Doctor's Advice...an apple a day...

I had my physical today. And the doctor told me what I already knew. That I am too fat, probably have high cholesterol, and have high blood pressure... I need blood work done, a mammogram done and need to lose weight. Oh yeah, and the "annual" woman thing was performed as well-nothing like being violated by a cold piece of metal while someone you don't know peers into your nether regions and uses something that feels like a rough toothbrush to "get a sample" and causes my uterus to protest by cramping up. It's still protesting by the way, and all those looks that hubby is giving me telling me to come to bed? He can forget it, lol.

Now I realize this is for my health...but why the heck do the things that I like to eat and that taste GOOD end up being bad for me? I am suffering now, I said I wouldn't eat anything after 7 pm. It's a start. I love to snack in front of the computer. So far, I've had a bottle of Poland Spring water-and 2 Hershey Pot of Gold chocolates...(they were crying out for me to eat them since tonight's trash night and I needed to throw out the box) I am going to get more water if I feel hungry-which should be in an hour or two.

So, since I wanna be around for awhile-and my body isn't what it used to be-I guess I'd better listen to the doctor and start searching for some healthy recipes and eat more fruits and veggies! (but I will still be dreaming of McD's french fries as I eat those celery sticks!)

3 winners of a Swim Diaper for your little one!

Got a story to tell about your most embarrassing pool experience with your little one? Hurry over and enter:

Mad Libs Post for Mommie Daze Virtual Baby Shower Entry

New Baby

Oh my God! gasped New Daddy. It was 1 a.m. and baby was awake for the 10th time today. New Mommy had been folding laundry, but rushed to check on New Baby. "No, no," said New Daddy, who had been relaxing by playing online games. "I'm always happy to help with the baby. I'll go." New Mommy was irritated, since this was only the second time that New Daddy had offered to help. In fact, New Daddy was more inclined to snack on pizza, while sitting on the couch, watching Stargate SG1. New Mommy knew that she should willingly accept, because New Daddy might not offer again!

Does It Measure Up?

I had to laugh when I saw this bathroom urinal photo of the Sofitel Hotel in Queenstown, New Zealand. I can tell ya my hubby would go in, and probably be very self conscious of his surroundings and LEAVE before he did what he had to do. Hell, it would probably leave his macho image scarred for life-lol!

Seeing this, I started thinking about a song I heard years ago in Canada at the discos. This song wasn't ever played in Maine that I know of but if you look it up on You Tube you can find it- Short D*** Man but Gillette. *if you are offended by the f-bomb or frequent mentioning of the male anatomy, DON'T look it up! We used to have a great time out on the floor dancing as a bunch of drunken girls laughing at the lyrics while the guys just glared at us having so much fun poking insults at their anatomy.

Nevertheless, I have seen lots of cool art projects done in bathrooms, on sidewalks etc... but in the emails my friends have sent me most-if not all-of this was art done in foreign countries. I wish some of our artists would be that creative! Basically all I see here in Maine are the occasional tagging marks done on the side of railroad cars as they pass by in front of me while I'm stopped at a railroad crossing. You know, the big bubble letter types? Now some of them are pretty good, don't get me wrong-and I've also seen a few of the colorful murals that have been done in larger cities in the US too-usually on the sides of a building somewhere. But I think the quirky, unusual artistic expressions like the one above are pretty cool too. Maybe as Americans, we just aren't ready for it yet?

Tweaking the blog a bit-

Well, I never got the HTML thing figured out myself. I was lucky enough to win a new template (and I picked a 3 column!) from Smitten Blog Designs and also will be getting my own button from them shortly. I decided I NEEDED my own button because people were asking for it, so what better way to appease the masses, right?

So now that my blog has a new, streamlined look which I am very excited about (and still getting used to as well!) I will hopefully be doing more giveaways and fun things in the near future. To tell ya the truth, I kinda felt badly having sponsors give away stuff on my blog because it looked so unprofessional! I DO have some stuff coming up soon, reviews, giveaways, stuff like that.

I gotta admit, the Smitten Blog Designs $5 templates are a bargain, and there is a great selection to choose from. They even have some free templates too! The ladies were super helpful in getting everything done for me quickly and I really appreciate the great communication. Also, a big thanks to Mary Beth over at Blogmania for putting on this giveaway-thanks so much! Be sure to visit her site as well for some great giveaways and see what she has to say!

Wishing you all a great Memorial Day weekend, enjoy the fun, family and BBQ's you all have planned. Stay safe, and I will be looking forward to seeing your pictures and posts of what you all did!

Site Warming tonight for Chic Tots!

Can you all believe that the Chic & Cozy Blanket Bags are now available at select Target stores nationwide? Wow! What a great achievement for Michele Good, the owner of Chic Tots AND what a great day for mommies as well, who can now venture out to Target to buy these wonderful bags as shower gifts, or for their own children or grandchildren.

