Double Digit

My granddaughter's birthday is still a while away. But, this is the year that she goes into double digits. She is turning 10 years old. It seems just like yesterday when she was born. Oh well back to her number 10 birthday. I am starting to search for things that she would like for the big day. She really loves the idea of having something that no one else has so that she becomes unique from everyone else. She is not a girlie type girl so I am trying to steer her in that direction so I thought I could get her a bracelet that she would love. But again back to something unique that basically a one of a kind. Well I found that I could go to MyBeadGirl Design. Share. Wear. and create my own design of grass bead bracelets. The starting process is only $10.00 and they even have free shipping. If she so desired she could actually have her best friend have exactly the same bracelet. But somehow I think she would really rather have a one of a kind. Because in all reality she is a One of A Kind little girl.

I am addicted

OK, I admit it I am now addicted. I followed the link from The Dutch Bitch blog for the spring flowers in Holland and the surrounding area. I decided to save a few pictures to my computer. Well....... I finally stopped and discovered I had downloaded 144 pictures. But, everyone is absolutely beautiful. So I decided to put a couple of them here in this post so you could enjoy them just as much as I did. You see living here in good old central Florida, we never get spring flowers unless we buy a pot of them from the store and then they just aren't the same, trust me. For some reason the spring type flowers just do not grow in Florida. I guess it is because we don't have winter here. We have Summer, Summer, Summer, and well Summer. One or two of the summers might get a little cooler but it is not a guarantee. So to enjoy spring I am going to keep changing the wallpaper on my laptop from one picture to another and that will be as close as I can get to springtime. There is one problem though. When I try to smell the picture of the Hyacinth all I seem to do is make a nose print on the screen. I do sneak and when I find a pot of them in the grocery store in the spring I always pick them up and take a good long sniff which is about the best I can do. I also remember when I was a kid and we used to have this one small patch of Iris's right beside the garage. For some reason my Mother never called them by the name of an Iris. She always called them Flags. I don't know where that came from but the have always been one of my favorite flowers as well. So I have only put 2 of the 144 pictures that I downloaded. I did not want to overload the post with pictures but if you enjoy them check out The Dutch Bitch's blog and you will be able to find a link there to download your own pictures. Hope you have as much enjoyment as I did if you decide to do this. Have a Happy Spring!

Cuss-O-Meter

Around 2.2% of the pages on

your website contain cussing.

This is 76% LESS than other

websites who took this test.

Wow is that all I did? I was sure that I had done more cussing than that. I know I have used the Bitch word several times. Oh Oh there I went I probably just increased my score by about .1% or something like that. I got this link from Yvonne and I won't even tell you what a bad bad girl she is. But I will tell you that I love reading her blog. So check it out.

Going Going Going Gone... Crazy

The grandchildren are officially on Spring Break. We let them stay home from school today as they were going to do nothing in school today except party. So what is the use to get them up at 6:00 AM in the morning just to go to school to eat school food for lunch and put up with riding the bus for over 2 hours each way. That is the good news. The bad news is that they will now be in the house with us 24-7 for the next 10 - count them.... 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10 days. I think I am going to go crazy now and just get it over with. This is day one of the said 10 days and they have already fought with each other and now they are saying they are bored. I mean come on it is only 12:15 PM lunch time and they are bored. We still have 9 1/2 days to go. I think their Mom is going to try to take them someplace fun next week so they can have some fun and that will be the day that I probably stay in bed all day hiding from the world.

Put your feet up

I have two wishes in my life. (ok, maybe more than 2) but I will talk about 2 right now. My first wish is that I could find a job where I could go to work everyday in my PJ's and my slippers. I haven't found any PJ's yet that I could pass off for work clothes. But I have found the slippers I have been looking for,they are called Del Toro Shoes. They are a traditional Prince Albert house slipper that have been modernized. They have made these slippers into an every day shoe that you can wear to work and actually scuff up. These slippers will only look better with age. Kinda of like me? I can't wait to slip my feet into a pair and kick back and put my feet up.

Thank you Thank you

I was just awarded the Excellent Blog Award by my very lovely daughter Jill. To her I say a humble thank you. I don't know when the last time was that I was presented an award. I mean to attend an awards ceremony and to stand in front of thousands and thousands of people to receive your award makes me feel very humble. OK, Alright so I didn't exactly stand in front of thousands and thousands of people to receive my award. Jill actually yelled across the hall. "Hey Momma I am going to give you a blog award. OK? I said sure that is great thanks a bunch.

So now it is time for me to in turn give this award out to deserving bloggers. I get to pick 10 people (I sure hope I can come up with 10 people) and give them this award for having an Excellent Blog! The rules of the award say I have to list the rules so here they are"

1. Identify the originator of this award, and link so she can get her well-deserved traffic. It’s Kayla at Project Mommy.
2. Pass on at least 10 Excellent Blog Awards

So here goes I will try to pass this list on to other bloggers whose blogs I feel deserve this dubious award. (take into consideration that I also read a lot of the same blogs as Jill does so I have to choose in all fairness other blogs). We gotta pass these awards around.

1. Meg whose blog is called Menopause through Margaritaville. I always find something on her blog that I enjoy reading. Although I am a bit disturbed by her saying she is middle age (over 40) so what does that make me at.... well we won't go there.
2. Amy whose blog is called Our Fun Funky Life I have just started reading her blog but I really do enjoy it as well.
3. I love reading a new blog I found called Will think 4 wine. I discovered this blog as part of a group of bloggers who are over 50. Now here is a woman after my own heart I really do enjoy a good glass of wine. I am able to laugh one day and maybe cry the next but it is always a good read.
4. Again I have another new blog I have discovered as part of a group I have joined and that blog is called Everything's Temporary. I love her post called Move Bitch Get out of the way. I could really feel her and relate it to the way people drive here in Florida.
   

OK, I know this is terrible but I am going to stop with 4 blogs. If I could regive the award I would give it to these people listed below so check out their blogs too.

1. Jill
2. Tracey
3. Yvonne
4. Jess

That would take me up to 8 so I would almost be there. I have not been blogging for years like some people so I am new to this whole thing and am really trying to get into this century as far as things go.

Have fun reading I know I do.

Jupiter

I found this really cool picture online the other day. It is a picture of Jupiter and the colored circles are all moons that are around the planet. I just thought I would post it since I don't remember ever seeing Jupiter myself and don't know if there is anyone else out there that would enjoy it as much as I did. I have several other photos I got and from time to time I will put one of them on here.

