It’s My Imagination

Display Weather Photos on Your New Kodak Digital Frame

December 18, 2008 on 10:00 am | In technology | Comments Off

5 Minutes For Mom and Kodak, are giving away one brand new EASYSHARE W820 Wireless Digital Frame with Home Decor Kit. This is an amazing digital frame that not only allows to display a slideshow of your favorite photos, including weather related if you so choose, but to also play MP3 audio along with your slideshow. It is also wireless and super easy to use. The contest runs until December 19, 2008, so what are you waiting for?

Tags: 5minutesformom.com, digital frame, Kodak, technology, wireless

Vacation Rentals In Gotham or Maine

December 18, 2008 on 9:48 am | In travel | Comments Off

I love to travel and the internet has certainly made doing that so much easier. There is really hardly a day that goes by that I’m not checking airfare or hotels or bed & breakfasts for good deals. I don’t get to go as often as I would like, but I check anyway, just in case there is something that is too good to pass up!

I recently discovered Rentalo.com which is a website that can help find vacation rentals around the world. I used their site to look up rentals in Paducah, KY which is where we’re going in April for a huge quilt show and I got quite a few results from their search that included a cute cottage and a number of different hotels. The results include photos, hotel names and detailed descriptions and allows you to compare your results to narrow down your search.

I can use this site for anything from rentals in Paducah to Maine vacation rentals to rentals across Europe or any other continent I choose to travel to. It’s definitely a travel tool that I’ve bookmarked and will use regularly, you should too!

Tags: rentalo.com, vacation, vacation rentals

Wordless Wednesday – Happy Holidays!

December 17, 2008 on 9:13 am | In Blogging, Family | 5 Comments

 It’s hard to believe that we’ve owned this very same tree for over 10 years! We paid $99 for it, which, at the time seemed like an awful lot of money, but it’s paid for itself many times over. Today you can’t find a tree of that size for that price. I think I’d like to add some red ribbon to it for next year.

Tags: christmas, decorations, tree, Wordless Wednesday

Blogging – Getting Started

December 17, 2008 on 9:10 am | In Blogging, technology | Comments Off

I was recently asked by a friend of mine how to get started blogging. WOW! This is not as simple of a question as it might seem and I really had to sit back and think, where to begin.

I did decided though that Step 1 is to decide on a web host. Of course, everyone has their own opinion on this subject and there are so many hosts to choose from. I definitely recommended the host I use and even suggested they could click on the lovely affiliate button on either one of my blogs to be taken directly to the host site. I also felt it good advice to allow them to compare web hosting sites for service, quality and prices, because all of these vary widely.

In fact, Webhostinggeeks.com actually lists the top 10 Web Hosts for 2008 right on their home page which makes it so easy to shop and compare.  Their site provides independent reviews from actual users of those web hosts which makes the information quite useful to both new users and anyone looking to change hosts.  In fact,  click here to read a review of the web host that I use for both of my blogs.

I need to check in with my friend to see if she’s decided to move forward into the world of blogging or not.

Tags: web host, web hosting, webhostinggeeks.com

Huntsman Spider – The World’s Largest Spider

December 15, 2008 on 3:38 pm | In Some of This Some of That | 3 Comments

This is one household that definitely does not like spiders. I’m okay with them as long as they are outside where they belong, they just better not be inside of my house, this is MY territory. I’m certainly glad that I’m not the one to have made the recent discovery of the Heteropoda, or Huntsman Spider which was found in the Greater Mekong region of Asia.

This giant spider, considered to be the world’s largest spider, has approximately a 12 inches or 30 cm legspan. They get the name Huntsman because they catch their prey by running it down rather than catching it in a web. These spiders do bite but are supposedly not dangerous to humans. I’m not sure that I can believe that a 12 inch spider would not be dangerous to me!

Here’s a view of a Huntsman Spider, although, it is not the recently found world’s largest.

