Yipppeeee it's a Big Giveaway

Welcome - Welcome

Come in.

Let me get your coat.


You know the girls...Barbie, Skipper, Malibu Barbie

I'm so glad you could come today. It's going to be a lot of fun.

I've got a lot to get through...

So why don't you have a seat and let me show you what's in store for today.




First off I have to tell you that Pioneer Woman has some of the best (butter, cream, eggs, pioneer food) recipes in all the land. I had Thanksgiving at my house last year and made the turkey according to her directions (I brined it!) and I had the best turkey ever. So, go quickly to her website after the party and find a divine recipe to make this week.

I hear that her sheet cake is just the cats meow. I haven't made it, but for my birthday, let's pretend!

YUMMMMMM!!!


So we've got the cake!



I see that there are party hats already made at the Barbie gathering. Would you like to make a party hat of your own?? Be sure and grab a set of "safety scissors" as the gal in the video suggests. lol



Cake - Check

Party Hat - Check

Gifts!!!

Just like Santa, I'll bring them all out of the bag.

One

At

A

Time


OK, first up.

I have another Puzzle Ice cube tray and another set of three votive holders.



I have a set of 6 beautiful magnets that I have made just for the occasion. There will not be a picture available. You will just need to trust me - you'll love them. I've been making them for years and have never had a dissatisfied customer lol

The next gift comes from the ETSY shop of ilee I have one of almost everything on her Etsy site. I think in the next few weeks she'll have more items for the holiday season, but last year I bought several items as gifts. Her calendars sold out real quick last year, so this year I bought several. One of those calendars will be in this gift package!!

and last but certainly not least.

My favorite author these past few years...Victoria Moran has a book "Younger by the Day." I have so many pages book marked that it looks like a text book! I would love for you to get that book, but it's up to you because the last gift is a $20 Amazon gift certificate! You can purchase any book you'd like - but be sure to check out Victoria's books while you are looking for your perfect gift.

This quote was mentioned on the Oprah show the other day. I loved it. It immediately made me think of all of the bloggers and readers and people who comment on all of these blogs. In this age of computers, you don't have to physically be in the same space to leave an impression.

We never touch people so lightly that we do not leave a trace.
-Peggy Tabor Millin

I hope that you will continue to come back and visit me and comment. I have really enjoyed my birthday week and it has turned out to be one of my most memorable birthdays! I'm so happy to have met so many new folks this week. I also think that all of the new people to my site won all of the prizes, too!!


la la laaaaaa

Do you have your singing voice ready?

Hmmmmmmmmmmm

Happy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday dear Kristin
Happy Birthday to you.



Thanks everyone for coming by this week!! Be sure to leave a comment today. Any kind of comment at all to be entered into the Birthday Giveaway Extravaganza! The entry deadline is 9pm Pacific time on Saturday, October 18th.

I can't wait to see who wins!!

Have a fabulous weekend!!

Kristin

UPDATE!! We have a winner!! Random.org picked number 10 as the winner - and since I didn't count myself (who commented twice) or the second post from my Aunt Marg, the 10th post was written by my internet friend Tru. I told her to come over and post a message. Good thing she did, huh?

Thanks to everyone for participating. I've had a BLAST!!

Birthday Giveaway day five

I just want to remind all of you that tomorrow (Saturday) is the big day. The Extravaganza in my first blogging giveaway week. So don't forget to come back tomorrow. I've got a party all ready to go.

BUT today - today is Friday. A really nice Friday in my opinion. I can already feel the good vibes.

I am not much of a shopper. I can spend a day at our local outdoor mall, but I rarely buy anything. I like to look. I like to think about what a house that owned that item would look like lol Usually it doesn't work in my house...

However, the things I find at Target always seem to be just right. I have this down throw that I bought a few years ago. It is one of THE BEST gifts I have ever purchased for myself. It is such a great blanket that I take it with me on vacations. I talked my friend into buying one just a few weeks after I got mine. When she came to visit me a few months ago she told me that hers has been washed so much that it no longer has any feathers lol Mine mostly sits on the back of the couch - so I don't wash it as often I guess. Or maybe it's the kid thing. I don't have any of those little people. Just a cat. and a husband. and me.

Do you have an item that you have purchased that makes you feel wonderful? Something you wish didn't wear out because it was just one of a kind? Maybe you have an outfit that everyone notices and compliments you? Let me know in the comment section what purchase you've made that was one of your favorites.

The gift for today is a $25 Target Gift card!!!!!

...Insert photo of Target gift Card here....
Oh, I don't have one lol
Imagine... a bulls eye.

The Target card will be on it's way to the winner via email, so please leave your email in the comment section if you remember. Otherwise I'll just have to track you down. The contest ends at 9pm Pacific Time on Friday October 17th.

Have a fabulous, wonderful, incredible Friday!!! and don't forget to come back tomorrow for the daddy of them all giveaways - or something like that!

Kristin

UPDATE! Trina is todays winner!!! She will be receiving a Target Gift Card!! She came over today because Leigh (Tales from Bloggeritaville) wished a bunch of us October folks a happy birthday on her blog. Good thing Trina followed the yellow brick road over here! Thanks for stopping by!

Are you well traveled?

