Sound the trumpets! I'm givin' sumpthin' away!

Tell your neighbors, tell your friends--read my blog dammit!

This is my very first give away, and it is a cool one, especially if you have a bunch of crumb-snatchin' littles runnin' around the ole homestead. (I've really got to stop the Frontierville-speak, it's a sickness I tell ya!)

A little bit of a backstory here...

I'm an Auntie, but you all know that. What you may or may not have known is that I was also at one time an Elementary/Special Edumakation (he he) major. I love learning about how the rugrats learn, and I only switched majors because I ran out of courses I could take in the evenings. (I work full-time and have adult responsibilities unfortunately, so I couldn't continue my classes, which sucked because I was awesome at that major...4.0 GPA. Then I switched to Marketing. Let's just say I'm reeeeeeally not cut out to be a businesswoman, but I want that stupid piece of paper anyway!)

Anyhoo, my wonderful S.I.L. (Hello Nanners!) was talking with me one day about how she and my Brother (Hey Johnny-boy!) were trying to figure out a new chore system for their house. No kidding guys, the very next day I was on one of the blogs that I lurk often (I'm a lurker, I can admit it, I don't always comment but I do read a lot of blogs) and saw this card game. Long story short, I got on their website and ordered it.

I waited about a week and a half and still hadn't received my little gift for my brother. So, I contacted PayPal, who in turn, contacted the seller at the site. Turns out, the seller was having issues at the time with PayPal not emailing the orders to them in a timely fashion (bad PayPal! very very bad!). She assured me that she would drop my order in the mail that very day. And behold! I received my shipment three days later!

The company involved is called Fundoodies (how cute is that?) and they can be found at http://www.fundoodies.com/ and the girl who handles these orders is THE BEES KNEES man! Because she sent me TWO SETS! One to give to my fam, and one to do whatever with. So, I'm giving it away to ya'll!

This is what it looks like:

Now, this is a game for your kids to teach them how to do chores. It's personalizable for your fam, and has a cool little chart to go with it. I gave my SIL the game over the weekend and she was thrilled. The nephews couldn't wait to give it a try, which of course, is the reason I'm an awesome Auntie--who else could get the kiddos excited about doing work?

So, here are the rules (this is a contest, of course there are rules!):

1.) Please take a gander at the fundoodies website...let's give this wonderful lady some love!

2.) In the comments section of this post, answer this question: "What was your least favorite childhood chore?" (I can't wait to see what gets posted here...)

3.) I will hold the contest open for one week and it will close at 8PM on Friday, October 8, 2011.

4.) I will draw one person's post at random and they will win the giveaway.

4 1/2.) Hey, show me some bloggy love and give me a follow if you get the chance ;) (not necessary to win--I don't want to be accused of bribery).

Ahhhh, Philosophy...

...How useless I find you to be...to be, what is useless??? What is to be??

Um, yeah.

This class is a total waste of my time. Much the same as Algebra was. Never mind the fact that I just got my first test back and it was a 70%...which doesn't make me (overachiever) happy at all. I hate classes where there no black, no white, only shades of gray. Be freakin' specific! Give me the right answer and I'll learn it.

Not only that, but, every time I see the name Socrates, I think of Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (So-crates! lol, I'm afraid I'll actually call him that name because that is how I have pronounced it since 1989.)

Of course the most wonderful thing about that class is that the professor is the same age as me...that makes me feel sooooooooo unbelievably old. It doesn't help that the two girls that sit in front of me are high school juniors and I could have given birth to them. Nope, that's definitely not helping. Oh and this is a quote from one of them: "I um, know you are like, older than us, but, um, like how old are you?" My response: "Shut the hell up whippersnapper!" just kidding... "35." Then she says "Duuuuuude, like, I didn't think you were that old, my Mom's only like, a year older than you! I thought you were like 28 or something!" Then I told her to turn around and not speak to me for the rest of her natural life. Just kidding. I did give her the old stink eye though.

Annnnnyway, back to the class...

Tonight's topic was "what is good?" Of course, lots of things popped into my head...coffee, chocolate, tequila, chili-cheese fries, beer, chocolate raspberry cheesecake...but that's apparently not what was meant by the topic. Literally, we talked about what "good" is...I'm still not sure what the answer was, sounded like a bunch of pontificating to me, but Philosophy, I'm finding, is mostly B.S. that was given a name so a bunch of pretentious people could try to out-talk one another.

