A Life Unfinished

Yesterday I couldn’t find Andrea’s obituary. Today there was an article about her funeral which is to be this Saturday. The article included quotes from various teachers who all agreed that she was a very wonderful girl who worked hard to maintain an A average while working outside the home to help support her family. She really was a sweet young lady who was taken from us way too soon.

Here is some of what the Rome Paper said today about Andrea.

Andrea Garcia will be laid to rest this weekend, dressed in her red graduation cap and gown.

The Rome High senior died Sunday after a car wreck late Saturday night. She was 18 and would have graduated May 24.

Andrea was a bright, loving girl, Guzman recalled. She was Rome High’s Student of the Month for April and was planning to start classes at Georgia Highlands College in the fall to pursue a degree in accounting.

“She loved to sing, and she was always with her friends. She had a lot of friends,” Guzman said. “I think that’s because she just liked helping people. She loved music and the color yellow.”

Teachers at Rome High School remembered Andrea’s work ethic and her smile.
Andrea’s family is now appealing to the community for assistance with funeral expenses. Guzman said donations are appreciated and can be made to the “Andrea Garcia Fund,” account number 061101375 at Regions Bank. Collection boxes have also been placed at area restaurants.

Funeral services have been arranged by McGuire, Jennings & Miller Funeral Home, 2542 Shorter Ave. A visitation is scheduled Friday from 7 to 9 p.m. and the funeral service will be at 2 p.m. Saturday in the Oaknoll Chapel.
Today started out very rainy with thunder and lightning. At times I would unexpectedly hydroplane.

As one of my students would say, “It’s chicken day.” It’s almost a running joke. On Wednesday he comes to class all smiles and say, “You know what today is?” Then without missing a beat he declares “It’s chicken dayyyyyyyyyyyyy!” Sometime I think of teasing him and telling him that they didn’t order enough chicken so because of that, third lunch will have to eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. I never do say it though. Well today is the day that Oprah gave out FREE two piece chicken dinners from KFC. That would be their new grilled chicken dinners with two pieces of chicken, two sides and a biscuit.

I blogged about it on ThriftyMaven, twittered about it , and I told all my students about it. I hope I get some web traffic because of it today. I googled it a few minutes ago and noticed that on Digg it shows:

The Oprah Winfrey Show Kentucky Grilled Chicken Deal
thriftymaven.com — Have you tried the new Kentucky Grilled Chicken yet? Now's the time to do it. Free offer good for 2 pieces of Kentucky Grilled Chicken™ (manager’s choice) and two individual sides and a biscuit at participating KFC restaurants located in the U.S. There is a number one in front of it so I don’t know if that means that there was only one person who looked at it or if was the number one post for that on Digg.

I still don’t understand Digg too much. I have heard that some people spend a great deal of time trying to be number on the front page of Digg. Mine’s not there so I guess that means. I do know that at 2:45 I checked Alexa and my traffic rank was 4,710,404!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can’t wait to see how many people viewed my site.

I saw that I had over 1,000 visitors on ThriftyMaven today and I registered 32 NEW people on my site. It's kind of like that Three Stooges Routine. "Slowly I turn. Inch by inch. Step by Step." I'm keeping my fingers crossed that things will keep growing.

Here are the blog contests I entered:

Prize: Pepsi Throwback prize pack with trucker cap, retro Pepsi tin lunch box, retro clock radio/CD player, USB lava lamp, Pepsi Throwback and Mountain Dew Throwback (ARV $150).

Prize: Bride Wars DVD and a $25 Gift Certifcate to PaperShouts.com.

Prize: One semester/six months of online courses from Computer Savvy Seniors.

One Bad Apple Don't Spoil The Whole Bunch

You should be thankful for what you get and I am. In this time of great economic unrest I have a job. Today the School Board came to our school to dole out our annual apple. Yes to show their appreciation for all that we do we get a handshake, and if we've been with the school for an interval of five year increments we get a pin. This year there's a bonus, a bookmark. The representative comes to your class, shakes your hand, hands you the apple and thanks you for your service. I got a little bit of a laugh after they left when I noticed that the top of my apple was mushy. so mushy as a matter of fact I was able to put my finger right through the top of it. I said to myself, "I'll try not to take it personally."

