What do Latin American poetry and Magic have in Common?

Most of you know by now that my husband is Central American... one of the things I really regret is not being able to keep up with the Arts-reading, (well, if you count Vanidades and People en Espanol reading!) writing and learning about Latino culture. Earlier today, I was entering a wonderful contest where you can share part of your prize package with others-thus bringing a little magic into someone's holidays this year. And wouldn't you know that I found a blog with poetry in Spanish (and translated too!) I was pretty excited because I can actually read something with substance, and since I love reading and writing poetry in English, seeing it in Spanish was a whole new thing for me. While there, and as part of my entry of course, I left her a post telling her a cute story of two women I know who ended up in Mexico-and the nonchalant answer given to one of the women by an older, wiser Mexican gentleman. You can see my comment here: http://liz-henry.blogspot.com/2008/11/translation-emilia-bernal.html while there, take a look at her blog-she has lots of interesting things, poetry, tech stuff, and even a pic of Pac Man cookies she made! Now THAT had me wanting to reach into the closet for the Atari 7800! But seriously, I think I will be making some of those cookies with Deja, she'd love it!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you! Hope you are enjoying your day with friends and family-eating some GREAT food and relaxing while getting ready for the madness of Black Friday tomorrow.

Today I was bad, I actually took advantage of a freebie meal the town puts on-and had it delivered. I am just getting over a cold, and don't want to be cooking for others sneezing away. They understood, and took it well. We had a bit of turkey, some stuffing, mashed potatoes, peas, gravy squash and pies... I didn't even know that it was coming-my mom who is also under the weather herself had called to reserve her, my dads and grams meals because they don't have the big dinner-never have-we used to go out as a family to some fancy restaurant when I was younger, but now with gram at 90 and mom's knees not so good (she needs a total knee replacement-but refuses to have one) and dad's lung cancer and just being ill these past few months no one really feels like going out either. The great thing though is that there are three restaurants (in addition to this free community meal) that are giving away free dinners today. With today's economy what a wonderful way to show the spirit of giving back to the community. And I am grateful for not having to cook today feeling as worn out as I do.

Hubby and I went shopping after I got out of work yesterday. Today he is putting the starter in his vehicle since it needed a new one. I am planning my BF strategies (online and in store) luckily CVS was open today and he was able to go and get me a nice griddle with $10 ECB's back and then turn around and get the rice cooker for $10.00 off too. 30 bucks for both appliances was a pretty good deal, and these are things I wanted for awhile anyways. Now if he can get to WalMart soon enough I want one of those funky colored broom type vacuums they have for 9 bucks. Plus he will go shopping for cheap pants-last year Kmart had an $8 pair deal he was happy about. Ah, and the Magic Jack in Radio Shack-he wants TWO of those. He wants to send one to Central America and have them call for free via computer rather than paying $$$ for regular calls. I plan on staying home and seeing what I can scoop up online. I can shop in my PJ's and not have to worry about getting sicker because I am standing out in the cold. I plan on having my Thanksgiving meal over the weekend-my son is with his dad now and I want to have him home to enjoy our little dinner.

Tomorrow I might venture out a bit but really need some R & R, am so glad I had my flu shot this year though-because I am so run down and subceptible to anything that comes along. My coworkers always ask me, "What?! Are you sick AGAIN?!" And of course, they don't even need to wait for the answer. The first sneeze says it all. So, for all those celebrating Turkey Day today, have a wonderful time. I will be alternating my time between online and bedrest. And celebrating my Thanksgiving later this weekend with family. Have a happy day!

Deja's Birthday Is Almost Here!

It is almost that time again! Yup, Deja's 7th birthday is coming up on December 7th!

This was a picture taken from last year-I had planned on having a big party at the local McD's or bowling alley, but with my dad being ill and the holidays creeping up on me far too quickly I had to change those plans.

Still not sure what I will do, perhaps take her to Build A Bear workshop and let her make another animal friend. As I am writing this, she is peeking over my shoulder reading this. Amazing how quickly she has started reading-I guess I have to be VERY careful about what I write if I want it to be a surprise! Little does she know she will have other surprises too, which I am not posting here because she will figure it out, lol.