Over at Resourceful Mommy, they are announcing a Site Warming party for Chic Tots tonight from 9-10 pm EST. There will be PRIZES and lots of fun mommy talk too, so please join us! Head on over to Resourceful Mommy at the link above to see what it's all about!

Win an Englewood Pub Dining Set-New England States only

Isn't this just gorgeous? And you can actually win it if you live in one of several New England states and head on over to Momma's Review before May 29th and enter to win! Sponsored by Bob's Discount Furniture, which has about 33 stores in New England so far. I've been to one in Massachusetts to get furniture for my sister in law's son, and I know they have some great stuff at good prices. Hurry, enter to win now at Momma's Review!

Chiles Rellenos Guatemalan Style

Yesterday I finished the chile rellenos I bought in RI over the weekend. See the picture above? Those are my HOT jalapeno chile rellenos! Down there, the bakeries and stores sell hot food such as tamales, chiles rellenos, tacos and pupusas on the weekends. My son is enjoying the last of his tamales as well-every weekend when we lived there I'd get up a bit early that Saturday and go to the Guatemalan bakery and get my chiles rellenos, tamales and a couple of pieces of tres leches cake with strawberries and feast on the goodies all day. (it saved me from cooking and for me, a blonde gringa who burns a TV dinner-it was far better to have me buy them than try to make them!)

We can still buy pupusas here, although we need to travel about an hour and a half each way to Portland, Maine's largest city to get to a restaurant called Tu Casa which has food from El Salvador. They also have tamales that are very similar to Guatemalan tamales-which are traditionally bigger than the Mexican tamales that many of you have probably seen around. Lucky for me, I can get authentic Mexican food here at a restaurant called Cancun, which opened a little over a year ago. So when hubby and I are craving tacos made from carne asada, carnitas, etc... we head over to see Hector the owner and the friendly Mexican waiters/cooks. It's a pretty popular place, we went there last Friday night and the weather was perfect for outdoor seating (as you can see by the pic above) and the Mariachis had arrived and hubby and his friends Joao and Manuel were making those poor guys sing almost all night! Not to mention-the frozen strawberry margaritas are to die for! lol.

I've gotta say, Mexican/Guatemalan food are my favorite "ethnic" eats, followed by Chinese and Italian. I'm looking to expand my foodie experience and try other things as well, (which is probably in conjunction with expanding my waistline, ugh!) any recommmendations on a dish you love that I should try? C'mon people-spill the frijoles and tell me what you love to eat-because I wanna try it!

Skeletons in the closet...

I admit it. I have skeletons in my closet. Really, what family doesn't have something they don't want the neighbors to know about? Sure, there are plenty of people who say they don't have anything to worry about...till they become famous, lol.

I'm a brave blogger-stepping back from the joys of family life and the warm and fuzzy posts to occasionally write about the darker side of my family life. Why? Because I know I am not the only person out there who has had family members with substance abuse issues, mental health issues, legal issues and who has had to deal with teen pregnancy and the possibility of raising a grandchild because both parents are still children themselves.

Things happen in life, even when we often do our best to prevent them. Sometimes, we have to meet things head on instead of sweeping things under the carpet, so to speak. At times, the best therapy is to write about it-getting it off my chest and out into the open. Other times, I just want to stick my head in the sand and hide. And sometimes, I will just take a break from it all-and spend some quality time relaxing and not dwelling on the issues at hand.

We all have a skeleton or two in our closet, something we don't want to talk about, think about, or even write about. So we shut the door and keep it inside. Which is fine, but what about when that door opens up? How do we handle things then?

I just take a step back, take a deep breath, and go on with life. If the road wasn't a bit bumpy at times, life would be way too easy. There was a time I didn't always think that way, though. Even my friends and co-workers are amazed that I can look at things so calmly. But when I realized that things were going to happen, and I wasn't in control of those things-couldn't be in control-I learned to let go and work on solutions to what curve balls life was throwing my way.

Like right now, my 16 yr old son and his 14 year old girlfriend are going to be parents. Yes, I said their ages correctly. NO, I don't advocate teen pregnancy. I think it's terrible that they are giving up some of the most precious years of their lives and growing up way too soon. But I am willing to support them and help them with their new baby. Is it going to be easy? No, but they will soon find that out. Considering her mother is an alcoholic who is very unstable now, they most likely will live with me-yet it is still hard becoming a grandparent this way-I would have loved for them to have waited, gotten married first, etc... because as a mother I have dreams and aspirations for my children, like all of you do as well.

The best thing to remember is that you are not alone. Others have similar issues, some better and some far worse. And if your skeletons decide to come out? Ignore the whisperings, the chastizing glances from onlookers and take a deep breath, move forward, and if someone chooses to judge you or criticize you-remember "Let He Who is Without Sin Cast the First Stone" because no one is perfect, and those that pretend to be are hypocrites. Because one day, even THEIR skeletons will open the closet door.

