Captain Saved From Pirates

Happy Easter!!!!!!!!!!!!

My son Dan called me this morning to wish me a Happy Easter. He told me that he doesn't get the kids today. That's pretty sad. Liza seems to get the kids EVERY holiday. Then a few hours later my son Michael called me. Michael went to mass in a monastery that was built in 700 AD.

The big story today is that the Captain of the U.s flagged ship has been rescued from Somali Pirates. U.S. Navy snipers opened fire and killed three pirates holding an American captain at gunpoint, delivering the skipper unharmed and ending a five-day high-seas hostage drama on Easter Sunday.

The pirates were pointing AK-47s at Capt. Richard Phillips and he was in "imminent danger" of being killed when the commander of the nearby USS Bainbridge made the split-second decision to order his men to shoot, Vice Adm. Bill Gortney said.

As always it was a very busy day. We went grocery shopping and then walked around Walmart and Lowes pricing stuff. We also had lunch at CiCi's pizza which is basically an all you can eat pizza place.

I have been working on an essay for this contest for three days. I finally have it the way I want it but since I can enter more than once I'm working on another essay even as we speak.


Last year I was a finalist and they didn't give the finalists ANYTHING. I was pretty disappointed. The year before I was a finalist in this and won some airmiles but we didn't get to use them. Turned out that after one year the airline deleted them from your account so it was as though I didn't win anything. We were a finalist in yet another essay contest with them so who knows. Maybe I will be a finalist again.

If you've never entered an essay contest, I think you should try. I am obviously not the world's greatest writer yet I do pretty well on these. I wish I won as often as I entered. I don't. I do win enough to keep me trying though.

1-800-Flowers.com - Spotlight a Mom Contest

Nominee Grand Prize: 4-day/3-night trip for a family of four (2 adults/2 children) to winner's choice of any of the four Beaches All-Inclusive Resorts in Turks and Caicos or Jamaica from within the Continental U.S.; includes year of flowers from 1-800-Flowers.com and Cheryl & Co. Vera Bradley comestic bag and tote set (ARV $6,762.99).
Nominator Grand Prize Prize: One year of flowers from 1-800-Flowers.com and Cheryl & Co. Vera Bradley comestic bag and tote set (ARV $562.99).
Nominator Finalist Prizes (9): Three months of flowers from 1-800-Flowers.com (ARV $116.95).
Nominator Daily Prizes (25 - 1 per day): $100 1-800-Flowers.com gift card or Garden Whimsy Tin & Tower from The Popcorn Factory (ARV $100).

Here are the blog contests I entered:

Prize: Disneynature Earth-branded canvas tote, reusable grocery bag, biodegradable tumbler, tree seedling and more (ARV $60).

Prize: Gift basket with Betty Crocker mixing spoon, spatula, measuring spoons and cups, whisk, liquid measuring cup and Betty Crocker Magazine.

Prizes (2): $25 Kroger gift card.

Prize: Exergen TemporalScanner thermometer (ARV $49.99).

Prize: The Tale of Despereaux DVD.

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

Prize: Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Mystery of the Easter Chimpunk and My Little Pony: The World's Biggest Tea Party DVDs.

Prize: Exergen TemporalScanner Infrared Thermometer.

Prize: $30 Pizza Hut e-gift card to host a PANormous Pizza PJ Party and copy of I Got Two Dogs by John Lithgow.

A Chance to Go Back and Do It Over

I don’t listen to much Country. This is not an assement of that genre just a statement. There are some Country songs and artists I really love. So forgive me if I don’t get this exactly right. It’s my understanding that Montgomery Gentry has a song called “Back When I Knew It All”. Although I’ve never heard the song, I understand the chorus says: “Lord I’m learning so much more than back when I knew it all,”

I guess that’s why the University of Phoenix has partnered up with Montgomery Gentry on a contest giving away a scholarship to the University of Phoenix. Since I’ve already paid my dues to the College of Hard Knocks I took an interest in this contest. At my local radio station you have to tell them in 500 words or less, what you would do with the chance to go back and do it over. You may be granted a scholarship from the University of Phoenix to further your education and change your life.

