I Love Mondays...

I’ve always loved Mondays. The start of a new week, a new beginning, new possibilities. There’s something I especially love about this Monday. Baseball! Tickets for the American League Division Series in Detroit went on sale this morning at 10AM. David and I had talked about how cool it would be to go to a post season game and the tickets, although more expensive than the regular season, weren’t as hiked up as I might have thought. David has never been to a post season baseball game. I was lucky enough to get tickets for a World Series game in 1984. It’s been a long time, but you don’t forget that electric feeling!

And that was the thing. I remember how cool that was, being there. As things stand right now, there’s a good chance it will be the Red Sox and Tigers. How could I not try, right? It would be so cool, me in my Tigers gear, including ears, and him in his Dustin Pedroia jersey and other Red Sox accents. It would just be TOO COOL! So, I clicked on the “Buy Tickets” button. I got a message that the site was busy, blah, blah, blah, what I expected. There was a 30 second countdown in the cyber waiting room that refreshed and started again, and again, and again.

The nice thing about a CYBER waiting room is you can do other things, check email, Tweet, sign in to my school account and check the assignment board, with that waiting room countdown in the corner. Then the unexpected happened, after 45 minutes of the 30 second countdowns, I got a pop-up that said “Congratulations!” I now had 5 minutes to find tickets enter my info and get out or the window would close and I’d lose my chance!

I found a pair of handicap row seats and chose them. I had to enter in two “words” of unrelated characters to go on. Next screen tells me the site is busy, on playoff sale day, busy, ya think? Then I had to re-choose my seats and enter more gibberish to prove I’m not a robot. I was getting stressed. I don’t type that fast, the time is ticking on me. So close! I reselected and typed in more gibberish 5 more times!

Then, the digital clouds parted over the Information Superhighway and a beautiful screen with a glowy white background appeared. It wanted credit card information and where I wanted my tickets sent. My heart was racing now. No time to claim victory, not yet. So close, but that timer was still ticking away at my five minutes, must type quickly. I got all the information in and clicked “Purchase.”

The screen came back. I forgot to check a box. What? I went through the form. THERE! NO, I don’t want to be texted with updates, that why I didn’t put my mobile number in. Uncheck the updates box, click purchase again.

The next screen…the beautiful next screen, was my receipt. With a half minute to spare, David and I are going to the ALDS.

Good Things By Mail!

I hate paying for shipping, and look for the free shipping whenever possible, but I love internet shopping and having things arrive here without having to go fight parking, crowds and shelves that empty just before you get there, especially at this time of year. I also hate wasting time. Finding what I want and ordering it takes, on average, five minutes for every hour driving, parking, walking and finding the item in a store. Much as I hate paying the shipping, I’ll gladly pay reasonable shipping to save wasting time. I hate wasting time more!

Amazon Prime is my best shopping friend. I have it right now because I’m a student and they offer it free to students. I buy a lot of my text books at Amazon because they are more affordable than the bookstore most of the time. I shop and compare prices. The textbooks are often from other sellers at Amazon and not eligible for the Prime free shipping, many other things are sold through Amazon and available with Amazon Prime. So, for Christmas shopping, I’ll look on Amazon first. See how that works? Free shipping = more sales! Hehe

There are a few specialty items that I definitely order online because I can’t otherwise find them or if I do find them, it’s for a premium price! Yesterday was a two-box day, not even Christmas stuff yet!

The first box was from Amazon. I got a My K-Cup. My K-Cup does two awesome things. First, since Starbucks is not contracted with Keurig, I can now make my own Verona K-Cups! But it does more!

My Keurig maker makes water the perfect temperature for tea, hot chocolate and instant soups, anything would add hot water to. By taking the filter basket out, it heats perfect water into a cup or cream pitcher. Truth – when you put boiling water on a tea bag, it shocks and to an extent closes up the tea leaves, making the steeping process take longer and changing the flavor of the tea. That’s not so terrible with herbal teas, but with a regular tea, it can be disastrous! I like Earl Grey on occasion. The boiling water method makes hot weak tea initially and when the waster cools a little, the tea releases quick, making a bitter, very strong cup of tea. Remember that some of the tea leaves were scalded and the more delicate nuances of the flavor is gone forever, making a very harsh tea. Hot water through the Keurig maker allows the tea to brew naturally and instantly, preserving all the flavor!