My dad is waiting for the results of his biopsy on this past Friday-he's been kind of bummed and according to my mom, continuing to smoke-although he has cut back lots. He is pretty nervous about all of this, which is natural-but to continue on with those things after he already has lung cancer is just plain stupid. And I told him so. But I think he's a bit depressed, and feels it is hopeless-after all, people he knows are already telling him how so and so's wife had cancer and only lived 5-6 months etc... so hearing all this is getting him nerved up a bit.

yay, only ONE more day of work and then some time off! But know what? I am a glutton for punishment I think, because I probably will end up back at the office working OT over the weekend. Today, I had the liberty of having a clean desk-for about 10 minutes. Quite the accomplishment for me, I should say. But now I gotta go buy the turkey and everything last minute tomorrow night and all that will be left are honkin 20 lb turkeys that my family of four will NEVER finish! Well, heading off to read some more blogs-before I go to bed for the evening!

I'm making Progress(o) in the Kitchen!

Hurry because this ends on Sunday, so have your entries in before 9 pm! Carol over at ithrowlikeagirl's blog is giving away 3 (THREE!) Progresso Prefect Recipe gift baskets, full of really nice stuff for your kitchen, coupons, samples-you name it. And it all comes with a cute little recipe box, recipe card holder, serving spoons-you get the picture! Since I am not a wonderful cook, I figure my progress in the kitchen can be helped along a bit if I win one of these Progresso baskets! Good luck!

http://carolmehl.wordpress.com/2008/11/21/saturday-stirrings-with-a-giveaway-mixed-in/

Isn't this a cute Christmas keepsake?

Isn't this cute? Vanessa over at inevergrewup.net is giving this away!

I can see it on my tree for sure, with a photo of the kids in it. And you won't believe all the nice stuff Monogram Chick the sponsor has at her website either. I have my eye on a monogrammed pink backpack for Deja next year.

Vanessa just posted this giveaway today, so be sure to hurry on over and enter!

http://inevergrewup.net/giveaway-15-just-in-time-for-christmas/

Kitchen Prep-It beats slicing tomatoes!

Hurry and head over to the Preppy Princess blog http://thepreppyprincess.wordpress.com/2008/11/21/great-preppy-giveaway-week-3-inaugural-dress-update/ and check out this week's giveaway! You can win some cute notecards and a really nice apron and matching gloves-and there's even a bonus prize too! Be sure to enter by the 26th though, because that's when it ends!

Update on my dad... other stuff!

Well, my dad DOES have lung cancer. He goes in tomorrow for some type of test where they take a biopsy and then he is doing more tests for his heart (I guess in case surgery is needed, etc...) and we will find out more as things go on.

My daughter went to the eye dr. today and she has some type of refraction error, so was referred to a specialist and will see him in February for glasses, I assume. He deals with pediatric stuff. She seems to be doing well, and they did say in a few years she might outgrow it but if I hadn't taken her it might have developed into lazy eye. Had parent teacher conference today and she is doing great, but a bit of a Drama Queen.

Teen son-well, he will have to go to court again and has lots on his plate. But irregardless, he did make some positive choices in the past week so that tells me all hope is not lost. I am proud of him for the good choices he has made, and hope he continues on that path-even though I know there will be setbacks.

Hubby is getting older, and feels it. He had a cortisone shot in his shoulder last Friday, and he is still in pain. Xray showed no problem but I know soft tissue injuries can be hard to diagnose without additonal testing so we will take things by day here as far as that goes. Having had four surgeries myself to my hand/arm/shoulder on the rt side I know how these things work.

I have been working OT a little bit, and am so far behind in housework and work work that I am going insane! Well, almost. I finally got around to buying the boxes to ship my prizes to my giveaway winners, and my orders finally came in for the last item in their surprise boxes. Because even though I got them gifts from craft fairs I still wanted to get a special gift-but they were on backorder so had to wait. Got them yesterday so by this weekend the boxes should be on their way-later than anticipated, but certainly not forgotten! So ladies, if you are reading this, I thank you for your patience. These last 3 weeks have had lots on my plate, so to speak.

So that has been my week, or past few weeks. I will try posting more often, but life has been so busy! Thanks for reading!

I Dream of Helene....

Ok, ok-I really don't DREAM of Helene, but I dream of owning more of the GORGEOUS (am I really shouting here?!) earrings that Helene makes.

