Working In My Jammies And Loving It

I see people are still coming! Anyone want to guest post?

2011-08-19T08:19:00.002-04:00

Hi Everyone! Thanks for visiting my blog. Feel free to read some of my older posts, but be aware that I have started new self hosted blogs but add to several of my blogger blogs on occasion.

I no longer have a home business with AmeriPlan. Between the economy, shortage of provider that accept the plans in my area, and some company changes, I decided to move on.

I also had been helping some newbie bloggers get started, so I now coach newbies, as well as a zillion other things- what can I say? I love the Internet and all that it offers!

The best way to see what I'm up to is to check out my sites and pages.

Please friend me where possible :-)

So here we go with (most of) the blogs:

Come on home - mom blog
Working at home advice

Accepting guest posts on these two:

From pup to dog- Cute dog pictures, stories about funny dogs, dogs that have saved lives, etc....

BURST into wealth, health & happiness- health related, weight loss tips, achieving happiness, etc...

My social network for bloggers

The Blogging Buddies Social Network

Facebook pages:

Blogging Biz Mom

Blogging Buddies

Natraburst

Zeek Rewards

A+ Affiliate Marketing

Central New York Network Marketing Group

Twitter

Blogging Biz Mom

If you are interested in guest posting on From Pup to Dog or BURST into wealth, health & happiness

just email me at home4ever@hotmail.com Subject: guest post information

A few blogs to check out!

2011-01-12T13:48:00.001-05:00

A couple of friends I have met through my online pursuits have recently started new blogs.

Check them out:

Mama with Alzheimer's: http://mamawithalzheimers.blogspot.com/

The author of this blog has (obviously) gone through some challenging times times with her mom.

Doing what you love! http://lisabcarter.blogspot.com/

Lisa makes beautiful quilts, pocketbooks & more.

Check them out!

Wildred The Caregiver : http://wildredthecaregiver.com/

Wildred is a home entrepreneur and caregiver to her mom. She has a lot to offer on both subjects.

And there you have it- three new blogs to check out...

So hop on over and give these "newbies' some bloggy love!

Thanks!

Happy 2011!

2011-01-02T13:13:00.000-05:00

Happy 2011 everyone! I hope everyone had a great year- I know I did!

I know I did!

For those of you who didn't know, I have moved- at least my blog has...You can now find me at Come On Home

Please join me there!

To see why I moved , visit my other blog:

Working at home advice

In 2010- I also started a weekly newsletter, Tuesday Morning Blogging Tips- check that out HERE

I also started an online radio show! Check out the shows in the archives and join us every Wednesday night at 6:30 p.m. central.

Check them out here!

Check out my holiday page!

2010-11-08T19:12:00.000-05:00

Check out my holiday store!

Get your child a letter from the North Pole!

Imagine the smile on child's face when you return from the mailbox and hand them a letter from Santa, Mrs.Santa or Rudolph!

Check it out on the holiday page!

Looking for a unique gift idea?

Make your own T-shirt, or get a premade "unique" T-shirt from Busted Tee's!

Get them on the holiday page!

Hang the stockings on the fireplace and keep warm, too!

Get them on the holiday page!

Books: Man's best friend (next to the dog!)!

Get them on the holiday page!

So many updates...........

2010-11-05T16:26:00.000-04:00

If you haven't already joined me, I've moved......my new blog is Come On Home..

Since I've left, I've had several exciting things going on...

First, I am now teaching a class, "Blogging for Newbies"- it runs on Tuesday mornings at 11:00 a.m. eastern time.

And............

I have a *NEW* online radio show:

Get Bizzy Blogging

We chat about blogging, social networking and working at home, as well as have occasional guest speakers.

So join in the fun and check it out!

The first two episodes are archived.

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/blogging-biz-mom

My website is Blogging Biz Mom

My blog: Working at home advice

Mom Blog: Come On Home

Looking for friends :-(

2010-07-20T10:28:00.000-04:00

I'm feeling a little lonely over at my new blog, http://www.comeonhome.net/ .

I am trying to figure out how to email all of my followers here at once to tell them I've moved.

Anyone have a clue how to do this? To email over 200 people individually could take a while : -)

Thanks!

We've Moved and have a new name!

2010-07-09T13:04:00.000-04:00

For those who haven't seen it yet, I've moved!

My blog is now at http://www.comeonhome.net/

The new name, Come On Home seems to be more fitting for my blog. While I still talk about working at home quite a bit, this blog has become so much more than that.

And so I have moved and changed my name (to protect the innocent???).

My advice blog has moved as well to http://www.workingathomeadvice.com/

And of course, my new website is http://www.bloggingbizmom.com/

I hope all of my friends will "move" with me and we can maintain our friendships.

Love ya's !

See ya'all at my new bloggy home.

Golden Child Graduated!

2010-06-28T06:22:00.000-04:00

The digital died, my cell phone took fuzzy pics,....but the good news is, we did get a disposable camera and have pics there.

Now I have to remember to develop them!

Obviously a cell phone pic!

I am so proud of my son. He wasn't always a lover of school, but somewhere around 10th grade he just exploded! The teachers could not say enough about him. He participates, he challenges the teachers and gets them thinking

It's pretty cool (though I feel old) that some of the kids that I babysat when I did home daycare graduated as well.

Another great thing my mom and I got talking about yesterday...

How some of the kids you thought wouldn't go anywhere when they were younger ended doing ok- some even ended up doing some great things in high school.

We had several that practically lived here because of problems at home.

One has worked a retail job for a couple of years, and he just graduated. He was one I seriously worried about.

Another one is 19 and works as a diesel mechanic at a local biz. He is an excellent mechanic.

Both could have continued on the wrong path, but decided to make positive changes.

Right now they are 18 and 19 - who know's where they will be at 28 & 29?

I am so proud of all my boys- my bio kids, step-kids and all of their friends, our "adopted kids" for all of their accomplishments.

Fast and Furious Blog Post.....

2010-06-25T08:53:00.000-04:00

This is going to have to fast, and maybe even a little furious....

Friday Fragments

Caution! Contents MAY be H-O-T !

Yesterday I was multi-tasking as usual...working on my website, folding clothes and listening to Princess Der go on and on about all the words she's learning in Spanish and German...on her iPod!

I realized I hadn't had lunch so I whipped up a couple of cheese hot dogs for us (um...shhhh ...I know it's not the HEALTHIEST thing we could eat).

I wasn't thinking...I grabbed a bun, threw in a hot dog and took a bite.

Ahhhhhhh! A bunch of H-O-T cheese squirted out! I had a glass of milk , so I gargled with that a few times to cool my mouth off.

With my mouth and throat still on fire, I whipped open the fridge door and grabbed the first cold thing I saw...

A bottle of Budweiser beer left over from a weekend cook-out jumped out at me. Not sure it helped my mouth, but my over-all attitude got better :-)

I feel like I have a sore throat right now....

Speaking of working on my new website

It's almost done! Actually it's an older site moved to a new location and a slightly changed name. So the new URL and the old URL will both go there.

Check it out-I'm not quite done. I'm still playing with design and my contact form isn't working. Still adding some content, too.

http://www.bloggingbizmom.com/

If you want to sign up as a V.I.P. subscriber to my newsletter, just email instead of using the contact form if it doesn't work.

Graduation Weekend...

Have to run....puppy has a vet's appointment, then I have lunch with my mom and one of her friends.

Tomorrow is Golden Child's graduation

Don't forget to check these guys out, too!

http://www.mynewlifeasmom.com/

Ok, I guess this wasn't so fast or furious....

Earthquake!

2010-06-24T12:29:00.000-04:00

Yesterday our area of New York felt the effects of the Earthquake that hit north of Ottawa.

My son & I both felt it, although we were in different rooms at the time. I thought he wasn't here, or I would have said something to him right after....

At first I thought the washer was off balance or something, although it didn't "feel" like that.

My daughters friend was standing in the kitchen and I told her I thought we just had a mild earthquake and she looked at me like I was nuts!

I turned the news on and didn't hear about an earthquake, so walked away...(duh- give them time to turn on the camera's!)

About an hour later I mentioned something about it to my son. He said he had felt it too, but thought he was imagining things.

Now I knew I wasn't nuts. We turned on the news, and there it was!

This is the third, maybe fourth earthquake I've felt, although they have all been mild.

Once was in the early 90's when I lived in Oregon. The other times were here in NY - I know where I was each time, but not the exact years...

The one time was sort of like this time...

I had spent the night at my parents house. I was standing in front of some shelves in my mom's living room. All of a sudden, all of her nick-nacks (sp?) started shaking. Because the bathroom is on the other side of the wall and the washer is against that wall, I assumed it was the washer going out of whack. Then I realized the washer wasn't on.

A few minutes later, my mom came out of her room and said we just had a mild earthquake.

Ok, that's 3 earthquakes. Why do I say MAYBE four?

One time a l-o-o-o-o-ng time ago, I was lying on my bed taking of an afternoon snooze. I was young, at home in my apartment. I woke up to the bed shaking. I was alone at the time, and no one later mentioned an earthquake. I didn't think about checking the news.

All I know is.................
Scary stuff! I'm glad it was only trmors!

Crazy things going on in the world!

Mmmm,mmm..Tasty Tuesday and more!

2010-06-22T08:51:00.000-04:00

Tuesdays are a fun way to meet some new friends and MAYBE, just maybe, find a delish new recipe to try on the family.

Here is a quick and delicious recipe that uses left-over chicken...

Chicken in a biscuit cups

1 to 2 cans of refridgerated biscuits

1 cup of diced chicken breast

1 (10.5 oz) can of cream of chicken soup

2/3 cup of shredded cheese

1 tsp parsley

1/2 tsp thyme

1/4 tsp pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Separtae biscuits and place one in each cup of a muffin tin,

pressing sides to ctreate a "cup".

In a bowl, mix chicken soup, cheeese and seasoning

Spoon mixture into the "biscuit cups"

Bake for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown.

This may not be the healthiest thing you could eat, but it's quick,

uses left-over's and must be healthier than a pizza!

Tuesday Tag-a-long

If you are looking for LOTS of new blogs to check out, why not try Tuesday Tag-a-long:

See you there!

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Get printable coupons! Join the forum! Save, Save, Save!

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The special Dad's in my life

2010-06-20T20:56:00.000-04:00

There are 2 very special Dad's I would like to honor today.............

One is my Dad, John who is no longer with us. Dad was a hard worker. For a number of years he worked two jobs, which helped fund our many, many years of camping.

I can remember that on Thursday nights he got paid from his part-time job, and he'd stop on the way home and get Jreck Subs. They were SOOOOO good in those days.

I've had them in past years and they just aren't as good.

Of course, what is?

My Dad was in the National Guard in high school and for several years after. I can remember when I was little that he could do push-ups and clap in between every one!

He would get on the floor and play lincoln logs with us. Why I remember that, I don't know.

When I was a defiant teenager, he often would save my butt. Because he and my mom worked, once my sister moved out, I had to do quite a bit of the cleaning and cooking. Dad would get home an hour or so before mom.

He would gently knock on my bedroom door and remind me to get the dishes done. Of course, I was like, "Yeah in a minute."

15-20 minutes later, I would hear Dad starting the dishes. I would run out and get to work. He obviously figured out this would work!

When Golden Child was born, my husband (now ex) and I decided to move to Oregon where two of his brothers lived. We sold everything, and were ready to go.

Wow, writing this is making me cry like I did in the following story, although not nearly as bad :-)

The day before we left, I stopped by Mom and Dad's to say good-bye to Dad. I was stopping by moms work after.

We talked for a little while when Dad suddenly said, "Just go- you're making me cry."

Tearfully I said good-bye and left. About 2 miles down the road, I was crying soooo hard, I had to pull into a parking lot and compose myself.

The good news is, my husband decided after a year in Oregon that he no longer wanted to be married. I guess Oregon woman are better :-)

So I eventually said "Ok, see you." And came back to New York, where I got to spend more than 10 years with my Dad before he passed away.

Speaking of defiant teenagers, you know how there are certain things you did as a kid that your parents never let you forget?

When I was a teen either my sister or I put a hole in the screen of our bedroom window so we could smoke and have somewhere to blow the smoke...

Yes, I know I'm perfect now....but I wasn't then!

Also, I wrote Mike & Carolee on my bedroom ceiling.

Dad would bring them up now and then. AND remind me the writing is STILL on the ceiling! I think they fixed the screen.

Um....my brother moved into that room after I left. Obviously, he liked my decor!

There is so much more I could say about my Dad, but I have to get to the next great Dad.

Anyway, Happy Fathers Day, Dad. You are greatly missed.

The next great Dad is Ron, my hard working, humerous yet sometimes crochety old man.

Like my Dad he is a great worker. He knows there aren't any hand-outs in life.

When he was with his boys Mom, he often had to take over the parenting when he wasn't working. His ex was bipolar and just couldn't care for the kids sometimes.

He worked 3rd shift at the time and would get home, wake the kids up for school and drive them down to the bus stop and let the kids sit in the van to keep warm. Usually he ended up with several kids!

Eventually he and his ex broke up and he got custody of the boys. He became the community Dad to all the boys in the neighborhood (ironically most didn't have their Dads in their lives). On weekends he made breakfast for all these kids- sometimes 6 or 7 who weren't even his.

When we started dating, we did alot of family type stuff together since we both had kids PLUS all the tag-a-long kids. We would go to the races and bring like 10 kids!

Over the years our kids were in baseball, football and basketball every year. For a while, we had THREE boys playing all these sports!

Back then Ron was on 2nd shift, so I ran kids to practice and games during the week, and the whole family went to games every Saturday (2 games) and Sunday (only 1 game!).

We've had our struggles- mainly in the beginning with his ex and the kids. Neither wanted Ron and I together. The ex wanted Ron back. So did the kids, although they didn't necessarily want their mom . They wanted Dad, alone- to themselves.

But we have muddled through it all. Our song is Shania Twains "Looks like we made it". Sometimes I hear that and get emotional.

Here's a pic of Grandpa Ron & Little Man (Grandson) this morning:

Fallen tree in woods

Ron is what I call quick witted. He has a come-back for everything! His favorite(regarding kids):

"If I knew then what I know now, I would have had a farming accident"....

"If I knew then what I know now, I would have had an accident with the knotter on the (hay) baleing machine".

He's a piece of work, huh?

Later... I got interrupted earlier writing this. Then, it was time to go to Golden Childs GF's graduation party.

We stayed there for several hours until Rons son called and said that Rons 2nd oldest son was there. So we came home and hung out with his son, and his GF and her 2 kids.

Little man had a ball playing with his "almost" cousin. Ron's 2 sons split the cost of pizza....

It's sort of funny, the older one remarked that the pizza didn't taste as good as her remembered. Remember what I said earlier about the subs?

And surprisingly, the oldest also got talking about things that happened with mom when they were younger.

Even though he lived with us, this particular son always thought it would be better living with Mom. We didn't agree, but when he turned 16 we figured let him try. It didn't work too well and he came back...until he blew it here, too.

The last year or so he's been back with Mom. He was talking today about how he and the GF are moving and he's never talking to his mom again.

I felt so sad that he felt that way....I couldn't imagine.

Funny how things change when they get older. Now he comes to see his Dad every Sunday, and he's talking to Princess Der about babysitting the kids this summer. He told the GF the kids would be safe here- Carolee raised us and we're alive, right?

I will take that as a compliment. I mean growing up, you'd think the kid hated me. Now we get along so well.

Happy Father's Day Honey! Not only do I think you're great, I think the kids finally think so, too :-)

I survived it!

2010-06-20T20:20:00.000-04:00

Girl Scout camp, that is.

Friday night we went camping with several other troops from our area.

I only had 3 out of the 4 girls from my troop go, but it was fun.

Friday night we made a real camp dinner. We made hamburgers and put them along with potato slices , carrots and onions (for those who wanted them) and wrapped them in aluminum foil. These "packages" were placed on top of coals and left to cook for maybe 20 minutes- 1/2 hr.

Yum!

Later, there was a bon fire. My girls helped one of the leaders do a little bridging ceremony for a girl moving up to Juniors. My troop was also supposed to lead the group in campfire songs.

We have been trying to practice a few songs for weeks! Two of the girls are new scouts and really needed some practice.

Figures there were several weeks when we would only have 2 girls at our Girl Scout meetings.

Figures also that after the little bridging ceremony, the woman in charge told the troops they were invited to stay at the fire and make smores or whatever, leave if they want, or whatever.

So my daughter asked her if they were still supposed to do the campfire songs. She said, "You can start singing if you want and see if anyone joins in..."

My girls decided they did not want....they wanted to go to bed!

Cool with me!

Yesterday, one of the girls cooked sausage and French toast for us while the other two did the preparation, cleaning up and such.

Then they decorated bandanas with Shapies and alcohol. See directions below.

Then we went to the beach for about an hour and collected pretty stones to make a Plaster of Paris coaster. We were going to make stepping stones, but my daughter and I saw the coaster molds and they were quite a bit cheaper. Always gotta watch that budget!

Here's a few pics:

Princess Der's coaster's

My coaster (I'm using it right now :-)

One girl had to leave after that. The other two had hot dogs from the grill for lunch, then we filled up water balloons and they had fun throwing them around.

