Long time, no post

Well, I am back. Somewhat, unofficially, of course, subject to change. A lot has gone on since I last posted. I went through some rough times, got a divorce, got my own place, got a new position at my job, working my way through the challenges of being a single mommy.

My son is seven now. You blink and they are a year older. Didn't see that coming.

Anyway, hope all is well with everyone.

I will catch up soon.

Clinique Bonus Time-ONLINE!!

I love Clinique. And I love their Bonus Time offers! Normally you have to go to a department store to get the cute little gift with purchase goodies but I got an email that they are offering Bonus Time online right now!

So for all my friends, here's the link!

http://www.clinique.com/cms/product/supercat/specialoffers/bonus09.tmpl?cm_mmc=email-_-May-_-05-03-2009_OnlineGWP_Bestsellers-_-gwp1

And here's another great surprise! Under the offer code on the bottom of the order page, type in bonus and you will get three trial size lipsticks free too!

Woohoo! Heck, this offer deserves two so....Woohoo!

Enjoy!

Kids Creation Playset Giveaway!

Wow, I have to share this one NOW! Dad-Blogs is participating in an awesome giveaway with Kids Creations for a cool new playset! Now, as a mother of VERY active ten and five year olds, we all know that having a cool playset in the back yard is a great way to "Go Green". Getting my kids away from their video or computer games and outside is a challenge most of the time. Once you get them in the habit of playing outside, then getting them back INSIDE becomes the challenge! I wonder how much electricity I can save by not having the TV running 24/7 with "Phineas and Ferb" or "Wizards of Waverly Place"? That is a question I would LOVE to answer!

Check out the cool prize in this giveaway!

http://www.dad-blogs.com/the-blogs/community-news/372.html

Thanks again Kids Creations! Be sure and check out their awesome playsets at their link listed below!

http://www.kidscreations.com/


Here's to a happy spring!

:)Cat

It's been a LOOONNG week!

Wow, it is never fun to come back from vacation and hit the ground running! I had such a busy week with work, catching up on laundry and just trying to get back into a routine. Plus we ended up at Urgent Care one night this week for Tyus, double ear infection and beginning of an upper respitory infection. Today is the first day that I got up, didn't have to go anywhere, really didn't have anything planned, didn't have much that I had to get done.....whew. Vacation is nice but the recoup time is killer.

My father in law had hip replacement surgery on Thursday morning and I am thankful to say that it went well. He got home today, so we have been trying to make ourselves available in case my mother in law needs any help.

I have been trying to catch up on reading and commenting on the blogs that I follow but man! Some people are sooo good about posting everyday. Me, I have been getting kinda hit or miss with all the things going on. I need to hit more!

I hope that everyone had a safe and happy Easter! I will post pictures from our trip to Gatlinburg soon!

:)

Back from Pigeon Forge, Tennessee

We're back! Last week was our spring break, so we packed up family and friends to head for the mountains of Tennessee. I love the Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg area. There is so much to see and do.......outlet shopping, go kart racing, Ripley's aquarium, Wonderworks, lots of pancake houses.....gee, I sound like a kid myself! Plus it is only 5 hours away, a simple drive from Ohio. The only bad day we had there was on Friday, when that horrible storm system that spawned tornadoes in western Tennessee blew through. It was scary to watch the weather channel, hearing the weatherman telling people in such and such city/town/county to take cover when we have no clue what cities are near where we are. Luckily, the storms only brought rain to the area we were in.

We booked our chalet through American Patriot Getaways. We have used them lots of times over the years and have always been very satisfied with our lodging. Plus they always have a deal of some kind going on. We got our chalet for 50% off because I booked our reservation on Christmas day, (Merry Christmas to MEEEE!!) With three families sharing, this came down to about $60 bucks a night. And it was GORGEOUS!! We stayed at Black Bear Hide-Out, a great three bedroom chalet which was WAAAYYYY up on a mountain. The driveway was killer!

They still have a 50% off offer on their website for selected properties so here is the link:
http://patriotgetaways.com/

Ty actually cried when we packed up and left. I didn't cry, only because I know we will be back next year.

Need a laugh? Look at this video on this blog!

I couldn't quit smiling and my kids were running to watch it after the first remix........safe and fun for all!

http://shinyadornments.com/wordpress/?p=279

Enjoy!

I WON A TRIP TO SEAWORLD FROM IZEA!!

Well, the paperwork has all been sent back in, the winners announcement has been posted and I have been in constant contact with the rep from IZEA! I actually won a trip to SeaWorld in Orlando! I broke down and told my kids last week and they currently think I am the best mommy EVER! (I'll milk that for all it is worth, those teen years are coming up on us quickly!)

I think I am more excited than my kiddos! This is perfect for our family, Mak being 10 and Ty being 5, they are still close enough in age to ride the same rides plus still willing to be seen in public with their parents (even though we are cool!)