This is a map of the United States with Alaska and Hawaii crammed on the bottom. This map shows all of the states that I have visited with one exception...I've been to the Airport in Minneapolis, MN but since I never went outside I didn't count it. I really need to go to these northern states in the summer because I'm not a winter gal, even though I did grow up in Michigan.


visited 40 states (80%)
Create your own visited map of The United States.

So how many states have you visited in your lifetime?

I'm kind of surprised that I have missed Arkansas, Mississippi and Louisiana. However, I can see my driving trips just by looking at the map. I drove from Albuquerque to Michigan once. I drove to California and back - taking a northern route out there and the southern route back to Michigan. I have driven about every possible route from Michigan to Florida. I went on a road trip with my friend Ingrid once. We met in Seattle, WA and drove to Santa Cruz, CA. My grandparents lived in Alabama for many years and another set of grandparents lived in Nebraska. My uncle lived in the DC area at one time, my sister lived in Philly and in Portland, ME & I have a friend in New Hampshire. Trips were made to see all of these folks at one time or another.

My overseas map is pretty lame. I've been to Sweden, Norway and Denmark. That's it. (Well, the airport in Amsterdam, but that doesn't count in my book.) Next summer I hope to add the Isle of Mann, Ireland, Scotland and England to that list.

My friend J over at Musings from Left Field posted this on her blog, so I totally stole it LOL Thanks J!! I had a great time thinking about my trips and treaures.

Have fun with this!
Kristin

Mammogram results

I talked about researching what was going to happen at my mammogram here
and the next day I talked about my experience at the imaging center here

Today in the mail, I got the results of my Mammogram.

The form said that there were Benign Findings (BI-RADS 2) - there was no evidence of cancer.

I saw two dots when I looked at the X-ray at the office last week. I mentioned that they didn't look at all scary and I guess I was right! So I'm assuming that those little spots were the benign findings.

Please remember though that not all cancers are found through mammography. A breast finding of concern should never be ignored. If you notice any new changes in your breast(s) you should bring to your health care provider's attention immediately.

I will continue to have yearly mammograms, especially now that I know that it is an easy and pain free procedure.

Have a fabulous day!
Kristin

Birthday Giveaway day four

What a great week!! My mother has been sending me an animated greeting card each morning from the Jacquie Lawson website. Yesterdays card was this one - go ahead, take a look!

My blogger friends have been leaving nice comments (but of course!) and well wishes. My husband has been doing real well, even though there's an election going on and he's pretty high strung about it. We aren't going to place an offer on a house we were thinking about flipping so that actually eases my mind a bit and I really got a great nights sleep last night.

So, in honor of all the good that has happened to me - and I know that part of it is because it's my birthday week, but part of it is because I'm sharing it with you all - I'm giving away this pair of beautiful chunk candles.

side note: I took probably a dozen pictures of these candles and this was the best shot. The candles will NOT be blurry when they get to you!

These candles were purchased in Asheville, NC when my husband and I spent a long weekend at the Grove Park Inn (FABULOUS place) - at least I'm pretty sure that's when I got them. I bought them with the full intention of giving them as a Christmas gift to someone. Instead they were wrapped gently, placed in a box and never seen from again!

I think these beautiful candles need a home, other than mine, since I obviously didn't take care of them properly. These candles are certain to be unscented, since I am allergic to most things that have a scent.

I unearthed them today and squeeled with glee that I had another FABULOUS gift to give during my celebration week.

I always see these ads where people light candles and place candles around the tub. Then in the tub is a mixture of water and bubbles and some lovely woman is gently caressing her leg. Tell me - Have you ever had a bath with even one candle burning in the bathtub area? Do you ever use bubble bath for yourself or use those bath bomb things I see for sale? What about those pretty salts? do you use those? I have always wanted to know.

OK, so enough babbling - Please leave a comment to be registered in the drawing for the pair of beautiful blue candles. I will draw names an hour earlier at 9pm Pacific time on Thursday October 16th.

Thanks so much and have a fabullous day!
Kristin

Raise the Price

We got the call from the appraiser today about the potential flip house on the river. Here are the links to the flip I'm talking about here and here and those retro bathrooms here.

The appraiser came back and said that house was worth $450-460K if the owners fixed the roof that caved in, the dock and the screened in porch. We of course would fix all of those things so naturally we would expect to be able to pay less than the $450-460K because we were taking it as is. From what I understand, a mortgage company will not accept a mortgage on a house that has pieces and parts falling down, so that's why the house needs to have these parts fixed.

The listing agent said that the sellers have raised the asking price to $499K. This is before repairs. Just since they were notified of the appraisal. We could offer less but the listing agent said that the sellers won't accept less than the $450 now.

The likelihood of us getting this house - not gonna happen.

Can you imagine, in this economy, with house prices falling like rocks, these people who get a serious buyer and have just paid an appraiser to come out and look at the place (which by the way, this place has been on the market for a year now) and the sellers decide to raise the price because they have someone seriously looking.

I'm disgusted.

and just a bit bummed, too.

OK, so that's my story.

Have a fabulous day. I'm sure I'll have another place to fall in love with by the end of next week lol

Kristin

WFMW - Birthday Week

This weeks Works for Me Wednesday is all about Birthdays! This Saturday is my birthday and I'm having a blogging Birthday Giveaway celebration all week. I started on Monday and will continue through Saturday.