Of course they had to pick up all of those balloon pieces!

Before we left, we had to sweep the cabin, clean the bathroom and make sure all windows were locked.

Like good Girl Scouts, we left the place cleaner than we found it.

Cool tie-dye

Something to tie-dye such as a T-shirt
plastic cups
rubberbands
Sharpie (permanent) markers
rubber alcohol
dropper

Take a plastic cup and with the top side up, place it under your cloth to be designed. Put a rubber band around the top of the cup the material.

In the area created by the top of the cup, draw a picture, write something, whatever with sharpie marker.

Taking the dropper, drip alcohol on the design and watch the colors spread throughout the fibers of the cloth, creating a "fuzzy" look.

Make as many of these designs as desired.

Let dry, then put in dryer for a few minutes or iron to set the color.

CAUTION: Be sure to do this outside and let material dry well...alcohol can be a breathing irritant.

A whole lotta eating post!

2010-06-18T08:53:00.000-04:00

It's Friday! And for once, I think we MAY NOT have rain!

That's a great reason to celebrate with all of my bloggy friends!

Hop along with the gang over at My New Life As A Mom

http://www.mynewlifeasmom.com/

Have you ever participated in Friday Fragments? Mrs. 444 hosts this over at her site at Half Past Kissing Time. Check it out!

And Ann over at Ann Again and Again

Friday Fragments

Rain, Rain go away!

It seems as if all we've had was rain, rain, rain. Not necessarily ALL day everyday, but enough so the ground is soaked so you really can't get much done.

But the rain has left behind some amazing things- my Tiger Lily's are blooming, and I think my Green Pepper plants are ready to burst a few buds as well.

That makes it all better!

The food is always better in another bowl

These dogs are nuts! When I feed them, all they want to do is get at each others bowls!

They will each take a bite of their own food, then wander away. A few minutes later, puppy will sneak over to Rocky's dish and start munching.

Vroom! I whisk it away.

If I forget to take Cosmo's dish away, you can bet your bottom dollar that once you turn your back, Rocky will be eating the puppy food!

I did an experiment yeaterday- I mixed a few pieces of Rocky's food in with Cosmos food, and some of Cosmo's food mixed with Rocky's.

What did they do? Ate only the pieces that were the OTHER dogs and left theirs!

Geez, wouldn't be so bad if pup wasn't just over 4 lbs. and Rocky is bordering 100 lbs.

Um....different nutritional needs, guys!

I want to know....

Horrible subject I know....

I HATE the fact that the news will report on murders - the details, the arrest, the trial.

But you never hear about WHY these people do stuff like that.

I mean, did the mother drink, or do drugs during pregnancy? Not eat right?

Was the kid mentally, physically or sexually abused?

Of course, maybe I don't want to know...what if they had the ideal childhood and still flipped out?

Scary!

Going to camp

Going to Girl scout camp tonight. We only have 3 girls going. Of course there's only 4 in the troop so guess we're doing ok.

We're making banana boats at the campfire...........yum!

Easy weight loss

If you want to lose weight- eat all day! I'm sure we've all heard that several small meals a day are better than just 3.

I would have to believe that. My grandson, Little Man is a non-stop eating machine! I swear if you let him, he'd eat about 10 bananas, 6 apples, 53 grapes and 5 plums a day- these are estimates, of course...

...but wouldn't but it past him.

This in addition to pancakes, eggs, hot dogs, PB & J sandwiches and more....

The kid is definately very healthy looking- not too skinny but not at all fat.

Back a zillion years ago...(ok, about 25) I worked at a daycare. I worked in the infant room. Most of the kids brought thier own food, but once they turned a year old the parents could put them on the school lunch program if they chose to.

Man that was some GOOD eating...all day long! Between taking "just a bite" of some of those delicious toddler meat sticks, a cheerio or two and "just one cracker" during snack time....

...and don't forget that left over spaghetti- mmmmm....

I actually LOST so much weight, my mother asked me if I was anorexic!

Um....the opposite, mom!

Anyhoo....have to sign off now and get ready to go shopping for our camping trip. I'll catch up with you all tomorrow nigth and Sunday!

Trying to remember if I told the girls NO electronics.....If NOT, I may bring my computer and hope I can catch a signal.....

I must follow the rules....

Have a great weekend!

P.S. Just realized I talked an aweful lot about eating- better go nibble on a meat stick or something :-)

What the heck Wednesday...

2010-06-16T12:31:00.000-04:00

Here's a new meme for you:

For all intents and purposes, I am using What the "heck" as my blog is family friendly and I know some people don't like swearing in blogs.

So here we go....

I swear it has rained every day the past two weeks EXCEPT when I have something to do.....

Remember how I tried to have a lawn (or rummage :-) sale a few weeks ago?

That didn't go over well.

And it has rained at least once a day since EXCEPT as I mentioned earlier....when I want to do something like have a sale or paint the laundry room.

What the heck?

I went to get paint for my laundry room. I decided to go with the same color as the living room. I had about 1/4 - 1/2 of a can left. We went to the store to get another gallon. We went to the same place where I had purchased this paint a year ago.

I brought all the paint numbers off of the top of the can so they just had to add ingredients, mix it up and presto- chango- a can of peachy-colored paint- RIGHT?

WRONG!

They no longer use that number of base paint, so they need to see a sample.

The gentleman asked if I had the paint stick I had used to stir it.

What the heck?

I WANTED to say, "Yeah, right in my back pocket."

But instead I went back with the stick the next day......

Do you work at home?

I recently had someone make a statement to the fact that I work at home so I have all the time in the world, where as THEY work outside the home, so they have no time....

What the heck?

You can read what I have to say about that HERE!

I cannot believe I need a haircut already!

I mean I just had it cut a week or so ago...

Or was that a month or so ago?

If I don't watch out, I'll end up HERE

Finally, I am discovering so many new meme's to put on my website, it's hard to decide which one's to do! There's just not enough time to participate in all of them!

What the heck?

The Great Goose Mystery

2010-06-11T06:45:00.000-04:00

After a long, hard week of work, many of us bloggers look forward to Friday- for several reasons!

http://www.mynewlifeasmom.com/

That's right- it's time to do some Friday blog hopping!

So here we go!

Friday Fragments

The Great Goose Mystery

There's always some kind of mystery going on here. This time it involves geese- baby ones at that!

Ron had acquired 3 goslings from a friend the other day. We put them in with the ducks and chickens.

They were a little scared and hid in a corner. We left them alone to get settled.

About an hour later, I went out to take a pic for my blog. They were all gone!

That was 2 days ago and we haven't seen them since. They didn't know how to fly (as far as we know) so they must have gotten out between the fencing.

More Escapees...

We also have baby chicks! They keep getting out of the fencing.........have to rectify that!

Never a relaxing moment....

This weekend we have a LEAH (homeschool) picnic Saturday, then Sunday we have a graduation party for one of the LEAH students who graduated.

Busy, busy!

Puppy Fashions....

Puppy shakes horribly when he's outside. He gets cold so easily.

Now I will admit to thinking some pups are adorable in clothes, BUT some people take it a bit far. And to be honest, I have to snicker at some of them.

But I had to give in:

He's much warmer now, thank you!

Do you like to use coupons?

Look what I found! There are coupons, a forum and more....

If you like to save money, check it out!

Please collect your award....

Last night we went to Golden childs award ceremoney at school. He only had a few classes, but he got several awards. His GF took the most as usual. She is a dynamo student- I think she made high honors every quarter.

Feeling old........

It was kind of funny, but a girl and boy I babysat for about 13 yrs ago was there with their mom. They moved back from Florida this school year. The girl is beautiful and got tons of awards, too. Her brother is HUGE! He was only around 4 when I babysat them. The oldest is in the NAVY!

Gosh, I feel old........

What makes a blog "good" Part 2

2010-06-10T09:00:00.000-04:00

A few weeks ago, I posed a question to my readers:

What makes a blog "good".

I got a variety of answers- some as comments, and some through email.

Here are some of them:

Most people like a nice looking blog, but it's the content that keeps 'em coming back.

The majority of respondants said they didn't mind someone selling an item, having a give-away or doing reviews on their blog but they liked seeing a little of the personal touch with it. This included pics of the kids, cute stories about kids and other family-type content.

If it's all sell, sell, sell they are likely to click the big X in the corner and get out of there.

They want to see a face behind the name.......a profile along with a pic on the splash page.

Most admitted they kind of liked the Google friend follower button, although some wondered about the loyalty of some of these "friends".

Straight text with no line breaks, titles or pics is a no-no! White space between paragraphs makes a blog easier to read.

And speaking of ease of reading, strange colors combos like black backgrounds with green text, or bright yellow background with florescent orange text may be cool, but it's very hard to read.

Too many ads are a big turn-off. I have to admit, I've seen some blogs that are ALL ads along with a sentence or two, and there was no profile- Jack the Ripper could have written that blog! Why would I buy something from a "no-one?"

Ironically, as I was waiting for comments to pour in :-), I happened to run into a lot of blogs that were ALL review and nothing personal.

I decided to write a post on my Advice For Work At Home blog about it. But before I could, another blogger blogged something similar.

I waited to see the response she got from her post before I wrote my post.

My guess was right- it was a heated topic!

Read my post here- the link for the other bloggers post is there.

I would love to see what your comments are on that post!

It's Wordless Wednesday!

2010-06-09T07:00:00.000-04:00

Home projects abound!

2010-06-08T09:42:00.000-04:00

Yesterday after doing a bit of work online, I decided to get ready to paint my utility room. When we moved in eons ago, I had sponge painted it. It looked pretty cool, but now I just want it a solid color.

That project entailed removing everything, taking down the shelves and washing the walls. I cleaned everything out and the Princess washed down the walls while I ran out to do a little grocery shopping.

When I returned we prepared to paint. Unfortunately, the primer I had dried up- the top was not on properly. I thought, "No big deal, I'll just put on a couple of coats of the paint."

Come to find out, I only had 1/2 can of paint left from our livingroom walls, not an almost full can as I thought. We had enough to do the shelves and the closet walls in the utility room. I'm going to go get primer and a couple of gallons of paint today.

Later yesterday, my neighbor Bob came over to fix and paint our hallway wall. A couple of years ago, Golden Child and his GF (now ex) left their dog here while they ran somewhere. The dog ate a huge hole in the hallway wall. We I attempted to repair it, but it didn't look too hot.

A few weeks ago, the neighbor put wood flooring in his house, and they got new furniture. He asked if Ron or one of the boys could take his old carpet and furniture to the dump the next time we went. He offered to pay, or do something around the house for us. He works at Pepsi by day, but at times moonlights as a handyman. I jumped on that offer...fix my wall!

We're on a roll and I am hoping we can get multiple projects done by Golden Child's graduation party in July.

Tuesday Meme's

I just found Tasty Tuesday this morning- I decided to share this recipe:

No Bake Cookies
These are a fave in our house. They are quick, easy and require no baking!

Step 1

2 cp. sugar
2 Tbsp cocoa
1/2 cp milk
1 Tbsp. butter or margarine

Add these ingredients to a saucepan and cook to boiling- boil for one minute.

Turn burner off

Step 2

Add:

3 cups oatmeal
1/2 cup of peanut butter
1 tsp vanilla

Mix it all up and drop by spoonful onto waxed paper. Let sit until set.

Eat and enjoy!

Hint... Have all of your ingredients for step two measured out before you even light the stove to get started. Then you can quickly add them when it's time and you know everything is there.

Now get out there and share some bloggy love...it makes the world a brighter place!

Is your picture here?

2010-06-07T09:14:00.000-04:00

I was talking to my mom one day when she remarked, "Better watch what you wear to the store."

Curious, I asked why.

She answered, "There's a website called People of Walmart where people send in pictures of people that are wearing strange clothes, are overweight and more."

That kind of scared me. I mean, I'm no fashion queen, that's for sure! In fact, I'm at my best in jeans and a sweatshirt. At least in public - pajama pants or sweats and a T-shirt at home.

As many of you know, while most people get their hair cut every 6-8 weeks, I usually manage to stretch it to 6-8 months between cuts. Not intentionally, I just get busy!

So this morning I decided to check it out- was I on there?

I don't know! The danged site loaded, but the pictures page just wouldn't load!

So can someone check the Ny section and see if my pic is there?

This is me:

Thanks!

BTW- while you are there, check out some of the other pics.

There is a section for girls in yoga pants, random creepy guys and a few others I don't remember.

Um, under random creepy guys- is Ron there?

This is Ron

Moving on.....

Yesterday, my yard sale was about like Saturday........

Enough said.

Maybe this week.....

Princess Der had a birthday party to attend yesterday. It was right by our friend's C & L's. Since a yard sale was out, we stopped by to say Hi to C & L and catch up on life.

They were talking about going to a local field days the nght before. Apparently after they left (according to C's brother) a couple of extremely overweight women were sitting at a picnic table eating when suddenly the table BROKE!

I automatically felt so bad for those woman. Number one it must have been totally embarrassing. I was also worried that the women may have been injured.

As L was telling the story she was laughing - I was worried as I stated above. I didn't really find it funny.

Now don't get me wrong, L is such a sweetie- I love her like a sista. She even said that it's not really funny and even admitted she got over 200 lbs after her last child was born. But she laughed....

Then C did told us that they had been at the field days for 2 1/2 hours. Those woman had been sitting at that picnic table surrounded by tons of food when C & L entered the event. They were in THE SAME PLACE, surrounded by food when C & L left to go home.

While I still can't laugh about it, I'm not sure I feel AS sorry for them as I originally did, but I still do feel sorry for them. I mean everyone has feelings. I hope no one laughed at the time.

Today looks like a beautiful day! I have a little work to do and some errands to run, then maybe, just maybe.......

I'll uncover the stuff out in the yard and try to peddle some junk again.

Send warm - weather wishes my way!

Yesterday was a BIG fat zero!

2010-06-06T09:16:00.000-04:00

The weather really put a kabosh on my lawn sale. I had put a few things out Friday night hoping to get a start on things. I asked Ron to throw a tarp over the stuff in case it rains.

The problem? I forgot to double check and make sure he had everything covered well! It did in fact rain, and the tarp he threw over had some holes, and well...

You guessed it!

Some of the puzzles and pictures got wet and are no longer fit to be sold!

Men!

Yesterday morning started out dark and gloomy. It was threatening to rain again....

It didn't.

So I set everything else up, making sure I had a few tarps handy. They were all old and holey, but if figured I could double them up, and stuff SHOULD be ok- I hoped.

Twice it rained- when you would least suspect it- when it was sunny out!

Twice I jumped up, threw everything under tables and covered them with tarps.

Twice the rain stopped as soon as I had everything put away....

Twice I put everything back out and sat down to read and wait....

...and wait....

Had one customer- no sale!

Anyway, the third time it started sprinkling, we covered everything and called it a day.

Never rained again during the day....the rain started again last night.

Now it's pouring out! I sure hope everything stayed dry :-(

Time for a little fun!

Here is a meme I found but haven't tried yet.

Unconcious Mutterings

Play it like a word association- just put the first word that comes to mind

Group :: rates
Pollution :: death
Getaway :: vacation
Mail :: junk
Believe :: trust
Chimney :: smoke
Curses :: bad luck
Contrite :: remorseful
Eyelash :: long
Jobs :: work

That's it for today kids....the rain is letting up, so I'm headed out!

We'll just call today Friday...........

2010-06-05T07:37:00.000-04:00

I really have to call my Internet Service Provider! This is getting ridiculous- I was only able to get on the computer for about an hour yesterday. When you work from home, this can be a real issue.

So yesterday in my eyes wasn't Friday, because I couldn't do any of my Friday stuff, like:

http://www.mynewlifeasmom.com/

So I declare today FRIDAY, ok?

Friday Fragments

Been getting ready to have a lawn sale today- my house is a wreck!

Did you ever wonder WHY you saved 1/2 of your junk?

I call it junk and think no one will buy the stuff...until I remember I once bought it, why won't someone else.....

One man's junk is another man's treasure!

When looking for stuff to sell, I ran into a box of Golden Childs stuff from Kiddie-garten...great artwork :-) and some pictures that the teacher took.

I have to wonder- how can a kid not really change in all those years?

All I know is, I have some really ~~embarrassing~~ cool stuff to hang around the house for his graduation party!

Little Man was here for the past 4-5 days. I don't understand how someone so cute can be such a brat (I say that lovingly!).

If you tell him NO- the world has come to an end!

That's what happens when a kid is being raised by two parents living apart (that can't communicate).

We may have a trailer!
It's smaller and older than I would like :-) but you have to start somewhere! Now if it doesn't sell before I get ahold of the guy....one plus is I know the owner.

Did I mention that I got rid of my last 3 goats?

I'm ready to go!

Now I must go and real quick check emailand read a blog or two before my Internet dies again...

Then it's out to the front yard to make a little moola!

Later!

It's like a social network for kids- but they learn!

2010-06-02T21:22:00.000-04:00

Because I work at home and homeschool, I am always lookimg for cool new stuff to help me get everything done.

