Timely Advice from Will Rogers

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I sure wish Will Rogers, the world-famous, widely popular American humorist of the vaudeville stage, silent and sound films, and most notably his homespun philosophy on behalf of Everyman, was still around. I would surely vote for him this November for President. Here are some of his down-to-earth, no-nonsense sayings to live by.....

 

1. Never slap a man who's chewing tobacco.

2. Never kick a cow chip on a hot day.

3. There are two theories to arguing with a woman. Neither works.

4. Never miss a good chance to shut up.

5. Always drink upstream from the herd.

6. If you find yourself in a hole, stop digging.

7. The quickest way to double your money is to fold it and put it back into your pocket.

8. There are three kinds of men: the ones that learn by reading. The few who learn by observation. The rest of them have to pee on the electric fence and find out for themselves.

9. Good judgment comes from experience, and a lot of that comes from bad judgment.

10. If you're riding' ahead of the herd, take a look back every now and then to make sure it's still there.

11. Lettin' the cat outta the bag is a whole lot easier'n puttin' it back.

12. After eating an entire bull, a mountain lion felt so good he started roaring. He kept it up until a hunter came along and shot him.
The moral: When you're full of bull, keep your mouth shut.  (This one especially applies to many of the politicians in my opinion!)

 

 

Hope you enjoyed some sound advice from a really intelligent man, who died too young (age 56) in a plane crash on August 15, 1935.

 

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Yes, People We Have Five Doggies.....

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Bill got this photo from a friend of ours and it reminded me of the reaction we get from people whenever we tell them we have five dogs. It really is hysterical and I fell in love with this photo.

Here are my babies.....



(L-R) Lady Mia, Nano, Mumbo, Mandy, Wiggles

I don't know if you would call us crazy, but how can you resist these faces?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 OK, yep, we ARE crazy, but we sure do have a lot of love in our house!


If you have enough room in your heart and home for a dog (or any other pet), PLEASE adopt don't buy - save a life with your love.

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Flashback Friday - The Boys with Grandpa

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I'm joining Camille over at Crazy Mama for Flashback Friday to, as she says, link up an old picture and/or an old post! No rules, other than that. Have fun!! :)

 

So this is the photo I chose to share this week. It is the last photo I have of my dad (he passed away 6 months later), and I'm really glad that my two boys are in the photo with him, they had a very special relationship with their grandpa. They are the only boys in that generation... all my sisters had daughters, and even the greatgrandchildren are girls.

 

 

So, post your Flashback photo or post and link up with Crazy Mama, then check out the other posts and leave a comment for those participants.

 

Have a great weekend. HUGGLES!

 

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Happy Talk Like a Pirate Day

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Image Credit

 

Today, Wednesday, Sept. 19, 2012 is the 10th anniversary of the International Talk Like a Pirate Day.  An original concept created in a moment of temporary insanity by John Baur and Mark Summers, as they like to say, it has now become a full-blown international phenomenon.

 

Just check out the map on their website to see where it is being celebrated this year.  Look, even my doggies have gotten into the act... they have been walking around the house saying, "AARRRRFFF" all day.  (OK, I couldn't resist.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Even Krispie Kreme got into the act... anyone who went into the store and talked like a pirate, got a free donut..... If you dressed in full pirate regalia, you were rewarded with a full dozen of their glazed donuts.

 

Now if you know me, I will do just about anything for free Krispie Kreme donuts, so here is what I did:

 

 

 

 

..... and here is my reward:

 

 

YUMMY!!  They were even hot. I made the lady behind the counter laugh, however it turns out that I wasn't the only one who took advantage of the deal... while I was there, another girl came in dressed up in a homemade costume with a paper plate on a ruler with a pirate face drawn on, a parrot colored in and taped to her shoulder, plus she was hiding her hand and holding a wooden fork as a a hook, she looked adorable. Her friend was taking a video of the whole thing while we were all cracking up, including the people who worked there.

