Free Blank Greeting Card! Get One While You Can!

Limited Amount Available!

A sample of the cards I have available.

I have close to one hundred greeting cards that I no longer want in my house. Most of them are blank but about a handful are from a holiday or are a thank you card. The cards I have are from me picking them up at sales over the years because I liked the pictures. I thought someday I would use them but, of course, electronic is easier. I have, however, used some in art projects. Instead of tossing all of them I decided to do a project. I will send as many as I can send out to individuals who ask for one until my resources are gone. Once the cards and all of the envelopes they fit in are gone I'm done. 

I'll foot the bill for the stamps to send the cards to you. You will receive an unused card and envelope inside. The catch is you don't get to choose what kind of card you get. It will be completely random. Won't that be fun? Hey, it's free! All you need to do is e-mail me
( stephelaine at gmail dot com)
your address so I can send it to you. One card per address, please. Also I can only send to the USA because of postage prices. Sorry for the inconvenience. 

This is one great way for my friends to send me their addresses so I can finally get a good Christmas card list going. 

I have another idea for a future project if the local company will go for it. American Greetings has their home base here. I would love to do some advertising for them in this form, if they donate the materials. If my little project gets some action maybe I can interest them in donating some cards to me, a small amount of course. I've already plugged their name. 

Geocaching - My Sons Newest Hobby

The Game

What is geocaching?

Geocaching is a real-world, outdoor treasure hunting game using GPS-enabled devices. Participants navigate to a specific set of GPS coordinates and then attempt to find the geocache (container) hidden at that location

A little over a month ago Gavin discovered that his dad went to a Geocaching class and that doing it was was like playing a treasure hunting game. Right then he was hooked. Ever since then he wants to go do that with Ken as much as Ken will let him. Gavin especially likes the ones where there are little goodies inside to trade for other little goodies that he takes with him. 

The first three pictures are actual Danville Geocache photos. I know the first two were taken by my husband but the third one I got from the listing of the cache itself so I don't know who took it. The other photos are some examples of just a few of the types of containers that might be used. There are so many ingenious designs I'm frequently amazed at what I see next. Some people put little treasure hunting trinkets in them if they're big enough. Others just get a container big enough for a tiny piece of paper to be a log to sign saying you were there. You have to remember to bring your own pencils and such on the hunts. Of course the listings will have instructions. 

Ken just bought some containers so he can hide a few caches. We already have one, labelled good for kids. It's an extremely easy find. 

I love the thought of treasure hunting but I don't like hot weather, or real cold weather for that matter. So, I'll leave this hobby to the boys. They're having a ton of fun at it together. If you choose to start, find all you need to know about it at www.geocaching.com

Pet Peeves

We all have them. Things that make us cringe and wish we could have a do-over for someone else if not for ourselves. OK, it's also a nicer way to say "things we hate." But really, they can be things are are bearable, but when seen often they can drive us up the wall. Here are some of mine:

Consistently Using Grammar Poorly

dont ya hate it when someone doesnt even bother to use there grammar right even though they have a degree from a school somewhere. they even have spell check and wont use it \ but they continue on in an email or a im never bothering to fix theyre mistakes.

Based on the above paragraph you get my point. A typo or two is excusable, but no way would I excuse the above paragraph. Believe me, I've seen almost as poorly executed e-mails sent out, and in a business setting, too. It makes me feel very embarrassed for that person. When I get it in a text consistently, from the same rule-breakers, I can become incensed. They are lazy and sad. Plus, they aren't respecting me enough to write well enough for me to even understand a small text half the time. I'm not talking about text type, either. I'm talking about true misuse of spelling and grammar.

Uphill Pass Lanes

On two lane roads when going up sloping hills there sometimes will be a space for slower moving cars to get over and allow the faster moving cars to go around them. I tend to be the faster moving vehicle. It bugs me to no end that only about 1 out of 10 of the slower moving vehicles in front of me actually will go into the right lane and let me pass. They actually will stay right in front of me when it's obvious I want to pass them and get going on my merry way. No, I'm not on their bumper. I have the correct amount of space in between us. But people, please have the common decency and courtesy to get into the slow lane when you're obviously slower.

The same thing goes for you who are riding the left passing lanes and have no business being there. When there is someone behind you going faster than you, why go against the state rules and stay in the left passing lane? You know we're not supposed to pass on the right and that the left lane is for faster moving vehicles. Just be courteous on the roads, not mean for some imagined game to play because your bored while driving. Listen to the radio or something. 

Facebook Status Updates

Too many people use Facebook as a Blog. It's not a blog. If you want to write a long post, or several, each day about yourself or your kids make up a nice page and publish it to Facebook each day. That way the update has a more permanent prettier home for it anyway. I don't think Facebook is meant as your every day woe is me page where you go to give updates about everything little Johnny or Jilly did that day. Most especially not for all the horrible stuff. Put it on a blog and publish it once a day. OK, pics go out regularly. It's just too easy. But not intimate details! Sheesh! 