Check this out- I thought it looked pretty cool. It could be used with homeschoolers or for public schoolers to catch up or retain info over the summer.

My daughter is pretty computer literate, so I may have to check this out and utilize it!

I love the name, too!

JUst had to share... see you tomorrow!

Wordless Wednesday

2010-06-02T10:45:00.000-04:00

Had a really fun weekend- how about ya'all?

2010-06-01T11:22:00.000-04:00

Boy I've been having some computer issues here...really rots when you work at home. Especially when you do blogging and can't update your blogs!

Being a holiday weekend, no libraries were open, so here I am...for now. Who knows when I'll be kicked off again!

I'm on hold with child support right now. I got a letter in the mail saying my sons case is closing....he is turning 19 soon. Child support in NY goes until the child is 21.

Since Golden Child is graduating soon, he is thinking about college. If my child support ends, that is really going to hurt.

At this time, even though I got a letter from child support saying this is ending, they have no note of it on my case!

So I'm on hold.....

We had a pretty fun weekend. Our friends, Mr & Mrs. Rollback started back to work as "carnies" this weekend, and they happened to be in the next town over. So a whole gang of us went. Ron and I along with Princess Der and her friend, Ron's son, his gf and her two kids, and my nephew and his son.

Cosmo, our new pup went too. And got kicked out of his first function!

Not because he was being bad. In fact he was the hit of the place!

No, he got booted because he was a dog.

So we took him home. Not that we had any shortage of babysitters there! Golden Child and his GF eagerly offered to watch pup.

The kids had fun going on rides and we chatted with some people we knew. I saw a woman who has purchased a few of my baby goats and taken some I was giving away when I was reducing my herd. I asked if she wanted 3 more, since the guy I thought was going to take them isn't.

She called her husband (it's HIS hobby!) BINGO! We have a taker!

They came the next day and got them. Now we have no more goats, but a whole lot of free time & an extra building!

That afternoon, some friends came over and we went to my neighbors and hung out for while. Rons son , gf and kids came, too. We all had a lot of fun. My neighbors aunt had a chihuahua /poodle mix. So funny looking, it was cute.

So my neighbors 3 dogs, my 2 and the aunts dog all had a lot of fun running around!

Little Man came over for a few days...surprised he just got up around 10 a.m.!

Yesterday was HOT! But before it got too bad out I finished cleaning every piece of hay, dirt whatever out of the boys goat house. Then we tore the hay feeder and a stall out. We still have a chicken sitting on a nest, so all work is on hold now.

Ron has taken over the old girls goat house. He has all of his tools and such in there. AND the old recliner from the living room. I told him take the thing to the dump, put it in his cave, whatever...just get it out! It was a dumping ground for clothes fresh from the dryer. I hate that!

So the boys goat house is going to be a girls hang out/guest house. We have so much excess stuff here that my nephew has given us, we could build a new house. Not to mention I still have some kitchen cupboards and a counter that I ripped out of my kitchen around a year ago.

So it should be a cool little woman .....cave(?)

What would you call it?

So anyway my nephew and his son came over yesterday and we had a volleyball game in the burning hot weather. Then we ate some great food!

Don't you love holidays? What did you all do?

Here are a couple of Tuesday meme's.....

BTW- just got off the phone with child support- that was some special medical account (that I never knew I had!) and the weekly payments are safe to 21 y/o or beyond if in school.

Later!

Blog Hop Friday...on Saturday?

2010-05-29T09:12:00.000-04:00

Blog Hop Friday...on Saturday?

http://www.mynewlifeasmom.com/

I just found this new blog hop and had to share...now I need to go look at all these blogs from all of these wonderful blog hops and carnivals, meme's and whatever.

The fun NEVER ends in the blogosphere!

P.S. The reason I put a pic of the button with the blog link under rather than the coded button itself is that the button linked to a post from a few weeks ago. I will let one of the people hosting the blog hop know.

Oh baby, has it been HOT outside!

2010-05-28T09:27:00.000-04:00

It's Friday again! Should I say yeh...or boo-hoo? I've been so busy working at home, homeschooling , computer issues and of course the new puppy that the week literally flew by again! That's good in some respects, but it again reinforces the passage of time....

Monday we took Little Man and the new puppy to the park. Little Man wanted to hold the leash and walk the dog. It was too cute!

We weighed Cosmo yesterday- he is 3 1/2 lbs!

Tuesday we took Ron to get his service vehicle for the new job- finally! Yeah! His new boss seems super nice and very organized. Since we are an hour from the shop, Ron will essentially work from home. Well, sort of. He's a diesel mechanic, so when a big rig breaks down on the road, he heads out and fixes them on the road. But the work orders and any other paperwork will be faxed from here. The boss even bought a brand new fax/scanner/printer/copier machine to set up here.

I don't know what happened to Wednesday......weird.

Yesterday the Princess, Cosmo and I went to my moms. She has a hot tub, so we hung out there, had some lunch then headed home around 3 p.m. I came home and attempted to do a little more work on the Internet.

Ok, now that I see my week laid out, I guess I didn't work all that hard this week! But that's the good thing about work at home...alot of it you can do when you want. I do a lot between 6 a.m.- 8 a.m.! Then I feed the animals, come in and do a little more....Then I can goof off a bit if I want, and go back to work later or not, as needed.

I found out the other day my cousin and BFF may have Cancer. She has what looks like Cancerous cysts on her ovaries and they have to go in and remove all female parts and possibly the appendix and maybe part of the small intestine. Chemo and such will depend on the biopsy results I guess. Her surgery is next Thursday, so if you are the praying sort, I would love if you would hold her up in prayer.

And of course, today is the day for Friday Fragments and Virtual Girls Night Out

Friday Fragments

I honestly can't think of a fragment right now. Usually I write them down as I think of them, but this week all of my fragments became paragraphs!

The only fragment I can come up with is " oh baby, has it been HOT outside!"

So I guess I'll just go party with Ann and the gals and do a little blog hopping. Maybe by next week I'll be back to my usual fragmented self!

Hope you'all have a safe and happy Memorial Day.

And if you serve or have served our country, thanks!

Spammer or what?

2010-05-27T08:10:00.000-04:00

I have been getting NUMEROUS comments on my posts from two different profiles and I think they may not be good.

It all started with some computer problems INCLUDING a few "porno" icons showing up on my desktop. At the same time, I'm getting pop-ups from an unknown source saying my computer is infected with a virus. When I run my virus software, it will get rid of any tracking cookies and 1 virus I had....

Problem is, it keeps coming back....

I went in and deleted all the files that contain the virus +/or icons as far as I can tell, done numerous scans....

I just happened to get an email notification yesterday that I had a comment on like 6 posts from one of these comment spammers. A few weeks ago, it was a different one.

Both have a series of little boxes, no words, EXCEPT....

Yesterdays had all boxes, then JUST before the end of all those boxes, is the word GPS

The one a few weeks ago had the word SEX in the middle of it all.

I wonder if this is where these are coming from?

So, my point is, right now I have comment moderation on, which I HATE to do, but...

BTW- H & S, perhaps you didn't know there is a link left behind to your profiles. You may not have actual blogs, but you do have a profile and if you come back, I will report you to Blogger!

Have a nice day!

Puppy and Little Man pics...

2010-05-23T08:39:00.000-04:00

We fell in love with the Jack-a-Poo we went to visit Friday, so we decided to get him. We picked him up yesterday afternoon.

He has been doing very well. He whined quite a bit when first put in the crate, but got over it after a while. He slept from about 11 p.m.- 4:15 a.m.

I got up to take him out and then decided to just snooze on the couch with him rather than have his whining wake everyone up.

I think we have settled on Cosmo for a name...Cozzy for short. He seems to like it!

Here are a couple of pics- he is REALLY small!

Puppy in purse

Puppy & Rocky

Little Man

For some reason Grandpa gave Little Man his own hammer and a board with a nail.

Normally I would say good idea....why not?

Apparently grandpa forgot that Little Man throws things when he's angry!

Hope you enjoyed :-)

Amusement Ride for Animals....

2010-05-21T13:27:00.000-04:00

Friday Fragments

Duh.....

Ok, so I'm sitting here yesterday working on a blog, when suddenly I hear a "twack!"

A bird had flown into the window!

Dumb birds! Don't they know I keep the windows dirty on purpose just so they won't fly into them...........really!

Jack-a who?

I'm going to look at some Jack-a-Poo (Jack Russell/Poodle) puppies tonight. Based on the pics I've seen online, I think I like this one best:

Lil' Bit

Speaking of poodles...

For many years, our family had a french poodle, Nanny. The dog barked alot, and she wasn't always fair!

One time my brother and I were goofing around fighting...

I yelled, "Help Nanny, help! Get him!"

What does she do?

Bites MY foot!

Another Strange But True Family Story....

One day after school (and before the folks were home...) my friend and I were ~~in my bedroom smoking cigarets and blowing smoke out the little hole in the window screen~~ listening to albums........when my brother knocked on the door.

"Have you seen the dog?" he asks so innocently.

"She was here before" I remarked

All of a sudden, I realized the dryer was running in the utility room near my bedroom. Since I took care of folding clothes, I knew there were no clothes in the dryer, and the dryer had not been running before....

I go in the utility room, open the dryer door...out hops Nanny.

Happy as can be she was...like she just hopped off an amusement ride!

My brother denied putting the dog in the dryer until the day he died! It was a family joke.......

Years after the "incident", my brother lay in a coma, dying.

You know how during stressful times, you just get silly....you want some kind of sign? Anything?

I asked him to tell the truth...did he put the dog in the dryer? If you did, squeeze my hand....

He refused! He took that secret to the grave with him...

But I know I didn't do it...so unless we had a ghost....

This little guy graduates high school this year...

Geez, just looking at this pic from his first day of school brings tears to my eyes....

I know I'm going to be a blubbering idiot during the ceremony!

The Princess and I are in charge of the party. The princess was supposed to call around about cakes today, but she was called away.....

Had to go help a homeschooling friend with their kids today!

Anywho.....

Don't forget Field Trip Fridays....to see ours, go to the homeschooling page.

And remember to join the gals tonight for Virtual Girls Night Out!

Pretzeled to death!

2010-05-20T12:11:00.000-04:00

Boy am I glad I work at home! This morning a major highway in the city was backed up for miles because of an emergency bridge inspection. Can you imagine being on that highway, with a super-size coffee 3/4 of the way gone, and traffic comes to a dead stop. We all know what you need to do, since you can't...........yeah, go potty!

And what was the emergency? Haven't found that out yet!

Pretzels, anyone?

Our friends, Mr & Mrs. Rollback are carnies (yes, they know we call them that!) Mr. Rollback worked with Ron years ago, that's how they met.

A couple of years ago, Rollback became a carnie, working at all the field days and fairs setting up and tearing down rides, as well as running one during the events. He also transports their equipment.

They stopped by last night with FOUR cases of pretzels........

I guess the pretzels are good for up to a year, but because of health laws, they cannot be sold after 30 days of purchase. They were going to throw them out.

There are 72 bags in each case! We gave a case to our neighbor and one to Golden Childs girlfriend. But we have a lot left!

Apparently, you get the pretzel wet, then put it in the microwave.

Ironically, the microwave died sometime overnight..............

So here we were with slightly under 200 packages of pretzels and no way to heat them...when Ron has an ah-ha moment!

Out in the shed, we still had a spare microwave one of the kids had dragged back when they moved back in. He brought it in, the Princess cleaned it, and now we are back in the pretzel business.

I guess there IS a bright side to kids moving back in......

I didn't think so yesterday........ :-)

A new blog you may want to check out

I recently met a woman named Vivian in one of my journal writing classes. Great woman with a big heart.

Of course, the topic of blogging came up during class. So when Vivian wanted to start a blog, she called me and we talked about it.

This is her idea......

She used to work for a company making travel plans for the employees. She would work with airlines and major hotels to negotiate a better price.

She would like to negotiate a great price on dental and vision plans, since so many people have lost these services or maybe even never had them.

So she started a blog to gauge the interest out there. I know many of us are home business owners and may need something like this...

So stop by her blog and say Hi and give her some encouragement...

http://restoredental.blogspot.com

You all have a great day and don't forget, I'm still taking suggestions on what you think makes a "good" blog.

ESP? Strange and unusual Sunday!

2010-05-17T10:26:00.000-04:00

Yesterday morning Ron and I were outside, doing some outdoor stuff....he getting ready to mow the lawn, me ~~digging to China~~ working on the pond.

My nephew was due over soon. Ron suddenly said, "Why don't you see if Golden Child will run down to the bakery and get a dozen donuts?"

We RARELY ever do this....the only bakery is about 2 miles away and their donuts have gone from huge and moderately priced to these little things that are pricey.

So Golden Child goes.....

My nephew is due soon.......

Golden Child gets back and puts the donuts on the table.

About 10 minutes later, my nephew arrives. He walks up the driveway carrying a dozen donuts from Dunkin Donuts! He has NEVER done that before, and he comes over almost every weekend!

We had not talked about donuts previously- it was a whim for both of us.

Then my nephew tells me his part of the story....

He had stopped to get a donut for him and his son. He decided to get some to bring here. His 8 year old says, "I was just thinking of telling you we should get donuts for aunties house!"

Now, he has a few "issues" and his Dad said he MAY NOT have been thinking that, he may just be SAYING that..........

...but ya never know...

So later we're sitting around talking about blogging (imagine that!) and my nephew said I should do an "About Me" contest. Ask people questions about me and they have to hunt through my blog posts to find the answers.

Believe it or not, I had the same thought the day before!

What a way to get people to read your blog!

But the prize would have to be great.........there are too many good blogs out there to be reading one for any amount of time.

But wouldn't that be fun?

Ok, maybe not everyone wants to read that much about me...............

Apartment for rent..............

2010-05-15T20:25:00.000-04:00

Apparently there's an emergence of alternative housing for birds this year.

Our neighbors ladder.........

Ron's tractor

Has anyone else had this? Birds making nests in odd spots? We haven't seen any nests in the trees like normal. Maybe because of our windy weather this Spring?

Ron just drove the tractor the other day. Went out the next day, and a nest was started.

Now a few days later it's complete and has eggs.

Yesterday it had one egg, today two.

Very strange indeed!

Pray for Monkey and other breaking news!

2010-05-14T10:31:00.000-04:00

I have been finding some great blogs lately. I am seriously addicted. Thus my new venture........don't want to bore you'all who don't care.....if you care, it involves blogging (surprise). That venture is going great. I put two testimonies on my website and I have a few more coming in.....

I also ran into this little Monkey around the net. Monkey was recently diagnosed with neuroblastoma. Neuroblastoma is a malignant (cancerous) tumor that develops from nerve tissue. It occurs in infants and children.

The family can really use your prayers and support. Please stop by their website and wish Monkey well....

News...and need your opinions....

In my last post, I asked, What makes a blog "good". If you are interested in giving your opinion, you can leave a comment or email me.

If you want you can check out the post for some of what I'm looking for. I've had a great response so far, but the more the better!

Friday Fragments

Worlds are colliding....

Have you ever felt like your worlds were colliding? Sometimes I feel like that, but not for THIS reason...

I know, another Seinfeld clip- but it's a good show for a laugh before retiring- better than murder and mayhem!

Don't really know what I did this week....

I just don't understand how another week has gone by. And why it went by so fast. Again!

The only thing I had going on at night this week was Girl Scout Bridging. I had one girl (out of a whole four!) bridge from cadettes to senior. She is going into 9th grade and has been in scouts since kindergarten.

The woman coordinating the bridging says she remembers bridging the girls MOTHER years ago! The mother is a lifetime Girl Scout.........

I can't believe how much I don't know....

I recently met (online :-) Cindy Haskins-Popp the author of The Health and Food Forum blog. She has had a couple of posts lately about food labels........I was shocked at how much I didn't know. There are even different organic labels! I just assumed they were all the same grade. You know what happens when we assume...........don't know what we consume!

So if you're into healthy eating and such, check it out.

Nothing ever goes as planned...

I wanted to get in a field trip today, but it's been pretty gloomy out so anything outside is out - does that even make sense?

I thought maybe a movie if the weather stunk.

But then.......last night at bridging, Princess Der had to go chasing and punching a boy she kind of "likes". He is homeschooled and in the same co-op and youth group, etc....

Anyway, he grabbed her hand and twisted. She just woke up and said it still hurts..........

Poo!

So we may take a field trip to the docs....that's what you get for punching boys!

Don't forget about Friday Follow and Virtual Girls night out and I'll see you all around the blogoshere sometime over the weekend!

Later!

Your opinion....what makes a blog "good"?

2010-05-12T20:54:00.000-04:00

As many of you know, I have started a blogging service of sorts.

In an effort to better help people with their blogs, I figured I'd ask those who read blogs- YOU for opinions!

So opinions, please. You can give a general answer in the comments section here, or email me. I won't spam you or anything, I am just doing a little research.

If you can think of anything that irks you about blogs, share that as well. For instance, I hate it when there is no "white space". You know those blogs that are an amazing 2,000 words long with out a space between the sentences, no pics and no headlines. Makes for hard reading.

I usually click off- NEXT!

Here are some of my questions.

What type of blog do you read?

