Wednesday Deals... Thank Goodness I've Nothing To Do Today!

Today is the only day this week I'm not buried in appointments. I have an extensive list of phone calls I need to make and take, forms to fill, important things to get in the mail, etc.

What I want to do is pull my soft pink blanket up around my barely-connected head and sleep. I've been able to get little sleep the last 4 nights because someone in the house has been snoring. Anyone have any cures for snoring? I can't wear ear plugs because sometimes I'm the only one in the house who can wake up to a noise. Some of them can sleep right through an alarm right beside their head on a regular basis. I'm afraid to leave my life in the hands of the sleep-deaf.

I've already seen to one of the things not on the list, only to find out something which was promised to have been done days ago isn't even in the works yet. It's not a big deal, but I had hoped to make the list shorter and shorter as the day wore on, not longer. Let's hope the rest of the day is more fruitful. This also adds something to my list which wasn't previously important enough to be list-worthy.

I'm feeling a little like the red guy already!

Oh boy! I've called the dentist. They haven't called back. It's been hours. What takes so long? I did the taxes. At first I thought we were going to have to pay 22 dollars and some odd cents. Now it looks as if we are getting a bit of a refund.

Then... I called Case Western Law School. After calling nearly 3 weeks ago and leaving a voice mail for a woman who doesn't work on Fridays, I decided it was time to call again. See the little red guy? ALL of his cousins came out for this one. The lady was extremely rude. She was so rude I thought I was going to have to pull out my snooty 'tude with her. That's the one where I get very calm and speak slowly and deliberately until the person gives in and decides to be nice. Not only was she rude, but I ended the call with nary a lick of information. Of course, Miss Nice did not identify herself.

This turn of events has put me at a dead stop as far as the FAFSA is concerned. I think the FAFSA folks think it's a big deal whether it is two family members who will be attending Univeristy for the year, or three.

I've left another voice mail for Kelly - the only way you can contact her, apparently. There's no way she answers that line - ever. I'm still waiting for her to call me back since yesterday. I guess I'll eat lunch and move on to the rest of the list. I wanted to have the important things done first. So much for the plan according to me.

Mmmm Mmmmm Machu Picchu Restaurant - Cleveland, Ohio

After walking around the auto show all afternoon, we were ready to eat. We had decided to try Machu Picchu restaurant in downtown Cleveland. We'd enjoyed Peruvian food in Caracas at El Tizon, and missed it.

We started with "Papa a la Huancaina" (thick slices of boiled potato topped with a Peruvian yellow cream sauce. Served cold with a slice of egg and an olive) Then, we had this great dish called "Lomo Saltado". It's a big plate with a bed of french fries (the kind where you take fresh potatoes and cut them by hand and fry them) Then, on that bed of french fries there's stir fried beef, peppers, onions and tomatoes. And a big beautiful scoop of white rice in the middle. It's perfection! Anyone who chooses to eat fries and great rice at the same meal wins my love. The presentation itself was so pleasing I decided to actually use the camera in my phone. If I can figure out how to get the picture to my computer I'll post it here later.

Oh, I almost forgot to mention the lovely little rolls they brought us! They were so good we ordered a dozen to bring home.

Thanks Peru, for offering us such tasty treats!

Update: I managed to get the picture sent from my phone to my email. The picture doesn't do it justice, sadly. It was much more colorful than this picture shows. In order to be fair, we'll go again soon - when we have birthday dinner for my daughter in a couple of weeks.

Making My List... Obsessing Over it

I know they say Santa made his list and checked it twice... but come on - really? Is that enough?

When I make a list I must check it compulsively. I've been told by close family members that I am even compulsive about my list making. (They're just jealous. It's totally healthy to make the same list every day.) One of my lists is Things I Want To Win This Year. So far, I've won some things; a Wii, gift cards, and cash (for furniture). I want to get the things on my list this year, I'll have to kick into high gear.

I'm thinking karma, because I got what appeared to be junk mail 3 days ago. It was a plain business envelope from Chrysler. I opened it and it was two tickets to the auto show this weekend. I'm going to go and enter every drawing I can find. I want to win a red Chrysler Town and Country. Wish me luck!

This Is What A Little Bit Of Heart Will Get Ya'...

Thanks to Kevin at Fuel My Blog and everyone who voted for me I have a new set of beside tables I Love!