At school the Vocational Department has a little display case where we post our Students of the Month. Each month, a teacher in each discipline names their most outstanding student. You’d be surprised at how many people stop and look at that display. Today Andrea’s picture joined the students who’s were already named Student of the Month. It talked about how she had planned to go to college and major in Accounting. Throughout the day kids gathered to look at her photo. Andrea will be laid to rest this Saturday. Her parents are trying to raise money to defray the funeral costs.

I thought about posting her Obituary but our local paper is now CHARGING you to access obituaries. Can you believe it? People in grief have to PAY to read the obituary.

On the way home I passed another accident and saw an officer carrying a young woman out of a ditch to the waiting stretcher. It sent a chill through me.

I just found out that Dom DeLuise passed away today. According to reports, he passed away peacefully in his sleep following a long illness.

He also hosted the popular TV show "Candid Camera" from 1991-1992. Dom was an avid cook and author, penning several cooking guides and children's books.

Writer-director-actor Mel Brooks particularly admired DeLuise's talent for offbeat comedy and cast him in several of his films, including "The Twelve Chairs," "Blazing Saddles," "Silent Movie," "History of the World Part I" and "Robin Hood: Men in Tights." DeLuise was also the voice of Pizza the Hutt in Brooks' "Star Wars" parody, "Spaceballs."

The actor also appeared frequently in films opposite his friend Burt Reynolds. Among them, "The End," "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas," "Smokey and the Bandit II," "The Cannonball Run" and "Cannonball Run II."

Other TV credits included appearances on such shows as "The Munsters," "The Girl From U.N.C.L.E.," "Burke's Law," "Sabrina the Teenage Witch" and "Diagnosis Murder."

On Broadway, DeLuise appeared in Neil Simon's "Last of the Red Hot Lovers" and other plays.

I always liked Dom DeLuise because I just felt he seemed very comfortable in his own skin. That's what I always wished I could be.

There was some good news. Not for me but for someone else. Since September, the 59-year-old South Charleston woman has won five West Virginia Lottery cash prizes, totaling $167,600.

All of Bailey's winnings came from the Lottery's instant games. Her latest win is her biggest — the $100,000 top prize in the Price is Right game.

Bailey claimed that prize Tuesday. Her other winnings from various instant games include $50,000 in April, $1,000 in March, $6,000 in January and $10,000 in September.

Another hectic day of working on Thrifty Maven. Any time I got a free moment I was researching ideas for free things for Mother’s Day. I have a huge list now and I will be publishing them on Saturday.

Here are the blog contests I entered:

Prize: Magellan RoadMate 1430 GPS (ARV $229.99).

Prize: Hasbro Easy-Bake Oven (ARV $36).

Prize: Bride Wars DVD and $25 Paper Shouts gift certificate.

Prize: Bride Wars DVD and a $25 Gift Certifcate to PaperShouts.com.

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

Prize: 6 Megapixel Kodak Digital Camera, spy remotes or the worlds smallest card reader.

Prize: EarCheck middle ear monitor (ARV $50).

Prize: Hoover FloorMate SpinScrub Widepath.

The Death Of A Student

This morning as I walked down the hall I saw one of our Guidance counselors emptying out a locker. Now this is not something you see every day. As a rule, teachers, staff, and administrators do not open students lockers without call to do so.

I teased Mr. Caveness, “So did you forget to pay your locker fee and the administrators are having you clean it out?” He leaned in towards me and said in a hushed tone, “One of our students passed away this weekend?” WHAT? Before I could ask who it was he told me that it was Andrea G.

It hit me for a second that I knew her but at the same second I felt that I didn’t know her. I was certain I’d taught her but my mind had begun to shift into that downward slide where all the pistons are not shooting.

Mr. C said she hadn’t been in my class, but I knew she had. She had sat in the front row of my seventh period class during first semester. Andrea was a sweet, hardworking, young lady. She’s one of those kids you could have a whole class filled with and teaching would be a joy every day. She was a girl on a mission and determined to get where she was going. Last year she went with our school to the Girl’s Going Places seminar. She had mentioned that she was going to be the first female in her family to graduate from high school. Earlier this year she was so excited about a college fair because she desperately wanted to go to college.

