If any of you were wondering whether I would really receive the $149 gift card that I won off of Blingo - wonder no further. On Friday (twenty-four days after I won!) I recieved my gift card in the mail!

Oh what excitement! $149 all mine, to do with what I want. Now what shall I do?

I took my $149 gift card and did this:

Blonde and copper highlights.

Thanks !

Here are my tips for winning on Blingo:

Make Blingo your homepage.
Then, when your browser opens up you can just type the name of the site that you want to visit and you're up and running.

• Make Blingo Your Home Page in Internet Explorer
  1. Go to the Tools menu and choose Internet Options.
  2. See the box marked Home Page? Type "www.blingo.com" in the address box.
  3. Click OK.
  4. Now every time you open Internet Explorer or click on the "Home" icon, you'll go to Blingo!
• Make Blingo Your Home Page (Firefox)
  1. The easiest way is to drag this link (Blingo home page) onto your "Home" button.
  If that doesn't work, try this:
  1. On Windows, choose Options from the Tools menu. On a Mac, choose Preferences from the Firefox menu.
  2. Click the General category.
  3. See the box marked Home Page? Type "www.blingo.com" in the location box.
  4. Click OK.

Add Blingo to Your Search Box

• Add Blingo to Your IE7 Search Box (Internet Explorer 7)
  You can easily add Blingo to the handy search box at the top of every Internet Explorer 7 window.
  1. Click this link to add Blingo to your list of search providers.
  2. Check the box to Make this my default search provider.
  3. Click Add Provider.
  4. Now when you type keywords into the search box and hit return, your search will go to Blingo!
• Add Blingo to Your Quick Search Box (Firefox)
  You can easily add Blingo to the handy search box at the top of every Firefox window.
  1. Click this link to add Blingo to your list of providers.
  2. Select Blingo from the pull-down list in the search box.
  3. Now when you type keywords into the search box and hit return, your search will go to Blingo!
  4. If you'd like to remove Blingo from your list of search engines, just go to C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\searchplugins (or on a Mac go to Library/Application Support/Firefox/Profiles/...), remove blingo.src and blingo.gif, and restart Firefox.

Invite your friends!

Every time you win something on Blingo the person who invited you to Blingo wins something. Now if you invite someone to join and then join and they win, you win the same prize they do. That's why it pays to invite people, because the more people you invite and the more searching we all do, the more likely we all are to win!

Keep in mind that only the person who invited you wins the same prize. So if I invited you and you invited a friend and your friend wins, only you and your friend the the prize; not me. And if I win a prize, the people I invited don't win the same prize, only the person who invited me.

Use it for everything!

The first time I won a prize on Blingo I was searching for Wikipedia. Of course, I knew the address of wikipedia, but I just typed the word into Blingo to use it as a search. Because some days I don't have a whole lot to search for and I figure every search is one search closer to winning.

Do remember, however that only your first 25 searches of the day count. So it doesn't make a lot of sense to search just to try to win, just use it to go to different web sites and to search. That's how I win!

Good Luck!

Quick! Check this out!

You can win, too!

Thanks!

A vast change from weekends prior, this weekend was chock-a-block full. Very little down time and what little down time I had was filled with work, glorious work. (I'm still looking for addional help, by the way - if you have any experience with illustration or blog designs or implementing designs with Movable Type, Wordpress or Typepad, let me know. I'll make it worth your while!)

And the weekend. Friday night Jimbo and I had a nice long walk in the state forest, then stayed in and mostly worked. Saturday I had a morning mall walk followed by our weekly Target run, then more work, laundry and housework before heading out to celebrate my sister's birthday. We had dinner at the Outback then met up with Jimbo at Boston Billiards (which rocks the house - great dirty martinis, too!) where we kicked ass at pool.

Sunday we had another long walk in the state forest where we almost got lost. Next time we bring a map! After that a Tastefully Simple Party/clothing-bath & body-anything swap where I picked up a ton of goodies and unloaded equally as much bootie.