This has been a lot of fun. I spent a few hours in IKEA the other day and found a few gifts to give to the winners. I took pictures of all of the gifts and then each night I've written up a blog post and ask those who wish to comment a question to answer.

I have had a lot of fun so far - this is only day three for my Birthday week giveaway. The most fun has been and will be when the gifts arrive to the winners homes.

This works for me - Celebrating my birthday by giving to others.

The blogging community has been such a source of joy, laughter, tears and information that I really enjoy being able to give back just a little.

Please leave a comment here before you head over to Rocks in My Dryer for even more tips this week.


Todays Birthday Giveaway is this pack of colorful napkins! They made me smile when I saw them in the store, so I immediately put them in my basket! I hope that they make you smile if you are the winner. Comments will be accepted for the drawing until 10 pm Pacific time on Wednesday Oct 15th.


Do you use napkins in your home? are you papertowel folks? Is your family more of the shirtsleeve type?

My husband and I usually use one of the small "select-a-size" papertowels as our napkin. I usually take our fun IKEA napkins to our community pot luck dinners. It just adds a bit of fun to the tables. (I also bring something to eat as well lol)

Have a fantastic day and don't forget to come back each day this week and join the giveaway!
Kristin

UPDATE: We have a winner!! ilovemy5kids will be sporting some fun napkins in her kitchen and on her lap.

Thanks everyone for your comments. I like that so many of you are using cloth napkins and Leigh even admitted that her son uses his shirt sleeve lol I knew there had to be one!

Birthday Giveaway day two

I purchased a book several months ago and I don't even remember buying it, to be honest. Last night I wanted to take a bath and when I take a bath I must have something to read. If I had a Janet Evanovitch book (not the Plumb series) but one of her earlier books that she is republishing, then I would have grabbed that. I wanted something fun and light hearted. One that would keep my attention long enough to make running all that bath water worth while.

So I go to my book closet and there, sitting on top of some fabric scraps is the book that I purchased. It was a Sarah Ban Breathnach (pronounced Bon Bronnock) book titled Moving On. It's about homekeeping. It's about loving your home. It's about making your home a place you want to be a part of and can't wait to get to. (recall that I said this book was sitting on fabric scraps...yep, I need to read this book) I didn't know any of this when I grabbed the book and went for a dip in the tub. I was sure it was going to be something that required too much brain power. I was happily proved wrong. I only got through 18 pages, but my attention was held the entire time.

Earlier this evening, I crawled into bed and started to read another section of this fascinating book. I love to read books that make my brain dance with fireworks of creative thought. I love to be inspired. I usually keep a notepad and pen nearby when I read these types of books so that I can pass along some tidbit of inspiration to someone else.

Today's tidbit comes to us from Marcelene Cox who wrote this in 1947 -

"Happiness is not something you get, but something you do."

I'm hoping for both of those things to come true in this Birthday Celebration Giveaway. I will be more than happy to send out these adorable glass votive holders and I hope that the winner will be happy to receive them!

This Giveaway starts as soon as it's posted and goes until 10pm Pacific time on Tuesday October 14th. The winner will be randomly selected from all entries received before the deadline and posted right here. The prize winner will receive three of these little votives - 2 of one design and 1 of the other. Decorators always say that you should put things out in multiples of three - so three votive holders it is!

In the comment section please let us in on something you do that makes you happy.

I have a goofy thing that I do that makes me laugh everytime. If someone I don't know is walking near me into a store that has an automatic sliding door, I will rush up to the door and as it opens I say - "Let me get that door for you." It's a real cheap thrill but fun nonetheless.

Have a fabulous day!

Kristin


UPDATE! Comment #1 was once again the winner! Random.org is who picked the number and Jennifer was the lucky winner! Congrats Jennifer! Be sure to email me with your address so I can send off these great votive holders. Kirby3131[at]gmail.com

I "LOVE" this blog

I have a new blog that I've added to my daily rounds.

The Blog of Unnecessary Quotation Marks


Here is just one of the examples from that site.

I'm sure I've used quotation marks improperly, but some of these examples just crack me up.

Enjoy!!
Kristin

Birthday Giveaway day one

I was searching for a fun graphic to put with my Very First Blogging Giveaway and this one made me laugh!

Welcome Welcome one and all to my birthday week. My birthday is on Saturday, October 18th and I will be 42 years old. I've been testing out that age for about the last 6 months. In fact, I was a little shocked when I realized I wasn't turning 43! I'd been saying I was 42 for so long that I had forgotten that I was just testing it out.

This week, however, is all about you!

I have never done a giveaway. I've thought about it, but never done one.

So here we go!


I was thinking about food. Birthday food. Sometimes birthday food is a nice meal in a restaurant or it can also be a favorite meal, a potluck, a surprise party or a cake.

Please post in the comment section what you would like to have as your favorite birthday meal.

My favorite meal is a restaurant meal from Maggiano's Italian Restaurant. It is the Mushroom Ravioli in an Alfredo sauce with a nice side of broccoli. Yum!!!

One of my favorite things is ICE. In honor of my love of ice. The gift for today is this fabulous Puzzle Ice Tray. I will randomly select one of the comments at 10pm Monday October 13th and post the result here on this post.

Good Luck and I can't wait to see all of the birthday meals!

Have a great day and tell all of your friends to come over and join in the fun!

Kristin


UPDATE: I forgot to say what TIME ZONE the 10pm deadline was... I'll make it Pacific Time.