I went to my classroom and turned on my computer. There was an email from my principal, it said:

Staff,
It saddens me to report that Andrea G passed away early Sunday morning due to injuries sustained in a car wreck. Andrea, 18, was a senior at our school.

Dr. Cooper phoned me tonight after he received a call from the Rome News Tribune about the car wreck. They desired confirmation that she was one of our students.

We will have an extra counselor on our campus tomorrow from the middle school. Ms. Hufstetler will be in the Guidance office tomorrow morning. My suggestion is not to mention the incident to your class, but obviously if a student(s) desires to see a counselor then by all means send that student to the guidance office. They will gauge where to address the situation from there with the student.

I will let everyone know about arrangements and I will attend to represent our school. Tygar

I immediately googled the story to find out what happened. Here is the story that the news carried.

Andrea died Sunday from injuries sustained in a wreck on Ga. 100 near Black’s Bluff Road that also injured two women from Tennessee, according to police. Her Nissan Sentra crashed head-on into a Ford F-250 pickup.

Floyd County police at the scene Saturday said Williams’ Ford F-250 pickup was traveling south on Ga. 100 around 10:30 p.m. when it collided with Garcia’s late-model Nissan Sentra traveling north on Ga. 100. The impact sent the Nissan spinning into a ditch by the northbound lane.

Police officers said it appeared the Nissan may have crossed over the center line when it hit the Ford.

First responders on the scene attempted to arrange with Erlanger Medical Center in Chattanooga for a possible life-flight helicopter, but the hospital canceled that option after determining stormy weather between Chattanooga and Rome would make the flight too dangerous.

This is the fifth student I’ve lost due to death. She is the second student I’ve lost due to a car wreck. Andrea is the first student that the new Rome High has lost in the seventeen years it has been in existence. It NEVER gets any easier. The feeling of HELPLESSNESS never goes away when you know that your students are dealing with the loss of a friend.

I woke up this morning to put in the links for the blog contests I entered and wondered, what I would be writing about today. Would I write about the fight Darryl and I had yesterday because what was said hurt so much? Would I write about the injustice of so many people losing their jobs? At the Sweep Club Denise talked about how her husband would be losing his job at the bank soon. I guess we are almost complacent when we hear of low income workers who lose their jobs. Usually they are not very educated and lack skills. When I was doing those kind of jobs, a job at McDonalds was the same as a job at any other fast food place with the exception of an ugly uniform change.

This is different. There are well educated people, people with strong skill subsets and experience who are forced to get jobs working a Walmart. They are competing for those same jobs with the people who normally hold these jobs. The difference being that these candidates will be told that they are overqualified.

I really thought I’d be writing about this. Instead I’m writing about the loss of a young person taken away from us way to early. I’m talking about trying to comfort a student who asks me through her tears, “Why did she die?” What is the answer? I have no answer? I send her to Guidance with a hug and tell her that we are all saddened by this. This tragedy and its finality put your priorities in order. Unemployment may well be a temporary situation but death is not.

I would ask that anyone reading this post would pray for the family of Andrea and for her classmates who will be walking across the stage in a few short weeks.

Here are the blog contests I entered today:

Prize: 8-day/7-night stay for up to six at the Wyndham Cypress Palms in Orlando, FL on July 5-12, 2009 [no transportation].

Prize: Bouquet of flowers from KaBloom.

Prize: Mother's Day Wishes Medley from Fairytale Brownies.


Prize: $25 Paper Shouts gift certificate and Bride Wars DVD.
Prize: Bride Wars DVD and $25 Paper Shouts gift certificate.

Peach Sweep Meeting

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I enjoyed the meeting and I usually do. Eveyrone there is so great and I love to hear when they win prizes big and small. We talked alot about how to sweep when your time is limited.

It also seems people really aren't too crazy about the new Sweepsheet Lady. I noticed that the hotflashes aren't as fast. This week I even noticed the new owner made a snarky comment about how she got the newsletter to the printer 15 hours ealier than Sandy did. What's the point in saying that?

Lots of people seemed to like SweepsAdvantage. One day I'd like to check them out. One good idea that was discussed was to create a spreadsheet with the links for all the contests I want to enter and that way I wouldn't have to open each and every site to enter. Pretty good idea. I might try it one day soon.

