two bottles of Country Bob's All Purpose Sauce.

Mike Made It To Mosul In One Piece

Mike emailed me to tell me that he made it to Mosul in one piece. I'm thankful. I worried about him being transported because of IED's.

last night was pretty rough for me. I'm still sick with all this new carpet smell. I was up and down all night long. At one point I turned on my computer to write Michael and that's when I saw this crazy news story. It involved a solider stationed at Ft Eustis where Michael was stationed.

A soldier dressed and wearing face-paint like Batman villain The Joker was shot and killed by police in the Shenandoah National Park after he pointed a loaded shotgun at them after a chase, an FBI affidavit says.

Army Spc. Christopher Lanum, a suspect in the stabbing of a fellow soldier at Fort Eustis, was killed hours after the attack when officers attempted to stop the minivan he was driving, according to court documents filed Wednesday that first disclosed the weekend shooting.

Lanum's girlfriend Patsy Ann Marie Montowski, a passenger in the van, was hit by gunfire and treated at a hospital. She was arrested Wednesday evening and charged with being accessory after the fact to assault, authorities said.

Joker outfit at the time of an argument early Sunday with his Fort Eustis suite mate, Spc. Mitchell Stone. Montowski told the FBI that Lanum idolized the character.

Stone told emergency workers that Lanum stabbed him and used a stun gun on him, authorities said, adding he was taken to a hospital for serious injuries and later released.

Stone told emergency workers that Lanum stabbed him and used a stun gun on him, the affidavit said. Stone was taken to a hospital for serious injuries and later released.

Lanum and Montowski fled in her van, which a park ranger spotted about 200 miles northwest of the base, according to authorities. The ranger called for help, and Lanum led police on a slow-speed chase before running over a spike strip laid down by police and crashing, they added.

The FBI said Montowski told them that Lanum handed her the shotgun and asked her to kill him, but she refused. The affidavit says Lanum pointed the gun at police, his finger on the trigger, and refused commands to drop the weapon. A trooper fired through the driver's side window, Lanum's shotgun discharged, and police fired several times.

Michael didn't know anything about it.

Today was teacher work day. Thank God because, as I said earlier I was miserable I was able to bunker down in my classroom most of the day. Next week is testing and the week after is spring break.

Darryl might have a job interview. He received a couple of calls from different recruiters. Keep your fingers crossed. One of the jobs would be back up in Virginia. Darryl thinks it's Northrup Grumman. Wow. That would be cool. I won't get too excited though. So far things haven't played out too well.

Blog contest:

Prize: Green Toys Cookware and Dining Set made from recycled milk jugs.

Prize: Gorilla onesie in size 3-6 months (ARV $30).

Prize: $50 Petit gift certificate.

Prize: Bottle of Nature's Source Natural Glass & Surface Cleaner.

Prize: Dress-up costume in choice of style and size from Sugarplum Dreams.

Prize: Copies of I Love You Through and Through by Bernadette Rossetti-Shustak and How Do I Love You? by Marion Dane Bauer.

Prize: Pair of See Kai Run shoes.

Prize: $40 Gift Certificate to Cottonseed Clothing.

Prize: Itsy Bitsy Hearts onesie or tee.

First Prize: Twilight prize pack (ARV $150)
Second Prize: $25 Twilight Walmart gift card.

Prize: Combo blu-ray and dvd package of Pinocchio's 70th Anniversary Platinum edition from Walt Disney.

First Prize: Twilight prize pack (ARV $150).
Second Prize: $25 Twilight Walmart gift card.

Prize: Rachel Getting Married DVD.

Prize: Bumbleride 2008 Flyer stroller (ARV $359.99).

Prize: 6-month supply of Pampers diapers, 3-month supply of Pampers wipes, five One-Pack = One Vaccine bodysuits, and One Pack = One Vaccine bear with branded bodysuit.

Prize: New Native Inc. baby carrier.

Tootsie Pop Conspiracy Day Two

This morning I appologized to the student about the tootsie pop misunderstanding. She sat there looking confused. "Why are you apologizing? You didn't do anything wrong." I told her that I heard that some students were hurt by this whole thing but I wanted them to now that I appreciated everything. Still confused she asked me where I heard that anyone's feelings had been hurt. I told her that the club sponsor had let me know that I'd upset some kids and I hadn't meant to do it. At this point the student rolled her eyes and said, "Look you didn't say anything wrong. I simply asked someone what they wrote and when they showed it to me I said that some of the messages seemed inappropriate. YOU didn't say anything wrong." Well, I still apologized again and said please tell everyone that the cookies and all the other things you've all done has been absolutely wonderful!!!!!!!!!