Here are some stations offering this contest:


http://www.wkhx.com/customform.asp?id=41832&view=scheduled


http://wogt.com/customform.asp?id=41832&view=scheduled

http://www.catcountry951.com/Article.asp?id=1101059&spid=26504

http://98kqfc.com/customform.asp?id=41832&view=scheduled

I would love to go back to college and get my Masters Degree. I would like to be certified as a Special Education teacher. So I took a chance and wrote my essay. Wish me luck.

You can only enter once per person and the winner will be selected after reading all the winners. I wish I had read that because I thought it was one person per station. As always I should read the rules first but I seldom do. You know now so good luck to you.

Crazy stuff going on in DC— A man who drove a pickup truck to the U.S. Capitol and said he had a delivery for President Barack Obama has been arrested after a rifle was found in the truck, police said.

On the positive side I see that Stump became the oldest best in show winner ever at the Westminster Kennel Club, coming out of retirement only last week and walking off with the top prize Tuesday night.. He is ten years old. Guess my little dog is walking (or hobbling) with a bit more pride. One of my co-workers and I joke that in our “next lives” we will come back as pampered pure-bred pups. I see satin pillows and color bling in my future. I joked with her this morning that there’s hope for us yet. Even more interesting about this win is that Sump almost died in 2004 from a medical condition, saved by the vets at Texas A&M. Guess there’s hope for us all.

Speaking of my co-worker, Diane, she brought me a card that says: “May God grant you the blessing of his care and love.” Then she wrote. Thank you for being such a good friend. You always brighten my day and help to lift my spirit. There is no special reason for this card other than to say thank you and to let you know you are in my prayers.” Now that’s an entry in a gratitude journal.

She also gave me an award that says:

Elvis sang, “You ain’t nothing but a hound dog. (But then he didn’t know Us!) We are the Pampered Puppy Princesses!!!!. How really cute.

Darryl called me during 5th period and I couldn’t answer the phone. When I received his message, he said call me back right away. I did. He said he received a call from Q100. He was nervous because he thought that was about one of the essays I wrote for the Fish. I was so excited. I was hoping that meant that we were in for the wedding renewal. That contest did say one entry per person and so I wrote one entry for me and Darryl wrote one too. Then I realized that wasn’t it. I looked and it turns out it’s dinner for two at the Medieval Times.

OMG. I have always wanted to go there. Years ago, when I won a trip to Disney and took the boys, I had hoped to take them to the one there. I just couldn’t afford it. Now I am going to go and I’m thrilled. It’s like a big whoopee do thing. I can hardly believe it.

Nervous About Essay

The local Christian Radio Station, 104.7 The Fish is selecting 50 couples to renew their wedding vows on Valentine’s Day at Stone Mountain Park.

If we are selected,we would take part in a special wedding vow renewal ceremony at the base of Snow Mountain.

Every couple selected to attend will receive a copy of the movie Fireproof on DVD and will be able to enjoy music from our wedding singers John Waller and Jonny Diaz.
If we win we would attend a special reception following the ceremony where every couple will be registered to win prizes from Ideal Image, the Weekend to Remember Conference, and Jake’s House.

They are even having wedding cake for us and a photographer. There's even a special mini-concert from John Waller.

I thought the contest was over and I've been wondering if and when I will hear from them. Finally I relented and called the station. I pulled up their website to find their number and that's when I saw that the contest was still going on. I guess that's why I haven't heard from them. So I called to find out when they'd let people know. The lady at the station said she felt they would let people know by Friday. "Did you get a lot of response?" I asked. I figured they say maybe 50 people. Maybe a few more but I felt it would be right about 50. Turns out I'm very wrong. They've had about 500 entries AND they are reading each and every one of them trying to decide which couples deserve this prize. Now I'm very nervous that I won't be one of those people.

I have to write an essay contest entry tommorrow for another contest from that station.

I saw Trixie today. I said, "I'm just so sorry..." but before I could say anything to her she seemed upset. She almost seemed angry with me but I knew that wasn't it. The strain from burrying her father must be horrible. She wrote me later to apologize and I told her she didn't need to do that. I think she's an awsome person and I feel so badly that this happened to her.

Here are the blog contests I've entered.

Prize: Caligula: The Imperial Edition Blu-ray disc

Prize: He's Just Not That Into You soundtrack CD and hoodie.

