2008 December

Shopping with Friends

December 11, 2008 By speppel Leave a Comment

Today, Keri Graddy from the The Philadelphia Premium Outlets invited bloggin' moms from the Philly area to stop over for refreshments and discounts at many major stores. I am sorry more women were not able to come due to weather and other constraints. Many who did come were also writers for Philly Moms Blog so it was nice to see these women that we normally only read about in each others' post!

See here: Keri Grady (Phila. Premium Outlets), Kat (Mommy Needs Therapy), Marcia, Leslie, me, Jo-Lynne (Musings of Housewife) and Melissa (Girlymama)

AND THIS IS A TEST: What is different below? I really thought I had uploaded the same picture until I notice the one person who didn't really care about having HIS picture taken!

Keri did a great job setting up a nice selection of Starbucks coffee and treats. I took two of the lovely gingerbread snowmen cookies home for my daughters. They would have totally loved them too if my beagle with the ultimate hound nose hadn't found them out and ate them before I could finish screaming and running towards the bag. She is really eating apart my life but that is story for another day.

After leaving the food court, a couple of us headed over to the Zales store where the lovely ladies cleaned our rings, let us try on some pretty selections and gave us a cloth jewelry holder. From there we dug into the wonderful little goody bags that Keri had prepared and went on a treasure hunt for giveaways and discount shopping with participating stores.

Our swag bags contained our store treasure maps, VIP discount books, a list of participating stores, a columbia cell phone case and lotion samples from Crabtree & Evelyn.

Stopping at True Religion, Melissa was able to try on some really cool jeans in an OFFICIAL jeans fitting. I need a few more workout hours before I am going to try to fit these hips into skinny jeans.

I was able to use a couple of the coupons at Calphalon on a present for my sister-in-law (and a great explanation of their cookbook for kids), 15% off some nice selections at Yankee Candle plus a free votive, a short beverage at Starbucks (yes we were getting tanked on some strong coffee), a little bag of truffles at Lindt plus $5 off my purchase of three lovely ornaments, and some treats at Harry & David.

Everyone was very nice and had lots of questions about what exactly blogging moms do, what our husbands think, what we talk about and why we do it. The more coffee we drank, the more of an earful they got.

We really appreciate everyone's efforts to make us feel welcome. I definitely walked out crossing plenty of items off the shorter and shorter Christmas list. Thanks again everyone!

Filed Under: blogging

A Twitter kinda night!

December 11, 2008 By speppel Leave a Comment

As many of you know by now, Twitter is an microblog for exchanging brief (140 characters or less) conversation tidbits, including links to other sites and more information.

Well, last night WiiFit Mommiis held a massive Twitter party where people were quickly typing in short snippets of conversation and refreshing their searches to see everyone particpating. If you use the # symbol in front the right word after each comment (i.e. last night was #wiifitenthused) then everyone running searches for that word can see what everyone at the party is saying.

It was so fun and so crazy. I promised myself that I would not be at the computer the whole time, tweeting, conversing, refreshing. I must have lied to myself because I was there watching to see who won different prizes the whole time.

I didn't win the Wii Fit but I DID WIN the New Blog Design from Sarah at Real Life! How fun. Can't wait to see it. I have loved my current design by DCR Designs but I'm ready for a little something new and Jo-Lynne totally understands since I WON it. Otherwise she might be a little cranky at me. But then, she told me that Sarah is the blogger she told me about that is rooming with us at Blissdom! It is a SMALL world, people! I have to room with two BLOG designers. I hope they don't talk in their sleep with all that creative stuff going on in their heads! hehe.

AND THEN, MORE BIG NEWS, I was twittering back and forth and decided to hope over the check my real e-mail and lo and behold, I got a message from Kelly McCausey at WAHM Mom Talk Radio. I had been granted my wish to have a new FLIP Camera to further my freelance work with video enhancement – from on camera interviews to product reviews. I got chills. I will certainly being reviewing the camera with a BIG VLOG thank you on Reviewsings (which is having lots of giveaways this week!) when it comes in. Now, I feel obligated to improve myself. Oh the pressure. I actually heard about the wish program on a Tweet too, I think.