Another one of my wonderful Internet finds has been Ron and Franks Gourmet Drink Mixes. They make hot chocolates, apple cider mix and cheat-a-ccino in a huge selection of flavors! This includes that they make every mix in regular and sweetened with Splenda for a low-calorie, sugar-free drink. They also make several of their mixes with no sweetener at all. I love the unsweetened Pumpkin Spice Cappuccino. I got the decaf mix and I can have a cup at night with dessert and can sweeten it as much as I want. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE that I can get my Pumpkin Spice at Speedway this time of year, but I usually mix it half and half with regular coffee because it’s sweeter than my taste. That does cut into the pumpkin spice flavor. With the unsweetened mix, I get the flavor I want at the sweetness I want. I have placed an order for Christmas of some hot chocolate mixes, cappuccino and spiced cider. Rina is especially excited that I’ll have 5-calorie hot cider mix at UNO this year! She mentioned I might want to order and extra bag!

It looks like UNO and the Fabulous Dessert Bar will be the day after Christmas this year. That’s cool because I’ll be done with the semester of school and I’ll essentially have the week before Christmas to bake and everything will be especially fresh for both Christmas and UNO. Not that things get stale in a week, but having everything so close, I’ll be able to schedule even better!


The other box UPS delivered yesterday was from My Spice Sage. I found this online store searching for someplace to get dried soybeans. I have wanted to toast my own soybeans but it’s been nearly impossible to find them at the grocery stores I’ve been looking at. Remember, my physical ability to run around from store to store is still limited, although between therapy and the doc’s manipulation, it’s getting better! So, I searched for someplace I could order soybeans. What a great find! My Spice Sage has not only got soybeans, but every spice you could think of! I ordered the rest of the spices I need to make Middle Eastern Seven Spice. Now, I can finally try the recipe for gallabah I have! My order included a free bag of turkey brine spices, every order gets a free 16-oz bag of turkey brine spices right now, and my choice of a sample spice. I chose the apple pie spice to play with in the kitchen.

My box from 11th Street Coffee came in at the very end of FedEx time tonight. 11th Street has a fabulous selection of K-Cups and I order from them every 6 or 7 weeks. I’m kinda hoping that this shipment will last me through the end of the year, with the additional purchase of the holiday assortment that’s usually available at Bed Bath and Beyond. I ordered two boxes of the Autumn Harvest blend for Green Mountain. That is a limited edition and when I tried it last time, it made the Caribou I usually get taste just a little bit less. Right now I have only Caribou and it is just as wonderful as it always has been, but when the Caribou box is empty, I’ll have Autumn Harvest for a while. I’m not opening an Autumn Harvest box until the current Caribou is gone.

I find I go through more decaf now that I drink exclusively decaf at night. I bought an extra box of Newman’s decaf K-Cups at Kroger because I used up the decaf sampler box from last time, Boy it’s more expensive at the grocery store for K-Cups! This time I got a box of breakfast blend decaf, the breakfast blend is a more robust flavor, which I prefer at night. Breakfast Blend Decaf. Isn’t that an oxymoron? I also got a box of Hazelnut decaf. Hazelnut is the only flavored coffee other than vanilla that comes in decaf. I searched for a cinnamon, but no dice! I can add my own cinnamon, but the flavor is better if it’s brewed into the coffee than added after. Still, I’ll be able to enjoy a flavored coffee at night too.

Back to scrapping. Tomorrow, I’ll show off a little of the fruits of today’s labor!


Links:
Amazon
Ron and Franks Gourmet Drink Mixes
My Spice Sage
11th Street Coffee

Alvin! Alvin!!

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Alvin and the Chipmunks. All opinions are 100% mine.

Maybe you remember them from your own younger days. If you have kids you know them! Heck, I have teenage nieces and I hear about them often! I’m talking about the Chipmunks!