Examples: mom blog, dad blog, home business blog, review blogs, etc....

Do you like multi-purpose blogs?

Example: mom blog & review in one, mom blogger selling products, etc...

Do you judge a blog by it's cover (the design), content or both?

Do you look for a Google Follower gadget on blogs you visit? Do you ever click on one of their followers just to check out a new blog?

Do you like to see a "subscribe to this blog" option?

Do you like to check out the other blog buttons displayed on the blog you are visiting? Do you ever click on them?

Do you like blogs that have contests?

Do you like blogs that have reviews?

Do you think humor is important?

How about pictures?

How many blogs do you have?

How many blogging communities do you belong to? (BlogFrog, Blog Catlaog, etc...)

Anything else you can think of, I would appreciate it.

Thanks!

I must say I have been having so much fun helping others. I must have a teaching spirit!

Have a great night, guys and thanks for any help!

It's Mother's Day (again) !

2010-05-09T11:36:00.000-04:00

A flower for all the moms in my life

My mom, sister, cousin and other relatives...and my Cyber-friends who are moms!

Happy ~~Crappy~~ Mothers Day Dear Moms!

It is happy, I swear! But the weather is pretty crappy! I slept in until 8:30 (almost had a heart attack-the day was 1/2 over :-). I look out the window to this:

It has been snowing since!

If this keeps up, the ducks will be ice skating!

Some of my thoughts on being a mom....

Being a mom:

Is Not for the weak

Is Not for the lazy

Is Not for the selfish

Being a mom:

Will keep you on your toes

Will cause you to lose a lot of sleep

Is one of the most wonderful experiences you will ever have, providing love and laughter like you never thought possible.

Today we are going to hang out (probably around the coal stove!). Ron's oldest son and his GF and kids are coming over. That's sweet. Since he has moved out and is a little older he is very respectful to me. We even talk and laugh, like people are supposed to!

This is the kid I went through years of agony with! My life is so mellow now compared to then. But (hopefully) all kids grow up. Now I'm waiting for the second stepson to grow up!

Before I wrote this post, I was trying to think about what to write about my mom. But I've written quite a bit already, and it really says it all.

For a good laugh, check out Fridays post, Digging to China and other lies....a little humor about my mom.

For a tear jerker, check out my post from last Mothers Day. That is a tribute to my late Grandma June, my mom and my sister- the three great woman in my life.

Hope you enjoy the posts.

Have a Happy Mothers Day everyone!

Digging to China and other lies.....

2010-05-07T12:42:00.000-04:00

....your mother may have told you. I'm sure everyone has a few of those- things your parents may have told you to do so that you would get out of their hair, stay in line or otherwise do their bidding.

Since today is Friday, I thought my Friday Fragments would be just that- some snippets of stuff that will finally reveal to all why I am the way I am.

And they are somewhat funny, too. So they also qualify for Funny Fridays.

So here we go.....

Digging to China- my mom would give us a ~~shovel~~ spoon and tell us to go dig for China.

Notice how I like to dig in my pond now..........it's comforting, like momma!

Go catch a bird.... mom would give us a salt shaker and tell us to shake salt on the birds tail and catch it...

Say what, say what? Catch a birdie, say what?

Did it work? Heck no, the bird's wouldn't let us get close enough to test that theory!

The only birdie I ever got was from my brother's hand if you know what I mean (um, as in fingers...)

I'm a witch...or I have eyes in the back of my head...........that would be my momma- she always seemed to know what we were doing.

I remember being in the bathroom once and I was like 12 (I know WAY TOO young).

I had stolen one of my mom's cigarettes because I wanted to try it. I remember wondering if it were REALLY true, was she a witch?

I saved that cig for later...........don't know if I thought her "powers" didn't work outside of the house or what....

Ok, now for a funny tid-bit or two about Ron's childhood:

When the guys were putting in the septic for our house before we moved in , the contactor asked me about Ron. Apparently, he knew some of Ron's SEVEN older brothers- yes Ron's a baby can you tell? You could if you lived with him. Kidding!

Rons mom raised most of the boys alone- his dad took off shortly after he was born. According to this contractor, there were so many kids, they were sleeping in dresser drawers!

You see that open drawer? That was my Ronnie's bed. The bigger brothers slept in the lower drawers so Ron would have something soft to step on getting out of bed..............

Of course they haven't seen the one brother since the bottom drawer got stuck ....

I scoured YouTube for a clip from Seinfeld (again, I know....)
of Kramer and his Japanese houseguests. They slept in dresser drawers. It was too funny!

According to Ron's oldest brother, Ron's mother also knew 101 ways to make Spam - not the email kind, silly- the canned meat kind!

I was at Target yesterday...........

I was kind of wishing I could be a Skinny- Minnie ~~again~~ for once. I mean all those cute little outfits.......like I ~~used to wear~~ have never been able to wear.

But would I have the nerve even then to strutt my skinny stuff?

Our friends Mr & Mrs Rollback stopped by last night. She was telling me she had talked to her daughter back in Missouri. She told the daughter she was getting gray hair. The daughter said she was going to count the gray hairs on her mothers head when she came to visit this fall.

Mrs. Rollback told her, "You better pack a lunch....AND a supper while you're at it!" (imagine a southern drawl...)

I thought that was cute......

Picture of the day.......

Duck Soup or Stuck-Duck?

I went out to feed the animals the other morning and saw this. Poor duck had to stay there while I ran inside to get the camera.

Now I must go get some work done, then get outside. I think it's warming up (again!)

Don't forget about Virtual Girls Night Out later.......go to Ann's and add your link. But better wait until later...Ann is one of those Pacific Chicks that lag behind some of us by a few hours. If you don't see her VGNO post, check back later.

And of course, Friday Follow............

So much great blog reading to attend to later........

New work at home venture...

2010-05-06T16:07:00.000-04:00

Things are flying with my Blogging Services! I had two more appointments today and both went well. I feel I shared a lot with these ladies that will move them forward in their careers.

I have also had a lot of action on my website and several people inquiring about services. The great thing is, none of it seems like work, because I love what I do. I wrote about finding your niche on my other blog, Advice For Work At Home. If you ain't found it, life can be a drag...........

Moving on.....

It is soooo windy today! I wanted to go to the lake today and walk around, but it is probably pretty cold there, as it is only in the 60's out.................

Need to get to the store...it's 4:00 p.m. and I have no plan for supper...................

But then, for some odd reason, I'm the only one here....

....for now!

It never lasts more than about 10 minutes :-}

Better get out of here before someone wants to come to the store with me!

See you tomorrow for Friday Funnies, Friday Fragments and Virtual Girls Night Out.

It's just too darned quiet now...

2010-05-03T08:07:00.000-04:00

Well, iPod is gone - already! My house is soooo quiet I can't stand it. Rocky is most likely wondering what happened to this friend.

If you are a follower, you probably know that every dog friend we get ends up leaving in one way or another.

One of our dogs , Thunder just died- came in the house and died. She was a rescue dog and was hyper and had issues, but c'mon!

I eventually got another pooch, Max- the cutest little peek-a-pom. He ran outside when I was bringing in groceries and answering the phone at the same time- doesn't he run in the road...well you can probably guess what happened.

Then there's Duke. He was just passing through. The dog of my son's (at the time) girl friend, Duke came around a lot. Being she's an ex-GF, Duke no longer visits.

And now iPod. To see her story, go HERE.

On the other hand............

I didn't want to give iPod up, but the rest of my goats, I do. I have 3 left, and a fellow is supposed to take them. I talked to him Friday and he was out buying fencing. I was hoping he would get them this weekend.

I am getting rid of my goats for several reasons, but one is because we are looking to camp/travel soon (I hope). You can check that story out here.

No blog yet?

If you are presently a lurker, but not a blogger OR if you would like to start another blog check this out first. There is tons of information, and I'm adding more daily....................

Yesterday........

Yesterday we saw a flurry of activity. My nephew gave Ron 4 double-sided metal cabinets. Ron's in heaven- he can organize all of his tools and such in his new "man cave" that used to be the girls goat house. While my nephew (and his son) was here, Ron's oldest son, his gf and her 3 yr old son came by. Then who wanders in but Mr & Mrs. Rollback (friends, nick-name).

We had a great time hanging out at the picnic table, walking through the woods, and playing with the kids. Later, we made cheeseburgers along with some mac salad and whatever else we could dig up.

Gotta love family, friends and weekends.

Now, I need to go start my week........

Hope you'all have a Happy & Prosperous Week!

P.S. Speaking of prospering................

AmeriPlan started a promotion TODAY! Only $9.95 to start an AmeriPlan biz- normally $50.00!

That gets you your websites, training and one on one coaching.

Check it out:

http://www.findfreedomathome.biz/

Later!

Momma Mia! It's Meme Mania!

2010-04-30T13:05:00.000-04:00

Ok, somewhere along the way, I found a new meme to partcipate in. It is called Funny Fridays. Don't you just love the button?

When I was thinking about what to post that is funny, I thought about the clip below.

It aired the other night. I've seen it dozens of times, but everytime I do, I laugh so hard I cry........

For those who don't know the show, Jerry (the fellow being polygraphed) has recently started dating a woman police officer.

One day while visiting her at the prescinct , he sees the polygraph machine. He asks his new Gf what it is. She tells him, and remarks that they have had some well-known people there.

She gives an example- a guy from Melrose Place, then asks Jerry if he watches the show. He says no. She doesn't believe him and challenges him to take the poly.

He really DOES watch the show, so here goes..............enjoy!

Continuing on to Friday Fragments:

Can I say "call me a little backwards"?

Wednesday night I had my Journal Writing class. I had to stop at the store afterward. Since I hadn't eaten before class, I found myself cooking at 9:30 at night.

I had been hankering for roast beef hash, so that is what I had for supper Wednesday night. Along with some toast, no egg.

The next morning (yesterday) I got a bit busy blog-hopping and working on a new website....I happened to remember around 10 a.m. that I hadn't eaten yet.

I had left-over goulash. Yum.......................

Speaking of my new website.........

I have started another business of sorts. I have created a website with information on starting a blog, gaining followers and making $$$ blogging. For those who need help, I am for hire. I have a great blog designer I'm talking to about helping with the "prettier side of things". Some of you may know her, and I'll make a formal announcement when everything is hashed out.

My web address is: http://www.blogging4you.info/

I am adding more content daily, so check back often.

Are all the goats gone?

I may be getting rid of my last 3 goats today. Unfortunately, the trailer we were interested in but couldn't see yet because the guy was out of town...SOLD!

Which is ok I guess as Ron STILL hasn't started his new job. He's definately got it- the guy got ahold of him the other day. He's just been so busy himself he hasn't gotten the service vehicle set up for him.

Dyslexic typer?

For some resaon I can WRITE normal, but when TYPING, I'm dyslexic.

Do you know how many times in a day I type the word "service"? I usually type it "servcie" accidentally. Same with other words- I often screw up at least two letters. And I am a pretty good speller when writing.

News on iPod

We got some sad knews the other day concerning iPod, our service (that word AGAIN!) dog. Check it out HERE.

Now that we have no more goats (I think) we have two spare buildings......Ron has pretty much already taken over the girls goat house, since he needed a place for all of his tools when he lost his old service (that word AGAIN!) vehicle. Plus it's attached to the building where he already has a bunch of his junk.

I thought maybe the Princess and I could make a girls hang-out/office in the boys house.

I know a lot of people are thinking-yuk!

But actually, once you get them out and dry out the flooring, you can't smell any goat smell. If we were to do anything like a girls hang-out we would have to dry it out good, then put new flooring over that, then wood, tile or carpet.

Or I can make a little "pad" for one of the boys (adult children).........

.......get 'em out of the house one way or another!

It will probably end up filled with junk....

http://www.thetravelingpraters.com/
Been on a field trip this week?

I'll admit it, I'm guilty of NOT going on one this week, again! But if you did, go to the link above and add your link and post about your field trip on your blog.

It's a gorgeous day out...............

I have a few more work related thing to do online, then I'm headed outside! Later, I'll be back for Virtual Girls Night Out.

See you'all there!

Outdoor work and Spring pics

2010-04-26T12:00:00.000-04:00

This weekend Ron and I really got busy and accomplished quite a bit outside. Didn't get anything done with my house or home business, but that's ok.

Years ago, I had dug a trench through the girls (goat) yard, continuing under the fence....through the boys (goat) yard and under the back part of their fence out to the woods. I had dug this trench to drain some water that sat in the low part of the yard.

Ron thought we didn't need it anymore, so I had since filled it in. This stopped the flow of some of the water, helping to create the pond I've been working on.

The other day, we decided we needed the trench again. So we redug it (I had only filled it in with old hay, knowing I WAS RIGHT and the trench was needed!).

We lay piping in the trench, and the water dumps into a small trench that goes into the pond. It was supposed to rain yesterday, but barely did. But we sprayed some water from the hose onto that area, and it worked!

Yesterday we cleaned out the pond in the FRONT yard (that's 3 ponds!). This one is little and is home to at least one snake every year and tons of frogs.

Many frogs weren't too lucky, I guess. Ron found several frog "parts" in the leaves and stuff he extracted....back legs, a front leg..................

BTW, dates on the pics are wrong- camera bites the biggie- I have to turn it off and on to work and get tired of restting the date...

Onto better things...............

My baby Apple Tree is blooming.......................

As are the Azaleas (?)- I always plant thing, then forget what they are called!

And the blue flowers we took out of a friends yard years ago.........

And these purple flowers I found in my yard years ago and transplanted into the front garden....

And all of these...aren't they beautiful?

I think Spring has finally, really sprung!

Hop on over to my other pages here to see what I've been doing with my biz, homeschooling and puppy training.

Later!

Slow Day, Itching To Play

2010-04-23T14:52:00.000-04:00

Can I just say one thing?

T G I F !!!!!!!

We have had something going EVERY night this week:

I got some new batteries today, and for another day, my camera is working. So todays post will probably have quite a few pics from the last few weeks.

Today is also the day for Friday Fragments, Virtual Girls Night Out and Field Trip Friday.

So let's go, shall we ?

Friday Fragments (or Fragmented pics...)

Grab a shovel and relax!

As some of you may have read here or in my other blog, I have gotten rid of 3 goats-we have 3 to go! Then we are free to be...........

We removed the fence between the girls and boys yard, since all we have is the boy goats left. I have been making the duck pond bigger. The one there now has taken me about 3 years digging off & on (by hand).

People ask me why we don't just get a bob cat (or whatever digger-thingy we need) and get 'er done......

...ask Ron!

No, I can't blame him. There is something relaxing (you're saying...WHAT?) about digging boulders and mud out of the ground.

Check it out:

This is the main part now, I'm extending it on the left. See all the huge rocks along the bank? They were there or somewhere else in our yard.

Another huge rock in our arsenal. Princess Der painted it with chalkboard paint. Now and then she and her cousins or friends will go color on the rock.

We also have plenty of trees and 2 more ponds. One is at the bottom of the hill in the woods behind our house and is about 1 1/2 mi long!

The other pond is just a small one I made in the front yard. We pretty much let the frogs and a snake or two make their home there. It's near my "outdoor office."

The Scary Tree

The scary tree is in the woods behind the house and we have always called it the scary tree. It used to have more scary limbs shooting off it, but they have broken off over the years. Every time we have a major wind or thunder and lightening storm, we go check on the scary tree. That huge limb on the left has been "barely" holding on for years.

It isn't too far from what the kids named "the Snake Pit"- story to come at a later date............

Another Mystery In The Barnyard....

You see this duck? You'd better look quick! Because next time you look, she may be a chicken!

They can't decide who should sit on the nest. Wouldn't it be cool is we had "chucks" or something?

You just never know around here....

And last but not least.............Little Man doesn't think it's fair that his "Pops" (dad) should have to do dishes. Or was this POP'S idea?

In The News......................

Don't forget that tomorrow I am the guest poster for A Hen's Nest. Check it out!

I also posted an article for Earth Day on my other blog. It was published in Syracuse family times April 2005 issue.

I am having an advertising special on two of my blogs:

http://www.athomeonwheels.com/ and http://adviceforworkathome.blogspot.com/

Start a blog with my at what.ismyblogs.name

Your blog will be listed in the main directory as well as the directory on my blog (many members have a blog directory), and you can advertise your business on the WAH pages on both of my blogs.

I also have paid advertising. Contact me for information.

Business has been slow today.................so I'm headed out to ~~dig in the pond~~ play outside.

See you at Ann's Virtual Girls Night Out later!

...and if you've been on a Field Trip this week: Post about it and put your link HERE

P.S. Comments

I LUV ..........absolutely LOVE comments...........so leave one....or else........

I may cry :-(

Happy Earth Day, fellow Earthlings!

2010-04-22T14:45:00.000-04:00

Today is Earth Day, and it happens to be the 40th one! What can you do to help save the Earth?

There are a ton of things- many of which will appear on this blog over the next month:

http://ahensnest.blogspot.com/

I am guest posting there on Saturday. Be there or be square................

Just can't wait?

Have no fear.....there are great things going on there everyday!

Today, One lucky reader will win a Marcal Small Steps starter kit worth $25! The kit includes an assortment of Marcal paper products: toilet paper, napkins, paper towels and facial tissues!