Darryl and I had a terrible fight on the way up to the meeting. I almost wanted to say that he should turn around and we should go home. To his credit he didn't do that. We got there a little late but we still got there. Let's face it the fact that he's been out of a job for so long is very stressful.

Jack Kemp, one of the intellectual engines that propelled Reagan-era conservatism forward as a mainstream political idea, died after a long battle with cancer. In the 1970s Kemp became a most enthusiastic supporter of supply-side economics, a theory that essential held that allowing people to keep more of what they earned by cutting tax rates would fuel growth in the economy.


Here are the Blog Contest I entered:

Prizes (3): Romano's Macaroni Grill What's For Dinner gift basket with Creamy Basil Parmesan Chicken Pasta variety sample, three Romano's Macaroni Grill Restaurant Favorites free product coupons, colander, serving spoon and cheese grater.

Prize: Mother's Day Wishes Medley from Fairytale Brownies.

Prize: $50 Photofiddle gift certificate.

Prizes (5): Two copies of Harry Potter and the Socerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling.

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

Prizes:
(1) Alvin & The Chipmunks, The Mystery of the Easter Chipmunk DVD.
(1) My Little Pony Live, The World's Biggest Tea Party

A Bit Of Rain And A Lot of Gray

Well as you can see we survived the storm. It was pretty intense but there was no hail. This morning I found a turtle outside. Not a little one but about one about the site of a pee-wee football. He was scouting out the worms that were all over the driveway because of the storm. It was cloudy this morning but now it started raining again.

I noticed that zrecommends.com came by and checked out my blog. I had found that contest by reading a tweet on twitter. Isn't that funny. Just hours before the contest was due to close and there it was. It didn't hurt to enter huh? I think it would be great if I could win a trip to the BlogHer Conference. I've been to Chicago twice before and have seen pretty much everything I wanted to see there.

I've been working hard at twittering. I have no earthly clue if that will help me promote ThriftyMaven but it's worth a try. I think I put out dozens of tweets.

I just don't understand how everyone else seems to get companies approaching them to review their products or run giveaways. So far every single one I've held has either been because I've contacted the company or it's a contest that I've paid for the prize shipping and all. It's frustrating and I just need to learn how to get this going. I don't know when my cut-off point is. How long do I do this before I finally say forget it and cut ThriftyMaven loose.

Tommorrow is the sweepers meeting and I can't wait. I'm very excited about that. I always look forward to those meetings. We couldn't go last time because we were moving.

Here are the blogs I entered today:

Prize: Kodak ESP7 All-in-One printer (ARV $199.99).

Prize: $50 Photo Fiddle gift certificate.

Prize: If You Give a Mouse a Cookie gift basket from The Pacific Cookie Company (ARV $42.95).

Prizes (5): Ghosts of Girlfriends Past prize pack

Prizes (2): Box of Electrasol Finish Quantum dishwashing detergent and bottle of Jet Dry Turbo Dry.

Prize: $50 Photo Fiddle gift certificate.

An Exciting BlogHer Giveaway

You have a chance to win Three nights at the Chicago Sheraton.

Did I mention it's not just three nights at the Chicago Sheraton? They are giving away a three-night, executive-perk stay at for the nights of July 23-25. Those nights include the night before the BlogHer conference begins, plus the two nights of the conference, and the room they've reserved for our winner is on the hotel's Executive Club Level, with no strings attached - no rack rate, no taxes, no access fees, just a free three-night stay at one of Chicago's top hotels.

The Executive Club Level offers access to a bi-level lounge which features not just "breathtaking views" but daily complimentary breakfasts, evening hors d'oeurves, and snacks and beverages throughout the day, plus free high-speed internet access, PC and Mac workstations, office supplies, and massage chairs. (The lefthand photo above was taken in the Club Level lounge.) Club Level guests also have access to an executive health club, free in-room high-speed internet (standard room residents pay a daily fee), 60 minutes of free local calls (did you know hotels charge for that now?), "plush robes," turndown service, free mouthwash, etc. etc.

Oh I see. Now you're interested in how you can win aren't you. Well I am too. It's a random drawing giveaway with two chances to win.

You can blog about the contest and you can twitter about the contest.

When you blog about the contest you link to the post just like I'm doing.