Alvin and the Chipmunks, The Squeakquel is available now on DVD, blu-ray and Digital Download. If you buy the double DVD pack, it includes the bonus “Squeak Along” disc. buy it now and you’ll have the fun disk for your summer trips!

No joking at all there. When the girls were littler, I had sing along cassettes when we traveled that kept the “are we there yets” to a minimum. I sent them a text from Florida last week when I was reminded of one of those old songs and at 15 years old I got a text back from Rina with a smiley face and told now I had her singing the song. That’s what a fun movie like the Chipmunks Squeakquel and the bonus Squeak Along disk do. They create great family memories that bring smiles for many years!


As if the fun family movie and bonus disk aren’t enough for you and the kids, there’s More Munk Mayhem! Follow the link to see clips of the movie and other Chipmunks games including the opportunity to Munk Yourself! I make my Nanimunk and listened to The Chipettes do Beyonce! I’m ready to Squeak Along. Come join me!

Let’s Talk About the Weather

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of AccuWeather. All opinions are 100% mine.

No, this is not another post about my disdain for snow, although snow is part of it! I’m posting to tell you about the all new AccuWeathersite! Accuweather.com has redesigned many of their features to make it even more user friendly and just plain user-useful!

I know at this time of year, I need to know what to expect when I go out. How heavy a coat will I wear? More important, do I need to put the ice pick end on the cane? Last month, having up-to-date weather information had us leave a day early for Connecticut and avoid a long trip in heavy snow. It also enabled me to proactively contract snow removal so out cat sitter could get into the house! As the weather gets more seasonably nice, knowing what to expect is even more important!

Last summer we watched closely as our wedding reception weekend neared. We had backup plans, but the main plans were all outdoors! We figured the second weekend in July was a safe bet, but darned if it didn’t rain on Saturday morning! Fortunately, we knew that it was expected to clear and even dehumidify a little buy game time for our baseball picnic party. There were many phones with Internet keeping an eye online that weekend!

Of course, you can sign up at accuweather.com to have alerts sent to your mobile phone too! If you’re planning a wedding, golf outing, soccer tournament with the kids or if you’re still hoping there will be some of that snow left so you can ski this weekend, accuweather.com is an invaluable resource for starting your recreational planning and for being prepared with a “B plan” is it looks like it’s going to be necessary! It’s a good plan not to leave home without checking it first!

Happy National Popcorn Day!

Word art by Create with TLC

(This would have been up before NPD was over, but we lost Internet for a few hours!)

It's National Popcorn Day! Anyway, it way, it was. I found out about this holiday surfing the net. There was a link to a freebie stamp that brought me to Paulette’s blog, Create With TLC . As a popcorn fan myself, I just had to snag the stamp and discovered a wealth of fantastic freebies and sets, modestly priced, in her store. There are some fantastic things you can add to your digital and hybrid layouts to give them great character!

Of course, I popped a bowl of popcorn to go with my Bacon Ranch salad for lunch. I had errands to do and, craving a salad, I drove through McDonald’s after my bank stop, before I came home. Then, in honor of National Popcorn Day, I made another bowl for my afternoon snack! No, I very seldom make popcorn twice in a day and it really was, to me anyway, for the holiday! I made my popcorn with my trusty air-popper, seasoning it with butter flavored cooking spray and Kernel Seasons caramel corn. It’s a completely Wife 1500 approved treat, 120 fat-free calories for 5 air-popped cups, or 2 tablespoons of kernels, however you want to measure it. I usually measure 2 tablespoons into the air popper.

Here’s my layout to commemorate the day!

Credits: Kit – Amica by digiMom Designs, Template by
Lindsay Jane Designs, Word Art by Create with TLC

My scrapping in the now while I’m catching up is going well! I have no photos to scrap for 2010 right now and I did “The Good Lives” with the remaining photos from the folder of the layout I finished up last night

The Good Lives
Credits: For You by Mamrotka,
challenge template by Tiger Lily Digis

And now, April 2007 is done!