Quick pick Jimbo up and head over to mom & dad's for another birthday celebration for sis where we all lay on my parents king-sized bed and watched old home movies.

House on DVR then bed with the kitties.

Now, work.

Five things likely to make you happier in the short term

Paul's rocks the house

1. Go out for a walk
2. Do something fun that you haven't done in a long time
3. Do something creative
4. Complete some minor chore that you've been avoiding
5. Get in contact with an old friend or acquaintance you haven't seen for a while

Go check out the full article for some great suggestions!

drip, Drip, DRIIIIIIIP
drip, Drip, DRIIIIIIIIIIIIIP
drip, Drip, DRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIP

Jimbo gets up and goes outside to see what the HECK the water is hitting SO DAMN LOUD.
It's the gutter. There's nothing we can do about it right now.

I get up, take a shower, have breakfast, check my email, get dressed, curl my hair and head off to work, only to find myself getting sleepier and sleepier at the wheel.

Finally make it to work and make myself a huge mug o cocoa to wake me up.

Did I have a point here? Oh! Rain, you suck.

• I can NOT seem to stop eating recently. It's not gorging trying to fill myself to satisfy something that's missing in my life, or anything like that. It's my stomach feeling empty all the time. Those growling sounds and hunger nausea. Must eat.

• I can say, however, that this recent bout of can't-get-enough-to-eat hasn't affected my weight. I lost another 1.2 pounds this week.

• DON'T even THINK it!

• If New England weather was a mental disorder it would be bi-polar. This weekend I was wearing capris and sandals, yesterday it snowed ALL day.

• In an effort to simplify my life, I decluttered my desk and my underwear drawer. I love these. I thank whoever came up with the great idea of putting a Container Store and Ben & Jerry's right next to each other, five minutes from my work. Amen.
  

Being a fairly loud (read: boisterous) person, it's kind of ironic that loud people should drive me up a wall. But then, I did read somewhere that the traits that we hate about ourselves, we equally hate in other people. Equal or greater-than, more possibly.

Or perhaps it was growing up with a brother who made himself half-deaf by listening to Ozzy and Megadeth at dreadfully loud volumes, or the fact that in a household of six, silence was a rare thing.

Nevertheless working in an open office plan with cubicle walls three-feet tall in a job that requires intense concentration (writing), makes me just the teeniest bit grouchy when the noise volume increases.

While sharing this frustration with a coworker, she brought up the concept of the Cone of Silence from Get Smart. Cone of Silence, What is that? Get Smart, what is that!?

I immediately looked it up and had a good hearty chuckle and then thought for a moment - this is THE BEST IDEA EVER! It's a solution to those annoyingly loud cell phone talkers in stores, restaurants, and in your face.

Guess what everyone's getting for Christmas!?

1. Where oh where did I put my...
   
2. I'd rather be...
   
3. My hair...
   
4. This week has been....
   
5. I'm such a slacker, I really need to...
   
6. Just for me, next week I'm going to ...
   
7. Oh boy! This weekend should be...
   

It's a rewards card! There's my justification!

All I really want to do is eat chocolate and french fries.

I sat in the lazyboy last night in front of the TV and there wasn't anything I wanted to watch. I didn't want to get on the computer or work or start a new book or work on my discovery journal or write in my journal or read about simplifying my life.

I told this to Jimbo and he said it was all fine and good as long as I wasn't craving pickles. Amen to that! This brought a little smile on my face and we sat and watched one of those reality shows where a snotty designer comes in an picks apart the state of someone's home and remakes it as all kinds of drama ensues. We watched two episodes back to back. I enjoyed telling the host that she really needed to have her roots done.

Today isn't much different. I ate chocolate-covered biscotti on the way to work and chocolate yogurt once I got here because I CAN! I listened to a new book on CD, which I'm thoroughly enjoying and which is thoroughly distracting me from who-knows-what.

Watching Oprah's Debt Diet I've decided to try to stop shopping.