We have been watching the Shamu cam and the penquin cams on the Seaworld website, getting it into our heads that we will be giong there in a few months. Tyus has been drawing pictures of Seaworld and hanging them on his door and Mak is mad that it is not summer and why can't we go NOW??

Did I mention I love blogging even more now?

Check it out!

http://izea.com/seaworld-manta-mania-contest-prize-winners-announced/



WOOHOO!!

Date Night!

The hubby and I actually got to go on a date last night! By ourselves, no kids, no other couples....wow. It seems like we always do things with other people but never just as us. My parents had invitied the kids to both spend the night so we had all day yesterday to plan what we were going to do. Oh, to be wild and free again! We decided to go the dinner and the movies, so then we just had to agree on what movie to go see. I didn't find anything listed at either the new run theater or the dollar theater that I just had to see, so I let the hubby narrow down the choices. He came up with either seeing "ILove You, Man" or "The Watchmen". I picked "I Love You, Man" but then he said he really really wanted to see "The Watchmen" so I agreed. Big mistake. The movie was awful. It was dark, violent and disturbing to me. Plus it was almost three hours long. Halfway through, after one particularly disturbing scene, the hubby started apologizing to me. I closed my eyes and tried to nap through the rest of it. I learned a lesson, I will NEVER go to the movies again without sticking a good paperback book in my purse. If I would have had one, I would have gone out to the lobby to sit and read, the movie was that bad in my opinion.

After the movie was over (and I had told the hubby that he had lost all rights to ever pick another movie again), we went to Applebee's for dinner. At least that was very pleasant. I got the Lime Chicken and YUM! It was so good and melted in my mouth. Hubby got his favorite Oriental Chicken salad. The couple at the tabel next to us had their two small children with them, one looked about three and the other about 9 months. The nine month old did the typical "Hey, we're out in public, let's do projectile vomiting all over Mommy" routine. The hubby and I just looked at each other and started to laugh because we have been there, done that and got the Tshirt!

All in all, it was a nice break for us. And what was really bad is that we were home by 9pm. Sheesh, we ARE getting old!

Final damage from my expensive Saturday

Well, I got some good news and some bad news on my car. The good news is it was the alternator and it was actually covered under my extended warranty. The bad news is that the alternator fried my battery and I had to replace that, not covered under my extended warranty. So my grand total for the car expedition was $201.00, counting parts, labor and tow.
We also got the dryer fixed at the cost of about 100 bucks. So there is $301.00 out of my vacation budget. I am just glad that I didn't have to pay for the alternator and the labor involved in replacing it. That would have set me back ALL of my vacation budget.

There is a bright side to everything and in this case, it is that we still have money for Pigeon Forge!

Thanks to everyone who dropped by and offered sympathy for my plight!

Bad day soon to be an expensive day

Wow, talk about a bad day. I am completely flustered. It started this morning when I went to get a load of laundry out of the dryer. It's not dry. I thought that maybe I had just turned the dial too far and it didn't run full cycle. So I start it again. come back half an hour later and nada. The clothes are cold and damp. Boo. Seems like the heat coil has decided to go out on me. I text the hubby to lament. he sends back a text saying a coil will probably cost about $75 but this might be my opportunity to get a new one if i want. Considering that the current dryer has fake wood trim on it and almost as many candles on its birthday cake as me, this sounds like not such a bad idea. But then, of course, my car decides to one up the dryer. It dies on me in my parents driveway as I am dropping the kids off for their Saturday evening grandparent time. I figure it must be the battery going out so my dad jumps it for me. It starts but the lights are dim, the gauges don't work and my battery light comes on and stays on. Boo again. I text the hubby again to lament. He consults his guy friends and they decide it is the alternator. Ouch. I have a Hyundai. I priced alternators online and double ouch. This is not going to be a cheap experience. I am going to call hyundai to see if the alternator is covered under my extended bumper to bumper warranty but I truly doubt it is. They probably consider it going bad normal wear and tear, like a battery going bad. The icing on the cake is that we are scheduled to go on vacation in ten days and this will eat into my budget for that. Oh well. I'll manage these crisis just like anything else............freak out, freak out, freak out some more and then just deal with it.

Such a mature way to handle things, isn't it?

:)Cat

Beautiful Music

Music was something I grew up around my entire life. My mother majored in music in college and there was always a piano in my house when I was a child. I used to love playinig with all the sheet music, reading the different notes and trying to puzzle them out on the piano. I was never any good, even though my mom says I was the most musically inclined out of the siblings.

Of course, when I became a teenager, I went through the rebellious stage, listening only to pop and rock, the harder the better. Motley Crue and Jon Bon Jovi was my poison of choice.

Now that I am just SLIGHTLY older, I have gone back to the appreciation of beautiful piano and classical music. I wanted to share a really talented pianist from Ohio with you. His name is Roy Webb and not only can he play, but he will crack you up to! He has a MEAN sense of humor!