Seriously, do you know what "wasting my time is?" how about "what spending my money on a ridiculous class that has no bearing on the real world whatsoever is?"

I have never known an hour and a half to tick tick tick by so painfully slowly. Algebra wasn't even that boring. At least in that class, the professor wrote notes so fast that your hands were busy copying, even if you weren't paying any attention.

What a long day...

So today I had to do something that I absolutely detest. I had to go to the funeral home. The worst part about it all was that the viewing was for a very young man who lost a battle with a diseased liver. Such a terrible waste.

No offense to the funeral director, who I love (Hi Mr. Edder! You truly are one of the most wonderful people I know!) but I have been to his "parlor" way too much in the past few years. The young man was a veteran, which also wasn't easy because the local VFW does a prayer service at the viewing and I was just in time (talk about lousy timing) to see it. My problem is not with the VFW (you guys are wonderful men, and I thank God every day for those of you who put themselves in harm's way to keep us free) or with the prayer service (I pray a lot myself) but they are so hard to listen to without crying like a baby. The gentlemen from the VFW were the same that were there for my Dad's funeral, I recognized so many of the faces. One of the hardest parts is watching these men, all at different stages in their life (I'm talking even ones that you can tell struggle to walk), file by the casket and salute the deceased. Even now, writing about it I am tearing up. Talk about love, family, comraderie, and just plain respect. Umkay, I'm moving on. Rest in peace Michael, you deserve it. Say hi to my family please? Tell them I love them.

Aaaaaanyhoo....after that ball of fun, I went to my brother's house with a surprise for my nephews. I had bought them each their very own desk. They were so excited. My poor brother had to assemble them right away because the munchkins couldn't wait to organize their little workspaces (they are so much like me sometimes--including an addiction to stationary supplies--okay, maybe I feed that madness a litte, but I'm their aunt and that's what I do...nuff said.).

I didn't spend a ton of money on the desks (they were $39 at Wallyworld) but they were supercute and should take them clear to college. They are both identical with metal frames and a glass top that is red glass. The kids reallllllllly got a kick out of them, and I got many many many hugs in return, which as any aunt will tell you is why we spoil them! I helped them sort out the office supply stashes I brought for them (what? come on, like I couldn't part with some paperclips and rubber bands?) they took their time loading some notebooks and other personal touches. I also gave them each a glass that belonged to my Grandmother and they put their pens and pencils in them. I love that my little guys totally get how special family things are like that. They were so excited to get something that was Great-Grandma's that those glasses almost outshone their spanking new desks. My brother is really teaching them the respect of things like that and I love it.

I'll post pictures once the littles have had a chance to totally personalize their little spaces. I think it will be way more interesting to see how each "decorates" their area.

I didn't get home tonight until 10PM...poor Sweetie. He's barely seen me at all this week, and I miss him so much (third shift--you suck butt!), and I can tell he misses me. Now that school is in full swing, I am at class after work Monday through Thursday until 7:20, and after my commute home, I don't walk in the door until 8:20. That would be on the days that I don't have errands to run (grocery shopping, you are right up there with third shift...). I'm looking forward to tomorrow though, because I'm going to go see Eclipse. I'm going by myself because anyone who would be interested in watching it has already done so. I'm late to the party on the whole Twilight thing, but I'll bring you up to speed on the mania of reading the "saga" really soon. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll want to put me in a straight jacket and send me to a rubber room...

Well, it is now 12:30 in the morning, and I do need to get some sleep, so, until next time peeps!

Hello Again.

It has been so long since I've posted anything. I'm sorry, and I promise to never stay gone this long again! Mwuh! I've missed you.

The summer went by in the biggest flash that I'm still checking to make sure that all of my body parts are attached. We had a wonderful summer filled with screeching children in the pool, visits from family, a new car for Michelle, a wedding for Wes & Hailey (congratulations to the beautiful newlyweds), lots of golf (for Mike--my golf clubs were sorely neglected this summer), and me knee-deep in wedding plans for next year.

Oh, and LOTS of hotdogs and hamburgers on the grill.

I promise to fill you in with lots of pictures, stories of newly married friends, impending births, our garden, fireworks, stories about our crazy poochies, and my new love--the Twilight Saga (yes, I've gone to the dark side).

Unfortunately, I have to get ready for work right now, so I must move along and get my crazy puppies outside. I will be back tomorrow for a longer post...and maybe some funny stories about my failed summer dieting attempts.

((((HUGS)))) I promise never to leave you for this long again!