A Birthday Wish

Image via Fresh Picked Seattle/Flickr

Today is a special day! Our Blogger of the Month, Lisa of generating HEAT is another year older and another year wiser!

We recently spent the day in New York City and had a blast! I can't wait to share what we packed into one day! *hint* It was a lot!

As today is Lisa's last day as our Blogger of the Month, please help me wish her a wonderful day filled with special birthday surprises! Visit her blog and leave a comment! I know she would love to hear from you!

Happy Birthday Lisa!!

A Time I Fell Down

I am sharing this post as part of MamaKats Writing Workshop..the prompt: A time I fell down.

Happy Thanksgiving! :) 

I promised this morning that I would have another post tonight sharing my weekend, but something happened today that had me cracking up ...at myself! If you saw it, you would have certainly been laughing AT me and I would not have blamed you one bit.

As I mentioned, today was my first day of my new job. It's a nice little job that I am very excited about. I was so nervous about making a good impression, that I did not sleep a wink last night and let me tell you, the alarm sounded much, much earlier than I wanted.

After sorting out a few things and having a few gulps of much needed coffee,  I got settled at my new desk and then it happened. I felt like I was in a re-run of the "I Love Lucy Show" only, I was not Lucy.

                                   I was her stand in.

I can hear the director now...

"Ok.  Lucy, I want you to reach over the arm rest of your chair, down into that tote bag and try to grab the bottle of water that is just out of your reach. Good. CUT! Bring in the stunt double...."

Then it is me in the chair and in the next instant, the chair tips, wheels fly out to the side, my feet and the legs of the chair are above my head and I am crashing onto the ground. "CUT! Bring Lucy back in!"

 

Lucy = "Whaaaaaaaaa! Riiiiiiiiiicckkkyyy!!!"

Me = "Ouch! Bpffffftttttttttt....hhahahahahaha!"

That's is correct. I literally fell out of my chair!

I am so glad nobody saw it happen because I would never have lived that one down!

I'm sure that my neighbor in the next office has no clue that there is a comic genius in the works, mere feet away. I'll keep that gem for months from now when I can say "Did I ever tell you what happened on my first day?"

For now, I am finishing my tea and grabbing the heating pad for my sore back.

*In my best Troy McClure voice*: "I'm not a stunt double, but I once played one in an office...you may have seen me in "Musical Chairs For Dummies" or "Stop, Drop and Roll, an Office Worker's Nightmare".

Not to worry stunt doubles, I'm going to keep my day job.

November Series: Thankful Thursday

Today is our final installment of our guest post series. I am so thankful to have had such wonderful contributors this month! What great posts they shared with us!!

I hope you have a wonderful holiday today with friends and family, eat lots of turkey (or whatever feast graces your table) and be sure to laugh and share stories!

Our guest post today is by Mary Biever author of Real Life in River City Blog is a corporate computer trainer, blogger, and speaker. She writes a lovely blog about her daily life in Evansville, IN.



I am thankful for…


A dead watch battery that reminded me of the value of unplugged, stopped time.

The 1st day of our family’s vacation in the Smokies last month, my watch battery died. In addition, our cabin was so remote we had neither Internet nor cell phone access. Richard, my husband, wanted our family to have an unplugged break.

Most of the time, I liked it. Except when our kids raced ahead of us on a trail and were out of contact for two hours when we had no phone access. Or when we took the mountain shortcut on the unimproved road that beat any theme park roller coaster. How I wanted my cell phone access! Everything ended well in both adventures, even with no bars on my phone.

When I couldn’t check my phone, I heard the wind rustling in the trees and the crunch of the leaves as we walked trails. We could savor the stars in the midnight sky from the hot tub on our cabin deck. Whether we picnicked by a rushing creek or cooked out at the cabin, for a few days, we were just the little family in the little house in the big woods.

