I took a picture of this flower last June (that’s 2009, not 2010). I forget what type of flower it was. I do remember that Ryan brought it home from preschool in a cute little painted pot, and it flourished for several weeks in our windowsill, with no special water from a water filter or even that powdered stuff floral arrangements sometimes come with. Come to think of it, that flower may be the marigolds that are now planted beneath the tree in front of our house? Hmm. I’ll have to ask Dan about that…

Anyway, I love photos of flowers. They’re always so soft looking! ♥

• find out the latest and hottest items
• go through lists of holiday must-haves
• compare prices on everything from sunglasses to sun visors
• find out the highest rated and best priced Messenger bags

I am a big fan of knowing what’s hot and highly-coveted, but I also like being able to get great deals on my purchases. I very rarely purchase anything over $25 in value without first researching it to make sure I’m getting the best deal. You can do all this and more at Become.com!

With that said, do you shop online often? If so, what influences your decision to make a purchase? Is it the convenience of not having to run around to stores? The enjoyment of having mail arrive on your doorstep? The ability to use coupon codes and special promos to save even more? Spill the beans!

I would have put together a new layout for one or even both this weekend, but I was too tired and drippy from being a) tired and b) on my period to do it and c) writing about plus size swimwear. Yesterday I caught up on personal/freelance email, and today I tackled work stuff and a bit of blogging and a bit of SEO work for wedding favors. Tomorrow is MONDAY. I heart Mondays, but I know it’s going to be a busy one. Blech.

It has been three and a half months since I have been due $109.00, and I have not seen a penny of it.

Whether you’ve been personally burned by Blog Advertising Store AKA Paying Post, or are simply commiserating with me, PLEASE re-tweet, Stumble, Digg, whatever, to spread the word. Protect other bloggers from being scammed, and make sure this company goes down.

October 18th, 2004 – my original due date with Alyssa. She was born nine days later. October 18th was also my grandmother’s birthday.

December 18th, 2004 – the day I started back at work after having Alyssa; also the day my grandmother went into the hospital to die comfortably (she passed away five days later).

July 18th, 2005 – the day I got into a car accident and totaled our car. Car accidents are never fun, but thankfully my auto insurance claim went through smoothly. The other auto insurance company accepted responsibility for the accident, no problem, and quickly cut us a check for the BB value of our totaled car ($4900; not bad for a three year old Kia Spectra with 85,000 miles on it).

July 18th, 2006 – my original due date for Ryan. It was moved up to the 22nd, and he was born via c-section on the 26th.

September 18th, 2008 – the day my brothers were taken into state custody.

November 18th, 2009 – the day I had my gastric bypass surgery.

January 18th, 2010 – legal stuff (good).

June 18th, 2010 – legal stuff (bad).

July 18th, 2010 – legal stuff (good).

Maybe I’m just looking for similarities and consistency. Who knows. Regardless, 18 is a number that does keep appearing in our lives, in significant ways!

Dan and I celebrated our ten year anniversary, which was on Monday, by going to a local amusement park. We originally planned on going to Six Flags Great Adventure, which is 2.5 hours away, but I called my surgeon on Monday morning to find out about getting some gallbladder issues diagnosed, and it was either go in to see her/get testing done that morning, or three to four weeks from now. I’ve had three attacks in a month now, with the last one being last Saturday and quite painful and long-lasting, so we turned around and headed over to the office for an appointment, and then to the hospital for an ultrasound. The ultrasound was negative for gallstones and inflammation, but “sludge” build-up in the gallbladder is both common and undetectable via an ultrasound, so I’m going back to the hospital tomorrow for a CT scan and a HIDA scan. Fun fun.

Anyway, Dan and I did have a great time at the local amusement park. We were there a few weeks ago, but were too tired to stay the entire evening and finish all of the rides. This time we did the roller coasters we missed last time, as well as a few other rides. It was great being there with just each other. ♥

So yeah, death leap for Jacob. In the split second it took my brain to scream “OMG HE’S ON THE RUBBER GASKET GET HIM BEFORE HE FALLS THROUGH!”, he fell through. And anyone who has a garbage disposal knows that the drain opening is not quite big enough to get your hand in. Thankfully, within five seconds of me trying to failtastically get a hold of him with my fingers, I remembered our silicone-covered tongs. I grabbed them, and as gently as possible fished him out (fished, get it? Har har.) and got him back into the tank. All in all he was out of the water for maybe twenty seconds, but still, I thought he was a goner.

This happened about 30 hours ago, and Jacob has been fine ever since, so I’d like to think that his little mishap and brush with the drain of death didn’t cause any lasting harm!