Weekend in Rhode Island

Well, I found a festival while there-just like I knew I would. The semi-annual Catholic Holy Spirit Community in Central Falls was holding their fund raiser that weekend and Deja, me and my friend Nancy ended up going.

It was alot of fun, although the weather could have been warmer. (it's supposed to hit the 30's tonight and a possible frost-so glad I haven't planted my garden yet!) It also rained, so I was in a hurry to get Deja to the outdoor games for kids as soon as possible BEFORE the rain started. She had fun, and won some cool kids prizes like the inflatable alien buddy she is holding in the pic above.

I entered a few raffles and won a couple of gift certificates for Papa Gino's pizzas (which is good, because we have one in Maine about 45 minutes from here which we go to once in awhile!) and Nancy won a gift certificate at a local garage for an oil change, which her car desperately needed.

After spending most of the day at the festival which finally got over shortly after 11pm when they drew all the prizes-we were tired and headed to the hotel. Unfortunately, the FREE wireless that worked last time I was there now needed a password in order to access it-and the night clerk didn't know what it was. So, I couldn't check email or anything until I got to my sister in law's house the following day and hacked into her internet service. Talk about internet withdrawal...lol.

So, I am sharing a few pics of Deja at the festival. I actually behaved myself and didn't cruise around town. Things have definitely changed since I was there-many houses are boarded up, victims of the foreclosure market and several well known night spots have also shut down due to the sagging economy and/or because they supplemented their poor alcohol sales with illegal drug sales and got caught! It was kind of depressing to see so many homes empty there, and to hear another friend of mine tell me she'd been looking for work for 6 months and not even an interview. Even the numbers of people who showed up at the church festival were less than I had seen before, which tells me that RI certainly is suffering through this recession more than I had anticipated. Hope you enjoy the pics and even though I enjoyed my mini vacation, I am glad to be home!

Writing from the road

After what seemed like ten hours under the hot, beating sun and our car slowed in traffic that rivaled a snail's pace-we finally made it to our destination in Rhode Island.

I also learned a couple things along the way as well. Namely DO NOT listen to husband when he suggests an alternate route. Stick with your gut feeling, and don't allow him to persuade you to take the scenic route, the shorter route or whatever possible route he suggests. Hubby decided on an alternate route yesterday. My bladder was full and I assumed the shortest route would provide me with quicker relief. I was wrong. Instead of I-95, we headed to RI via 495. And there was construction going on-even on a Saturday. Now if you have ever had to wait in hours for traffic, under a hot sun, with a full bladder you probably know how I felt.

To make matters worse, there was NO place I could go-sure, there was a strip of land between the north and southbound lanes, but there was no privacy. Hubby mentioned something about going on the side of the road-which is easy for our male counterparts. For us ladies, it involves dropping our drawers and exposing our nether regions to the elements-which in this case was bright sunlight and a full audience of cars backed up in traffic. So I waited...and WAITED. Crossed my legs and uncrossed them, shifted my weight from one side to the other and seriously pondered how to go in my empty Diet Coke bottle without causing a flood-and silently cursed hubby under my breath.

Just when it became apparent that the flood gates were poised to open, traffic started moving. I smiled at the Heavens above, glad that the image of me relieving myself on the side of the road wasn't going to be a reality-since that it itself was enough to scar small children and make grown men cry. I will say that I made it to the hotel bathroom-barely in time-but mission accomplished in the correct spot, thank goodness.

Oh, and the other thing I learned yesterday? Let's just say that if I am drinking and driving on a long road trip make sure that I have a contingency plan in effect-my bladder DEPENDS on it!

Heading South...

laptop packed but NOT charged... going to go find me a feast, festival or something to do in Rhode Island to keep me busy and away from the dance clubs and too many sex on the beaches, lol. (the drinks folks... nothing more)

Not that this middle aged mama heads to the dance clubs any more-though sometimes it's interesting to sit outside and watch the patrons stumble out after a long night of dancing, drinking and getting to know that person they've been staring at for the last hour of the night while deciding if they actually DO look better after several more drinks. Ha, the poor choices we sometimes make when our judgement is impaired!

I've got a 4 hour ride ahead of me, so heading out in a few. Have a great weekend and I will hopefully have some pics up by tomorrow night!

A Bit of A Migraine Today...

Thus no overly eloquent meaningful post and not being online much. Just not in the mood to do much of anything except for moaning, groaning and bitching at my husband to turn the light out, get me my cold cloth for my head and lower the volume on the TV. Took my last prescription med for it today as well.

