Do you collect MyCokeRewards points?

I used this a few weeks ago, and they were working then. These codes are promotional codes that are good for EVERYONE!

Free Blockbuster Movie Rental - 100084616172235
3 Points - 100082021821624
5 Points - 100082157763657
10 Points - 100084226454945
10 Points - 100082622438433
10 Points - 100082211832616
25 Points - 100084148441474
25 Points - 100084056688357

Some people have had trouble using them, so I can't guarantee that they will work for everyone, but you should be able to use them if you haven't already.

Also, if you go to PapaJohns.com, you can play a game there once each day for points and other prizes - I've actually won 250 points!

Modesty Rant

On Sunday, I swung by the nearby Walmart to get a Sunday paper. I wouldn't bother with Walmart except for the fact that they have the Sunday paper for 99 cents rather than the $1.50 that it costs everywhere else. I decided to look around for a few minutes, pick up something for dinner, etc. While wandering around, I saw a girl and her mom shopping together, and my eyes nearly popped out. This girl, who was probably no more than 7 years old (maybe a tiny 8) was walking around - IN PUBLIC - in her swimsuit. Not a one piece bathing suit, oh no. This was a two piece - a tank/halter type top and a standard, panty-style bottom. NO COVER-UP. Just walking around in her swim clothes. And the bottom was riding up a little bit, oh joy.

I admit, I do not believe in even going to the pool or the beach in swim clothes, but even I know that people do that and you're not going to stop folks anytime soon. But in what reality do these people live that they think it's even remotely okay for a girl to be walking around in her swimsuit out in the general public?! Y'all, a swimsuit is nothing more than walking around in your underwear, especially when it's a two-piece. Would this mother ever dream of allowing her daughter to go out in a tank top and her Barbie panties? I think not. Would Mom go out in her bikini like that? I think not.

I just do not understand the current culture of "I can do whatever I want, but don't you dare look at me in a provocative manner" that so pervades America today. Where is the sense of pride of self that prevents you from being so brazen? Where is the sense of even general modesty that people used to have even if they weren't religious?

I can just see this mom a few years from now, worrying over the possibility that her "little girl" might come home pregnant one day because she knows how provocatively she allows her to dress. Just think how much smaller that worry would be if she taught her daughter starting now that some things just aren't done, and that a lady covers up!

Sigh. I feel so badly for the young women of America today. All I can do is do my part, raising my children right. But some days, that just doesn't feel like enough

Repurposed Potatoes

On Saturday, I cooked a roast, complete with potatoes in the pot. I had 6 half potatoes left over, which I had saved. Last night, we were having pork chops, and I wanted to do something with those potatoes.

First, I microwaved 2 smallish extra potatoes to make sure we had enough. After that, I warmed up the other potatoes. I dumped all of the cooked potatoes into a big bowl, added about a 1/2 stick of butter, and some milk, and started mashing. I took the skins off the microwaved potatoes, but left on the skins from the previously cooked ones.

I had to microwave a little more after doing some of the mashing, then, I had to break out the hand mixer instead of the masher, so as to break up the skins more, and create a finer mash. I also had to add more milk at one point.

Don't forget to taste test! Since the half potatoes had a lot of flavor and seasoning after cooking with the roast, the mashed potatoes didn't need much. A little salt, some pepper, and I also threw in some parsley. Come to think of it, I should have added some garlic - that would have been yummy!

These never did get totally smooth - it wasn't just the skin pieces left in, but also some lumps that just would not work out - so these were "rough" mashed, I guess. But they were SO, SO, SO yummy and good!

Last week's giveaway was so much fun...

...I'm going to do it again!

I have a code for one free movie ticket from Fandango.com. I *hope* that I can give it away to someone, but if it doesn't work, I apologize in advance. I won it from Winster.com, but it's only one ticket, and I'm not going to use it for various reasons.

If you would like a chance at winning this ticket, just do two things:

1. Please leave me a comment in the comments section on this post.
2. Please tell other people about the giveaway by linking back to this post on your own blog.

That's all you have to do! I will draw for the winner around 4:00 Central Time on Friday, the 3rd.