So mosey on over and enter to win!

Over on my writings blog I posted an article I had published in Syracuse Family times in April 2005. Check it out HERE.

Here are some "Earthy" pics I took in the last few days:

A local lake at Sunset. We love to go walking, skating (ok, tried it twice) and biking there. There are miles of paved walkways along the lake for the skaters and bikers and a trail for walkers.

A trolley goes up and down the lake several times a day. When I babysat, I would often take the kiddies to the park- they thought the trolley ride was awesome!

They have a dog park, a big childrens playground and several smaller ones along the lake shore, and a skate park. My son LOVED that!

This one was happening in my yard just as I was leaving for my Journal Writing class last night:

Not sure how well you can see it, but it's a snake eating a frog! Of course the Princess, Ron, Golden Child, his GF and I had to watch for a while. Darned that snake for taking so long to eat! i had to get going....wouldn't do for the teacher to be late to class. If I don't believe the line, "The dog ate my homework", how can I expect my students to believe I'm late because "the snake ate my frog?" Is that an excuse? Would they REALLY believe it was MY frog?

Anyway, go love the Earth and it's people....and remember to check back tomorrow for Friday Fragments, Field Day Friday, and Virtual Girls Night Out!

One step at a time....

2010-04-19T12:21:00.000-04:00

We are one step closer to realizing our dream of traveling by RV or trailer. Yesterday I gave 3 of my goats away. I have 3 more to go, then I am FREE TO BE ME!

Since we got rid of our female goats, we took down the fence that was between the boys and girls yard. This enable me to make my duck pond even bigger! So yesterday I was digging and digging, removing rocks - making my pond bigger and deeper. So far this year, it has held water.

This morning I woke up and had tons of people to call regarding work at home with AmeriPlan. Of course, on Monday hardly anyone is home....

So I thought I would take a sec to write and then check out more of the Friday Fragments....haven't quite finished.

So I'm going to be taking a little blog-hop...anyone want to come along?

Advertising...........I am now ready to take advertising on the WAH page of my other blog:

http://www.athomeonwheels.com/

If you are interested in advertising, email me at freedomathome@hotmail.com

Lost poop, x-mas socks in June and scarecrows in the snow!

2010-04-16T12:44:00.000-04:00

Thanks for visiting my blog. I have been having SOOOOO much fun visiting new blogs during The Ultimate Blog Party. It ends today, and I've barely begun. I love all the unique designs, the funny things people's kids say and do, and all the cool give-aways. I HAVE NOT had time to even check them all out, so I guess I won't be winning any :- (

Today is also Friday, which means Friday Fragments and Virtual Girls Night Out!

So let's get started!

Friday Fragments

We've been doing a lot of walking with iPod, the puppy we are raising for Canine Companions. It amazes me how people will stay in their OWN lane, quite close to the shoulder, rather than down the MIDDLE of the road, like true country folk! Someone came dang close to hitting Rocky the other day.

I yelled, "Drive in the middle of the road like everyone else does!"

If you are a follower, you may remember my previous post about this subject.

You may have also noticed the title mentioned something about missing poop. You can find out about that HERE

If you think missing poop is mysterious............how come I can never find my Christmas socks at Christmastime, yet when looking for socks in July, all I can find is Christmas socks!

Gotta be the kids........

Speaking of being off season, the other night in journal writing class we were doing a particular journaling exercise.......I was sharing with the class that the first time I did it, I realized I still had a scarecrow from Halloween on my mailbox post and it was Springtime!

If you want to know what the journal writing exercise was...well you have to take my class. Ask me how you can................

Another Strange but True family story........

You'all may remember the story I told a few weeks ago about my great-great (great?) uncle, the bus driver.....Read that funny story HERE.

Here's another one....

This one involves my Grandpa G.(my paternal Grandpa) and Uncle B. (Married to Grandpa's sister).

They both liked their drink.....

One day when my dad was little, Grandpa G. and Uncle B. decided to build some new steps for the house.

They obviously liked their drink a little too much....

....and made the stairs backwards! The were SKINNY and TALL, instead of long across with only a few inches between steps. You needed to have legs 3 feet long just to climb the stairs!

Golden Child got a 91.66 average this quarter, and his GF got a 95.66 average! Congrats, guys!

The Whiz Kids

Ok, now this may not be too smart!

Testimonial

I usually don't promote my AmeriPlan business during Friday Fragments & Virtual Girls Out, but this was such a good one....

OMG!! I went to Walgreens to fill my monthly script. I'm only 23 years old, and having to pay $111.00 a month has been costly. With the card, my script was $12.00! I'm a living testimony! These savings are real! An extra 100 dollars in my pocket! WOO!!

...another satisfied AmeriPlan member!

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Before you go ANY furthur.....

You may want to read my last post....

You might be blog- crazy

Then you can go visit Ann for Virtual Girls Night out & get even CRAZIER!

Hop on over to Ann's later (she's on pacific time so give her time to post!) and join the party!

And, you still have time for....

So get blog-hopping and have fun!

You might be blog crazy....

2010-04-13T23:08:00.000-04:00

Ok, so right now it's 10:30 p.m. Wednesday night and I'm hiding in the master bath dying my hair and...you guessed it- blogging! I have been sooooo getting into the Ultimate Blog party. I can't stop!

I am a writer by nature. Crazy thoughts invade my mind at odd times. And of course, I have a blog for my writings- go check it out- There are a couple of my published pieces and a few others. Someday I'll get more of my stuff there. Right now, I'm just too darned busy blogging about everything else.

As you can see, I compiled a couple of blogs into one by adding pages to this one. Then there is my blog, Advice For Work At Home. THEN, I discovered I could get paid to have a blog and advertise my business at the same time, so I started a new one At Home On Wheels

So tonight I get to thinking about how to identify if you are Blog-Crazy....so spinning off of Jeff Foxworthy's "you might be a redneck"........here are some...

* If your friends and family think you are crazy because you jump and yell, "I gotta get a picture of this for my blog", you might be Blog-Crazy!

Remember this one?

* If you are constantly saying, "now that would be a good one for my blog", you might be Blog-Crazy!

* If you write Friday Fragments while driving down the road...you might be Blog-Crazy!

* If you'd rather stay home and read blogs than go out...you might be Blog-Crazy!

*If you hop out of bed at 6 a.m. just to read blogs...you might be Blog-Crazy!

* If you speak Blogese more than your native language.......you might be Blog-Crazy!

* If you have 3 or more blogs...you might be Blog-Crazy!

* If you are sitting on your bathroom floor writing a blogpost while dying your hair...you might be Blog-Crazy!

....or just plain crazy!

Gotta go wash the dye right outta my hair (remember the song "gotta wash that man right outta my hair"?) .......so must go.

Please leave me a comment, as those who know me realize by now...I LUV comments!

You'all come back soon and maybe I'll tell you why I'm dying my hair at 10:30 p.m. on a Wednesday night while blogging....in the bathroom!

Simply the biggest blog party there is!

2010-04-11T13:18:00.000-04:00

This week is the Ultimate Blog Party! If you've never been, you should get there NOW!

Add your blog links to the appropriate category - Family Friendly, Not So Family Freindly, Momprenuers,Dad blogs, Facebook & Twitter.

The Family Friendly Blogs were at almost 1500 links about an hour ago!

If you don't have a blog but would like to start one, I can help.

Start a what.ismyblogs.name blog this week and I will give you a FREE hour of consultation to help you get started. You will also receive FREE advertising for your business on this blog and HERE

If you already have a blog but are interested in paid advertising on either or both of my blogs, please email me at freedomathome@hotmail.com

Please put "advertising on your blogs" in the subject line.

What is....what.ismyblogs.name?

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Am I adopted? And Wii education!

2010-04-09T10:16:00.000-04:00

Wow another week has literally flown by! Between my business, homeschooling , my blogging, Girl Scouts and more...all I can say is:

WOW! Another week has gone by!

Friday is my favorite day! That's when Friday Fragments and Virtual Girls Night Out happen! Ok, in my case, it's an all weekend deal sometimes. And there are times when I don't get through all the blogs...but it's so fun....

So, why not kick back and join us now....

And

Please

leave a comment.............I LUV them! Look down there near the Google ads- there is a comment section there...really...

Friday Fragments

Has this ever happened to you?

Last weekend we went to visit a friend. He recently moved back in with his mother to help her out after the stepfather passed away. He is our age, divorced...

Anyway, mom was out of town. We had never been inside the house. There is a combination dining/living room. The house is immaculate. Pictures of family adorn every flat surface.

We're at the table having coffee, and my eyes happened to see a picture- of ME! Or at least I thought it was at first. I almost had a heart attack!

My mom had recently given me an old pic of me from when I was (much) younger, and skinnier- I had a 'fro and HUGE glasses! This pic was somewhat similar, but not me.

But it made me wonder....you know how when you're a kid and you wonder if you're really adopted and no ones telling you..........

My mind was screaming "NOOOOOOOOO.................."

I mean our friend is ok- for a friend.

He's just not my family-type!

Anyway, guess that was more than a fragment....

Do you ever say this?

I have always said to my kids (as most parents do....) "I can't wait till you have kids! You'll see."

Well, my stepson has a kid- you'all know Little Man....

But does he see? Little Man will ask for apples, plums, oranges, whatever all day long.....at night, guess what I find lying around? Tons of 1/2 eaten fruit!

Guess who is going to stop spending her money on fruit? Not the Little Guys fault, I know. But let the one who keeps shoving food in his mouth buy it....

Then, maybe he'll see!

Hello, what is the date today?

I teach journal writing at a local adult ed center. They were going to run it on Tuesdays, but that is a very busy day for me, so we switched it to Wednesday. I went to go to my first class Wednesday.

It starts NEXT Wednesday. And I checked the paper before I left. I knew the date......don't know why I thought it said this week............

Check out our homeschooling page to see how the Wii has become an educational tool in our household lately. And, you can see my Mii.

Do Yoo have a Mii?

Time to go post on my other blog, make a few calls for the business, then go blog hopping!

Hop on over to Ann's later (she's on pacific time so give her time to post!) and join the party!

Did you go on a field trip this week? Post about it and add your link HERE

Heart shaped eggs and BBQ fun!

2010-04-05T12:54:00.000-04:00

Easter brought a flurry of activities...and people! While I was making deviled eggs , I found this:

Weird, huh?

Joining in the festivities was my nephew, his wife and two kids. The wife doesn't get to come often as she is a horse trainer. Between barn chores, horseback riding lessons she gives, and training the mini's- she's one busy lady, so we rarely see her.

Rons oldest son, his GF and her two kids came too. The GF has a 5 month old son and a 3 yr old son. Princess Der was happy about that! She kept herself occupied with the baby.

Then Mr. and Mrs. Rollback (not their real name!) came over. They are friends of ours and they came to help Ron and my nephew with finishing Ron's new workshop. Here's the inside:

I have been taking pics with my Blackberry and then emailing them to myself. The pic of the outside of the shed seems to lost (with some of my zoo pics) in Cyber-space. Just floating around.....

Anyhoo, we had some hot dogs and hamburgs, mac salad,baked beans, deviled eggs, chips, raw carrot, and I forgot what else :-)

Don't you love good eating with family and friends?

Hope everyone had a Happy Easter!

Even Ron is Spring Cleaning...................

2010-04-02T10:18:00.000-04:00

You may have noticed by the post below that I am TRYING to Spring Clean............notice I say try! I still need to Spring clean my office space (what there is after moving out of my office!) Still a work in progress....

Ron did a little Spring cleaning himself...he actually had the Black Box taken away by the scrappers. If you don't know about the Black Box, you must not read my blog much!

Just kididng. The Black Box is a vehicle Ron bought that he had on the road a few months, and then somehow it became a woods car- you know, like a lot car, except Ron would drive it in the woods for fun. The kids loved it- the woods are hilly and it's like an obstacle course going around trees. Ron has clipped a few trees to be sure:

Of course the scrapper's were supposed to pick up a van of Ron's that was supposed to be at his old place of business , but his x- boss moved everything to a friend's garage. The friend of the boss told Ron if he tried to move the van, he'll smash it up with a sledge hammer! Cute, huh?

So Ron called the ex-boss and asked him to tell the guy it's ok for Ron to get it. Ron's going to bring the title in case....anywho the Scrapper Dude was getting the Black Box in exchange for picking up the van. I guess now Ron will have to pay him to go out a second time.

Speaking of Ron, he goes to talk with the guy from Rochester on Monday or Tuesday about work. It sounds like a done deal just from phone conversations, but they need to get details ironed out.

It's a gorgeous day out..........I think I'm going to finish up my blogging (did you see my new blog? http://www.athomeonwheels.com/ ? ) and AmeriPlan stuff and do some yard work. The yard needs it.

And....today is Friday! That means Friday Fragments and Virtual Girls Night Out!

Friday Fragments

Infidelity in the farmyard!

Ron took one of the roosters out of the coop and threw him in with the girls (goats). Living with the girls are a chicken that got out one day and we left out, and the ducks.

Recently, we have caught the rooster cheating on his "chick"- he's been trying to get all lovey-dovey with the lady-ducks! Of course, Momma Hen doesn't seem to care- she's like, "Whatever, just leave me alone..."

Guess a little infidelity is ok with her...

Food: What will you eat?

Do you ever watch those shows where the guys go to other countries (even other states!) and eat all kinds of gross stuff? I mean they're eating bugs,and weird animals.......even TESTICALS! Ugh............

Of couse, in other countries, cows are sacred, so our Spaghetti and meatballs may be totally el-gross-o to them!

Me, if I'm going to eat "b_ _ ls", it will be meatballs, thank you!

Speaking of cultural differences...
My son said there's a new girl in school from Washington state. She said she loves it here because we are so relaxed. I guess in her old school, the kids dressed to the 9's, and getting ready in the morning took forever. Here the kids throw on a pair of jeans, a T-shirt and a Hoody sweatshirt. Ok, NY gals, I know you put a LITTLE more effort into it, but....

When I went to college a few years ago, some of the "kids" came to school in their pajamas!Wondering if any of them are looking to work in their pajamas?

Ok, it's time for me to go add my Friday Field Trip to my homeschooling page, and add content to my At Home On Wheels Blog.

Then, it's off to Virtual Girls Night Out!

Hope to see you there :-]

Spring Cleaning..........

2010-03-29T11:46:00.000-04:00

It's springtime (supposedly)! The other day I took a look around my house and realized it was time for a good Spring Cleaning. I had gotten a jump start on it last fall when I started dejunking, but cold yucky weather kind of takes the excitement out of it. Did I just say excitement?

Well, I tried to clean, I really did...........but all the rain and mud is presenting a challenge I'm just not up to.

With two dogs and two cats (one long-haired), there are always mud tracks in the kitchen..............With kids, always dirty dishes and mounds of laundry. With farm animals, barns to clean, hooves to clip........

The list goes on and on...just writing it is making me tired...............

Could it be time for a nap?

Probably not...guess I had better get back to ~~housework~~ work.

Maybe tomorrow...........

So how is your Spring cleaning going?

Just wondering....and looking for inspiration!

It's been a week...and we're moving!

2010-03-26T11:48:00.000-04:00

Ok, I'm not moving, but my other blog, At Home On Wheels, is. I wanted to be able to monetize it, and have found a way here:

http://www.athomeonwheels.com/

Go to the $Blogging page

There's a short video and a description of how it works. Very cool!

If you are already blogging, why not make money at it?

It is so simple, and it is on wordpress, so they have some really nice templates.

Moving On....

Friday Fragments

Did you complete and send in your census? Believe it or not, I did! Haven't done my taxes yet, but.................

How's your weather? Ours was gorgeous for a few days, now it's back to brrrrrrrrrrrrr........

Guess that rules out the barbecue I had planned for tomorrow- guess I'll be making that ham dinner I've been hankering for.

Can you believe the year is almost 1/3 of the way over? It seems like I JUST put the Christmas Stuff away!

I think I need a drink!

Better go visit Ann for a Virtual Girls Night Out!

Why not join us?

Just click the pic, leave your link and start blog hopping!
Virtual Girls Night Out.........

And don't forget to check out the other Friday Fragments............

If it weren't for stuff to do, what would we do?

2010-03-25T09:26:00.000-04:00

It's been busy, busy, busy as usual. Little Man was here for a for a couple of days...that's always a good, yet distracting time:-) Monday was was all about home business stuff, homeschool and puppy training.

Tuesday was homeschool co-op and business. We canceled Girl Scouts as the other leader and I (along with our daughters) were the only one's there.

Yesterday Princess Der and I went to the river in a near by town when I was done with my business calls and a few other things. It was around 60 degrees at our house. Princess Der took that as a sign to wear a t-shirt and no sweatshirt or coat. I TRIED to tell her- it's a bit cooler near the river...but does she believe me?

NO.................

I even told her that I had cleaned out the car the other day, taking my winter coat and her spare coat out of the trunk. No back-up. Does she care?

NO..................

It was COLD and WINDY near the river..........................

So our walk was pretty short...I only made her suffer a little while................

We did go grab some (late) lunch at a place across the bridge.

