Holiday Deal Alert: Kmart $50 Gift Cards and $500 Shopping Spree

Ok I don't do many of these, but when I see stuff I'd want someone to share with me I make sure to keep yall in the loop. It's my way of keeping the good karma going - after all I've learned so much from you guys.


Do you remember Kmart Blue Light Specials? Well theeey're baaack!

Every weekend there are specials in-store and great offers online at Kmart.com. 
There are over 40 great Bluelight Specials throughout the weekend!

Here are a couple teasers of this weekend's specials (December 12^th and 13th) 

Blue Light Specials:

• Jaclyn Smith Today Cashmere Blend Throw $12.99 (reg. $29.99)
• Kodak 7” digital frame $49.99 (reg. $79.99)
• Essential Home Snug Sack 50% off (reg. $19.99)

All day offers:

Saturday:

• Mens Boxed Gifts $5 (reg. 16.99-19.99)
• Die Hard Battery Bank BOGO FREE (reg. $9.99)

Sunday:

• Fisher Price Fashion Separates $4.99 (Infant/Toddler) reg. $10.99-$18.99
• Hershey Snack size jumbo bags $3.50 (reg. $5.99)

Win a $50 Kmart Gift Card Everyday until Dec 23rd!

Each day, Kmart is selecting one lucky person to receive a $50 Gift Card! To qualify you need to follow @KmartDealsnNews and tweet using the hashtag #KmartBLS.

And to top it off, all followers of @KmartDealsnNews as at Dec 23rd are entered for a chance to win a $500 Kmart Shopping spree!

HOW TO ENTER
For a chance to win:
1) Follow @KmartDealsnNews on Twitter from your personal Twitter account
2) Issue a Tweet everyday using hashtag: #KmartBLS

For more info & rules: http://tr.im/KmartBLS.

I'll be sure to tell you about any other great holiday deals I come across. :-)

100 and counting

If you haven't yet guessed it from the title, this is my 100th post on WDIBMM.

100 posts in roughly 120 days.

What started off as a repository for chance ramblings and an opportunity to motivate myself to express myself, has evolved into something much more. Even as I write it, it sounds incredible.

What could be more than finding an opportunity to be as creative as I'd like whenever I'd like? An audience? Financial gain?

There's no pay in this. For me, anyway. Nada. Squat. So it ain't that.

And I haven't become part of any elite prize-winning circles because of my extraordinary ability to turn a phrase.

There's audience, yes. But I'm not arrogant enough to think that I have some captive loyal admiring audience that is totally enamoured of my style and creative talent. (Pfff.)

It's something much more humble and something much truer. One that can't be described in a single word or idea. Instead, it's an amalgamation of ideas.

It is Community.         It is Intellectual stimulation.

     It is Group Therapy.         It is a research library more powerful than Google. (Sorry Google. I still love you!)

It's like being able to get your hands on reading material on any subject you want. Anything. You want comedy? You want reflection? On Motherhood or Spirituality? Short stories? How about real-life drama?

Whether it's light reading you're going for, or whether you want depth, not only will you find it, but there's a bonus no other resource library can give. You get to interact with the writer!

Have you ever read something that moved you to laugh, rage, love... and wanted to let the author know how it moved you? To give your take and your personal experience? But who does that, right? I mean writers are busy remote people with important lives. And who cares what you think anyway... So you do the next best thing - you tell all your friends about it. And maybe there'll be a book signing somewhere one day.

But right here, I get to talk right back to some of the nicest writers I've ever met. I get to see what other people are thinking. I don't always agree, but I'm forced to think. Sometimes I change my opinion. Sometimes my heart is torn. Always I open my mind.

I find out about issues making the news, and I get to make the news (not really, but maybe!). We get to change lives. Or at least feel as if we are making a difference.

From advice on raising kids to saving dinners on the verge of being too spicy (couldn't find the tweet for this but apparently sugar or honey will do the trick)... my peeps are the go-to gals (and guys!).

