Happy Thanksgiving!

Wishing all of my readers and their families a Happy Thanksgiving! Enjoy your day with friends and family... cherish the moment and take delight in the wonderful food and desserts on the table.

If heading out shopping later this evening, hope you get all the great deals you want-be careful, and cautious. Here in Maine, it is supposed to be a bit on the wintry side with freezing rain and snow so I will be staying home. (hubby and my son are going out, grandbabies and Deja with me) I'm happy, I was able to snag a Blu Ray DVD player from Best Buy with built in WiFi for under a hundred bucks online earlier today-which is all I really wanted for the family in the first place. (with our Netflix subscription and so many movies streaming now, it made sense to get the most out of Netflix) Still got a bit more shopping to do, but I should be all caught up in the next week or so.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Hottest Holiday Toys in 2010

Check out the Hottest Holiday Toys in 2010 as posted by Mamanista (check out the link at the top of my right sidebar)or just click HERE

I can see my daughter with the Corolle Doll and the Fashion Designer toys this Christmas and my little grandsons snuggling up with the Zoobie Pets and playing with the Oball Rattle with its neat shape.

I'm sure you will find something you enjoy for your little ones, and you can even take a chance and see if you win one! Check out the giveaways too, and good luck!

I Won The Bad Mommy Award Today

My daughter had her ears pierced when she was two months old. She didn't cry then. But today, well, it was a whole different story.

When she was a toddler, she started yanking on her ears... ALOT. Scared that she might pull out an earring, hubby and I made the decision to take them out until she was older and ready to care for her earrings and her ears herself. The last thing I wanted was my daughter ripping an earring out, or worse, getting one loose and then putting the earring or backing in her mouth and swallowing it.

But as she began noticing her friends cute earrings, she kept mentioning how she wanted to have them in again. A few times, hubby laid her across his lap, soaked an earring in alcohol, and went to work-thinking the hole would magically reopen and the earring would find its way in pain free. Sure, he got them through both times-but it was not pain free and after a day or so my daughter wanted them out.

She's been mentioning earrings again, and I knew if daddy heard this it would be a repeat performance of the other two disasters a few years before. So, when I went to get my hair done today I mentioned to Deja that she could have her hair cut and if she wanted, her ears pierced. She knows my hairdresser, and she trusts her. I've known her myself since I was Deja's age and know that by piercing her ears again with a licensed cosmetologist, using the very quick procedure they have, that it would be much better than forcing an earring through a hole that had already long closed up.

At first she was hesitant, and then she started protesting and crying, squirming etc... as my friend got the stuff ready. My mother thankfully was there and was holding her hand and trying to calm her down. Before the procedure took place, I had to go and compose myself in the bathroom as I had started bawling too, and didn't want her to see me upset. By the time I'd left the bathroom, it was done. She was crying and howling, and saying it hurt. But when I asked her which way hurt worse, daddy's way or this way, she agreed daddy's way was the worst. She was so upset she even threw the $20 (bribe money for being a terrible mommy) I handed her after the procedure was done right back at me and told me to keep it. Clearly, she was pissed. (I mean, what almost 9 year old is gonna throw $20 back in your face unless they are pretty darn upset...)

She's in a better mood now... and I assume she will be asking for the $20 soon and reminding me of the American Girl doll I promised to buy her if she'd please just be quiet. She said it did hurt, but now it feels okay and knowing her, in a few days this will be all just a bad memory. (but an expensive one since her American Girl doll is probably gonna cost me $130 or so with all the accessories she wants-OUCH!)

So today, I get the Bad Mommy Award for telling my daughter if she wanted to get her ears pierced she was going to get them done the RIGHT way-and while certainly not pain free it is much better than daddy's way of doing things. I give her a few years... and then she'll probably be begging me to get her navel pierced... or maybe an eyebrow, or her tongue...who knows. And then I will win the Bad Mommy Award again... but this time for saying NO.

Great Job Deja!

I just came from the Parent-Teacher conference, and boy am I proud of my little girl! She's doing great in school and had an excellent report from the teacher. While I am glad that she is doing so well, I'm getting kind of nostalgic here since being in 3rd grade means she is growing up :(

I know, at 9 she is still young, but the years fly by and before we know it they are out on their own and wanting to spread their wings. My almost 18 yr old son moved out this past summer, and has his own family now-albeit early in life-but maybe now he will understand how I felt as a parent at times with him. He's very busy with his own life and his own two children, that I rarely see him anymore. But when we do get the chance to talk, it makes me happy.

So tonight hubby and I are proud parents after hearing such a glowing report on our smart little girl! Congrats Deja for having such a great report, we love you and are very proud of you tonight! Keep up the good work, do the very best you can, and that is all that matters.

Another CSN Stores GC Giveaway!

As a CSN Stores Preferred Blogger, I am pleased to bring my readers another giveaway from CSN Stores. As many of you know, CSN Stores is a great site featuring over 200 stores.

With CSN Stores, shopping is easy and user friendly. I've purchased a few things myself and things have come quickly and have been just as described. I've still got a few things on my wish list that I'd love to get from CSN Stores, and hopefully Santa (aka my husband) will be good to me this year and get me that clothes rack I have been wanting. I have an awesome dryer, but to save on electricity and be kinder to my clothing I like to air dry my stuff whenever possible.

I am also doing small home remodeling projects as time and money allow, and my bathroom is one area I am remodeling little by little. I was pleasantly surprised to see that CSN Stores also has a great selection of bathroom cabinets too. I am definitely in need of a space saver cabinet for over the toilet and a medicine cabinet since the one that came with the house when we bought it is ancient!

