Gift-giving ideas for teachers

For those of you out there with kids, it's time to think about Christmas gifts for the teachers. I found this informative link today, with plenty of comments and input from teachers on what they like to receive for Christmas. Marika's teacher requested that the class get her an i-pod docking station for classroom (her tapes are going bad!), so we'll probably all chip in with Target gift cards. I, too, used to think that gift cards were too impersonal, but after reading the comments, I've decided that this is the way to go from now on...

Hope everybody had a good Thanksgiving - and, of course, enjoyed the Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales... =)

Looking for Basic Grey stamps?

Kindred Creations still has a couple Basic Grey stamps sets in stock (Tweet Bitsy Stamp and Pocket Garden Stamp). Yes, you can combine items from different days (if it's out of stock, you'll find out during checkout) and their shipping rates are actually very reasonable. Items take about 1 week to show up in your mailbox.

Joann's and Barnes & Noble Tidbits...

Joann.com is offering free shipping tomorrow (11/18/10) for 3 hours (12-3 pm EST) with no minimum purchase. Use promo code: EYD322 (and don't forget Ebates!).

Also, here is a link to Joann's Black Friday ad... (unfortunately, things are a little bit fuzzy)...

And don't forget this 20% off printable coupon...

Think your house is small? Think again!

The Unclutterer blog posted about this ultra-small home in Tokyo. If you have a few minutes, you might want to check out the video tour here on CNN World.

And just in case you're interested, Scrap-Mart announced that they've begun their own Deal-of-the-Day site called ScrapAce. Me personally... you know that I'm very partial to CropChocolate.com. There are rumors on the site that Cropchocolate T-shirts will be part of their Cyber Monday special, so you can be sure you'll see me sporting one of those around in the future... =)

See, I'm all for having those Black Friday ads leaked early - at least we can choose where we're going to shop and when. What's the point of putting your ad out late (or on time, now) if people will have already spent their available dollars by then?

And for those of you with men who love Best Buy, here are some printable coupons.

Black Friday

It seems so odd, that Black Friday ads are being leaked. Did you know that you can see them here? Or here? Here's a link to see Michaels' ad. There's a valuable 30% off coupon that will be in that ad - which you can use at Joann's. Here's a printable coupon for Joann's, for 20% off your purchase (regular-price and sale-priced items) - print out a few and keep them in your wallet, they don't expire until 12/15/10. Here's a 40% off coupon for Michaels (expires 11/24/10).

Other tidbits...
1. Free online class by Jessica Sprague (digital scrapbooking). Details are here.
2. Quickutz is having a warehouse sale (bummer for those of us not living in Utah!)... but they're also having one online as well - November 19th (Friday at 9 am) to November 22nd (Monday at 9 am).
3. November Basic Grey newsletter can be found here. Remember, each issue comes with a sketch and some basic inspiration!
4. Barnes and Noble has a 10% off printable coupon for one kids' or teen book. Expires 11/21/10. 5. Stampin' Treasures has now discounted their store to 40% off for their store closing.
6. Another Fresh & Easy printable coupon for $6 off your purchase of $30 or more.
7. Free shipping at Nike.com (and don't forget ebates!) with promo code: JUSTDOIT (expires 12/22/10).

Two degrees of separation from an Olympian

Yup, that's right. Here's the story... I finally went to see a sports medicine doctor yesterday after my left foot pain was escalating. It was a very interesting visit, since Dr. V. "teaching" a med student as well - she told me that I must have had a left ankle sprain in the past (missing ligament), that my left leg was really weak compared to my right, and she was surprised by how much stability I still had (soccer will do that to you!). I was relieved to hear her tell the student that I had a good running gait and was a natural runner - so at least my gait didn't have to be corrected. I was complimented on my calf muscles (running 30 miles/wk should do that for anybody) and I will say that I LOVED her scale. It's so nice to be rewarded by a good number after the many months of hard work I've put into exercising.

So who is this famous Olympian? Well, it turns out that I don't have plantar fasciitis after all, although I was told that my feet "aren't happy!" So she prescribed custom orthotics from a place down the street - and that particular person made the orthotics for Michelle Kwan. I couldn't help but be impressed! The orthotics are really expensive but they'll eventually pay for themselves and gosh, I would LOVE to wake up in the morning and and jump out of bed, instead of struggling not to fall over in agony.

