I really shouldn't be allowed out of the house

Today I had to run a few errands. I had uploaded our vacation pictures to Ritz to be printed (I'm old-fashioned that way - they're digital, but I NEED the physical prints), along with a couple 10x13 enlargements that I was planning to frame for my husband. Um, lets see if I can show you those... here they are:





My husband is very nostalgic about this vacation spot, so I thought framed enlargements would be a nice gift. They turned out really nice. I'll let you know later if he appreciated them.

Anyway, I also needed to stop by Barnes and Noble for a gift certificate for Meg's friend's birthday tomorrow. I came out with the gift certificate PLUS:





They're still in the bags, which is the odd background in the shots. The sad thing is that there are a couple that I MAY HAVE read before, but I just can't remember anything about them. I can't help it; the bargain tables SUCK ME IN every time. Hardcovers for less than the price of a paperback. How could I possibly resist? Yes, I am a book junkie.

Raise your glasses...

... to Caroline and Brett. Today is (or will be depending on the time of the ceremony) their first day of marriage. May they be as happy 50 years from now as they are today.

... to myself and Mr. Picklebottom, who were married on the same date 10 years ago. I'd say more, but I don't want to jinx it.

Final prize pic and THE WINNERS!!!

I'm still WAY WAY behind on everything. You'd think a week to catch up on what needs done after a week away would be reasonable, but it is NOT. I have not caught up much AT ALL. I didn't want to leave my contest entrants hanging, though, AND I received my fourth (AWESOME) prize and wanted to show you all, so I am taking a break from playing catch-up to post this. [Next week (hopefully): vacation pictures! Edge of your seat stuff, no?]

First of all, my totally awesome and amazing prize from Whimsy:



There was a drawstring bag full of BEAUTIFUL cards (is there NO END to the talent of bloggers?), pretty pens, stickers and ribbons and fancy brads, a flowery pencil case that I KNOW one of my daughters will want, candy and animal cookies, a magnetic pad AND a gorgeous journal. FABULOUS prize, isn't it? I LOVE it! As you can see from the picture, one of the varieties of candy included was Jujy Fruits. As you can ALSO see (if you look closely), the box of Jujy Fruits is opened. That is because, upon opening the package, I immediately opened the Jujy Fruits and ate a handful. Then I spent the next six hours extracting them from my teeth. Then I went back for more. What is it about Jujy Fruits that makes them worth all that teeth cleaning work and then a day or two of sore jaw muscles? I do not know. But there is something about them. The Mike & Ike's are next! And pink lemonade lollipops! I've never seen that flavor before, but it sounds wonderful! Am I supposed to be sharing with my kids? Oops. THANK YOU, WHIMSY!!!

And NOW, what you've all been waiting for... *drumroll*: THE WINNERS of my mega-PiF contest!!!! The winner of the first prize is... Danielle-lee from A Little Left of Lost!!! Prize number two goes to... the cubicle's backporch from her blog of the same name!!! The third prize is awarded to... Katie, my most loyal lurker!!! The fourth and final (but not really) prize will soon be on its way to... Adriane of Flea D'Lure!!! Ladies, I will be emailing you and/or commenting on your most recent post SOON, or feel free to email me at the address in the sidebar if you read this before I make contact. Also, don't forget that there is a book of your choice from my Bookmooch inventory included in the prize. Please go take a look and let me know what you want. Katie, I'll need you to email me - I actually think I have an email from you from a couple months ago, but I would have to go through about 2000 emails to find it, so have pity on me. If I don't hear from you in a few days, I'll take on that herculean task, but please don't make me. :)

There was also a bonus prize of children's books. That prize goes to... moo of Moo's Moo!!! Moo, all that contacting stuff I mentioned above, etc., etc., you know the drill.

Lurky week

I'm back from vacation and ALMOST done with all the dirty vacation laundry, so I am starting to tackle the over 200 posts in my reader. I started reading and left a couple comments, then realized that due to the sheer number of posts, I will probably have to mostly lurk this week while I catch up, so forgive me the lack of commenting on your hilarious and/or touching posts this week. I will be announcing the winners of my mega-contest soon, so stay tuned. Also, in response to a question from susiewearsthepants: Thanks for asking; feel free to link. That goes for anyone who is wondering. Thanks!