Dinner tonight was late. Popcorn is very filling. So, after David got in from a late night, I asked him if he was hungry. He was and we had the ham soup I made yesterday. I love Honey Baked Ham for soup! We got a quarter ham for Christmas dinner and I took the leftover ham out of the freezer last week for diner. We had Christmas dinner, dinner last week and I have one more package in the freezer that I made for another dinner. The end was a decent-sized piece with a bone in it! I cut the end in half and froze the half without the bone. I poured the remaining glaze in the zip-loc with the half with the bone in it to make soup.

Honey Baked Ham Soup

That was yesterday’s project. I browned an onion in a half tablespoon of oil, then added the piece of bone-in ham and a gallon of water. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat and simmer a few hours until it’s broth. Last thing add salt to taste. It’s really simple to make! Anything baked 0or roasted makes very flavorful soup that doesn’t need a lot added. That made enough broth that I had some for dinner yesterday with an ounce of the ham from making the broth and tonight we shared the rest of the broth with mini farfalle noodles and the rest of the meat.

David hadn’t tried ham broth before and I was really hoping he’d like it. He did! I love soup! It’s filling, cozy on a chilly night, low cal and just tastes good! Making soup also makes the price of just about any kind of meat go down!

Now, my sleepy self is going to have some popcorny dreams!


Links:
Create with TLC
Create with TLC Shop

You Like Purple Flowers Too?

There are some big things going on in my world right now. Some of them are exciting and some are scary! Getting ready for the wedding reception and the honeymoon at the end of August, now that’s exciting. Starting back in school, that’s a little scary, but exciting too. My knee, however, is just scary.

Best as I can tell, my knee has just always been destined to be trouble. I’m a bit of a klutz. That’s heredity. Mom was on the clumsy side too. I read an article at Scrubs, which is a website especially geared towards registered nurses, but with lots of great content for patients and people interested in the nursing profession or just some free good advice! The article was titled “How Scrubs Eased The Pain.” It’s in the First Person stories, where people write in their own stories about nursing and nurses. It’s by a Mom telling about her 9-year-old daughter’s experience in the hospital with a nurse in cheery purple floral scrubs that started a favorite color and favorite flower conversation that eased the emotional pain of a sprained ankle.

Sprained ankle. My first one was when I was 11. I had mistimed a ballet leap while choreographing a number I was going to do for the 6th grade talent show. Needless to say, I didn’t end up in the show. In the 30+ years since then, there have been a couple other sprains and a broken toe, but now the falls on my knees seem to be catching up with me! Last week, when David and I were on the various trains to get us from Providence, Rhode Island to Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts, we got off on the outside platform of a subway train that was posted, after leaving the train, that the elevators were on the middle platform. Groan! My gimp knee and I started up the stairs. I always use the mantra “What doesn’t kill me makes me stronger,” when pushing my knee a little farther. I end up sore and have to take an hour or so break before I can really walk around again, but I manage. But this time, I didn’t heal back up so much. I’m facing the fact that knee surgery might be in the future, possibly the near future!

I haven’t visited the doctor on my PPO in the less than half year I’ve had it yet and he’s not accepting new patients right now, so I had to choose a new doctor. In about a week, I’ll have the new card with my new doctor and make my first appointment. Part of me is excited about the thought that I’ll be able to walk without pain again, but that’s my Coveyish always having the end goal in mind. One thing that I know, that I can picture after reading at Scrubs, is that during the wait while I sit in an exam room alone preparing for strangers to visit, ask personal questions and probe areas that are in pain, I’ll be shaking inside of my optimistic exterior nervous! The first person I’ll see, the first stranger I’ll meet for a one on one talk, is the nurse. That nurse will be my first impression of the doctor, of his whole practice.

I’ve read some first hand accounts, questions and concerns from RNs. Looking at the site and really seeing health professionals in the “real person” sense, eases some of those nerves too. Yeah, knowing I’m a big baby when it comes to the doctor and knowing where to do my homework really does help!

There is an article with tips for nurses to answer questions about swine flu. By the way, patients have the same access to the answers too, the site is for and about nurses and anyone interested! I read a question and answer article about praying with patients and a short from a man who when asked what it was like to be a “male nurse,” replied, "The 'male' part I've got down—it’s the 'nurse' part that takes a lot of hard work!" Of course, genderism exists both ways. A nurse is a nurse, regardless of gender!

