Want to Be a Winner?

Thank you all so much for reading and I am going to do my danrdest to keep at it, hopefully improve in content and style, and keep having a good time interacting with readers and bloggers in this space. November was a banner month for me in terms of reach, and while I know there are search robots that inflate blogger numbers, I've had many newcomers join in the conversations by leaving comments and linking to their own blog. 

Some fun in Blog world is the give aways from time to time. I did one to celebrate my 1 year bloggaversary a long while back. I do want to offer something soon-I have a milestone in mind.  In the mean time, a few giveaways are going on and you can get in on them.

First at Don't Read this, It's Boring, Sluggy has her last giveaway for 2016 HERE. Open to US entries only, it is loaded with terrific products Sluggy sources through her masterful use of points, coupons, and savvy shopping. Oh, there is plenty of chocolate! After you enter, stick around and read, read, read. If you want to learn how to play with the big retailers and win at their game, helping to build a bit of a product reserve for yourself but also how you can build up your ability to add donations of needed items for local food shelves, Sluggy is your  teacher. She's also just a very warm and down to earth soul and fun to get to know. 

Anne at What's Happening at the Table, has a cookbook give away. You can enter HERE. What Sluggy is to retail shopping, Anne is to a kitchen. I highly suggest you back track and read her $50 a week grocery challenge, and be blown away with the health and creativity. Anne also proved a point that while eating very inexpensively can be done, families living on the margins are struggling. She shares her experience with honesty, humility, and compassion. 

The third contest, as such, I want to give a shout out to is The Freer Family over on YouTube. Gary Freer is the chief producer of his family vlogs, documenting their life as a big family of 9 children, 5 grandchildren, parents, friends, and his quest for the perfect Christmas decor and managing to get through school runs and his wife's shopping habits. He has been running shopping haul challenges, where viewers guess the amount.  Three winners lately have been selected to win an original Christmas card made by his 6 year old daughter, mailed anywhere in the world. It really is just a bit of fun, but I got sucked into watching about a half dozen in uploads in a row last summer and now subscribe for regular updates. I think this makes me a bit weird. The Freer's are not the Duggers, the Real Housewives of Wherever, or Jon and Kate or any other of the overly produced, over paid reality show families, but a good bunch that just seem to really like each other. I also respect that he keeps the children that aren't really interested, out of the vlog. Click HERE for the YouTube channel.

Random Thoughts on Gaming and a Give Away

Yesterday 85 and hot!  Today 49 with 15-20 mph winds.  Welcome to Minnesota. On another note, the contest bug has struck me.  I played around this weekend and through my hat in the ring on a couple low effort versions. Speaking of low effort, but with wonderful payoff, over at Sluggy's site, Don't Read this, It's Boring, she is offering up a chance for anything but boring! This is a good one for US and Canadian folks to get a chance at some fine things to make us special this fall.  

Drawings and give aways I like.  I enjoy a silent auction as well, and will even buy a raffle ticket for a good charitable cause-thinking of it as more a donation than a real chance to win. I avoid state lottery's and other all out gambling games, if that is the right term.  DH likes to get a Power ball every now and again, but I just don't get the urge.  Joke is on me if he ever wins, but Minnesota is a shared asset state anyway, so he would need to share. I have sisters who love the pull tabs.  Last week my brother was in town from Florida and a group of us went out before he head back a few days later. He and I were the only ones that didn't buy the little rippy things.  $100 and 10 minutes, they had a pile of ripped pull cards to show for their investment. To each his own.  

Procrastinated Ramblings

DH is home from work early tonight, and so that means I didn't need to rush home to let pup out and give him his walk.  It is lovely though, so he may get another one when I wander in the door in a few hours.  Instead, I decided to forgo the rush hour traffic and plant myself at a Caribou for an hour or two, and converse with you all.  I'm in my next favorite neighborhood in St Paul-there was no parking anywhere near where I had intended to go and the lot behind this coffee house was wide open, plus plenty of patio seating. St Paul may factor into part of our retirement plans as well as the UK.  There is no finer weather than a sky blue day with plenty of sun and no humidity, and evenings like this remind me why we live here.  One of these two neighborhoods, or even a third or 4th I like, are easy to get around on foot and bike. There is very little parking, except at a few shops and restaurants which is a pain when you don't live in the neighborhood. 

I'm supposed to be writing-that is what I said to DH.  Why waste an extra 20 minutes in
the car when I can use that time to think and tap on a key board.  Well, I am writing right now, I suppose, but not working on the book.  Did I mention I have actually started it, and a start of a draft even saved on a  USB drive? I also have my short story for In the Writers Closet June Write and Link to complete.  I'm noodling ideas on that.  The portal opens in two days I believe.  I haven't been sleeping well the last few nights, which always helps, or pushes my procrastination tendencies. Having no kid to car pool around as DD#2 is on a mission trip,  should have meant new found hours, but the old anxiousness that I thought I had put to rest has reared itself again. My new job is "getting real", and there is a monumentous launch on July 1, my first heading this initiative. I'm excited and scared witless at the same time.  Only four more business days-yikes. Perhaps tomorrow will be more like the inspiring quote on my ice tea glass. " Life is getting up an hour early to live an hour more." Did you cringe reading that?

