Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

What is your body worth?

Ok, this is kind of gross, but I found this website that actually calculates what your body would be worth to the science community if you passed away. I thought, what the heck, and gave it a try. This is what I came up with:

$5525.00The Cadaver Calculator - Find out how much your body is worth

Mingle² - Online Dating

If you want to calculate your body's worth, just visit cadaver calculator to find out.

Math Tutor

I wish they'd had this when I was in school because I really had a hard time with math. Math Tutors through the Score Learning centers helps children ages 4 to 14 make significant academic progress in an innovative tutoring environment.

If your child needs a bit of help with math, why not check out the Math Tutors at the Score Learning Centers to see if they can help.

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Another Week

This week seems to be starting out fairly well. My weekend was even better then I thought it would be. The way things were going last week, I really didn't think things would ever get better, but they seem to be going in the right direction for a change. Maybe someone up there finally realized that my family had taken all the crap they could for awhile and decided to change things for us. Whatever it is, I'm just very glad. The tears, the yelling, the tense and stressful situations were just becoming too much to bear. I'm sure we'll have those things again, but hopefully not in such magnitude.

A Personal Post

Well, I had a really big long post typed up and then after reading it I realized that I really didn't want the entire world to see what I'm dealing with right now. Let's just say it's not been too awfuly fun around here lately, very stressful and lots of tears have been shed because of it. I'm hoping that things calm down soon, but I'm not going to hold my breath about it.

I need a vacation

I need a vacation badly! My favorite vacation is to go to a nice, hot beach and just lay on my beach towel and relax. Every so often, I'll get up and take a dip in the ocean to cool off then back to the beach towel. And, I also like to build sandcastles every once in awhile too especially with my kids. It just takes me back to my childhood and reminds me of all the fun I had when my brother and I would build sandcastles together. Unfortunately, I can't get away right now to take that vacation, but thankfully, I ran across a really cool website where I can build virtual Sandcastles and get that relaxing, beachy feeling without leaving the house. See what I made today....



Wanna know where I found this really neat interactive tool? Well, it's at www.virtualsandcastle.com and it is super easy and fun to use. And to top it off, it's very relaxing to do. That was my perk from finding it anyway. You get the fun of building a cool looking sandcastle, but don't have to deal with the drive to the beach or the sand in your underwear. If I can't take an actual vacation then I'll definitely be building sandcastles on this website a lot.

Sunburn

OMG! First sunburn of the summer and boy does it hurt! I totally screwed up today when I went out to the pool by not taking the suntan lotion out with me. Normally, I take it out with me and reapply after I've been in the pool for an hour or so, but for some reason today I didn't. I guess I just wasn't thinking. That'll teach me. My arms and shoulders and upper back are pretty red as are my cheeks and nose. I've put aloe on this evening and taken a couple of ibuprofen for the swelling/pain and hopefully I'll feel just fine tomorrow.

Deck Problems

The deck that should have been done by this past weekend still hasn't even been started. Why? you ask. Well, the guy who we'd asked to do it, the one who promised it would be done by the weekend, the one who went ahead and bought all the lumber, decided at the last minute that he didn't have time to do it after all. His day job was keeping him too busy. Can you say p***ed off?!?!?

I've scrambled since Friday, trying to find someone else who would be willing to do it for us. Finally, this morning I get a call back from a local contractor who said he was on his way out to our house to give me an estimate. When he got here, he said it would be no problem to fit us into his schedule, BUT.....yes, there was a but. But he said from the looks of the pile of wood we have in our yard, he didn't think that our drop-out contractor bought enough! Great. We've already spent $1600 for lumber, concrete, nails, etc. and now this new guy is telling me that we might have to buy even more? Good grief! He is supposed to get a labor estimate to me this afternoon or evening. If it's not a lot then I'll go ahead and tell him to schedule us, but if it's way more then I'm willing to pay then I guess it's back to the drawing board.

I swear, this pool is just not working out the way we thought it would. First it seemed to take forever to get installed and now the deck is to. Must just be my luck.

Reno 911-The Movie

Have you seen Reno 911! Miami The Movie yet? I have. We saw it the first week it was out at theaters. It was really good. Very funny. My favorite character in the show and movie is Jim Dangle. There is just something about him prancing around in his super short shorts that is hilarious! And, having Trudy chase after him is funny too. I mean, just look at him Trudy, can you not tell he is gay? I think my favorite part in the movie was when the other police departments finally took notice of how good a job the Reno sheriffs department did settling things at the end of the movie. They were finally recognized as doing a good job and that just made it all right in my eyes. They are always screwing things up on the show so it was nice to see them do something right for a change in the movie.

If you didn't get a chance to see Reno 911! Miami The Movie in theaters, then you will be happy to know that on June 19, 2007 it is coming out on DVD. You'll be able to enjoy watching Dangle, Jr, Trudy and all the others in the comfort of your own home. You can check out a clip of the movie here.