This connection - this Thing - and my feelings about it are evolving. It's a dynamic, new, fluid Thing that is itself evolving and finding itself and making its mark. And we are making our mark through It, and with It.

I don't know about you, but I'm up for the ride. (Hope you are too!)

Merry SITSmas!

May the warmth of the holiday find you, 
bearing gifts of peace and love to you and yours, 
no matter where you are…

Merry Christmas 

I only wish this was the view from my house! 

To all my readers, and to all my peeps stopping by from SITS, I hope that this holiday season brings time for reflection... May you find moments to warm your heart in the midst of all the commercialism, and may the memories you make be ones to treasure always.

Monday's Muse - Behind the Mask

We walk through this life behind masks of our making.

When we interact with others, we do not always allow them to see the effect their actions truly have on us. To do so would show our weakness. Or allow us to feel emotion we choose not to feel.

And to give in to that emotion would cause us to lose control. So we keep on going. Masks firmly in place.

Behind masks that protect us.

There are other less noble masks.

Masks behind which we hide.

Masks of thinly veiled hypocrisy. Masks constructed of the letter of the law, not the moral conduct those laws were intended to protect.

Masks which we weave ourselves to hide our greed and our vice.




What will you do behind your mask?

This was my Monday Muse, hosted by Cinnamon and Honey. Check her out for more Monday Muses.

Sundays In My City - Zoo

This week, I met up with my dear friend S and we took the kids to the zoo. It was quite an adventure keeping up with all our energetic kiddos, but I did manage to snap a few hurried shots here and there.

The Reptile House was the first stop, with its enormous tortoises and...

a rhinoceros iguana.

We saw some beautiful birds, but most were camera-shy.

We did manage to get the two National Birds.

The Cocrico...

and the Scarlet Ibis.

There were macaws, and parrots and owls, and peacocks, among others. Look at this Toucan!

Before leaving we had to see the big crocodile.

But the favourite stop of the whole trip still had to be this...

Now head on over to Unknown Mami's for more Sundays in My City.

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TAGGED!

I was tagged by my girly Momma Such over at RaisingMy4Sons.com...
Since she's such a sweetie, I thought I'd give it a try. So here goes.

1.) Have you started your Christmas shopping? 
Just barely. I'm usually pretty good about shopping early, but this year I'm just so BUSY!
I remember being done with ALL my shopping by the time December rolled around. This year, I will probably find myself in the Mall on Christmas Eve. :-(

2.) Tell me about one of your special traditions.
We light Advent candles in the weeks leading up to Christmas. Every Sunday we light the Advent candle for that week, and read a story together about the theme for that week. I think we'd be lost in the sea of commercialism that Christmas has become if it wasn't for this. Thank goodness the kids are still into it. I hope they always will be.

3.) When do you put up your Tree?
Well we don't have Thanksgiving here, so our tree usually goes up at the end of October. It's definitely up by the end of November. Now as for when it comes down....

4.) Are you a Black Friday shopper?
Online, yes. While I lived in the States, I never made it out to Black Friday sales, although I did take part in the sales the week right after Thanksgiving.

5.) Do you Travel at Christmas or Stay home?
Home, home, home. I love to be home for Christmas. I'd love to not leave my house for Christmas. I think it's a time for making memories, and I love spending it with my kids.

6.) What is your funniest Christmas memory?
Don't have one. Or.. can't think of one. NEXT!

7.) What is your favorite Christmas Movie of All time?
LOVE ACTUALLY! (Polar Express for the kids) NEXT!

8.)Do you do your own Christmas Baking, what’s your favorite treat?
YES YES YES! I always bake Christmas cookies. All kinds of Christmas cookies. From scratch.
And we always bake fresh and leave some out for Santa on Christmas Eve. (Yum).

9.) Fake or Real Tree?
Fake. This is the tropics.

10.) What day (as a Mom) does the actual panic set in to get it all done?
Nah, I don't panic about it. What doesn't get done doesn't get done. But I usually manage to get the key stuff done without too much stress.