Now I'm hoping that once I get the orthotics, perhaps all of my other ligament, leg muscle and back pains will disappear as well. =) Hey, a girl can dream, can't she?

Eleven days ago, my next-door neighbor gave me some starter mix for Amish Friendship bread and some instructions. It's like a chain letter, but of an edible kind. =) I couldn't decide who I should give the starter mixes to or how many I should keep for myself, but once I discovered there were recipes for the AFB starter mix online, I stopped worrying. In fact, I decided that since my brother and his family are coming next week for a week, that I would be better off if I baked two batches of bread, freezing half of it.

Of course, I realized (almost belatedly) that I wasn't sure if I could get away with baking two batches of bread with the available batter. Turns out, though, that the bread batter (what remains after scooping out 3 cups of starter mix) is about equivalent to 3 cups of starter. So... I got my two bread batches (see above! lots and lots of bread!) but I have no starter mix for the next time. But, that is okay... I've baked enough bread for quite awhile.

I wouldn't have worried at all, except that I had to take the girls to meet a bunch of their school friends at the local skating rink. Admission was only $1 (we all have skates) and the girls had a really good time.

Look who we met at our last excursion to Barnes & Noble!

And this little fellow (about 1" long) goobered onto the paper pieces I was cutting for Marika's teacher. What a cutie!

And last but not least, I got a couple of pieces done for Crop Chocolate's crop. I'm not terribly happy with this layout, but I was restricted to having ORANGE as my main color theme, using at least one circle, having some bling and finally, using a rub-on as part of my title. All patterned paper is from Echo Park's Happy Halloween collection pack.

This card was based on a weaving challenge - it was a neat technique. Everything but the bling (Colorbok) is from Echo Park's Sweet Summertime collection.

Tidbits:

1. Free Thanksgiving printables here.

2. Printable Barnes & Noble coupons here and here. These expire 11/14/10.

Sizzix Warehouse Sale - November 19-20, 2010

Somebody on Cropchocolate.com just mentioned it! I don't think I can make it, though... I only have a little bit of time on Friday and traffic coming back will be terrible. If anybody goes, please let me know how it was! But... please don't make it sound TOO good... =P

More information here...

The CropChocolate.com Online Crop Has Begun!

Come and join in on the fun! You can view challenges and contest news here, as well as on the main page here. There will be all kinds of great prizes, too - cruise tickets, crop credits and prize packages. The prize for Challenge #1, for example, is a Basic Grey package worth $100. Woohoo! Keep your eye on Cropchocolate.com anyway, because there will be some sweet deals offered this weekend!

Here's the official announcement of the crop - look forward to seeing some of you there! =)
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1st Online Crop at CropChocolate.com

What could be better than spending a weekend creating with a group of friends plus chances to win awesome prizes? We can’t think of anything better than that, so CropChocolate.com will be hosting its first ever 48 hour Online Crop on Saturday and Sunday, November 6th and 7th, 2010! Here are some details:

WHO: This crop is for everyone—CropChocolate.com addicts, errr…I mean, regulars, the newly introduced, or those who have never even heard of the site until now. All you need to participate in the Online Crop and to be eligible for the prizes is to have an active CC account with a valid e-mail address.

WHAT: An Online Crop—It will be part shopping, part crafting, part challenges, and completely fun! We will be doing virtually what you would do at a physical crop…Getting together, since we cannot be in the same place, at least at the same time, to socialize and participate in some challenges, win some prizes, complete some projects (layouts, cards, altered items—you know finally use up some of those beautiful CC goodies you have been hoarding), and have some fun!

WHERE: On www.cropchocolate.com, of course! Spread the word! The main challenges will be featured on the main page of the site throughout the day on Saturday and Sunday in between some SWEET deals on the “treat” page! Worried that you missed a challenge? Don’t be! All you have to do is look under the “past deals” section of the website to see the previous challenges. There will also be some fun mini-games and activities going on under the Sweet Talk section of the website throughout the weekend, so make sure to stop by Sweet Talk and check them out too.