Letting The Words Spill Out

I've been working on essays for the past couple of days. I've won a few essay contests but they take up so much time I can see why some people avoid them. At first I take a look at how the essay is judged. The next thing I do is read the topic of the essay several times. Then I just start throwing words on a page. I check the word count and read what I wrote again. I read the topic once more and then read my essay again editing often. The final thing I do is read my essay out loud. Perhaps I should do that with my blog more. You'd be surprised how different your essay can sound when it's spoken out loud. If it doesn't sound natural when it's read out loud it can't possibly win.

I entered one essay about "What's so special about the person you love. The prize is a Princess cut 1 carat diamond bridal set. That one took me about a half an hour to write. Well about that, but I was also distracted by one of the movies we were watching, Forgetting Sarah Marshall. It was pretty funny and I thought the resort where it was filmed was beautiful.

I also entered a contest to try to win a day at a local spa and choice of local family activity. That essay was about describing your family’s favorite group activity

Not much in the way of blog contests today but I have a feeling that will change soon when the bloggy carnival comes in about a week.

It's time to watch Dallas. Still hard to believe I never watched a single episode before.

Two Different Kinds of Blogs

Darryl and I went to the library today to return the videos we checked out last week and get new ones for this week. Here's something that might amazing some people. I have never watched one episode of Dallas. It's not like I wasn't alive when it was one of the most popular shows or even that I was too young. It's not like I wasn't aware that people were caught up in the mystery of Who Shot JR? I guess I was too busy living the soap opera that was my life and I didn't have time to watch a TV soap opera. So today I picked up a Dallas First and Second Season DVD. Oh and before you ask, no I've never watched Dynasty either.

We picked out some books while we were there and one of them was a book about Blogs. The author said there were basically two kinds of blogs, the diary blog, and the other was the linked blog. My Thrifty Maven blog would be an example of a linked blog. I find products, coupons, or sales and I link my blog to a site with more information about the subject of my blog. For example, tomorrow I will carry an article about where you can get free Valentine's Day cards, free coffee, and some free food. This site is a diary blog. When you think about it, you wonder what makes people interested in a blog? Why does someone visit a diary site? What makes a diary site successful. The book suggests your excitement but could that really attract readers? I wish I was smart enough to know the answer.

This morning I entered several snail mail contests from Budweiser. I've been so very busy that I've put my snail mail sweeps on the back burner.

Well I finally set about to do some of my essay contests that I've been wanting to enter. I entered an essay contest where the prize is Dinner for two adults 18+ at a local restaurant and round trip limousine service. You could either submit a video or essay explaining why you deserve a chance to win the Ultimate Valentine's day date. I chose to write an essay.

I also entered an essay to win a : 3-day/2-night trip for two adults 21+ to Paris, France; includes $750 cash per day spending money. That one required an essay that explains why you need help from Ms. Green to heat up your romance this Valentine's Day.

I discovered a site today called The Giving Tree Project It reminded me of how I used to keep a gratitude journal. Each and every day I would try to find something about the day that I could be grateful for. Sometimes I really had to dig deeply for it but you would be amazed at what an effect it had on my life. I stopped keeping one about a year ago after I moved here. Funny isn't it? Here is am in what I feel is my dream house, the one I will soon be losing, and yet I wasn't keeping a gratitude journal. I would get up some mornings and take pictures of the view from my window and sometimes say a silent prayer that I was living a life I never thought I would be living. Now I seem focused on all that I am losing instead of all that I have. Darryl even got after me and told me I should start keeping a gratitude journal again. He even said he'd be OK if I stopped trying to build my Thrifty Maven site if I needed the time.

What blog contests did I enter?

Prize: 3 pound 7 ounce Snow's BBQ brisket

Prize: Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Chipettes DVD

Win a $119 Wine Gift Basket for Valentine's Day from GiftTree.com

Prizes (2): Oliver & Company: 20th Anniversary Special Edition DVD

Prizes (2): Space Buddies DVD & plush toy.

Prizes (3): Thomas & Friends: Railway Friends DVD.

Prizes (5): Escape To Chimp Eden: Season One DVD.

Prizes (5): Meerkat Manor Season 4 DVD.

Prizes (5): Jon & Kate Plus Ei8ht: Season 3 DVD