A New Addition

You'll notice over to the right a little, there's a new addition to my blog. It's called a Swag Bucks widget. I found the Swag Bucks site through Couponing to Disney. She's using coupons and rewards to save for a trip to Disney. I'm not that adventurous, I'd just like to have enough Swag Bucks earned by October to pay for Christmas. But I need your help to do that. Just think, if you help me earn enough Swag Bucks, you can feel like you had a hand in buying my kids' Christmas. Think of all the warm fuzzy feelings you could have. All you have to do is this:

Click here: Melip

You get three free Swag Bucks and so do I! Awesome huh!

All you have to do to earn Swag Bucks is to use their search engine to search. Just think, each of us search probably a few hundred times a day, now, you get rewarded to do it! You never know when you'll win one, but if you search through Swag Bucks, you could earn at least 4 a day and have your Christmas paid for too!

This is my only goal for this year.
I figure I should start small.
Start with one attainable goal and work my way up.

If you don't want to sign up, then don't.
If you're offended that I'm promoting this, well....tough luck for you!

Getting Old

This morning, I spent an enormous amount of time doing something that I thought I wouldn't be doing till I turned at least...AT LEAST 50....pulling white hairs out!

Not even gray! White!

I spent about 15 minutes on one because it was just a little too short to grab...darn thing!

Now, my arms are a little sore from all that exercise.

Getting old is certainly not for the faint of heart. So, in honor of my getting old I've decided to get a new hair-do. Dye, cut, everything! Here's my options:

What do you think?

Red or afro?

I'm really not quite sure...hhmmm...

Let's take a vote!

Let me know which one you think I should go with to cover up my white hairs.

Most creative answer wins!

What do you win?

My admiration for having an amazing imagination!

National Lampoon's Christmas Light Contest

Hi all! I'm moonlighting over at The Caffeinated Chef for awhile.

Come join us for the best and worst lights of the season.

We post every night between 8:00 and 10:00 pm.

The bonus is that we go out and look for the best and worst lights so you don't have to.

Here's my pick for favorite of all time.

Enjoy!

Randomness

Wow! It only took me two days to figure myself out! And guess what? I'm incredible! {I'm totally tongue in cheek here!} I did remember that I like to sew. So, I've pulled out the 'ole sewing machine and will be attempting to do some cute Christmas gifts for some friends and family. I can't share though, 'cause it's a secret!

To get yourself in the holiday mood, head over to the Caffeinated Chef. He's doing a National Lampoon style Christmas light contest. Many, many years ago we had a neighbor whose Christmas lights were a little odd, so this contest is really in his honor. Hopefully you'll have just as much fun as we do when we go out looking at lights.

Yesterday, I got to spend about 45 minutes on the phone with some REALLY interesting people. Remember the Wal-Mart phone fiasco? So, it turns out that I had to call the third party retailer that Wal-Mart goes through, Letstalk.com. I came to find out that there are people out there who are more odd than me {and that's hard to do}. The guy I talked to made it clear to me and every person at Verizon {we had to talk to them too} that I signed myself up wrong. Because of course it could NEVER be a computer error!

And as we speak, my daughter is shaking Christmas presents trying to figure out what they are. So far, we have a brick, Picsos, beads, and a treasure chest.

Back to the story: Maybe I just need to be more humble and accept my role in the problem. Hhmmm....nope, not going to happen. Anyways, we're on the phone. I say we're because there was me, the Let's Talk guy, and the Verizon guy. And as we get transfered from one person to another, the Let's Talk guy gets madder and madder. Now, we're being transfered to our third person and he forgets that I'm still on there because while I can hear the Verizon hold music, I can also hear him in the background imitating an R-Rated movie. At this point, my head is pounding, I've been trying to get this fixed for about 35 minutes and I'm listening to this guy swear up a storm. As much as I wanted to lose it on this guy, I held it back {Oh! I'm patient!} and said, "Sir, I'm still here and I don't appreciate you swearing at me." There was a pause and a surprised, "What?" And I said again, "I can hear you swearing at me. And I really don't want to hear it." He apologized, was quiet, then disconnected {Thank heavens, he was making me crazy!} after he explained to the third Verizon person what I had done wrong that fateful day two weeks ago.