Ever get a migraine? A sharp, shooting pain that makes you want to keel over and drop right there? Well, that was today for me. The stabbing pain in the right eye, the aura, and the nausea-all of the elements present to create spontaneous combustion in my head. No going to the post office today to mail out my giveaway prizes, I had a hard enough time going to the hospital to pick up my son and his girlfriend after she had false labor pains.

Actually, I almost threw myself on a gurney and told them to put me in a dark room with NO visitors. And to give me an IV. (yes, I have had to have that done before!) But considering I was in the maternity ward, that might seem to be an odd request from a 43 year old obsese woman who looks preggers but who got fixed over 7 years ago. I was SO messed up I actually posted on Twitter that I had gone to the hospital and that HUBBY's girlfriend was in false labor. Can you imagine that? Of course, I quickly changed it to SON's girlfriend-and deleted the other comment as soon as I could. Jose would KILL me if he knew I wrote it...so just don't tell him if you see him. (yes, there are some people that read my blog that know hubby-and I am sure it'd be the talk of the party!)

I am heading to the Providence, RI area early Saturday morning for a visit with my sister in law and her family. I am also gonna eat some Chiles rellenos and Tamales and empanadas... and check out whatever festivals there are going on. Because knowing the Central Falls area, something is bound to be happening. And I want to be in on it. Hoping to find a Portugese feast. Nothing like a bunch of drunken Portugese people singing, dancing and selling Frango chicken. Have you ever eaten Frango chicken? Man, is it good! I dunno if it is even called that-I asked the vendor years ago, when I lived there. He was drunk and slurring his words, and he said Frango Chicken-and so that is what I call that wonderful marinated chicken. Or I could head to a Mexican or Puerto Rican festival-I've had lots of fun at those too. Lotsa food, booze and dancing-those seem to be the three things these festivals revolve around. Those are the things I miss living here in Maine-usually every weekend there was some type of a festival happening down there. I could buy some ethnic food, do a little dancing, watch the people get drunk, have a few myself, and leave before the police arrived to break it up. (yes, there is always a drunk or two who becomes the festival idiot)

Ok people, I am off to bed. I wanted to stay up later but it's time for me to hit the sack. Peace.

Conquering a New Foreign Language-HTML

Ahh, the frustration! Last night, well I should say THIS morning-I was desperately trying to turn my blog from two columns to three.

I did find a nice, purty Spring background-and put that on. (heck, cut and paste it was easy!) But after searching google, looking at HTML coding until I was cross-eyed and not so silently swearing, I gave up. Now don't get me wrong. There ARE instructions on there. Just not ones I can follow. I'd get all excited as I started following them...and then would look and say, "Hey! Mine doesn't look EXACTLY like that type of coding!" It was similar, but still different in some ways. I woke hubby up while not so silently swearing at the computer. He was not pleased.

So I gave up. At least for the night. And watched another zombie movie. Story of my life, those darn zombie movies I'll tell ya. And then I watched another horror on HBO. Since hubby was so rudely awakened by my screaming he watched them both with me. Misery loves company, it sure does. If I wasn't going to get to sleep, he wasn't either. Blame it on hormones. Blame it on Aunt Flo who paid me a visit yesterday. Blame it on that %&$%@*#! HTML that I just can't seem to conquer-YET.

I am giving my brain a break today. Besides, I need more Excedrin Tension Headache pills. I think I went thru the whole bottle last night. It's sunny outside, the birds are chirping, flowers are blooming, and I am enjoying the day. Never mind that I already heard the birds chirping as they woke up themselves this morning. Sometime later this week or next I will be prepared. Plenty of diet soda and chocolate on hand. And hubby will be awake. (if he isn't-he WILL be before I begin) And I will begin to tackle and decipher this HTML coding and make my blog 3 columns. Or royally screw it up, lol.

So if you happen to stop by late night EST or even early AM and see my blog acting a little wonky, you'll know what I'm attempting to do. If you live close by, I can GUARANTEE you will hear what I am trying to do. Have patience with me, Rome wasn't built in a day. And my blog probably won't be either-but good things come to all those who wait. :) Have a great day everyone!

Win some delicious brownies....

Busy Mom is celebrating Trisha from MomDot’s birthday by participating in the 31 bloggers in 31 days birthday bash. Head on over to Busy Mom….. (it’s so much more than a mom blog). Enter the birthday giveaway for a gift box from Fairytale Brownies! Be sure to check out the other fabulous giveaways as well!

Techie Grandma?

I just got a call from my mother. She wanted to tell me she had been playing with the Ipod touch that Deja left at her house yesterday. By the way, my laptop is there too-she and Deja made monster faces on the Photo Booth and kept them saved for me to see...

Now mom is panicked because the Ipod touch is needing to be charged. And she wants to beat her high score on Bejeweled 2. I tried to explain to her about how to charge up the laptop first and then the Ipod using the connection provided on the laptop, but somewhere I lost her. So she is going to pick up her 7 year old granddaughter at the after school program right NOW so she can show her how to do this. Why? Because she wants to keep playing!

