You Might Be A Blogger If...

You know things have gotten out of control
when lying in bed,
at that moment just as the drowsiness hits
you sit straight up,
frantically run down the stairs,
and log on to post something at ten minutes before midnight.

Only someone insane would do that.
Or someone determined to post every day for 30 days.

********************

BT Can You Hear Me, Someone Come and Save Me, SOS

IF you are reading this non post, it is because I am stranded on an island in the Atlantic Ocean (and Blogger scheduler was forced to go on without me).

It's not a tropical island either (duh), so there's no bikini, Hawaiian Tropic, or paper umbrellas adorning my drinks. Chances are good that I am wearing a Mac and Wellies with no need for sunscreen, and there's no pool boy delivering virgin coladas.

Are those violins I hear?

When the weather goes bad over here in England, so does my internet. Something to do with above-ground cables blah blah blah. I bet the rest of the world has internet when the wind blows...

Anyhoo, after a year of grumbling, we finally convinced BT to send us a new router. One that doesn't require that we switch it off for a minute four or five times daily just to get email out. That was a week ago. A. week. ago. In a country where Amazon can deliver your package an hour after you order it (ok, slight exaggeration).

Apparently either BT or Royal Mail don't work as efficiently when the wind blows either.

Please Help. Send cables.

Lucky 13

Friday the 13th used to equal car crash for me...

There was the one in the late 70's where my teenage friend thought she'd drive me home from a bonfire party in the desert and crashed into a car that had been abandoned on the side of the dirt road.

There was also the Friday the 13th in the early 80s. The same friend drove us through an intersection and plowed into a car that was pulling out of a parking lot.

I'm not sure if the roll-over accident on a deserted road somewhere on the Navajo Reservation was on Friday the 13th, but it was the same driver...

My first year away from home, there was the double date I went on with three people I barely knew. After the driver missed a turn in the road and flew over some train tracks, the car came to an abrupt stop-- barely escaping a telephone pole.

You can imagine why the "more mature" me regards this day with a little respect.

I don't consider it an "unlucky" day, because how lucky could one person get? I'm still here.

One of you
will find this November Friday the 13th
a very lucky day...

the winner of the Muddy Bloody giveaway is:
Tara's View Of The World

Congratulations!


If any of you know Tara up in Canada, I'm sure there are no hard feelings here. She's a pastor's wife who hasn't always been treated as kindly as you'd expect people to treat their Pastor's wife. She's recently moved house--while suffering a back sprain-- because their new landlord (just moved to a new town a few months ago) sold the house out from under them. She's got three beautiful (and very active) children and a loving husband. Having met her through our blogs a few years ago, I sincerely consider her my friend. Congrats again Tara, you deserve a little pampering!

Thank you everyone for playing. Two chunks of advice:

• Try this facial. Muddy H2O Chocolate or Chocolate Blueberry. You can buy single packs and there are retailers all across the U.S.
• Never ride in a car with reckless teen. Ever. And if you're stupid enough to do it once, certainly never do it again. and again. and again.

Have a safe and happy Friday!

Drum Roll Please ...

...as I unveil my most recent portrait.

I have gained a few years (thought I was going to say "weight" didn't you!). I am also getting much grayer, but I think I take a lovely portrait, don't you?





Yes, Miss Ky and I had our first Mother/Daughter facials, and I thought it was important enough to share with the world.

This isn't just any facial, either--

It's MUDDY H2O Chocolate Blueberry mask!! I had to forewarn Miss Ky not to try to eat it, but with the honey mixed in, it sure smells good!

If you recall (or not) when I first told you about this mask I used a testimonial from another blogger (who has gone private so I can't link to her). She had said that in her marriage, where a blond goes to being a red-head and her husband didn't notice, she was sold when after a Muddy H2O mask, he stopped dead in his tracks and said, "Your skin looks terrific!"

