Thursday, June 12, 2008

Did I Mess Up?

OK everyone, just have to vent a little. So please excuse my little rant here. As I've mentioned before I like to visit Kristin Armstrong's blog, Mile Markers. She's a creative writer, and I can relate to so many of her posts. Well, several weeks ago she had a great post Orange Shorts. As I was reading through the comments that readers had left, I was particularly annoyed by one reader, CGT, who had commented several times on a grammatical mistake in Kristin's post. Mind you, this blog is written by a mom and runner and gives readers a little inspiration when it comes to balancing all the stuff that comes with being a parent who has interests and a life. Well, I thought it was a little odd that someone would take the time to be fairly "ugly" in her comments when they really had nothing to do with the spirit of the post. (Thanks to all of you for never pointing out any of my writing errors...I try to use spellcheck when I remember and double check my posts before I publish...stuff surely slips by...blogging, for many of us, is like a journal or that quick note you would jot to a friend...all things that we don't worry about being scrutinized for grammatical errors) Anyway, it just irked me to see all of the real negative comments that this particular blogger continued to make about this post.

Fast forward to yesterday evening, when I was reading Kristin's latest post Some Like It Hot, Hot, Hot, all about running in this awful Texas heat and humidity. As usual, I browsed through the comments and found it quite ironic that the infamous CGT had posted not once but twice with the very common grammatical mistake of writing "alot" as one word instead of the correct "a lot." Since she had done it in two different posts, I figured it wasn't just a typo and since it was midnight and I was a bit tired and perhaps not thinking straight, I typed a comment on Kristin's blog addressing the mistake. I thought if CGT was going to take the time to point out the grammatical errors of others (and not in a very kind way) I thought I would inform her of the mistake. Since I had just reviewed this with the sixth-grade students I had volunteered to tutor, the lesson was fresh in my mind.

Well, she didn't seem to take the helpful information very well and decided to poke a little fun at my blog and question what I was doing teaching sixth-grade students in Houston during the middle of June. I had actually volunteered to work with a group of students who had struggled in the writing portion of our state assessment (TAKS). These kids have a lot going on in their lives that isn't so great, so I felt this was a way I might be able to help. I'm having a blast working with them, and I'm probably learning as much from them as I hope they are learning from me.

In a way, I'm mad at myself for even writing the comment to CGT. It's just that she was so unkind in her comments. The comments weren't just about the grammatical error in Kristin's post but about Kristin herself. While I didn't make a comment during her initial criticisms, I couldn't help myself yesterday. Did I mess up? Should I just let stuff like that go? Now, CGT seems to have decided to make a little fun of me. This has just really irked me so I had to vent. Thanks for letting me let it out. I promise my next post will be much lighter and fun.
(No doubt, this post probably has some grammatical errors...let's make a pact that our posts don't have to be grammatically perfect and that if we can't say anything kind in our blog comments, we won't say anything at all.)

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Cute Bargains

An email I got yesterday from CWD Kids led me to some incredibly cute bargains that I had to pass along. Here are just a few of the deals I put into my shopping cart.what a cute pink and green seersucker skirt only 9.99!!

pink and green flip flops embroidered with little starfish only 9.99!!


Sweet Potatoes bathing suit in fun Marimeko design ~ 19.99

Matching Sweet Potatoes dress ~ 19.99

pink and green seersucker dress ~ 19.99

There were lots more great deals. Cute Sara's Prints pjs and Mulberribush t-shirts. Some really fun patriotic outfits, too, that would look adorable for the Fourth. Hope you'll discover some great finds, too!

Friday, June 6, 2008

Just Add Dots

I've discovered one of the most creative and nicest ladies around...Her name is Hazel, and she's an incredibly talented artist. I recently purchased one of her custom-designed handpainted keychains and I just had to share. I was able to customize everything from color combo (pink & green, of course) to the graphic and monogram. Her Etsy Shop, Just Add Dots, has a sampling of her creative products, and she also does custom requests. My keychain is adorable, and I've received a ton of compliments. The "ball" is about 1.5 inches in diameter so it's easy to find in your purse. She paints these super cute keychains with whimsical portraits of your children.

Check out Hazel's blog so you can keep up with her new creations as well as her crazy, busy life as a mom and artist.

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Garnet Hill Bargains




Just wanted to pass along a great bargain find...I just ordered these two adorable Lilly suits from Growing Up With Garnet Hill-Kids' Clothing and Accessories for Bonus Baby at $19 each. They actually had several kids' Lilly items on sale as well as a bunch of other goodies. Just so happened, I came across a coupon code for $10 off a purchase of $50 or $20 off $100. I couldn't just buy the two suits and not use the coupon -- so to get to my $50 total I also purchased this cute button pillow for $9 and fun scooter skirt for $9. The code is G6KMENT. Go check out the clearance section on the Garnet Hill site, you'll find some real bargains.