So, I'll randomly select a name from the comments at 10 pm Pacific time tonight. So far all of the birthday meals sound real good. I was so hungry when I started reading all the great food I went into the kitchen and made a salad. hahahaha

Thanks for all the bday wishes!


Terri (Comment #1) You are the winner of Today's contest!
Congratulations!

Thinking of Home

Zora & Stella.




Be sure to tune in tomorrow for day one of my Birthday Celebration!

IKEA Catalog 2009

Do you see this catalog?

I picked up one exactly like it yesterday when I went to IKEA.

I was so excited to have the 2009 catalog in my home.

I could peruse at my leisure.

I could dog ear pages.

I could ...

Oh man - I picked up the Spanish speaking version.

So between the Swedish named pieces of furniture and the Spanish text I can't read a word.

Except Nuevo - that word is everywhere. It means New!

The prices are all in U.S. dollars, so at least I can look at the price.

How funny.

Maybe I can learn Spanish this year.

Have a wonderful weekend!!
Kristin

Let's Celebrate!

Don't you just love a birthday party?

My favorite birthday was my 16th. It was a surprise party and I was truly surprised! I had no idea. I thought I was going to dinner that night with my family. Instead I came home from work, in my gold and brown Burger King uniform and was greeted by kids holding signs & cheering and people in the driveway clapping and welcoming me home. Hopefully I will be able to get some photos of that event this week. (Hey Mom, do you have any of those pictures scanned?) My hair even looked good that day! (always important) It was a great day. A real great day.

So, in celebration of my birthday on Saturday October 18th,

I will be having a blogging giveaway extravaganza!

Be sure and come back several times this coming week to see what I'm doing!

You just never know.

UPDATE: You know what I just noticed? This is my 300th post for 2008. Goodness, I can blog just about as much as I can talk! We're only 284 days into this year.

Retro Bathrooms

The bathrooms in The Landing.

This first one is in the family room - the converted garage, aka the 4th bedroom. It is a new bathroom and thankfully it has marble countertop and new cabinets. The previous owners couldn't decide which sink basin to get and so we have two. Neither of which have been installed. The black sink is actually plastic - ugh. The glass one will be the best choice. I'm not in love with the cabinets, but they are there and new so chances are real good I'd keep them.


This photo is of one of the closets in the hallway to the bathroom. The other closet is exactly the same size on the opposite wall. Amazing, huh? The bathroom in the background is second bathroom. The one for the other bedrooms and the guests, I'm sure. It is a little small but still in great condition.


This is the tub - it is art deco and I love it. It's a bit shallow, but in excellent condition.

I took such weird pictures in the bathroom - but this is the little tiny closet in the bathroom. Like it needs another closet with those two giant closets just one step away outside the door. The great thing about the sink area is that the tile was put in first, so we can change the size and style of the sink and the we won't have to replace or worry about finding tile.

This is the floor - LOVE IT! My mother has this tile in her bathroom, but her tile is in yellow. This tile was also put under the sink cabinet, so once again, no need to find this tile or to remove it.

This hall bathroom may need to have the tile reglazed a more appealing color, but we won't have to replace the tile. I wouldn't reglaze the floor though. I love it.


This is the Master Bathroom. Get a load of that sink cabinet! Eeeek. Someone tried to update the look, it seems. I think it needs to be updated again. If this house becomes ours, we are going to move the toilet to the tub area. This will give enough room then in this area to put in a larger sink cabinet. There might even be enough room for two sinks, but I'm not sure.

This picture is blurry but I took it to show the depth of the cabinet in the wall. The fireplace in the living room comes in behind the shower and vanity, but ends at the edge of the sink cabinet, which makes way for this deep upper storage area. We might be able to turn this into something interesting - or keep it a storage area.

THis is the separate tub area. It is really quite large and the space between the tub and the wall is plenty large enough to move the toilet there. There is even a crawl space under this section of the house, so it would be fairly easy to plumb as well.

This is the shower -- it is on the other side of the sink cabinet. The shower is in pretty good condition, but there was a plumbing problem at some point and a whole line of tile was replaced with random tile on both the wall and the floor of the shower. I haven't mentioned the tile in this bathroom - I love it. I love green and this is just too cool for words. I'm afraid it isn't everyones style, so for a flip we would probably have to reglaze it, just like the hall bathroom. The random tile in the shower area wouldn't be noticeable on the walls if we reglazed, but I wouldn't retile the floor of the shower. I would have to find similar tile for that section to keep it in its near original condition. That might be difficult. This shower is really large, too. I was surprised when I got in there and twirled around. Yes, I did twirl!

This little phone nook is in the hallway. I think it is "j'adorable" as Johnathon Adler would say. I think that word uses both apostrophe abuse and unnecessary use of quotation marks! A phone nook might not be a necessity in a modern house but I wouldn't get rid of the nook.

So, what do you think? Would you buy a house with two retro bathrooms? Would you buy a house with a green retro bathroom or blue or neither? Give me your opinions please. I love opinions!

Kristin


Edited - 30 June 2010 - this house has been bulldozed. I haven't seen what it going in its place. I'm so bummed that these retro bathrooms were destroyed.

The Landing

The potential flip house - continued.

My friend suggested the name of this place be called The Landing. I agree! So The Landing it is. whether we buy it or not.

