The third postie patrol – the HP Postie Patrol – looks like it was SO MUCH FUN!!

I love crazy, fun, hyper scavenger hunt type games! I guess that’s why I like geocaching so much – not that I scream “Wooo! Wooooo! Woooo!” in the woods or anything! Hahaha

But scavenger hunts/treasure hunts are so much fun – and to know it had the possibility of ending with such a FAB treasure — a digital camera, a printer, paper, and $1000 — oh man! That would just be way way way too sweet!!!

This is really silly, but, one of my favorite parts is when Ted says, “I just want some pizza, man!” So cute!!

I would so love PayPerPost and HP to visit the beautiful state of Alabama – and me – for a Postie Patrol!

What I wouldn’t give to sit in the Big Blue Monster!!!! I used to hang out at the International dealer/factory/warehouse, but, of course the nice guys that worked there couldn’t let us near the trucks – you had to be wealthy just to test-drive them! Not that I even expected them to let me test drive the beautiful beasts, but, I would’ve loved to at least sit in one!

So – obviously, being the truck junkie that I am, I would love to see the Big Blue Monster – but, I would love the chance to win some prizes, too! In a fun way -like Robyn did! I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t want to try to gag down a giganto pizza! LOL!

The fact that HP has signed on so supportively with PayPerPost totally rocks! They have such killer products! And not to mention, on their site they have great Digital Photography Tips – goodness knows I can use all the help that I can get!

Watch the video and see how much fun bloggers can have when two great companies like PayPerPost and HP team up!!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wLyKuKGxkDE]

This post was brought to you by HP.

Love her or hate her, Angelina Jolie news is very sought after! We all seem to want to know what she is up to all the time!

I used to be a giant fan, and I am still quite obssessed with her, although I’m not sure I’m still a fan. I suppose I probably am.

Anyway, she and Brad Pitt spent Christmas day without their children.

They were in Costa Rica with Columbian war refugees, spreading her own personal message that, “the world has not totally forgotten them”.

I am not sure how old Maddox is, her oldest child – oh, wait – didn’t he start school this year? So he would be at least five, right?

I was going to say maybe the kids – her kids – are too young to notice that Mommy is gone on such a special day. But – Maddox would definitely know it!

I am not quite sure how I feel about this – I have known plenty of ‘do-gooders’ – or at least read of, who spend so much time ‘doing good’ that their own family is ignored.

I’ve been known to fall into the trap myself with PTA goings-on. It is indeed a slippery slope – everyone is praising you, and you really are contributing so much, and you don’t quite know when to say ‘No’.

So I don’t know – I think this could be one more smudge on my ‘I’m not really sure if I’m a fan’ decision.

Hmm…

I used to use a mail drop in Texas for My Very Own Mail. It was very convenient, in that it was right across the street from my house, and there was never a line. The post office always had this God-awful line that took forever!

I did pay for that convenience, let me tell you! I always had less than 10 subscribers back then, so it wasn’t so bad, but, now I definitely wouldn’t use them. I have, usually 18-26 packages to send out every month. And that convenience charge would definitely add up!

But another great feature of the mail drops is the mailboxes – if you’re planning on using a POBox and the maildrop is closer than the post office, that would definitely be a plus.

So I looked up my city on this great mail drop directory, and we don’t even have one. So I guess I’ll continue using the post office, even when I get my POBox.

…is nothing compared to what some of God’s precious creatures endure at the hands of some ‘humans’. I’m so upset I can barely type, I keep having to hit backspace!

I got this email from my mother today:

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Subject: [ACT] Anti-Fur Story Tonight on CBS Affiliates -8 PM & 10 PM – Please cross post

Tonight, the local CBS affiliate will run a story that evolved out of the recent Sean Combs/Faux Fur incident. Randy Turner/Texas Humane Legislation Network and Lou Guyton/HSUS each did an excelent job on very short notice.

Please email your commendations to Kimberly Ball/Reporter and the station after the story airs, as follows:

8 PM on Channel 21. Contact info: http://ktxa.com/contactus/
10 PM on Channel 11. Contact info: www.cbs11tv.com

The station will focus on the fact that consumers are being defrauded into buying canine fur, when they thought they were buying a synthetic. In effect, the consumer is being forced into complicity with those who skin animals alive.

I supported this story angle, because I believe that the average person would not buy fake fur if s/he knew it wasn’t synthetic and/or about the atrocities in the fur industry.

We want local media to know animal stories are valued by the viewing public. My thanks to all who email the station. Margaret

P.S. Graphic footage of the true nature of how fur is torn from the backs of living beings may be viewed on www.HSUS.org. Please send a link to all your friends. I promise you that after watching this film, only the truly evil will ever again turn a blind eye to the wearing of fur.
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Obviously, your channels will be different, and maybe your times – this message is from Dallas, but, hopefully is not exclusive to Dallas. I am definitely going to try to watch it.

And I am definitely enraged enough not to have to subject myself to the video footage on the HSUS site – if you can handle it, though – I would definitely suggest you watch it. I know that it would just freak me out too much!

I did, however, go to their site and read the article about P.Diddy – who I am now officially a fan of!!!!!!

Seriously, how can you be human and carry through with an action like that? I cannot begin to fathom it…

It is mind-boggling.

With Mark and I both being self-employed, I am always on the lookout for tips and advice and this Small business blog has tons of it!

They talk about bookkeeping, taxes, payroll, retirement – you name it! They cover so much on this blog!

Running your own business is great – Mark remodels, I sell mail packages to children, among other things. And Mark is very good at remodeling – some of the praise from his clients is truly nauseating! And I am very good at getting kids motivated to read – which is my main goal with my personalized letter business.

But all the other crap that goes along with running a business can be truly daunting.

One of those things would be procuring health insurance for yourself and your family. And IncParadise.com has a great article on it called, Managing Your Healthcare Costs.

Check it out if you are in business for yourself like we are – lots of helpful information!

….through my first ever Christmas without her!

I’m 36 yrs. old and my mother and I have never been apart on Christmas…..

It was pretty rotten, except for the morning part and celebrating with my kiddos – our little family unit stuff – that was just as nice as always.

But then, when all the hullaballoo died down, and I realized that the rest of my day would be quite different than usual….it took me quite a while to pull myself together.

But, I did. And the inlaws came over…and we had a nice time. It is kind of hard entertaining with very little furniture, but, apparently everyone prefers the gatherings to be at our house.

See, our ‘living room setup’ is in the basement, and the two rooms upstairs are just empty and waiting to be remodeled – I finally got fed up at one point and brought up a camping banquet-style table so that we could at least have a table. So we have that table and a hodgepodge of chairs.

So, anyway, we got through the day, and although quite different, it was not completely unbearable.

I definitely miss my momma and my daddy and my brother and my sister-in-law and my precious nephew, though. And Buddy and Scruffy – two of the Dallas menagerie!