 

The funniest thing that happened was on our way home, we stopped at a local drug store to pick up some things for our Halloween baggies - me in that silly Pirate getup - and it didn't phase anyone. I got not a single funny look, not a question, or even a second glance. At first Bill and I couldn't believe it... then I realized where I live: In the heart of tourist-ville. There are the parks (Disney and Universal) and other attractions (2 Pirate golf places within 10 miles of my house), so there are people walking around in costume ALL THE TIME. I have seen them in Celebration and never even looked twice. Oh, well... I got my donuts!!

 

What did you do on Talk Like a Pirate Day?????

 

 

 

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Love & Fleece "Lamby Lambpants" Review and ***Giveaway***

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GIVEAWAY CLOSED - WINNER CHOSEN.

THANK YOU TO ALL WHO ENTERED.

I recently had the awesome privilege to work with an incredible company named Love and Fleece who's motto is, "When it comes to what we get to do for a living, each day is a kiss from the Good Karma Fairy." How could I NOT work with a company and people like that?

Let me introduce you to Lamby Lambpants, an absolutely adorable stuffed lovey "invented over five years ago, a sassy cartoon lamb with blue cuffed pants and a plastic water bottle cap for an eye."  Lamby has a perceived disability with his missing eye. This gives parents, caregivers, or teachers the ability to help children learn that any disability, quirk or flaw they may have can be worn as a badge of courage. It's OK to love yourself exactly how you are.


There is also a digital component to each lovey where you can explore Lamby Lambpants' online world and listen to silly song parodies, wisdoms, and stories.. However, when you get your your OWN special toy, you receive a secret code so you can enter a special section on the site with even more content.

When I first got my package in the mail, I had to assure the doggies that it wasn't anything for them. Once I opened it and showed them Lamby, all of them except Mumbo lost interest. Mumbo wanted to see every little bit of Lamby (I kept the plastic on him because I have plans to give mine to a family in town with 4 children, one of whom is developmentally delayed). I let Mumbo rest his chin on Lamby (through the plastic) and he loved how soft Lamby was. Then I had to tell Mumbo to go away as I was going to really inspect Lamby.

I completely fell in love with him... he is so cute, I love his little jeans and how he moves his arms and legs. The bottle cap eye is actually adorable and truly unique. Something that would be great to start a discussion with your children, especially if you know someone that has a disability. I also LOVE the online site that Lamby has with his songs and stories, you really have to get one to get the full effect of the site. Kids will have so much fun with their toy and the site together. It is really well thought out.


The only problem I see with having one Lamby is if you have more than one child, they are not going to want to share because he is too cute and cuddly.

One of my absolute favorite things about this company, however, is the fact that they have what they call their "When you buy, We give" policy..... for every toy you buy, they give one to a sick or needy child. How truly wonderful is that!! Doesn't that make you want to go out and buy at least one right now? With September being Childhood Cancer Awareness month, think of all the good we could do if we all just bought ONE and Love and Fleece could match our purchase? How many happy children would that be.....

Well, one of my lucky readers has the chance to make one child very happy in the next two weeks because I have the awesome privilege of giving one Lamby Lambpants away through the extreme generosity of Love and Fleece, LLC.  Here is what you need to do to enter the giveaway:

MANDATORY entry: Head over to Love and Fleece website and tell me one thing you learned about the company or the people who run it. (To be fair, it cannot be the same as the entry before yours - at least let me know you looked at the website.)

Extra Entries (after mandatory entry has been done)

~ Like Love and Fleece on Facebook (1 entry) - leave your FB name

~ Follow Love and Fleece on Twitter (1 entry) - leave your Twitter name

~ Follow Love and Fleece on Pinterest (1 entry) - leave your Pinterest name

~ Follow @LorieShewbridge on Twitter (1 entry) - leave your Twitter name

~ Subscribe to my blog via RSS or email (1 entry, either) - tell me how

~ Follow me on Network Blogs (1 entry) - leave your follow name

~ Tweet about this giveaway using @loveandfleece and @LorieShewbridge (may be done once a day for 1 entry each day) - leave tweet link

~ Blog about this giveaway (5 entries) - leave blog post URL, NOT main blog URL

Now the boring legal stuff:

-All entries must be individual comments and include your email address if it is not clearly in your profile, if I cannot find it, you cannot win.