This is the carport. Not much to look at, but it is an extension to the house, so it is important. My idea is to leave the front open, but to enclose the back. There is quite a large storage closet on the right hand side.

The door on the left goes into the family room (4th bedroom.)

This is a detail of the front of the house. I wrote on the picture about the wall. Most of the exterior is block but for some reason this one wall isn't. That means that moving the wall out wouldn't be that difficult. It would add about 3 feet to the kitchen width - a bonus for sure.


This is a closer look at the front door area. My idea is that we move the entry area out so that it isn't hidden in a corner. When the roof gets reworked, the entry will be addressed. If the wall to the kitchen gets moved, this would also affect the front entry. We'll just have to start drawing this on paper and get a design we like.


Ahhhh, the kitchen. Looks pretty bad. This is one of the UGLY parts to this place. The roof on the house is flat and hasn't been maintained. When Tropical Storm Fay came around earlier this summer, she punctured quite a hole in the roof of the house. This is her mess. tisk tisk.

This little mess though has turned off a lot of buyers. Most people don't want to have to replace an entire roof..which is what needs to be done. This flat roofed house needs to have a pitched roof. We get too much rain here in Florida to have a flat roof.

Enough about the roof disaster - look at this kitchen! Eeek!

I'm assuming that the cabinets used to be brown and then someone painted them. Then someone decided that wallpapering them would be an even better improvement!

I don't think so.




AND that huge white box like thing in the rear part of the kitchen. I had no idea what it was. I was shocked when I opened the lid to find a Washer and Dryer! That lid weighed 25 pounds at least. I honestly don't know how a short person like myself could lift the lid and have it rest against the wall and then get it back down again without breaking off my fingers! I didn't realize until I was looking at the photo I took that the doors on the front of the cabinet were for the dryer...how funny.

For a house of this age (built in '46) it has an astonishing number of closets. There are so many closets that I would move the W/D to the bedroom side of the house and out of the kitchen. Tom and I talked about moving the W/D to the family room area, but that would require the laundry to be hauled through the living room, front entry, kitchen and then finally into the family room.

I'll post the pictures of the original bathrooms tomorrow! Ooooh, I can't wait.

Have a great day!
Kristin

Edited - 30 June 2010 - this house has been bulldozed. I haven't seen what it going in its place.

New Flip Love

We found another house. It is just the perfect amount of ugly and beautiful. Trashed and treasured. This photo shows most of the front of the house -- off to the right is an open carport. You can just see the beginning of the opening in this photo. The old garage has been turned into a family room, but it is being marketed as a 4th bedroom.

According to me what we have here is...a 3 bedroom, 3 bathroom home built in 1946 on an acre of land on the river (I think it's the St. Johns River - UPDATE: It is on the Arlington Rive just before it dumps into the St. Johns) in a really nice neighborhood. The houses in the neighborhood are a mix of old and new places, but mostly updated 40's, 50's and 60's homes. There is a screened in porch, a former screened in porch that has been turned into an indoor area, a small dining room area, living room with fireplace, family room (what they call a 4th bedroom) and the carport. It is about 3300 square feet.

This is the backyard. It is on the river and it has a dock and two boat slips. One of the boatslips is covered. I didn't go out there (not a fan of the water) so I have no idea what it looks like out there. Tom looked and told me, but I wasn't listening lol

We are having an appraiser out to take a look at the house on Monday. We'll see if it is something we want to take on after he shows up and gives his official appraiser opinion lol

Oh, the house needs a new roof. I'll show you more pictures tomorrow or later tonight. I took about 80 pictures of the place, so I've got plenty to show!

Have a great day!
Kristin

Edited - 30 June 2010 - this house has been bulldozed.  I haven't seen what it going in its place.

WFMW - Pack & Ship

Great Packing Material for Mailing those Gifts.

Welcome to another edition of Works for Me Wednesday. When you have finished reading my tip (and leaving a comment if you'd like) please head over to Rocks in my Dryer for even more fabulous ideas from other bloggers.

All of a sudden I have a ton of plastic bags in the house. 99% of the time I take my plastic milk crate on wheels (aka my bucket) to the grocery store & fill that up instead of getting bags, but for some reason the plastic bags have multiplied. I did go away for a few days and the dear Husband does not use the bucket, so maybe that's where this started...but I digress.

I was about to load the bags into my bucket to take back to the store for recycling when I remembered that I could probably use the bags in the next few months AND it would make for a great tip for WFMW.

I like to use the leftover plastic bags to put into boxes when I mail out gifts or other assorted items. The bags are lightweight, are easily moldable around objects, have enough air in them to keep a bit of bounce (for those bumpy mailcarrier rides) and are FREE. You can roll a few of them together to make a sturdy piece for sticking in the corners of boxes or you can just grab a few and push them into the little space between the side of your gift and the box.

I've stuffed all of my bags into one bag (top photo) and will keep the bags in with the wrapping paper for now (so I won't forget to use them.) All of my Christmas gifts have to be sent out, so I've got a bit of packing & shipping to do.

Hope you have a great week and be sure to head over to Rocks in my Dryer for more incredible tips.

Kristin

The Secret Scrolls

It has been quite awhile since I have written anything about The Secret and even longer since I posted a few of my favorite page a day quotes from The Secret Scrolls. Here you go. A bit of good wishes and love and thoughts for keeping us all in a good frequency.

