I have a Clementine addiction

I don't particularly like Country music. But I know this band. They call themselves country. I think they rock. And I can't get enough of them. They are good friends. They are my friends. And it sucks that I only get to see them a couple of times a year.

Check them out. I think you just might like them. Stay For the Ride.

Go Elf Yourself. It's freakin hysterical.

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

The Day After The Day They Stuffed Themselves Volume 2

I spent a good deal of time on Thursday night going over the ads with New Mom. We didn't find anything we absolutely HAD to have. Except of course the Wii. Which she is obsessed with. And which she is convinced that someone is going to put one under her tree this year. So not finding much, we decided that we were probably not going to go shopping. Then the stamp pusher called. She wanted to go to Penney's at 4 am. I said no way. She said she was going anyway and then wanted to be at Target when they opened at 6. Thinking 6 sounded more reasonable, I agreed to meet her at her house for the 6 am leg of her shopping adventure.

So off to Target we went. At 6 AM. There was a line outside. Target. you know. the store with no "doorbuster" deals. they had a line outside. probably 200+ people were waiting outside for I never did figure out what. Me, I bought quite a few $4 & $6 DVDs.

Then, not finding that we HAD to have anything else at any other store.... the stamp pusher and I made the absolutely mind numbing choice to go home. At 7 am.

I went shopping the day after Thanksgiving aka Black Friday and I was home by 7 am. Mark this down. I was proud. not of the 7 am thing. but of the $$ I didn't spend thing. It was remarkable. for me at least.

went home. hung out with the little one and the hubby. cleaned the kitchen from the chaos the day before. took a nap. then the new mama called. she wanted to go shopping. for scrubs at garden ridge. they were $4 today after all. so I agreed. maybe we'll stop at halfprice books after and raid the Dr Seuss stash. no big deal.

right? right.

Then there I was. standing in Garden Ridge. Where Christmas had exploded and left a zillion Christmas trees and ornaments and home decorating ideas all over the place. There I was. with my lovely new mama daughter. and my beautiful BAM grandson. And the little one. the one that is two. and all of a sudden my 19 year old daughter and my 2 year old daughter saw this Christmas decoration explosion. and I saw the looks in their eyes. and then the two had this little subliminal plotting conversation. and the next thing I know, I have a 6 ft blow up santa to go next to the 6 foot sized snowman that we already have at home. and we have a new seasonal welcome mat. and we have the cutest little hoho hat for little one. she tried on several I am here to tell you. and something else. what was that other thing. I may have to check my receipt. but there was something else.

and then we went to half price books. Don't ever take a 2 year old to half price books. especially one that lives to be read to. it was worse than the trip to the library. because I limited her to two. mommy however didn't have a limit and numerous Christmas presents were purchased.

then we went to burlington coat factory. where they have a baby depot. dang that big baby section. new mama and I had to talk each other out of MANY purchases.

then to Target. it was supposed to be for diapers and frozen pizza. um. yeah. that's what we went for. and then it was all over but the crying.

so much for being proud of the little bit of $$ I spent the day after Thanksgiving. note to self. Next year: leave the girls at home. LOL

Hope you had a more economical day than I. all is well though. I didn't charge anything so we are still good. :)

"40 things to be Thankful for" Part IV

31. Health insurance.
32. Greatest Hits compilations CDs.
33. Jim Henson and his Sesame Street creations.
34. Massage.
35. Scissors.
36. Having choices as to what to do for Thanksgiving.
37. Email.
38. Copy machines.
39. The color Blue.
40. Sunshine.

"40 things to be Thankful for" Part III

21. Friends that remind me that I am supposed to be thankful.
22. Legal drugs.
23. My grandma's recipes.
24. Library books.
25. Generous supporters for programs.
26. Healthy children.
27. Prayer.
28. A running vehicle.
29. Crocs.
30. Pizza Delivery.

Google searches that will lead you here

The analytics tool for blogger.com tells you how people using search engines find my blog. Searching for selsun blue is still the most popular way to get here. Now we can add the following to the search list:

how to kill the people you work with

I is scared. how did that make them find me?