I like stopping time. My babies are now teens in high school – 1 a junior and the other a freshman. In 3 years, both of my kids will be in college. Now I understand why grandparents are so indulgent with young grandchildren. They know how quickly those years pass. I can’t make back the younger years of their childhood when I got so busy meeting schedules that I sometimes left out downtime to enjoy each other. What I can do is savor the time we have right here, right now.

We’ll be home this Thanksgiving instead of in a mountain cabin. Nevertheless, I hope we can take off our watches, unplug ourselves, and savor time just being who we are. Just for today, I hope time will stand still so we can enjoy our dinner, hear the crunch of the leaves rustling in our own backyard, and maybe play a board game.

Just to help me along, I suspect my husband or kids will kidnap my phone and my laptop and hold it hostage for the day! If they do, I wonder what ransom they will demand?

How will you stop time and seize the moment this Thanksgiving?

Fisher Nuts Cookbook Giveaway

The air has turned from warm to cool and soon the ground will be coated in white. I don't know about you, but for me, it means time for holiday decorating and baking! I bake A LOT of cookies and treats to share with friends and family. To give something homemade is really giving something from yourself. It makes you feel good to give it and makes the person on the other end feel good to receive it.

Soon, kitchens will be warm and full of sweet smells. Trays will be piled with sugary confections, wrapped and topped with a bow to hand to a neighbor, teacher, co-worker or mail carrier. Ahhh, I love this time of year! How about you?

 Fisher Nuts are a staple in my kitchen. I use the pecans for pie and chocolate "turtle" candy, walnuts for all types of cookies and about 5 other types of nuts to make an italian cookie that my father's grandmother used to make.

In honor of the upcoming "baking" season, we are going to have another giveaway sponsored by Fisher Nuts!! Woo-hoo!

Entering this giveaway is going to be easy and the best part is, if you win, you get to share! That's right! Five lucky readers will win TWO cookbooks, one to keep and one to share with a friend! How about that for giving!

To enter this giveaway, simply share in the comments below:

Your favorite holiday treat that you make or one that you receive. Why is it your favorite?


This giveaway will begin today (11/23) and end (11/30). US residents only. Winners will be chosen randomly on 11/30 and announced on this post 12/1. Please be sure to leave your email in  comment so I may contact you for mailing.

Good Luck!!

I wanted to also let you know that Fisher Nuts is also having a "Handmade from the Heart" Sweepstakes going on until 12/10.

 Share your favorite dessert recipe or gift giving tip that includes their brand and you could win a $50 Visa Gift Card!!  It's easy: "Like" their Facebook page and click on the "Sweepstakes" tab. You should so enter!!


***Cookbooks were provided by Fisher Nuts for this giveaway.****

*************WINNERS ANNOUNCED!! ****************

List Randomizer
There were 7 items in your list. Here they are in random order:
1. 8
2. 2
3. 1
4. 7
5. 5
6. 3
7. 6
Timestamp: 2010-12-01 03:06:40 UTC

I counted from top to bottom, (skipping my comment) to place in random order, then with a click of a button, the computer decided and we have the top 5 that will be sent a cookbook to keep and one to share with a friend!

Congrats go to :
Dawn W., Andrea, Suburban Prep, Susitravl and Tanya!

It's Catch Up Time

Good Morning!!

I had a couple of posts planned for today but, I have to admit, the trip to NYC wiped me out. I still need one more day to recover! Age is setting in I am afraid! Haha!

What will I be catching up on to share with you?

Reviews

I am almost finished with reading Apolo Ohno's new book Zero Regrets and I will be sharing a short review. It may also tie in with more Olympian news...stay tuned!

Another review which is almost complete is that of the Pampered Chef live cooking show that aired on Nov. 11th. Great cooking tips were shared and I look forward to giving you the skinny!

Some great posts are in the pipe to take us through the holiday, but one I am really excited to share with you is:

Holiday Giveaway

Mom Got Blog has teamed up with the Fisher Nuts brand and will be having another giveaway!! The last time we had a giveaway it was so well received that I know this will be fun as well! Check back tomorrow for all the details!!

I hope you had a fabulous weekend!