A pain-in-you-know-what

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Walgreens for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

It’s the time of the year when my allergy is in full blast. And with all the outdoor running that I do on weekends not much I can do but to do it with my running buddies [saline and non-drowsy allergy pills]. And when I run out of these running buddies, I don’t worry because I can get them even in the middle of the night at my neighborhood pharmacy... Walgreens, that is.

Too bad my neighborhood pharmacy Walgreens and Express Script contract already ended last December 31 of last year due to unsuccessful negotiation for Walgreen to renew its contract with them and to continue as its pharmacy provider network. This really had a huge impact on us because Hubby’s prescription insurance plan is managed by Express Scripts. As well as his Veteran friend whose under Tricare health and prescription drug program. The termination of the contract poses a great impact not only to us but to most people in our neighborhood because it can also affect the longtime relationship we have with our pharmacist who we already considered as friends. We now have to travel in town to get our prescription medicines since Walgreens is no longer part of the network. This indeed a pain in the bu**, literally and figuratively.

But then, despite of what happened, Walgreens like any good neighbor is willing to help their loyal customers to ease their burden. They are now offering special discount on annual membership for its prescription savings club. This is a huge thing because individuals may join for only $5 and they can receive discount prices on prescription medicines. Other benefits that they can get includes:

Savings on more than 8,000 brand-name and all generic medications
Discounts on flu shots, pet prescriptions, nebulizers and diabetic supplies
Bonuses when you purchase Walgreens brand products and photofinishing services

So we took advantage of that program. Hubby and I are now members of Walgreens Prescription Savings Club because for only $10 a year, our family membership covers even Brandon and his new cat – Claire, which his Nana and Grandpa gave him last Christmas.

Oh well, life is tough indeed, but then Walgreen is doing its best to help people like us. That is why I showed my support by liking Walgreens on Facebook and following Walgreens on Twitter. So if you want to help those people who are affected by the discontinued contract between Walgreens and Express Script, come do your share.

He went to Jared [again]!

Tell me if I was wrong. Wives like me wish that our husbands will have super powers to read our minds. If there is an APP for that - I will surely download it super fast. I don't care how much it will cost me. LOL

Well, Christmas time is the time when you are a little insecure. A little insecure that you might not get what you want or that you might have bought more that what you are going to get. hahaha Well, it's a childish thing, I know.

At my age I don't really expect to get anything anymore. I am just happy that my family is healthy and that we still have each other.

I am just contented that I have a job. Well, two part-time jobs and I get paychecks on a regular basis. For my Sweetest... to be able to work and projects keep coming in is indeed a great bonus.

And I am just really happy to get new Pandora Charms. hahahaha Well, it's a tradition with me and my Sweetest. But to get another set of jewelry is way over my expectations.

Yes, He went to Jared...

and to G.M. Pollack, too!

And I felt so bad that I only got him a hunting suit and a gift card which cost not even 1/8 of how much he spent for me. Well, it's over the return period now - so there is no way I can return the gifts. Wink***

Love you so much Sweetest.

Merry Christmas

From a cold place to a warm heart. Merry Christmas to all from the Carpenter's household.

The Crazy Little Thing I did Last Weekend

Life here in New England has been a little crazy lately. Well, for the most part of it and I am speaking for myself only, by the way. The weather has nothing to do with it and please don't even dare to say the "S" word. Not yet. I am not yet ready.

Craziness has something to do with the Craft Fair that I finally joined recently. Yes, this is another new thing for me. Last Spring, I discovered that I can do cool stuff with play dough. I was just playing with some kids during the April school vacation when I found myself not only trying to get my kids involved and engaged in artistic activities but found myself a new passion. Next thing I knew, I was at Michael's, A.C. Moore and Jo Ann's buying all the tools and materials for polymer clay art making.

I spent the whole summer molding and making clay arts. That is when I was not running and training for my 5Ks. When summer vacation was over, I realized that I overdid it. I was too overwhelmed with my new-found passion that I became uncontrollable. I made tons of jewelries, magnets, key chains, deco boxes and whatnot. And yes, I also came up with a website for my craft. [Check out sample of my work at my website] Now, I am stuck with it.

So last weekend I finally let the public see the craziness in me. I joined the Holiday Fair and sold my stuff.

Well, I really did not sell a lot. But what is kinda interesting is that, people liked my stuff. I got good reviews and there were people who kept coming back giving me compliment for doing a really great job. And there was this old lady who's probably in her 80s who spent 10 minutes in my booth inspecting each item and whispering "Oh my God" every time she picked an item, then she would look at me and say "You are amazing".