Twitter really is fun. There are so many interesting things being added all the time. It is hard not to be sucked in. But here's an amazing story. I reviewed Julie Bonn Heath's Then Along Came An Angel this last week. Then I was looking at her updated Tweets and saw the name of a friend I haven't seen in about 18 years! Sure enough it was him! This internet thing really brings all kinds of people together.

Today, I am joining up with Colleen from Classy Mommy and Jo-Lynne from Musings of a Housewife to check out the Philadelphia Premium Outlets! We are Vlogging with Jo-Lynne's camera today as we use our Children's Place Gift Cards from Natalie over at BSM Media. (By the way, I need to give a HUGE thank you to Colleen for the dolls I won over at her site. They will be under the Christmas tree!)

All these wonderful reviews will be over at Reviewsings. Do you feel liked you've been linked to death enough yet?

Filed Under: blogging

Works for Me Wednesdays: Phone Interviews

December 10, 2008 By speppel Leave a Comment

As I sit here about to write this post, at midnight, I hear "Wait, Wait, Wait." My daughter is sitting up in bed talking nonsense to the invisible person beside her — totally in her sleep. And then, "I have to go potty" which I never laugh at so I had to take a quick break. Now I am back.

Okay, phone interviews. I have had the pleasure of interviewing several individuals over the phone for my latest part-time employment gig, writing personal profiles for Story of My Life. Initially I simply held the phone between my head and shoulder and wrote as fast as possible, hoping not to miss any critical detail. It was bad having to ask questions over and over to get all the information.

Then, a wonderful interviewee told me about Free Conference Call that allows you to tape one call at a time and download the file to your computer to listen to later. There is only one problem, you can hear the interviewee and YOURSELF. The good part of hearing yourself is that you can learn from your mistakes. The bad part is that, if you are in the learning curve like me, you sit in the privacy of your home office and cringe all the way through.

So I have come up with the following WHAT NOT TO DO to remind myself and educate you:

1) Don't laugh with a self-conscious giggle after you say something in agreement to them. Make them believe you are for real until you really are. I just didn't realize what a giggler I am.

2) Listen and don't interrupt until they are done talking. This interview is about them not you. (I always add in little tidbits of my life to let the person know I am connecting. I am seriously rethinking that tactic after hearing myself.)

3) Read their website. Know about their book – if they wrote one. Don't ask questions that are already on the website because it shows you didn't do your research. (Yeah, pegged on that one tonight too. Fortunately this woman was VERY nice – a comedian turned hypnotherapist actually. She's heard worse.)

4) Have plenty of questions generated from the information you are sent. I was going with the organic – "let's see where her answers to starter questions take us" and it was going well until at one point I say ON TAPE "Let me think now. . ." which sounded like I was unprepared when I was just trying to quickly process everything she said and see where I could pick up a line of questioning. New questions written in front of me would have helped keep the creative process going.

I think that is all for now but I am sure I will have a second installment as I continue to listen in horror to myself. Here's to the learning curve.

For more Works for Me Wednesdays, head over to Shannon's Rocks in My Dryer. There are a lot of Christmas tips this week. Tis the season!

Oh, and my post on almost throwing out our TV converter box coupons is up at Philly Moms Blog! Please stop by and just leave one little itty bitty comment. I would greatly appreciate it! There are also great GIVEAWAYS over at Reviewsings where I have partnered with Jo-Lynne from Musings of a Housewife to bring you more GREAT stuff.

Filed Under: Works for Me Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday: From Our Family to Yours – Merry Christmas

December 9, 2008 By speppel 2 Comments

For more Wordless Wednesdays, see 5 Minutes for Mom and the Official WW HQ.