Tags: Heterpoda, Huntsman Spider, spider

Remember The Night

December 13, 2008 on 9:15 pm | In Entertainment | Comments Off

We’ve had Turner Classic Movies (TCM) on most of the day today watching classic old movies while we’re getting things done around the house. I love that channel because they show the classics, commercial free. I also like the way they give you interesting facts about the making of the movie and the actors involved. As my husband is a huge movie buff, we’ve seen many of the movies that they show on TCM which is why we can seem to get other things done while we’re watching.

I was busy today cleaning bathrooms and the kitchen. I could hear the voice of Fred McMurray in the background, he had such a distinctive voice. It dawned on me that this was a movie I’d never seen before and next thing I knew, I had to sit down and watch “Remember the Night”.

“Remember the Night” stars Fred McMurray, as a New York district attorney and Barbara Stanwyck, whose character is caught shoplifting on Christmas Eve, you guessed it, in New York city. McMurray somehow manages to have her released in his custody and takes her home to Indiana with him to spend the holiday with his family. One thing leads to another and they end up falling in love.

The movie, written by Preston Sturges, was produced in 1940 and is a romantic comedy. I really enjoyed the bantering between the characters and look forward to watching it again sometime.

Tags: Barbara Stanwyck, Fred McMurray, Remember the Night, Sturges, TCM, Turner

Leeds University Students Choose Favorite Landlord

December 11, 2008 on 10:20 am | In Some of This Some of That | Comments Off

The Leeds University Union presented a “Rate Your Landlord” survey to its students and the research has revealed that when it comes to student accommodation in Leeds , students prefer Pickard Properties as their landlord of choice. In fact, 88% of the 95 students who were Pickard tenants and responded to the survey, would recommend their landlord to others making them the #1 landlord in Leeds.

Pickard has worked hard for over 40 years to earn the respect of its tenants and the students at Leeds. They strive to provide safe and well maintained places for students to live.

Tags: Leeds, Pickard

Big Box of Awesome Contest and A Clue!

December 11, 2008 on 12:57 am | In Blogging | 3 Comments

I posted yesterday about this contest that is going on over at The Benspark blog. It’s the Big Box of Awesome Contest and I just wanted to give you a big giant hint of what is in the box. Okay, this isn’t just any hint, I’m actually revealing one of the items that Drew has confirmed to me is really in The Benspark Big Box of Awesome. Plus, if you are out blog hopping, you may see other bloggers posting items that are in the box, after all, this is the BIG Box of Awesome, so there are quite a few items in this box!

Here it is, the moment you’ve been waiting for, the BIG REVEAL:

This is but one of the many items in the box, so be sure to head over to The Benspark and enter to win the whole Big Box of Awesome!

Tags: contest

Stress Management

December 10, 2008 on 10:59 pm | In Family Health | 1 Comment

I believe we’ve all had those kinds of days when we feel so stressed out we don’t know which way to turn. In today’s world, it’s almost inevitable that we will have to deal with stress from our jobs, our families, our children and many other areas as we lead our busy lives.

StressInstitute.com provides methods of stress management, prevention of stress, and mindful living to businesses and individuals. The company was founded in 1997 by Dr. Kathleen Hall, an expert in stress management. The goal of the Stress Institute is to help people to live well balanced lives, who couldn’t benefit from that?

If you’re in need of de-stressing, check out their website for help.

Tags: stress, Stress Institute

Obama Picks Steven Chu

December 10, 2008 on 10:03 pm | In Some of This Some of That | 1 Comment

It appears that President Elect Obama has selected Steven Chu to be his Energy Secretary.

Steven Chu is currently in charge of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory at the University of California and serves as a Professor of physics and molecular and cell biology. He is the 1997 Nobel Prize recipient in physics for for developing ways to “cool and trap atoms” with lasers. He holds advanced degrees in both physics and mathematics.

Chu will need to focus on alternative sources of energy as well as developing policies to reduce carbon emissions.

Tags: Chu, Obama, Steven Chu