Miss Ky and I washed our masks off and I finished making dinner. At the table the Hubby said, "Is that your skin? No makeup? It's glowing!" so does that mean... never mind, I'll take the compliment.

I'm sold on this product, people!!

When Heidi (of Gabriela and Heidi, founders of Muddy H2O) emailed me to say she was coming to London, I turned my schedule upside down to go meet her in person. We had a great time.
I've got pictures of us in front of the Tower of London and the Tower Bridge, but if you think I'm posting them, you're crazy.
Heidi is pixie-sized and standing next to her in a photo was a really bad idea on my part.

Now, a whole day galavanting around London with great company (her husband is as charming as she is!) was enough for me, but she brought me MORE goodies from Muddy-- including Pit Powder and Pit Stop, which the Hubby and I both love. (Please... check it out)

So, it's your turn to have great things come your way.

Leave me a comment. I have a little Muddy H2O love I'm going to send a lucky person... and if that's not enough? I am including a British copy (movie cover) of New Moon to read while you're making your skin pretty, AND I'll include some Cadbury (only the British Cadbury) hot chocolate to drink while reading the book as you make your skin pretty.

You don't have much time-- sorry, some crazy person with great looking skin set the rules. You have until the next post (tomorrow) goes up.
Good luck!

Because I'm Apparently a Joiner

With NaBloPoMo happening, I don't have time to answer the update emails I receive from everything I've joined in the past, so I'd like to address them here if that's alright.

Shelfari folks: Should you read (this) book? Well of course you should. Good or bad you can't go wrong reading a book so stop stalling and pick the stinkin' thing up. This even applies to Julie and Julia that I anticipated as eagerly as the arrival of our fourth child but then was so disappointed reading it that I had to write a scathing book review-- a first for me.

Face Book: I am so glad your farm is doing well and the mafia has promoted you, but I don't know if I'll be much help with either one (and please tell me where you rent your spare time because mine never stretches far enough to play games). Oh, and I'm really not interested in friending abusive ex-boyfriends, but thank you for asking.

Blurb: Of course I remember I have a book in progress. Just like I remember that I have unfinished crocheting from 10 years ago; about 12 half-completed scrapbooks; four books with book marks on my bedside table (and three magazines purchased recently that haven't even had a page turned yet); several items in my laundry room waiting for mending or superglueing; photos uploaded to ASDA, Snapfish and iphoto to have printed....

Disney, Children's Place, Clean Play Edited DVDs, Seriously Chai: You're right, those are some great sales I wouldn't want to miss. Too bad I'm going to though.

LDS Living: Bless you. You've saved Family Home Evening for a few years now.

Creative Memories: I don't want to be a consultant anymore, no matter how much you offer me in my sign-up kit. You see, as much as I LOVED doing CM in the states, it won't be the same over here. You insist I have to sell to people with APO addresses like myself and I don't hang with military -- living and functioning in a little America goes against the whole reason we choose overseas bases (I also had a panic attack when I got to the book keeping part of things the one day I did start filling out your contract just for giggles). I do believe in gathering our memories and keeping them safe, but I have no desire to take up accounting again.

And last but not least,

Spammers Unite! Could you all please just get together and give me one all-purpose email? If I have any body parts I need enlarging, watches that need selling, little blue pills to refill, links to be clicking on or hot live females, I could just go to one place. So much easier. Thank you for your concern for my lifestyle though, it is very considerate of you to flood my Spam box (thank goodness for Gmail filters) with your fears for me.

I hope you (updates) understand. This posting every day for a month has triggered creative writing juices I thought had escaped along with the amniotic fluid from five births. I'd rather consider the (fictional-but very real to me) woman that is nagging me in my sleep to tell her story. She's becoming rather insistent and this morning I couldn't even have a coherent conversation with the family because of the swirling story line that won't go away...

Blogger Friends: Your emails, comments and posts feed that creative beast-- so please, keep it coming!

How is NaBlaPoMo affecting you this month?
What useless drain on your time have you given up?