Birthday Freebies

My granddaughter, son, son-in-law,mother-in-law and brother-in-law all celebrated birthdays this month. (Sept. is a crazy month for us with birthdays!)While we weren't able to celebrate with everyone we hoped they took advantage of some birthday freebies.

I've compiled a list so that you can have some extra fun on your next birthday!

Aveda-Birthday club members receive a free product-up to a $25 value-custome blended with the aroma of their choice to be redemmed within two months.

Baskin-Robbins-you'll receive an email coupone for a free scoop of ice cream and a discount on a birthday cake when you join the Birthday club.

Cold Stone Creamery-sign up for its Birthday club and receive a free treat on your b-day.

Express-customers who are store credit card holders receive a $10 coupon to be applied toward their next purchase during their b-day month.

Famous Dave’s BBQ-Free food coupon via email on your birthday when you join the Famous Dave’s P.I.G. Club (could be free cake, an appetizer, or some ribs!).

Dairy Queen- Join the Dairy Queen Blizzard Fan Club and get a free ice cream cone on your birthday as well as a coupon for a blizzard when you join.
Go to Joe’s Crab Shack on your birthday and get a free piece of cake.
Come on into Macaroni Grill on your birthday and get a free dessert plus a song.

PFChang- Come in and get a free dessert on your birthday

Perkins- Receive an email for a free kid’s meal and birthday greeting on their birthday when you sign them up for the Bakery Buddies Kid’s Birthday Club. Adults can get an email coupon for a free piece of pie.

Red Lobster- Join the Overboard Club and they will email you a suprise for your birthday

Sephora- Sign up as a Beauty Insider and get a free gift from Sephora on your birthday.

Toys R Us- Children ages 2 – 10 will receive a birthday card and surprise gift from Geoffrey when you sign them up for Geoffrey’s Birthday Club.

Have fun celebrating another year! (Let us know if you find other birthday deals.)

Top Looks in Shoes

I'm so happy to see that low-slung pumps and tiny heels are back. (I have such old lady feet!)So now you can whip your shoe wardrobe into shape with styles that will make your feet thank you.

Dufay pumps at http://www.endless.com/

Deedee pumps at http://www.katespade.com/

Jemima Plain Kitten Points http://www.topshop.com/
Mossimo Blace Vanette Kitten heel pumps http://www.target.com/

Beatrice ONG "herz" pump http://www.farfetch.com/

Are you going to be a trend-setter this fall and give up your heels?

Numbers for Everyday Life

Teaching math to little people makes you think of different kinds of numbers.When my students ask "Why do we have to learn this?" I say "it's because numbers are important."

Here are some numbers that I think are important (even outside of math class):

Number of smiles you caused today.
Number of hugs you gave today.
Number of contacts you have with people you love.
Number of times you complimented someone else.
Number of ways you encouraged others today.
Number of times you took a break for yourself.
Number of times you ate healthy food.
Number of glasses of water you drank.
Number of hours of sleep you got last night.
Number of times you ignored harsh words said to you or about you.
Number of times you say positive things to yourself.
Number of times you say no so you can say yes to the bigger opportunity.
Number of dollars you put in a needy hand.
Number of times you expressed gratitude for your many blessings.
Number of times you said "I love you" first.

And You?
Can you add some numbers that matter in the comments?

Not Again, Oprah!

Oprah, I sure hope you aren't going to spend your last shows ripping people. First, us mature ladies and now today, teachers. (There may have been more, I haven't been a faithful watcher lately.)

Today's topic was the movie coming out titled Waiting for Superman. Apparently it's about how bad our public schools are. Oprah's guests were a Superintendent from Wash D.C,Bill Gates and the fellow who made the film.

Oprah and her guests bashed teachers and our teacher unions for allowing us to have tenure. (Here in MN a teacher gets tenure if they successfully complete three years of teaching. Then we have some protection and rights in our job against unfair firing.) Yes, there are teachers who are teaching that shouldn't be. But...who is supposed to be making sure those people don't get tenured? The principals! As a new teacher we get formally observed/evaluated three times each year. Of course, anyone can look good if they know in advance they are being observed. So where are the principals during the rest of the time? Are they doing any informal observations? (Oops, it sounds like I'm prinicpal bashing--I'm not! I've worked for some great administrators!) Good documentation would go a long way toward weeding out ineffectual teachers.

Oprah had on a young woman who is enrolled at a Charter School because "she doesn't test" well. At her Charter School they take that into account and she can be evaluated other ways. Isn't that nice. In our public schools we are MANDATED to use standardized tests by our gov't. Would teachers choose to do so much standardized testing? I think not. We know we can evaluate our students in other ways too.