~~Demeter

Harry Potter and the Parents Who Took Responsibility

Yes, we read Harry Potter. We're Christians, and we read Harry Potter. There, I said it.

All four members of my family love the stories and the movies. But do we the parents allow the children unlimited access to all of it?

No, because we're the parents and we take our job seriously.

I have to admit to some disenchantment with J. K. Rowling after the 6th book. It was full of drinking references (we're tee-totalers), bad language and general ickiness like the Inferi toward the end. I decried this loudly on a message board where I hang out a lot - what about the younger kids who are just now starting to read Harry Potter and decide that they want to read the next one, and the next one and so on? It's all well and good for the kids who were young when Harry first came out and have grown up alongside the characters.

I should have realized that I already knew the answer, because we were using it in our family already. It's called "parental responsibility" and exercise of said authority.

Our son is almost-12. He has been allowed to read the first 5 books on his own. Our daughter is almost-9, and has read the first 3 books on her own, and should be old enough for #4 soon. However, I have read all of the first 6 books aloud, and we are currently working our way through "Deathly Hallows".

It's a perfect solution. They get to find out what happens in the books that they're not allowed to read on their own yet, but I verbally edit where appropriate while reading. I can gloss over the icky parts when they show up (which thankfully aren't too many - tension is more Ms. Rowling's forte than outright horror) and change that glass of wine to just a glass. We read books together every night anyway, so it's not like I'm forcing them to sit still for reading time that they're not used to, just so they can hear the latest Potter story.

We also exercise caution with the movies. We weren't even Potter fans when the first movie came out, but we couldn't have gone to go see it even if we were - our son was only 6, and had only recently developed the fear of monsters that's more common to 3 year olds. There was no way we could have taken him to go see the first movie on screen. However, when it came out on video, he was a little older, and was able to handle it on the small screen at home. At that point, we got hooked on the books and began reading them.

When "Chamber of Secrets" came out, he was 7, but his sister was 4. I knew there was no way that we were going to take them to go see that giant snake on the big screen, so we skipped it, waiting for the video - a good call on our part.

We went to see "Prisoner of Azkaban" at the theater, and the kids really enjoyed it. When "Goblet of Fire" came out, though, I never could get a straight answer from my online friends with kids about how much language was in it, and just how scary the last part of the movie was - so once again, we skipped the theater experience.

This time around, we will go see the 5th movie as soon as my free tickets can be used. The kids are older, and they should be fine. We never go to the theater to see something more than once, so it's not like we're pounding it into them.

As far as ownership of the videos goes, we own 1 and 2, and that's it. We have occasionally rented 3 and 4, but not very often. I don't want to own those two movies until the kids are a good bit older, because then I don't have to fight over how long it's been since the last time they watched it. While we don't mind seeing them every once in a blue moon, we do realize that watching them over and over is not good for our children. We exercise proper caution and authority, and that's what parenting is all about, people. We don't give in to a future event just because the past events were fairly harmless. We know what's appropriate for their maturity level, and we hold them to their boundaries.

I realize that parents can't always screen every last thing that their child is exposed to. But when you do have the opportunity, take it! And if you know that something will not be appropriate for your child, grow up, take a stand, and forbid it. You're not going to cause them harm, and may just save them from problems. Be the parent, not the friend, and do the job that God gave to you. They will thank you some day.

Woo-hoo, let's win a TV, people!

Pssst... wanna win a TV? A really, really, REALLY nice TV? How about a 37" Flat Panel LCD HDTV from Best Buy?

All you've got to do is go over to 5 Minutes For Mom, follow the instructions, and you're entered. Easy as pie.

Mmmmm.... pie.....

If I'm sobbin' into the spaghetti, honey, just turn off the radio

I grew up on country on the radio. I loved music, loved to sing. 70's country is, if you'll pardon the obvious bias, the best out there. I was a bit naive, though, as I clearly remember my mom and I singing loudly along to the "Jose Cuervo" song many a time - we had no idea it was tequila!

I can't remember now if I was naive when it came to tearjerker songs. I just can't recall any that I thought were particularly sad. Maybe they didn't infiltrate my brain, or maybe I didn't have life experience to recognize them for what they were.

