Bring It!

14

I'm too lazy and/or tired to post anything of real value today, so this will have to do. This test takes all of 45 seconds to complete and though some may find it offensive & mean, me and my not so PC sense of humor got a kick out of it. What's your score?

Teaching What, Exactly?

I once worked as a customer service rep for Barbie Collectibles, a division of Mattel. During my employment, Mattel came out with "Teacher Barbie". She was a pretty thing, as they all are, wearing a short, pouffy skirt, white blouse, sensible red shoes and matching red tie. Sounds like the picture of pure-fection, doesn't she?

Well, except that Mattel Elementary failed to do a pysch evaluation on "Miss Thang" and when the public found out that Teacher Barbie was standing before her class (two pupils were included in the box) without. wearing. panties. the public went all, "Oh no, you didn't!" on Mattel.

We got a lot of calls. A LOT. People were - and I'm not kidding here - outraged that Mattel would put Barbie in front of two kids, wearing a short skirt but without her personals. Mattel quickly pulled the tramp doll from the store shelves and she was later replaced with a more respectable version. New Teacher Barbie was now wearing painted on panties. You know, the non-removable kind. Mattel was not taking any chances. I even remember this story hitting the newspapers and morning shows.

*sigh*

But what I want to know is - where is the outrage over this:

Are you kidding me? Julia Roberts was dressed more conservatively in Pretty Woman! If you look closely at the one on the left, you can see through her skirt! If it's not bad enough that it's the size of a band-aid (a Barbie-sized band-aid, no less), you can see through it, too?!

Ugh. I think I just threw-up a little in my mouth.

This Barbie is definetly teaching the kids something but I don't think I like what it is. Questionable Reputation Barbie is moderately priced at $14.99. But is that hourly?

Meyer Monday

Introducing "Meyer Mondays". I got this gem of an idea from Jen over at Guidance for Victory who does "Moore Mondays" based on the teachings of Beth Moore. If you've ever had a conversation with me for more than ten minutes you have probably heard me quote something from Joyce Meyer. I think she's an incredibly sensible woman when it comes to her teachings of God's word. He has done so much in her life that it's hard to deny what she says about Him and how having a true relationship with God and following His words can lead you to a better life and a better self.

For the next nine weeks, I'll be posting segments from her book, "Being the Person God Made You to Be". I'll be covering the chapter titled, "Experiencing the Love of God". I hope you enjoy it and possibly take something from it.

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Have you ever asked yourself, "Am I lovable?" You may have immediately said, "No. I'm not!"

I thought I was unlovable before I came to understand the true nature of God's love and His reason for loving me. I was impatient with people, legalistic and harsh, judgmental, rude, selfish, and unforgiving. A breakthrough came in my life when God began to show me that I could not love others because I had never received His love for me. I acknowledged the Bible teaching that God loved me, but it was not a reality in my heart.

God can love us because He wants to; it pleases Him. Just as it is impossible for God not to love, so it is impossible for us to do anything to keep Him from loving us. Once you realize that you are loved by God, not because of anything you are or anything you have done, then you can quit trying to deserve His love or earn His love and simply receive it and enjoy it.

Once your heart is filled with the knowledge of God's awesome unconditional love, you can begin to love Him in return: We love Him, because He first loved us.

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In this the love of God was made manifest where we are concerned: in that God sent His Son, the only begotten or unique [Son], into the world so that we might live through Him. ~ John 4:9

Super Savings Saturday

Yes! It's that time again, boys and girls. Time to show you what FREE stuff looks like. Are you ready? Good. Here we go!

This first pic is from a CVS shopping trip last Saturday evening. If you didn't know this already, if you shop CVS Saturday evening you can take advantage of BOTH that week's deals plus the new week's deals. Another reason I *heart* CVS.

Anyway, in the pic below we have:
Approx. $59 worth of stuff. I don't have my calculator handy and I'm not running downstairs to get it for fear the kids will see me and "need" something. Anyway, after coupons and EBC's my total OOP was $15.05. Then, (this is the really cool part) I got back $19.00 in ECBs! So, basically, CVS paid me 4 bucks to buy all that stuff. Told ya it was cool!

Next, in this pic was have ALL FREE STUFF! Yep! You heard me. FREE STUFF!! How? Let me 'splain:

First - the Venus Embrace (how hairy do you have to be to need 5 blades, anyway?) was on sale for $9.99 plus $6.00 in ECBs bringing the price down to $3.99. I had a $4.00 coupon making this baby FREE!

Second - the two Johnson's Buddies soaps were priced .99 cents each. I had two $1.00 off coupons making those babies FREE!

Third - The Gillette Razors 3 pk were on sale for $8.99 plus $5.00 in ECBs bringing the price down to $3.99. I had a $4.00 coupon for this, as well, making those babies FREE, too.

Fourth - The toothpaste is on special this month: Pay $2.99 and receive $2.99 in ECBs = FREE!

Fifth - Same with the toothbrushes: Pay $4.99 and receive $4.99 in ECBs = FREE! Plus, I had a $2.00 off coupon for those, so I actually made a profit on the toothbrushes.

Are you sick of hearing the word "FREE", yet? I hope not, because there's more!

Next, is Walgreen's. If you haven't gone to get your EasySaver catalog at Walgreen's, please do so NOW! There are lots of FREE stuff you can get this month with rebates. Here's just a few:

The Garnier Fructis Hair Goo (goo, is a technical term, by the way) was $3.99. The Garnier Skin Renew was $12.99 and the Yes To Carrots Body Butter was $9.99. All three of these products are offered this month with FULL rebates making them FREE! Plus, if you have coupons, like I did, you actually end up making a tad bit o'profit with these. Nice, huh?