Then went home, hoping tomorrow- which is today- would be nicer.

It's a little after 9 a.m. and I don't hold much hope for that. Brrrr............

Recession? What Recession?

During my research looking for an Rv or Trailer I am amazed at the prices some of these things cost, even used ones!

I'm even more amazed how many people pay these high costs....some of them are so young! I mean, where does someone in their 20's get $45,000 for a rig? Many state that they pay cash!

Judging by all the families on the road..........I have to ask, what recession?

Of course, many have sold their sticks and bricks home to finance their dream....

For those looking for work....

People on the road often work wherever they go........according to one woman, there is work everywhere you go, you just can't be too picky. Some places even like temp workers..........of course if you are maxing out unemployment, it's hard to accept minimum wage.

Anyway, thought I would mention that.

Now, I must go get some breakfast, then get my derrier in gear.

Hope you'all have a great, prosperous day.

At home on wheels

2010-03-17T21:13:00.000-04:00

I started a new blog about our journey looking for an RV or trailer and our adventures traveling. This blog will be updated as we search, and once we've decided on a trailer, I will blog about our adventures. The link is:

http://athomeonwheels.blogspot.com/

Please go become a follower- I am trying to obtain advertising, and the more followers I have, the better my chance for major advertisers.

Little Man is here for his visit. He is such a goof-ball! Right now he is running around like he's a crazy man and then suddenly he falls and rolls around.

Can't wait to take him camping- he loves the outdoors, and last year he loved to swim as well.

Ron may have a new job- the guy is on vacation but is calling Ron on the 22nd to set up a meeting.

What happened is a break down service for tractor trailers called Ron to fix a rig. Ron told them sorry, that the place he had worked for had shut the doors.

A few minutes later, the break down service called Ron again- they had refered him to a fellow in Rochester, NY (about 2 hrs away) who is looking to expand his truck repair to Syracuse. As Ron was talking to them, the guy from Rochester was beeping in on the other line.

Ron called him back and they chatted a little. The guy was thrilled that Ron has an air compressor and welder, amongst his thousands of other tools. The guy has a service vehicle for Ron to fill, and Ron has the stuff to fill it.

Wish us luck!

Now for some fun:

Friday Fragments!

Friday Fragments are a time when you can get those little thoughts out- you know....

...the ones that aren't quite a blog post, but they are aching to get out............

So, here goes.............

The other night as we were snacking in bed, in front of the TV (don't tell the kids!) Ron and I got to wondering ...............if package sizes are getting smaller, why are Americans getting bigger?

Just wondering.....

Did you ever notice there are some words you love to say? The other day I said the word "sufficient" and thought "I like the sound of that word...."

How about those words you write and for some reason they don't look right- you wonder if you spelled it right...

Like the word. "has" or "the" - I mean did you ever look at a small word and something doesn't look right about it?

I know, I need to get a life....

Strange...but true!

This is one of my favorite stories about one of my ancestors. My mothers great-uncle was a school bus driver. Above the windshield of the bus he had his rifle mounted.

One afternoon, while bringing the kids home, he spotted a large buck with a perfect rack.

Stopping the bus, he quickly grabbed his rifle. He proceeded to open the bus door and aiming carefully, shot the buck in it's tracks.

He brought the rest of the children home, then returned for his prize.

Could you imagine a bus driver having a gun these days? Bet his students behaved pretty well!

Don't forget VGNO

Stop by Ann's place and leave your link. Check out all the other great blogs out there!

Until next time.....

Oh yeah, did you go visit the other blog?

At Home On Wheels

Comments.....

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Thanks, I LUV Comments!

A day late, but worth the wait...

2010-03-13T11:10:00.000-05:00

Ok, I'm a little late for Virtual Girls Night Out and Friday Fragments. But I hope you'all feel it was worth the wait! Hey, I rhyme! Get it? A day late- worth the wait?

Anyhoo............continuing on...

Friday Fragments

Last weekend, I made Chili. Adding the ingredients, I got to wondering why it's called Chili when it's hot. I mean I know it's because of the Chili pepper, but why call a hot pepper chili?

Inquiring minds want to know...

I was taking the puppy outside freezing my butt off in the 40 degree SUPER- windy weather. I was observing a tree with a squirrels nest. As it swayed to and fro, I got to wondering if squirrels ever get dizzy. Are they like drunken sailors, stumbling around in a stuper, possibly even falling out of the nest?

Never saw a dead squirrel in my woods, but hey ya never know!

Anyone out there ever studied the effects of swaying trees on the neurolgical system in squirrels?

Just wondered....

Water-logged eggs a la mode, anyone?

So we have like a dozen chickens. Every now and then they bless us with eggs. We got 3 yesterday, but they were d-i-r-t-y! While I was making supper, I put the eggs in a bowl of water to loosen the "yuk" on them.

I proceeded to forget about them until Ron's son went to do the dishes this morning. One of them had apparently cracked when I put it in the water. The above pic shows what happens. It looks super funky in real-life.

Onto other things........

We are keeping ourselves busy with our homeschool & HS co-op, Girl Scouts, animals, my business, and our quest for a home-away-from home on wheels.

I am thinking that since I would (of course) blog about our travels, why not try to get corporate sponsorship for my blog.........that could help fund the cost of the trailer as well as expenses.

I have already thought of maybe writing a book about my quest for FREEDOM- my business, homeschool and travel journeys- all one step closer to the American Dream...........

For those that dare......

I just happened to run into the book The 4- Hour Work Week by Timothy Ferris the other day while at the library. I had seen it before-I mean, I used to work at that library- but never read it.

I happened to see an article online THAT morning about that book! I check it out of the library and started reading as soon as I got home out. It talks about exactly what I would like to achieve- ya know, the Freedom thing.

More news....

I am preparing to offer Jounal Writing and Beginner blogging classes via Internet +/or teleconference.

There will be a fee associated with it- just getting it all together. If interested, email me at home4ever@hotmail.com

Subject: Your online classes

Ok, now I must get over to Ann's and enter my link (late) for VGNO.

What happened to Sunday?

2010-03-10T10:19:00.000-05:00

Sometimes I get so busy with my home business, home schooling and animals (4- legged and human!) that time flies right by and I didn't even realize it!

Yesterday, Princess Der and I were trying to remember what we did Sunday. We could not for the life of us remember.

Have you ever had a day like that?

It's crazy, and what's even crazier is that as I wrote this, I remember some of what we did!

The power of writing!

So what did we do?

Right now I remember 2 things. Princess Der and I went grocery shopping. BUT, before we went to the grocery store, we stopped by another trailer dealer. I saw a brand new light weight model that our truck could pull (or our new/old van).

I was looking for a cheap used trailer, but most in my opinion are overpriced and have no guarantee. Or are real dumps. I can get a brand new one with less than $2,000 down and about $150- $250/mo.

I may do it, I may not. Have a few things to get paid off first. If I got rid of my car payment, that would free up money for a trailer w/o more debt. I am also getting rid of my goats this spring. I really want to travel. It is also getting to be a pain feeding EVERY morning and EVERY night now matter WHAT the weather. And if you can't be home, you need to hire someone....

...and their feed and hay keeps going up, up, up in cost. Freeing up that money alone would be a trailer payment!

Ok, I mentioned a new/old van. As some of you know, Ron's boss owes him quite a bit of money. The place closed down. Well, the other day the boss called. Supposedly he's going to give Ron one of the vans and something ( a welder???) for partial payment. I hope it's one of the decent vans. Ron said it could haul a trailer.

We are into our second week of classes at our homeschool co-op. Read about that and our other homeschooling adventures HERE.

iPod the puppy is doing great! I forgot the camera to take pics at puppy class (again!)

Water Update:

We ended up needing a new pump- around $300.00! Can we say "Ouch" ? Ron fixed it himself, then gave us a lesson on how a water pump works. Check it out on the homeschooling page HERE.

As far as the biz, I've been concentrating on my new marketing program. I made some new contacts at the homeschooling co-op. May have some new customers there.

I am also putting together some classes- they will probably be by teleconference.

One is Journal Writing - this is not just writing in a diary. There are actual exercises one can do to solve problems, build confidence and possibly discover the writer within. Because journal writing provides both emotional and mental clarity, it can reduce stress and lead to better physical and mental health.

I have taught this class several times at our local library and at BOCES.

The other is Blogging for Beginners- This is for BEGINNING bloggers - those who have never had a blog and need help, or who have started a blog, but never done anything with it.........

If you would possibly be interested in either one, let me know. There will be a cost associated with it, the amount depends on the length of the course. I can let you know details when you inquire.

Cooking snow- the white kind!

2010-03-05T15:48:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, the Princess and I went on a Field Trip. We returned home to discover that we had no water!

Not exactly unusual here- we have issues occasionally. We have a doo-hickey under the house that you can use to reset the water if necessary. It has always restarted eventually, usually with one hit of the reset switch, sometimes a couple. Last night, it would not reset.

Ron tested the reset box and it has power going to it. Apparently so does the pump. Poor Golden Child had to dig through all the snow to find the pump this morning. Ron thinks the pump is going- it did kick on today, and we got full water. But that was it.

Ron needed some kind of pipe to pull the pump up and check it out- and see if there is even water in the well. Golden Child called his buddy's dad and got one. It was too small. So Ron is at Home Depot right now getting on, or the stuff to make one. We priced pumps, and it looks to be about $240.00. Cheaper than I thought, but sucks with Ron not working right now.

When I took Golden Child to school this morning, I went to the convenience store next door and got a cup of coffee, 2 gallons of water and 6 stale donuts. Yum-yum....stale donuts and over-heated coffee. Came home, made some coffee and got to work.

The Princess and I started putting clean snow in buckets and putting it in front of the coal stove.

I started "cooking" some on the stove, and soon had enough to flush the 2 toilets.

There are dishes everywhere, the kitchen floor is filthy from the dogs running through after being outside and us walking in with boots on hauling snow and water.

The Princess and I decided to also make a solar oven, something we've been talking about. I know, do a project when you have a minor "crisis" going on....Check it out on our homeschooling page on this blog.

Anyhooooooo.......................I'm ready to party. It may only be 3:30 p.m., but I am soooo ready!

So why not join me, Ann and all the other ladies for a Virtual Girls Night Out?

99 followers and counting!

C'mom, if you're not already following- ya know you want to....

Comments

Leave one- the section is hiding there somewhere near the Google ads............

Why I love working at home !

2010-03-03T13:22:00.000-05:00

I just love that I am able to be here when Little Man is here! Now that Mom & Dad have finally negotiated a schedule, the cutie is here quite a bit. I still haven't figured out the schedule, but he left here yesterday after being here most of last week.

He LOVES looking at books and he is starting to get into games. We have shelves in the utility room loaded with games, puzzles, and toys (from my Discovery Toy days) and such. I love when little kids come over and they drag an adult over to get something out for them.

Little Man is a BIT aggressive on the poor ice cubes here- he really like's banging.

To see what we've been up to the last few days, check out our homeschooling page (tab above)

There's Snow use cryin' about it!

2010-02-26T14:10:00.000-05:00

We woke up to a ton of snow. We weren't really surprised, since we were warned in plenty of time. And, we were armed with the proper tools. Most New Yorkers have at least some if not all of these "winter tools."

A tractor, a roof rake, a ladder and a shovel.

We were prepared, so there was really snow use crying about it! (get it?)

While I was out taking pics, Princess Der was on the roof shoveling. She had gone to the other side of the house, so missed being a star on my blog today.

Golden Child helped me shovel my way down to the boy's goat house. All the goats were freaking out.........they think everytime they see someone, they should eat. Of course, it was their feeding time.

Ron went to start the tractor and found it out of gas- weird....I think a couple of young boys needed gas for the truck...but that's just my guess.........

Ron's van was snowed in, as was my car. We had to call some friend's, Mr & Mrs Rollback (don't ask where Ron get's these nic-names!) to come take Ron to the store for gas.

Mrs. Roll back decided to help me feed goats. She was wearing sweat pants and sneakers. She had fun walking out to the girls goathouse!

But then again, here in NY, the majority of people wear only a sweatshirt and sneakers in this weather! Who needs a coat and boots? I have a winter coat I've worn maybe 2 x's. I keep it in my car in case I break down.

Ron finally got the tractor going and did the driveway.

He took a coffee break and when he went back out to push all the snow back furthur, the tractor wouldn't start. So, he headed for Uncle Eddie's (another friend) to get a spark tester (?) or something. Came back, the tractor started......weird!

While he was gone, I grabbed another tool necessary for our brutal NY winters....

A HAMMER...............

To fix the mailbox the plow driver hit AGAIN!

Golden Child and I had a good laugh......we were joking around saying how they probably hit stuff on purpose just for the fun of it............

Think about it:

Charlie: "Hey Hank, 15 points if you can hit that there speed limit sign up ahead. An extra 5 if you make it look like an accident"

Hank: "Hell Charlie, I'll wipe out that mailbox, too!"

Charlie: "You always were a dare devil, Hank" as he grabs the OH S*%T strap ( as my daddy used to call it) and hangs on for dear life!

Note to Hank and Charlie: You will not defeat me....I will keep on fixing the mailbox...............

Right after we got everything cleared, it started raining- that lasted about 1/2 hr, now it's snowing like a son of a gun.........

Thank the Good Lord it's Friday!

Time for Friday Fragments and Virtual Girls Night Out!

Hop on over to Half Past Kissing Time and leave your link.

I really don't have any Friday Fragments- hey, it's been a busy week. If you don't write 'em down as you think 'em, you lose 'em, ya know? But I have my "fragmented pics" if you will.

Friday is also party time- that's Virtual Girls Night Out with the gals at Ann's place. Click the button below, add your link, and check out the other blogs listed.

Comments and followers

I love comments....so please leave one- you can find the section way down near the google ads....in the label section.

Also... I have ALMOST 100 followers! Follow now...............or else :-)

And check out my other pages............

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood...

2010-02-25T15:21:00.000-05:00

We woke up to snow, snow everywhere this morning!

Big, heavy snow.

Not that us "New Yawkers" haven't seen a good snowstorm or ~~two a day ...~~

...just we've been pretty lucky so far this year- because we shared our snow with a few other states, which left us short.

Contrary to popular belief, all New Yorkers don't have a bad attitude! We are more than happy to share.

Because of the snow, school was canceled. I brought my daughter to a friends, Ron had to go help a friend with something, and the boys took my car to go to a friends.

Yes, I know we are expected to get 12- 18 " but remember, we are New Yorkers...we don't let an inch or two ~~or 12~~ of snow stop us.............

So, I was left to my own devices for an hour or so....

What to do...

Work?

Blog?

Eat?

Take a nap?

Play with the puppy?

Paint the hallway?

Scrub the bathrooms?

After some speculation and daydreaming, I made the decision to work first, then blogging would be my reward. So here I am....

I'm glad I worked first- I believe I will have a new broker by the end of the day and possibly a couple of health memberships.

Now, I am going to go do some work on my Attraction Marketing class. It has really given my biz a boost and I can't wait to get back to it each day.

BTW- ONE DAY LEFT.... to get a dental or health plan for 1/2 price the first year! Check it out on my Business page.

Also, take a peek at who wants to go to school on my homeschooling page and the new puppy news on the Dog Tales page.

Another one caught the bug- do-do-do-another one.....

2010-02-24T15:38:00.000-05:00

And another one caught... and another one caught...another one caught the bug..

Poor Little Man fell asleep in front of the coal stove while waiting for Daddy to get a diaper. He obviously needed one! He too caught the bug.

Side Note:

Only 2 days left to get a dental and health plan for 1/2 price (for a whole year!. Check it out HERE

ANOTHER animal in the house!

2010-02-23T09:38:00.000-05:00

Little Man came over yesterday. He decided the puppy's cage looks quite cozy!

He really had a major fit when we made him get out!

To find out what the puppy and Rocky have been up to visit my Dog Tales page on this blog.

Puke, poop and party time!

2010-02-19T08:57:00.000-05:00

It's Friday again! And that means one thing....Friday Fragments!

Hop on over to Half Past Kissing Time and leave your link.

Friday Fragments

For the last couple of days, Princess Der has been sick as a dog. Ironically, the puppy has had a little soupy-poopy. What I want to know is, why don't we say a dog is "as sick as a human?"

I started a new marketing system that has just tons of educational video's and articles. I have been learning soooo much! I wish I had found this about 3 years ago! It would have cut my learning curve in half and launched my biz forward that much faster.

If we are supposedly experiencing global warming, why is it snowing here, there and everywhere? Since when did it snow when it was warm out. In NY, it only snows when it's cold! And ewwwww baby.........it is cold outside!

Friday is also party time- that's Virtual Girls Night Out with the gals at Ann's place. Click the button below, add your link, and check out the other blogs listed.

It is also Field trip Friday. I think the only field trip we'll take today is to the vets for puppy! But you can check the other blogs out by clicking the button below.

PLEASE, I love comments. It's a bit hard to see where the comment section is. It is with the keyword section.

And check it out- I figured out how to enable comments on each page- so comment away!

Bundle of fun weekend

2010-02-14T13:36:00.000-05:00

Little Man's Mom and Dad went to mediation Friday. Little Man will be back in the house 4 days on, 3 days off; 3 days on, 4 days off. He has grown so much in a few weeks.