Save a toe

I know I already posted about our taking things out of storage but I just discovered another pain I have. It didn't start hurting again until we walked to the bus stop to get the kids. I now remember we were moving the washer into place and we were all trying to get it hooked up and we still had it on the two wheeler (dollie thingie) and it rolled back over my right big toe. At the time Jill said something like that is gonna hurt and she is so right it does. Not to mention that when we moved into this house I tripped on the stairs and broke a toe . I seem to have this thing about hurting toes when we move. So now I know that the next time we move I am gonna have me some good safety toe boots and I will save what is left of my toes. I mean come on now we only get one set of toes in life and I may be a slow learner but I have learned you gotta take care of the toes and the toes will take care of you.

No Pain No Gain

I really must have gained a lot because I now hurt in places that I don't even have. We moved everything out of our storage area here to the house so that we can go through it to put things into at lest 4 catagories.
1. Move with us
2. Yard Sale
3. Trash
4. Back to storage
But right now I don't think I even have the energy to walk back into the garage much less to start sorting through boxes and plastic tubs. I know it has to be done but last night I actually crawled up the stairs to come to bed. I am in so much pain right now that there is really nothing on my body that doesn't hurt. But the good news is that everything is here in the house and it is something that we can take some time to do.

Just like Christmas

I know this might seem strange to be posting about Christmas in March. OK so it is actually Easter time and not Christmas time. But Monday is going to be just like Christmas for me. You see it was over a year ago that we put everything we owned (except for necessities like underwear) into storage so that we could make our move to Haiti to be Missionaries for the rest of our lives. Well to cut to the chase we are back home and I won't bore you with all of the dirty details of the reasons why. But back to Christmas at Easter. On Monday we are going to go to the storage unit and with the help of a U-Haul truck we are going to get our possessions out and bring them to the house here. Then I get the fun task of going through every single box to see if there is now after a year anything that I have decided that I can live without. If there is then we are going to have a yard sale and try to raise some money and also lighten the load in the process. Now mind you when I talk about having a yard sale everyone in our family gets that deer in the headlights look. We all know what my husband is like when we have a yard sale. I remember one time we had a yard sale right after Christmas. (The real Christmas) and Randy actually sold our Christmas tree with all of the lights and ornaments on it. I couldn't believe it. I walked into the living room and there was some woman removing my Christmas tree. Oh well he said he got a good price for it. We have always had the motto that during a yard sale we never sit down. Because he would sell us if the price was good. I know the saying that if you haven't used something for a year that you don't actually need it. But, don't go getting any crazy ideas, I don't intend on selling every last thing I own. I just know that when I start going through all of those boxes I will find things that I did forget I ever owned and will have no idea how I possibly lived without them for an entire year. So think good thoughts for me that I will not have to part with all of those refound treasures. Trust me I have a stronger grip than my husband does. But I also on the other hand know that we are downsizing in living and I will need to part with a few things. I think he has some things in storage that I can do without. Joking, I'm just joking I will part with some things I promise.

Brownie Time

Wow Wow Wow! Jill just made some caramel brownies for us to have for a treat and boy are they a treat. The only difference in mine and the picture is that I don't have a small glass of cold milk. I have a large "Extreme Gulp" glass of Diet Pepsi. I have to admit that I am probably addicted to Diet Pepsi. Although I have proved to myself many times that I can do without them (when I need to). But when yo don't need to then why should you? But back to the brownies. They are so good they are still warm so needless to say the caramel is still soft and they have nuts in them. It is a shame that the kids are not here to enjoy them but the evening has been very quiet. I have a good friend who works as a 911 operator for the county. I sent her husband an email earlier and told him that it was a very quiet evening here in the house. So he sent me back one saying that he had called his wife to see if they could send out the police helicopter, dogs and maybe they could do a door to door search about 1:00 and he was working to see if the DEA could also be worked into the deal. Needless to say I told him that all was not necessary we would just be willing to sit here in the extreme quiet of the evening. But now we will just sit here and enjoy our brownie's and eat until we are sick which is just about now.

Makeover your home

I have really been thinking a lot lately about when we move out I don't know if Joy is going to stay here in this house. but I really think it would be a good house for her to live in with the kids. She could have the master bedroom downstairs and the kids would have rooms upstairs and the bigger bedroom could be set up as a playroom for them. But I also have decided that this house could really use a home makeover. There is a home makeover you can win from Renuzit TriScents worth $20,000.00. I really would love to have the opportunity to do that here. Anyone can enter this contest for the home makeover just follow the link for the official rules. To enter the contest you only need to do a 2 minute video and write a 250 word essay. You absolutely need to check out the site and download and print yourself the Renuzit TriScents Starter Kit coupon so you can sample the products and this will inspire you when you enter the contest. It is so simple to go to the website and enter to win your very own $20,000. Home Makeover. Come on I know you can explain and do your video and show why your home needs a makeover and how Renuzit TriScents can help you achieve your dream home.

Peace on Earth

It going to be a fairly peaceful night tonight. To start with remember that the "Mother" moved out earlier this week with her two children so that has been a huge help. Well tonight my 3 grandchildren are spending the night with their Dad. They were real excited about that. It has been quite a while since they have seen him. They are going to just have a quiet evening with him probably eating pizza and playing video games or he has a Wii that they love to play. So guess they will be wound up tighter than a drum when the come home in the morning. So all in all we will probably pay dearly for this quiet evening in the long run.

Happy Spring

Well I guess Spring is officially here although the weather is a little cooler here today. But I really should not complain with the way the weather has been all over the United States this winter. Living here in Florida we really haven't had that much cool weather this year. Actually it has been a pretty good winter here for us. Right now we don't have any jonquils blooming just the orange blossoms and tropical type plants. I really miss the jonquils they were always one of my favorite spring flowers. I guess you can't have it all now can you? But really wish I could have jonquils because I really miss them as well as other spring flowers we used to enjoy back home.

Well, HAPPY SPRING to everyone!

Weight Loss

I really feel for my husband Randy, he has struggled most of our married life with being overweight. I know people think that he must really eat a lot and actually he doesn't. I guess he is just one of those people that has weight problems. I have spoken to him about the lapband weight loss surgery now available in the United States. These surgeries are reversible so if there are any issues that is an option for you. The Journey Lite surgical center is set up with the patients needs always kept in mind. The clinics are designed for people of size starting with wider hallways, chairs without arms and handicap restrooms everything is designed to make sure that comfort is alway first and most important.