I moved away from country when I was in high school because I was tired of being the odd one out - NOBODY else listened to country! I've pretty well stayed with pop/rock since then, when I bothered to even turn on the radio, which wasn't often after getting married and having kids. I also love to listen to Broadway musicals, so those have often been what's on instead of the actual radio.

But, you know how it is when you start getting ol.... er, slightly more advanced in years. You begin waxing nostalgic for the things of your youth. So, I decided to hunt down a country station here. What fun! I found a great station that has a good mix of old and new, so I get the fun, new stuff while not feeling completely lost because I don't know any of the songs at all. Hearing those old favorites brings me right back to my childhood.

But then. ACK. That very first day, I'm listening along, trying to decide what I like, when this song came on. Wife is in the hospital, husband apparently travels a lot and has been caught out away from home when she goes in the hospital, tries desperately to get home in time, but misses her and is left with just a loving note. THIS IS ENTERTAINMENT, PEOPLE?! I was a sobbing wreck by the time this was over!

There's something you should know about me. I'm very emotional, but I HATE, HATE, HATE to cry in front of people. Anyone. Not that I don't like to have a good session of wailing and gnashing of teeth, but only if there's nobody around, and they won't be for a good 6-8 hours. I go all Rudolph, and my eyes get that puffy undereye thing going on that betrays me. It's not pretty, folks.

It's not that I think crying is a weakness, in general. I have never looked down on anyone who cries, anywhere. (Excepting the two drama majors who live in my house and are currently less than 5 feet tall.) It's just something I don't like to do, myself. It's just one of my quirks.

So imagine my surprise when a couple of days later yet another one comes on the radio. This song at least isn't crushingly depressing, but it's something that makes a parent's heart just break into a hundred pieces, because let's face it - it's going to happen someday. And we all know that's exactly how we're going to feel. Truly, we "Loved Her First", and giving away our daughter in marriage is going to be one of the happiest and saddest days of our life, all wrapped into one.

Despite the fact that I hate to cry in front of people, I'm distressingly emotional, especially after becoming a parent. Kodak commercials? Pass the tissues, please. Those Campbell's Soup foster children commercials that were on a few years ago? I had to leave the room. And we won't discuss just how bad reading the last Harry Potter book has affected this currently PMS'ing woman this last week. (Let's just say that my tear glands are wondering if they get vacation benefits, and leave it at that.)

Since most of my radio listening happens in the kitchen while I'm either washing dishes or cooking dinner, I wouldn't be a bit surprised if my husband manages to come home a little earlier than I expected one day and catch me boo-hooing into the macaroni. And boy, am I going to feel really silly when I have to explain that, no, everything's fine, I was just listening to the radio. Yeah. Just turn off the radio, honey, and pass me a Prozac. I'll be fine once Jose Cuervo comes back on.

Lovely quote

“Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgement that something else is more important than fear.”

Ambrose Redmoon

A VIPSA

That's "Very Important Public Service Announcement".

When pouring boiling hot water from a tea kettle, make sure that the stupid lid is actually SNAPPED ON, not just lying casually atop the opening!

Don't ask me how I know just how freakin' important this is.

And the winner is.....

AMBEARLUV!

Amber, I left a comment on your Amber Scraps blog since I didn't see an email on your profile. I hope you find it!

The new Star Trek movie: Young Spock is played by **WHO**???

CNN story here

Nimoy was joined by the newly named young Spock, "Heroes" star Zachary Quinto, who bears an uncanny resemblance to Nimoy.

Um, WHAT?! Maybe with a lot of makeup, eyebrow reconstruction and tape-tucking. And who is this guy? He's SYLAR from the show "Heroes". SYLAR, people. The one who was whacking people left and right, then chopping into their brains so as to steal their superpowers. YUCK. If I even go see the movie, I'm going to see Spock butchering peoples' brains. SHUDDER.

Leonard Nimoy is one of my all-time favorite actors, and Spock is one of my all-time favorite characters. I can't believe they're doing this. This Quinto guy better be one of the best actors in the world in order to overcome his current perception and really become our beloved Spock.

