It’s My Imagination

Time For a Road Trip

July 13, 2008 on 8:15 am | In Some of This Some of That | 2 Comments

For the few of you who do read my blog, I’m so glad you do!

I wanted to let you know that I am leaving this morning on a road trip and will be gone until July 23.  I am not sure if I will have internet access while I am gone.  If I do, I will surely post.  If not, I’ll be back on the 23rd.

This will be a very busy week, part vacation, part family reunion, part craft business work.  I am looking forward to all of it.

I hope you all have a good week! 

Tags: road, road trip, travel

Cute Pet Art

July 12, 2008 on 3:35 pm | In Dog Sense | 2 Comments

Oh my! Doesn’t that artwork look just like my Plinko? If you’ve never seen Plinko, just look down my sidebar and you’ll find a photo stream of our puggle.The above artwork is from Nikky Huges, of Nikkyhughes.com. This is someone who has a love of art and a love of animals and figured out a way to combine the two passions. Custom Pet Portraits by Nikky are fabulous. She can be contacted by phone or email and her work typically takes about 6 weeks, more during the rush of the holidays, but I think it would be well worth it. I know we have some fabulous photos of our Plinko that would turn out beautifully if painted. What better way to honor your pet than to have a portrait done?

I’m also thinking about our two previous dogs who we had for almost 15 years. We have photos, but it would be so lovely to have a portrait on the wall. These two dogs were members of our family and, even though they both passed away 2 and 3 years ago respectively, I think about them all the time.

To share her love of animals even more, Nikky Hughes donates 5% of her portrait cost to an animal rescue foundation such as the ASPCA.

Tags: ASPCA, custom portraits, pet portraits

Taking a Break

July 12, 2008 on 3:22 pm | In My Imagination, travel | Comments Off

I’ve been cleaning house while packing and loading things into our van.  It makes it extremely uncomfortable to even step outside because it’s 96 and humid.  Just going outside makes me start to sweat.  Our swimming pool is looking extremely tempting.  If I get in the pool though, I won’t get out and I won’t be packed and ready to leave in the morning.

So, I decided to take a small break and read a few blogs before getting back to work.  My husband will be out of town a few of the same days my daughter and I are gone, so it’s important that I have the house taken care of and ready to be placed on auto pilot.

Well, back to work before I get too comfortable.

Tags: packing, travel

Getting a Domain Name

July 12, 2008 on 8:21 am | In Blogging, Family | 1 Comment

My daughter and her friends have been writing a book together. It’s very interesting and it’s in the form of a manga. One of the girls is quite an artist and the drawings in their book are really quite good.  We’re currently looking at getting it printed and then, maybe even published.

They’ve decided to have a website as well and currently have utilized a free service. The problem is, it has very limited access and they can do much design work to show off their talents.  My daughter really wants to to get her own domain name, but doesn’t have a lot of money.

I just discovered Buddiesworld where they sell domain names starting at only $7.49. I will have to talk to her about it and see what she would like to do.

Tags: Domain name registration, domain name transfer, domain names, domain register, domains, email address, email services, register domain name, web site design

Taking a Road Trip

July 12, 2008 on 6:56 am | In Some of This Some of That | Comments Off

I will be spending most of today getting ready for a road trip to Tennessee and Kentucky. My daughter and I are leaving tomorrow and so I have to get everything packed and get our van loaded. It really won’t be that bad, but we all know how it goes, one thing will lead to another, and I will probably fall behind and end up staying up late tonight! Of course, if I can possibly stay off of my computer, I might get more done!

The bad news is that my new prescription sunglasses aren’t available for me to use because they weren’t tinted correctly. Truth is, they looked horrible and I was very disappointed. Keep in mind, these weren’t cheap drug store glasses either. If I hadn’t had vision insurance to help with the cost, I would have never bought this pair of eyewear. I am disappointed though that I won’t have them for the trip. I currently wear Transitions lenses in my glasses. They are good, but they don’t get as dark as I would like and so I do find myself squinting more than I would like, especially when I’m driving. I do have regular non-prescription sunglasses, but that would require me to put my contacts in and that is very uncomfortable with the current dry state of my eyes. Oh well, on to better news.

The good news, my new cell phone arrived on Thursday, only 2 days after I ordered it over the phone from Verizon.

I really like the sleekness of the phone. I previously had the LG-V phone which I really enjoyed, but it was pretty thick (fat), so it’s nice to have something with all of the same features, plus it’s so thin. It’s all touch screen operated, so I’m getting accustomed to that. I’ve been using my daughter’s Gameboy stylus to help and it makes it easier! I’m most proud of the fact that I was able to upload all of my contacts to my account at Verizon off of my old phone and then download them to my new phone! That’s a rather large accomplishment for me!So, now I just need to pack my clothes and make sure I have everything I need for my booth craft booth sale next weekend. I’m looking forward to the time away, but not so much the driving. I love road trips, but since my husband was unable to go along, I have to do all of the driving myself. 16 hours one way, is a long drive! It’s just one more day and I will be on the road, wish me luck.

Tags: eyewear, road, road trip, travel, trip, Verizon, wireless

The Cost of Prescription Eyewear

July 11, 2008 on 8:47 am | In Family Health | Comments Off

I’ve been posting a lot about eyewear lately and I have to tell you that from my own experience, prescription eyewear is very expensive, even with insurance. I’ve mentioned ZenniOptical.com a few times and have been looking into ordering glasses directly from them. I have a somewhat complicated prescription because I do wear bifocals, so I’m not sure this will work for me or not.