Glass House

Boy if you live in Florida you are really in trouble here with this one. You see because we are so close to sea level there are no houses with basements here in Florida. I was always used to a basement living up north but not here. Really makes it hard to store stuff you want to keep too.

Protect your name

We now live in an age where people actually work full time at stealing peoples identities. I have a friend who is a 911 operator and she says you should never put mail out in your mailbox for the postman to pick up because people drive through neighborhoods and steal the outgoing mail from the mailboxes. This way they can get your credit card payment and have your card number and with your check they can have your bank information. So now there is life lock. It is a service for individuals, family and believe it or not even for students. You don't think about someone stealing your young children's identity but think about it... They have a social security number and being a child they do not have bad credit, unless someone steals their identity and uses it to get credit and when they grow up and try to get their own credit they are shocked to discover that someone has already ruined it for them. This can take people years and years to get straighten up. Identity theft victims have actually gone to jail, lost jobs, have trouble getting insurance and many other issues to deal with.

Sorting

We have been working in the garage all morning. Most people park a car in their garage but not us. We store stuff in the garage. We have boxes and boxes and still more boxes of stuff in the garage. We are getting ready in a couple of months for all of us to go our separate ways and need to go through everything and get rid of a ton of stuff. Plus on Monday we are going to rent a truck and get everything that Randy and I have in storage and bring it here to the house. Then I am going to be going through every box and see what I want to keep and what I want to trash and what I want to sell at a yard sell. Sounds like fun right??? Well at least I will feel better because every month I worry about not having the money to pay the storage payment and loosing everything I have stored there. But the girls have really come through big time and I haven't lost it and will not lose it. We got rid of almost everything we owned when we made our move to Haiti to work there as missionaries. So what I have left most of it I really want to keep.

The winner is

Since I haven't been working I have been spending a lot of time on the internet. I found a site where I can do a jiz saw puzzle which I sort of enjoyed but for some reason it would wind up freezing up my computer, so I stopped doing that. So I started looking for games that I could pass the time of day with. I did the pop the bubbles but after awhile that about drove me past the crazy point. Plus if I did get all the bubbles popped so what there was nothing in it for me except more bubbles on another level. So now I am looking for online contests where you can enjoy doing something and at the same time actually win something if you win. On Break the Vault members have unlimited chances to try to solve each game. Then the first one to solve it will win cash or prizes. The amount of cash or the value of the prize you can win will be directly related to how hard the game is. So if you want a big prize be prepared to work for it. They assure you that every game will have a winner and that they will distribute every prize. So now you know where I will be spending my time online.

Headache time

It is spring in Florida and that means it is time for the Florida state Flower to be in full bloom. That flower is the orange blossom. They are so pretty when you drive down the road and the trees are in full bloom you can see the white flowers all over the trees. Then the end result is great Florida oranges. There is nothing better then good Florida Orange juice. But in the mean time you have to smell the orange blossoms. Don't get me wrong they smell great but a lot of us are allergic to the blossoms. They are really wrecking havoc with most of the people here in this house. I am actually having a pretty good year with them this year. I am not bragging to much because I never know when they will hit me with a vengeance. But for the time it lasts I will enjoy the fragrance of the blossoms and just hope that my sinus's don't realize that they usually give me a fit this time of the year.

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

I remember when my daughter and her family lived in California for a while the telephone rang one night at midnight. I answered the phone almost in a panic because those late night calls are always bad news, right... wrong. It was my granddaughter who at the time was probably not quite 4 and my daughter forgot the time difference. Baby girl as I call her wanted her Nannie to sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star with her. So there I was laying in a pitch dark bedroom singing with her and my husband being the good Poppy he is never said a word. I just wish we were able in this day and age to actually look up and see the stars twinkling in the sky. To tell the truth sometimes it is hard to see stars even on a clear night.

I just learned about the Dark Sky Festival which is pretty close to us here in central Florida. I think this would be a great thing to take the grandkids to experience. The purpose of the Dark Sky Festival is to celebrate and promote the benefits of a night-sky free from the effects of excessive artificial lighting. We live so close to Orlando that we can actually see some of the fireworks from time to time, but, can't see the stars in the sky. How sad is that? Pretty sad if you ask me. This event is sponsored by the the International Dark Sky Association, and it is their mission to preserve and protect the nighttime environment and our heritage of dark skies by using quality outdoor lighting. They have telescopes available for viewing the stars,a kids zone explaining a lot of facts and myths to our kids and music Rare Earth. This really sounds like a fun filled night for the kids. This day and age there is so much light polution that like I said before it is next to impossible to see very many stars in the sky. If you live in the area or are here for spring break trust me this is something you want to check out. Here is more information for you to check out this awesome event.

Get Ready! This Year’s Dark Sky Festival is Out-of-this-World

HARMONY, FL – March 15, 2008 – The 5th Annual Dark Sky Festival at Harmony will be held on Saturday, April 5, 2008. Sponsored by the Harmony Institute, the Kissimmee Convention and Visitors Bureau, several astronomy clubs, the Osceola News Gazette and Florida Travel & Life Magazine, the event will kick off at 7pm in Harmony's Town Square.

“The Dark Sky Festival is intended to celebrate and promote the benefits of a night-sky free from the effects of excessive artificial lighting,” said Greg Golgowski, Harmony’s Conservation Director and a key member of the Dark Sky Festival Planning Committee. “Poor outdoor lighting not only washes out the splendor of the heavens, but also reduces visibility at night, wastes energy, and disturbs wildlife.”

As with the past four Dark Sky Festivals, attendees will be able to enjoy viewing the night skies through a variety of telescopes. There also be lots of music and food, numerous specialty booths, an educational zone with presentations from astronomers and other scientists, nocturnal creatures, a Cosmic Kids Zone and so much more.”

Local favorite, the Silver Clouds Orchestra, will start the entertainment portion of the evening at 7:00pm. This will be followed by a free concert by legendary recording artists, Rare Earth.

Rare Earth will take to Harmony’s outdoor amphitheatre stage at 8:00pm for a live concert chock full of their greatest hits including “Get Ready” and “I Just Want to Celebrate.”

“We are ecstatic to have Rare Earth performing at this year’s Festival,” said Shad Tome, president of Harmony Development Group. “We are encouraging everyone to wear comfortable shoes because Rare Earth is known for getting the whole audience up and dancing.”

The festival will be emceed by Magic 107.7’s afternoon drive on-air personality and program director Ken Payne.

The Festival is open to the general public. Over 3,500 people are expected to attend the event this year. The event will conclude around 11:00pm.