Swim Meet Cancelled

My daughters first home swim meet was cancelled for this evening. I guess not enough kids wanted to compete from the opposing team. Daughter is bummed, but I have to admit that I'm kind of relieved. Not that I don't like to watch my daughter swim, but it's 90+ degrees out there, the pool has no shade whatsoever, and I'm fighting a headache that I know would have only gotten worse if I'd gone. I will go to her next one though and several others after that, I'm sure, but I'm secretly happy that I don't have to do this one tonight. Whew!

Stop Your Addiction

There is a brand new 28 day drug treatment program located in Michigan called Stop Your Addiction. They treat addicts from all across the country. If you suffer from drug abuse or know someone else who does, visit their website today to check them out. They can be found at stopyouraddiction.com

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Tuesday

We've had our pool for a couple of weeks now and are really enjoying it. However, the skimpy little ladder that came with the pool just isn't working out. It's wobbly and every time someone gets in or out of the pool, we're afraid it is going to break. So, I called a friend of ours and he's coming out today to start building us a deck. He bought the lumber yesterday and said he'd start work this afternoon/evening. I'm glad. It will just make the pool that much nicer.

We're having him build an L-shaped deck so that I can get around the pool to sweep it out. Having to stand along the side to do it is for the birds since, as DH so lovingly tells me, I have super short arms and legs. Yes, we have the telescopic pole to help out, but when you can't see where the dirt is it just makes it very hard to do. Last week, the pool was warm enough to get into while I swept and that was really easy, but Sunday when I swept it out again the water was only 78 degrees, too chilly for me, so I sat on the top step of the ladder and swept what I could reach that way. My son tried to help me out, but he's only a couple of inches taller then me and it was even too hard for him to reach some areas.

So, anyway, the deck should be done by this weekend according to Jay. I'm keeping my fingers crossed on that one. I'll take progress pictures along the way and then will post them here for everyone to see (or skip if they find them boring:)once it is finished.

PPP gets Funding!

The following is a press release explaining PayPerPost's new $7 million in funding capital.

The PayPerPost Revolution Accelerates, Sponsored
Blogging Marketplace Secures $7 Million Series B

Draper Fisher Jurvetson leads round and joins Board of Directors

ORLANDO, FL – (June 12, 2007) – PayPerPost, the leading marketplace for advertisers to reach bloggers and other consumer content creators, today announced it has completed a $7 million second round investment led by Draper Fisher Jurvetson, an investor in the company's Series A and one of the world’s leading high-technology venture capital firms. The financing brings the total amount of capital raised by PayPerPost to over $10 million, giving the company considerable resources for further development as the industry’s leading Consumer Generated Advertising marketplace. Additional participants in the round include existing investors Inflexion Partners and Village Ventures as well as new investor DFJ Gotham. With this investment, DFJ Managing Director Josh Stein also joins PayPerPost’s Board of Directors.

“PayPerPost created this exciting new advertising space and has established itself as the industry leader,” said Ted Murphy, chief executive officer of PayPerPost. “Although we’ve only used a portion of our first round capital, this added support from investors unlocks significant growth potential. Our content creator and advertiser ROI metrics clearly demonstrate the upside for PayPerPost’s model. We intend to use this capital to build the infrastructure, visibility and professional expertise necessary to reach and retain a greater network of advertisers and content creators than ever before.”

Since its founding in June of 2006, PayPerPost has signed more than 6,500 advertisers to its groundbreaking service, which has enabled Consumer Content Creators to be compensated for their efforts discussing specific companies, products or services via blogs, videos or other media. The content creators are required to disclose relationships with advertisers on their blog, providing transparency for the end reader. Over 125,000 Internet postings, most in the form of blogs, have already earned money for their creators through PayPerPost’s innovative marketplace. PayPerPost recently released PayPerPost Direct, a disruptive new service that allows advertisers to contract and negotiate directly with individual bloggers they identify through a safe, managed system.

“PayPerPost has laid a strong foundation for the future,” noted Tim Draper, founder and managing director of Draper Fisher Jurvetson. “It continues to attract a critical mass of participants from both the advertising and blogging communities. Analogous to Overture’s sponsored search model, we believe PayPerPost’s business model holds disruptive potential and will enable the company to thrive in the evolving paid-content arena.”

To mark the $7 million dollar funding, PayPerPost has launched a new website detailing the company’s service offering at http://www.payperpost.com. Bloggers and advertisers can easily sign up at the site and begin leveraging the self service marketplace.

PayPerPost has made it so much easier for us to make money by letting companies advertise on blogs that we write. I think that PayPerPost should take some of their $7 million and spend it on a nice little gift, ok make that a nice BIG gift, for all of us bloggers who "work" for them. It's only fair, right? Keep the hired help happy and we'll continue to churn out excellent work for you and the advertisers. I suggest a plasma screen tv, maybe new computers for everyone, new cars, you know I could go on and on, but I think you get the idea. Spend some of that moolah on the hardworking souls who help make PayPerPost the success that it is.