So, it might be taken care of, it might not be. If I have to call Let's Talk again, I'll need to remember to take some anti-anxiety meds before I get on. I might even offer some to the guy on the other line because apparently at Let's Talk, they really don't want to talk and they're slightly high strung!

Kendal just told me that she hopes we got her some good Christmas presents. What? A brick isn't a good Christmas present? If you want to know what that brick really is...well, you'll have to wait for Christmas just like the rest of us!

To the Universe

I'm reading the blogs today and I see a great one by my friend Marie. Where she vents and writes letters and probably feels all better at the end and I thought that was an excellent idea. Because, at the moment I'm feeling a little angsty and frustrated. So, in pure copycat mode, I present "To the Universe". Everybody join in  if they so feel inclined.

Dear Wal-Mart:

Wait, scratch out that dear. You are no longer dear to my heart. I am not a fan!

Hateful, hateful Wal-Mart:

How dare you entice me with 2 free Blackberry Storms and 2 free $100 dollar gift cards. And then, when I RENEW my account with my beloved Verizon, how dare you activate me two brand spankin' new phone lines without my knowledge. I did not click that I wanted a new account! I clicked that I wanted to renew my account! What the heck am I going to do with two accounts and four phone lines. When my 2 free Blackberry Storms come, I will deny! I will refuse! Your package will not darken my doorstep! And then, I'll call you to complain about my four lines! And make you cancel two. Or I'll make my husband do it. He's meaner than me anyway.

So there!
By the way, we are not friends!
Melissa

Dear, dear Verizon,
I love you. I especially love Erin, who is willing to take the smack down to Wal-Mart in my honor. Who got so justifiably angry {with Wal-Mart} when I asked why they were changing my number if they were just renewing my contract. Thank you for hiring awesome people!

I heart you lots!
Your very best friend,
Melissa

Dear Rude Book Fair Lady,

I do not appreciate you yelling at me in front of everybody. By the way, just a little note, I lived at the Book Fair that week! I ate, drank, and breathed Book Fair. I slept on Book Fairs front doorstep. And because I felt that closing out early on a Friday afternoon was okay by me {the one in charge} that's what I did. Next year, you're in charge! Good luck! You'll need it!

Oh, and by the way, how 'bout you stop calling the President to complain about me and my unprofessionalism.

Oh, and next time you stop in the Book Fair three out of the four days and wander for hours and not buy anything, it'd probably be in your best interest to buy something. 'Cause I'm closing early next year too!

Not Friends Ever, {But thanks for trying!}

Melissa

My dear, dear children,

Please stop wearing clothes, I can't keep up with the laundry.

Love,
Mom

Dear Family,

I'm buying paper. Hope you like picnics. I can't keep up with the dishes either.

Wearily,
Mom

Dear Leg Hair,

It's winter. Goosebumps hurt when you shave them off. Could you just stop growing?

Pleadingly,
Me

Dear Winter,

I hate you. I'm moving to Texas or Florida or the Bahamas.

Adios!

Family Pictures

I know I posted a few of these last week and I meant to post more but got a little distracted with life. So, here's the whole family and all our little quirks. Tyler, Travis, and Amanda are my siblings, and the rest are just awesome additions! Sarah Boling (Amanda's sister-in-law) did the pictures and she did a great job.

Lint Rolling Chickens

Today, Kendal and I were walking into the grocery store talking about chicken. We were having chicken for dinner tonight and she wanted to know all about how the chicken arrived to the point of us eating it. She asked if the chicken would have little feathers all over it. I told her they (whoever "they" are) get the feathers off before we eat it. She thought about it for a minute and then asked:

"How do they get it off? Do they use lint rollers?"

What a genius! Lint rollers would be less messy! They might have to be industrial strength though. But really, who would have ever thought you might use lint rollers to get the feathers off chicken so you could eat it? I sadly had to explain that no lint rollers were used in the de-feathering and instead other "fun" methods were used. I love how her mind works, always thinking about alternative ways to do things.

For another fun idea of hers, take a look at her "I can't clean..." post.

She's amazing!