These quotes are taken from The Secret page-a-day calendar for 2008.

Your life right now is a collection of your past thoughts. That includes all the great things, and all the things you consider not so great. Since you attract to you what you think about most, it is easy to see what your dominate thoughts have been on every subject of your life, because that is what you have experienced. Until now! Now, you are learning The Secret, and with this knowledge, you can change everything - because you can change your thoughts!

The feeling of love is the highest frequency you can emit. The greater the love you feel and emit, the greater the power you are harnessing.

Be happy now. Feel good now. That's the only thing you have to do. If that's the only thing you get from reading The Secret, then you have received the greatest part of The Secret

.

When you do not treat yourself the way you want others to treat you, you can never change the way things are.

If you are rushing or hurrying, know that those thoughts and actions are based in fear (fear of being late) and you are "fixing up" bad things ahead for you. As you continue to rush, you will attract one bad thing after another into your path. In addition to that, the law of attraction is "fixing up" more future circumstances that will cause you to rush and hurry. You must stop and move yourself off that frequency. Take a few moments and shift yourself, if you don't want to summon bad things to you.

A fast way to get yourself on the frequency to receive is to say, "I am receiving now. I am receiving all the good in my life, now. I am receiving [fill in your desire] now." And feel it. Feel it as though you have received.

Mammogram update

I got up bright and early this morning, showered - followed the directions given to me and did not put on any kind of powder or deodorant - and got dressed ready to go for my mammogram.

I googled the address for the facility (Precision Imaging) the night before so I was quite sure where I was going. As it turned out, it was very easy to find and I got there right on time.

I have to say that the interior of Precision Imaging was beautiful. I was immediately bummed that I didn't bring my camera. It looked like and felt like the interior of a really really nice home.

My appointment was for 8am. I arrived at 7:45 as instructed.

I filled out the forms.

I was led into the back to change from my shirt and bra to the "gown" with the snaps in the front.

I didn't even get to sit down before I was called to the x-ray room.

I had looked the night before on a website that showed the equipment used and I was glad to see the same equipment. I knew, sort of, what to expect. The woman explained the machine, the views she needed to get, the reason for the squashing of the boob in the machine and if it was too much pressure to just let her know.

She placed this little removable foam pad on the bottom of the plate and explained that helped cushion the breast and makes for a more comfortable experience.

So, I'm standing in front of the machine, gown open and she tells me she is going to position my breast into place. She was totally amazing. She moved my boob around so quickly and gently that I hardly had any time to react or be uncomfortable. She took two pictures of each breast and then took another picture of the right side because she noticed she didn't get the muscle she wanted in the first photo. That was fine with me. I thought the mammogram was going to be slightly painful (from what I'd heard from others) and it wasn't. Not even a little. Uncomfortable for a few seconds, yes - but not even close to painful.

After the X-rays she asked if I wanted to see them. Sure do!

She said that my breasts are fatty (I knew that!) but that was OK - it made for a great picture. My veins were not massive, which also made for a great picture. I saw a few specks that weren't veins or fat, but honestly, those specks didn't frighten me. She said that 40% of new folks get a call back for a second exam just because there isn't a previous picture to look back on - fine, fine with me. She said not to be alarmed if they called back.

If they call back, that will be OK with me - I didn't see anything scary in the x-rays so I am quite confident that if there is anything wrong, it can be caught immediately.

I was actually quite pleased with the way my breasts looked. I don't think they'd make great wall art, but they looked nice.

I was out of the office by 8:08am. Less than 30 minutes from when I arrived.

It was a very positive experience and I'm very glad that I went.

If you are thinking about scheduling a mammogram and are a bit nervous, please don't be. The peace of mind is worth it. Completely worth it.

Have a fabulous day!
Kristin

Mammogram

As you may know, October is Breast Cancer Awareness month. It seems like every year the campaign gets bigger and bigger. In the past year I've noticed that breast cancer awareness is no longer just in October. There are the runs and walks all over the country to benefit the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation and they are in the spring, summer and fall.

Just recently Christina Applegate has announced that she had a double mastectomy to help keep herself free from breast cancer. A lump had been found and she had also discovered that she has the gene that pre-disposes her to getting breast and cervical cancer. Having the double mastectomy reduces her risk of having another bought of breast cancer by 90%.

This is one of the newer breast cancer awareness banners I have seen lately - I love it. A sense of humor and a message.

Tomorrow I will be going in for my first mammogram. My cousin (Hi Jody!!) suggested a few years ago that I get a mammogram because I was 40 and had never have been pregnant. I guess that makes a difference. Well, I never did get around to finding a doctor or getting the testing done -- until just a few weeks ago. So, I'm going to be 42 in a week or so and I'm getting my first "base line" mammogram. The link I gave gives a brief description of the process of getting a mammogram & the risks and benefits of the procedure. I'll let you know how it goes.

Save the Ta Tas

Souvenir Penny Collection

On the little info sheet that I filled out for the Secret Santa swap I was asked if I collected anything. I couldn't think of a thing! You all that know me can laugh now. I am a collector and I know it, but the past few years I have been trying real hard not to ADD to my collections. I've been decluttering. I've been purging stuff I don't need or want. I have been anti-collecting (or so I'd like to think!)