Another word of thanks to Bombay Company online for having the tables on sale for less than their clearance price with free shipping for President's Day. Not only that, but they arrived the day after I ordered them. I can't ask for better service than that!

I'm delighted with my tables, and did the "Hooray for my new tables dance" last night.

Can you tell I'm happy??

Baby Love - The Little Sister Protection Program

This is our snookums. She's the baby of my cousin. She has an older sister who is 4. I had two girls, then two boys. The 'Little sister' of my brood has recently claimed snookums should come and live with us, in the Little Sister Protection Program. She's snuggly and smiley and as sweet as can be. Her older sister is adorable, too. According to my daughter, the big sister can't be in the Little Sister Protection Program. It's against the rules or something.

Love Lives Here:

This is the old hog house at my grandparent's house. We all call their estate "Home", even though it's just the two of them actually living there full time. The sound of the gravel in the drive under the tires of an incoming car is unlike any other driveway in the world. There are 8 grandchildren and 16 great grandchildren so far, and each of us feel connected in a special way to everything about this place.

I got my first crush on Johnny Cash, listening to him at their house. I remember a blizzard in the 70s when we grilled steaks in the fireplace. We've eaten a metric ton of homemade ice cream and fried fish and noodles. The whole place is magical - it's like our own private DisneyWorld. There are tractor rides instead of teacup rides, there's sledding down the hill instead of roller coasters. There are always magical characters at meal time, with no special reservations required. There's a parade from kitchen to front room, which never stops. Music can, at times, be provided by the player piano.

Index this!

I found a great new blog today and believe I could sit here and look at every post before moving to do anything else! Here is a sample of some of her work: "Perception As Diagnosis"

4D - Best Ice Cream Ever!

The best ice cream I've had anywhere in the world is in Venezuela at 4D. Since it's pronounced in Spanish it sounds to my ears like "Quatro Day". The yummiest, most flavorful ice cream anywhere. Great berry, hazelnut to die for, and I wouldn't throw a stick at their chocolate either. The whole family was always happy to stop and grab some 4D. If you're ever in Venezuela, don't miss this wonderful treat!

Do You Know The Secret?

This is the best information you'll ever get. I thought it was pretty much the way life worked, and never realized it was supposed to be a secret. Rhonda Byrne fills us in on "The Secret". There's a book, a dvd, and a twenty minute online video you can watch - a preview of the dvd. You can watch the whole movie online for 4.95. If you want to buy the dvd after watching it, you can take the 4.95 you paid to watch it off the price of the dvd. Who could ask for a better deal?

The Secret was also covered on an an Oprah show. It's in segments. This is the 1 of 5. This is not to be confused with the actual video. They are two different things.

New Secrets Every Sunday

Post Secret has new secrets each Sunday. There were 4 or 5 secrets I really appreciated this week.

It reads:
"I randomly met this girl on the train and took her picture. I wonder where she is now. It's been 5 years."

iLove

Since we're iPod crazy, I thought I'd mention a few of my favorite finds.

iPod Lounge is a great resource for anyone with an iPod. It has tons of information, downloads, ads directed to iPod users, articles, reviews and forums. They even have an iPod book download. Free, of course!

Then there's the U.S. constitution on your iPod, also free. The geek in my is truly tickled by carrying a copy of the Constitution of the United States on my iPod.

Then, as if this wasn't exciting enough, we have Encyclopodia.
It's Wikipedia for your iPod. Also a free download.

I'm sure there are more great places I don't know about - feel free to leave links and descriptions in the comments.

What Is Your iPod Wearing?

There are so many choices when it comes to how to dress your iPod. I remember when the silicone sleeve came out - it was like the 80's jelly shoes, iPod Style. Now there are so many types of iPod cases it would be a daunting task to try to list them all. Some of the ones I find most interesting are:

the jeweled bling-bling type case. It can be found at the JCPenney online outlet store, along with matching headphones.

The Tadpole case from ifrogz. This has to be the best case if you're going to allow your munchkin to handle your iPod. They also have Tadpole headphones. (At this writing the Tadpole headphones must be some type of military secret, as they require a user id and password to view them on the site) I have small ears and the iPod headphones hurt me. It's my opinion no small child should be using the headphones supplied with the iPod. The screen protector is a must, even if it's the only thing you order. I use one on my nano without a case. There are groovy grown up things there, too. iFrogs is doing giveaways every Tuesday. Their email says to see the site on Tuesdays between 2 and 4PM Mountain Time.