Favorite Summertime Saying

The favorite thing that my
children like to say in the summertime is "Mom, I'm bored". Can you believe that they've only been out of school for less then a week and I'm already hearing those words? What has happened to kids nowadays? I remember when I was younger, my summer vacations were filled with playing outdoors, skipping rope, riding bikes, swimming and fishing. I didn't have video games to spend hours in front of and there were only 3 channels to choose from on television. My kids now have video games coming out of their ears, a computer, Ipods, 200+ channels on the satellite and still they say they're bored. What gives? Of course, anytime I suggest things for them to do, they roll their eyes and say that isn't what they want to do. Ok, so what AM I supposed to suggest? I'm sitting here at the computer working (for the most part:) and they are both plenty old enough to occupy themselves. It would be different if they were 2 or 3 years old and needing guidance, but they are 12 and 16! So, dear son comes sauntering into my home office and once again says he is bored. Ok, I say, how about helping me stuff some envelopes. You wouldn't believe how fast he found something else to do! Kids. You gotta love them, but sometimes they just make you shake your head and wonder why.

1408

When I was a little kid, my brother and I used to sit in our rooms at night, with the lights off, and tell each other scary stories. We'd have contests to see who could tell the scariest story and get the other to jump or scream. I was never very good at telling the stories, but my brother sure was. He used to tell me this one story about a hairy toe! Yes, a hairy toe! He had heard this story before from a teacher, I think, and he would retell it to me and I swear I'd jump or scream every time. It went like this:

An old woman is digging fresh roots and picking herbs one day in the forest when she spies something odd looking, sticking out of the ground. She goes to investigate and find that it is a big, hairy toe. It looks like it was chopped off of a giants foot. It has a lot of meat on it and she thinks that it would make a good dinner so she picks it up and takes it home.

When she gets home, she throws it into a big pot along with some vegetables, lets it cook for awhile then eats it up. She thinks that she has had a very good day and goes to bed that night with a full belly and thoughts that maybe she'll find another toe tomorrow.

About midnight, a cold wind starts to blow and a black cloud, shaped like a giant's head, covers the moon. All of a sudden, a voice rings out yelling "Hairy toe! Hairy toe! Where o' where is my big hairy toe!" The woman stirs uneasily in her bed and pulls the covers over her head. Then a stomp, stomp, stomp sounds outside and again you hear the yells of "Hairy toe! Hairy toe! Where o where is my hairy toe!"

The woman, thoroughly scared, jumps out of bed and starts dragging furniture over to barracade her door. After doing so, she climbs back into bed and trys to go back to sleep. But then she hears the stomping again and all of a sudden, the door is thrown open, her furniture flying in all directions and there in the doorway stood a massive giant. Outside, the wind suddenly died down and there wasn't a sound to be heard except for the giant asking "My hairy toe. Where is my hairy toe?" The woman, in the tiniest whisper, says "I ate your toe" and the giant replies...."I know"!

No one ever saw the old woman again and the authorities never knew was became of her. The only sign of something amiss was a giant footprint outside her front door. It was missing it's big toe.

They say on calm nights when the wind is quiet and the crickets are still that you can sometimes hear a voice saying "Now, I've got my hairy toe"

YIKES!!!!!!!!! Ok, now you're wondering why I'm recounting my scary story. Well, have you seen previews for the new 1408 Movie? It stars John Cusack. From the previews, it looks like it is going to be one super scary movie and if you love scary stories then you just have to love scary movies.

What do you think? Seem like something that will scare your pants off? I will be watching the 1408 Movie as soon as it is in my local theater. I'll be sure to wear two pair of pants so as I don't offend anyone when my first pair are scared off me:)

Holiday World

My kids have already hit me up to visit Holiday World this summer. They just got out of school yesterday and already can't wait to see what new attractions have been added.

I decided to visit their website to see what was new and, lo and behold, found two new things that I think the kids will enjoy. The first is a new water slide in Splashin' Safair called the Bakuli. The Bakuli is over seven stories tall and is an enclosed water slide. It seats four at a time on their clover leaf inner tubes so more people can ride at one time. You'll go through the enclosed water slide, navigating twists and turns and then suddenly the bottom will drop out and you'll land in a bowl where you'll spiral to the end.

The second ride is located in the Holiday World park and is called Turkey Whirl. It's a themed tilt-a-whirl ride. The park is also gaining a new restaurant in the Thanksgiving themed park called the Plymouth Rock Cafe. They will serve cafeteria style turkey day dinners. Yummy!

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

Fair Warning! Stay off the Sidewalks!

My daughter is now officially licensed to drive! My hubby took her to the license branch on Saturday morning and she passed with flying colors. She was very nervous, but did just fine. I'm still trying to cope with it though. My baby girl is now a driver and, well, that means a lot more freedom. I don't know how I feel about that part. Not that I don't trust HER, I do. She's never given me any reason not to do so. It's everybody else in the world that I don't trust.

She has already taken a half a dozen solo trips since Saturday and done fine. Granted, none have been farther then 15 minutes away or longer then an hour at a time. She drove to school today to pick up her report card and picked her brother up and brought him home from school and did a good job. My son even said she did "ok", which in preteen speak means "She did good enough not to kill me so I'll ride with her when it benefits me to do it". I guess I'm just in "mommy mode" right now and will worry about her every time she leaves my sight.