This date was selected because it falls on the heels of National Dark Sky week (March 29 – April 4); where people in the United States are encouraged to turn out their unnecessary outdoor lights in order to temporarily reduce light pollution.

For more information, please visit www.DarkSkyFestival.com or call 407-891-8358.

Stress on children

Well, the grandchildren have two more days of testing this week. Here in Florida they refer to these tests as FCAT, don't ask me what that stands for because you would not like the words that I would probably create for it. They had testing 3 days last week on math and reading. If they don't pass the reading portion of the testing they do not pass third grade. It doesn't matter if they have actually earned straight A's all year if they don't pass this test they fail. I know speaking for me if I had to have taken this test in 3rd grade I would now be the oldest third grader on record. I was one of those people who do not always test well. I could know something backwards and forwards but put the test in front of me and I turned stupid and my brain turned into jello. Well my granddaughter bless her heart has inherited that trait from me. I mean why couldn't she have gotten my good looks or my beautiful figure. OK, no comments from anyone. But back to the issue you would not believe the stress that the teachers and schools put on these children. I have several friends who are teachers and they all tell me that all the schools do now is to teach the FCAT. My grandchildren have not had any spelling words, science or several other things for weeks because all they have been doing is reading and math. But my granddaughter especially has been so stressed out for the last few weeks it is horrible. I wish they would just let them be kids for a while longer. There is enough stress in our lives when we become older as it is.

Big day coming up

We were out shopping yesterday afternoon and had the "Diva" with us. That would be my 9 year old granddaughter who thinks she is one of the ladies. Except she doesn't want to act lady like. She is the picture of a tomboy. You cannot get a dress on her for anything, just give her a pair of basketball shorts and baggy T-shirt and she is a happy camper. Well, she started yesterday informing us that her birthday was coming and we might as well just start shopping and she would be more than happy to help us pick out the things we wanted to get her. I mean the things she wants us to get her. We all three managed to convince her that we still had a while to shop for her birthday since it isn't until September. But, I got to thinking when we got home that this birthday will be a big one for her since she will be turning 10. This is the first of her double digit birthdays so maybe we should make it a really big deal for her. So I think I am going to start working on things to make this a birthday that she will always remember. So one of the things I am going to start looking for will be perfect Birthday Cards from all of us. I think this is a time to get some personalized cards for her. I am a firm believer of the perfect card for any occasion. When I go to the card store to pick out a card it takes me forever because any card I pick has to say just what I want it to say for the person I am purchasing it for.

Rude or Courteous

There is a big difference in people that are Courteous and then there are people who are just plain rude. The "Mother" of the 3 year old that has been living here definitely a Rude person. She has made the announcement that she will be moving out the end of this month. Which we are all waiting for with baited breath. But on the one job that she works she for 2 years has always been home at 11:00 PM practically on the dot. Well for the last 2 or 3 weeks she has started showing up anywhere between 1:00 AM and 3:00 AM with no explanation. Then last Monday night she didn't come home at all, no phone call nothing just a no show. On Saturday night she called up to Jill that she was leaving and would be back. This was at 10:00 PM and she took both kids with her when she finally came home at 1:30 AM she didn't have the kids. She said they were spending the night with some of her friends. We haven't seen the kids since then. She came home last night about 2:00 AM this morning and then was gone by 7:30 AM. She hasn't come home yet today and no call from her nothing. She is off work tomorrow so I am betting that she won't come home all night again tonight. Don't get me wrong she has that right. But it is just common courtesy to let people know that you are OK and nothing has happened when your behavior changes like this after 2 years. Well just goes to show there are rude people and there are courteous people.

Healthy wealthy and wise

We just finished eating supper a little bit ago. We had some beef and noodles with mashed potatoes. The kids had carrots and Randy and Jill had green beans. I just had the beef and noodles with potatoes. I am a strange bird when it comes to eating. I don't eat any vegetables, I never have. I can remember as a kid my Dad would sit me at the table with veggies on my plate and finally at bedtime he would come and dump the veggies in the trash cause I would just sit there and stare at them. I don't know why I don't eat them I just don't never have and probably never will. I was told by a doctor that I am still healthy in spite of this because I never have eaten them and so my body doesn't know any different. He said if I had eaten them and then stopped that would really be different but this way I am healthy and always have been. But I have been thinking lately that since I am getting older maybe I should actually think about some vitamins. I am really picky though about them and think that I would actually like to take an organic multivitamin. I know that sounds crazy but there really is a lot to say for organic. If I am going to take vitamins which I know I need to do I am going to take good ones that are not pumped full of fake chemicals I want to take the best that there is available.

Strawberry Shortcake

Tonight we had a great treat after dinner. Joy got some fresh strawberries at the store. She also got some pound cake and whipped cream. We had strawberry shortcake right after dinner. Boy was it ever good. I love it. This is the time of the year that we have fresh strawberries her in Florida. I was always used to having them during the summer up north but now here. Really gives you something to look forward to during the month of march. We usually make our own shortcake but tonight decided to go the easy route and just use store bought pound cake. It was still very good if I must say so.

The dating game

I have hear so much lately about dating services. So many of them have people that are either fake or no longer have a membership but they keep their profile online but when someone picks them I guess the divert you to someone else. But with MyFutureSpouse.com all memberships are paid and that way a lot of fakes are eliminated. Plus one thing I have told people that mention using this type of service is how do you know you are actually going to get someone that looks like their picture. With My Future Spouse they verify all members’ photos to ensure they are recent and authentic. I mean come on who wants to look at this picture of a hunk only to find out when you actually meet that you are meeting a chunk! This site is also marriage focused so that if that is what you are interested in you are meeting people who are also interested in marriage. That last thing you want to do is to meet someone that you would be interested in spending the rest of your life with only to have them say they are not interested in a serious relationship. Plus they keep profiles updated so if someone changes their mind about anything you can find out on the site. Unlike other dating sites, we don't automatically renew our members subscription. Also their members actually control your own subscription renewals. A recent report stated that about 64% of complaints made to the Better Business Bureau (BBB) about dating sites was due to members being angry about having their subscriptions automatically renewed without their permission. With this site you have a say so in your membership being renewed.