I have been TELLING my mom for ages now that she needs to get a computer and surf the web. But she has always been uninterested until now. She has hours home alone, and I guess soap operas and game shows just aren't that appealing anymore. Maybe now she will listen and use that extra computer I offered her awhile ago.

The man downstairs has wireless, but we've been unable to connect her to the internet-my Macbook usually picks up a wireless right away but all but one were locked connections. And the one we tried kept timing out...so the man offered to help her out. (he's single, her age, and has a girlfriend but has been married 5x-I think he wants to help her out in more ways than one! lol)

So what will happen when and if mom gets connected to the internet? The jury is still out on that one, but I know she'd find out all my secrets :) Oh well, she can't ground me now anyways lol! I do know I think I just created a Bejeweled 2 addict however. Which is fine, as long as she doesn't beat MY high score!!!!

Twitter Giveaway winners!

Yesterday, in honor of Mother's Day I decided to do a 1 day twitter giveaway offering 2 winners an AVON Skin So Soft shower gel in the Light & Lush scent. The winners are Rhonda and Anh, who just happened to be on Twitter and responded to my tweet and re-tweets throughout the day announcing the giveaway! Congrats to both of you!

Review: Loreal Advanced Revitalift Deep-Set Wrinkle Repair

Ahhh, the joys of growing old. Gray hairs, sagging body parts... and wrinkles. If I had known all those years I spent smiling as a teen and 20 something would come back and haunt me with fine lines, and then noticeable creases-I would have kept a straight face, lol.

And not to mention the sun damage-I have spots of my face that I KNOW are going to need follow up. My dad had skin cancer, and those laser treatments are not pretty. But since I have a fair complexion and am considered to be in one of the risk categories I need to be extra vigilant. I used to envy the gorgeous teen girls that would have a golden glow about them, while I looked like a Maine lobster after 30 minutes in a pan of boiling water. Now, I don't envy them. Who wants to have skin with the look and feel of aged leather? And yet, they keep on tanning-unaware or unwilling to part with their "healthy" tans. Even though, now that they are my own age-the fine lines have turned to deep set wrinkles.

Heck, I want to stay well preserved. Not that I will qualify for wolf whistles from construction workers as I walk down the street, but I want to at least SLOW the effects of time on my skin. And that is where BzzAgent comes in. See, as a BzzAgent I sometimes get to try some really cool things and give my opinions. When BzzAgent decided to send me the new Loreal Advanced Revitalift Deep Set Wrinkle Repair to try out for a few weeks I was elated. First, I knew Loreal was a name that I grew up with, and was comfortable using. There are SO many beauty products out there now with names I have never heard of-and while I will try anything once, I knew Loreal from past usage of their products.

In my quest to stay well preserved, while I would love to have unlimited funds to buy any beauty products that provide me with an unlimited "fountain of youth", I realize that I can't afford some of the pricier stuff out there. And like most women, I have a beauty budget. Sure, it allows for splurges now and then. But I want a product that will be something that I can use everyday-and not take up all of my paycheck. These Loreal SPF 15 (yay for suncare protection too!) day lotion and night creme go for about $20 each-well within my budget for everyday usage.

The Advanced Revitalift Deep-Set Wrinkle Repair works with the help of Pro-Retinol A(which delivers Vitamin A to skin cells, helping to smooth and soften skin while boosting collagen production, making skin increase its elasticity.) and Fiber Restoring complex, which is a combination of ingredients that have been shown to help protect and repair your skin.

I have been using the products now for about four weeks, so I am at the halfway point-as they say after 8 weeks deep-set wrinkles will be visibly minimized and the skin will actually look younger. Let me begin by saying I don't have deep wrinkles-yet. What I have more are fine lines, like crow's feet and laugh lines, and of course the forehead frown and pursed puckered lip look from all those years of scolding hubby and the kids. One big benefit for me is the SPF 15, since I believe that skin care should also have some kind of UV protection as well. I haven't been using the night creme EVERY night, but I do use the day lotion daily. I do see a noticeable difference in the fact that my skin FEELS softer and firmer than before. However, my fine lines remain visible. I am going to use the product for the full 8 weeks as suggested, to see if my crow's feet and laugh lines diminish somewhat over time.

Irregardless, the SPF benefit is a plus and the feeling that my skin is firmer, and feeling more toned than it has been in awhile are definite positives when using this product. Thank you BzzAgent and Loreal for giving me the opportunity to try this product!

Romance and Suspense? You Bet!

Here's a chance to get some great books and start your summer reading! Check out Helen Kay Dimon's Blog to enter!

Frigidaire, are you out there?

