Carol's random babble

So I had my plans set for today - a to-do list, my little blogger's daily schedule sheet, and everything. And then ... Yesterday a former co-worker called to say she finally had her baby (a girl after two boys) and I sort of promised to visit her in the hospital today on the way to work. I've got to go to my mom's to pick up a check, cash it and get sodas for her. I want to start going to work earlier on Tuesdays because I get out earlier. I got about 3 to 3 1/2 hours of sleep because I. can't. breathe. The whole not-breathing thing was quite the surprise. I've had this thing since high school where it feels like I can't get a full breath, like I can't expand my lungs. So I do a sort of gasping yawn and hold my mouth open, hoping that it will work this time. But it's very infrequent - years can pass before it's a problem. Except lately. Especially last night, when I went to bed after midnight and was awake until after 3 a.m. And I went bac...

I call myself a procrastinating perfectionist. I put things of until/unless they can be done "right" - which often means things don't get done at all. And this is a characteristic of my entire life. But today is the day I start tracking how I spend my time, in order to organize my time and get things done. I woke up at 5 a.m. - it's not a school day, as spring break was last week and today is a teacher work day before the new semester starts. But Cayla has a doctor appointment today, and I've got to work on In Old Fort Dodge - the article I picked for today is extremely long. I started working on it last night and I'm not halfway through yet. But it's an interesting one about a newspaper editor in Fort Dodge in the late 1800s. However, I'm also catching up on Facebook and found this - a preview of Season 7 of Doctor Who. I'm kind of excited and also sad because it's going to be a long wait until it starts in the fall. Also on Facebook...

I've got a whole folder full of bookmarks of giveaways. Some have expired, so I was going to go through and delete those. But some I hadn't entered yet, as sometimes I bookmark a giveaway if I don't have time at that moment to enter. So here's one I entered today: Hello Spring $800 giveaway . First prize is $800. The consolation prize is $50 cash. You have to like a bunch (three bunches, actually) of Facebook pages and a bunch (just one bunch) of Twitter accounts. There are some other entries, as well. You can do as many or as few as you like, but remember if you say you liked all the Facebook pages in a group, you have to actually have liked them. If you win and your winning entry is based on liking a group, when you didn't like every single one, you won't win.  I also signed two of my giveaways on In Old Fort Dodge up for the Win it Wednesday linky here . My problem is the linkies is that I get sidetracked entering things and before I know it, hours have ...

$200 Amazon gift card I've entered the AppSumo contest for $200 Amazon gift card . The contest of open to age 21 or older (except residents of places listed in the official rules). The contest ends at 11:59 CDT on March 23. My link (if you enter using this link, I get extra entries): http://www.appsumo.com/~i3Exa/ Book giveaway In honor of one year of In Old Fort Dodge, I'm offering a book giveaway . The prize is a copy of “Fort Dodge: 1850 to 1970 (Images of America)” by Roger Natte. I haven't talked to Roger about it yet, but I'm going to ask him to autograph it for the winner. Since I'm hosting this completely and will have to mail it to the winner, I'm restricting it to residents of the United States. Giveaway link: http://inoldfortdodge.com/2012/03/book-giveaway/ Assorted giveaways on other blogs This page has giveaways on the blog listed, as well as a linky list of other giveaways. http://mamalovesherbargains.com/2012/03/gimme-some-givvies-3...

Here's a YouTube time-lapse video of the Chicago River being dyed green for the occasion: I lived in Chicago for several years. I have seen the river green for St. Patrick's Day, but never actually watched the process.

Well, if you are Rochelle J., that is. She is the winner of the My Memories digital scrapbooking software giveaway . I have emailed her with instructions and the code for her prize. I will have another My Memories giveaway in a couple of months. I'll have another giveaway starting in April, as well. So, stay tuned. If you aren't Rochelle J., you could still be a winner.