Not only that, you can request your rebates online at http://www.walgreens.com/ making the process even less painful. BONUS: If you opt to receive your rebates on a Walgreen's card, you earn an extra 10% back! Walgreen's actually PAYS YOU to get the rebates! How cool is that?

If you've decided you've had enough with paying for your everyday health and beauty items and would like to start getting them for free, please visit Crystal over at MoneySavingMom and check out her CVS 101 and Walgreen's 101 links on the right-hand side.

See you next week with more FREE STUFF!!

Life Comes At You Fast.

You know those insurance commercials that show as aspect of life just starting out and then suddenly everything is fast-forwarded to something, well, expected just not expected so soon? I especially like the one where the hunky, buff fella wearing only a speedo jumps into the pool at the far end but by the time he swims across and climbs out of the pool on the other he’s a frumpy, beer-bellied, grandpa-type still wearing just the speedo.

Now who really needs to see that?

Life came at me fast the summer after 6th grade when I gracefully and majestically entered into the standard “awkward phase” that strikes almost everyone around those preteen years. Here, let me show you:

Me, the summer between sixth and seventh grade:
Then, suddenly, BAM!! Seventh grade school pictures:
What the H-E-double hockey sticks happened here? Notice how the dress is the only recognizable similarity? Yeah, life came at me pretty fast back then but I think it’s safe to say it also beat me pretty severely with the You-Ain’t-Got-No-Alibi stick as well.

These days, I find that I’m no longer just jumping into the pool but, thankfully, I'm not getting out the other side either. I am somewhere in the middle still swimming along but, admittedly, the strokes are getting harder and I’m buoyant in some areas a little more than in others. And not the good areas either.

I chose not to have kids until, what I would consider, “the last minute” though many have started their families well after the age I did. I can tell you in complete honesty that I showed NOT ONE sign of aging until after the birth of my first child. Now suddenly, I’m coloring my hair for more than just the fun of it, buying my bras based solely on their level of comfort, finding 10 p.m. to be past my bedtime and considering the possibility that maybe, just maybe, skunk urine really does have anti-wrinkle properties.

Don’t laugh. If skunk urine proved to make Lindsay Wagner look like Lindsay Lohan, you’d be all over it.

Life is coming at me fast again. And not only does the joy of parenthood seem to make the aging process speedier and more apparent but the little kiddos are literally walking, talking, pooping little time tables running circles around me while I desperately try to figure out how to unlock the fast forward button.

Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised. ~ Proverbs 31:30

I take solace in this verse. All things in this world are temporary, even my once taught skin and naturally colored hair but a loving relationship with God is everlasting and is what is appreciated most by Him. In that, there is always beauty. And for that, I thank the Lord.

I also thank the Lord for the wisdom to remove the mirror in my bathroom that gave me the clear shot of my rear view as I exited the room. No one really needs to see that either.

At least I'm still swimming!

Thankful Thursday

Welcome to my first installment of Thankful Thursday hosted by Iris over at Sting My Heart. I have many things to be thankful for, too many to list, really. Above all else, I am thankful for Jesus Christ my Lord and Savior for it is through His sacrifice that I am, not only healed, but given a straight path through an open gate right into the kingdom of God. Amen!

But for this week, specifically, I am thankful for:

• Cough suppressant
• The person who had the idea to put lotion in tissue
• Ibuprofen
• Soft pillows
• A comfy couch
• A husband who took care of things while I was convalescing on said comfy couch.
• Well behaved children who didn’t give me a hard time.
• My neighbor, Debbie, who took London for a couple hours on Tuesday.
• Gatorade which, for the second time in 4 mos., has returned me back to life.
• And, lastly, the good Lord’s ingenious design of an immune system. Thank you!

What are you thankful for today or this week? Blog about it and join Sting My Heart for Thankful Thursdays!

Quick Update

Hello Everyone! I just thought I'd write a quick update in case you were wondering where I've been.

<--- This has been me the last several days. I felt this mean & nasty chest cold coming on last Saturday afternoon but chose to be stubborn and do nothing about it. Well, until yesterday when my body said, "Enough!" and I spent the day curled up on the couch. Today, however, I'm determined to, at least, get some laundry done and the dishes. Yep, still stubborn.

I have lots of things planned for the blog this month and months to come. I've created a bit of a writing schedule that I hope will keep me on track and not at a loss for things to write about. Sometimes my writer's well runs dry and I find myself struggling for ideas and other times it's overflowing but I can't get to everything at once. I'm hoping my schedule will solve both of those problems.

I'm going to be including a couple new weekly topics like, "Meyer Mondays" and "Thankful Thursdays". I'll go more into detail about those another time. Also, once a month I'll be doing a product review, a fun and/or interesting poll, plus a monthy Bloggy Giveaway! Yeah!

I'm toying with some other monthly post ideas such as: "What Someone Taught Me", "When I was a Kid" and "True Confessions". I'm also putting the finishing touches on "Serving God while Serving Others, Part II". It looks like there may even be a part three. I can be long winded when given the chance.

I hope you stick around for the new stuff and find most of it (okay, ALL of it) interesting, entertaining, helpful and maybe just a tad bit inspiring. I'll try my best.

I hope all of you are well and are having a great week! I'll be back just as soon as I can!