Well, I blame the economy for not making well at the Fair. But I am not really upset about it because it's my first time and I only want to introduce myself to the public. There are some who took my business cards and I am hoping that "customized orders" will be my main thing. So for now, the left-overs will be "Christmas presents" for loved ones and friends. You don't have a choice!

Caught Laughing-Out-Loud

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of American Family Insurance for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

Oh I love weekend. Who doesn’t? Working 12 hours a day… the weekend is always a day to look forward to. The weekend is my chance to take my sweet time in front of the computer to do my online stuff and hoping that one of my brothers will pop up so we can catch up.

This weekend, while I was waiting for either one of them to get online, I browsed and surfed the net and accidentally came across some cool and funny videos by AmFam - Stand Up For Family. They are stand-up comedy videos by some talented comedians. I watched each one of them and I found myself laughing out loud. Those videos are hilarious. One of my favorites is Mark Viera’s “In the Window” where he talks about his Granny. It was entertaining and utterly funny. It reminded me of my own Grandmother who knew everybody and everybody’s business despite the fact that she is deft. LOL.

As I watched all the videos though I found them hysterical, I realized what these comedians are trying to say in a comical way what real family life is all about. It is all about family values. It is all about the importance of family. And it is all about the influence our family in our upbringing.

Old values compared to modern ones are basically rooted in family values. I can understand the importance of having a family and the uniqueness of the family I belong too. And it being put in a very entertaining way is something people can really appreciate especially in this tough situation where family relationship is faced with crisis and challenges.

I love stand-up comedy. And I love family comedy simply because I can relate to it. It is a great way to see my own situation through other people’s take on life and family situation. And American Family Insurance truly brought out the best in family values in a light and entertaining way.

I was carried away by all the videos and didn’t realize that Hubby was already home and watching me with a bewildered face. Well, to save my face from embarrassment I handed him our Chinese diner. End of the story. But I was still laughing [quietly].

Noon

It was one of those nippy November days at noontime...

when I took the kids at work for an adventure walk to the woods. They had fun looking for frogs inside the logs, chasing squirrels and watching wild ducks swimming in the pond.

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The Cuddly vs. the Cutie

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Puppies vs. Babies for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.
A friend of mine asked me a favor I cannot refuse last weekend. She and Hubby celebrated their 2^nd Wedding Anniversary and wanted to go on a date. She asked me if I could babysit her 9-month old little princess who happens to be my Godchild too. Well, what can I do? I so love the little one to pieces so I said – yes. But there is a catch. Together with the little one, she also asked me to watch their newly adopted puppy from the shelter. That – I cannot refuse too.

So there I was trapped in my home on a nice warm Saturday [where I was planning to go for a run] taking care of a cuddly baby and a cute puppy. It was such a wonderful sight to see them sleeping on the opposite ends of the couch. Too bad, I didn’t have a camera to take their photos. My Sweetest borrowed it the other day.

The awesome sight reminded me of the Puppies vs. Babies online contest where you can vote for the cutest photo of the puppies or the babies. Well, if only this opportunity came earlier and if I had the camera then, I would have taken their photos and join the contest. Who knows I might win the $5,000 cash prize. But since the submission of entries is already over I just voted and wrote some comments. The contest is open for voting till the 23^rd of November only. For those who are dog and baby-lovers

I so love the photos of Puppies vs. Babies there. I actually voted for one baby who captured my attention for his captivating smile. He made me smile too when I saw his picture.

So if you are a dog and/or baby-lovers why don’t you check out their site and vote today. And while you are there, share who and why you are voting for in the comment section. Yes, we do love to hear from you. So come on because you still have time to participate in this awesome opportunity.

The One

My Sweetest... at the East Swift river in Byron, Maine where we usually go for gold panning.

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Sweetest Had a Date

My Sweetest had a date last weekend! Yes, last weekend Hubby dated this charming, irresistible, brilliant, interesting and awesome lady that I realized he was flirting with for over 4 years now. It was me! LOL

Well, I asked my Sweetest to go on a date with me last weekend. And yes, he was kinda playing hard-to-get but his stubbornness and football didn't win over my persistence and charm. wink* Glad he said yes because I miss him so much. No, we still live together. It's just that we don't spend more time together now since school started. I usually leave the house while he was sleeping and come home to find him already sleeping.