Wishing Willow (http://wishingwillow.blogspot.com/) had a blog giveaway not too long ago and luck was with me. Out of about 414 comments I won their giveaway of Helene's beautiful Oregon Sunset earrings pictured here. Well, they arrived today and when I looked into that little box they came in all I could say was "oooh". Now hubby was curious by then and peered in as well, "ahhh" it seems there are no words to describe your first reaction when you open the box and see these shining masterpieces in front of you. On to Deja my 6 year old-she peered in and what did she do/say? "Mommy, can I HAVE THEM PLEASE???!!!" Maybe in a few years Deja, but mommy doesn't want to share. At least not for another 10 years.

I was very surprised by the size, these are definitely noticeable in your ears and I actually thought that they would be much smaller. So don't let the picture fool you. I am now whining to hubby that I have to have the blue ones to match and the pink ones too. See, I have already gone to Helene's Etsy site http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5574993 and scoped things out. Santa Claus will soon be coming to town. And I hope he brings me something from Helene. And if he doesn't, my birthday and anniversary are in January, and in February there is Valentines Day. I will beg, plead and whine for the blue ones. Ya know, Helene is giving more of these earrings away-either the ones I won or the gorgeous blue ones I so want right now. I really want to enter, but don't want to be greedy so will let some other very fortunate individual win these lovely earrings. If you want to try to win go here: http://www.the-giveaway.com/2008/11/helenes-dreams-etsy-giveaway.html GOOD LUCK! And don't forget to check out the other giveaways at both Wishing Willow and The Giveaway as well!

Alive Cubs-to win one, go and check this out!

I SO want one of these for my daughter...she has seen them on TV now for the past month and has been begging me to go to the store and get her one. I haven't given in-yet that is. But with her 7th birthday on Dec. 7th and then Christmas, boy do I ever have my hands full!

To find out more about these toys that seem SO real (geez, I am feeling left out, where the heck were toys like this when I was a kid?) I headed over to the website http://www.esend.com/WowWee/ and was amazed at all the cool things they have: robots, alive cubs, flytech fairies-something for everyone it seems.

Now you can be lucky too and head over to http://www.mommafindings.com/2008/11/wowwee-alive-cubs-giveaway.html because she is giving away one of these Alive Cubs in her giveaway! I really, really want to win this-and I bet you will too. I will be a little envious though, if ya win-because it is such a cool item! Good luck!

Share YOUR thoughts with the Mrs. and win!

Amy over at Thoughts from the Mrs. blog (http://amyclary.blogspot.com/) is having a super cool giveaway from the 15th to 26th this month with LOTS of cute items. I have been SO busy with work that I have had her button up on my sidebar for quite some time, but haven't had a chance to post until now-and I sure want to be able to enter so make sure you read her official rules before you enter!

I really like visiting her blog-I am a fairly new visitor but I keep going back :) and of course this giveaway is another incentive for stopping by! Be sure and stop by, she's waiting to hear from YOU! (and good luck in her awesome giveaways too!)

Sweet dreams, of the sugary kind that is!

Don't these peanuts look delicious? I knew you'd think so. One of my favorite things to eat is peanut butter: peanut butter alone, peanut butter and chocolate, ice cream sundaes with LOTS of peanut butter topping-ok, you get the drift.

So when I happened to find the Peanut Butter blog, with all kinds of goodies to make that featured-what else? Peanut butter, I decided to check it out. (http://thepeanutbutterblog.blogspot.com/)

When I was pregnant for my son one of my cravings was peanut butter sauce-you know, the stuff you put on top of ice cream sundaes. At the time, we had a Friendly's Ice Cream Restaurant about 19 miles away, and I WANTED the sauce. I tried cooking just pure plain smooth peanut butter over the stove in a saucepan, but ended up burning it. Definitely a no-go there, so ended up begging my mom on a snowy winter afternoon to take her very pregnant daughter to the Friendly's restaurant to buy some peanut butter sauce. Once we got there, I had a male manager look at me very strangely when I asked to buy a pint of JUST the peanut butter sauce. And he refused, said it couldn't be done. The assistant manager, a woman, happened to see my very pregnant belly and gave him hell saying he shouldn't refuse a pregnant woman her cravings. The guy felt pretty stupid and gave in, and gave me the pint for FREE because he didn't have a clue how to charge me and probably felt pretty stupid for refusing me in the first place. So I went home, enjoying my peanut butter goodness straight from the carton-and went into labor a days later.