Filed Under: Wordless Wednesday

Humorous Reality Video on the Digital TV conversion

December 8, 2008 By speppel 1 Comment

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Going to Blissdom

December 6, 2008 By speppel 1 Comment

After much contemplation and a weak moment, I have officially committed to going to Blissdom. Credit Cards are paid off (BEFORE Christmas) and I am saving my pennies from writing personal stories for Story Of My Life. (A few new ones have gone up so go check it out).

I can't believe I am going. There are going to see sooo many wonderful women bloggers from around the country — people I have talked to, blogged with, tweeted with and even roomed with! This is going to be so much fun. Happy Birthday to me! This is my official 40th birthday party present to myself.

Can't wait to see all you lovely ladies. If you ARE NOT currently registered, hop on the Blissdom Conference site and check it out!

Filed Under: blogging

Operation A-to-D – Analog to Digital Conversion Awareness

December 5, 2008 By speppel Leave a Comment

You may think this is nuts but I am seriously worried about the day that television channels stop broadcasting in analog — which will be ON FEBRUARY 17, 2009. Now, I certainly support more advanced technology and our efforts to "come up in the world" with cleaner and more efficient broadcasting.

So why is this bothering me? The TV has become a major source of communication and entertainment in our country, sometimes to our detriment since families fight over which channels to watch, whether a program was taped on time, and over the whole idea that watching TV is better than spending time together. But, given our current techno-climate, imagine family members IN MASS not knowing why they can't see their TV. Anger and frustration are bound to set in over this.

According to Dick De Jong on the DTV transition site, there is plenty to be worried about if you are not prepared. Basically, if your TV needs airwaves to get a signal (i.e. using an antennae) you need a converter box which may or may not make your reception better, affects the use of a VCR and may be expensive to purchase if you did not order your 2 coupons being provided by the government.

Dick advises the following in regards to the coupons and then summarizes what you need to do:

These coupons do not automatically appear in your mailbox. You need to request them. You can apply for coupons online at dtv2009.gov or call 1-888-DTV-2009. After you receive the coupons, you need to buy the boxes. Most major retailers like WalMart, Best Buy and Radio Shack have them in stock. You can also order them online from a variety of sources.

To recap, if you are receiving over-the-air programming and your old TV does not have a digital, ATSC tuner, then it will not be able to tune into your local stations after February 17, 2009. To keep watching TV, you have three options:

Purchase a digital to analog converter box.
Subscribe to a satellite or cable service.
Buy an ATSC tuner equipped TV.

Dick also adds many of the technical terms that are hard to understand so I greatly appreciate his summary here.

When I put out a request for information on this, one person responded that elderly people are so upset about having to pay for the new technology that the organization is trying to suggest alternatives such as Free Tube to see free channels online. The only (rather HUGE) downside to Free Tube is that it requires familiarity with the internet (not to mention Internet access).

I want to keep tracking this one because there is plenty more to talk about. Another person responded that in the conversion to digital, she lost PBS (the public broadcasting station). I wonder what they would think about that? Any more viewer loss? Could be pretty bad for business.

What can you add?

Oh, and I am starting an Operation A-to-D awareness campaign to help the elderly and otherwise confused beings like myself through the transition — but really don't know where to start! Want to help?

Filed Under: Operation A-to-D

Book Review: Then Along Came An Angel

December 5, 2008 By speppel 2 Comments

"Three days passed before he was joined by other angels who came to carry Mother home. I watched in awe as she opened her eyes normally for the first time in days and looked up intently. I knew she was immediately seeing a band of angels." p. 40 Then Along Came An Angel

In Then Along Came An Angel: Messengers of Deliverance, Julie Bonn Heath has compiled a delightful and inspiring collection of individuals who have experienced God's presence in a very real and sometimes mysterious way. She begins the book sharing that she has never seen an angelic being but felt the strong need to compile the stories of people who had an "angel experience."