If you create a blog and announce your posts on Facebook I would love to go to your blog and check it out, as much as people come to mine and look at it. I don't do daily blogs or tons of personal stuff but sometimes I do and more people tend to stop by. I appreciate that interest.

There are groups on Facebook created for discussions of a more personal nature. This rant is not meant to pick on those. 

Amazon's Top 100 Free Book List

When I go to Amazon's Free Book List I tend to expect the books listed there to be, well, free. But no. This is not always the case. There are usually a few here and there, no matter how I look them up, that will have a price and a little link to click that says "Why is this not free" underneath it. Why is that book no longer free? Shouldn't it just be no longer on the list? It's just wasting good space where another truly free book could have been in my opinion.

BTW, I love Laura Howard's book, The Forgotten Ones. I actually bought this one when it first came out. I picked this one to "pick on" mainly because I wanted to advertise it too. So, this is not at all anything against the book itself. 

The Forgotten Ones (The Danaan Trilogy)

by Laura Howard

4.2 out of 5 stars   (130)

Kindle Edition

$2.99

Why is this not free?

Dinner and Game Night

Game Night With Dinner

Last weekend Ken's daughter Ryan and her husband Kevin came over to play a board game and have dinner with us. Sometimes we do that for fun because we have a lot of board games. We played the one called Flashpoint that Ryan got Ken for his birthday.  This game, instead of playing against each other, we play as a team of firemen going into a house to put out the fire and save people before the house is destroyed. It is actually harder than it seems because we didn't win a single game! 

Dinner consisted of boiled Corn on the Cobb, Potato Salad, Pulled Pork, Devilled Eggs, Cole Slaw and a White Cake which Ryan brought.

Ken made the Pulled Pork on the Traeger Smoker overnight and it was perfection!

The Cole Slaw was the basic Marzetti's recipe straight from the bottle - just get the cabbage mix already cut, pour in Marzetti's and you're done. It's that simple.


The Potato Salad recipe came from a book called The Love 
Of Cooking: 4th of July by Maggie Brooks

                              2 1/2 lb Yukon Gold petite potatoes
3 boiled eggs
4 ribs celery, chopped
1/2 c red onion, chopped
1/2 c green bell pepper, chopped
1/4 c dill pickle relish
2 Tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
1 2oz jar diced pimentos
3/4 c mayonaise
          2 Tbsp yellow mustard
          2 Tbsp white vinegar
1/2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp celery salt
2 dashes hot sauce
Salt and pepper to taste
Paprika

Place potatoes and eggs in a large saucepan. Bring water to boil. Remove eggs after 9 minutes. Continue to boil potatoes until able to pierce with a sharp knife. Meanwhile shell eggs under cold running water. Chop eggs. Set aside. Remove potatoes when done & peel under cold running water. Chop potatoes and place in a lg mixing bowl. Add remaining veggies. Toss gently. Set aside.

In a sm bowl mix remaining ingredients. The dressing does better when the potatoes are still warm. Pour over veggies and now get to the mixing with your hands. You want some of the potatoes to break up.

Add salt and pepper to taste. Mix well and shape into a mound. Place the ball of potatoes ina salad bowl and sprinkle with paprika. Place in frig covered.

This potato salad will be the hit of the party. If made early check for salt as the potatoes seem to absorb the salt.
Serves 12.

Do You Know What It's Like To Be an RNY GB'er?

RNY GB = Roux-N-Y Gastric Bypass

Not the joyous freedom I thought it would be. 

At my highest weight, 310

August 4th will be the 10 year anniversary of the RNY GB surgery I had in Georgetown, KY. It seems like yesterday in some ways. In others, it seems like a lifetime ago. So many things have come about because of, or despite the surgery. I almost think I can't put into words the story that I really want to tell, so I won't. What I will tell here is how I'm living today, day to day, dealing with the after-effects of the surgery. It granted me considerable health and long term life benefits while at the same time giving me unexpected side effects that, without constant monitoring, were potentially devastating in the long run.

Wish I had a better full length picture but
I don't. I look like this now at 200. 

Truly I am in pretty good health physically. I am currently 110 pounds less than I was when I went in for surgery. I was 310, now I'm 200. At 5'11" I'm not too dumpy looking. Of course, I had originally lost down to 160, but a baby and a sedentary lifestyle changed that. Everybody said I was too thin anyway. ;-) I would love to be at around 175. No one is ever happy with their weight though, right? Anyway, the surgery added more years to my life, allowed me less chance of diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, etc. in theory. It most certainly added a little higher self esteem than I had before.

This is pics I took as I was losing weight from beginning
to end. The last picture was my lowest at 160.