Since then, I have been a fan of all things peanut butter. And yes, I still eat peanut butter sundaes but have foregone the days of eating the ice cream topping straight from the carton. My daughter has even inheirited my love of peanut butter goodness, and we fight over the last spoonful of peanut butter flavored ice cream every time! (funny because when I was pregnant with her it was Taco Bell nachos with extra jalapenos that I craved...)

During a visit to the peanut butter blog I noticed they were giving away some creamy peanuts (pictured above) from the Sugar Dreams Bakery. I was so happy to learn that I won! I immediately checked out her shop on Etsy http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5747767 and found lots of other goodies too-boy those cupcakes sure looked yummy! I received my creamy peanuts and had to hide them until I was able to try them. The minute I opened my bag, the peanutty smell hit me and I knew it was a match made in Heaven. Of course, my daughter the peanut butter fan in training had to help me sample some-and even hubby got into the act, grabbing a few of his own. My poor son wasn't home at the time, but I managed to save him one and while he didn't say anything about it, it was gone the next day.

On to the creamy peanuts. Besides the wonderful peanut butter smell, these are melt in your mouth creamy goodness. The texture is so smoothe, so creamy that you could just let it sit on your tongue until it dissolves and get a slow, savory peanut butter fix. (I know I did!) Or you could just chew them up quickly for the quick peanut butter burst of flavor. (yup, tried it this way too!) If you love sweet goodness, and peanut butter-these are definitely for you. But if you are not a peanut butter person, those cuppy cakes look pretty darn good too!

UPDATE: I had written this review awhile ago, but just got around to posting it. It seems that due to an accident the sponsor's Etsy shop is currently closed. I wish Stacie well, and hope she will be back in business soon. If you want, you can leave an email so she can tell you when she opens up again. Definitely check out her site, because she has some great tasting goodies sure to please all!

Need a good knife? Check this out!

Sure, anyone can own knives-but this is really a KNIFE. As in high quality, durable Chef material. And you don't even have to be a pro Chef to use it, just think of all the great things you can do in your kitchen with one of these knives.

When I was first starting out on my own years ago, I spent about a hundred bucks on a knife set (back then that was quite a sum of money!) but I found myself only using 1 or 2 knives from the set, tops. I still have those knives, but the remainder of the set got lost when I was moving several years ago. My desire has always been to own a really nice knife that will do exactly what I want to do in the kitchen-because I would honestly rather have one or two knives that suit my cooking needs than a whole set I barely use.

Right now until November 30th you can have the chance to win a great knife of your choice from New West Knifeworks over at this blog: http://steamykitchen.com/blog/2008/11/16/how-to-sharpen-your-knives/ If cooking is your thing, and you need a great knife to work with in the kitchen, head on over and enter! They also tell you the right way to sharpen your knives-I found out I had been doing it wrong so this was definitely an eye opener and helpful tip!

This is a Public Service Announcement!

Don't smoke-it kills. Ok, now I really sound like I am preaching, don't I?

I tried smoking once-in the 7th grade. I thought it was cool to have a cigarette hanging out of my mouth. It didn't last long, believe me. Just the smell, on my clothes, my hair, my breath, did it in for me. I imagined if it smelled that bad, then what the heck was I doing to my lungs?

We don't smoke at my house. Hubby used to, back in Guatemala. But he no longer does, he stopped pretty much when we were living in Rhode Island. Occasionally out with the guys and having a few drinks, he will ask for a cigarette. Then regret it-because he can't stand the heavy cigarette smell on his clothes.

I know there are two sides to every argument, but I enjoy going into a restaurant or bar and not being subjected to someone else's nasty cigarette smoke. I figure if I wanted to deal with it, I would be smoking myself-and I am not so why blow it my way? But I do believe that smokers should have their own areas where they can go to enjoy a meal, a drink or whatever and light up if they want to-along with other smokers. I know in some establishments, they are so small it is just not feasible to set up a designated smokers area, but I am glad that some have as well. Smoking is one's own personal choice, and I have many coworkers and friends who smoke. Along with family-and that is what gets me to this announcement.

