Oh yeah,, I won!!!

I am soooooo freaking excited.. I've been about to die to buy this book and uhmm you know just couldnt justify the purchase right now... but thanks to Booktrib I won my very own copy.  WOOHOO!!  Come on mailman/lady.. bring me my book. 
I've read a little excerpt and I cant wait to get started on it.    Congratulations on your book Liz.   Be sure and checkout Booktrib.. they have weekly book giveaways.    You dont have to give your life history.  Just join the site and entering to win is just as simple as a click on the book you're interested in.  Good luck to ya!

Liz's storybook life

 

***excerpt ***
Once one has breathed in the deep pungent aroma of sewage, you never again forget the nose-hair singeing, eye clawing, throat gagging experience. It comes over you slowly. You begin to feel like a character in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest as your muscles involuntarily jerk and you run screaming and blowing raspberries. Anything to get away from the mind-numbing stench.


But let me explain.


It was 6:30 a.m. I was standing in my retro pink tiled bathroom trying to open my bleary eyes and ready myself for work. As I stood there, peering into the mirror and wondering what demented nighttime fairy had planted four new wrinkles on my face, I paused and sniffed.


“Matt… what’s that smell?”


Matt staggered from the bedroom in his underwear, eyes half shut. “I don’t smell anything.”


I pointed my nose into the air like a hunting dog. “Seriously? You can’t smell that? Did you go to the bathroom in here earlier? I told you to use the room spray when you do things like that.”


Matt puffed out his bare chest and gathered his pride as best a man can with sleep in his eyes and a small hole in the side of his underwear. “I just woke up!”


I frowned, catching a glimpse of my makeup-less hot-rollers-in-hair state and tried not to think about the fact that I looked fifty instead of twenty-nine. “Well, help me figure this out. Because something smells ripe.”


We sniffed the sink drain and ruled it out as a suspect.


“Is it coming from the toilet?” Matt asked, examining it from top to bottom.


“No, that’s not it,” I snapped. I’m not known for my milk of human kindness in a disaster. Don’t get me wrong. I’m a survivor. I plan on eating my radish like Scarlet and clawing my way out of the nuclear dust while dragging my loved ones with me. But I won’t be doing it with positive phrases and a smile.


“Hon, I just don’t know. We’ll call a plumber after work, maybe it’s coming from under the house.” Matt staggered a little, trying to get past me and out of our tiny bathroom.


“Well, that’s just great,” I moved aside and pulled the shower curtain back so I could perch on the side of the tub and give Matt room to move out the door.


That’s when the full brunt of nastiness filled the air around us, a swirling mix of excrement and acrid stench that would have brought the sewer dwelling Ninja Turtles to their knees. Where the normally slightly-clean-with-a-hint-of-soap-scum bottom of the tub should have been, there sloshed gallons and gallons of brown sewage.


I clutched the front of my sweatshirt and held my breath. Matt began to dry heave.


“Get out and shut the door!” I screamed as we bumbled into the hallway.


“I’ll deal with this,” Matt grabbed my shoulders, trying to talk and hold his breath at the same time.


I could feel my eyes glaze over, the horrors of typhoid and hepatitis in our bathtub filling my mind. But more importantly, I could envision our evaporated savings account. In my mind’s eye I could see the long, gray hallway at the bank. A worker shrouded in a black suit pulled a set of keys from his pocket and unlatched a small locker labeled “Owen Bank Account.” Inside were two small stacks of quarters and a few crumpled dollar bills. It was bleak, not only because the banker with an unimaginative wardrobe gazed at me with an expression that could only be interpreted as “You’re a Big Fat Loser,” but also there was a very definite possibility we wouldn’t be able to pay for a plumber.


I wasn’t necessarily a spend thrift. In fact, I was downright frugal when it came to decorating with thrift store furniture and rewired vintage lamps. But the fact was, we were poor. We were starting out at starter jobs with starter salaries. We were starter adults with a starter bank account.


“Okay,” I nodded numbly, thankful that Matt was taking the lead on such a disastrous biohazard. “But make sure the plumber is super cheap. We don’t have much money!”


I left for work like a wino stumbling through a fog, not really remembering my commute, not really doing any work as I sipped my coffee and stared blankly at the computer screen. A disaster of such gargantuan proportions had previously been unthinkable in my life, and now I found myself attempting to push the image of a vast sea of bathtub poop from my mind. But I was sure of one thing: Anne Shirley never had to get ready for work while breathing raw sewage.


