Mariannes Motifs

Free Betty Crocker Au Gratin or Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Free Sample of Betty Crocker Au Gratin or Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes:

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Finally Feeling Better

I am crawling out of my cave back into the world.  I feel so much better!  Two days of being sick was enough I guess.  Living on Ensure is an interesting way to avoid weight loss pills at any rate.

Today I accomplished some things.  I set up automatic bill pay for the mortgage, car insurance, and cell phone.   I got a quote for a retaining wall and drainage repair I need around the side of the house.  I also updated my resume to add my freelance writing experience.  I want to avoid having to answer the "gap in employment" question.  However, I am not sure why this is really a burning question considering there is close to an 11% unemployment rate in my area.  

Job searching is guaranteed to aggravate me.

Ok, on to knitting.  I made a dog sweater for my friend Melissa.  I didn't have the dog for modeling purposes so here it is on a stuffed Panda.  LOL.

Vibram Five Fingers - Check out these funky shoes

In case you find Crocs to be too attractive, there is a funky shoe alternative.  The Vibran Five Fingers are some of the weirdest looking shoes I have ever seen.  They look like a cross between pool shoes and swim flippers.

Barefoot runners like them as they mimic the barefoot experience but give protection against stepping on stuff.

Twitter Users: Find Free Stuff with Freezly

If you are on Twitter check out Freezly.  It is an aggregator for freebies, contests, and giveaways that people are Tweeting about.  Very cool.

Fake Isle Hat

Here's my first fair isle knitting, where you knit with 2 colors and carry both colors together.  I learned how to knit with one color of yarn in each hand, and also how to follow a chart.  Fun!  The pattern is available here from Spunky Eclectic.

 

Get Ready for Halloween with some Gummy Tarantulas

Dude - this has to be my deal of the day - get 12 little bags of gummy tarantulas for $6.72.  This is perfect for those school goody bags, or Halloween party treats.   Comes out to .56 cents a bag.  Hah - I think I need to get these for the preschool "Trunk or Treat."

Oh - and they are offering .99 cents shipping on these as well.

Coupon Codes Website - CouponChief

Whenever I am shopping online, as soon as I see the field for entering coupon codes or promotional codes, I open up a web page and do a web search for "the name of the company coupon code" to see if I can find a deal. You can find percentage off coupon codes, free shipping codes, and more out there if you are lucky. 

The Google approach is hit or miss, however, and can take up some time.  Some of the sites are not easy to navigate, codes are expired, or they have the keyword in their page, but no actual code for the site you are looking for.  I have found a site I can go to first - that is easy to navigate and doesn't waste your time.  It's called Coupon Chief and it's at http://www.couponchief.com.

Right now some of the front page codes they have listed are Dell Coupons, and Legoshop Coupons.

Coupon Chief also has an interesting feature where if you submit coupon codes to the site and people use them you can get a share of the sales.  I assume this works when the shoppers click through the Coupon Chief site.  They have an easy to use page for submitting codes as well.  I get codes in the mail from retailers all the time, so I might try this feature.  It's nice to share the information, even without making any money from it.

Classical Deal: 99 Romantic Pieces for $2.99

Here's a great deal - 99 popular pieces of classical music from the Romantic period for about 3 bucks.  These are DRM free MP3s that will work on any mp3 player, iPod, PC, or burn your favorites on a nice relaxing CD.  This is nice if you want to try different composers and see who you enjoy listening to.

This comes out to about 3 cents a cut - wow.

Friday Morning Quiz - Art Edition

This one is fun - see if you can guess the title of the artwork by its picture .  I got 13 out of 20 correct.  Can you beat my score?

More Reflections on Sharing Information on the Internet

I just read an article on Huffington Post about how burglers can use information posted on Facebook and Twitter to identify targets for burglary.   It made me think about that old cliche "loose lips sink ships." 

Sometimes people forget that the Internet is, well, public.  Would you walk around wearing a sign that said "I got trashed last night?"  No, then maybe you shouldn't put that in your Facebook status.  Now, I realize tht Facebook does have privacy settings, but once your network has a few people in it, things can get out.

Here are some rules of thumb:

• If you don't want your grandmother, boss, and next door neighbor to know - don't post it on the internet.

• Don't tell the world about your cache of collectable coins, safe full of money, or when you are going to be leavign the house unattended.

• Don't let your kids chat with random people.  Don't let your kids surf without looking over their shoulder.  Teach your kids that if they come across something inappropriate (and chances are they will... just like all of life) just to turn the screen off and come get you.  Or if they are older, just close the window.   Trust goes a long way in parenting.  Curious kids will be curious, but they need to know the safety rules first.   This goes for personal safety and computer safety too. Viruses and malware are very ofter interspersed in with downloads of the more scurrilous types.

• Don't post about work.  If you just leave work out of it, you can't have a problem.  Unless your blog is professional in nature and your employer is aware of it, just leave that stuff out. 

• Don't vent online about your mother in law, sister in law, co-workers, or whoever.  It will get back to them and feelings will be hurt.  Call a friend!

• Do post and share information that can help people.  There is nothing like the good feeling you get when people comment back saying thanks for the information.

• Do blog - it's a wonderful way to express yourself.  The act of writing will help keep your mind sharp and it's wonderful to be able to look back at your blog and see what you were doing and thinking in past times.

• Do research and learn about subjects that interest you.  Again... keeping your mind sharp and making sure your posts are accurate and informative.

• Do take pictures and post them.  My family loves the pictures I post of my kids (yes, they are in fact the cutest kids ever).  Even though there is some risk in posting pics of your kids, it's a risk I calculate and take.