I’m High On Valentine’s Day

Let me tell you I can’t think of a better Valentine’s Day. I thought last year was awesome but this one tops that one. Last year I won a Vermont Teddy Bear so I ordered the Fairy Tale Princess Bear. I also won $50 worth of flowers from 1800Flowers. Really I thought I was living high off the hog. A teddy bear, flowers, and all we had to pay for then was dinner out at TGIFridays. TGIFridays was having a special dinner price which included an appetizer, dinner, and dessert. Wow. I felt I was really spoiled and I felt good about not breaking the bank.

This year is shaping up to be even better. Darryl and I have a challenge going on at ThriftyMaven.com to see how inexpensively we can celebrate Valentine’s Day. This year neither 1800Flowers nor ProFlowers were having video contests or essay contests. So I said, “I guess this Valentine’s Day will be a lot less Wow.” I wasn’t disappointed because I figured even if we just went out to dinner it would be great.

Then the Valentine’s Day wins started coming in. First I won a Tower of Treats, then a stuffed Koala Bear, then a $50 gift certificate to Carabba’s for dinner, then last night I won a $70 gift card to ProFlowers. How wonderful. I’ve been sweating this whole win a vows renewal contest because I thought that way I’d get the food and music all at once but I’m kind of getting over the fact I might not have won. Then I received a call from the AJC. Turns out I won Valentine's Day at the High February 14, 2009, 6-10 p.m. It’s normally $25 per person, $40 per couple. Free for members.

Here’s what’s going to go on there:

LOVE. ART. Valentine's Day at the High, 6 to 10 p.m. Pamper your valentine with an evening filled with music, dance, poetry, and more!

Expand your experience with Fanfare: A Musical Feast at the Woodruff Arts Center. Learn more about this 3-course dinner here.

MUSIC
Romantic Flute and saxophone provided by Richard Jones and Guitar music presented by Steve Dwiggins of Gentle Rain Productions.

Latin rhythms by Orquesta Lyrica, featuring Enrique Mercado and musicians from Puerto Rico, Colombia, and Venezuela.

DANCE
Learn a sultry tango or sexy salsa from Audi Lopez-Rice of Mezcolanza Dance Company.

INSPIRE
Take a self-guided "love and romance" gallery tour or visit The First Emperor: China’s Terracotta Army and The Louvre and the Masterpiece.

PAMPER
Complimentary chair massages and hand parafin dips provided by Ecotage Spa & Salon from Macy's Lenox Square. Register on-site to win an exclusive spa package.

INDULGE
Valentine's Day Book recommendation: Chinese Love Poetry by Jane Portal and Qu Lei Lei, available for purchase in the Museum Shop.

SPLURGE Enjoy a complimentary flower provided by one of our own Terracotta Warriors!

Drinks, hors d'oeuvres and desserts available for purchase.

So imagine this, I get a massage, a hand paraffin dip, AND dancing lessons in addition to all this other stuff. WOWWWWWWWEEEEEE. This is the best Valentine’s Day ever. I know I said last year couldn’t be topped but this year is over the top. Just plain over the top with how wonderful it will be. Best of all it’s ALL FREE.

Tuesday

I received an email, it said "Great comment on Ploomy. You are one of the winners. Congratulations. Here is your ProFlowers gift code for $70." Yipee!!!! I really can't complain. This Valentine's Day is almost free for us. A free dinner, free flower, wow wow wow. I'm still hoping i will win the vow renewal contest but really now I won't be so sad if I don't because this is really more than I could have ever expected.

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.

Sweep Meeting Today

I just love those meetings. The people in our group in Georgia are just so nice. I always look forward to them. I really like where we've been having them lately.

Still no word from the people at the Christian Radio Station. I don't know why I'm so convinced I will win but I just think I will be part of that Wedding Renewal at Stone Mountain contest. During the sweeps conversation I asked if anyone knew anything but no one did.

Here are a couple of the blog contests I've entered:

Prize: Hallmark’s Recordable Valentine’s Day Cards.