I will get something productive done, but before that, I invite you to hop on over and visit Slugmama at Don't Read This, It's Boring.  She's holding a girly-girl gift box drawing.  What better way to procrastinate than with a box of goodies like that to pamper your night away. By the way, I find Sluggy anything but boring.  Enjoy what is left of your evening.

Winner to the Anniversary Giveaway

Thank you for sharing this past year and bear with me as I reflect a bit before getting to the winner. I started the blog for a variety of reasons, most importantly as a outlet for the ideas, thoughts, and noises that spin in my head, and thought this could be a way to harness the chaos. Over time I settled on a theme of looking for more simplicity, relevance, and intentionality in my life.  I decided to write about things that bring me joy  but also the challenges I and others may face in having a joyful life.  I used anyone reading to talk to about a few life decisions, and to share my angst about decisions of others. I've written about simple things like baking bread and making soup, and using old church cookbooks.  Some posts were about  happy times, and others about sadness and loss, and several of you have written comments back and it is so appreciated. What a difference a year makes. 

I've by default brought a few others along for my blog world ride. There is my husband DH, daughters DD#1 and #2, and my son DS.  You've met pup, and pig, though sadly, pig was only with us for 8 months. The biggest loss and change was that of my father in law.  Not suddenly, as he has had chronic heart issues for over a decade, but too soon all the same.  This loss was after losing both my parents, my sister, and her husband within the last four years. I dealt with surgery and recuperation, and learned to let my standards and expectations for Christmas change, and realized simpler doesn't mean inferior. I left a  job I used to love, but had been wearing me down to a soul less drone the last two years, and found a place where I think I truly am going to fit in. It has been only three months, but the air feels lighter all around me.

I have met other bloggers, literally from all over the world, whose lives are so different in some ways, but not so different in others. I feel like a bit of a groupie with some, hanging out on my dashboard with my blog list scrolling waiting for the next post. It fascinates me that some of the bloggers do this as part of gainful employment, yet some of the most popular as measured by their follower numbers, just like to give of their knowledge and ideas.  That is pretty cool.  I did go ahead and sign on to the AdSense option with  blogger. This was out of curiosity, though I can admit I did think it could be a nice little splash of cash to put towards future dreams. The tiny amounts are laughable but maybe the coffee a day or two once I settle in the UK will be courtesy of my blog readers. To wrap up my year, I invited anyone reading to  make a comment over the last10 days or add my blog to your follow list, for a chance to be put in a 1st Anniversary Giveaway.  Hailing from the great state of Minnesota, the prize will be a gift basket of all things Minnesota.  While I cannot pack a lake, hopefully the winner will get a kick out of some of the things in the basket. 

And the winner is Frugally Challenged. FC has been a constant reader, and this seems fitting.  Congratulations and thanks for reading everyone.

The Giveaway name drawing bowl.

Sweepstakes Winner-It Could Happen

I'll cross my fingers when I hit "send", but won't hold my breath.  I'm talking about sweepstake or contest entries.  I'm not exactly lucky when it comes to being drawn at random as a winner, but I still like to click and enter, or fill out a door prize drawing.  My latest is a bid for a free 7 day cruise along the Mexican coast. Wish me luck. 

As much though as I like the thought of winning, I'm not a gambler.  I can't see spending much, if any money, sitting in a casino pulling down on a lever.  Pull tabs, even though charitable, have no appeal.  I'd much rather just donate to the cause.  Now I do like a good girls card night, but, mostly for the fun of playing the modified poker games, and knowing the money circulates amongst the group, and no high stakes-strictly nickels, dimes, and quarters.   We have silly  non Las Vegas card games like "change the diaper", "follow the queen", "7 card no peek", and "shit on  your neighbor".

Now then there are competition type things, that I do sometimes stake a claim into the winners circle.  I like calling into trivia on radio shows-most of the challenge is getting through.  I once won a bouquet of flowers a month for three months for knowing that Dr. Seuss wrote Green Eggs and Ham with just 50 total words.  I like friendly competition as much as the next person, and dutifully enter the company slow cooker cook off each year.  My deserts have never won, but I assisted a friend in correcting her not quite right apple crumble by suggestion she add just a touch of water to get some steam going. It was just sitting like an appley blob, with powdered cake mix over the top, not really baking-just getting hot.  After adding the 1/4 cup of water, it started baking right, ended up being delicious and she won the desert category-I was a tad jealous.  I won last year with my "baked" mushroom and spinach rigatoni, in the main dish category, so felt vindicated.

As for the random drawings, nothing.  No Redbook or Good Housekeeping monthly give aways have arrived in my mail box. I don't recall ever winning a door prize, unless the type where everyone leaves with something.  I do like the fun of it though, waiting for your number to be called!  So I'm curious.  What things of value have some of you won out there?  Has anyone been the big winner in a sweepstake?  Even if I never learn that a real person won, I'll  keep clicking away, or throwing my name in the hat.  Who knows-it could happen.