-Winner will be drawn on Monday, Sept. 24th at 10pm ET via Random.org.

- This is for U.S. contestants only. (Sorry my Canadian & other out of the country friends.)

-Winner will have 48 hours to respond to email, or another winner will be selected.

***More wonderful news from Love and Fleece... if you cannot wait to see if you won, or even if you want more than one and you DO win, the lovely people at Love and Fleece have decided to offer my fabulous readers free shipping on all orders placed in the month of September by using the code: freeship when you place your order.*** 

Let's make lots of children happy this month and good luck to all of you.

Disclosure: I received a product for purposes of review to write this post, no other compensation was received and all opinions are 100% mine. All photos courtesy of Love and Fleece website.

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Noah’s Light Foundation Nominated for Chase Community Giving Grant!

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I received this from Noah's mom, Amber today, and was so excited, that I just had to share it with all of you.  Many of you know that Dennis and I lost our 8 year old son, Noah, to Pediatric Brain Cancer in May of this year. Through his battle and inspiration, Noah's Light Foundation was born and now we fight for the 12 children a day diagnosed with pediatric brain and other central nervous system tumors in the U.S. alone…Yes…12 a day!!!

The Good News -

Noah’s Light Foundation was nominated for the Chase Community Giving’s $250,000 grant! Starting today, the charity who gets the most “Votes & Likes” on the Chase Community Giving Facebook voting page wins the grant! The deadline for votes is (drumroll, please)…September 19th…Noah’s birthday!

Help us honor him and support the visionary researchers who have come together to focus on these children - It costs you NOTHING but will be PRICELESS for them!

 

 

Here is what you need to do to vote:

 

1. Click the Noah's Light Foundation link: https://apps.facebook.com/chasecommunitygiving/charity/view/ein/27-1804403?ref=b7775da95b
2. Log in to Facebook if you haven't already.
3. Click to "Like" Chase (If you do this, we get extra votes :-)
4. Click to "Vote" for Noah's Light Foundation
5. You may have to allow the application first, but after doing so just return to our Noah's Light Foundation Chase Giving Page to vote for us!

(Note: if you search for us, please use the search term "Noahs Light")

That's it! If you are having any difficulty, please click here for "step by step" pictures on our website.



After you've voted, please pass the word on via FB, Twitter, email, and any other means you can tell people... This foundation could truly use the grant to help as many children with brain and spine cancer.

 Let's find a cure!

 

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Fifty Shades of Biting My Lip - Momdot Blog Challenge

CHALLENGE ACCEPTED!!

Trisha from Momdot has just finished reading "Fifty Shades of Gray" (which she really hasn't enjoyed that much) and says that you cannot look sexy when you bite your lip - something that turns on the main male character, Christian, in the book when Anastasia, the main female character does it. (For those of you who live under a rock.)

So, Trisha has issued a challenge... post a few photos of yourself biting your lip trying to look sexy to see if it can be done. Well, here I go, doing my best, promise you wont laugh, PLEASE. 

 

   

 

Remember, you promised not to laugh at me.... and it's your turn now.  Post a few of your best "sexy" lip biting photos and then link up with Trisha over at Momdot for the "world's most unsexy blog hop" as she put it.

And in the words of Christian Gray:  Laters, baby.....

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Go Red For Women ™ Presents: 'Just a Little Heart Attack'

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Image Credit

A friend of mine sent this to me and needed to share it with all of you.  It takes a serious subject and treats it with a slight bit of humor.  How many of you see yourself in this video?  Please take care of yourselves and remember these signs.....