My father has always smoked several packs a day. In addition to being a very expensive habit, his health has deteriorated considerably. Recently he had pneumonia, and had his lungs xrayed after having a hard time breathing and just not feeling like his old self. The xray and follow up MRI done a few weeks later showed what we had suspected: a mass on his right lung. This Wednesday he goes for another test, something called a PET where they inject colored dye or something to that effect into the area to see this "mass" and the specifics. I do hope that all will be well, but he and the family are in for a rough time as we wait this one out to see what the results are and what the prognosis is.

So there is my public service announcement. If you have a chance to, stop and think about smoking and what it has done for you. Quitting is hard, but the choices you have to make in the future might be even more difficult. We tried telling me dad all this, but I think his choice to quit came a little too late.

Look at these cute holiday bags!

Aren't they just gorgeous? You can choose one of four cute holiday designs... but first you have to enter before November 16th at noon!

Head on over and check it out now, these purses are so nice!

http://kpmattingly.wordpress.com/2008/11/09/a-holiday-giveaway/ GOOD LUCK!

Pashminas 3 winners-ends Nov 21st at midnight!

I love NYC, and I love the street vendors. Unfortunately, I won't be going to the city for awhile because I am working like crazy (we usually stay in RI with family, then head to NYC-about 4 hours away for either a day trip or a quick overnight) but one thing I DO love are the street vendors. I could have a ball buying things from quite a few of them-and get lots of shopping done.

Lucky Corrin will be in the city over the Thanksgiving weekend, and will be shopping for some lucky giveaway winners too. She is buying pashminas for 3 winners in your choice of color! And she is offering all sorts of great ways to get extra entries as well. Head on over to her site here: http://corrinrenee.com/2008/11/05/i-4/#comment-38301 and be sure to enter!

SAVORing the Moment

Have you ever cracked open a coconut and smelled the pure coconut scent? My hubby, being from Guatemala, likes to go to the market (using down in RI or MA-not here!) and buy a few coconuts and drink the coconut milk. Once he is done that, he gets a hammer and cracks it open, exposing all that white coconut on the inside. The scent is not strong but pure, as in NATURAL. Like you are on a deserted island and just cracked open a coconut shell in that tropical paradise.

I was lucky enough to win a blog giveaway from http://www.bathbodycandle.blogspot.com/ and my prize was a creme fraiche soap in my choice of scent from Savor's wonderful Etsy shop. I knew it was going to be a hard choice, because Lisa has so many wonderful things in that shop that just choosing a scent of whipped soap was going to be difficult. Right now she has about 21 different scents of whipped soap over there http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5358303 and you can enjoy the tropical smell of pineapple buttercreme (pictured) caramel apple, or even marshmallow fudge for those die hard choco lovers out there.

My choice was coconut mochi and when she said it was a pure coconut scent, she was absolutely right. I use a bath pouf in the shower, and a little of this stuff goes a long way because the lather really lasts. Plus, it left my skin feeling silky and moisturized, BEFORE I put on any lotion. I am so used to using drying soaps that make my skin feel tight and dry after bathtime, so this really was a different experience for me. After my shower, for an hour or so there is a trace of the coconut smell on your skin-a fresh, clean scent that doesn't overwhelm you. Hubby wanted to try some, and I let him ONCE. He liked it too much and I am NOT sharing, he can buy his own! My daughter has been asking as well, so we will probably try it out the next time she has a shower (she is a bubble bath type of gal).

Lynde features different sites all the time on her blog, and has amazing giveaways where you can win lovely pampering items. If it wasn't for her blog, I might never have found Lisa at Savor and her amazing coconut mochi whipped soap. Her regular soaps are pretty neat too,

Sex Appeal sounds like the kind of soap you'd want to keep your honey close and My Boyfriend's T-Shirt, well, how many of us actually kept a T-shirt around that smelled just like their boyfriends when we were younger? In high school my boyfriend was a football player and I kept one of his football shirts he'd worn close or even wear it to sleep (it was huge, and I was skinny back then-end of story!) and nope, it didn't smell like sweaty football player but more like fresh washed linen with a hint of his cologne that he wore. Definitely check out Savor on Etsy, you just might find something you want! (and it is NEVER too early to drop Christmas hints!)

A New Winner for my Surprise Giveaway!

Unfortunately, Andrea.Riberi never fixed her blog so I could access it and get her email, and never left her email in her original comment nor came back to my blog to check if she won and then email me her specifics.