Ok, I'm jealous. Now, I know my momma told me that it was wrong to be jealous of other people's stuff... but the ugly green eyed monster has reared its head.

Some of my favorite bloggers are getting lotsa new Frigidaire appliances. As in new kichen appliances AND laundry appliances too! Now, I am gonna tell you all that when we moved to this house in 2005 I tossed all those old kitchen appliances right out the door. And bought my OWN Frigidaire kitchen. Yup, my own smooth top range and new fridge-which, by the way have been working perfectly since I got them. And I wouldn't trade them for anything, hubby says he's not going to buy me any more appliances for a long, long time so lucky for me, these Frigidaire appliances are made to last. I even took a couple of pics to PROVE that I am a proud Frigidaire owner and have been since 2005!

So when I heard that these lucky ladies were getting some new Frigidaire goodies, I knew they'd love them. But you know what? I am still jealous. Why? Because I have been drooling over their Affinity line of washer/dryers. See, even though I got new KITCHEN appliances, hubby said no to new laundry appliances. So we have what the previous owners left us. With the amount of laundry I do in a week, I NEED something that can keep up AND be Energy Star approved. The ones I have now are probably 15-20 years old and I doubt they are energy efficient. Hubby just laughs at me when I walk by the appliances section and gaze in the direction of the Frigidaire washers and dryers. Whenever we head to our local Sears with my hubby or my mom they lead me over to look at the washers and dryers. But I know they are just teasing me. Yes, its torture-I will admit it. And even more so now that I have learned that they are rolling out a whole new line of time saving appliances, so that moms like us have more time for our families and ourselves-they figure we can save about 8 hours a month by using these new appliances. And to me, 8hours is more time to read that book I've been wanting to check out, take that long bubble bath, or watch that TV show I never have time for.

Hmmm, I wonder if they have a loyal customer rewards program... Frigidaire, are you out there??? Well, I guess I will have to stick with playing the lottery and hoping that I win... or entering their sweepstakes and seeing if I can win the washer and dryer of my dreams... They have just started a sweepstakes here: http://www.mymotherload.net/ where you can go to win lots of wonderful prizes. And Frigidaire if you ever need to part with one of those lovely red Affinity washer/dryer sets, and need a willing test subject-I'm here!

Avon SSS Age Defying Winner!

First, I want to thank all that took the time to enter my giveaway. With Mother's Day right around the corner, I enjoyed reading how you were going to spend your day. Some posts made me smile, some brought tears to my eyes, and some made me chuckle. I wish I could give ALL of you something, because you all deserve it!

I haven't yet decided how I will be spending my Mother's Day, but I am sure it will include a visit to my mother and a visit to the cemetery to visit my grandmother. Jose will call up his mom in Guatemala and wish her a great day over the phone (yes, they celebrate Mother's Day there too!) and probably talk to all his sisters as well since they have a huge gathering at their parent's house. He has another sister in Rhode Island who he will call, and we will visit her next weekend. My daughter gave me two gorgeous pink carnations today, and I've put them in a vase on the kitchen table so I can see them all the time :).

Now, on to the winner! Random.org chose lucky number 86 as the winner of the Avon SSS Age Defying bundle! BIG congrats go out to: Georgie C who wrote:

georgie c said...
Following you on Twitter,id- electricisland
electricisland(at)gmail.com

May 7, 2009 1:48 PM

Georgie C I will be sending you an email later this evening and you will have 48 hours to get back to me or I will have to choose another winner! So PLEASE get back to me so I can send you your Avon prize! Congrats!

I also had a lucky day--I had a couple of bloggie wins AND I went to a Luck of The Draw Auction and won a tire rotation GC, $25 GC to a Family Fun Center (bowling alley/restaurant) and a cute little bracelet for Deja. Next weekend I will be doing the same thing, but in RI...hoping to win some restaurant GC for some nice ethnic food, yum! In RI they call them Penny Socials, here in Maine they are called Chinese Auctions or Luck of the Draw auctions and in other parts of the country they call them Tricky Trays from what I have heard. This particular one was for the Humane Society in the next county over, and I have to admit it is a great fundraiser for the animals! The one I will be at next weekend is a fundraiser for the local Catholic community of churches where I used to live. I always try to time my visit to RI so I can attend these functions, they are lots of fun! Do any of you go to these, and if so, what do they call them in your area?