Liz has a real talent for writing  and always makes me laugh or cry.  I cant wait to read this book.  Check out her blog to find out how you could win 1 of 10 advance copies of her first book.  Good Luck!

Its a messenger bag

Last week I won a giveaway over at Funky Junk Interiors.  Jeanne Oliver was so generously giving away one of her messenger bags.  I rec'd my package in the mail yesterday and Im in love with it.  I took it outside to see if I could get a few good shots of it so you could really see how pretty it is.   It is very well made and the ruffles are just sturdy enough to stay the way they should, there is a nice size zippered pocket on the inside as well as an open pocket for a cell phone and its very roomy.  I know I will get lots of use out of it.  Thanks again Jeanne and Donna for hosting the giveaway. 

She wrapped it so pretty I really didnt want to open it.  I saved the thick twine

and made a bow out of it. 

   Jeanne has some really pretty things in her etsy shop and some leather cuff bracelets that I cant wait to buy.  I know my girls would just love them. 

Win a Ruffled Messenger Bag

Edited to add::  I won!!   woo hoo!   Thanks so much Jeanne Oliver and Donna at Funky Junk Interiors. 


Would you like to win this beautiful messenger bag? Then head on over to Funky Junk Interiors.  Good Luck!

And the winner is ...

 So sorry,, I was away from the computer all day yesterday and didnt get to announce the winner of my giveaway.  So without further delay,, the winner is .. .

# 11 - Steph at Hegland Happenings  - Thanks Steph for following my blog!  I'll be making and sending you a banner similar to the one below with your choice of colors/wording. 

Congratulations, Steph ...   I'll be emailing you shortly to get your mailing address. Thanks to all who entered my little giveaway.  

Silhouette giveaway

Have you seen all the great projects being done with the Silhouette and always wanted one?  Well I have and Donna at Funky Junk Interiors is having a giveaway.. Go now, get your name in the hat.  Giveaway runs through the 27th.  Good Luck! 

3:16 and a crafty little giveaway

Hello my friendly followers ...  Been kinda slow around here lately but I hope you're sticking around. 

Today is 3-16 and what better day to remind friends and family and even strangers of this great truth.  John 3:16 . . .  share the good news with someone today - Is it hard for you to verbally share?  It is for me but thats okay - email, text, tweet, blog or just write it on your forehead (ha ha ha)  -- there are lots of ways.  

image from http://www.klove.com/ - Lisa and Eric morning dj page

Listening to Klove this morning driving to work they were talking about this young student from Japan who is living with a host family and going to school in California . . .  go here to read this very heartwarming and miraculous story.  You might want to have some tissues nearby. 
 
Do you like to enter giveaways?  I do  and I actually win sometimes - not lately though.  Well if you do go visit Jeanine and check out the giveaway she has going on.  Lots of fun crafty things to play with.  Good luck! 

And has always y'all have a good one. 

Win Win Situation

I've said it before (i think) and I'll say it again.. If I win you win!  I was lucky enough to win (2) giveaways recently.  And everytime I win I get so excited and it just makes my day.  It doesnt have to be some big grand prize either.  It doesnt matter to me.  So If I havent (but I think i have) said it before from now on If I win then so will someone else.  I'll have a giveaway on my blog everytime I win something.  I think its only fair to make someone elses day as great as mine.  Kind of like a pay it forward idea.  So look for a giveaway in the next couple days.  Hopefully I'll have it posted by Saturday.  

Yesterday was the latest giveaway that I won.. I won a set of 24 customized Cupcake flags from Laurenmakes through Kimberlys cupcake carnival going on this week on her blog Attempting Creative.   Be sure to stop by and visit them both, you wont be disappointed.  Arent those flags the cutest things?  They would be great for baby and bridal showers, anniversaries or anything you could think of.   There's another giveaway going on for some of the cutest cards and matching gift tags. You can click here to enter.  

(photo from LaurenMakes )


A few weeks ago I was so lucky to win the Mary Kay giveaway at Jennifers blog, All things Pink and Crafty .  That was also a really great prize,, Sunscreen, lip balm, self tanning lotion and after sun gel.  These will come in handy these next few weeks of this very hot summer we are having. 

( photo from All things Pink and Crafty )




So be watching for my next giveaway and until tomorrow ~  Have a good one!