Check out his website and let me know what you think!

http://www.roywebbmusic.com/


:)Cat

Spring Bash is coming!

This looks like another fun blogghopping and winning opportunity!

***WINNER OF THE FUZZY MONKEY HEADPHONES****

I used Random.org and here are the results!

True Random Number Generator

Min:
Max:
Result:
2

gahome2mom said...
Hey, I am participating in the BOP at 5 Minutes for Moms. Happy TGIF!
Come sit for a spat!

Pink for my daughter! :)



Congrats to gahome2mom! I will be sending you an email on how to claim your prize!

Thanks to all who participated in my first bloggy giveaway!! There is still one pair to be given away on the UBP drawings!

:)Cat

My sister lent me "New moon"!

I love my sister.....she reads my blog about my wanting to read the next book in the Twilight series and then delivers. She brought me her copy of "New Moon"!

Sara, I just want to say I love you and you are one of the bestest friends I could ever hope for!

PS>>>> I just wanted to see if I could make you cry at work! Huggs!!

Love,

Your wonderful older sister!

Trash bag heaven!

Wow oh Wow. One of our friends just dropped off THREE garbage bags FULL of clothes for Tyus. Her little boy is three years older than Ty and she just got a chance to go through all of the clothes that she has been setting aside. There are soooo many things that will get us through the next three years. Now I can go through Ty's closet and pass his outgrowns on to someone else who needs them.

What a great surprise for my weekend!

My Giveaway for the Ultimate Blog Party 2009

*****GIVEAWAY IS CLOSED! CONGRATS TO GAHOME2MOM!!!*****

******ONE PAIR GIVEN AWAY VIA THE ULTIMATE BLOG PARTY AND THE OTHER PAIR GIVEN AWAY VIA THIS POST!!****


This is my first time participating in a Bloggy Giveaway and I am SOOO excited! I have had the chance to win some really cool stuff on other mommy blogs and wanted to join in the fun. So without further ado......


I am giving away a really cute pair of fuzzy monkey headphones from Justice for Girls. This would be a perfect surprise for any little one or even a fun loving mommy! I actually own a pair of these myself after my daughter told me to stop borrowing hers...lol. I have the hot pink monkey ones and LOVE them!

The winner of my giveaway will receive their choice of either hot pink or lime green fuzzy headphones. These headphones work with any mp3 player, computer or portable dvd player. These are excellent for grade school and preschool age kids who have a hard time with earbud type earphones.

To enter, please leave a post on my blog with who you would like these for and what color you would choose.

For an additional entry, follow my blog.

2 entries max per person. Open to all US bloggers and nonbloggers, however, if you do not have a blog, please leave your email address in your entry so I can contact you!

Please leave a separate post for each of the above.

Entries accepted through Friday, March 27th at midnite and winner will be drawn by Random.org on Saturday.

Good luck in the Ultimate Blog Party 2009! Have Fun!!

Here are my TOP THREE prize choices (and boy, that was hard!!!!):

USC16- http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5355571

USC 26- http://www.hatleystore.com/default.aspx?STID=US

US42- 5 kajeet phones with $5 of airtime


After those I would be happy with any of these!!:

US Only: 2, 10, 15, 19, 21, 22, 26, 41, 70, 71, 81, 87, 89, 91, 97, 113, 118, 122,

INTL: 8, 23, 28, 33, 35, 36, 45, 54,

USC: 9, 11, 22, 28, 32, 40, 41, 45, 47, 56,

Oh heck,,,I WANT IT ALL!

The Ultimate Blog Party Starts tomorrow!

I've got a secret!!

I've got a secret that my kids don't know about yet! TeeHee! Check it out! I am cgibbs!

http://blog.izea.com/2009/03/seaworld-prize-winners-announced.html

I'm so blessed!

I followed through on one of my goals!

I am proud of myself and want to scream it to the world! I followed through on one of the simple goals I had set for myself on my blog. I went through my shoes and put the ones I didn't want anymore on Freecycle. Then I was actually more motivated by doing that simple task and went through my purses, my jewelry and my linen closet. I ended up with another five bags (granted, some were not large bags) of stuff that I gave away via Freecycle. THEN I went through my clothes! So now I also have a huge box of stuff that Vietnam Vets will be coming to pick up on Thursday. The cleaning out of these items felt like cleansing to my soul. I truly had no idea of how far down the clutter in my house was dragging me. Now I can't wait for the weekend to go through Ty and Mak's closets to see what else I can donate!

Woohoo!

Mak's Basketball team won their first game!

It has really been a rough basketball season for our team. We did not win ONE game during all of the regular season. However, I coulod not be more proud of the girls They never gave up trying and they had fun. Saturday was the first tournament game and THEY WON!! It was so exciting to sit in the stands watching the time tick away, being ahead by eight points and realizing that we were gong to win this one. The looks of pure joy on the girls faces was wonderful. We play again on Tuesday night so wish us luck!