Your tweet is already written for you so you don't have to think in 140 characters or less.

Entries for this giveaway until 11:59 p.m. (CT) on May 1

Good luck to you. I'd love to go too so remember if you win, I'm willing to be your guest.

A Rainy Day Off

Today I had the day off but as usual I was busy. I was kirtsied, twittered, and posted on different sweep sites about my contest. I'm still trying to win a trip to blogher. That would be really interesting. I wasn't interested before but now I'm really wanting to go.

I'm excited because ThriftyMaven has a contest sponsored by Paper shouts. We are giving away a copy of the movie Bride Wars which sounds really cute. We are also giving away a copy $25 gift certificate for Paper Shouts. They have some nice invitations. The winner of my site is entered in a contest to potentially win a trip to Cancun. Oh I know, what about swine flu. I hope that by the time that contest is over this is all behind us.

I really got to thinking today. What is this blog about? What is it I'm trying to do? Is this a diary? Is it all about the news? Is it all about contests and sweeps? Where the heck am I going with this. Then I realized, it's about me. I'm a news hound. I've always been interested in the news. It's about contests and sweeps because they are my passion. It's about me because sometimes I do things that are worth writing about. Sometimes I have things to say about the things that interest me. So what is my blog about? It's about me.

I got so excited today. I was checking my plants since we had a little rain earlier and I noticed some white on my cauliflower. It will eventually become that big white vegetable but I just couldn't get over it. I ran my fingers over it because i was just so fascinated. It looks a lot like the photo at the top of my post. AMAZING. My peas are starting to come up too. I can scarcely believe how exciting it all is.

Today they found Professor George Zinkhan's Jeep overnight "well off the beaten path" in a ravine in Bogart, a rural community about 10 miles west of Athens. He is the suspect in a triple murder in Athens Georgia. One of his victims was his wife who was panning to divorce him. How incredibly sad. I hope they catch him soon.

At 8:15 the National Weather Service issued a tornado warning. They said that possible funnel clouds were spotted in Rome. We are under a tornado warning until 9 tonight. Right now outside it's not raining, just barely cloudy. Then a few moments ago I heard some tornado sirens going off. They are in the distance but not so far that you can't hear them. The storm is headed this way.

I honestly think that living in a hurricane area was easier. You could watch the storm head up the coast and you had an idea if it was coming your way and you had time to make plans. This whole tornado thing has been one of the downfalls of Georgia. Since I've been here I've been through an earth quake really severe thunderstorms with hail, and we are constantly getting tornado warnings this time of year.

A few minutes after I posted this we heard a different kind of siren in the distance. so Darryl and I went outside. I just couldn't believe that storm headed our way. It was like a wall of clouds. I just couldn't get over it. On either side the sky was a dark turquoise, the mass was dark black with heavy grey clouds looking like columns as part of the clouds. Like big dummies we went outside to stand and watch it. We were those two people that stand there to watch the flood coming that you yell at when you are watching the movie. The storm is loud now and the lightning lights up the sky.

Here are the blog contests I entered:

Prizes (2): $25 Kroger gift card.

Prize: The Note II: Taking a Chance on Love DVD, Roxanne Blu-ray, It Could Happen To You Blu-ray, one-year My Punch Bowl membership, copies of Chicken Soup for the Soul: Like Mother, Like Daughter: Stories about the Special Bond between Mothers and Daughters and Chicken Soup for the Soul: Moms & Sons: Stories by Mothers and Sons, in Appreciation of Each Other by Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen and Amy Newmark, $50 Snapfish gift card, Romano's Macaroni Grill gift basket, Epoch Baobab Body Butter by Nu Skin and Epoch Sole Solution by Nu Skin.

Prizes (3): Romano's Macaroni Grill What's For Dinner gift basket with Creamy Basil Parmesan Chicken Pasta variety sample, three Romano's Macaroni Grill Restaurant Favorites free product coupons, colander, serving spoon and cheese grater.

Prize: $100 EyeBuyDirect gift card.

Prize: Charm Story charm bracelet with one charm of choice with engraving from Things Remembered (ARV $40).

Prizes (3): Freshwater pearl bracelet.

Prize: Panasonic NN-C994S microwave/convection oven (ARV $699.95).