9 things I found on Etsy that I think I can't live without

1. This is Kelly Rae. I hope to one day shake her hand and tell her that her art makes me feel good. She is truly inspired and inspiring.
2. Boys are Blockheads prints from this guy will TOTALLY be going into my house.
3. This illustrator will most likely be making an appearance in the little one's room.
4. It's not so much what this says that makes me giggle. It's what the seller says. in the description. I mean "for this price you can get whatever size you want" I know that's not what it says. but I read it like "if you are wacked enough to pay $10 you can have whatever size you want". Don't ask. too many drugs today I think.
5. $60,000 for a cell phone photo. It made me laugh. It was supposed to. I hope.
6. I love coffee. I used to love, Elsie scrapbook stuff too. but now I just love her etsy stuff
7. Jaw Dropping Vegan Soap. This makes me laugh. I wish I had an extra bathroom to put this soap in. It would clash with the current decor. But it'd be damn funny.
8. Felt veggies. playing with your food has never been so fun.
9. This isn't on etsy. But it's my friend Candice's online store. She's way cooler than etsy. And she's by far and away the one that will get the most of my holiday shopping money this year.

Buy handmade!

10 Random Things for a Friday

1. Thanksgiving is one week from yesterday. We still haven't decided what we are doing for the holiday weekend. Is that sad or what?
2. I just finished a can of NUTrition South Beach Mix. I saved a macadamia for last.
3. We are doing a food pantry drive at work. We sent information out in the newsletter to all of our program participants. The same people who probably use the pantry the most. I have been amazed at the number of people who have brought food in. It's cool to see.
4. I am roughly two weeks behind on everything. How did that happen?
5. My mom is coming this weekend for some quality grandchildren time. Maybe I can get my porch cleaned up!
6. It was 13 degrees when I got in the car to go to work today. I can't find my hat and mitten box. Yet another reason to clean up the porch. I think they might be out there somewhere.
7. I want a sake bomb.
8. Little one would live on Yogurt Burst Cheerios this week if you let her. She sits there and picks out all of the pink ones first. It's funny to watch.
9. I cancelled my subscription to thegrocerygame.com. It was good deals but I just wasn't using it every week. That and I have a 2 year old that obsessively recycles every newspaper thing she finds. Including the pile of coupon flyers.
10. TNT is running Season 1 of Las Vegas. I'm loving it!

Happy weekend everyone!

There you go Ms Tasteful Stamp Pusher. There is your Friday 10. :)

"40 things to be Thankful for" Part II

11. To live in a country with quality medical care.
12. co-workers that bring the best they have to the job.
13. My garden.
14. Diet Coke.
15. Serenity.
16. Professional MnM throwing.
17. my dogs.
18. Jack.
19. The hens that give us eggs every day.
20. Laughter

Keep in mind these are in no particular order. :)

Sending out some blogging love

crowdSPRING, hire Kelly Purkey for your new Community Marketing Manager!

"40 Things to be Thankful for" Part I

Did this last year. Want to do it again. Encourage you to make a list of your own. Share if you like!

1. The opportunity to be a parent.
2. Two beautiful and healthy grandsons.
3. My husband.
4. Parents that love me unconditionally.
5. Friends that stand by me no matter what.
6. A stronger "network" than I had a year ago.
7. Employment that is recession proof.
8. A roof over my head.
9. People that look for Erin.
10. Music.

What a Depression would look like

I'm glad I have a job that is pretty much recession/depression proof. And we have the land to raise what we need. I'm lucky that way.

I know this is a pessimistic view on the direction of all things financial. But this article is an interesting view on the way that things "could look like" if we were to have another depression. Scary as it is, we are closer to it than at any other time in our lifetimes. Boston Globe Article

That said - I feel for those that have lost their homes. I feel the impact of those who have lost their jobs. I feel for those that have lost 50 - 60% of their retirement and are living off of that money. And I know based upon what we are seeing at my job that it is only getting worse. Are we headed for a depression?

Food for thought I guess.

Me, I'm going to keep looking for ways to cut costs. And still eat something other than beans and rice.

10 Random Things for a Friday

1. I lost my point and shoot camera last Wednesday. With my driver's license and debit card in it. I had to be on a plane on Thursday morning at 6:00 am. With no driver's license. It was fun. You thought going through normal level security was a pain. Let me introduce you to "selectee security screening". Yikes.
2. My pictures from our NYC trip last fall were on the camera. That makes me sad.
3. I have had something from Starbucks three of the last 7 days. And they have all been really darn good. :)
4. I am going to the stamp pusher's house to drink wine and play with paper tonight.
5. This week's three day work week has put me REALLY behind. I am going to have to work a good part of the weekend.
6. They are starting to put up the fences and lights for a couple of the Christmas Tree stands. Which seems too soon and then I realized... only 3 more paychecks until Christmas.
7. My BFTCMHBFTLFA (best friend that calls me her best friend that lives far away for those of you that dont' want to search to find out what that means. LOL) Anyway... she was here with her daughter on Wednesday night. They went to their 2nd of 2 NKOTB concerts at the Qwest Center. Their visit was much too short but fun was had by all and I am still recovering from the lack of sleep that comes with going to bed at 2:30 am on school night.
8. The super cool desk chair is starting to squeak. It's annoying.
9. I'm frustrated with people that say they will do something and then don't follow through. I am even more frustrated when that person is me.
10. Prince - The Hits 1 is in my CD player right now.

