Project Objective: Complete overhaul of Carters room into a Toy Story themed room to accommodate the over bearing, over priced ($60,000!!!), and over ugly new Clinitron bed and possible lift system. This new equipment is necessary for his upcoming surgery. He will not be allowed out of it for 6 weeks after a 2 week stay in the hospital. A fun room is a must! Many, many, many themes were discussed for this new bedroom. The plan was to paint a large mural on the walls. Finally the Toy Story themed room won out and my plans changed. I love Toy Story but lets be honest, at Carters age this is a phase. If it gets him through the in-room prison part of this recovery than that is fabulous---but I am not about to make a permanent wall mural.Google to the rescue....I came across this Toy Story room done by HGTV that has a much more mature look and used it as the general game plan to get started. Progress: Day 1: Room gutted and cleaned Painted all four walls blue Moved dresser and armoire to room and placed along walls to provide as much open space as possible for access. New curtain panels with black out liners Plans: Make a giant etch-a-sketch calendar Use ...
A Toast Is In Order…
Identifying mostly with our Irish ancestry, we would like to raise our glasses and hearts to the best Chardonnay of our time!Our 13 year old white lab will be missed terribly by the grownups, the boys and dogs. Baxter, the cat, probably not so much.So goodbye our sweetheart. You filled our home and hearts with many licks and kisses. You were there to be a walking buddy and our protector from fierce squirrels and fox. You knew when we just needed a place to rest our hand and think about life and when the boys needed a playmate. You knew your grandmother role to Nala was important in shaping her behaviors. You showed her how to be a loving part of a family, be close when needed, and to spring into activity when times called for it.You made me feel safe when Bob traveled as I knew your super-hearing would alert me should anything go wrong at night.We were lucky to have you be in our lives and we will always hold a place in our hearts and home for you. Carter painted your plaque from the vet and we strung it together with your tags and a pretty pink ribbon that is just perfect for you. We have your paw-print hanging right over your spot where I can still sense you hanging around with ...
Why I Will No Longer Run Giveaways
Once upon a time I wrote an article on how to host a blog giveaway. But with all the blog changes I have going on I began doing some research on blog giveaways and realized it is just not something I am comfortable with anymore. Lots of blogs are writing about the subject and I have had a few very smart conversations with friends regarding this topic. Let's begin with why I personally choose not to run blog giveaways going forward.A month ago a ran a giveaway here on the blog to win a field trip with my family. I got ONE entry! Big ego slap! But I puzzled and I puzzled til my puzzler hurt and then I finally asked some friends why they didn't enter. The biggest two reasons were that my friends see me all the time anyway and they are totally over blog contests. Fair enough. I realized my readers (friends and family) don't come here for a chance to win something. That made me happy.I started having conversations with smart friends in social media who brought up the fact that blog contests may not be exactly legal. I did some research (easy to read discussions here, here, here, here, here and here) and found there is a lot of gray in this area. I don't monetize this blog and don't ...
How To Create A Media Kit For Your Blog
I recently redid most of my media kits after attending the EVO Conference Before and After: Sales & Monetization. I learned a lot from listening to Stephanie Schwab discuss the elements that make a media kit successful so I would like to pass some of that advice on to you.Here is a media kit that I created for the Spina Bifida Support Forum. I am showing it here as a slide show but you can see how it looks neatly packed into a .pdf as well. Also, the conversion online screwed up the font running the url at the bottom. That is not how it looks when it goes to potential sponsors. There are some other weird formatting things the slide show did so do look at the pdf to compare. This is a small forum with the sole purpose of supporting those that live with the same conditions my son does. I used Microsoft Powerpoint 2010 to create the design of the slides then converted it into a .pdf using Adobe Acrobat Professional. If you don't have similar programs available to you you can always use google docs for free.Identification: Name and Logo. Include a clear description of what the doc is.Contents: What will people find in this document? I choose to add many photos throughout this kit ...
Butts, Cemeteries, Chick-Fil-A and Other Random Weirdness
Today the latest Twilight movie opens yet it was apparently way better to share the news that my butt is still out of shape. Thanks USA Today! Cause today wasn't weird enough. I needed my butt to be the cover story. The least you could have done is linked to me since you found me through my review of Skechers Toning Shoes. Guess I won't hold out any hope that they will be sponsoring my next blog conference. Perhaps I should contact Nike now.For those of you who missed my butts 15 minutes of fame:Barb of Denver says she considers her toning shoes a "cute gimmick."Her Shape-ups help to strengthen her calf muscles, she says, but did nothing to tone her butt and thighs. Even though they are her "most comfortable pair of shoes," she says she regrets spending $120 on them.As for Skechers trying to persuade men to buy them, well, good luck with that."My husband would not be caught dead in these things," Barb says.In other weirdness Carter had a minor surgical procedure today. It was B L O O D Y. Surprisingly after all we have been through I still can't handle the sight of blood. He asked them not to put him out cause he can't feel that part of his body anyway. Do you know how ...