Friday, November 25, 2011

Friday Fun Facts: Black Friday Here We Come!

Happy Black Friday! Anyone brave the sales this morning? Anyone brave the new-this-year midnight sales at many of the big stores? My husband and I go out each year, usually leaving the house between 4 and 5 am, but we tend to avoid the huge/crazy places like Best Buy and Walmart (we aren't big electronics consumers, anyway). We made it a point NOT to shop the midnight sales this year because, as you probably read, many employees and consumers thought it was somewhat insensitive & disrespectful to start the shopping on Thanksgiving night, a time that's really meant for spending time with family.

Anyway, I think a lot of people must have disagreed, because the stores were virtually empty by the time we got there this morning. Our luck, though - we still managed to find everything on our lists, this year with a lot less stress!

December is right around the corner, which means, among other holiday happenings, I'm going to be running a month-long blog giveaway contest right here...and I'm also going to be guest blogging in a few different places as well, so stay tuned for your chance to win! Monday will have all the details of what's in store...

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Ten Things I Am Thankful For

Happy almost-Thanksgiving, everyone! I hope (if you celebrate the day) that your Thursday is filled with yummy food, time spent with loved ones, and happy memories being made. Today, 10 things I am thankful for this year:

1. My and my husband's well-being after our scary car accident earlier this month
2. The Good Samaritans that stopped right after said scary accident and helped us on a busy highway in the middle of rush hour.
3. My two jobs - I love teaching, and I love that I can write (and make money doing it) on the side!
4. My love of, and ability to, travel and see so many different places, both in this country and in others.
5. My family, both immediate and extended, even though I don't see some of them as often as I'd like to.
6. My friends. I am blessed to have wonderfully smart, funny, and supportive friends in many different areas of my life.
7. My health and fitness. I'm so happy that, at almost-41, I'm in better shape than I was 20 years ago. Love the gym!
8. Music. Just because there's always a song for every mood, and I can't imagine life without it.
9. My inner strength that allows me to deal with hard times and hurt.
10. The roof over my head, the food in my refrigerator, the fact that I can speak my mind, vote, wear what I want to, practice any religion I choose, and stand up for myself and for those less fortunate than I am without fear of punishment. It's a great country we live in, flaws and all.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!!!!!!!!!!!!

Monday, November 21, 2011

Monday Mentionables: For Readers and Writers

For readers: Who's looking forward to seeing the movie version of recent blockbuster YA novel The Hunger Games? I'm not usually a fan of books-turned-into-films, but I did enjoy the tension and interesting storyline of this book, and I think I'll probably check out the movie. Here's the trailer, if you're interested:




For writers: The Long and the Short of It is running a "Stuff Your Stockings With Books" blog giveaway in December. Here's the forwarded info:

We need authors who want to guest blog around the holidays! It doesn't cost you anything but a prize – what could be better than free promo on a really busy site?

It's easy to participate. Simply send us a COMPLETED blog post that is holiday themed (can be winter, Christmas, Solstice, Hanukkah, New Year's, etc) and NOT pure promo (no posts that are only excerpts, etc) along with an author bio, website links and ONE book cover to use as promo. Also tell us what you'll be giving away in your spot. It can be a book, a GC, or other prizes (please be as specific as possible).

The posts will go up on our guest blog pages sometime between 12/19 and 12/30 (we'll tell you your date when we schedule you) and each author will be responsible for doing a drawing for their prize from the comments on their post and then posting the winner in the comments.

Email us your blog post and other information along with which site it's appropriate for (WC or LASR) with `STUFF YOUR STOCKINGS BLOGFEST' in the subject header to lasreviews AT gmail DOT com – and we'll do the rest!

We'll accept posts up through December 14, 2011.

Short week of work for me, just 3 days this week, and then it's off to celebrate good food and good times with family. Happy Monday!