Frugal Friday: Walgreen's

I haven't shopped at Walgreen's much lately, but I'm starting to get back into it. When I first learned about good couponing skills, I went to CVS, RiteAid and Walgreen's, all three, every week, to get the rebate deals. With two homeschooled children and other things to do, I realized pretty quickly that wasn't going to work. Walgreen's got dropped because their rebate program is more involved than RiteAid's.

However, I've recently found out that Walgreen's has started a new program called Register Rewards. If an item has a dollar amount that is called "Register Rewards" in the sale flyer, that means that when you buy that item, the register automatically prints out a coupon for that amount of money, that is good on ANYTHING in the store. It's very, very similar to CVS's "Extra Bucks" program, except that you don't have to have a card to get the deal.

Just like the Extra Bucks, you can then turn around and buy another of the same item if you like, again getting the Register Rewards money. You can also use coupons and still get the reward coupon. I recently racked up several 6-packs of Boost nutritional drink for almost nothing, plus a few extra "filler" items - there were $2 coupons for the drink in one of the in-store free magazines, so I could get the Boost plus a filler, get the reward, turn around and do it all over again.

Don't forget to check out Crystal's blog for more frugal goodness!

Also don't forget that you've got until 4:00 Central today to comment on THIS POST and have a chance at a $5 GC to Barnes and Noble!

You've got less than 1 day left...

To sign up for my bloggy giveaway! I'll close the contest around 4:00 my time tomorrow, and pick a random number some way or another. Then you'll know!

I am milk chocolate, TYVM!

You are Milk Chocolate

A total dreamer, you spend most of your time with your head in the clouds. You often think of the future, and you are always working toward your ideal life. Also nostalgic, you rarely forget a meaningful moment... even those from long ago.

What Kind of Chocolate Are You?

Apparently, Westley and I have still "got it"

Westley calls me every day when he leaves work, as right now he works 50 miles away. The other day we chatted for a few minutes while he was getting out to the car, talking and laughing about various things. When I got back to the living room, Harry grinned at me and said that his sister told him, "Mama sounds like she's got a new boyfriend or something. She's all GIGGLY! They sound like they're not even married!!"

Kids. Gotta tolerate love 'em

I didn't wanna do it, I didn't wanna do it....

Just got back from giving blood today. I'm O+, so the vampires blood donor people love to see me. They called this time and asked me to come in - I've been going in on my own from time to time as I remembered, but the last time I gave blood, they blew the vein and I ended up with a small hematoma and some sort of weird reaction to the adhesive on the bandaid. The hematoma went away in a day or so, but the raised skin reaction around the puncture site lasted for two weeks. Understandably, giving blood on my own hasn't crossed my mind for a while now! But when the Red Cross called, I went ahead and made an appointment. I know they need lots of O, especially during the summer, so I went on.

I'm kind of tired now, but I know it was worth it. It's summer - go give blood yourself!

If a dozen book characters are dead....

... then why am I the one who's dragging?

Oh yeah.

That would be because I stayed up until 3:36 **AM** finishing my book.

Got about 2/3 of the way through it, tried to go to bed, couldn't do it, had to gulp down the rest.

FABULOUS. Parts could have been better, there could have been a tad more "oomph" in the final battle, but I'm satisfied, for the most part. I loved it. :-)

It's a Very Bloggy Giveaway!

UPDATE: You have until 4:00 Central Time to put your name in the hat!

All right, I'll give something simple, but that most people should be drooling over. How about a $5 Barnes and Noble gift card? You can use it in-store, or at bn.com. Since it's small, I'll be happy to pay for international shipping if someone wants it, and happens to win it.

Just put your name in the comment section, and later this week we'll draw for a number! One comment per person, please.

Don't forget to go visit Shannon's blog for all of the rest of the giveaways - you have to go to each one!

It's 4:00 my time....

...and still no book!!!! >SOB<

UPDATE:

It came about 10 minutes later. I managed to squeeze in a chapter and a half before I had to go start dinner. And then, would you believe, my husband had the audacity to STEAL it and start reading it! Well!

CNN is mocking me this morning...

"Potter Ending Gives Fitting Closure"

Or so claims CNN. I'm waiting on UPS to get here with my copy; meanwhile, the intarwebs mock me by yakking about it behind my back.

I'm going to go pout by cleaning my living room. Where I can see out the front window. Every 30 seconds.