I saw that cat today. I think I mentioned it before. Someone abandoned a cat over in Rome and I hadn't seen it the last couple of times I stopped at the gas station I didn't see it. I had this feeling today to stop there and low and behold there he was. This time he even let me pet him. Oh how great. I'd like to adopt him. I stopped by after school to get him but he was gone again.

Remember I told you that I would be having a giveaway coming up soon? Well another company contacted me and I might actually have TWO giveaways coming up soon on Thrifty Maven. One will be on this site and two will be on thrifty maven. AMAZING. I can hardly believe it myself. Keep your fingers crossed and if this all comes through then I will be letting you know about the contests soon.

Here are the blog contests I entered:

Prize: Spa Time Baby product.

Prize: Plantronic Discovery 925 (ARV $150).

Prize: Pair of Baby Leg Huggers.

Prize: One pound of organic fair trade coffee (ARV $9.75).

Prize: Mystic Wonders Complete Laundry System (ARV $49.95).

Prize: $25 in coupons for Laura's Lean Beef.

First Prize: $50 Target gift card.
Second Prize: $25 iTunes gift card.
Third Prize: $20 Starbucks gift card.

Prize: Personalized lovie blanket from Noodles and Milk.

Prize: Polka dot plate.

Prize: Calendar Girls DVD.

Prizes (3): Chocolate spa gift basket including Free Fiber one product coupon.

Prize: Parker Satchel (ARV $458).

Prize: Variety of ecoStore cleaning items.

Prize: Cotton infant bodysuit that reads "Together We Can Help Save a Life" on the front with the Pampers and UNISEF logos on the back.

Prizes (2): Plant A Maple Tree Seedling Kit from Child to Cherish (ARV $6.99).

Prize: JJ Cole Diaper & Wipes Caddy (ARV $30).

Prizes (3): Honey Kix Sweet and Simple prize pack.

Prize: $75 Tea Collection gift card.

Prizes (3): Fiber One spa gift basket.

Ungrateful ....Not Really

This is teacher appreciation week and every day they have been doing something special for us. On Monday they gave us a tootsie pop stuck in a piece of paper with a little note. The one I got was on white paper and written in a pale yellow marker. I could hardly make out the words but one of them was something lick. I felt a little unnerved at first. You see there's a teacher who has made passes at me from time to time and I felt a bit creeped out. How blatant how sick. What should I do. I really could barely read it and the pop blocked some of the message. I threw it in my pocket so I could figure out what was being said and what I should do.

As I walked down the hall another teacher said, "Did you see those pops? You'd think those honor students could have done a better job at writing a message." WEW so it wasn't sleezoid teacher. One of my student was an honor's student and I said, "Oh I got your tootsie pop." She had no clue what I was talking about. I showed it to her. Then I said, you know next time you write something on light color paper you should write it with a dark ink. This was really difficult to read. My old eyes really need help."

Well then it turned into a game of telephone. I said that then she told someone else who told someone else and then the teacher in charge of the group stopped me in the hall.

"I heard you complained about the pops. Some of those kids were really hurt. They worked really hard on them." I told her what I said and suggested that next time she should.... Well before I could spit out what would be helpful she said there might not be a next time. FINE.

The thing was several, not one, not two, not three, but four different teachers were kind of unnerved by the message but I guess I was the only one who said anything to anyone and I suggested that they used a darker ink.

Since student's feelings were hurt, I wrote an apology letter. I suppose I was wrong but it's hard to believe that it took on this much of a life on its own. I really didn't mean to hurt anyone's feelings. I didn't lecture the student about the appropriateness. I didn't say anything about how other people were unnerved by it. Just about the difficulty I had in reading it.

We had a Department Meeting after school and now we were told that if anyone leaves Rome they won't be replaced. AMAZING. I just don't know how we will do it.

Here's the blog contests I entered:

Prize: Svan high chair, seat cushion and tray cover (ARV $350).

Prize: Maya Wrap.

Prize: Room It Up Laptop Messenger Bag.

Prizes (2): Copy of Preacher Creature Strikes on Sunday Christian children's book by Mike Thaler.

Prizes (2): Copy of This is the Day children's Christian book by Nancy White Carlstrom.

Prize: $25 Gift card for Coco-Zen Fair Trade Chocolate Products.

Prizes (2): Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head (ARV $19.99).

Prizes (9): Coupon for a free can of Pillsbury's cinnamon rolls and one of the winners will win a Cinnabon prize pack.

Prizes (5): Escape to Witch Mountain & Return to Witch Mountain DVDs.

Prize: Hazelnut Designs clutch.

Prize: Two sets of 60 Pokemon Platinum Trading Cards: Rebellion and Flourish.

Prize: Red-Headed Stepchild by Jaye Wells.

