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Showing posts from November, 2012

Perfect Idea!

  I'd shop there!

I Feel The Same Way

Yay Buddy! (Haven't seen the movie "Elf"?  You should :-> )

Keep Your Cat Fit and Trim with These Strategies

You may have heard of "Meow"the morbidly obese cat .  This cat weighed 39 pounds, which is 27 pounds more than he should have weighed.  What a horrible thing to do to your pet.  In human weight, Meow was the equivalent of someone who is over 600 pounds.  Feeding your cat more food does not equate to more love. Meow's owner, an 87 year old woman, had to turn him over to a Santa Fe shelter because she could no longer care for him.  Unfortunately, despite the shelter's best efforts to help Meow slim down, he died just a few months after he entered the shelter.  There are many ways to help you cat avoid a similar fate: 1.  Talk to your vet about a prescription diet.  If your cat is overweight, talk to your vet about a prescription diet food such as Hills prescription diet cat food . A specialized diet food will give your cat the nutrition she needs while helping her shed excess weight.  Your vet can tell you how much food your pet should eat and how frequently

Don't Mess With This Santa!

We seem to be on a movie jag lately.  (It's because we've discovered Regal Cinemas has movies for $5 on Tuesdays :->)  Last night we went more of a light-hearted, "family friendly" route with our movie choice (see " We Took Our Children To See Spielberg's Lincoln ") and saw Rise of the Guardians.  Tattoos.  Grumpy Faces.  And swords.  And that's Santa ! Call me old-fashioned but I'm more of a Rankin and Bass Santa Claus.  (You know, the one that looks a bit like Glen Campbell.  And you younger group out there, Google "Glen Campbell" so you know what I'm talking about!) Despite the armor, Rise of the Guardians was sweet, had a nice message and was visually amazing.  No 3D for us this time, I'm a bit done with 3D.  Except when we see Life of Pi.  I've heard it must be seen in 3D. Have you seen Rise of the Guardians?  What did you think?

How Much Is Getty Images Charging Me?!?

If you are a fellow blogger I have a scary situation to share with you. On Saturday I received a large envelope from Getty Images stating that I have used an image from their catalog and they could not find a purchase order for this image so I have 14 days to pay for the image.  The price?  $780.00 $780.00?!? They included a screen shot of the image on my blog, a picture of a Mai Tai, but they didn't include the post title or date of post.  I scrolled through my blog posts and finally found the image used on a Virtual Girls Night Out from 5/21/12.  Of course I deleted the image.  I'm so confused though.  Whenever I include an image on my blog I research "free on-line images" and that's what I use.  How could this be happening? I sent my panicky circumstance out to my Twitterverse pals and to my friends at Mom Bloggers Club and received two links to the same article on About.com, " Getty Image Settlement Demand Letter:  Scam or For Real? " by Lah

Shopping? Or Left Overs? That Is The Question

Oh my. I was so wiped out from hosting the family Thanksgiving dinner that yesterday I was in my pajamas until 3 in the afternoon!  We were ALL in our pajamas until 3 in the afternoon. Rob does such a spectacular job with cooking the turkey, the stuffing's (1 sausage, 1 oyster) and delicious mashed potatoes while I get the house ready with cleaning and decorating.  Our house is so tiny I can't imagine how I would do with a larger house.  (But I'm willing to try!) In years past I've headed out on Black Friday with gift ideas in mind. This year however, I found ways to take it easy using my handy-dandy iPhone, and with a on-line coupon site that will not only help me save money, but provide meals for those in need at the same time.  Terrific! To begin, I downloaded an app that will help me find the best deals for just about everything on my list, Black Friday or not.  (Have I mentioned how much I love my iPhone ;-> ) RetailMeNot : With the app RetailMeNot,

We Took Our Children To See Spielberg's Lincoln

Rob and I took our girls, 14 & 11, to see Steven Spielberg's "Lincoln" last night.  Since Katie and Lily aren't History buffs we told them we were going to a movie, we just didn't tell them which one.  Let's just say they weren't very pleased when they heard Rob say, "4 tickets for Lincoln, please?" I had heard that this movie was not only important to see but important to share with children who are old enough to understand current issues happening in our world.  Some scenes were visually too real for young eyes however, the film was amazing. A favorite part for me was Katie's reaction to a Congressman asking his constituents if they were ready for freed slaves to vote.  Those that weren't for the amendment booed and yelled.  Then he asked more incredulously if they were ready for women to have the right to vote.  Those that agreed with this man booed and yelled even louder.  Even Louder .  Katie yelled to the screen "Oh, C