To be fair, I had Random.org choose 5 numbers just in case that happened! And the next number on the list is #112 which belongs to a new blogger named Suzie G. It seems she and I have something in common, as we both have bilingual kids that speak Spanish and English!

So I am off to email Suzie and let her know she's a winner! And then once I get her specifics, I will mail out both packages hopefully by the end of the week. (first, gotta check for any more craft fairs to see if I can add more to them, lol!) I am hoping to have another giveaway before Turkey Day and another before Christmas, so make sure you are checking back from time to time!

Problems on the Home Front

This is my son. This is my son when he hangs out with girls. They like to mess with his hair since he usually has it very, very short if it even grows a little bit-they like to braid it all up and take embarassing pics of him.

One of his friends posted this on their myspace and I went and swiped it. He'd die of embarassment if he knew MOM had it up on her blog. That is just NOT the cool thing to do. Heck, what does he know, right?

He and his girlfriend of two years broke up a few weeks ago. She already has moved on and has a new boyfriend. He, on the other hand, is drowning his sorrows in substances he should not be consuming. He doesn't get it at my house either, but at the local drug dealers. Now plenty of you are gonna tell me, get him into counseling, drug treatment. Been there, done that. It didn't work. Because unfortunately if you don't WANT to give it up and haven't hit complete rock bottom, you won't give it up. The kid (he will be 16 in December-still very much a baby!) has had 9 weeks of outpatient therapy. He has lots of anxiety, and unfortunately chooses to self medicate with marijuana.

We go to court on November 10th. Why? Because he broke into and stole things from apartments-they've recovered most of the stuff-but we are talking about $5000 worth of stuff here. A felony, actually FOUR felonies he is facing right now. And that is not including the stuff he has stolen from us. Drugs suck. I hate them I really do. And I wonder if my son will be a career criminal or grow up one day and put this all behind him. I am comforted by the fact that I know I have done all I can, from counseling, case managers, therapy, family therapy-you name it. I did it. Everyones blogs seem so happy, I never see anyone blog about the bad stuff-oh sure, the misfortunate accident or something along that line. But as parents we all wonder what our kids will turn out to be-and if they don't turn out good, is it a reflection on us?

My plan wasn't to have my son turn out this way. Sure, I knew he had bad anxiety and mental health issues. They put him on Paxil and Ritalin when he was only 7 or so-and he was (and currently is) in Special Ed. at school. But I thought he'd get better, or grow out of it. He didn't have a terrible life, the kid has never wanted for anything. Good clothes, afterschool care, love, attention, all the terrific toys, you name it. But there is always that lingering thought, maybe I could have done BETTER. Even when the professionals tell me, no ma'am, you have done all that you could-he made those choices-I wonder if the poor choices he makes are because of something I did.

That is why I don't write about my son much on my blog. I love him, but I don't know what to do. He doesn't want to participate in the normal family gatherings like he used to, he prefers to be with his druggie friends. He no longer attends school. He basically has no life. He refuses to live under my rules, but yet I am responsible for him. His old girlfriend? She just turned 14 on September 30th. Her parents let them sleep together at her house, and now she is supposedly pregnant. I insisted on a blood test since she cheated on him no less than 3 times in the 2 years they were together. They threw me out of their house. When the police raided their home for the stolen property, the search warrant didn't say drugs-so the scales, growing equipment, etc... that was found in the girls parents bedrooom? All confiscated, but they walked. Yup, like I am gonna let my grandchild (if it is his) live in that home where all it is to them is another $138 a month in state welfare funds.

Ok, so I will get off my soap box for now. Court is coming up next week and it will be rough, but I can handle it. I have to. Incarceration in the juvenile facility is a big concern, and a very real threat. But maybe he needs it, I just don't know at this point. It is strange, because I always talked to my son about drugs and the problems they caused, we used to live in a pretty big city when he was younger and sometimes we would drive around late night and observe the crack addicts, drunks etc... on the street. (this was on a late night drive for food mind you, we had Taco Bell cravings after watching movies!) So the kid is very much aware of the damage drugs can cause. Wish me luck folks, because this time I am gonna need it.

Ouch! Don't forget your Flu Shot!

Deja and I just came back from the Flu Clinic after getting our flu shots. Deja had her first shot ever and she did amazingly well. Considering she has to go back for a booster in about a month. My arm is itchy, feels like it is on fire, and tomorrow will feel like a horse kicked it.