Two More Weeks

Well the "Mother" has announced that she and her two children will be moving out the end of this month. That is very good news and yet very bad news. The good news is that we won't have to put up with her and deal with the 3 year old. But the bad news is that of course the baby is going with her too. She does not know how to take care of that little one. She can't feed her. The baby will not eat anything for her. So she just usually throws food on her highchair tray and if she eats ok and if she doesn't eat she will just tell her "fine starve to death" I don't care. Now that is something to say to your 20 month old child. Well tonight she got off work at 10:00 PM and finally drug her sorry butt in the house at 1:00AM and she will have no reason for this issue. I am sure that she met up with her married boyfriend to have a little before she comes home. But then there is the issue with the 3 year old. I have never seen a child as sneaky as this child. We usually do a room check on him several times in the evening to make sure he is asleep. Well at 12:45 AM Joy decided to do a check before coming upstairs to bed and the bedroom door was locked. So we got the little key thingie that goes into the door handle and went in. He thought it was his mother coming in so he sat up in bed. Now this child had been in bed since 8:00 PM and he still was not asleep. Every time we had made a check on him he pretended to be asleep. Well knowing this child as we all do we were afraid to leave him downstairs and all of us come upstairs so he is in Joy's room for the night. So for that we will all be glad when she moves out. I just worry for the safety and welfare of the kids because as far as mothers go I don't know when I have ever seen a worse one.

Stickman says...

I don't think it is ever too early to start thinking about your kids going to college. My grandsons are now 8 and my granddaughter is 9 and they are already talking about what they want to be when the grow up. I found this cool video for Kettering University. I tend to be visually stimulated so when I have something to look at versus read, I'm all for that. In addition, I have discovered that US News and World Report has actually ranked Kettering University as the #1 University in the nation for Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering in their annual America's Best Colleges Guide for 2008. As far as I'm concerned, US News and World Report is one of the best publications out there so I tend to heed their advice on certain subjects. Here is the video:

The good thing about Kettering is that it's a hands-on school. Your learning and education comes from actually doing what it is you're studying to do versus just reading everything out of a text book. Kettering is listed as one of Us News Best Colleges so the fact that it's a great school as well as a highly recommended school puts it at the top of our list. Kettering would be perfect for my one grandson. He's a very precise individual so he would be great with something such as mechanical engineering. He loves to take things apart and put things together and he usually insists on knowing exactly how something works as well as what is causing something to not work. We'll see how that goes with him. For all we know, he may end up becoming a brain surgeon. Although, I doubt it as he really hates to get anything "yucky" on his hands.

Confucius Say:

You got that one right and he also will have no friends. Don't you just hate it when you are somewhere in public and someone lets a fart and you look around and you have no idea who did it. I can't believe how well some people can cover up their farts in public. Yuk!

Some sure things in life

Well it is about tax time again and the only sure things in life you can count on are death and taxes. Insurance really seems to be on my mind for several reasons. Right now my husband is waiting to hear from the life insurance policies his father had before he passed away. Plus we are getting ready to find us an apartment and stop living with our daughter so we are going to need some renters insurance so that what possessions we have will be covered just in case something happens. It is good to know that you can get your insurance quotes online which saves a lot of time. You can get quotes on what ever kind of insurance you need. You can get life, renters and you can also get business insurance quotes.

Granddaughter's Pictures

I decided today to post a couple of pictures that my Granddaughter took last year when we went to Epcot for a family day. This is one of some fancy umbrella's that we kind of just did the edges for her but she saw the picture and decided that it would be a pretty picture. She was only 8 at the time so I think she really did a great job. But I am her "Nannie" so I would not say that I didn't think it was good. But she really loves taking pictures. She got a camera this last Christmas but it won't work and we can't seem to get the camera company to answer our e-mail's about it. But hopefully she can get it working and she will be able to really enjoy taking pictures.

This one was of the night fireworks at epcot. She was a real thrill to watch. She would snap a picture real fast and then look at it and you could tell by the look on her fact if she thought she got a good picture or if she missed the shot she was trying to get. This one she was really happy with and I thought she did a great job.
This picture was taken with just a basic simple digital camera. Nothing special and no bells and whistles on the camera. I think if she had a real good camera she could really get some good pictures.

Pearls of Wisdom or Cash of Wisdom

I remember once when my parents went to Hawaii on vacation I kidded my mother saying it must be nice to be able to afford that kind of vacation and her being the martyr she always was replied with. You don't understand your Father and I had to do without meat for two weeks to be able to afford this trip. Yeah right and if back then (years ago) if I had given up meat for two weeks I might have been able to have enough money saved to put gas in the car to get to the grocery store to buy some meat. But all that aside when they came home they brought me this tin can thing with an oyster in it. I had to pry the sucker open and there was a small pearl inside the oyster. I still have it somewhere and never did anything with it. So I kind of figured out what's the use of finding a pearl inside the oyster. So I got to thinking what would I like to find in the Gulf oysters we have here in Florida. I have given this much thought would I want diamonds, emeralds, some other kind of food? NO, I say I have come up with the best thing I would like to find in my oysters. I would love to find $100.00 bills in each
and every oyster. Then I could just buy whatever I wanted. I have gotten into buying movies on DVD's lately as of this counting I now have a total of 97 movies. It would be pretty hard to get a DVD into an oyster shell so with hard cold cash I could just buy whatever I wanted. I could buy those DVD's or Diamonds, emeralds or the food I wanted. So yeah I really think that hard cold cash would be the best way to go. But maybe someone could figure out how to get the $100.00 bills into a plastic bag or something so that it would not be wet and slimy from the oysters and being down in the gulf. I mean come on who wants to spend slimy money? Certainly not me. I want my money clean and dry.

Throw Momma from the Train

I thought I would write about the time my husband and I decided to take the Train from Winter Haven, FL to Ft. Lauderdale, FL. we were going to fly to Haiti out of Miami and could catch a local type train from Ft. Lauderdale to the Miami Airport. We decided that instead of having to get up very early and make the 4+ hour drive to Miami and pay to park our vehicle at the Miami Airport for a week it would be much easier and more relaxing to sit back and take the train. Right? WRONG!!!!!!!!!!!

Let's see where did the nightmare on Track 9 begin. Oh yeah, the train was over 5 hours late in arriving at the originating station. So fortunately we were able to leave with family and get some lunch before the train finally showed up. Because it was late they had wound up adding basically two trains together. So all of the people at our pickup had to get into the last car on the train. It didn't take but just a minute to tell in Florida July weather that the air conditioning was not working on our train car. We were informed that indeed the A/C was broke and we would not have any air and the windows do not open. I voiced my complaints to several employees they finally agreed that we could have a "Free Beverage" Whoopee! So after we were underway. Randy said he would be the brave one and he would go get us something cold to drink, as we were getting pretty sweaty.