CSN Stores has generously offered one of my US or Canadian readers a $55.00 gift code to make your holiday shopping even sweeter! Keep in mind that Canadian residents may need to pay additional shipping if necessary.

Giveaway begins tonight and ends December 7th, 2010 at 11:59 PM EST. Open to US & Canadian residents only please. Winner will be selected via Random.org and will have 48 hours to confirm with me before I choose another winner. Prize will be a gift code that I will email directly to winner.

MANDATORY First Entry: Must be a public follower of my blog via Google Friend Connect.

OPTIONAL Entries: (please leave a separate comment for each entry)

+1 Follow CSN Stores on Twitter
+1 Follow CSN Stores on Facebook (just follow, no need to post to their wall)
+1 Follow me on twitter micaela6955
+1 Tweet this giveaway, leave link in comment-can be done daily :)
+3 Add my button to your sidebar or add me to your blog roll
+5 Add me to any giveaway linky, let me know where in your comment, unlimited
+1 An easy one, tell me one thing that is on your Christmas wishlist!

Good luck!

DISCLAIMER: I was provided with a $55.00 Gift code from CSN Stores to either review a product of my choosing or to give away to one of my readers. I received no further compensation for this blog post, and the opinions expressed above in regard to CSN Stores are mine alone based on my own experiences with them.

Halloween Giveaway Winner!

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

12

Timestamp: 2010-11-14 01:31:42 UTC

Congrats goes to... Tylerpants! Off to email you now :)

Just Another Night in the 'Hood

My son called me up a little while ago and told me some woman that lived around the corner from them got hit by a car or something... I'm still not too sure on the story yet, since I took a walk around the corner right after she'd been put in the ambulance, but apparently a man (who she knew) went into her house with a gun, they had some sort of argument, her boyfriend got into the mix and chased the dude out of the house with a baseball bat and smashed his windshield...

Add an angry pit bull to the ordeal, defending his mistress-and you've got a person that went to the wrong house... Apparently the guy also got bit by the woman's pit bull and as he was leaving the driveway hit the woman and ran over her legs.

According to my son's girlfriend, the woman kept trying to get up but couldn't feel her legs. Sigh... just another night here in the 'hood I guess. My house is affordable, cheaper than renting, and the area still is reasonably safe with a few good neighbors around. But there are times I truly want to pack things up and go live in a cabin in the woods, away from all this craziness. I am kind of sorry I sold my cute little .22 with the pink handle when I had kids... I'd probably feel a bit safer with it at times.

I'm off to bed, gotta work tomorrow :( (now I love my job, but I sure wish Veteran's Day had been on a Friday instead!) Before I head off to dream land though, gonna go check the doors, and make sure it's all good. Goodnight everyone!

Living Life in the Land of Oz...

My mother is an addict. No, I am not talking drugs, alcohol or any of the other stuff people are usually addicted to. She is addicted to... daytime TV. Namely one show in particular, Dr. Oz.

Around 3:30 or 4 pm daily I will be getting a call at work so she can tell me the subject of Dr. Oz's show that day. If she can't get through to me, she will call a co-worker of mine. (no worry, this co-worker likes my mom and my mom bargain hunts and finds good deals for her, so it's no big deal)

Sometimes, she will come into the office and drop off coupons or some stuff I'd asked her to pick up. And she will talk about Dr. Oz. And what he talked about on his show that day. One show in particular she mentioned was about how Dr. Oz said a woman should "let it air out" from time to time. And I am not talking about the laundry hitting the breeze here, folks. Nope, natural flora and panties aside, we are talking about a female part that is, geographically speaking, a bit below the navel. This summer it was hot, and my mom told me she was doing what Dr. Oz had said... just lying on the bed and airing things out a bit. I gently reminded her that I hope she had closed the blinds before doing so-since her room faces that of a bachelor neighbor next door, and he may get more than he bargained for if he happened to step onto his porch for a smoke. Seriously, this was TMI as far as I was concerned-visions of my nearly 70 yr old mother airing things out haunt me to this day. (even a co-worker who mentioned this to her boyfriend tells me that whenever she walks around the house with just a tee shirt on, he asks her if she is "airing it out".)

Then there was how to reduce stress. By having SEX... and having a happy ending at least 3 times a week. Mom proclaimed that Dr. Oz said by following this practice you can add 7 years back onto your life. I dunno about you, but my idea of a happy ending and getting rid of some stress is getting a double fudge and peanut butter happy ending sundae with my meal at the local Friendly's. I wonder if it would have the same effect...lol. I don't think so. But after hubby heard this he's hoping for a little stress reduction as well.

Today, well, I could hear my co-worker laughing in the next cubicle over. I looked at the clock and it was that time again. She was on the phone, with, you guessed it...dear old mom. Who was filling her in on today's show. Which consisted of a pink light bulb in the bedroom (for enhancing the mood a bit supposedly and to make your body look better. Um, for me it would be lipo please!) and feeding your significant male other oatmeal with UNSWEETENED cocoa mixed in. And I am sure, now that all the frustrated housewives have rushed out to the market, there will be a huge shortage of unsweetened cocoa and oatmeal for a little while. And by the way, if you've invested in Viagra better to switch your stock holdings over to Hershey's, because apparently they know something we don't.

I just got a call from mom a few minutes ago... reminding me that tomorrow's my day off. And that she has a few appointments in the morning, but will be home in time for... Dr. Oz. Tomorrow, a few minutes before show time I expect to get the call... telling me to turn on the TV and tune in to the Dr. Oz show. But I will be busy... airing things out a bit and feeding hubby some oatmeal while we both bask in the pink glow of the new light bulb I installed in our ceiling fan. And I can assure you, that show WILL have a happy ending lol...