Prizes, prizes and more prizes AND a multi-winner PiF

Not too long ago, back when I announced the winner of my contest in the Group Effort PiF contests, I whined about my always a loser, never a winner status. Over the next couple of days, I discovered that I would have to eat my words, as my status changed in a MAJOR way. I won not one, not two, not even three, but FOUR, yes FOUR contests. UNBELIEVABLE!! I won Pantsfreesia's contest, Whimsey's contest, Parkingathome's contest AND Amelia Sprout's contest. I can now be considered certifiably LUCKY!

So far I have received three of my four prizes, and as I am going to be incommunicado for about a week beginning tomorrow evening, I've decided to go ahead with my Four-in-One Pay it Forward contest. In addition, I have several children's chapter books of which we have duplicates. So there will be a BONUS drawing for those who would also like to enter to win those. So really there are FIVE prizes here, and thus your odds of winning SOMETHING are pretty darn good. THIS TIME, I have assembled the prizes PRIOR TO the contest. This is mainly due to the bargain shelf FEEDING FRENZY I had last night at the bookstore.

But let's get to the PICTURES, shall we? I must first say that there are some mighty talented bloggers out there, as evidenced by some of the handmade items I received. First off, my prize from Pantsfreesia was a FABULOUS handmade tote bag with matching book covers, one sized for a hardback book and one sized for a paperback:



AWESOME, don't you agree? Next up, I received this BEAUTIFUL and amazingly timely prize from Parkingathome:



I LOVE Willow Tree stuff AND my tenth wedding anniversary is in a couple weeks. My plan is to hand this to my husband and say, "Look what I won for you to give me." The third prize that arrived was from Amelia Sprout, who makes some really cool stuff. I received an ADORABLE hot pink sock monkey, complete with a stuffed banana on the side (that sounds dirty, yeah I'm 12), a knit ball and a jar of delicious honey:



Such great prizes! And I still have one coming! Thank you all! This was so much fun! To repay the kindness (these were pay it forward contests after all), I will now move into the contest portion of this post. Unfortunately, I am woefully lacking in the area of talent of any sort, but particularly the crafty sort, so there will not be any handmade items coming from yours truly. However, I offer the following four prizes:

Prize 1:



Prize 2:



Prize 3:



Prize 4:




Each of these prizes will also come with a book that the winner will select from my Bookmooch inventory. In addition to the four winners that will be chosen, a winner will be chosen for a BONUS prize:



These books are those which, for some reason, we have duplicates. Some of them are brand spanking new, others are used. I realize that some of you do not have kids and may not be interested in the bonus prize, so I'll work the entries like this:

1) To enter the contest to win one of the main four prizes, simply leave a comment on this post. If you don't know what to say, tell me a neat thing you did on vacation this summer (or last summer if you haven't gone anywhere this year). Specifically, I am curious about fun and not too expensive things to do with kids, but I'm interested in fun things you did even if you have no kids.

2) If you also want to enter to win the children's books, just mention that in your comment and you will be entered in the contest for the main prizes AND the contest for the bonus prize.

Now technically, if I were to do these contests separately, it is conceivable that one of you could win multiples of the main four prizes. However, since the prizes are so similar, there will be four different winners chosen. In other words, if your name is chosen the to win the first prize, it will not go back into the hat for the subsequent drawings. (Metaphorically speaking, since I will use a random number generator.) EXCEPT in the case of the bonus prize. All commentors who express an interest in the bonus prize will be entered to win the bonus prize EVEN IF they won one of the main four prizes. Got it? Okay then, comment away...

[EDITED TO ADD: Oops! Forgot to say that entries (comments) will be accepted until noon on July 28th.]

PiF prize reveal

Ecchs got in touch and I have assembled her prize to be mailed tomorrow (I hope - I'll certainly do my best). Here it is:



It consists of a notepad, a journal (I LOVE these little journals. I don't actually KEEP a journal, yet I LOVE them.), a mechanical pencil covered in girly accessories like shoes and handbags, a set of 10 assorted notecards that I received from the artist that I can't bring myself to write on because I think they should be framed, and a book that Ecchs selected from my Bookmooch inventory, "Couplehood" by Paul Reiser.

I am planning (once again, I HOPE - I'll certainly do my best) to post my next PiF contest tomorrow (with pictures of the prizes I've received so far). If it doesn't happen then, it definitely will on Thursday. This contest will have FOUR winners, so be sure to enter! Once it's up, it will be open for entries until noon on July 28th, and I will announce winners the following week.