WHEN: The BIG dates to mark off on your calendar are Sat. & Sun., November 6-7, 2010! Can’t make it for the whole weekend? No worries! The main challenges will be posted beginning on Saturday November 6th at 10:00 AM on the main page and it will alternate a challenge, then a SWEET deal, then another challenge, etc. If you miss a challenge on the main page they are always accessible under the “past deals” section of the website. The deadline for the submission of projects to be considered for prizes for the challenges is MONDAY, NOVEMBER 8th, 2010 11:59 PM MST (CC time) unless an earlier deadline is stated. That is approximately 24 hours after the crop ends. The challenges will be posted between 10:00 AM and 10:00 PM on Saturday Nov 6th and 10:00 AM and 6:00 PM on Sunday Nov 7th.

WHY? Because we are sooo SWEET on YOU! CropChocolate.com has a strong and vibrant community and we want to share that community with more of our current and potential customers. We think YOU are what makes CropChocolate.com unique, and we like that.

Sweetly,
Megan Ann

How Was Your Halloween?

The girls had a very busy but fun weekend! Despite the awful weather on Saturday morning, Marika still had a soccer game - she ended up with 2 more goals! Actually, everybody on her team (only 4 girls showed up to play) scored at least 2 goals and they ended up winning 9-0. Mika is beginning to play a little more aggressively so we are happy with that. =)

Marika has been so excited about having her first loose tooth. I was surprised to find this made me very sad - my baby is growing up! I took a bunch of pictures of her baby smile... knowing her smile would never look the same again...

On Saturday, the girls went to a Halloween party. They had a great time - the hosts had planned a lot of games and had great snacks for the kids. It was held outside, though, so I was very grateful that the girls wanted to leave an hour before it was over (I was freezing!).

After my Sunday soccer game, we went out for donuts. About one minute later, Marika said, "Hey, my tooth fell out!" Here's her new smile! She's been smiling at everybody since then. You'll be happy to know that the Tooth Fairy was finally on the ball and did not forget to come and visit. =)

It was nice that Daylight Savings was scheduled after Halloween - it made for better pictures! Here are the girls, all gussied up for Halloween. We stayed at home and handed out candy for awhile before heading off ourselves. It was funny to notice that we can now travel around the neighborhood much faster than when the girls were smaller. =) It no longer takes forever!

And here's their haul - a decent amount, but not an obscene amount. Hopefully it will be gone before Christmas (when they'll inevitably get more candy!). There seemed to be fewer trick-or-treaters out this year, probably because it was on a Sunday. We are enjoying the excess M&Ms and Snickers... =)

I'd like to sing kudos for Daddy Dude, who changed out his first faucet this past Sunday. Our previous faucet had been a Moen, which came with a lifetime guarantee - but they'll only send you the parts that you need - if you don't know what the problem is (and what part you need), you are out of luck. After years of having leaks beneath the sink, I finally told Daddy Dude he could get a new faucet (he felt better after I told him the next-door neighbors had replaced theirs a few years earlier already). I'm happy report that he did a wonderful job and the new sink looks great - and doesn't leak! Woohoo!

Perfect Attendance No More...

A couple of weeks ago, during her awards assembly, the principal picked out a name of a kindergartener with perfect attendance to join him for "lunch with the principal". Marika's name was picked and this past Monday, she went with a few other kids to a local restaurant for an hour of pizza and fun. I was her chaffeur, since I didn't want the poor principal to worry about her huge car seat (she's still under 40 lbs). She had a great time but I was glad I went - she looks incredibly tiny compared to the bigger kids!

However, Marika came down with a fever last night and had to miss her first day of school today. She cried and cried, she wanted to go. Her condition got worse this afternoon - she totally felt like a hot potato so I had to keep putting a wet/cold washcloth on her. Poor thing... she decided she didn't want any dinner and just went to bed. She'll be missing school again tomorrow... (thankfully, Mika appears to be doing fine - hopefully she won't get sick, too).

Tidbits:
1. On a sad note, Stampin' Treasures is closing their doors after 14 years. She has begun a 25% off sale, but there will be a shipping charge for all orders.
2. Here's a new printable Fresh & Easy coupon for $10 off $50 (expires 11/22/10).
3. Yourscrapbookstash is offering a 20% off promo code for all of November purchases: November2010.