Here's the tricky part. In order to stay healthy I have to do these things: Take vitamins all the time. And not just any vitamin. Dissolvable/chewable ones. Plus I take extra potassium, B12 and Vit D. I have to get my blood checked twice a year to be sure I'm not malnourished because it can lead to neurological problems. This isn't paranoia. I got pretty low on my vitamins once and got sick. My whole body wasn't working properly and attribute that to not taking my vitamins the way I needed to. This is a lifetime thing for me, not an option. 

Also, hey, the depression I thought was caused by me being fat? Nope, Me being depressed probably caused the weight so I still continued to be depressed. So I take Antidepressants, still, because I haven't worked out all my problems. The kicker here is that I worked long and hard with my doctor to find a medicine or two or three that would work for me. It turned out that I didn't absorb things the way I used to so medicines didn't work the same way. It's the same with any medication I take so I have to work with doctors who know how to deal with RNY patients, or I have to seriously educate new doctors before I am comfortable with them (such as when I changed cities I had to change doctors). 

And food? Sometimes I truly hate eating. It is not a pleasure for me at all. It is a necessity to live. There are many times I don't even taste the food I'm eating because it doesn't matter what it is, as long as it gives me enough of the nutrients I need to survive. One of the main reasons I hate eating is that almost every time I eat I get what is called Dumping Syndrome. Symptoms include nausea, vomiting, bloating, cramping, diarrhea, dizziness, fatigue, weakness, sweating, and dizziness. I don't get all of those at once of course, but I experience one or more of them each and every time, especially the weakness and fatigue. I have to sit or lie down for a while after eating because I can't do anything else. What brings this on? The fact that my food goes into my intestines too quickly, digesting stuff it was never meant to digest because the stomach used to take care of it. My stomach is only golfball size and actually doesn't even work anymore since the hole from the stomach to the intestine is stretched too big to do any good keeping food in the tiny stomach. (It can actually be fixed but the procedure costs $14,000). 

Another reason I hate eating is that I can't have a real meal with my family. There is no point to make an entire dinner when only Ken is going to eat it. The rest of it, except for maybe a tiny bit I eat, goes to waste. Ken isn't big on eating leftovers. Ken likes to cook. He gets no joy in cooking for us because I can't eat the food and it's always too much for him to eat. Of course Gavin won't eat it. So, we each do our own meal every night. Therefore, I hate mealtimes and food. 

Also, I'm an alcoholic. After the surgery I discovered I liked red wine. (Before that I didn't drink but once or twice a year.) Because of the surgery I learned I can get drunk faster than normal people and I can also metabolise alcohol faster than normal people so I sober up quicker, or so I think. So I tended to drink a lot, really fast and keep drinking. Alcohol ended my 2nd marriage and almost my current one. However, right now we're dealing with me being a recovering alcoholic. A whole lot of stuff went in to getting me from raging alcoholic to recovering but in August I will be 3 years sober, thank God for that. It's yet another thing I deal with day by day and will for the rest of my life.

Out of all this do I find any good parts from having the surgery? Of course. I've mentioned a few already. There are the long term health benefits. I have to do my part if I want to stay healthy so it's my choice. The only reason I'm over my preferred weight now is that I don't exercise the way the doctor's plan was. I can keep those long term health benefits just by doing what I'm supposed to do. Other good things seem small, but are hugely significant since I had not had the privilege of enjoying certain things all my life. Like, I didn't have to get an extender belt on an airplane seatbelt. Yup. They have those. I could fit into regular seats instead of have to choose the large ones made for larger people. I could ride carnival rides with the kids because I fit them. I could actually shop in a whole lot more stores. People smiled at me and even held the door open for me sometimes. People are naturally nicer to skinnier people. It's just ingrained. You can't help it. Even now, a few pounds overweight, I can tell a difference in the way I'm treated. It's interesting to say the least. Oh, another thing I enjoyed - my kid could put her arms all the way around me and hug me when she was 8, after I lost the weight and she was ecstatic! So was I. She could do that anyway now she's 15. But it was cool. And once, I actually found a pretty blue prom dress at Goodwill and dressed up like Cinderella for Halloween at a Kids event. The little girls there actually thought I was the real Cinderella and asked for pictures with me and even my autograph! The parents let them and it was awesome! 

I have had some really fantastic moments because of losing this weight and I wouldn't trade that to not have the surgery for anything in the world. Even with all the stuff I complain about having to deal with on a daily basis I wouldn't give up the surgery. 

If someone asked me today if I thought they should do this surgery I would tell them to seriously weigh all their options before going through with something that will change them for life. Look at the unexpected things that have happened to people. Read their stories. Don't think it won't happen to you. Dumping Syndrome happens to most RNY'ers at some point. Also, there are other surgeries now that are considered safer than the exact one I had anyway. Check them out first. Something called the Gastric Sleeve is being done and is supposed to stop some of these side effects. Go to www.obesityhelp.com and check it out. There is a slew of info on there just waiting to be mined. Then make an informed decision. Only that individual can know what is right for them. 