Whether or not you have a valentine, you'll want to win this gorgeous white gold and diamond heart necklace from A Little Aly-tude and JCPenney!

ONE (1) winner will win a Logitech® Indoor Video Security Master System:

FIVE gift certificates, worth $70 each, redeemable at ProFlowers.com!

FIVE gift certificates, worth $70 each, redeemable at ProFlowers.com!

FIVE gift certificates, worth $70 each, redeemable at ProFlowers.com!

Losing a Follower - What Should I Do?

When Darryl woke up today he told me he had been craving pizza for days now. So we went to Ci Ci's for all you can eat pizza and I ate way too much. Still I would say that it was worth every unhealthy piece I ate because I've been craving it too.

After lunch we went to the library and got the next set of DVD's in the Dallas series. Turns out that the cliff hanger at the end of the third season is "Who Shot JR?' I remember people wearing tee shirts that said "Who Shot JR?" I also checked out a DVD from the History Channel about Charlie Wilson's War and another about the Salem Witch Trials. We'd seen the movie Charlie Wilson's War and the History Channel did a good job explaining what happened.

It looks as though I lost a follower on one of my blogs. Not Thrifty Maven, but then I seem to be getting more followers so I don't always notice if they are dropping off or not. I'm sure some are. No I lost the only follower I had on What To Buy. It was the blog where all this started. Should I feel badly about that? I'm not so sure. I was trying to get followers for that and then try to get ads. I truly don't seem to be catching on about how to get ads. Perhaps I should ask others how they did that.

I've been writing entries for my Thrifty Maven blog about how to save money this Valentine's Day. If you are interested you should check it out.

Here are the blog contests I'm entering.

Prizes (2): Three Hallmark recordable Valentine cards.

Prize: HP Photosmart C6380 All-in-One Printer, Scanner & Copier.

Prize: Hand painted Cupcake Mosaic box.

Prize: Cupcake electric candle.

Prize: Cupcake mini note card set.

Prize: Wireless HP Photosmart All in One.

Prize: Wireless HP Photosmart C6380 All-in-One.

Prizes (5): Copies of Love in 90 Days by Diana Kirschner, Sundays at Tiffany's by James Patterson, Free Yourself to Love by Jackie Kendall, The Italian Lover by Robert Hellenga, Looking for Mrs. Friedman and Other Really Bad Ideas by Steve Friedman, Getting Naked Again by Judith Sills, We Take This Man by Candice Dow, Things I've Learned From Women Who've Dumped Me by Ben Karlin, Sexcapades by HoneyB, Love and Other Natural Disasters by Holly Shumas and Send Yourself Roses by Kathleen Turner.

Prize: Princess Katie & Racer Steve Live! Revved Up & Ready to Rock! DVD (ARV $22).

Prize: $200 Southwest Airlines voucher.

Prizes (4): Goosebumps Horrorland Games for Wii

Prizes (5): Copy of Bound South by Susan Rebecca White

Prize: The Enforcer DVD.

Prizes (5): Copy of The Italian Lover by Robert Hellenga.

Prizes (5): Copies of The American Journey of Barack Obama, Fledgling by Octavia Butler, Stand the Storm by Breena Clarke, Red River by Lalita Tademy, Keep the Faith: A Memoir By Faith Evans, Say You're One of Them by Uwem Akpan, The Shack by William Young and The Bishop's Daughter by Tiffany Warren.

I Am An American Patriot

Talk about being grateful. Today the Army National Guard Recruiter stopped by to give me an award for my support of our soldiers. Wow what an honor. She presented me the award in front of my class.

Today I was pretty busy getting articles ready for my Thrifty Maven blog. I’m trying to do a series of articles on how to celebrate Valentine’s Day without breaking the bank.

