Neighborhood Watchbirds

Giveaway Tuesday: Lather Up

Today I tried driving with my knee. Well, not actually driving with my knee, but driving with the pain in my knee. Bad idea. The driving wasn't so bad but turning to get out of the car and catching my foot on the doorjam was not the smartest thing I've done recently.

To make matters worse, I screamed and scared the birds away. Not just any birds -- a new variety I haven't seen in my yard before but have since identified with the help of my trusty bird book. To make it up to the birds for making them scatter from their comfortable perches, and to celebrate acquiring follower #6 here on the blog, and because I got a package in the mail last week with some moisturizer I'd won way back in November and it made me really happy, but mostly because the giveaway sponsor is getting anxious and wondering if I'm keeping the prizes for myself, it's Giveaway Tuesday.

To enter, simply leave a comment with your answer to the following question:

What is the 'go to' soap in your home?

Does Irish Spring put a little spring in your step? Or are you lovin' some Lava? Whatever it is that lathers you up each day, share it here for your chance to win one of two prize packs containing three tins of some delightful soaps from Seattle Sundries.

Prize Pack #1: He-She-Them
This pack containt Naughty Nellie, Manly Man and Lavendar Lover.

Prize Pack #2: Some Work, More Play
This pack contains Hard Workin' Hand, Summer Slacker and Gender Neutral.

Rules: (not many, but everyone has to submit to authority at some point in life)
One entry per person, please.
Entries must be received by Friday at noon.
You do not have to be a registered blog follower to enter.
Winners will be chosen by random.org and posted Saturday morning. Who gets what it totally up to me - I'm the boss here.

Because I don't have a whiz-whopper website where I can assign comment numbers to each entry, the time stamp on your entry will determine your number, with the earliest entry being number 1 and so on.

Ready, set, go....!

Giveaway Coming Up

Working on a giveaway for you fine folks. Watch for more details coming soon!

Total Randomness

It is so hard to believe it's been an entire week since I posted the last bit of nonsense on this here blog. But it's been a really, really crazy week...

I am so distraught that the Olmpics are over. So much so that my husband felt he should do something. He bought the Sonic & Mario winter olympics game for the Wii. I can curl for real from the comfort of my own home. All is right in the world again.

My son has taken to hanging out with friends listening to their band practice in a used bookstore that sits next to a Latino market and other vacant downtown buildings. Surely child and family services will be knocking on my door soon...and catching me doing the curl and not keeping up with that delinquent boy.

I tore my meniscus this weekend. I think that's what's been wrong with my knee since November and that I reinjured it Sunday. I can't drive because I can't bend my knee. It's been really weird having to hitch rides and dole out responsibilities that usually come second nature to me. I am totally out of sorts with this thing. On top of that, I have an MRI scheduled for Friday and if there is one thing that I professed long ago that I would never do, it is have an MRI. I am not overly claustrophobic, but I am petrified of being in that small space. Maybe they will tie a string to my big toe so they can pull me out fast when I hyperventilate.

Have a totallly random rest of the week!

It's A Date

Many years ago, as the kids began getting more involved with activities away from home, I found myself needing a way to keep up with everything so we could all be where we needed to be when we needed to be there. I love, love, love calendars and am still partial to writing down my appointments rather than keying them in. So several years ago I started using Mary Englebreit's desk calendar.

It has plenty of room to write in and her whimsical artwork provided a different piece of fun each week. The planners start out neat like this...

and end up ragged and stuffed full of all sorts of important info like this...

I got to thinking that I really need to pass on this organizational assest of mine (no -- I refuse to call it an obsession) to my kids so they can go out and face the world prepared. I love, love, love calendars anyway (did I mention that?) so I got both the kids one for Christmas. Yes, because I know you are asking yourself, they liked the gifts.

But I didn't just buy any calendar. I bought calendars with a purpose. Not only are they a place to record band practices, club meetings, ball games, dances and birthday parties, they are also works of art.

Madalyn's The Art of Animation calendar is simply delightful. Each month features a pre-production animation cell from a Disney movie.

This one is from one of the Toy Story movies.

And this one is from Ratatouille.

Cody's features vintage Auburn (what else) game programs.

The great thing about both is that when the year is up, all the artwork is easily removed and can be framed and enjoyed for years to come. We bought them locally, but they were available (at the end of last year) at calendars.com.

I'm Seeing Spots

A large one here and a small one there
This one's shaped funnier than old Einstein's hair
The sun kisses some while birthing the others
Then tans cause some to merge with their brothers
Whoops! Maybe sisters...but in any case
They sing and dance all over my face
Some people hate them but for me it's a factor
It's part of my make-up...so love me with character
I adore all my spots like a leopard with glory
My freckles are me and that's another love story!
by Susan de Vetger

Simple Everyday Food

You were expecting some new recipe, weren't you? (If you have one, send it my way.)

I really, really, really like magazines. Oh my goodness -- when the mailman brings me a new issue of anything I make my way back inside the house and put it in its place on top of the stack. It doesn't get any better than the stack for me. And don't mess with my stack. Don't look at it, don't breathe on it, and definitely do not read one of my magazine before I do. It makes me crazy and I need to seek treatment for it.