Please, contact me if you have questions about my specific journey or just want to be friends on Facebook and connect with me like that somehow. I'd love to answer any questions and just talk to someone for support with their journey no matter when you are in your process. 

Brand Names in Novels: Yes or No?

Brand Names in Novels, Yes or No?

Last night I saw a twitter post from someone asking about brand names in novels. Should they be included or shouldn't they? The lady is an author or writing for an author (Penelope Marzec) and was asking other authors and book reviewers the question. Since I am an avid reader I consider myself good enough to be a book reviewer so I answered her question. 

"When I read a book, and I read a ton of them, it gives me a sense of what the time was that the book was written in. It sort of dates the book to me. If the book was written in the 80's for instance you're going to have Calvin Klein Jeans maybe as the brand name the kids are wearing. Instead of the story flowing, I pause and think, "Oh yeah, I remember that time of my life, when that was in style" or if it was before my time I think "I wonder what it was like to wear that stuff, or eat or have those things." Then the story goes on for me. (I'm a speed reader so I rarely stop and pause at anything)

So I think it really depends on what you want your audience to do with the specific area you want to put the brand name. Do you want to emphasize something specific, getting the audience to stop and pause, to think about something you've written around that area a little more?

I've read books that I think use brand names way too much in them. They just toss them in for no purpose it seems. I think things need a purpose."

That's just the way I feel about brand names in novels. I thought it was a very good answer. I haven't got a reply. I thought I'd put it in my post, though, because it's something that I think about sometimes. I follow many authors and several follow me. Maybe a few will stumble over my blog and read this. If anyone who reads this has a comment, please feel free to add it here. I'd love to see what others think about it.

Gavin Graduated from Kindergarten!

Updates Since My Last Post

Last week Gavin graduated from Kindergarten!

He only missed one day of school the entire year. We are so proud of him. Such a bright boy too. On his MAP testing (the stuff they do at the end of the year) He scored very high in both the reading and math testing. He was 93% in math and 96% in reading I think. 

Now he is on to day camp. Yes, I know I'm a stay at home mom. But really, what kid wouldn't like to get the chance to do archery, go to free movies, have Tai Kwan Do lessons, go to a huge waterpark, do music classes, art classes and learn sports and games they may not have been introduced to yet, all in one week. Then after the weekend they get to do it all over again! They get all that for just $50 a week. It includes their breakfast, lunch, snacks and all fees to the activities. Seriously, I would have been crazy to keep him away from that kind of fun since I could actually afford it this summer. In fact, today when I went to pick him up he refused to leave! I had to bribe him with a McDonald's smoothie to get him to leave with me instead of wait another half hour. (He was waiting on their snack, poor kid was hungry). The very first day he came home and fell asleep at 6:30 pm and didn't wake up until the next morning he was so tired from the day. They really wear the kids out. That's ok with me. He's less active in the evenings and less likely to get into mischief. 

KY Derby Hats: The Pretty, The Quirky and The Bold, Plus My First One!

I Made My First KY Derby Hat This Year!

 I really made it to be worn at my son's Kindergarten Kid-tucky Derby this Friday. The parents of the children will be having a Derby Hat contest while the kids will be racing on fake stick horses in a mock Derby. It will be so exciting for the kids. Gavin even built his sock horse and decorated it (we helped last week), then decorated his "jockey shirt" as well. He'll even wear baseball pants in order to sort of look like a real jockey! How neat is that! I'll update with pictures and re-send this when the race is done.

KY Derby Attendees Proudly Wear Their Best And Sometimes Wildest Derby Hats

Look at all the pink! This must be from the year they had the Susan G. Koman Best Pink Hat Contest.

It's a bonding experience!

Although hats are not standard fashion anymore, at the Kentucky Derby they are almost iconic. Go to the Derby, wear a hat, drink a mint julep, place a bet, etc. But when you wear a hat, make sure it's either your most lavish beautiful one or your most outrageous crazy one, especially if it is horse or Derby themed. The rich and famous get in high gear  when it comes to picking out their special hats, since those are what will be in the spotlight during the Derby as they are first spotted. They simply must have the perfect hat to go with their outfit! Some go outlandish and some don't bother. But that's the fun of the Derby Hat craze! You can participate but don't even have to go wild like I've done. Here is a link to a great story chronicling A Brief History of the Kentucky Derby's Most Famous Accessory. A 19th century businessman can be thanked for turning Churchill Downs (and other notable American race tracks) into one of the sport world's most fashionable venues.

Here are some of my favorite hats chosen from a Google image search. I liked them either for being most outlandish or most stylish, in my opinion.