Friday, May 23, 2008

May Is The New December

I'm officially declaring that this time of year is crazier & busier than the holidays. Between all of the end of year programs, celebrations, assemblies, tournaments, concerts, I truly am about to lose it -- hence the lack of posts. Somehow it seems that anything I find remotely fun like reading a book, surfing the web, playing some tennis or simply a good night's sleep all fall by the wayside once May arrives.

This weekend I'll be making 140 luggage tags for Big Brother's Fifth Grade Appreciation Celebration. Then it's working on clever gifts for the myriad of teachers, office staff, nurses, counselors, administrators, crossing guards, etc. who make school such a great place for my kids. I'll also be fitting in a soccer tournament, band concert, choir performance, preschool end of year party, Big Sis' braces removal, and I'm sure some other stuff I have forgotten and will undoubtedly remember the night before...

Good luck to all of you who are in this same boat. Let's hope it just stays afloat and reaches a safe harbor very soon.

Sunday, May 11, 2008

Nostalgic Notions


Tonight at dinner I found myself taking a trip down Memory Lane with my kids as I recalled some of my favorite tv shows and my celebrity crushes. Here's a bit of what I reminisced about...

  • Watching Pinky Tuscadero & Fonzie on "Happy Days." Fonzie really loved Pinky and I so hoped they would get married.

  • Crying like a baby when Jenny died with Greg at her bedside on All My Children

  • Hoping that Jamie Somers, the Bionic Woman, would remember how much she loved Steve Austin, the Six Million Dollar Man, and they would be a couple.

  • Listening to my Shaun Cassidy album over & over.
  • Quickly finishing my homework so I could watch Willie Aames on "Eight is Enough"; Lance Kerwin on James at 15 (and after he lost his virginity the show became James at 16); Shaun Cassidy on the Hardy Boys; and Jimmy McNichol (Kristy's brother) on some show that I cannot remember the name of. I also remember watching a tv movie of the week with Jimmy McNichol where he was a hockey player and became a figure skater and his girlfreind was his partner. At the end of the movie, he died in a plane crash and I cried for days.
  • Wearing my oh-so stylish Starsky & Hutch socks and wishing I was old enough to marry David Soul.

Those were the days, my friend...

Thursday, May 1, 2008

A Few Quirks

I have to admit I'm not the best at this "tagging" thing. I would always be the one to break the chain in a chain letter. Not that I had anything against chain letters or tagging, I just tend to forget, procrastinate, etc. until it seems too late to do it. I am going to try and make the effort. The Preppy Engineer recently tagged me with Six Quirky Things Meme. Mr. Madras would claim that I have a lot more than six quirks, but here are a few...

  1. I love pretzels -- all kinds -- soft or crunchy. My latest faves are pretzel chips. They're these flat cracker-like pretzels with an awesome crunch. They have a variety of flavors and I can buy a HUGE bag at Costco. I crunch and munch the whole day long.
  2. I am a "pronunciation snob." I cannot stand it when people misuse words or, worse yet, "mis-say" them. You know, like "supposebly" instead of "supposedly." Some that really get me are "Barnes & Nobles" and "Krogers" -- there is no "S" people. You don't say J. Crews or Targets. It's "Barnes & Noble" and "Kroger"!
  3. I am a huge fan of the San Antonio Spurs NBA team. I can hold my own in any conversation about the NBA and particularly the Spurs. Eva Longoria Parker's husband, Tony Parker, is their starting point guard and one awesome player.
  4. I have to chew Orbit peppermint gum and wear Bigelow Mentha Lip Shine when I play tennis. I'm convinced the aromatherapy and peppermint help me focus.
  5. I have to wear socks all the time whenever I'm in a hotel. Whether it's a Motel 6 or The Greenbrier, I've got to have my socks on.
  6. I'm addicted to joining those book clubs like Doubleday, Literary Guild, etc. I keep joining, cancelling, rejoining, etc. Something about those ads "Get 8 books for $2" seems like such a bargain and I cannot stay away.

Just a few of my quirks...What are yours?
Rules of play:

a. Link the person who tagged you. That’s Me

b. Mention the rules in your blog post.

c. Tell about 6 unspectacular quirks of yours.

d. Tag 6 bloggers by linking to them.

e. Leave a comment on each of the tagged blogger’s blogs letting them know they have been tagged.


I'm tagging
Tickled Pink & Green
Magnolia Mama
Abnormally Normal
Preppy Pink Crocodile
Boo and Hooties Mom
Just Add Dots