A Countdown and the Latest

Hooray for Monday!  Okay, that's not my honest opinion of Mondays, but it is a good day for blogging.  I'm going with the glass half full attitude today.  At least that's my attempt.

I realized this morning that I am on blog post number 90!  Before long I will hit that 100 mark and it seems a wee bit excitin'!  As the countdown to 100 begins, I'm pondering what type of confetti will fly and if a ticker tape parade is in order.  Maybe a prize of some kind will have to be involved.  I think it's worth celebrating and must thoughtfully think it over.

Are you ready for the exciting news that I briefly spoke of in my I simply ran out of time blog vacation day?  Reading pays!  At least it did for me this past week.  On Wednesday, my youngest son and I came home from working in the classroom and running errands to hear our answering machine *beep* *beep* *beeping.*  As I listened to the message, I realized that it was a librarian from our local library informing me that I WON a prize in the monthly drawing for the reading Bingo challenge.  I'm not a lucky winner when it comes to these types of things, so I had to listen to it one more time to be certain.  Wednesday instantly turned all bright, shiny, and sparkly!  On Friday, I went to the library to pick up the last couple of books on hold for my reading challenge as well as my $20 gift card to Meijer.  Spectacular!

The moral of the story... reading pays!

 

This past week also held some writing excitement for me.  Recently, I was asked to write an article for an wonderful organization that my Mom is involved in.  A deadline for an annual scholarship, awarded to a high school senior, was fast approaching and they wanted to be certain all eligible students (and their parents) had the information.  Another important feature in the article was geared towards potential future club members.  The Lioness Club is committed to bettering their community and helping those in need, so I was more than happy to assist them.  After it was written, they ladies reviewed and approved the article before I submitted it to a local paper.  This week, the paper published my article!  It is not the first time that they have published my writing, as I was a student writer in my high school days, but it is the first time since I've been married.  Yesterday, I held the black and white newsprint in my hand and felt all warm and fuzzy inside.  

As promised, I will give you a brief summary of my weekend scrapbooking event.  You may laugh at me to know that I've been prepping for this event off and on for the past couple of weeks.  I organized my photos, picked out the right papers, and used my Cricut Expression to precut letters and designs to be featured on various pages.  I chose to work on our 2008 family trip to Disney World, and didn't bring anything else with me.  

When I left my home on Saturday, the scrapbooking day was minutes away from opening up.  I had sick kids Thursday & Friday night, by now this should not be shocking, so I was finishing my packing and telling the kids to be good for Daddy before I could head out.  After reaching the main road near our house, I looked out into Christmas shopping worthy traffic.  Sadly, I still had to stop at my local Hobby Lobby to grab a couple of items that I planned to use during the day.  By the time I arrived, I was an hour late.  No worries, I got my stuff out and went straight to work.  

During the event, I spent time talking with one of my good friends, and number one scrapbooking buddy, Stephani.  I really lucked out last year when I met a couple of great friends through my son's Kindergarten class.  Upon arrival, a sticker pack was given to each participant as a thank you for being here today gift.  Anyone catch the Princess Diaries reference?  Prizes were given away throughout the event and everyone received something.  I walked away with a rival school's t-shirt (it's great sleepwear), a pack of Whoppers candy, and a $25 gift certificate to a local restaurant.  The best part of the day for me...  beyond the conversations amongst the women, it was a quiet atmosphere.

Here's hoping that this week is happy and fun filled for all of you!  I've already received a slight adjustment in my days, as I will be helping in the classroom one day this week.  My son's teacher stopped me this morning to ask if I would be willing to do so, and of course I said I would be there.  

Happy Monday everyone!

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My Reading Challenge Update:

TWO BINGOS COMPLETE!

Automatic Prize Received With 2nd Bingo:  Window Scraper with library logo

Prizes Won:  $20 Meijer Gift Card

Next Goal to Complete:  Blackout BINGO (entire sheet)

13/16 Total Books Read

1 Book In Progress!

3 Total Books Left to Read 

 24 Read Days Left