Me oh My and Doin' the DIY

Flibbertygibbitz! 

I missed my weekly post. Seems Rina was rather horrified by my egregious error (those yawning faces are a hoot sometimes, aren't they? *grin*) Have you ever noticed you can zip along in your groove for awhile and suddenly hit one of life's potholes and everything goes KAFLOOEY? (er, that's a technical term). This particular pothole is what is commonly referred to in the South as, "The Crud". Some stupid viral sinus thing that requires a trip to the doctor and a hypo to the hip (which I've now had twice in the past three weeks). Grrr. The classroom teacher and I have officially declared a moratorium on hugs until further notice. We still love you (but from a much safer distance).

A sincere thank you to Confessions of a Struggling Dressage Rider for the Stylish Blogger Award. Being somewhat insecure when it comes to my blogging skills I can't help but wonder if people really mean these or simply run out of folks to give it to. I was taken aback that the rules dictate you are to select 15 people. Fifteen? As in 5 more than 10? Wow. Seems like an awful lot of folks to me; except that some of us [raising hand] cannot possibly tack one more item on the bottom of the two mile long To Do List written in two point type that currently rules overruns is running over their life* (my profound party pooping apologies to all).

   *Or more accurately explains the utter lack thereof ;o)

I suppose I should at least take a whack at the seven things about me, so here goes. Read 'em at your own risk or just skip to the next paragraph...

1. I am a ridiculously pick eater. I did not eat pizza until I was in high school and wouldn't eat mashed or baked potatoes until my late 20's *grin* Weird but true. Here is a short [and shocking] list of some of the things I STILL do not like: Soda, coffee, tea, fizzy anything, grapefruit, yogurt, gravy, sauces, salad dressing, dips, BBQ sauce (a sin in the south), whipped cream, sour cream, cream cheese, lasagna, mustard, ketchup, mayo, coffee, chili, oatmeal, soup (except for my buddy Kellye's awesome potato soup and Campbells Chicken Noodle in the can) vegetables in general, and any kind of bean (except for cocoa beans, because duh - chocolate ;o) 
2. I have (sadly) been known to out-eat my husband via the things I DO like. Details are most definitely unavailable for this one (and moo on me).
3. A few years ago I discovered (guess how) that a person can lose almost 5 pints of blood and not die. I will say, however, that it does make one feel terribly tired. I did get excellent chauffer service at warp speed via wheelchair (90mph to a hospital room and a couple pints of O+ ASAP). Seems I sprung a leak (internal hemorrhage) after my reconstruction; I was actually pouring it out myself each time I emptied my four drains (oops). I finally went to see my GP because "I really didn't feel very well" (and color him quite surprised by the why *grin*). I shall now state the obvious: God is most awesome, as I came within a hair of putting it off until the next morning; I would not have made it through the night.
4. I have entertained secret fantasies about slapping the snot out of the Neulasta lady on those TV commercials. Do you know the one I mean? I'm talking about the attractive and strangely cheerful woman who chirps, "I'm ready to fight my cancer..." Ready? Ready?? Oh, Puh-LEEZE! Honey when I was diagnosed with cancer I was ready too: TO RUN SCREAMING IN THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION. Ready. Ha.
And, finally:
5. I am a sporadic non-conformist who is mathematically challenged; it crops up now and again. Apparently it's cropping up now, 'cause I'm only on number five and I'm SO done.

Next subject please. Sometimes I think we just need to do things ourselves. I doesn't always have to be the "If you want it done right..." scenario. Maybe it's just because things didn't work the way you thought they would and it's time for a Plan B; maybe Plan A got a little too expensive. I learned how to lay ceramic tile that way when we remodeled our house way back when. We shot our wad on tiling the bathroom, which left no labor money to do the kitchen counter tops and back splashes. Since we knew ahead of time (via the estimate) I followed the tile guys all over the place asking 9 million questions and then did the job myself. I can't say it's perfect (oh so far away) but I was definitely affordable :o) The same holds true with crocheted names. Have you ever seen them? I've crocheted I don't know how many names for folks, but didn't know much about the mounting and framing process. When I learned how hideously expensive it was, I figured I might want to learn how to do that part too (why not, right?) It's a pain, but it sure can save you a bundle going with the DIY.

As much as I love hosting giveaways, (they are fun-fun-fun!) I really can't afford to do them as often as I would like to. It may sound stupid, but little things like that tend to add up quickly and there are way too many other obligations and goals for the non-profit that outrank any unnecessary stuff. Rather than completely scratch them off the list, I thought we could try to find a solution. I asked Max for his input and he said he'd sleep on it: 

I think we have found the answer, but I would like to know what you all think. Having tried a few of those annoying ad revenue sites and earning a whopping $1.63 in a 10-month period (and har-de-har-har with a minimum of $10 to payout, right?) I think we might be better off going it alone. Max volunteered Champ to be the billboard, as he's the one with the biggest boo-tay (ergo the largest available space to rent *grin*). I'm thinking that for a $5 donation (to cover packaging materials and postage) we could have a "sponsor" for each giveaway. 
The donation is tax deductible and the ad would stay up on the blog for a week or two (possibly longer if life throws me a curve). I have a whole box of goodies for giveaways; I've been picking up all kinds of fun stuff over the past umpteen months whenever I find a great deal (boo-yeah). So how about it? Would you do it? I'm asking this realistically as all too often what happens is that everyone says YAAAY great idea and then we all sit around expecting someone else to actually do it (hopefully you know what I mean - I've been guilty of it too - and I certainly don't want to offend anyone). Thoughts? Oh, and in case you'd rather not use Champ's *cough* space (although he doesn't mind a bit), I can whip up a nifty little graphic to match your site all for your very own :o)

Ay-Yi-Yi I almost forgot...Okay, I didn't really I just wanted you to read the whole post (mwah-ha-ha :o) Congratulations to...

Rebecca

at There's a Horse Outside my Window. If you'll give me your mailing address, I'll pop the bag and keyring in the mail to you.

Well, I guess that just about wraps it up. Although I'm not officially participating, the theme for Brenda's Photo Challenge this time is "frozen" and I had this cool shot of The Girls' water trough:

 

Isn't that weird? They are all long and skinny except for that one little piece near the date stamp that looks oddly like a leaf. Ann has some supercool "frozen" shots on her blog for the challenge (and I'll just bet Catherine does too, although I haven't gotten there yet this morning). 

Have an awesome day everyone! The bad ones are just too much trouble :o)