I did finally come up with a few things that I do currently collect. Dishtowels - Love those dishtowels (as long as they aren't the waffle-weave ones) and pottery bowls. I think that's all I came up with for my collections.

Friday, Tom and I went to downtown Jacksonville. While we were there and since it was lunchtime we headed over to Jacksonville Landing. It was quite a hot spot for food. I had no idea. We will have to go back again!

As soon as we walked in the door I saw it. The penny smashing machine. The official Jacksonville Landing souvenir penny machine. I collect smashed pennies. I even have a book to put them all in. That's a picture of my book at the top of the page. I just got another book at the beginning of the year because as you can see, my first book it totally full - with the exception of that one spot!

When my sister went to Hawaii on her honeymoon I told her not to buy me a gift. She never listens to me lol She brought back a penny. I have pennies from Las Vegas, Niagara Falls, Seattle, Gatorland and now Jacksonville Landing. I have purchased a few smashed pennies from eBay. My friend Ingrid and I visited Crater Lake in Oregon and when I saw a smashed penny for that attraction, I just had to get it. I also purchased a 1934 Chicago Worlds Fair smashed penny. I wasn't around for that event, but I find it incredibly cool that I have a penny.

I love this little collection of pennies. It is small, easy to carry, easy to store and so inexpensive (if you don't purchase pennies off the internet.) Usually the cost to smash a penny at a machine is 51 cents. The penny that you use to smash should be 1982 or earlier. The newer pennies contain a lot of zinc in them and when the penny is being elongated, the silver from the zinc shows through and creates distracting streaks in the design. However, if that's all you've got, then go ahead and smash it.

This collection isn't giant, as you literally need to go away on vacation or something in order to get a new penny, but in the past two weeks I have added two pennies to the collection. This one from Jacksonville Landing and another from Fort Cody in North Platte, Nebraska.

If you ever want to pick up a new hobby or start your kids on a fun hobby, try collecting pennies!

Have a great day!
Kristin


UPDATE:I couldn't get these to load last night for some reason.

This is from Gator Land in Orlando, FL. I got this a few years ago when I went to this tourist attraction (trap) with my friend Bob and her two kids.


This is the Chicago Worlds Fair penny I talked about. I just love it. I like that it is really detailed, too. The end is really curved, so that's why it is a little blurry on the ends.




This is the gift from Alison and Jim. Love it!!

XYZAL

I finally broke down and talked to my doctor about allergy tablets. I wrote about my allergies HERE and HERE but after I came back from my road trip last week, the herbal stuff just wasn't working. I was back to not sleeping because I couldn't breathe. Not a good plan. I become really really cranky when I don't get my 8 hours.

My husband and I went to dinner with our neighbors and also another man who lives in our building, but we had only seen once before (he thought he was moving here, but ended up not doing so.) This other man (I have forgotten his name!) is a pharmacist. When he heard my stuffed up nose voice we discussed my allergies...he just couldn't help himself. The first thing he told me was to get rid of my cat. Not an option. Then he suggested that I find a new home for my cat. Again, not an option. Then he suggested that the cat live in only one room of the house. Clearly the man doesn't like cats.

I asked Mr. Pharmacist what allergy medication he thought worked well for pet allergies. He said I need to get rid of my cat.

I was done with him.

So, I went to the doctor and among other things, we talked about my allergies. I told Mr. Dr. that I was not getting rid of my cat and I needed an allergy medication that would work on clearing my nose enough to sleep at night. I said that I used to take...and he interrupted and said "Claritin, right? and it just suddenly stopped working, right?" It was like he had read my mind. That was exactly the case.

He left the room and came back with nose sprays, two of them, and this new allergy medication called XYZAL (zi zal). You are to take it at bedtime. It may cause drowsiness and it is supposed to work on both indoor and outdoor allergies. I was totally drowsy the first day, but haven't been since...thank goodness.

I started taking the XYZAL on Friday of last week and finally on Tuesday I started feeling better. Wednesday I slept the entire night. Thursday I could breathe almost the entire day and today (Friday) I am a new woman.

I do believe that the herbal allergy meds were doing pretty well up until I went away and no housekeeping had been done while I was gone. I will not be finding a new home for my cat. I may consider not getting another allergy inducing pet in the future, but dear Mocha is staying.

I will give another XYZAL update in a month or so just to keep a record of whether or not it is still working. (Cross my fingers it IS still working.)

Have a great weekend!
Kristin

Fun Family Photos

This is a picture of my sister Hillary.

The hair behind the kid - that would be mine.

This was 1981? I'll have to get a confirmation on that date. Does she look 2 in this photo? or is she 3?

(edited to add: OK, she isn't 3 years old in this photo. She is 1-2 years old. I had to get up and add this because I couldn't sleep. It was totally bugging me that I can't put a date on this photo. Was this her first birthday? Was it her second? Now that I've got that off my chest, maybe I can get to sleep)

I can't believe I don't know. It would be easier of course if I had the photo album right in front of me. Instead I got this picture off of my Mother's Facebook photo album and she had 60 years worth of years in there.

Ahhhh the old time photo. These are always fun. You can really see the age difference in the three of us. 2008 is our last year for awhile that we are all in different decades. I'm in my 40s, Alison in her 30s, and Hillary in her 20s.

Hey Mom, will you load up a few hundred more photos? and put the dates on them if you could please, Thank you!

