Trident Layers Giveaway CLOSED

I love to chew gum, a lot. I use it to keep from eating too many snacks and I enjoy the wonderful popping sound I can make if I chew it just right. The flavors though, not so exciting. You have the basic grape, cherry, and strawberry, which can get boring after a while.

Well Trident has put an end to the "boring" gum and upped it a notch with their new Trident Layers gum. You can chew on wild strawberry and tangy citrus or their other wonderful flavor of green apple and pineapple. How sweet do those sound?








The wonderful folks at Trident would love for you to have a chance to try their gum and are offering a nice coupon for 75 cents off a pack. Just click here and fill out the short little form to print your coupon. Just remember, do not open around friends, family, and the neighbors down the street. They’ll all want a piece.

WIN IT: Trident has given two readers the chance to try both flavors. Just leave a comment which flavor you would like to try the most. Please make sure to leave your email address so that I can contact you if you are the winner! Contest ends November 8, 2009.



Disclosure: All information and materials as part of this giveaway were provided by Trident. I did receive samples of each flavor of the gum to try.

Read ALL Instructions

I come from a family of talented women. They can crochet, tat, and sew. Myself, not so much. I have recently tried taking on the task of the cute little stick with the hook on the end. Yes, crocheting.

It seems easy enough. Learn to read the hidden messages between the lines of morse code, and ta-da, you have a project! Nope, not quite. You learn the basic stitches, single crochet, double crochet, even a treble! Ah, but there is one important step. I have learned that you must not be so full of yourself as to get ahead and "assume" the instructions you are reading are basic. Well why should I have to read them? I know how to double crochet, and it says - double crochet. So I did. After a repeated tear out (not even going to mention how many times, but the yarn was starting to fray) I finally read those cute little words in italics. But wait, it is only telling me how to double crochet reduce, and I already know how to do that, and then there it is. The morse code is broken. It is the basic double crochet, but now a new little step has been snuck in for this pattern. Now I am not only doing the step I know how to do, but I am adding the mystery step to the pattern so as to manipulate the project to its actual appearance of the photo I have been viewing in the book. Amazing.

I am on my way to figuring it out. The project is similar to the photo now and my rows look uniform. Now, if I can only figure out how to get those lovely edges even I will be a master!

Giveaway: Silk Heart Health Soymilk

We all try to eat right, but sometimes making sure we get the right nutrition is difficult. With more and more people finding they have allergies to different food products, it is hard to find alternatives. A new choice for a healthy alternative to milk is Silk's new Silk Heart Health Soymilk.

Silk Heart Health contains two proven heart-health ingredients, soy protein and phytosterols. Now you can get heart healthy with something that actually tastes good.

Silk Soymilk would like you to get to know Silk Heart Health. Become a fan of Silk Heart Health on Facebook and you can find out how to save $.75 off Silk Soymilk or you can also print a coupon for $.55 off any Silk Soymilk.

When you visit Silk on Facebook, don't forget to enter to win a Silk Million Hearts Weekend Getaway. Please make sure to tell your friends about the Silk Million Hearts Challenge on Facebook. Silk will donate 5 cents to the Larry King Cardiac Foundation for each of your friends that you refer.

Speaking of winning, I have 10 awesome gifts to giveaway. Silk has given me the opportunity to allow you the chance of trying their milk by giving you a coupon for a FREE half gallon of their Heart Health Soymilk. You will also receive a Silk branded pedometer to track the steps from the front of the store to the back when you pick up your milk. How healthy is that!

TO WIN: Just leave a comment with your name and email address. It is important I have a way to contact you if you are the lucky one! I will draw the 10 winners November 6, 2009. Good Luck!



Disclosure: Silk Soymilk has provided me with the prizes for this giveaway in exchange for posting about Silk Heart Health on my blog and Facebook. I am not being compensated in any other way for promotion of this or any other Silk products.