Avon Giveaway-ends May 8th 11:59 pm EST

GIVEAWAY OVER!
I thought I would also jump on the bandwagon and post my own giveaway, to go with the Give It Away Now blog giveaway carnival hosted by Mom Most Traveled and give away some Avon goodies as pictured above. I want to make it easy, and simple for you to enter since there are so many great giveaways going on right now! Up for grabs is the NEW Skin So Soft Age Defying line of products. You will receive FOUR full sized products, including the Overnight Corrective Hand Treatment, Corrective Neck & Chest Treatment SPF 15, Rejuvenating Body Cleanser and Rejuvenating Body Moisturizer a $35 value. Be sure to check out all the other neat giveaways-clicking on the Give It Away Now button on my sidebar will take ya there :)

Here are the rules: Open only to US (these products are kind of heavy!)
Begins today, and ends 11:59 pm EST on May 8th
PLEASE leave a way to contact you-in comment or on blog
Winner contacted by email after end of giveaway-open to
both bloggers and non-bloggers. Winner will have 72 hours
to respond to winning email or another winner will be chosen.

How to Enter: MANDATORY ENTRY- Just leave me a comment letting me know what you
do on Mother's Day. Do you go out for dinner, visit your own
mom, spend the day with the kids?... I'm nosy, lol!

EXTRA ENTRIES-LEAVE A SEPARATE COMMENT FOR EACH
1 entry if you are a current or new follower on Twitter
2 entries for being a current or new blog follower

So you can get a total of FOUR entries if ya do it all!

Some Things You Never Knew About Me

1. My middle name is Marie.

2. When I was younger, in the 80's-I only wore fuschia & turquoise clothes!

3. I have been married 3 times, yup, that's right. Third time's a charm too!

4. I had a miscarriage before I had Deja back in 2001. :(

5. When I was little (before school started) I spoke fluently in French.

6. One of my best buddies from grade school is my son's godfather.

7. My half bro is a talented guitarist. Ck out Andy Lee from Circle 2 Circle!

8. We used to skinny dip in the public pool as teens! Don't tell my mom...

9. My fave beverages are diet soft drinks and chocolate milk.

10. I hate housecleaning, my house is a mess--and I am somewhat of a pack rat.


Now it's your turn! What can you tell me about you? Go on, spill the beans!

I Dream of Zombies

I will admit it. I think about zombies WAY too much. Viruses, nukes, chemicals, acid rain--you name it, and I think it is coming. And bringing us zombies.

When the Swine Flu was whipping up people into a frenzy, I was thinking about zombies. When I hear on the news about a nuclear "incident" somewhere in the world, I start thinking about zombies. When there are meteor showers, I am thinking it will bring some virus or life form-and make us into zombies. (Can you tell that I watch ALOT of zombie movies?)

I live down the road from TWO cemeteries-where most of the town's population is buried. At nighttime, when I drive by the cemeteries I go faster than I should. Visions of a hoarde of zombies, arms outstreched, moaning "Brains, Brains!" fill my thoughts. Even in the daytime, I am on guard. My grandmother was buried at the beginning of April, and during the graveside service I kept nervously glancing around expecting to see a hand pop up from a neighboring grave.

My dad was cremated in February. He was smart, because ashes can't come back to eat you later. In the funeral home with my mom, while planning the arrangements for my grandmother's funeral I told my mom I wanted my gram cremated too. Mom said NO, that was not what SHE wanted. (SHE being my grandmother) I told my mom SHE did NOT want to come back as the living dead, and that by cremating her, we were ensuring that she would not come back to pay us a visit at a later date. During this conversation, the undertaker was sitting there, somber as could be, nervously twisting his pen and pretending to read some document that was on his desk. But I could tell that he had heard this before, (or he thought I was certifiably nuts) because I could have sworn that I saw a brief smile and heard a faint chuckle before he went back to his long, somber face. How many of you have seen an undertaker smile? I know I haven't-ever. By the way, I lost the battle. Gram got buried in a lovely floral dress, in a gorgeous light pink metal casket, with a very tight and HEAVY vault keeping her sealed for all of eternity...I hope.

Good night Gram and Dad, I love and miss you both!

Deja asks you-" Who wants to be Cute Like Me?"

I have to admit, I am jealous. I entered a giveaway awhile back for a name bracelet and she won! Well, actually I did-but the prize was for her, lol.

Ever since she was a little baby I have always wanted to get her a name bracelet, but just never got around to doing it. Something always came up, and by the time I was ready to buy one she had grown up! But better late than never I say, and so when I noticed a website online called Cute Like Me and saw that they had name bracelets which fit older kids, I was very happy. She and I got online and looked for her favorite bracelet, and there was so much to choose from! She ended up choosing the Kati style from the Signature Line of Baby Name Bracelets.

In addition to name bracelets, they have lots of other items as well: onesies, GORGEOUS baby wipes containers, hair bows, clippies and cute little bow holders too. I saw plenty of nice things I added to my wish list when I visited the site, and I am sure you will find lots of great items too.