Happy random 10! Now - go figure out what you are going to make for Thanksgiving Dinner. It's only 2 weeks away you know.

Need a Dream Analyzer

Do you analyze dreams? If so, run this one through your analyzing tool.

Night before last -- I had a dream that we woke up in the morning and "they" had disconnected our water for non-payment. There was even a notice posted on the bathroom door telling me as much.

Sad I tell you. What does it mean? What is my subconcious trying to tell me? The obvious would of course be that it is telling me to make sure I have paid the water bill. Which I haven't. But I don't have to. You see, we have a well and a septic. And therefore there is no proverbial "they" to shut off the water.

Struck me as pretty darn funny. Probably not you. But it did me. And it did Mistry. Because when I told her about it last night she laughed with me. Or at me. Not sure which now that I think about it. It could be the large quantity of alcohol that she had injested though. We never know with her.

Your analysis?

Thank you to KWWL

Erin's Story on KWWL If you click the little camera link on the left hand column you can view the story.

This is by far the best story that has ever been done. I can not express my gratitude enough.

Thanks Nate. You rock.

Erin's story - If you live in CR

For those of you who read this and live in the Cedar Rapids area.....

KWWL (Channel 7) is airing Erin's story tonight on the 10 pm news.

For everyone else... They tell me they'll have the story on the website later tonight. I'll link to it when available.

Now just cross your fingers and toes and say a prayer or two that the someones that know where she is will spill their guts after they see it on the TV again tonight.

10 Random Things for a Friday

So I finally figured out how to set posts to post in the future. So here is your random 10 even though I didn't write it on Friday. :)

1. Shout out to my tasteful friend the stamp pusher. She got herself a cool new job at a company that I would love to work for. I love it when people say, "I'm sick of my job. It's time to move on." and then they actually go do something about it.
2. Little one is obsessed with the Elmo's Potty Time dvd. She won't sit still for 15 minutes about anything else in her life but she'll sit for 45 minutes and watch this. And then demand to watch it again. and again. and again. and again. What does something that exceeds an obsession become?
3. Me - I like this video with Elmo and the Goo Goo Dolls. I love them. :)
4. My BFTCMHBFTLFA is coming to visit next week.
5. I ate grocery store sushi again this week. Ick. Why do I keep doing this to myself? I think I have learned my lesson though. Good sushi or no sushi. No more mediocre sushi.
6. Realized that posting pictures on here has fallen to the wayside. I need to work on that.
7. My beautiful tree in the front yard is in full glory. It's the same one that is in the blog header. See - I am no longer 3 seasons behind. I'm current. LOL
8. Son2 voted for the first time this week. I am so proud.
9. I decided 2 months ago to finish some of last year's holiday projects to give as presents this year. So far I have finished exactly zero of those projects.
10. Hopefully by the time you are reading this, I have eaten dinner at Razoo's in Dallas. Fried pickles and alligator tail. yummmmmmm.

Be grateful. Be well. See you on Monday!

Hair we go

I just came back from the hair place. As my dear friend Elvis put it, "It was time to give up the hippy chick." I actually have a "style". :)

that and I took 14 inches off.

Pics tomorrow after I make my sister take one.

hope your hump day is all it's cracked up to be. Me, it's a friday because I start a 6 day weekend in about an hour.

love to all!

Did you vote yet?

Did you vote yet? You did? Good for you. Isn't it wonderful to live in a country where we get to vote without fear of persecution and violence?

You didn't? Go vote. Go now. You vote DOES count. How many votes did Gore lose by last election? If those 400+ people hadn't gone to vote. Imagine how different things might be.

Off to obsess over election results. Catch ya later.

Vote. Otherwise you have to shut up.

www.maps.google.com/vote - If you don't know where to go. No matter which side you are on. Just make sure you make time on Tuesday to go.