Stories are broken into three sections titled Heavenly Intervention, Earthly Form and Life-Changing Directions. In Heavenly Intervention, mysterious events are recounted including kids pulled back by an unseen hand from danger as their car tipped over a dangerous ledge, a child lifted upstream to safety by someone other than her father — when no one was around, and several incidents of attackers and dogs scared off by something they could see but the storyteller could not.

In Earthly Form, Heath has gathered evidences of mysteriously present individuals coming to the aid of people in trouble. Stories include a farmer on a fencepost in dead winter there to help a man with a truckload of logs on an dangerously icy hill and a desperately needed mechanic showing up from nowhere in the middle of the night.

In Life Changing Directions, a girl is stopped from walking past known felons waiting for her around the corner. The man who stopped felt an incredibly powerful sense of something wrong, gave her a ride home in the car with his children and a dog, and reported it to the police who found the guys and realized what might have happened. Many more stories share how God used humans and angels in divine encounters, preventing tragedy or accident.

Heath's book serves as an excellent reminder of the spiritual world surrounding us. When we open our eyes to acknowledge the presence of God in every circumstance, we are blessed beyond measure knowing that He is in control and we are not alone. I believe that people of all faiths can appreciate these stories and be inspired.

Through an e-mail interview with Julie, I found out the following about the author:

Could you share part of your Christian testimony – like how and when you became saved?

I became saved at the age of 4. My mom ran Good News Clubs through Child Evangelism Fellowship and every club day we had loads of kids converge in our living room to participate. One night after club she was tucking me into bed and we talked about the Bible Story from that day. Then she helped me accept Jesus.

Who were some of the instrumental Christian influences in your life growing up?

Definitely my parents and one of the most important things that they taught me is the importance of service in ministry. They were AWANA leaders/directors, Sunday School teachers and more. (Yes, I was at church 4 days a week!) But as a result, ministry is so very important to me and I also teach my kids the same ministry ethic that I was raised with. We currently teach children's church and also just started helping with our local Young Life. We have also been AWANA and Vacation Bible School Teachers.

What response have you gotten from the book?

I guess the most memorable was when bestselling angel author Joan Wester Anderson wrote me a note. She said that she knew I didn't ask for a review but that all the stories were GREAT and that we can never have enough angel stories.

Was there a specifically powerful story that has come out of people reading the book that you would tell given the chance? (Here's the chance!)

There are many powerful stories. They are all impactful to me in some way or I wouldn't have included them in the book. Some of my faves include "Miraculous Return" by Robin Woods when an abducted toddler is returned home by an angel who walks him across a busy highway, "The Army Outside my Window" by Lea Peters when an entire fleet of angels surrounds her home in a war zone and "Mikey" by Michele Cotton-a story about how a virtual stranger urges the author and her girls to get out of their car-right before it catches fire. But there are several more in addition to those.

For more reviews of this book, check out the TOUR SCHEDULE! RIGHT NOW the book is retailing at AMAZON for $11.55.

ALSO, There is a big prize for one "Heavenly Commentor" among the participating blogs. A gift bag worth $118.00! (Go see all the goodies you will win here.) Just leave a COMMENT on this post to win and visit other posts for more chances.

I can also win prizes for the most comments, so PLEASE help us both out and comment!

Filed Under: Book Reviews

Things I Love Thursday: Christmas Wreath

December 4, 2008 By speppel 2 Comments

Today I am linking up to the very fun The Diaper Diaries Things I Love Thursday. Why? Because there are lots of things I love but today I want to share with you a review item that was sent to me. Precious few review items, as great as they are, get the "I LOVE IT" title.

When I heard I was getting a Grandma D's 24" holiday wreath, I thought, "Okay, a wreath, that's nice." But when it arrived, I was pleasantly surprised with the freshness, size and variety built into the wreath. The description in the enclosed brochure reads:

"This beautiful 24" Oregon Wreath is bursting with fresh cedar, juniper berries and pinecones topped with a warm velvet bow. Free shipping!"