They are predicting the flu is going to be bad this year-considering I have had different variations of the flu that put me out of work for a week-twice-in the past couple of years I thought it was high time I jumped on the bandwagon to wellness.

So don't forget, make that appointment, head on over to that flu clinic, whatever you need to do-because getting the flu totally stinks!

Spa-licious! Visit Jenn's blog to win...

Jenn is having a GREAT giveaway of awesome spa goodies! Plus she loves to discuss tv shows we all know and love. Head on over to her post http://middleagedfangirl.com/?cat=337 and enter before the 6th, as that is when she will be drawing for the winner! Good luck!

Kay's 20,000th visitor giveaway!

Hurry, this ends tomorrow at 9pm! Kay is giving away an adorable little zippered cosmetics bag with a couple of surprises as well, in honor of her blog having 20,000 visitors! Wow! What a milestone, head on over and tell her congrats!

http://therusticcottage.blogspot.com/2008/11/20000-visitors-giveaway.html

Surprise Giveaway winners!

Sorry I had to take a pic of the screen-just haven't completely figured out yet how some of you get this right in your blog post, but I guess this will do!

I have two prizes to award, to commenter #69 and commenter #33-who are....

#33 Daisymomto3 http://daisymomtomy3.blogspot.com/ I will be contacting you soon! I still haven't gotten all the prizes together yet, as there are craft fairs the next couple of weeks so bear with me please as I plan on trying to find something special for you at each of them! I will email the winners when the surprises are going to be sent so you will know that they are coming! Thanks for leaving such a neat profile, it tells me a lot of the things you like :)

and #69 andrea.riberi http://www.blogger.com/profile/02290965467125359194 who unfortunately does not have access to her profile available and didn't leave an email in her comment. So if you are out there, andrea.riberi you have until Wednesday November 5th at 8pm EST to email me at micaela6955 at msn dot com your mailing address or I will have to choose another winner. (which I really don't want to do, so please respond!) Again, this stresses the importance of leaving a way to contact you when you enter bloggy giveaways because you could be a winner and not know it until it's too late!

Sikulu & Harambe winner!

Earlier today, I did my drawings via way of Random.org. I first drew for winners of my surprise giveaway, and then for the Sikulu and Harambe book and toy giveaway. (sorry I am late in posting them, but had a meeting in another town for a good part of the afternoon)

The winner is comment number #38, which is Staci from Mommas Gone Over the Wall! http://mommasgoneoverthewall.blogspot.com/ I headed over to her blog and saw her cute little boy, and just know he is going to enjoy that book and hippo or spider toy. BIG congrats to Staci, I will be emailing you soon to get your address and toy choice to send to the sponsor-thank you ALL for your wonderful comments and going to visit the site and check out all the wonderful things they have to offer.

Such a pretty princess!

Damsel Deja said thanks to all you wonderful bloggers that visited mommy's blog and entered to win some surprises! Yesterday was Halloween and the weather had been cold all week, but it was warmer and not breezy-perfect for all those little trick or treaters!

Deja loved dressing as a pretty princess, her new Halloween outfit, a blog win from http://www.aeromaxtoys.com/Products.html They have so many nice outfits there, and not just for Halloween either, you can use them for creative play-dress up, what boy doesn't want to pretend he is an astronaut or a soldier, what girl doesn't pretend she is a princess, or a nurse? With these costumes, you can be who you want to be. And these are not the flimsy rip after one use costumes either, these are meant for lasting wear and play.

The have costumes for all sizes, from infants to adults. Deja loves her pink princess outfit, and had to stop by gram's house to show it off before we went trick or treating. While out trick or treating, she got so many compliments and oohs and ahhs from other little girls. Everyone just loved that dress, and several parents asked me where on earth I'd gotten it. I happily gave them the website address. Out amongst hundreds of trick or treaters, no one had a costume like Deja's-so that made her feel really special. We are so fortunate because we won two special costumes in this particular blog win, and I let Deja choose them both. Next year, she will be a nurse... Their customer service was great to work with and shipping came quickly, I was very impressed with everything and if I am looking for a costume that will last, that has great customer service and comes quickly I would definitely reorder again with Aeromax Toys. Thanks so much to Aeromax for making Deja's Halloween special and encouraging children's creativity and imaginative play by creating such neat costumes!