So, Randy set off on his quest for cold beverage to soothe out parched lips. Well, 6 train cars later he finally found the "dining car" when he finally gets up to the counter to order our cold drink and explains that we are in the back car with no AC and that the conductor said we could have a complimentary cold drink. He was then informed that the only "free" beverage they were allowed to give us would be "hot" coffee and "hot"tea. What the heck we are sweating on the train car from hell and they want to give us "Hot" beverages. He bickered with them until he was blue in the face. So finally agreed to pay for two can soft drinks and two cups of ice and two very little bags of chips. Then they said that will be $10.00??? The soft drinks were $3.00 each and the chips were $2.00 each (I think I had 4 chips in my bag) cause they are the bags you get in the big packages for school lunches. OK, all is well though we are going to have something cold to drink. Well he proceeds to make his journey back to the end of the train where I am sitting in a pool of sweat wondering if he has jumped from the train or something because he has been gone for like ever. I look up and see him come through the front of the car and then I look back down to put things I have out away so he can sit and we can cool off for a minute. He finally gets there to me and I put the little tray down in front of me and he sets the cardboard tray on it with the soft drinks and chips and I pop the top on my long awaited Diet Pepsi and take a very long drink, only to say what the crap it is HOT! Plus I say my can is bent and won't even sit up on the tray.

Randy proceeds to tell me in a not so nice and loving tone that if I want ice for my hot Diet Pepsi I can go retrieve it from the aisle of our train car. It seems that between the time I saw him come into the door and the time he arrived at our seats. Some idiot stuck his foot out into the aisle and tripped Randy sending everything all over the floor. He was able to retrieve the soft drinks and the chips but the ice was a lost cause as it was all over the floor along with the cups. So I think you get the picture that we drank hot soft drinks and I knew better than to complain again or Randy was going to do a reenactment of the movie Throw Momma from the Train. I was not in a mood to do that.

After a long hot trip to Ft. Lauderdale we missed the local train to the Miami Airport and had to take a cab to the tune of $70.00 and then the trip back was almost as bad although we did have A/C and we brought our own drinks on board with us. So when we got home I called Amtrak (ok I know you have guessed by now the name of the Train) and complained and they said would compensate me. Well, those idiots sent me a voucher that I had to use within a year and could not give away to anyone else. Crap, I did not want to ever set foot on one of their train again but they were also telling me that I could not give the voucher to my worse enemy and give them the thrill of their life. Oh well they say live and learn.

Computer Tech Support

Now that has to be the biggest joke of the century. The other day I put a CD into my drive on my laptop and I could hear it turning but nothing happened. So being the computer tech I am I put in another CD to see what would happen..... Nothing so then I put a DVD in and still I could hear it turning but again nothing happened. So I contacted my trust computer tech support because I am still under warranty for another month.

Well, after being on a online chat with a tech support person. They e-mailed me instructions on how to remove my CD drive and reinstall it to see if that would start it working????? OK, so I followed the instructions and again nothing happened. So back online with the trust support tech and after explaining everything in great detail they tell me that they will be happy to send me a new CD/DVD drive and that I then will install it myself and return the bad drive all within 15 days or they will charge the credit card # I had to give them for the part.

The part came yesterday and I came right up to put it in. No problem I am an old pro at this right now. I come upstairs and take out the old CD/DVD drive with my trusty little screw driver and my high tech paper clip. Then I put in the new drive and piece of cake I am one micro mini screw away from success. Nope not to be my day. I try to put the teenie screw into the little thingie on the end of the CD/DVD drive and can you believe it the holes don't match up. OK, no problem I get back on the stupid computer tech chat thing again with yet again another person. I explain my situation to this "Tech" person and after sitting there for over 15 minutes waiting for his reply I finally say "Are you still there" he says yes please wait..... What does he think I have been doing for 15 minutes. But what choice do I have but to sit and wait. When he finally comes back he tells me he is going to send me a pick up package. I said a pickup package for what and he says for your laptop. After having a mild stroke I tell him no way am I sending my laptop of to California it is just not going to happen. I then start trying to breath a little deeper and ask him what they are going to do with my laptop in California. He proceeds to tell me they will make the drive fit my computer but at the same time they will completely reformat my hard drive and that I should save anything I want saved because it will return to me in it's brand new original state. There is no way I am going to let this happen.

So while he is chatting with me I happen to look at the disc that I just took out and realize that the little tab is attached with two very very very tiny tiny tiny screws and so is the other one. The two holes match up perfectly. So I remove the tabs from both drives and transfer the one from the old drive to the new drive and much to my amazement I turn the laptop over and am able to put the little screw in and I am back in business. Plus, after all of this I am very amazed that I did not have to reformat my entire hard drive. I was very proud to say the least that I am smarter than the tech support people assigned to instruct me. I wasn't going to give you the name of the company but I finally decided what the hey. If I had good service I would be happy to tell you and I got bad service so what the hey. The company I was dealing with was HP. I have a Compaq Presario laptop. I had to fight with them several months ago because I called them for something and they told me I needed recovery disc's but my laptop was not under warranty. I had to e-mail them copies of my receipt for them to give me the warranty I was supposed to have or else this would not have been covered by the warranty.

Change is coming

It is now time for change in our lives. Change is defined as (something) different from what it is or from what it would be if left alone. Well things around here have to change because they cannot be left alone. I also think change can be good and in the end this change will be good for all of us. But nevertheless change sometimes is painful. In some ways the change that is looming on the horizon for this household will be joyous and in some ways this change is going to be painful. The change that is there is that it is time for all of us to go our separate ways. The good thing is that I think the "Mother" of the 3 year old and the 20 month old is getting ready to move out first. That is good in the respect that we are all so tired of putting up with her moodiness and her bitchy attitude. But one of the bad things about that is that she is going to stiff Joy for rent for the remainder of the time we will be living here which will probably be about the end of May. That means that Joy has to cover the rent and utilities all on her own. This is where I worry because right now Randy and I have no income. I make a little bit and I stress little bit with my blog but not near enough to even begin to help out with any expenses here in the house. That is one of the hardest things about all of this change for me to cope with. The fact alone that we are living with out daughters and don't have our own home right now but also the fact that our daughter has to provide basically everything for us. That is hard for a parent to take (as least it is for me) I never have had a problem with one of our daughters needing some help from time to time. But I just never expected that I would need my daughter to basically support us. So I guess that is my biggest issue right now in my life. But back to the changes. We all look forward to the "Mother" moving out and to be honest I will not miss the 3 year old either. But I will miss the 20 month old like crazy. I will miss when she wants something and she isn't getting what she wants hearing her cry and call out for Nannie which is what she calls me although she doesn't get out the whole Nannie she only says Annie but it is me she wants. Plus Jill has basically raised her since she was a newborn so it is going to be very hard for Jill when the baby is no longer around. I am going to also have a hard time not being with my grandchildren and seeing them all of the time. Don't get me wrong sometimes they really drive me up a wall. But, when all is said and done I love being with them and with us all moving around. I know they are going to be a little farther away from us and we will probably be lucky if we see them once a week. I am not sure I am ready for that. Then Jill, well she is going to move to Holland and for those who read my blog and are her friends in Holland please take good care of her for me. I really, really, really hate her being that far away from me. I know she has her own life to live and I know she really wants to make this move and I will support her all the way. I just don't have to like the idea of her being that far away from me. Where I don't know when I will see her the next time. So now you know some of the good and some of the bad about the changes coming in this household.