11.) Are you still wrapping presents on Christmas Eve?
Every. Single. Year. (Yawn)

12.) What is your favorite family fun time at Christmas?
I love Christmas morning. I love to see those little sparkly eyes when they open their presents, and when we all sit down to breakfast together. Ahh good times. Til somethin' breaks.

13.) What Christmas craft do you like the best?
I have to confess I am very lame at getting the Christmas craft done. I depend on whatever they do at school and that gets put on the tree. We do bake together though. I think that should count. :-)

14.) Christmas music. Yes or No, and if yes What is your favorite song?
YES! Depends on the mood. Don't have a favourite.

15.) When do you plan to finish all your shopping?
Pffff. Not like it's a plan, but I'll probably be done on Christmas Eve just cos I won't have finished it all before then!

I have to tag 5 more people, so I think I'm going to pick on these 5 ladies and hope that we don't become fast ex-bloggy friends. :-)

1. Peeling an orange with a screwdriver. 
2. this blessed life 
3. Adventures of WannaBe SupahMommy 
4. How to Become A Cat Lady... Without the Cats 
5. I'm Living Proof that God Has a Sense of Humor 

Come on ladies - humour me a little and let me see your answers!

Don't forget to say Hi to Momma Such!

Random

How do you like my "random tiles" image, to go with my random thoughts today? I think it's so pretty. Mesmerizing.

NEIGHBOURKIDS

Thanks so much for all your comments on my post last weekend about the Neighbourkids. Many of you said the same thing - keep the door closed. I try. Except. It gets really hard to ignore all that knocking... Kidding! I do stick my head out and explain why they can't play just yet. But I hate it! And then I feel trapped in the house. I'll find a way to talk to the Mom (who really is a sweet lady). Humour is usually a good way to broach things like this I think. That should work. I hope.

I have a new challenge now though.. Same neighbourkids. Related issue. Needs a post all of its own though... I really want to hear how you deal with this situation I'm sure we all face...

BABY GIRL AND SLEEP

Well the Little Miss has woken at 5am with only one middle-of-the-night feeding for the past 2 days. I think the word to describe how I feel is... Elated! Hurray!

I'm pretty convinced that coffee had put us into a tailspin. Sadly, I drink the coffee to be able to work while sleep deprived, which causes her to want to play in the middle of the night and deprives me of sleep. (Yes, I'm still nursing at night. Why not? Too tired to get up and make a bottle at night, and we both get to go back to sleep).

Yesterday I needed my coffee fix, not because she didn't sleep the night before, but because she went to bed and stayed asleep and I was so excited I stayed up making this.

Not bad for my first project after 15 years?

It was just one mug of coffee, but she woke up 3 times last night...

BLOG FEEDS AND COMMENTING

I'm not complaining, but I'm finding myself with a lot less time to sit at the computer and read through all my favourite blogs these days. I have started using Google Reader on my phone and that's been working well. Except.... I can't leave comments! For some reason, on this new phone, I just can't leave comments when I click through to your blogs! It sucks! I feel like I'm behind a one-way mirror trying to shout to you, but you don't know I'm there! Quite distressing... But I'll find a way peeps, don't worry.

BTW, if you've been in a similar situation and have advice to give, I'm all ears!

SUPAH AND JADEN'S JINGLE BELL BONANZA
Do you know Supah? If you don't, you're missing out. And right now, you're missing out on her Jingle Bell Bonanza all for Jaden. Want to know more? Go here: Jaden's Jingle Bell Bonanza Kicks Off - Ready, Set, BID!!

AWARDS
I have some awards I need to thank people for, but then I have to award them out and that takes a while. I've decided I'm going to start that post, and just keep working my way through til I'm done. Hopefully it'll wind up being published sometime next week.

And THE BIG NEWS.

My bestest bloggy friends Nancy at If Evolution Works and Unknown Mami have launched a new community today! It's called Life2.us and it's a great place to find new interesting posts and people. I am so honored to have been asked to be one of the initial contributors... I found some new great blogs from co-contributors as well. Check out Life2.us here:

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