Monday, March 17, 2008

Monday Musings

Spring Break is over and that alarm went off bright dark and early this morning. Dropped my girl off for track practice just before 7:00 a.m. in the dark; these kids should be home in bed! (Forget the kids - the MOM should be home in bed! LOL)

Last week's Ultimate Blog Party was incredible. Three cheers for the gals at 5 Minutes for Mom for hosting it and to Pamela at Happy Panda for coordinating the prizes. They had right at 1500 bloggers participating! Whew!! Glad I didn't have to clean up after them!

And wow! I hit the jackpot! I was so excited to win a blog makeover from Shauna at See My Designs! Thanks, Shauna, for sprucing me up! We're still tweaking a few things, so please be patient.

In my blog hopping last week, I happened across a couple of other contests and drawings; some were connected with the Blog Party and some were not. In addition to Alene at Makeover Monday's contest, Iwas thrilled to win the book The Comfort of Home for Alzheimer's Disease: A Guide for Caregivers from Lori at Writing Canvas. Also, I "met" Tami at Tree Swing Reading who is doing an "Alphabet Soup" book giveaway for 26 days, and I won Day 8 - The Perfect Life by Robin Hatcher. So getting the mail will be a fun experience over the next week or so while I wait for these to arrive.

It was fun meeting some new friends last week as well, both officially through the party and spinning off other links. There are some great gals out there who love the Lord. And what a bonus to discover some other common connections as well! When you get a chance, stop by and say hello to: Sandy at Jesus and Dark Chocolate, Julie at Pragmatic Compendium, Connie at Little Red Hearts from God, Kim at Scattered Stones! There are others I met as well - I'm still sorting and sifting!

I fixed dinner for our new neighbors/long-time friends Saturday evening as they were still in the midst of their move and we enjoyed visiting with them over my new favorite, Chicken Enchilada Casserole. My boy is pretty quiet, and I think it will take the guys a little while to feel their way back into whatever friendship they settle into. The sweet surprise blessing has been the girls. Their daughter is a year younger than my girl, but the September 1st split puts them two years apart in school, and they had never developed a close friendship. Well, that may be about to change. We live in a 30-year-old neighborhood, and there aren't a lot of kids. My daughter had lost her best friend in bicycle-riding distance to an out-of-state move a couple of years ago and has really missed having a good friend in close proximity. She was over there all day Friday and most of Saturday helping move boxes, helping AG organize her room, and they had an absolute blast together. It made me want to cry to see the gift God placed in our lives.

Well, I'm off to take my sister on some errands. She has just over a week before she heads back south of the equator. Have a great day!

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13 comments:

Amy L Brooke said...

Looks great!

Anonymous said...

Linda, What a nice surprise! My Google Reader showed a new post for you, so of course I had to check it out! Very nice to see my name and the link! Thanks so much! And CONGRATS on the blog makeover!

I've got a book giveaway going on right now, so if you have time, come on over and enter! I'm actually going to try to give away a book a week. We'll see how consistent I can be. I'm hopin!

Mrs.Naz@BecomingMe said...

Congratulations! I love the new look.

A Stone Gatherer said...

Wow you hit the mother load! Your blog looks great! Enjoy getting the mail this week! Thanks for thinking my blog is good to visit! I so enjoy getting to know you all!

Praise and Coffee said...

Glad you had a fun party! I totally missed out on that one being out of town and all.

Hugs,
Sue

Natalie said...

Love your new look!

Melissa in Mel's World said...

LINDA,

I LOVE LOVE LOVE Your new Look!!! It is totally fun and beautiful! Enjoy it!

Melissa

Anonymous said...

Thanks for stopping by my blog last week! I'm just now getting a chance to visit all the girlies from the party.
Your site is so cute! And I look forward to reading as much as I can during nap time!

Chris @ Come to the Table said...

Linda,
Your new look is totally fun!!!

I love the colors. I am so happy for your daughter, God is so good!

Angela Nazworth said...

Hi Linda. This is Angela from Becoming Me. I don't know if you do meme's but I was tagged for one and I put it on my personal blog and I am tagging you (Warning, my personal blog mostly contains quirky stuff and cute updates about my children...no serious or even creative writing there.)

Xandra@Heart-of-Service said...

Some of the best gifts are the ones we see so clearly given to our children. I hope the girls are beginning a long lasting friendship.

Your blog makeover looks awesome! Congrats on all of the great gifts!

Xandra

Anonymous said...

Hi Linda,
Thanks for the mention! :) So sweet of you. I am also enjoying your blog, and it's neat to know we have kids that a similar in age.

What a blessing for your family to have friends move in close by! It should also serve as a neat lesson on God's goodness and faitfulness.
BTW, I am loving your blog makeover, how exciting!!!

Anonymous said...

I am loving the new look, Linda. And the least you can do is drive that sister of yours around after the way you have treated her in Scrabble. :) Love ya sweet friend.

Kelli