Oprah praised a school in CA where "the teachers stay at school until 11pm tutoring students." Right. We aren't supposed to have a life outside school. We aren't supposed to make a salary on a level with businesses. But we are supposed to take the children that come to us, all the children that come to us and fix their every problem.

If you have to blame someone Oprah, spread the blame around a little. What about parents, what about society in general? It's really hard to teach a child who comes to school filthy dirty, one who uses obscene language, one who never has any supplies, homework done, one who doesn't know who mom's current live-in "friend" is, one who can stay up all night watching the tv that's in his/her room, one whose babysitter is an R-rated rented video and be able to connect with 30+ students in your classroom and have lessons planned to meet all their needs. But you know what? Teach these children is what we do. We buy supplies, snacks and books for our students with our own money. Our school feeds the kids breakfast, gives them warm clothes if they need it, pays for haircuts if parents can't afford it and much more. (Oops,seems like I'm parent bashing, I'm not.)

Instead of slamming teachers and public schools, just once, it would have been sweet to have you look for the good in schools. Hold up some public schools and teachers that are getting it right. Show us parents who really care about their children and their education and are involved. We'd like to meet principals that have thriving, achieving schools. Let them be an example for those that need improving. It's hard enough being a teacher without you convincing your audience they should run for the nearest Charter School.

So Oprah, I hope you look at your line-up of shows and try to bring a positive note to your last days. We've loved you for years, we'd hate to have you go out on such a negative note.

Goddess Poster

Not the actual poster

How to be a Goddess poster--free download. It is so cute! I'm going to put it right by my desk so I see it everyday! Cuz you know, we are all Goddesses!

20 Minute Sunday

My mom and dad.

I like to read Chris Brogan's email newsletter that he sends out. Most of the time it is small business related so I get tips that I can use with my business: Gathered From The Garden. However, once in a while he just has some good general ideas like this one.

"Today, take 20 minutes and use it to reach out to people who matter to you. Give some folks a jingle. Catch up. Drop a line. Get out your paper and pen and write a letter. Go visit someone in person (remember visiting?). Shoot a video message to someone you haven’t seen in a while. Take snaps of the family.
Every Sunday (or whatever day’s best for you to do this), schedule yourself 20 minutes to connect."

I like this idea. We are all so busy that we forget sometimes that we need to stay in touch with those that are important to us. Really, 20 minutes is not that much time to schedule in. I actually started this last Sunday. We took the motorcycle out to visit my parents. It was a great day for a ride and a great day for a visit. As it turns out, my dad went into the hospital the next day. (He is out now.)

Today, I'm thinking of calling someone out of state that I haven't talked to for a long time. We have a lot to catch up on!

So, are you with me? Can you spare 20 minutes on a Sunday? Who would you connect with today?

Oprah Should Know Better

I enjoyed watching the Judds on Oprah the other day. I'm not a real big Country Western fan but I like to watch the dynamics between mother/daughter. I actually heard Naomi Judd speak when she came to our town for a Women's Expo a few years back.

On Oprah's show Wynonna came out first and talked about her ex-husband.(sexual molestation of someone they knew). Then Naomi came out. I thought she looked really good and the audience did too. So what does Oprah say to her? She gushes "your knees are showing" like that's the most amazing thing she's seen.

Hey Oprah, yes our knees are showing! Just because we aren't 30 somethings anymore doesn't mean we have to look like our grandmothers used to. While I'm not saying we mature gals should be wearing every trendy thing that comes along, there is nothing wrong with showing our knees and looking youthful (or as youthful as we can at our age.) You of all people should recognize that beauty comes at every age even if our society doesn't always value aging.

I hope Naomi continues to show her knees. And you know what? I plan to continue showing my knees when I get to be her age too. (Not sure just how old she is...)The day I stop trying to look my best is the day I curl up and die.

One other cute part of the show was when Naomi saw herself in the tv monitor.She and Wynonna had just been talking about how Naomi used to tell Wynonna that her lipstick was too dark 10 minutes before showtime.(She doesn't do that to Wynonna anymore.) So she said she was kind of surprised that Wynonna didn't tell her mom that SHE had too much make-up on. Naomi was wiping off eyeshadow as she spoke. Truthfully, she did have on a little too much. But hey...she thought she looked good when she put it on. :)

So Oprah, watch your comments about knees showing. After all, some day you will be that age too!