He has gone from being obsessed with cars and trucks (he calls them all truck) to cars, trucks and books! That makes me happy. I feel books are our best friend.

The new puppy, iPod, just adds more fun & games to the household. Of course with Little Man here, iPod has more to get into like cars, trucks, and books...........

Yesterday, my mom and my nephew and two kids came over for spaghetti dinner. Yum.....

Some friends of ours also dropped in for a while.

Princess Der went to b'fast with her cousin and paid for his this time. Usually, he and his wife take her. She then went to another relatives for a night or two to play with some cousins.

I think we are going on a romantic Valentines Day dinner. Maybe....ya just never know around here...

Several blogs all rolled into one

2010-02-11T16:57:00.000-05:00

It's Friday!

That means it's time for Virtual Girls Night Out, Friday Fragments, and field Trip Friday.

I now have pages!

Wow, Blogger now has pages! I love it. Now I can have several of my blogs in one location. The only thing I don't like is that you can't just do a new post for each page. Only the main page has a new post. The others you have to edit and add the date and content to the one page.

The Weekly Wrap-up...

This week has been busy as all get-out! Monday night, we picked up our new puppy, iPod. We are training iPod as a service dog. It will be hard giving her up when the time comes, but it's for a great cause.

Rocky & iPod playing with a toy

Tuesday night, I had my business meeting for The Central New York Networking Marketing Group. Talk about networking - 3 different members have jobs or businesses catering to Senior Citizens. Two of them are putting together some classes together, and one offered to put flyers out for another member when they were putting their own out.

Wednesday we went grocery shopping, and today was Cookie Depot day. This is where we have the baking company for the Girl Scout cookies send the cookies for our service unit. There were 1,000's of boxes! We had to break the pallets down and sort the cookies by troop orders. We had a few handcarts, but carried alot by hand. Not only did we sort by orders, we helped many people load cookies into their vehicles. Princess Der was a tremendous help, and had to use her math-alot! You could tell how many adults (not me) don't use their math very often. We were usually stacking the boxes 6 to a row. We needed 94 Thin Mints for one order and 3 of us adults had to think for a sec to figure out how many rows of 6 we needed. Duh!

We brought iPod to the Cookie Depot-she slept for a good hour or so. Everyone loved her. She is really pretty! And so sweet!

And just a couple of fragments from my fragmented mind...

Why is it I pay an astronomical amount for cable...supposedly for 100's of stations, and 1/2 the time there is not a darned thing to watch?

Contrary to popular belief, unloading palletts of Girl Scout Cookies for hours on end DOES NOT help you lose weight. Exercise or not...Just the SMELL of those Thin Mints was adding inches to my waistline! Ok, maybe it was the donuts and hot chocolate that they provided for the volunteers.

And last but not least........I felt I should share........a little warning:

DO NOT apply Deep Heat Rub or any similar product into your skin immediately following a shower.

I've done it before and I did it again last night!

Can we say OWWWWWWW! and B-U-R-N!

So I can imagine inquiring minds want to know why I did that a second time.

I don't know.

It was about 1/2 hour after my shower, so I thought I was safe. NOT!

Ok, now head on over to some of my other pages- Dog Tales, Homeschooling, My biz and more...........

And...leave a comment!

The link is hidden down under the post here near the recommended posts.

Later!

Getting ready for the Little Man, RV adventures and more...

2010-02-08T08:55:00.000-05:00

Life has been just flashing by! Of course, my various activities eat up a lot of time.

In addition to trying to get a little work in, Saturday I dismantled much of my "office". Many of you may remember when I finally got my office. After kids moving in and out, I finally claimed a room before someone else came back and did! That room became my office/Girl Scout storage space/holiday storage space, etc...

The room was pretty much cut in 1/2. Well, Little Man's Daddy and Momma are seeing a mediator on Friday, and hopefull Little Man will become a member of the household at least 1/2 the time. At least until Dad save's enough $$$ to get another place. We haven't seem Little Man in a few weeks. I'm having withdrawals!

So, I gave up my space so the Little Guy can have a space to call his own.....

I got a new (to me) counter. We tore out a dinosaur of a counter from my kitchen about a year ago. We were going to get a little counter on wheels. Well, we are master procrastinators. Then Ron's job was in jeopardy. So we put it off.

The other day, On my local homeschool website, someone had one for $25.00! After a few emails, a little phone tag & missing each other once, it came home last night.
Here's a pic:

It has a few "puppy chews" on one part. I told the lady that was ok- it's not that bad and we are getting our puppy today anyway.

Just in case anyone got all ga-ga over the puppy, Rocking wanted everyone to remember who is King in this household.....

It's not Ron...

( Notice how nice Rocky is to share his chair with Daddy!)

That's because ROCKY is the King boss here!

...and you'd better not mess with him during his cat - in mean dog- nap!

Giving up one space, but gaining another?

I have been reading tons of RV ads, looking at Rv forums and more....

I think for what I want (for now) and what we can afford (next to nothing), we may go for this one. It's very old- like 30 years, but the engine has only 60,000 original miles.

We looked at it yesterday. I knew it was a fixer-upper (which is a-ok with me). It was better in a lot of ways than I suspected it would be, but had a few drawbacks.

It does have a FULL bath (although not huge), a bigger fridge and a monster of a counter top across from the stove that I love/hate. Great for storage, but a space hog.

But.... there is no separate sleeping quarters except the space over the cab- that would the Princesses bedroom. The table becomes a bed, but I would prefer to use that only if absolutely necessary. I want that available for mornings- Ron & I are both early risers.

The table & couch are u-g-l-y. I will probably recover cushions/paint table or replace whole thing.

Ceiling above loft bed needs to be glued back up/maybe replaced.

Design on walls is u-g-l-y, but I have been reading on RV forums that you can paint over that. I did it when I lived in a trailer years ago.

I'm waiting for the seller to get back to me with measurements. I am pretty sure if I got rid of the tub, and stole a little bathroom space, I may be able to get a sleeping space- full size bed or queen.

Anyway, it is pretty cheap...but! The wife did pull me aside and said that they are willing to take ANYTHING- they are moving on the 1st and do not want to take it. Apparently she had purchased the rig w/o consulting hubby. She loves to camp, come to find out he doesn't!

Today I have several leads to call for the biz that come in over the weekend. We need to double check the house and make sure it's "puppy proofed". Tonight we get the puppy and I believe have our first training class.

You can read about our puppy adventures HERE.

Well have to go feed the goats. Which reminds me, I'm probably getting rid of my farm animals this Spring. You can travel with dogs, but not goats or chickens! Plus, I'm getting tired of the everyday chores, going out and feeding 2x's a day NO MATTER what the weather!

Anyone northern/central NY want some goats, chickens or ducks, let me know!

Like... I need to go do it now! Brrrrr......................

P.S. I LOVE comments-please leave one. You can find the comments section just above the google ads!

2010-02-05T20:06:00.000-05:00

Today is Friday, which means Friday Fragments at Half Past Kissing Time, Virtual Girls Night Out AND Field Trip Friday!

Friday Fragments

Am I going crazy here?

It seems to me that every time I walk into a store lately, they have changed it around. I find myself wandering around much longer than necessary trying to locate items that they have moved on me. By the time I walk out the door, I have forgotten where my car is.....

Dust Bunnies at work?

Why is it when I leave the house for a few hours, there's an inch of dust on everything when I return............

...................I'm SURE it wasn't there when I left!

I'm a Proud Momma!

The Golden Child made honor roll again! Yeah! That's my baby boy.

And a new momma!

We're getting our puppy Monday night. For those of you who don't know, we are training a dog for Canine Companions. We will be blogging about our training and experiences raising a puppy - the RIGHT way :-)

Follow us HERE

Did you go on a field Trip this week? Share it HERE

We went BACK to the science museum. Find out why HERE.

Of course, every day, everywhere is a field trip!

Now, it's time for a little party fun at Ann's Plac

Hop on over and add your link- visit some other blogs. Be nice- leave a comment!

A new meme? And big dreams, better make some big goals!

2010-01-29T19:34:00.000-05:00

This week has just flown by, as usual! I've been pretty busy with the home biz. Right now, all our our dental and health plans are 1/2 off. If someone gets a plan by the end of February, it's 1/2 off each month for the next year.

I've also been busy on my new blog, Princess Der's school- homeschooling our way. It was supposed to be by the two of us (as a away to encourage her to write) but she has lost interest. She wants one on babysitting, so she's doing that. She does love her kids!

I am also learning a new marketing system. It is so much easier than chasing people down. Once you get started, you have access to TONS of articles and video's. It has really helped me in my work.

If you're looking for a new meme, this may be for you, especially if you are a homeschooling mom or a teacher. It is called Field Trip Friday!

If you have been on a field trip during the week, post about it and add your link here:

http://thetravelingpraters.blogspot.com/

Check out our field trip at:

http://princessderschool.blogspot.com/

That is where the big dreams, big goals come in!
And that's about it folks!

Been raining cats & dogs!

2010-01-25T18:46:00.000-05:00

Wow! It was raining SOOOOO hard today, I didn't even want to go out and feed the animals. I did wait until 9:30, when the rain slowed down for a while.

The Princess has been bugging me to pull out some old videos that (I swear) I just boxed up like 6 mos- a year ago because no one cared about them anymore. Now, since she sighted them while putting Christmas stuff away, she has a renewed interest.

Like I said, today was a day where I just wanted to stay home. So I pulled out the old movies, and we took out any that Little Man would like, or can learn from. We found tons of our favorite books from when the Princess and my other kids were little.

Then , The Princess and I pulled out what movies we thought we wanted to see again. She actually has been busy with other stuff, so hasn't watched any movies yet! A lot are educational videos from National Geographic Kids and good films from Feature Films For Families (? have to check on that). Great for homeschooling!

I had a bunch of people to call for AmeriPlan, and also for advertising for Kids Standard. Good day for it!

Later, Ron and I went to the feed store to get goat food. They have a resident cat that sleeps on the counter. I'm not a cat person, but the thing begs me to pet it, so......

I'm making Shepards Pie right now, then I have a few other blogs to catch up on.......

Busy, busy, busy!

Later!

My field trip with Princess Der

2010-01-22T09:41:00.001-05:00

Today Princess Der and I went a field trip to a local science museum. We had such a good time. You can read about it on our new homeschooling blog, Princess Der's School. If you get a moment, please visit our blog and leave a comment. Princess Der is not too keen on writing. I figured a blog may encourage her, plus it can record some of our homeschooling activities.

I've always wondered....

I mean, it doesn't have sneakers...............

No wonder you feel like you have to pee every 5 seconds when you're preggo...

Not to mention why we are so darned fat after having a kid....

...of course, if you exercise too much, it can have ill effects, as this person found out!

For more great museum pics, go to Princess Der's blog

We also started writing on my dog blog again. If you go there, you'll see why. Aren't you curious?

This week has been busy with doctor appointmnets, schooling and working. Life is full, life is good.

But now, it's time to party...............with Ann and the other gals at Virtual Girls Night Out. If you've never been, hop on over to Ann's place (On the Internet) HERE

Have fun, see you there!

Whiz kid or coincidence- you decide!

2010-01-12T09:31:00.000-05:00

Little Man was here from Saturday until yesterday morning. We had fun as usual.

For those of you who don't know, Little Man is Ron's grandson(but I'm his Grandma in his heart). He is 2 years old, an absolute doll, the best kid in the world, or a rotten little poop, depending on the cicumstance. I worry because he doesn't talk much. Well, he talks alot and it's too cute, but you can't understand it.

Of course I've done daycare for years and I know every kid does things at their own pace. And he does sneak a real word in now and then. But we do work with him a little.

For Christmas, we bought him Fridge Phonics from leap frog. He seems to already know a letter or two from his name. Momma must have taught him that.

Before he left, I asked him to help me pick up all the magnetic letters he had scattered all over the kitchen. As we picked them up, I said the letter and the sound. A few times, he put the letter in the home base thingy that they go into that is stuck on the fridge. You push the letter in and it says the letter, has a little song & the sound it makes.

I picked up an R, gave it to him & said "R. RRRRRR(sound)".

He yanked it out of my hand, and started trying to get his fingers between the rounded part of the R and the "right leg" of the R.

I asked him what he was trying to do. He ran over to the TV in the living room, and started using the R as a remote to play Wii- he looked like he was bowling. We have let him play Wii Bowling with us.

Now I wonder, did he associate the fact that remote started with an R, or was it a coincidence?

You be the judge!

Is anyone else having this problem?

2010-01-07T08:15:00.000-05:00

I just have to know. Is anyone else having problems getting back into the swing of things since the holidays? I swear, I can't settle down to do anything.

I have tons of prospects to call for my biz, blogs to catch up on, and articles to write.

I am also helping out with a new kids newpaper, Kids Standard. I am helping the woman with advertising. If you are in Central New York and own a kid or family -type business and you are looking for VERY reasonable advertising, let me know. There is a 30% discount the 1st month, and 10% every month thereafter, as long as there is no break in the advertising.

Little Man has been around quite a bit. We took him Sunday, then decided to keep him overnight. Monday, Grandpa wanted him to stay again. Grandpa took him home Tuesday morning. Yesterday around noon, the baby momma called and asked if I could watch him while she went to have her car repaired. That turned into another overnighter. It's been a blast, but I am too distracted by him! He's so cute and funny ( and such a bear if he's in a bad mood!)

We start selling Girl Scout cookies tomorrow- Yippie-Skippie!It should be fun as we have 2 girls that are new to the troop. They are all nice girls.

Rons job situation is still questionable. He is still working, and the boss throws them a little money now and then, but not his normal pay- not even CLOSE! I guess the boss is talking to a couple of people about either buying in to the company or else buying the customer list and equipment and closing shop. I would feel bad for the boss, but it's not the economy in this case, he did this to himself (and his employees).

The problem is, if you quit your job in NY, you will have your claim denied. And, Ron has known the boss for over 20 yrs. They worked together at another job. The boss then got hired where they are now and recommended Ron go there. A few years ago, the current boss bought out the old boss. Are we confused yet?

Anyhoo, Ron loves his job. He's been there like 20 years or so and he is top Road Man. If they have a Big Rig break down on the road, he's out there fixing them. And he's more dependable than the mailman. Not only does he work normal hours, and in rain, sleet and snow...but he will rescue drivers at all hours of the night!

There are some nights in the winter when it is snowing so bad, and so cold out! I worry like crazy and can't fall back asleep if he gets called out on a night like that. People will say he's crazy, going out & working in those conditions. His reply? "It's only cold out if you think it is."

Drives me crazy when he says that....

But when I start ranting about how cold it is when I'm out feeding the animals, I think of Ron and shut my pie-hole. After all, he freezes his everything off for us. Thanks honey- love ya!

And now, I must run and feed the said animals. Then take Little Man home & get to work!

P.S. Speaking of animals, we should be getting a puppy within the next few weeks to a month. For those of you who have been around a while, you may rememeber we are going to raise a puppy for Canine Working Companions. We would train and socialize the puppy. We will be those people you see in stores with the dogs with the training vests on. The dog will leave us after a year or so and go to more intense training, tailored to the individual it will serve. Usually a wheelchair bound person.

We were supposed to get a black lab. That's the breed they usually use. But Louanne, the woman from the organization emailed and asked if anyone was interested in raising a collie- they had some donated. I said yes. Not sure if I'll get that or not. We have a black lab/something mix now, and used to have a black lab/something mix. It would be nice to experience something different. But if not, that's ok, too. We love labs (except they love my chickens and ducks!)

P.S. I sang to a banana in my car because that's how I roll!

Don't know what that means? You'd better hop on over to Ann's place for a little Virtual Girls Night Out and see!

Happy New Year! Thank Goodness December is almost out of here!

2009-12-31T15:19:00.000-05:00

Wow, it's almost over and am I relieved. December has been one not so great month, although 2009 itself was ok.

As many of my regular readers know, Ron has been having some issues with his job. In early 2009, his boss (when not in his right mind) fired Ron, and it took them a couple of weeks to beg him to come back. We survived that. Then the boss was "gone" for a while, and the place was being run by Tom, Dick & Harry (or whoever was around.) Money was tight. The future looked bleak...

The boss has been back for about 6 weeks, and every week has had to short the guys pay just to stay open. Last payday (Christmas Eve) was really bad. He paid Ron $60.00! Of course Ron doesn't Christmas shop until the last day, so guess who didn't get a gift yet? Yes, me :-(

The boys got short- changed compared to normal. They only wanted gift certificates for the mall or money. I was waiting for Ron's pay. They each got $50.00 and a sorry. That's all I had left after all the other shopping.

I guess if they don't get paid today, all the guys are going to "unenjoyment" on Monday. The boss owes Ron over $3,000 in pay and after hours road call $$$, not to mention MANY weeks of vacation.

To make matters worse, last week I had two (yes count them, TWO) car accidents. On Wednesday, a woman ran a stop sign and plowed into my passenger side. Since I have a plastic saturn, it just broke in a few places, and left a skid down the side.