Prize: ZoomAlbum kit.

It's A Top Down Day

This afternoon the weather was so beautiful I rode home with the convertible top down. Oh how wonderful. I used to dream of driving with the wind blowing through my hair. Who knew I'd have to wait until I'mm almost fifty.

Sorry I couldn't post yesterday but we have been moving out of our home in Acworth and back to Cartersville. Guess we got out just in time. Turns out someone kicked in the back door of a house in our block and stole some laptops and a flat screen TV.

Looks like I will be pretty busy this weekend because we will finally have that yard sale I've been wanting to have. That will be a lot of work but we'll see how that goes.

I received an email and FINALLY I will be hosting a contest on Thrifty Maven that I don't have to pay for!!!!!!!!!! In a couple of weeks I will be giving away something but I can't say what yet. As a matter of fact I can even select THREE winners!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh Yeah.

I didn't get to enter too many blog contests today but here's the ones I did enter:

Munchie Mug giveaway

ZoomAlbum Photo Kit

An Awesome Book' by Dallas Clayton

Prize: Bottle of Nature's Source Natural Glass and Surface Cleaner.

Prizes (5): Copy of Mrs. Meyer's Clean Home (ARV $19.99).

(1) Boxed set of two of Nicholas Sparks unabriged audiobooks: True Believer & At First Sight

I hope to have more blog contests tommorrow.

Moving Day - Part One

I received the following email this morning: You won a copy of The Perfect Baby Handbook. Please let me know where to send it, and the publisher will mail it out to you soon! Congrats and thanks for entering.

I hope to post more later

1 Dead, 4 Injured in Shooting at First Baptist Church in Illinois

I think the reason this story caught my interest was because one of Darryl's uncle's is named Fred Winters. I knew it wasn't Darryl's uncle but still a church shooting? Those don't happen every day thank God. This Fred Winters was a Senior Pastor at the first Baptist Church in Maryville, IL. He used the Bible he was reading out of to shield himself from bullets being pumped at him from an unknown gunman who opened fire during Sunday services. A man entered the church during the 8 am services, walked down the isle and started shooting, injuring five people, before being stabbed by a parishioner

Today was another day of boxing things for the move. I packed some clothes, china, and plain old stuff. Boy am I pooped. I did run up to Arby's to try my free roast burger. It was pretty good. I was happy to see they had a sugar free lemonade so I was even able to get my drink.

I did go to Target this morning to get my prescription. The lady yesterday couldn't find it but this one actually looked for it and was able to find it.

I think what surprised me about Target today was how empty the parking lot was. I realize that it was Sunday but gee usually by noon that parking lot was filled. When I went by Target yesterday the parking lot was pretty empty too. It's weird seeing the old Circuit City Building empty.

blog contests:

The Galeggsy Easter egg decorating kit helps you create eggs that are out-of-this-world. The kit features with space themed stickers and glow-in-the-dark pen, galactic egg stands for you to display your egg artwork.

$10 Amazon (1 Winner)

Prize: Zoom Album (ARV $32.95).
Hotel on Bitter and Sweet Audiobook (1, International)

Free To Love (5copies)

A Lucky Child (5 Winners)

Spring Cleaning (2)

Prizes (2): Rain-X Latitude Wiper Blades, Rain-X Weatherbeater 2-in-1 Glass Cleaner & Rain Repellant, and Rain-X X-treme Clean.

Prize: Two Monkey Popouts wall art.

Prize: One dozen toffee cookies from Sugar Plus Spice.

First Prize: Twilight prize pack (ARV $150).
Second Prize: $25 Twilight gift card to WalMart.

All Dressed Up And No Ice Cream

Today was PJ day at Bruster's. I had it all planned out. I was going to go to the library and finally retrieve our latest edition of Dallas. I checked out the book: Hot, Flat, and Crowded. I checked out the booksale and bought a couple of books on tape that were on sale two for $1.

From there I was on my way to the CVS in Cartersville. I wanted to check to see if there were any more of those gift packs on sale. I got such great deals this week on gifts at CVS. There weren't any left though.

Just as I pulled into the parking lot of Bruster's I heard the end of the book "Midnight Bayou" by Nora Roberts. I'm not a big romance book fan. There was a time, when I was in my late teens I got to reading them because I could get them so cheap at yard sales but generally they're usually very similar in nature. Hunky guy, slender woman with long flowing hair and big boobs, and the man is persuing her while she resists his charms, often hating him at first only to realize that this is the one man she waited her whole life to be with. Here's the funny thing, when I was at the book sale, a woman who was buying a bunch of books had about fifteen nora roberts books. they were a quarter a piece. I almost, almost mind you, went back to see if I might be interested in any of them. What's up with that?