I was happy to see some news coverage on this very subject though and found it to be quite interesting. If you’re as interested in this as I am, take a look at Zenni on Fox news. It’s a “Deal or Dud” story with some very good information.

Tags: eye glasses, eyewear, Fox, prescription eyewear, zennioptical.com

Sunglasses

July 11, 2008 on 8:32 am | In Some of This Some of That | Comments Off

So, I got a call yesterday from the optometrist office that my prescription sunglasses were ready, finally.  I headed right over.

I put the new eyewear on my face only to be stunned out how horrible they looked.  Other than the color of the frame, they didn’t look like what I had picked out.  They were too big for my face, the wrong shape,  and the lenses were only lightly tinted.  It made me look like I had bug eyes!   I was devastated.

They weren’t very helpful either.  I could choose new ones, but I would have to pay completely out of pocket and that’s just too much money.  Prescription lenses alone, with no-line bifocals are over $350.  They did agree to tint the lenses darker, but that was it.

So, I left the glasses there for a retint.  I am so disappointed.

Tags: eyewear, optometrist, prescription eyewear, prescription glasses

We’ve Pimped Out our Gnome

July 10, 2008 on 10:09 am | In Entertainment | 4 Comments

I’m not sure what our neighbors are going to think, but we’ve pimped out our garden gnome! My husband is a huge Kansas City Chiefs fan and so, in preparation for the upcoming football season, we’ve decked out our gnome to cheer on the Chiefs. Check out all of his fan bling!

I love gnomes, their just so cute! We have a second gnome for our garden, but he only comes out at Christmas. The rest of the year he is hidden away, generating his magical powers!I found an online game that uses the magical Bling Gnome to get rid of players unwanted items. They do this by eating the items and then pooping them out. That sounds disgusting except that the gnome poo is actually gold! Now, if I could only get my little guy out in my landscaping to do the same thing!

Anyway, the online game is Dungeon Runners and its available as a free download. It’s super easy, just sign up and download. The download time was rather slow, and I’m on a fiber optic network, so not sure why it took almost 15 minutes, but once it downloaded, I was able to begin playing immediately.

The game itself is a bit dark, but it’s the basic good against evil. I’m certainly not the best gamer around, but I have to say I thought the graphics were really well done. There were an awful lot of keys to use to make things happen and so for me, it was confusing. Gaming enthusiasts would probably have no problem. I did find it distracting that there were so many things happening on the screen that covered up parts of the game, including a chat room for players that covered the bottom quarter of my screen. There is probably a way to turn it off though, so I won’t let that deter me from playing.

Tags: bling gnome, Dungeon Runners, gnomes

New Cell Phone

July 10, 2008 on 8:37 am | In Some of This Some of That | 2 Comments

I’m looking forward to getting a FEDEX delivery sometime today and the item inside the box will be my new cell phone. I’ve been getting quite a few offers from Verizon over the last couple of months for free phones, but nothing was really drawing me in. I currently have an LG-V phone that I’ve really enjoyed. I think the only downside of my phone has been how fat it is. It’s definitely chunky, but it performs like a dream. I never really use the camera function, it was a bit awkward, but it did take decent photos.

Anyway, while I was out running errands the other day, I stopped in Circuit City to check out a few things. They had a Verizon store inside, so I browsed the phones. The salesman showed me the newest phone, the LG-DARE which had just come out a few days before. It does everything that my current phone does but is much sleeker and has a touch screen similar to an I-phone. I really did like it, but I wasn’t about to pay $199 for it, and, since it was brand new, I didn’t figure I’d be getting any offers on it anytime soon.

When we got home, I had to call Verizon because I wanted to add a texting plan to my daughter’s phone. While I was on the line with Valerie at Verizon, she reviewed our current plan and then mentioned (as if I didn’t know) that I was eligible for a new phone. I told her that the only one I’d seen that would be tempting was the new DARE and so she looked it up. She also informed me that everyone at the office is talking about it and really like it. Okay, now it’s more tempting. What really snagged me though was when she said that she could sell it to me for $99 and then I could mail in for a $50 rebate making the phone cost only $49. To top it off though, she’s also given me the first month of service on my new 2 year contract for free, so the phone really wound up costing me nothing!

I am so happy and can’t wait for this box to arrive today.

Tags: Circuit City, LG-DARE, Verizon, wireless

Sunglasses – Still Waiting

July 10, 2008 on 12:22 am | In Family Health | Comments Off

I’m still waiting on my prescription sunglasses. It’s driving me nuts because I ordered them on Monday morning of last week. I know I keep talking about it, but I’m getting worried that I won’t have them before I leave. You see, I’m driving this trip and having prescription sunglasses would really help keep my eyes from getting so tired.

I currently wear glasses that have transitions lenses in them, they get darker when I go outside. They’re okay, but they don’t get really dark and so I find myself squinting when I’m out in the sun. When I was wearing contact lenses, I had regular sunglasses that I wore when I was outside. Now that I’m no longer wearing my contacts, I need darker eyewear for outdoors. When I checked on them this past Monday, the prescription eyeglasses were being tinted. I was told that they’d probably be in on Wednesday, but that has now come and gone. I’m very disappointed.

In the mean time, I’m also still looking for new non tinted prescription eyewear. I’ve found a few frames I’m interested in at zennioptical.com and can save money because they manufacture the frames themselves and sell them direct, so there is no middle man. ZenniOptical.com is also able to work with different types of prescription lenses, including bifocals, which is what I wear. I’m really liking this rectangular shape, it would be something new for me.

Keeping my fingers crossed that I will get my new eyeglasses on Thursday.

Tags: eyeglasses, eyewear, prescription, prescription eyewear