Have a fabulous day!
Kristin

Secret Santa

In my travels around the blogging world I have come across some really fun sounding swaps. Most of them I find after they have officially closed or someone is blogging about the neat gifts they have received. This time, I was reading one of my new favorite blogs Tales from Bloggeritaville and she blogged about this Secret Santa thing...

The blog hosting the Secret Santa is Decisionally Challenged and if you want to be a part of the Secret Santa Soiree you have until October 18th to get your email into Decisionally Challenged. The link above will give you all the info.

October 18th is a VERY special date... One of the best in the whole year! LOL (my birthday!)

I will have to do a swap at some point on this blog because I just love to give stuff to folks and I'm sure there are many folks who also love to give to others, so it just seems like a great thing to do. But anyway, I'll see how this little adventure goes and see if I can't come up with something too.

I can't wait to find out who I am secret santaing! It could be you!

Go to Decisionally Challenged and see what the Secret Santa Soiree is all about.

I'll let you all know when I have mailed off my gift and I will also talk endlessly about the wonderful gift I have received from some other fabulous blogger.

Have a great day!
Kristin

September links

These are the links to all of my own posts in the month of September.


Jupiter Finale
The Gates of Central Park
National Suit Drive
Karen's place
Rabbit Ears
The CoffeePot
Road Trip
I'm home
Girls Vacation
The Capital Grille restaurant
Hide your eyes
Beautiful Bridge
Little Mother's Cook Book
Florence Y'all
WFMW - Battery Vacuum
Are you OK?
Cough Cough
How to Peel a Hard Boiled Egg
The Wedding Date
IKE
Spinach Salad
The Rabbit
WFMW - Handy Vac
Happy Birthday Tom!
One of those days
Sending Love
Confusion
Saying Goodbye
The Cat
Movie Trailers
WFMW - Online shopping
Drive a Stick
Edit.Add.Appreciate.

Jupiter Finale

In the midst of this nationwide financial meltdown & uncertainty we closed on our flip house. We have had a buyer for the house for three months. We've been trying to get all the paperwork straightened out and it seems like at each turn something went wrong and we had to start over. If something could go wrong, it did.

The past few days I have been a bit nervous as we had a closing set for today at 4pm.

However...

We Closed!

We Closed!

The Check was Received!

The Documents Signed!

The Financing was Approved!

We Closed!!

What a relief.

I feel like I can breathe again.

The new owners can now breathe as well.

If you haven't seen the flip house or are new to the blog Click Here and Here to see the before and after photos.

This is a fantastic day!
Kristin

The Gates of Central Park

I watched a documentary on HBO this afternoon called "The Gates." It was just fascinating at times and a little slow in others, but mostly it was just a great story about art, Central Park and New York City. I've got it on my DVR right now. The Gates were the art project of Christo and Jeanne-Claude. The exhibition in Central Park was February 12 through February 27, 2005.

If you'd like to see a quick time-line of the Christo project Click Here. I can hardly believe that it took 25 years to see this project to fruition. This time-line even shows some of the manufacturing plants and storage places for all of the pieces and parts of the art installation.

My sister, Alison, and her husband, Jim, were fortunate enough to go to NYC while the gates were up. They took a ton of pictures and sent them back for all of us who couldn't make it. (I just sent Alison an email asking for a comment on the gates, so I'll update when I get a response from her) UPDATE! In Alison's email she said...

I think one of the most impressive things is very much like you said about the color chosen. One could get a great sense of how enormous the park is by the winding paths glowing in electric orange. The simplicity of design and concept in general was amazing...and the name, The Gates, has many different meanings. And unlike much of the public artwork in cities, this installation could absolutely not be passed by without being noticed. I presume it made a lasting impression (good or bad) on everyone who experienced it.

Because it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience that makes seeing it even more special.

I remember my own opinion of the gates when I first saw them on TV. I thought it was insane to have the gates the exact color of construction barrels. When looking at a birds eye view of the gates, it did look like a huge line of orange cones. However, when I saw close up photos or videos of the gates they became much more beautiful. I love how they move and swish. The color is gorgeous when the sun shines through the fabric and the park seems to be incredibly alive in the dead of winter, by the saffron color of the gates. Central Park saw record number of visitors, too.

I would have enjoyed seeing this in person, but I feel like I was able to experience some of The Gates by watching the documentary...which is just ending as I end my post. Great timing!

Hope you have a fantastic day & enjoy some art today.

Kristin

National Suit Drive

Men's Wearhouse is accepting donations of gently used suits now through the end of October. I thought it was only through the end of September, but as I was getting the link from their website, I see it goes all the way until Halloween.

If you would like more information, Click Here.

I asked my husband to go through his suits and find some to donate. He used to wear a suit fairly often, but no more & I was truly tired of having a good chunk of our closet being filled up with suits he will never ever wear again. He managed to find 5 suits, 4 sport coats and one extra pair of pants to donate. He still has about 10 more suits in the closet and now that I know we have another month, I may get that whittled down a bit more.

Men's Wearhouse is also accepting mens dresswear, as well as suits, to be distributed to at risk men and youth who are looking to be a part of the workforce.

Ask your menfolk to go through their closets and donate their gently used dresswear to your local Men's Wearhouse, if you have one nearby. I only had to ask my husband a few dozen times!

Have a great day!
Kristin