One year ago I started a history blog, In Old Fort Dodge . My goal was to have daily updates with transcribed newspaper articles from the early days of Fort Dodge, Iowa. I've done pretty good ... I slacked off last fall, but still plan to go back and make it up - eventually. But here's the thing: I signed up on Amazon.com to publish that blog for the Kindle . (Not available for Kindle Fire, however, due to Amazon.com's policy.) You can get a 14-day free subscription - just remember to cancel by the end if you don't want to be charged for it. And if you like it, keep reading. This whole Kindle publishing thing was an experiment - if people sign up, I get some money. If they don't, I don't have to pay anything, so no worries. And if you are interested in the blog, feel free to read it at the original site . There is a whole range of material: funny, sad, unusual, tragic - in other words, human life.

I participated in a speed scrap Sunday evening. The My Memories host on Facebook gives step-by-step directions and at the end people post their creations. I mostly used Vintage Rose from A Saxon Creation, which was a free download at MyMemories.com. My speed scrap submission on Sunday: Tonight I got to playing around with the page to see how it would look if I use some other embellishments. (The designer has a challenge using her stuff, so I wanted to enter that competition.) Second version: I changed the color scheme from green and orange to green and pink, and used more embellishments from Vintage Rose. I think everything except the green textured paper behind the group shot (and the photos, of course) are from that kit. and third version: I took the darker background paper and brought it forward (use a square shape and fill it with paper, then rotate), which provides nice contrast for the "I love" word art.  But there isn't enough con...

They are my specialty. I just woke up from a nap that lasted 1/2 longer than it should have because the old cell phone I use for an alarm clock had apparently turned itself off. But here's what I was dreaming before I woke up: Remember the TV show "My Two Dads" ? And the movies "Three Men and a Baby" and "Three Men and a Little Lady" ? (Apparently there's talk of a sequel , which I didn't know until just now.) In my dream, I started watching a TV sitcom, called "Three Men and Rudy" (which is wrong, as the girl in the movies was named Mary). In the dream show, however, it was the three men and the girl was a teenager. Tom Selleck was in it, but the other two were replaced by other actors. So, in my dream, I was telling Amanda about it. Then there was some weird thing about her room (we were living in an entirely different place and she had her own room with entirely different furniture). It was like we both saw a flashover fi...

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First, I'd like to point out that I am grateful. Yes, I hated giving up my brand-new Toshiba Satellite laptop, but it was not going to be able to transport me to work. My car, however, has been fixed, and is doing just fine. It was the CV joint and ball joint, which doesn't mean a whole lot to me (other than $365 to fix) but will mean something to the mechanically minded out there. But since Thursday afternoon, I've been mobile again, not having to rely on (nag or otherwise inconvenience) my family. (Other than my children, but that's a whole other story.) I will be able to go grocery shopping tonight and bring stuff home in my own car. Yay! Second, I'm participating in a blog hop of giveaways. It's called Lucky Leprechaun giveaway , but each blog is hosting its own giveaway and its own Rafflecopter. The idea is to get people to move from blog to blog to enter. I had already started the My Memories giveaway and had some entries, so I can't make a man...

Welcome to the Lucky Leprechaun Giveaway! We've teamed up with several of our fellow bloggers to offer you several different gifts! A HUGE Thank you goes out to the sponsor for this event, Pampered Chef Representative, Maribeth Priest!  She has generously donated a Pampered Chef Vegetable Grilling Rack for this event!  Please visit her website,  HERE!   She has a big sale going on and lots of NEW items!! There's also a ton of stuff under $20!  This giveaway will begin March 3rd, 2012 and end on March 15th, 2012.  Visit each blog to enter for a chance to win! Some of the prizes are: A Vegetable Grilling Rack from Pampered Chef $25 Gift Basket Sponsored by Kristine's Shower A Sock Monkey Hat An Owl Hat My Memories Suite 2 Digital Scrapbooking Software $50 Gift Code to "Just Eyewear" Signed Book, "Dawn of Saudi"  "My Hare Line" book series (4 children's books) ...