With A Wink and A Smile

I've reached a point where I can't deal with much negativity.  I'm so glad the election is over so I don't need to try-my-best-to-avoid but get-caught-up-in angry comments viewed on my Twitter feed or Facebook.  With our sweet cat, Phoebe's, passing and news around the World getting more and more twisted I am making an effort to by-pass negativity and look for the positive.  And, try to spread some joy as well. I was taken aback recently by someone who is an old friend. We haven't seen each other, or spoken, in years but they felt the need to comment on a Facebook post I created. When you write something you hope that your words are interpreted as you intended and I intended my words to be positive, but they went in another direction and it surprised me.  It still isn't sorted out and I'm going to leave it at that.  I'm staying positive. One way I take extra effort to make sure my words come across as I intended is by using gmail emoticons with

Way To Get My Attention!

While driving home with Katie we passed an old Victorian house that has a history of unusual decorations peeking out from their windows, porches or birdbaths.  It's always something quirky, which isn't odd for Portland.  As we were passing the house Katie kept an eye on it then turned to me and said, "Whew.  I thought I saw a body without arms in the yard but it was just a mannequin."  Now, I've seen a female mannequin in their window many times so I was having a little word-play with "mannequin" and started rambling with name variations.  'Her-nequin'.  Katie said "No mom."  'She-nequin'.   "No" She said. 'Woman-nequin'.  "No Mom!! I saw the bulge!" I was shaken from my word play haze and said, 'Where was it?' Frustrated she said, "Where else would a bulge be?  In the front!" ACK 'No', I said.  'I meant, where was the mannequin?!' This girl definitel

Veteran's Day "A Story of Taps" - Video

On my Sunday staple show, CBS "Sunday Morning", the reporter Steve Hartman is continuing a series made popular by Charles Kuralt called "On The Road".   This particular story is touching for me in two ways; 1) It honors those that sacrifice for our country and 2) It happens here in my area of the Pacific Northwest.   Don Brittain, a 78-year-old retired aerospace worker from Tacoma, Wash., checks the paper every morning to see when sunset is to perform a unique American song at that exact time.   Just beautiful.

Diapers.Com Provides Way To Send Supplies To Victims of Hurricane Sandy

Today Quidsi, Inc., owner and operator of Diapers.com, announced the launch of an online donation center to send essential supplies to families affected by Hurricane Sandy. Their new feature provides an incredibly fast way for us to help storm-ravaged families in the wake of the damage. Diapers.com has already begun to help families in need by providing 60,000 diapers, 8,000 bottles of baby formula, and 3,000 bowls of pet food through nonprofit partners like the American Red Cross and the Jersey City Humane Society and hopes that we will join in helping support our neighbors on the East Coast. By clicking on www.diapers.com/sandy , visitors to the site can make an “essentials” donation valued at $10, $25, $50, $100, $250, and $500. You can also select whether to send specific essentials like diapers, baby food, formula, and clothing from Diapers.com; pet essentials like food and cat litter from Wag.com; or household essentials like cleaning supplies and batteries fr

More Unicorns And Glitter Please?

My Lily has discovered the store Justice.  Oh my.  This is the mecca for pre-teen girls who love  sparkles and glitter and neon and sparkles and fuzzy stuff and sparkles and... you get where I'm going with this, right? This is not a store for those with Attention Deficit.  Focus in is order, to save your sanity, once you step over their threshold.  When you enter this shining store you will hear One Direction, Taylor Swift and One Direction again.  I don't believe there is one beige speck in this place and it's just how my Lily likes it.  She's in her version heaven! I was actually feeling concerned for her precious heart yesterday when she chose to wear a delightful top accented with, what else, sparkles, a shiny, sparkly skirt and fuzzy and SHINY purple boots.  She absolutely LOVES this outfit and I prayed all day that her classmates would appreciate her sense of style.  It's 6th grade now people, we know what can happen.  (The rest of the girls wear your basi

My Evening With A Mario Bros. and A Goth Cheerleader

Halloween is always a festive time at our house and I'm so grateful that Katie and Lily were totally into it this year.  We needed some fun and silliness now. Here's our Goth Cheerleader and Luigi.   Luigi a.k.a. Katie Katie is rockin' that mustache Goth Cheerleader a.k.a. Lily Lily is freaking me out with her glare.  (Which she enjoys a bit too much) It was a good night.  Now, to get Lily to not enjoy her eye make-up so much.  (Yikes!)