Today’s a kind of sad day. First the father of Officer Morgan has passed away and will be laid to rest today. Officer Morgan is a wonderful woman and I’ve had the pleasure of teaching one of her son’s as well as her older son’s baby’s mother. What a difficult time it must be for her. Trixie, is a wonderful person, great co-worker, loving Mom, and a doting Grandmother and I wouldn’t wish this pain on her for even a moment.

We also lost another co-worker this week. We called her Ms. Candy. She was our cafeteria manager and it was a job she seemed to love. Feeding the kids and making sure that the food served her was not just healthy but very tasty was very important to her. I usually don’t eat school lunch but one day she asked me why I didn’t. She told me that she would get me to try eating it yet. Once I did I was hooked. I loved her cheese buns and I understood why the kids and the teachers were so crazy about them. They were soooooo very tasty.

Last year she was diagnosed with cancer. She seemed to have fought it and won some time. This week she passed away. One of the cafeteria workers told me that her husband died about twelve hours later. Our principal acted as one of the pall bearers at her funeral today.

On the economic front recession-battered employers eliminated 598,000 jobs in January, the most since the end of 1974, and catapulted the unemployment rate to 7.6 percent.. I’m grateful to have my job. I see that the city of Canton has laid off 14 percent of its workforce in an attempt to balance a budget shortfall of $1.1 million to $1.2 million. Clark Atlanta University laid off 100 people Friday and canceled classes until Tuesday, according to school officials. Seventy faculty members and 30 other staffers were laid off. Clayton County schools with a surplus of about 150 teachers. That means that 150 teachers need to retire or resign by April 5 or face losing their job next school year. In addition to teachers, the district also has a surplus of 102 other workers, including three assistant principals, 19 counselors, 18 physical education teachers, 14 middle school graduation coaches and 38 kindergarten paraprofessionals. This is all so very frightening.

I did win a $5 Chevron gift card. Every little bit helps you know. I HATE when Darryl opens my wins. It doesn't leave me the fun of opening up my wins.

I'm entering more blog contests and here they are:

Prize: $25 Build-A-Bear Workshop gift card.

Prizes (3): Audiobook copy of A Long Stone's Throw by Alphie McCourt.

Prize: Roku digital video player and six-month Netflix membership

Prize: Code for a box of personalized Fruit Rollups.

Prize: Coupon good for a Pizza Hut Tuscani Lasagna Meal.

Prize: 5-pack assortment of musical and voice recordable Hallmark cards.

We're still watching two episodes of Dallas every night. Tonight Sue Ellen had her baby after having a car accident when she escaped from the Sanitarium.

Being Thankful For What I’ve Got

I spoke to the kids today about my trip to Kroger and how well they treated me there. I told them how I wrote a letter of praise to the store manager, the district manager, and on my ThriftyMaven blog. Then I told them that I felt guilty that I had neglected to tell them what a wonderful group of students I have been teaching this year. I am so impressed by 98 percent of them. Many of them are respectful and hardworking. I told them so and you should have seen how surprised many of them were that I shared with them my gratitude for making my days at Rome High School a genuine joy. This is not to say that there aren’t kids that get on my very last nerve or days that I wish would hurry up and end, but for the most part this year has been very good. I told the kids that I was so pleased with them and so proud of them and I thanked them very much for being so awesome.

You should have seen how amazed they look. They looked as though no one had ever said that to them. Perhaps they haven’t. I’m glad I did. Really it was kind of funny because a couple of classes broke out in applause. I wasn’t looking for that but I did feel good about telling them. I picked a good day for it too because it was progress report days. I told them that when they show their parents their report cards the parent might see a page full of A’s but will focus on the one F they received. I told them that every now and then we should try to find something good to say to others because we all need it so desperately.


Prize: $20 Baby Cakes Online Bakery gift certificate.

Prize: $25 gas card.

Prize: $50 gas card.

Prize: Polka Dot Heart box with 16 chocolate bon bons

Prize: $25 gas card.

Prize: $25 gas card.

Prize: $25 gas card.

Prize: $25 gas card.

Prize: Package of assorted coupons