"The Suburban Outlaw" book review

I recently reviewed a book called "The Suburban Outlaw" by Pam Sherman. It is a compilation of short stories filled with realizations, openness, feelings and just outright humor at times. I was a little leary at first about the whole thing, but once I started it, I just couldn't put it down.

While you are reading, you live vicariously through Pam's daily challenges and dilemmas while sharing the feelings that she has at the time of the event. She has the ability to be able to make you feel that each story is relevant to you as she ventures from New York to a new home out of her comfort zone that has a "picket fence" and snow. You are shown how her life changes in a flash with friends she meets as well as the new physical changes that are as simple as making sure she can reach her hairstylist because they are the only one capable of that perfect haircut.

I loved how I was drawn to each and every story. I laughed out loud and may have even shed a tear or two in a story of a friend whom she held dear until the end. The book is enlightening and warm and filled with quick wit and charm. I recommend it to anyone woman who may feel her life has been completely uprooted and she now feels out of place in her new community.

Ice cream and podcasts

I had a great visit with my brother who came out to see me for the first time in a long time. Of course the boys took to him immediately and my brother became the local jungle gym. Everytime I turned around one of them was wrapped around his neck and riding high. It was cute, but I know that even though they are twins, one of them has about 12 pounds on the other. I am sure my brother went home a sore neck.

It worked out great because my brother helped me with the ice cream party that I won from Edy's. A while back I had entered and won an ice cream party for 100 people in the neighborhood. It was crazy when the ice cream arrived, but I was happy it fit in the freezer. My kids were peaking in the freezer the whole time because they were worried about how much we would have leftover. It was great watching the kids eat the ice cream and not having to worry about taking pictures. My brother worked his camera magic and took a few great photos for me. I was so happy about that.

We talked and caught up on the past years that we missed out on seeing each and I found out he has a new hobby that he told me about. He is into these new things called podcasts. I had know idea what that was. Little did I know I would get the "technical" low down on it. It was great to learn about it, but I am not as smart as my brother. He is a technical writer for NASA, so let us just say his laymen's terms are not always on my level. He made me laugh a few times as I had to have him repeat some of the stuff so I could actually understand it. Apparently he works with a friend to do reviews on movies that are out and prepare you for the new upcoming stuff. I figure with my time being so tight, it might help to figure out if I really want to go to see a new movie by hearing a nice review or just go take the chance and blow an easy $10 on a ticket. He calls his site "MacGuffin Brothers". You can see upcoming movies and reviews, hear news on the movies and soon they will have products. I look forward to each podcast and the quick wit of my brother and his friend.

Boys being boys

As a mom of boys and having grown up with three brothers there is not really too much that I don't already know. I climbed trees with the best of them, walked the creeks catching snakes, and rode bikes. Sometimes they thought having a sister along was a damper, but hey, I needed something to do out in the vast farm area we lived in too.

Boys like to talk nasty and their favorite thing is to upset the mother with how nasty they can be. Talking about things like butt wedgies, boogers and farts seem to top the charts lately. Of course I am not phased by such things, but try to remind them to use manners. Silently I am laughing and may even have to turn my head once in a while to hide a huge smile that I have. What can I say, I think boys who try to out stink the other while watching their faces is hilarious, but I can't let them know that.

D and K were discussing if moms fart. Well, we already know dads do because we are acutely aware of when they do it. No motion to silence it or even sneak it. Nope, all man. As a lady (ok, maybe I try) I have tried to evolve from that "tomboy" mentality and mature a little, so a conversation I overheard was quite funny. D decided to argue with K and tell him that moms don't fart. K was very sure that moms do (who me?). D told him, "no they don't. Moms fluff." Fluff? Maybe that is in reference to the "fluff" around my middle? I thought it was funny how he tried to make it sound so delicate when it comes from a mom.

In the meantime I will await whatever boyisms will come my way, and remember that I too was once the same way. People ask if I want a girl and I always tell them I would have no idea what to do with it.

Purex 3 in 1 Sheets Giveaway

I am excited to enter to try these. It would be great to have everything in one easy sheet!