Stupid is as Stupid Does

I found this picture the other day out there on somebody's blog. Sorry I can't remember where but I loved it. The reason I love it because I think that the "Mother" of the 3 year old must actually eat a bowl of stupid every morning, noon and night to be as stupid as she is. She really thinks she is this great mother. Hopefully she doesn't expect to be nominated for Mother of the Year cause she certainly doesn't qualify for it. She took him this past weekend to spend the night and all day Saturday with friends of hers. Now mind you these people are major Pot Heads but she takes her son and her 20 month old daughter there. Well she takes his swimming suit with him and they took him in the pool on Saturday. You are probably saying well no problem with that you live in Florida. Right? We do live in Florida but it does get chilly here sometimes. Saturday the high temperature was only 60 and we had winds of up to 20 mph all day long. He said he went swimming but the water was really cold. She has no sense at all about her. Any decent mother would never in the first place let people like that watch her kids but would also never let them take them into the pool in this cool weather. But like I said she is not up for Mother of the Year. This is the same mother that let her 20 month old daughter get 9 shots behind. She had not been to the doctor since she was 3 months old. Then she let the so called professionals give the baby 4 shots at one time, two in each leg. Well the baby did not eat for a week and had horrible bruises on her legs and huge knots on both legs. I thought it was horrible. But who am I? So last week she took her back and they gave her 2 more shots. Both in the leg that had the worst knot and you guessed it right in the center of the previous knot. I think this nurse at the doctors office must have worked in one of the concentration camps in a previous life.

This same "Mother" got off work last night on her job at 10:00 PM but did not bother to come home until 2:00 AM with no phone call and no explanation as to why she was so late and where she had been. She is dating a married man who is trash to say the least. Both of her children are by two different daddy's and the daddy of the 3 year old just got out of prison and is now a registered sexual offender in the state of Florida. I say the daddy of the baby is the married man since she is actually basically named after him but she says it is some other low life. Who by the way is in prison for stabbing someone. So like I said in the beginning she must eat a bowl of stupid for breakfast, lunch, supper and probably a midnight snack.

Storms

The weather lately has really been strange all around the country. Right now we are very cloudy here in central Florida and it looks like rain. Last night we made a Target run to the new Target store that just opened and when we came out it was raining cats and dogs. Joy went and got the car and pulled it right up front so we could load everything into it without getting soaked. We were not too wet by the time we got home and backed the car up to the garage and ran in and opened the garage door and threw everything in there. But, I guess that north Florida is really having worse weather than us. They have had a tornado there. I just pray that we don't have any that happen here where we are. Right now it is just cloudy and windy and kind of dreary here.

Must relax NOW

I am telling you that living with a total of 10 people in the house is not what it is cracked up to be unless you believe it is a path to insanity. That is where I am headed I kid you not. What I need is a weekend away and from my research luxury spa holiday breaks seem to be the way to go. Now you can rent an apartment and as part of your package you can have some time in a spa or actually have a spa party in your own apartment. Now that would be the way I would want to go. Come on don't tell me if you could have your own private spa experience in the privacy of your own apartment that you would not want to do that. You would not have the stress of messing with other people getting in your way at the spa and wind up having to get into a brawl at the mud bath and wind up mud wrestling instead of taking a relaxing mud bath. I would love to just be pampered and made to feel very special on a vacation. I usually come home from a vacation all stressed out and not relaxed at all.

I really think this is just what the doctor ordered for both Randy and I. Lately we have been very stressed and to say the least very short tempered with each other and I know it is just the stress of living with both of our daughters and 3 grandchildren and then the "Mother" and her two children. The "Mother and her two children are the biggest stress factors to all of us. So to be honest if I planned this get away I would have to keep it secret from Jill and Joy or they would be sneaking into our apartment for the spa experience.

Gimme Gimme Gimme

Well I just got a free movie today. Jill ordered some movies and before she got them in the mail she wound up buying one of them at the local video store. So when her movies came today I got her duplicate movie. I know that Jill is planning on moving to Holland in the near future. So I also know I will absolutely want to go visit her some time. That means I should learn some Dutch. Well this movie she gave me is called Black Book and is all in Dutch. But, the good news is it has sub titles in English. So maybe I can pick up a few Dutch words from the movie but I am not really sure if I should learn a new language from a movie that says it is "Provocative and Potently Erotic" I might get myself in trouble that way. Ya never know thought it might be fun to get into a little trouble. Nah... I am just too old for trouble. NOT!!!!!

Shopping Strategies pay off

I have been doing some thinking lately since my finances have been so slim to none about how I have spent my money in the past year. I do know at Christmas I was a lot more careful about how much money I spent. But, on the other hand I wanted to get the most bang for my buck as they say. So I really used the thanksgiving ads to help me get the best deals possible. You would be surprised how much money you can save when you shop for your Christmas presents by buying your items during Black Friday, (which I am sure everyone knows is the day after Thanksgiving. I never ceases to amaze me how much you can accomplish online. I always hated the idea of being at the mall at 5 A.M. in the morning the day after Thanksgiving when I was still sleeping off my feeding frenzy from Turkey Day. But now to be able to purchase items online and never even get dressed from the PJ's and on top of it they will actually send you e-mail alerts that will let you know when there are any new Black Friday ads posted. It is so easy to plan my holiday shopping last year I am going to sign up for it again this year. I have to be honest it was much easier doing my Wal-Mart shopping this way than standing in line for hours.

What These Roses Say About You

You are a classic romantic who believes in true love. You often experience deep emotions and feel warmth toward almost everyone. You are a bundle of positive feelings and sweetness.