I work 12 hours now. No, I am not complaining either. In fact, it is awesome to have 2 part-time jobs in this tough economy when we all know that there are lots of people who are unemployed. And on some weekends, he would be out in the woods hunting [yes, it's hunting season here once again] while, I am on the road running.

And last weekend, we finally got the change to be home at the same time and had no special thing to do. I asked him to go out to eat. It took him a long time to get his bu*t off the bed watching TV because the Patriots were on. Finally, he said yes and we had a lovely night.

NOTE: Will blog detail of the date next time. I am really that busy. It's not an alibi. wink*

SuperMom writes too

I had a chance to get interviewed by blogger-children's book writer mom Anna Denskins a few weeks ago. And it was indeed a wonderful opportunity to be featured in her blog. So here I am returning the favor. Here is the excerpt of the said interview.

Your children's book, The Adventures of Smitty looks magically. Tell us about it.

It's the story of a magical island of little creatures called Smilies and the mischievous little main character, Smitty. He's such a naughty boy. Haha!  All the moms and kids I've shared it with have been giving me such a wonderful reaction. I cannot believe it.  I have to tell you how excited I am to finally have a life-long dream come true. Writing The Adventures of Smitty was really about finding a story that I would want to read to my children at night. It has to be exciting but not scary so that my two daughters can go to sleep.  Basically, I was looking for that perfect blend to read to my kids at night and decided, "Why not try writing my own?"

We've had a lot of changes in our life recently, so I want to make sure that when I put my daughters to sleep that they feel safe.  I have short chapters because I know how busy we moms are but if you can just sacrifice 5 minutes at night reading to your kids, it makes a world of difference.  Your kids will never forget it. And although we're running around the whirlwind of life, our kids grow up so fast, and that time that we'd rather finish watching what happened in our favorite soap opera instead of reading to our kids will never come again.  I hope that The Adventures of Smitty and books like it help moms do exactly that.

And it's only 99 cents this week. That's what I love about it. Now, You are recently divorced. How have you been able to continue writing when going through such a change?

Yes, it is by far one of the most challenging points in my life. To see a marriage you thought would last forever to not last forever was difficult for the two of us. I really learned a lot about myself and most importantly, it's brought me closer to my daughters.  I think that's what really motivated me to finish this children's book no matter what. When you're going through changes in your life like this, you need something to hold on to. There's a part of you that wants to prove that you can make it, that you will be a success even if it's not with the partner you originally imagined building a life with.  I had to keep writing, for my kids. I want to show them that they have to keep strong, no matter what.

We as women, as moms really need to stick together to support each other and our dreams. We're living in an age when I think we're finally realizing, although we want love, the men in our life aren't the answer to everything. We have to stand up on our own two feet and keep going. True love will happen, but until then, we have to keep moving forward. Our children depend on us and we depend on us.

In addition to being a children's book author, you're also a small business owner. How do you juggle taking care of two daughters and at the same time running a business?

Yes, I am a fashion designer and have a retail store. Any type of creativity is what I'm passionate about. That's why writing The Adventures of Smitty was so important to me.  Let me tell you, running a small business in today's economy isn't easy especially when raising two girls at the same time. But somehow, it seems someone's watching over me because my dreams are coming true no matter what. To have that many moms glowing about my children's book, means so much to me. And I know my girls are proud.

When do you ever have time to write?

You mean, in between laundry, running a business, chasing my girls around the house, cleaning the house, and flying back and forth from Miami to New York? Haha? That's one thing I've learned, when you really want to do something, you find a way.  Things fall into place if you just go for it and that's what I want to encourage all the moms who are reading this right now. Whatever your goal is, you can do it. Don't let the challenges in your personal life stop you from going for your dreams.  Just go for it and it's almost magical how things fall into place.

Where can we get a copy of "The Adventures of Smitty"?

Right now, it's available online by going to: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/94655 You can also visit my website: http://www.AnnaDeskins.com where you can read more about my writing process, my recommendations for other books and my own adventures in Mommyhood.

I'm so grateful for your support and the support I'm getting from so many wonderful moms who dream of writing children's books one day too.  Writing The Adventures of Smitty has been such an emotional experience for me, a true journey as I was going through so many changes while writing it.  It's truly been a blessing in my life.  It, along with my daughters, and that guy upstairs have really pulled me through a challenging time.

Thanks for the interview, Anna. And let's go out and support a fellow mom by getting a copy of The Adventures of Smitty today. I know I will!

Cars

This 1930 Ford Roadster is for sale for $16,000. But the memories of countless joyrides it brought is priceless.

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