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

Meet Me On Monday: Mini Mindy Monday Madness Round 3

Meet Me On Monday:

This Monday, and random Mondays here after, my blog will reveal something about me. 

All Meet Me On Monday blogs will be clearly labeled.

Warning: Mini Mindy Monday Madness will ensue further into this posting! Please proceed with caution and be careful not to step on the pixies!

 

 

Welcome to Mini Mindy Monday Madness (aka M4), Round 3. I previously took my typical "Meet Me On Monday" topic to a new level with M4 Round 1 & Round 2.  On Mini Mindy Monday Madness days, I give 5 random facts and/or photos that showcase a little bit of who I am.  As you learned some very serious information about me on Friday, thank you for your support & comments through Blogger and off of Blogger by the way, I thought I would keep today's post very light and fun!  These tid bits are from days that have long since gone by.  I will pick up where I left off with #11 on the list. Enjoy!

 

11.  I am the 2nd born of 4 children and the oldest daughter.  All of my siblings, and myself, have names that begin with the letter M.  Our birth order goes boy, girl, girl, boy.  We range from 32 to 26 at this current date.

 

12.  I have been published on a local level in the past.  While in high school, I wrote and took pictures for a couple of local papers as a student volunteer reporter.  On one occasion, I was even paid for my work.  I was active on the school newspaper as well.

 

13.  As you know, I love memory keeping.  I fell in love with layouts in high school as an editor of the school yearbook, I was able to help create a "scrapbook" of memories for my school mates.  Around this time in my life is also when I started my first simple scrapbook.

14.  I've got spirit, yes I do!  I've got spirit! How about you?  I wore my school colors proudly as a cheerleader!  If you've ever seen a football or basketball game, did you notice the cheerleaders?  As the smallest girl on the squad, although I had a friend who wasn't much bigger than I am, you would often find me being thrown into the air as a "flyer."  Go team!

15.   Just call me book nerd, smarty pants, and goody-two-shoes (yes, a classmate did call me this) as I was a National Honor Society member and graduated with Highest Honors (no, not the Valedictorian) from high school.  Since I have given birth to my children, I believe some of my brain power has been drained.  *wink to all the moms*

What number were you in your family?  Do you have any fun facts from those high school days?  What do you want to know about me?  Feel free to ask and I'll be happy to hit on that topic in one of my future "Meet Me On Monday" or "Mini Mindy Monday Madness" days.

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Did you notice the new button on my page?  Take a moment to look for a special hidden Mickey.  What do you think of the Autumn leaves?  Tinkerbell got tired and needed a rest, so here she sits on a jack-o-lantern watching over CMOMProductions.  I wonder what she'll do when it's Thanksgiving time...