What Do The Flowers You Pick Say About You?

OK, I guess I am sort of a romantic cause I have been married for 40 years and I guess it is still my true love. (I do have my doubts from time to time) Just kidding. I am not really sure about the warmth toward almost everyone. There is the "Mother" of the 3 year old to whom I have absolutely no warmth toward. But, then there is the fact of me being a bundle of positive feelings and sweetness. You have got to be kidding me. I will admit I am the most negative person on the face of the earth and sweetness. The only sweetness I experience is when I drink sweet tea.

Done in by the X

My daughter has had many credit problems since she got divorced. She has tried to get a credit card and has just gone from one hurdle to another. Her X has really done a number on her credit life. She is going to apply online for a credit card to see if she can get her life back online. She is also interested in online banking services and the fraud protection and security because in this day and age credit card fraud is a very big issue and once that happens to you it can take you years and years to recover from. I believe right now she will be working on the application process and due to the "X" issues she will not have any balance transfers to deal with.

Mommie Dearest

Well, Mommie Dearest is at it again. This morning at 7:00 AM in the blasted morning. She was screaming and yelling at the 3 year old child. She says it is because she told him to go to the potty and he just stood there and looked at her. Now mind you this is after she wakes the poor kids up before they have had enough sleep for their age. It was after 9:30 when she got home last evening with both of them and then went into the room and turned the light on and the TV going full blast so I am sure it was probably midnight at least before the kids were asleep and then she has them awake before 7:00 AM in the morning. So when he didn't go to the potty like she told him to do then she screams and cusses at him and tells him that she hates his F guts. I don't know what the answer is but when she gets this way we all just take the kids to other rooms and leave her alone. But, I really worry when she is out on her own. She cannot take care of her kids like a loving mother should. I really do worry.

Internet for Life

There is a great auction that will be starting on March 12, 2008 that I think everybody will want to be involved in. You can actually bid auction-style, on Charter High-Speed Internet for Life. The bidding will start at $10.00 They have no idea how high the bidding will actually go since there is no reserve. Not only can you get the Charter Internet service for life but you can also win a Nintendo Wii system. All you have to do is Click Here for a Chance to Win a Nintendo® Wii™! and register and you will be set to go.

I can just imagine if I would actually be the one to win the Nintendo Wii, I will have to fight off my grandchildren for the ability to actually keep it for myself. They really would love to have this. So maybe for me it would be a win win situation. I could get internet for life and they could get a Nintendo Wii system.

Just click on the link I gave you and on that page you will to register with your e-mail address and other personal information for your chance to win a Nintendo Wii. The winner will actually receive the Nintendo Wii Console, the Wii Stand, plus 5 Sports games ( Boxing, Baseball, Tennis, Golf and bowling), 1 Remote Controller, 1 Nunchuk Controller, 1 Sensor Bar, 1 Wii AC Adapter, 1 Wii AV Cable. WOW with all of this you will be ready to play, because there is no other equipment you will need.

Out to eat

Boy last night we had a great treat. My daughter got some coupons for a great Steak Restaurant and she took us all out to eat. I got a 16oz. Rib Eye Steak and it was sooooooooooooooooooo good. All 4 of the adults got the same steak and the kids all got things they wanted off of the children's menu. I haven't had a steak in quite a while and I am here to tell you that I really enjoyed it so much. I really appreciate my daughter for the thought in taking us out to eat.

Peace and Calm

I am telling you I am really in the need of some inner peace in my life. So I have been checking out things on the internet and I came across something called The Sedona Method. The Sedona Method is a totally unique and easy to learn technique that shows you how to let go of any painful or unwanted feelings your have in your life. It is a series of questions you ask yourself and let you know what you are feeling at the moment and helps to guide you to be able to let go of issues in your life. Right now I have some major issues with the 3 year old in the house and his "Mother" who has no business having any children. I am just about to go over the edge I am telling you.

Right now the Sedona Method is offering a free CD, DVD and MP3 to help you learn how to accomplish this process in your life. With the Sedona Method you will be able to develope presence awareness on the issues in your life. The Sedona Method is able to show you many things in your life and it is a great tool for Spiritual Enlightenment. I think it just might be something I will check into to see if it is actually for me.

School!!!

I am telling you that I am a firm believer that there are teachers out there teaching our children that have absolutely no business in their job. My granddaughter absolutely hates school and she is only 9 years old. Particularly she hates to read. Well, this year is her first year of taking the stupid FCAT tests that the Florida schools require. If she does not pass the reading portion she will not pass third grade. It doesn't matter that she will not have had any F's on her report card or any D's for that matter. Well, her mother and I went about 3 weeks ago to talk to the school about this problem with her reading and the Principal jumped right on the issue and got her set up with some extra help with her reading and also sent her to the library and had the librarian work with her to see what books would really interest her so that she would hopefully enjoy reading. Well now I find out today that she hasn't been going to reading and she was afraid to tell us. But her teacher told her that she could go after this stupid FCAT test which by the way is next week. I am telling you she has just defeated the entire purpose. So I called the school and the assistant Principal is supposed to work on this issue tomorrow. But I think it just might be too late to actually help her at all. I hate the Florida school system. It is the PITS!!!

Time to think about Easter

It is time to start thinking about what I am going to get my grandchildren for Easter. I usually don't get them a bunch of candy. I remember when my granddaughter was a baby I got a toy wagon for her and filled it with jars of baby food. My daughter loved the idea and I have tried ever since to do practical things for them. But also being very money conscious I have decided to look for some online shopping coupons to get things for the kids. We have new Target which just opened right up the road from us so I think I am going to check for some Target coupons. That will give me a good excuse to check out the new store. Not that I need a reason but it never hurts to have one just in case. But then if all else fails I can always look for a David's Cookies Coupon and get some great cookies that they just might take pity on me and give me a cookie too.

New layout

I have been searching and searching for a new layout for my blog. What I had was pretty generic. But, it is not easy when you are searching for something that portrays "Shoot fire and Save Matches". As I have explained in the past my Mother used to use this saying all my life but she did not use the word Shoot she had another "S" word for that but being I am on the internet I wanted to clean up the act just a bit. So for now this is going to be my header. If anyone has any ideas what picture or header would be better just drop me a comment and let me know. I welcome all good suggestions. But remember I want to keep it clean. Oh, I must give credit where credit is actually due. I found the picture by Jill (my daughter) put it on my blog for me. I am still somewhat challenged in that area.