You can stop laughing now.

1. Oh my aching...
   
2. I'm addicted to...
   
3. This week I discovered...
   
4. I don't understand....
   
5. ...makes my blood boil.
   
6. I should have....
   
7. WooooEeeeee, this weekend....
   

I had the best time Friday night with Liz & Kel. We met up at B&N and gabbed over Starbucks sippies for ages. I had their Raspberry Green Tea Frappuchino which was fabulous (and I soon found of why - a tall was 6 points!) and then we did a little shopping and had dinner at John Harvards.

Saturday I did my walk with Kristen then we went to Target and Michael's and show shopping! I only bought a few $9 polo shirts from Target and Orville Redenbackers Kettle Corn (my new love!). Got home, took a nap and then went to our friend's house for takeout and gabbing.

Sunday I went for another walk with Kristen then chilled at home before Easter festivities at my grammies' house. Six million hours later we were back home in our jammies watching House on DVR.

The end.

Fa la la
Happy happy happy
blue skies
chocolate yogurt
buds on trees

Fa la la
Happy happy happy
nine pounds gone
spring in full effect
debt shrinking every day

Fa la la
Happy happy happy
paws on carpet
goodbye kisses
a clean desk

This week has to be the worst week (eating wise) since I started Weight Watchers. I had chinese food twice, two really fattening Starbucks frappucinos, and then there was Easter.

I was afraid to step on the scale yesterday morning, but was surprised to see that it read 153! Wooo! Two pounds down, past my 10 pound mark!!! I stepped on the scale at home before my meeting and the number had raised 3 pounds in 8 hours. So. Not. Fair.

I got to the meeting and weighed myself to find that I had not lost 2 pounds, not had I gained 2 pounds, but I lost 0.6 pounds, which I'm happy with. It also brought me to my 10 point goal so when the leader was asking how everyone did I raised my hand and told everyone that I made 10 pounds (finally after 3 months) and received a round of applase. *grin*

Checking out my card while updating the counter up there at the top of my blog, I realized they had made a calculation mistake. I had not made my 10 pound mark, but my 9.6 mark.

It's still good, though. Progress!!!!!

1. When I was a kid I used to think...
   
2. I totally shouldn't have...
   
3. Thank goodness...
   
4. When I grow up...
   
5. I can't get ... out of my head.
   
6. ...makes me smile from ear to ear
   
7. I will spend my weekend...
   

Monday was not very friendly this morning. I could not get out of bed this morning. It took belle sitting in front of my face to finally get me out of bed, with 15 minutes to get ready to go to work. Caffeine seems like such a great idea on days like this.

And it's raining. Life just is no fair.

Le weekend:

Friday B&N, Panera w/Lauren, B&N w/Lauren, "Friends with Money" w/Lauren and the people seated behind us who talked throughout the movie and kicked my seat.

Saturday Jimbo & I went for a walk with his bro & fiance then we left them to have bagels at Einsteins. Yumay! Home for nappy & snugs, I took a bath with the chickens, then we made dinner and went a little crazy with an entire bottle of wine and whatnot.

Me: "This is soooo f*cking weird!"

Sunday morning I was supposed to go walking with Kristen, but my hangover texted her to tell her that it was holding me hostage for the morning and that she best go it alone. It took a long time to get over that hangover-ish-thing and I'm not completely convinced that I am over it. I'm considering some soda. Yes, soda sounds good. Sunday I didn't leave the house all day. Jimbo did grocery shopping. I worked on a fancy new web project and other fun web project, including my own. Cleaned the bathroom (not very well), made dinner (Gen Tso's Chicken a la WW) then curled up with the kitten on the bed with my discovery journal (fun!).

Then bed. Now work. woooooooooooooooooork. And soda.

And what a perfect day for it, too!

I hate to say it kids, but I don't have enough time today to do the fill-it-in game. I've been in meetings full-time since Wednesday and I'm heading out to another for the rest of the morning... Have fun!