The Acme Wallet is certainly for grownups. I got my husband one of these for Christmas, and he loves the thing. It is all Italian leather sexy and chic.

I Won The Valentine's Poem Contest at Fuel My Blog!

Thanks to all who voted. I won $200 cash! I wasn't sure what to do with the money because I hadn't made any mental plans for it yet. The pressure is on now, though... Here's an excerpt from the winning email sent to me by Kevin, the site owner of Fuel My Blog :

"If you could do me one favour and send me a picture of what you spent it on, we'll put it on the blog! A kind of finale to the story, we're big in the press in two weeks, you'll get plenty more readers and money making opportunities I can assure you!"

Thanks Kevin! We'll send a picture as soon as we figure out exactly what we're going to do - and do it.

This is kind of limiting. There's no way to go buy $200 worth of toilet paper and paper towls and make it look romantic.

Here are some ideas I've entertained so far: cookware, glasses, (our set of 6 rosenthal highballs was most recently reduced to a single highball) a purse, a coat, towels, textbooks, dinner out, a microwave stand, a lamp, etc. (The list could go on for ages) It's likely the money will half go to a party I'm giving this weekend for the local teens at the Town Hall and the other half will go to baby clothes or formula. We'll have to see - I'm still quite undecided.

If you have any swell ideas of your own, leave a comment.

PostSecret - I'm Telling Your Secret

Every Sunday there are new secrets at Post Secret. Some secrets are funny, some are sad, some are mean. Pretty much like real life secrets - because they are sent in by real life people.

Do you dare post your secret at Post Secret ?

Petite Anglaise: A girl, a frog, and a tadpole

I can't say much about Petite Anglaise because you should read this yourself. A girl from England moves to Paris for a school gig. She stays in Paris well past the school gig. She meets Mr. Frog. They have an incredibly adorable, spirited Tadpole. Things happen - oh boy do they happen! She has upheaval in her romantic life, her work life, her home life -even her blog life! She writes well without becoming uppity or verbose, a quality I appreciate like no other.

Go check her out. Try not to become addicted - I double dog dare you.

Fuel Your Blog... You Never Know Who Might Show Up!

Kevin over at Fuel My Blog has asked me to ask everyone else to add your blogs to the wall of blogs. You never know who might show up in the blogulation (poetic license meaning blog population) over there on the walls of blogs.

For example, I've seen Senator John Edwards has a blog on the great wall. His blog is 3 up and 3 to the right from mine. As it turns out, I know the person with the blog to my left. And the person directly beneath my spot. The "One Red Paperclip" guy has a blog there, too. Remember him? He traded one red paperclip for a house. His blog is 2 over to the right and 3 up from mine.

It's fun to see who's there now. I have a sneaking suspicion it will be even more fun to see who's there later. Get in while you can. I highly recommend. And? It's totally free!

Where else do you get free fuel or great free advertisement?

Prime Real Estate in The Caracas Area?

The first time I ever went to Caracas my plane arrived after dark. As we rode from the airport right at the beach (therefore at sea level) up to the valley of Caracas the mountainsides shimmered with lights. I imagined the glory that must be the homes residing on that prime real estate. Wow... there must be so much weatlh in the oil-rich country of Venezuela. We arrived in Caracas that night and ate al fresco at a romantic restaurant. We stayed a very hice hotel. For a few days I went to places around Caracas. The largest mall in South America, many nice restaurants, etc. When it was time to leave the ride back to the airport happened in the light of day. Prime real estate, indeed!

A Valentine's Poem

If I had my way on Valentine's Day
I would wake up next to you.

If I had my way on Valentine's Day
I would talk with you over lunch.

If I had my way on Valentine's Day
You would come home to me.

If I had my way on Valentine's Day
We would share our evening in peace.

If I had my way on Valentine's Day
I would fall asleep in your arms.

Simple dreams do come true.
I'm so glad I get to spend my Valentine's Day with you!

I'm submitting this poem to the contest at:
http://www.fuelmyblog.com/Valentine%20Competition.htm

Please go there and vote for my poem to win! My husband has taken me lots of wonderful places. If you vote for my poem I could win a hotel stay or $200 cash. I could take him to a nice place with $200!