When the bracelet came, Deja was visiting her grandmother. Since she was spending the night there, I brought the package over to her and let her open it. "Oooh, pretty!" were her first words, and she seemed VERY thrilled to see HER name on the bracelet. Deja is 7 now, and I was concerned it might not fit her. But not to worry, it fits her perfectly and still has a ways to go-so she could be wearing it for a few more years too! One thing I noticed when I put it on her was how heavy and well made it is. Grandma immediately told Deja that was "one of her best pieces of jewelry" and that she needed to care for it properly. My mom was hesitant to let her wear it to school because she thought it was so nice some other child would steal it from her! (yes, that happens-a couple of her clippies and Paknaks have been taken by other kids while she was at childcare-they even took HER library book and made ME pay for it because they never returned it, guess they felt if it wasn't signed out to THEM they didn't have to return it to school!)

Irregardless, I let her wear it the next day and she was thrilled when her little friends Evan and Gavin told her how pretty it was. Heck, boys are noticing this already! Mikayla, Callette and Ellie also let out a girly squeal and gushed over Deja's new treasure. Because of the "theft" factor, I don't let her wear it every day-but she wears it about once a week & wants to wear it to the special Father-Daughter dance next year around Valentine's Day. I want to send out a big THANK you to the lovely owners of Cute Like Me for giving Deja such a wonderful gift and keepsake. Check out all their wonderful offerings too, they just might have something for your special little one!

WHADDYA MEAN I CAN'T SIT IN YOUR CHAIR BECAUSE YOU ARE TOO BUSY BLOGGING? Tell me you're not mad at me because I dumped your Diet Pepsi on your chair...heck, I'm wet too!

Grilled or Fried?

Did ya know I once was married to a Sanders? Yup, but unfortunately it wasn't family of the Colonel...

I have eaten at KFC for years now, and enjoy the Original and Crunchy/Extra Crispy recipes just fine, and miss the Spicy version they used to have-it added a little heat to the mix, and I loved the added flavoring. I hate to admit it, but I love the crunchy coatings-and enjoy the skin and all its fried glory more than the actual chicken itself. Not very healthy, eh? I guess that is why I am grabbing for a Maalox or Pepcid a few hours later-all that grease has gone to my tummy and made me ill.

So when KFC came out with the new grilled version, and offered coupons for free pieces of chicken-I decided to try it out. The photo looked great, and it looked like it was tasty, but less greasy and more juicy than the fried counterparts. Hubby and I headed to our local KFC/Taco Bell and ordered some tacos and got our free piece of chicken-and we liked it!

Its supposed to be marinated and grilled, and I have to admit the skin and chicken (yes I actually ATE the chicken too!) were tasty and good. However, on our second trip we got the dinners and it was a little drier than I would have liked. Considering it was very busy (everyone was redeeming their coupons) I am giving them the benefit of the doubt, and will try it again soon when things are more back to normal to see if it was just a one time thing. If the chicken is just as juicy and tasty as our first trip, you can bet that we will be heading back for more and switching our fried buckets for the all grilled version in the near future. So my question to you-have you tried the grilled version yet? And did ya like it?

New mode of transportation

Nope, not me! These shiny new crutches belong to hubby. Who will be using them until he feels better, since he has tendinitis in his Achilles tendon...

Now the man has a high threshold for pain-so when he comes into the house limping and whimpering this morning, I know something is up. For the past two days he has gone to work (such a trooper!) even though his heel area has hurt him alot. He does a lot of walking in his floor cleaning job, and about 3 nights ago noticed a sudden onset of pain and started limping towards the end of the night. Never one to complain, he mentioned it to a couple of coworkers and came home and rested. Then continued to work, but last night was the worst-he couldn't even finish his job and luckily for him, his two coworkers were able to do most of the stuff while he sat down for prolonged periods. When he asked to see the doctor or go to the hospital today, I had a feeling it was pretty bad.

Now with all this swine flu stuff, I was not ready to go to hospital-because if there is any way a germ can seek someone out, it would find me. I called his doctor, but they had no appointments today-and being Friday, suggested he try the ER. So we head to the ER and as I walk in there are signs and posters about the swine flu. I notice several masked patients sitting in the waiting area and the sound of coughing, sneezing and hacking are enough to want to make me turn and bolt for the door. Hubby was placed into a wheelchair and I got to drive him around, which was fun. He kept telling me to be careful as I got perilously close to doors, walls and chairs-and I know I was making him nervous with my less than perfect driving skills.

They don't think it is a rupture of the tendon...which is a good thing. But nevertheless, tendinitis is painful and takes a while to heal. He is home and I am here waiting on him hand and foot. Nothing worse than a sick or incapacitated male, let me tell ya. He wants to go to work tonight, but can't put any weight at all on his foot... and he is frustrated and cranky. Lucky for me, Sleeping Beauty decided to take a nap so I could get online and blog. Sorry for the dark picture above, apparently the lens or something was dirty and made the door look dirty and the bottom of the picture dark, even with a flash. Wish me luck folks, as I care for a cranky male who would rather be at work (he really likes his job) than be sitting home doing nothing.