Stay healthy, my friends!


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Life Explained......

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On the first day, God created the dog and said, "Sit all day by the door of your house and bark at anyone who comes in or walks past. For this, I will give you a life span of twenty years."

The dog said, "That's a long time to be barking. How about only ten years and I'll give you back the other ten?"

And God saw it was good.

 

 

On the second day, God created the monkey and said, "Entertain people, do tricks, and make them laugh. For this, I'll give you a twenty-year life span."

The monkey said, "Monkey tricks for twenty years? That's a pretty long time to perform. How about I give you back ten like the dog did?"

And God, again saw it was good.

 

 

 

On the third day, God created the cow and said, "You must go into the field with the farmer all day long and suffer under the sun, have calves and give milk to support the farmer's family. For this, I will give you a life span of sixty years."

The cow said, "That's kind of a tough life you want me to live for sixty years. How about twenty and I'll give back the other forty?"

And God agreed it was good.

 

 

My Uncle Ray and My Dad (Don), his younger brother

On the fourth day, God created humans and said, "Eat, sleep, play, marry and enjoy your life. For this, I'll give you twenty years."

But the human said, "Only twenty years? Could you possibly give me my twenty, the forty the cow gave back, the ten the monkey gave back, and the ten the dog gave back; that makes eighty, okay?"

"Okay," said God, "You asked for it."

So that is why for our first twenty years, we eat, sleep, play and enjoy ourselves. For the next forty years, we slave in the sun to support our family. For the next ten years, we do monkey tricks to entertain the grandchildren. And for the last ten years, we sit on the front porch and bark at everyone.

Life has now been explained to you.  Hope you enjoy your 80 years..... and then some!

 

 

 

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Hurricane Preparedness - Isaac is Coming!

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With Hurricane Isaac headed toward the Gulf of Mexico, I wanted to remind my friends and neighbors to be safe and to be prepared for what might be coming.

Although the last predicted path has shown that it will probably not hit the Orlando area directly, we are likely to get heavy rain and winds, and maybe a tornado warning or two.

My dear friends in the Florida panhandle and other Gulf states, (Trisha, Lynsey, and others) may get hit much harder, so my thoughts and prayers are with you and your families.

With that in mind, here are some of the recommendations from FEMA to be prepared for the coming bad weather:

To begin preparing, you should build an emergency kit and make a family communications plan.

Know your surroundings.

Learn the elevation level of your property and whether the land is flood-prone. This will help you know how your property will be affected when storm surge or tidal flooding are forecasted.

Identify levees and dams in your area and determine whether they pose a hazard to you.

Learn community hurricane evacuation routes and how to find higher ground. Determine where you would go and how you would get there if you needed to evacuate.

Make plans to secure your property:

Cover all of your home’s windows. Permanent storm shutters offer the best protection for windows. A second option is to board up windows with 5/8” marine plywood, cut to fit and ready to install. Tape does not prevent windows from breaking.

Install straps or additional clips to securely fasten your roof to the frame structure. This will reduce roof damage.

Be sure trees and shrubs around your home are well trimmed so they are more wind resistant.

Clear loose and clogged rain gutters and downspouts.

Reinforce your garage doors; if wind enters a garage it can cause dangerous and expensive structural damage.

Plan to bring in all outdoor furniture, decorations, garbage cans and anything else that is not tied down.

Determine how and where to secure your boat.

Install a generator for emergencies.

If in a high-rise building, be prepared to take shelter on or below the 10th floor.

Consider building a safe room.

I hope all of you and your families are safe during the storm - and always.  Please check in with me here on the blog or on Facebook or Twitter to let me know you are safe.

For more information, check out the FEMA website.

Image Credit

UPDATE:  My friend Lynsey at Moscato Mom has some exremely practical list of things to do to be prepared for a hurricane. Please head on over to her blog to read post, she has experience with hurricanes and makes a ton of sense.          

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