Arriving before Thanksgiving, I left it in the box in my cold garage until after we got back from traveling over the holiday. Pulling it out today, I still found a very fresh and delightful centerpiece for my door. It is the only Christmas decoration I have up at this point and makes for a warm welcome. The bow was different than pictured in the brochure but I was happy nonetheless!

The wreath retails for only $29.95, which is a bargain in our area. Grandma D's also offers 20" centerpieces that retail for $39.99 and another 24" wreath with a Silver Bulb Bow retailing for $34.95. I am seriously considering ordering some for gifts to family out of state. I LOVE IT! (Ohh, and if you enter code W0834 when ordering, you will receive free UPS Ground shipping in the USA.) Check HERE for prizes you can win for commenting! I can win too (for the most comments) so please a comment today!

I also LOVE that my mom made a whole board of our childhood in celebration of my twin brother and I turning 40 on Dec. 16th! Too fun! We got to see it when we went home over Thanksgiving.

Okay, I am just full of love today because I also love to see gas at THESE prices:
Of course, it was in the middle of NOWHERE Virginia – about 5 hours from here. Oh well. Easy come, easy go.

Have a wonderful & lovely day and go check out more Love Linkies at Diaper Diaries who just loves Dove products today!

Ohhh, I also love Julie Bonn Heath's post about Finishing Your Book that I just saw. I even printed it which I NEVER do with blog posts. Julie actually hooked me up with the wreath & Grandma D's and tomorrow I will be posting a review of her compilation book of angel stories, called Then Along Came An Angel. Check back here tomorrow! I will also be doing a number of reviews and giveaways next week on Reviewsings with Jo-Lynne — head on over there too for lots of great info!

Filed Under: Things I Love Thursday

The Ultimate Christmas List: The Ten Commandments

December 2, 2008 By speppel Leave a Comment

Today, I have to admit I started the day overwhelmed, returning from the Thanksgiving holiday and preparing for a short Christmas season. There is much to do and to get done. Lists to create and check off. You can relate, right? But lists are a good thing because they help us prioritize and remind us of which things to do first. They keep the various segments of our life in order and free our minds to get the various tasks done. When I told my aunt over Thanksgiving that my memory was slipping as I get older, she quickly said, "I make lists so I don't have to remember."

On that note, I decided to stop all my own vain efforts and begin my day fresh with meditation and prayer. I stepped over the laundry piles and closed the door on suitcases still waiting to be emptied. Pouring a fresh cup of coffee, I opened my Bible at random. There in the Word, staring at me plain as day, was Exodus 20:1-17. The most powerful list we were ever given. The Ten Commandments.

Tears of conviction came to my eyes as I read the most important reminders we could ever receive — even more applicable during this Christmas season, when we constantly have to keep at the mental forefront the true meaning of the season – God's ultimate gift of love and sacrifice – sending His son who died for our sins and was raised up as our Lord and Saviour.

I found myself asking: where am I putting idols of pride and seasonal gluttony before godly discipline and self-control, and what am I coveting that is getting between me and God? Fancy Christmas decorations? Gifts that are more lavish than we can afford? Items for me when so many non-profits are asking for donations?

God gave us the following list so that we would remember His priorities for our lives.

Exodus 20:1-17 (NKJV)

1. And God spoke all these words, saying:

2. I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

3. You shall have no other gods before Me.

4. You shall not make for yourself a carved image — any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth;

5. you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me,

6. but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.

7. You shall not take the name of the Lord you God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.

8. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10. but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work; you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle. nor your stranger who is within your gates. 11. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.

12. Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you.

13. You shall not murder.

14. You shall not commit adultery.

15. You shall not steal.

16. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

17. You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey; nor anything that is your neighbor's."

Now that is a list! Enjoy the freedom this season that comes from sticking to the list!

Filed Under: Religion