One last thing I’ll mention about this great site is that as I’m pursuing my certification in computer networking, there is also one other profession with jobs actually on the rise, healthcare. There is a demand for good nurses, even in this shaky economy. If you’re even considering a career in or career change to nursing, it’s a good place to get a feel for the personalities and practicalities that make up this important profession.

Okay, I think I’m ready to sit in that exam room and tell a stranger about my knee. When the nurse comes in to get my vitals and information for the doctor, he or she doesn’t have to be wearing bright blue scrubs with trains and baseballs on them...but boy, would that be cool!

New Sponsors To Consider

We just got home very late last night, so I’m catching up on a lot of things this Memorial Day! Thank goodness for a day to catch up! There will be a Monday Mug Shot, later, this evening after I check-in on the assignments list for the last week in my web pre-class for school and see about lunch! David made a late waffle breakfast this morning, so I really at least owe him seeing if he’s hungry before I “head off to school!”

Before I wanted to take a minute to introduce you to some new ideas that sound pretty good! You’ll find these links in the bulletin board too!


Medical ID Bracelets

If you or a loved one has a medical condition like diabetes or a heart condition or allergies to medications or food, they really should have some kind of ID that’s always with them. Medical ID bracelets or pendants are a great way to do that.

I had an ID bracelet for my penicillin allergy when I was younger and I really should wear it, but I don’t. I’m rethinking that now, especially when I know there are more Nani-stylish options to the old medical alert jewelry. I love the dog-tag style necklaces and I can get one in colored aluminum. It can be engraved to say my name, allergies to Penicillin and food allergy to MSG. Hey, if I should ever pass out at a Chinese restaurant, they’ll have an idea where to start investigating!

Check out the site, even a pendant worn under a shirt could save your life or the life of someone you love in an emergency!

See the Medical ID Jewelry at MemorialBracelets:

Medical ID Jewelry





Kids Clothes

Baby Me has some awesome styles for babies, toddlers and young girls and boys, totally adorable styles!


Be sure to check out the clearance section too! for deals like this pink skirt set for only $9.00!




This toddler boys hoodie is in the clearance section for $12.00.

Get inspired for kids’ styles and check out the cute fashions here:

Girls' and boys' clothing boutique!





Baby Photos

Once you have your baby all dolled up, why not submit one of those great photos you have in the Great American Photo Contest? If your precious baby photo wins, it’s a $2500 first prize! That will buy a few diapers and the clothes they grow out of so quickly and all you have to do is share photos and show off your little one. That’s easy!

Check out the details here:

Improving Your Web Presence

If you are using your blog or if you have a website you are using as a revenue earning place on the web, you know how important search engines finding you is! Check out Steve Wiideman’s SEO consulting site. You can get some search engine optimization tips there while you have consider if Steve might be able to help you increase your visibility and your profits on the web.

Check out what Steve had to offer here:

SEO Consulting Services

Everybody Loves A Good Geek!

If you’re considering taking your web presence to the next level, there’s a site you should consider when making the decision on where and how you want to establish your domain and web hosting preferences.

Who doesn’t love a geek in this day? Geeks have finally arrived to the cool center of the social world and Web Hosting Geeks is a great site for making their world of uber-cool available to everyone!

Seriously, Web Hosting Geeks gives you the cream of the crop in affordable web hosting sites. They give you the top web hosts, pricing, details and bonus features. Everything is broken down into different categories depending on your hosting needs and the top ones are highlighted side by side your your perusal.

You can look specifically at multiple domain web hosting, places that host multiple sites on one account. Many have free domain names with the plan or unlimited domains in one single plan. If I break down my blog topics into separate sites, I could have one for baseball, one for scrapbooking and one for Mug Shots. Hey I already have a separate blog for recipes. It’s only a matter of time, huh? Think about it. If you do multiple crafts for sale, you can have separate sites for each, but one account. It’s pretty cool stuff.