Here's the ice cream story. In order to get the ice cream you had to wear your PJs. I even took it up a notch and wore PJ's, slippers, and a robe. I also brought my dog because dogs are supposed to get free ice cream when you take them to Bruster's anyway. I waited in line behind a guy and his kid who must have thought I was a loon. Fine. I was going to be a loon with a free ice cream.

When it was my turn I stepped up to the window and said, "I'm here to get my free ice cream." The boy at the window stared at me. "Uh, it's PJ day. I'm supposed to get free ice cream." The boy shrugged and called his manager on the cell phone. I mean here's a teen boy all by himself and if he has a question, he has to call his manager.

The manager told the boy that although it is PJ day they were not participating in the promotion. Fine. I'll take my dog's sundae. I didn't know what to expect but basically it was a very small tablespoon serving of ice cream and they are supposed to put a dog biscuit in it but they didn't have that so he just shrugged and said "sorry we don't have a dog treat for it." FINE FINE FINE. Really this guy is just a young teen having to deal with a customer who just made a fool of herself wearing PJs. It's not his fault. I just have to question their strategy of leaving this kid by himself and not telling him what to do if this happened.

I finally signed up for good reads. Kim is forever telling me I should so I did. I can't remember the names of all the book's I've read so far this year. I put down what I remembered and I will go from there. I know I read a lot I'd just like to see how many I do read in a year

Well here's the blog contests that I entered.

Prize: He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not by Trish Ryan.

Prizes (3): Yoplait Yo-Plus gift bag with 4-pack of Yo-Plus yogurt free product coupon, Yoplait cooler tote bag, water bottle and nutrition journal.

Prize: Handmade St. Patrick's table runner from The Krafty Kats.

Prize: Reader's Delight gift basket (ARV $100).

Prizes (3): Box of Crest White Strips Advanced Seal (ARV $45).

Prizes (5): Copy of Mrs. Meyer's Clean Home by Mrs. Thelma A. Meyer.

Grand Prize: History backpack, Ax Men Season 1 DVD, roadside car kit, digital photo frame, log box mind puzzle, iPod speaker case, and Trek waist pack with wather bottle, flashlight and compass.
Runner-Up Prize: History tote bag, Ax Men Season 1 DVD, log box mind puzzle, iPod speaker case, and Trek waist pack with wather bottle, flashlight and compass.

Prizes (3): Coupon for a box of Fiber One Chewy Bars, chocolate scented soap, lotion and bath salts, coffee scented candle and bath pillow.

Prizes (6 - 1 per book): Copy of Primary Beneficiary by David Tackett, Explore the Virgin Islands by Harry S. Pariser, Inside All by Margaret H. Mason, Essentials of Premarital Counseling by Sandra L. Ceren PhD, Beat the Reaper: A Novel by Josh Bazell or 20 Things You Must Know to Write a Great Screenplay: A Thorough Primer for Screenwriters by Rick Reichman.

Prize: Hoover Platinum Collection cordless stick vacuum (ARV $179.99).

Prize: Signed copy of Happy Hour of the Damned by Mark Henry.

Prizes (5): Copy of Mrs. Meyers Clean Home by Thelma Meyers.

Prize: Copy of I Like You by Amy Sedaris.

Prize: Copy of Be Strong & Curvaceous by Shelley Adina.

Prize: Sweetheart apron (ARV $42).

Prize: Beautiful pair of handcrafted crochet slippers from Linda's Krafty Kreations.

My What Big Eyes You've Got

I talked to my students about coupons and why they are a good way to get people to try your product. I also talked with them about why they should use coupons. They couldn't believe the deals I was showing them. I told them they should check out the thrifty maven to find out more. I hope that gets some parents to check out the site.

I tried to burn a cd from ITunes but that messed up. The first three songs burned on the CD but after that there was nothing. I was a bit upset. I was looking forward to hearing the songs.

All is not lost because I did find out that I won something I've been trying to win. I WON GLASSES from EYEBUY Direct. YIPEEE. Now I have to find my perscription. I'm so very excited. The other thing I really wanted to win was the lasagna from Pizza Hut but still no luck on that. Still I'm excited about the glasses so I will have to see what frames I'll get. I see ones I want but then you have to throw in the all the other costs and get them to come in under $100. Let's see how that goes.

I ran late tonight so I didn't get to enter many blog contests but here's the ones I did enter:

Prizes (5): Crest Pro-Health Rinse, Crest Pro-Health toothpaste, and Oral-B Vitality toothbrush.

Prize: Evolve shower head.

Prize: 3-month membership to ListPlanIt.

Prize: Pair of glasses from EyeBuyDirect.com.