Saturday, Princess Der and I went to Pennsylvania to see my mom and uncle. I was about 1 1/2 mi from the house on a small, windy, hilly road. I came around a bend, hit an icy patch of gravel and slid into a one-lane bridge. Got the drivers side.

Great!

We've also been having on going issues with the step-son and the ex-girlfriend. He just can't accept that she has moved on. It is making it very hard on everyone, and the only one getting hurt is Little Man, his son.

If kids only knew.....

My camera being stupid- all my pics from Christmas are messed up and won't upload.

And last but not least....

I went out to feed the animals and found one of my male goats dead. He was a couple of years old and my first baby born here. Just dead.

I think it's time to go play a game of Wii Bowling. I would show you a pic of my Mii but my camera is stupid and won't work.

Hurry up, 2010!

P.S.

For the ladies...Stop by CafeMom tomorrow and participate in the chats going on. Home business owners will be on hand to answer questions about the company they represent. Just go to CafeMom, become a member if you are not already. Join the groups and check the schedules.

The Groups are:

Work At Home In Your Jammies And Love It

And

I Want To Make Money

Inexpensive Advertising Opportunity for Central New York area

I am assisting an aquaintance of mine with a new newspaper in CNY for kids called:

Kids Standard

It is almost completely written for kids by kids. Schools have been requesting copies for the students. These students are bringing them home to their parents.

They offer inexpensive advertising for your business ads. Must be kid or family orientated (or home business for parent, etc...). There is a 30% discount in month one, with a 10% discount every month thereafter, as long as there is no break in advertising.

For more information, email me (Carolee) at:

advertising@kidsstandard.com

Freezing my "A Double scribble" off and other stuff

2009-12-18T15:03:00.000-05:00

Old Man Winter has decided to make an unexpected appearance in the northeast this week.

Ok, maybe not so unexpected (in fact late), but still we weren't prepared. I never got the plastic up on the windows, so guess what I'll be doing later this afternoon.....It was 3 degrees this a.m.! Brrrrrr..........

I have been soooo distracted this week. It's been hard to get down to business.

Between Christmas stuff and Little Man being in the house (and now back out- story later...) well, it boggles the mind.

Ok, I must confess........there's more taking up my time these days....

Read all about it here!

It's Friday, a time to air all my useless thoughts and random gossip. In blogging terms, Friday Fragments.

If you haven't tried Friday Fragments, head on over to Mrs. 444's place & check it out! What a way to get a load off!

I share all the dirt with my blogging friends during Virtual Girls Night Out.

So here we go:

What "itis" ails you?

Ron and I were watching something on TV. I didn't think he was paying attention, as he had just walked into the room.

I said, "The poor guy has hepititis on top of everything else."

Ron said, "I thought they said Menangitis."

Yikes! Hepititis,Menangitis, Bursitis...........

I just wondered, what "itis" ails you?

Here are a few I made up:

"A$$"-itis:Those who are incapable of getting off their a$$ and getting a life.

"best"-itis: Those who are afflicted with the annoying habit of thinking they are the bestest of the best.

"dork"-itis:Those dorks who don't even know it!

"ignorant"-itis: Those who are ignorant as to how their crazy, rude and distruptive behavior affects others- Now & Forever.

If you feel offended by any of these, you may have an "itis"

Get a life.

New use for an out of season item?

When the weather person starts predicting storms here, we stock up on essentials! I found a new temporary fridge for any overflow.

I use my outdoor grill! Works great for bread and stuff that you don't mind freezing.

I don't know about you suburbia folk, but us country folk don't store our grill away for the winter. Ya never know when Billy Bob is going to shoot a huge buck out the bathroom window while taking care of business.

"Yum, yum, venison steaks for dinner."

Ok, don't you city folk go crying about poor Bambi. I really don't like venison all that much.

But I do love a good hunk of bar-b-qued beef in the middle of winter.

Time waster or brain builder?

I have a new addiction, which is stealing every available moment of my time. I got an updated Blackberry and with it, the game Word Mole. I can't stop playing, and my daughter and son are fighting me for the phone to play it as well! Talk about expanding the vocabulary!

I am not a big fan of games, really. But, the gaming bug bit! I've always been a sucker for word searches and other word puzzles.

And, as I mentioned, Little Man is out again.....

Baby's daddy and momma are not getting along (surprise), and Daddy has a few "itis" related issues going on. Grandma and Grandpa will probably get him Sunday for my nephews birthday.

Check out this pic!

It's a bit fuzzy as it's a pic of a pic...but this was our back yard when we moved in- 10 years ago this past April. We had the land cleared for the house. It was previously woods. If you look to the right, you will see a pile of branches and sticks. We had piles on both sides of the yard that were so high, we couldn't see above them.

We spent that whole summer burning branches.

And finally...Christmas is in the air!

A pic of my wall above the coal stove:

Everyone have a Happy Holiday!

We'll see who makes it next Friday!

Extra! Extra! Read all about it!

Lest I forget, check out a few things when you get a chance:

Do you know how to do the Holiday Mix & Mingle? Check it out HERE

Check out Christmas Chaos HERE

Little Man is back in the house!

2009-12-11T18:04:00.000-05:00

Wow, it's been a whole week since I blogged. Don't worry, I got a couple more of my writing pieces on my new blog. Check them out! I just posted "Christmas Chaos" the other day. Check it out.

It's been a cold, blustery and busy week. Between the Internet being down (maybe the weather?) I've been trying to post articles to my column at the Examiner.

Boy am I ready for Friday! That's because that means it's time for Friday Fragments and Virtual Girls Night Out.

We are still decorating for Christmas. Today we decided to switch the tree and the TV around. It was a real stretch to plug the Christmas Tree lights in. Now it reaches fine.

I have been so busy with my Internet and decorating, it was hard to remember to write down my fragments. And you know if you don't write them down, they are gone.

As if that weren't enough distraction, but Little Man decided to come for a couple of days. Now how is grandma supposed to work with such a cutie around?

He helped us clean the house. Unfortunately, he wasn't paying attention all those times that we told his father you CANNOT vacuum laying down!

If the fact that the grandkid was working was shocking, check out Princess Der in action:

Grandpa acquired an old sled and thought a "lucky someone" would like it. The adults in our family do a "Secret Santa." No one in our family would be offended by a second hand gift if it's an antique. The person I have to buy a gift for would probably love it, but it's quite rusted. i'm not sure if I should paint a cute scenery on it, or leave it. In the meantime, I thought Little Man would have fun with it. He did!

Grandma won the race!

Ron's birthday is Sunday. I got him 2 tickets to Midget Wrestling that was going on last night. I told him he could invite a friend or bring me. I told him I WOULD NOT be offended if he brought a friend. So, he brought his friend "Rollback" as we call him.

Rollback's girlfriend came over and made cookies with Princess Der and I. She pretty much likes to clean more than bake, so she followed us around and cleaned up after us. We did make her stir the chocolate chip cookie dough, though.

Little Man went home yesterday afternoon, and I'm still finding his cars around the house.

When I went to put them in the toy closet, I saw this:

I can't imagine what Little Man thought when he saw Princess Der's 1/2 man in there!

He's probably afraid to come back to Grandma and Grandpa's!

Anyhoo, must go get something going for supper. I just got the Internet back on a short while ago, so I'm behind schedule.

Hope everyone has a nice weekend.

Country Roads are meant for driving down the middle!

2009-12-04T15:17:00.000-05:00

It's Friday, which means Friday Fragments and Virtual Girls Night Out!

A Few Fragments:

Living in the country, you get a bit accustomed to driving down the middle of the road. A least in this town we do. The roads tend to be a bit narrow and curvy. Driving down the middle can be safer than hitting the shoulder and landing in the ditch! EXCEPT when coming around a curve!

I HATE when I come around a curve and nearly have a head on collision. I mean, whats wrong with these people. Haven't they EVER heard of common sense?

And what about those people that don't put their grocery cart back in a grocery corral when they are done with it? Those young kids and old men they hire as cart boys are dashing all around the parking lot, saving stray carts. Then they push 199 of them at once back to the store. I always return my cart, and usually an extra I see on the way. I have heard the argument that these cart boys/gals get paid to do that- yeah, minimum wage. Lets see YOU push a line of carts across a slushy and snowy parking lot in sub-zero temperatures! WOW! I've never been a cart boy/girl but geez....

And then there's the parents who let their kids take a bunch of books off the shelf in the library, then not put them back. OR WORSE, put them back wherever.............Puhleeeezeeee...people! I used to work at the library and it would to "P" me off to no end!

And finally, what about the people that won't hold a door for others? I mean, I hold the door for everyone- young, old, male, female. My kids are the same way- it's only polite! I've had MEN walk ahead of me and not hold the door when I've had a ton of stuff in my arms. What ever happened to kindness to others?

BTW Ladies- Guys seem to get a thrill when a woman holds the door for them.....

Those are just a few of the things festering my brain this week.

Just so you know, I have ANOTHER group on CafeMom- the owner had to give it up due to time restrictions. Check it out:

I Want To Make Money

Also, check out my Writings Blog. I have a few of my pieces there, and am working on getting the rest there. Some have been published, some not. I added 2 new pieces recently Check them out HERE

We dragged out all the Christmas stuff the other day. The tree is almost finished and most of my snowmen are set up. Started shopping Sunday and went out on Wednesday for a while. I'm getting there.

Of course, we haven't even started our Christmas baking.

Maybe next week.....

2 for Tuesday

2009-12-01T20:48:00.000-05:00

I just had to write a quick post. Many of you that follow me or participate in VGNO & Friday Fragments know about my missing silverware problem.

Yesterday, Princess Der and Ron's oldest son, James were rinsing off dishes and putting them in the silverware. They made a startling discovery.....

........Our dishes are starting to multiply!

As far as I know, we only had ONE of these!

Just thought you might like to know!

Have a nice night!

Stuffed like a turkey and other senseless dribble...

2009-11-27T12:56:00.000-05:00

I don't know about you'all, but I ate like a real hogger yesterday. We had so many goodies, I don't know if I can remember them all:

Deviled eggs, potato chips, pumpkin roll, zucchini bread, cheese, crackers, peopperoni, homemade applesauce, meatballs and sausage, the list goes on and on. And that was before the usual Thanksgiving fare!

Check out Pricess Der and Little Man making Pumpkin Roll:

The Little Guy visited Tuesday and spent the night. He had a ball and so did we . What a personality!

A Few Friday Fragments:

I don't know if anyone else has this problem or not. Despite the fact that the kids are NOT supposed to eat in their rooms, we seem to have quite a shortage of forks right now. We have had this happen in the past with cups, spoons, bowls, whatever. No one ever knows anything of course. One day we can't find enough forks for dinner, the next day we have so many they won't fit in the drawer. What's up with that? I wish the dish thief would stop- my poor kids keep getting wrongfully accused!

We were listening to the weather the other day on the local cable station. As usual, it irked me how many times this guy said for "Your Wednesday" or "Our Wednesday".

"There will be significant rain showers for Your Wednesday afternoon."

I don't know why, but it irks me to death.

What about those studies conducted by a company: They've lost 3 million dollars in the last 2 years- they are conducting a study to find out why they are 3 million in the hole- the cost of the study- a measly 6 million dollars! Hello.............

When you decide spur of the moment to go visiting , do you call ahead or do the pop-in? I like to call ahead. Ron and his friends often do the pop-in.

For some reason I think it's rude if I don't call first, but I generally don't mind when someone pops-in on us. Weird, huh?

If you haven't done so already, hop on over to Come On Home and cast your vote for Santa Claus- should he get the H1N1 Flu shot or not?

And last, but not least....

Ta-Da! Don't forget Friday Fragments and Virtual Girls Night Out.

Debate: should Santa get the H1N1 Flu Shot?

2009-11-24T21:23:00.000-05:00

Do you think Santa should be given the H1N1 flu shot?

Despite the fact that each Santa may be exposed to 1,000's of kids, it seems that they aren't on the priority list for the H1N1 Flu Shot.

What do you think? Should Santa get an H1N1 flu shot?

Go to Come On Home and cast your vote!

The Ride, baby animals and pumpkin roll! Yum-yum!

2009-11-20T14:19:00.000-05:00

It's Friday again and I have been so danged busy with my Examiner articles, my new position as coordinator for the Central New York Network Marketing Group, my business and doctors visits. It's crazy.

If I thought of any Friday Fragments, they drifted out of my head faster than I could write them down.

I have taken some pics, though. They are all in the last week or so.

Disregard the dates - I never set the date on my camera. And I have to keep resting the thing, the way I go through batteries.

The pics start out with the woods behind my house- there is a hill that goes down to a BIG pond- about 1 1/2 miles long.

The Woods & Pond

From the top of the hill- early morning fog.

Woods & pond on a clearer day.

Some of our "rides"

This is The Ride as we call it. The lot car.

Used to be Ron's ride.

Ron used to give all the kids rides through the woods in The Ride.

Apparently he's hit a few trees.

I would never go with them....

This is our tractor that Ron used to get The Ride out of a mudhole in the woods.

This is our "dump truck" and the boys ride- again an old ride of Rons.

This is what Ron used to get the tractor out of the mudhole after he got it stuck trying to extract The Ride out of the same mudhole.

Are you confused yet?

The Animals

Feeding Time at Bungee - Cord Acres

My favorite duck, Brownie.

And Great Food!

We had to make 2 pumpkin rolls because they were sooooo good!

The recipe can be found at http://www.comeonhome.net/ in the recipe section.

Now, it's time to blog-hop!

Stop by Mrs.444's for Friday Fragments and Ann's for Virtual Girls Night Out.

Hope to see you all there!

Not me Monday!

2009-11-16T17:04:00.000-05:00

Hello, it's Monday and it's time to reveal all those things you didn't do :

I did not forget to have my daughters (home)school work ready for her this morning- Not Me!

I also did not tell said daughter to play rummy and "Let's go shopping" with her step-brother for Math lesson today. Not Me!

I did not forget (again) to take my daughter to church youth group last night- NOT ME! Must have been someone else! It is on a new night after all!

I did not hide my dirty cookie sheets in the oven when our friends announced they were on their way over. Not Me!

I did not go 12 weeks between hair appointments and thus have to do an emergency trim & dye myself. Not Me!

I did not have to run to the store today for everything- milk, eggs, bread, butter...well, food! I was not unprepared. Not Me!

I did not almost have a heart attack when Princess Der cleaned her room- Not Me!

I did not play on the computer until past 5 p.m. today, with out dishes being done,with out dinner being started yet, with out laundry put away, yadda, yadda...

Not Me!

Stinky Feet, sledding in shorts and more...

2009-11-13T13:42:00.000-05:00

You know with a title like that it must be Friday. I love Fridays! That's where I can share all the trivial stuff I run into all week as well as my aimless observations. It's also my #1 blog-hopping day! It's so fun!

So why not join us for Virtual Girls Night Out and Friday Fragments.

Here are a few fragments I had lurking around in my brain:

Those evil cats!

I can't help wondering why my cat won't eat if the light isn't on. It doesn't even have to be that dark! There will be food there, but she will meow FOREVER until you turn the light on.

And why do our two cats have to egg the dog on? One of the cats will be sleeping on the back of the couch. Our poor dog, Rocky, will innocently walk by. In the blink of an eye the silence is shattered. The cat awakens with a bellowing "rearrrr" and reaches a paw down and slaps Rocky upside the head. Can you blame him for getting a bit perturbed?

And people wonder why cats drive me crazy!

Talk about dumb!

How about dumber than a 1st grader? We were watching are you dumber than a 5th grader. They asked a 1st grade question and NO ONE HERE knew the answer! There was me (40-something or another), Rons 25 yr old son, my 18 yr old son & my 12 yr old daughter! Uh, duh!

Speaking of dumb, what the heck is a Gerund?

I swear I don't remember learning this stuff in school!

Ok, do you know what a Gerund is? hmmm....

I know now!

Stinky Feet?

I just read this in a book. If you have stinky feet, take a pair of knee high stockings and fill them each with kitty litter. Tie off at the top. At night, put one in each shoe. They will smell fresh in the morning.

I couldn't test this as (believe it or not) no one has stinky feet here! Lucky me!

Speaking of feet...

Did you know that your foot is as long as the distance from your wrist to your elbow?

It's true- try it.

While you're there, spread your arms out and measure the distance between them. That is your approximate height.

...of course, if you want to know your height, why not just measure yourself?

Just a thought!

Why is it that...

If you see someone yawning, you just have to yawn?

Here are a few yawning facts:

1. Babies yawn in the womb

2. Anxious or nervous people yawn more

3. Bored people yawn more.

Um....have you yawned yet?

Bet you did!

Even reading about it makes you yawn!

Finally...............

Why can't winter and snow be warm? I know the theory, snow will melt, yadda-yadda!

But stay with me for a minute here. Imagine if it was warm out and it snowed. The snow is warm as well. There is so much fun stuff you could do:

Build a snowman that never melts

You could still swim- all you need is an ice cutter!

Go sledding in shorts and a t-shirt

Dance barefoot in the snow

You could have snow wrestling competitions.

Doesn't it all sound so warm & fuzzy?

And on that note...

It's time to go Blog-Hopping!

See you all around the blogosphere!