Another category that I just love is Green Web Hosting! I can compare web hosting sites that run on alternative or renewable energy, plant trees and actively recycle. I’d feel pretty good checking those stats while I sip my morning ecocoffee that I make with rescued tap water!

If you’re getting ready to branch out to a hosted website, you must check out Web Hosting Geeks first!!

FREE HDTV!!!

In this part of Ohio, we have Buckeye Cable and I love our cable TV service! Dad and I endured the agony of Direct TV for a year when Mom got mad at the cable company when she bought her HDTV and switched, she was the stubborn holdout and it took 2 months before she was apologizing like crazy for contracting us into the satellite TV nightmare for a year.

That was some 7 years ago. HDTV has been growing and it’s going to be the norm very soon, especially with the great deals cable TV offers! If you’re lucky enough to be in a Charter Cable service area, you have the opportunity to win an HDTV!

It’s true! Every day in April, Charter will award a 22” HDTV in their HDTV A Day Sweepstakes. They are also offering a grand prize of a 52” LCD flat screen HDTV, home theater system and a free year of Charter cable with HD programming. This great sweepstakes is available to all new AND upgrading customers. Have cable and want high speed internet? Upgrade and maybe win a new HDTV! Maybe you want better phone with unlimited local and long distance added to your Internet and TV. Upgrade and you’re entered in the sweepstakes too! Of course, if you are tired of that metal spaghetti bowl on the side of your house that goes on the fritz when it snows, offers only the national updates on the weather channel and just as much local as they absolutely have to, join charter for better TV and maybe even A better TV!

Go to Charter.com to start building the bundle that’s right for you. You’ll be entered into the sweepstakes, but you’ll also be giving yourself the best entertainment and communications package you can get for the money. “Times are tough.” Makes you think of another cliché, like beating a dead horse? But almost everyone has that glue factory in their backyard. Charter is doing what they can to ease that pain!

Charter is doing some very customer conscious work in reaction of some negative light that’s been shined on Cable TV Companies, but think about it. Where have you heard negative stories about your cable TV company? From the satellite competitors who aren’t even local! Cable TV wants you back, Charter wants you to stay! They are showing it with their customer friendly website, services and great promotions. Last year they added bonuses and fun to to the customer experience, giving away Xboxes, laptops, even hybrid cars!

Charter wants you! If you’re smart and frugal, you want Charter too!

Is Love In The Air?

If you are looking for love, perhaps you’ve tried online dating sites? Perhaps you've had miserable luck with online dating sites? Maybe you were just at the wrong site!

Now, maybe you’re thinking, “Newlywed thinks she’s an expert.” Believe me, I’m no expert! If marriage DID make one an expert, I’m still too much of a rookie to be there yet anyway. But before David and I met, I visited a LOT of online dating sites! Some of those sites were just not a good match for me. How would I find a guy that matched me on a site that wasn’t even right? When I met David, it was on a site for people with similarities beyond men and women seeking men or women. That made a huge difference, but yeah, we’re an online dating success story. In fact, my brother and his fiancé met online too!

Don’t you wish there was a Dating Directory Online to help sort out the sea of match-making sites? Well, click to datingdirectoryonline.net! They sort out the sites by age groups, geography, ethnicity, orientation and the most important ones, the sorted by interest sites. There are sites devoted to matching people into fitness or tattoos. The ice breaker is right there to start meeting people!

If you’re seeking a friend, a companion, the love of your life, why not give it a try. You could be lining up a first date for Valentines Day!

Thinking About Making That Leap?

If you are thinking about making that leap from blogger to webmaster and starting a site, perhaps even with your own domain, you’ve got some ground work ahead of you first! I know because I went through all of that when I started my DIgitalegacies video business in 2004. What I wouldn’t have given to find a resource for affordable, even cheap web hosting!

Web Hosting Report compares web hosting sites for price and services offered and makes that decision and even just finding the hosting sites easier!

If you have a small business and just that little blurb made your eyes glaze over, they can help that too! They have articles to help you get started, even beginners will find the answers they need to get the best deal for their hosting needs!

Web Hosting Report is an invaluable tool to have bookmarked for your hosting needs!