Giveaway!

Mkay....it's been a week and we still have only 4 comments on the Sharing the Love post.  We have to do better than this, folks!  I know I have a few more readers than 4....or I did until my Sitemeter disappeared and now I seem to have none...

Of course, there is always the possibility that everyone has read the book already.

I told you, Amy Caroline, that your odds were pretty good, in spite of being First!   


So good, in fact, that you are the winner of The Help!  (Someone teach me how to insert a picture of a book/product here).  Congratulations!  Shoot me an email and I'll get your book in the mail Monday.

7 Quick Takes

~1~

Friday is just about my favorite day of the week for many reasons, not the least of which is the linky party on The Inspired Room.  I love spending an hour perusing the inspirational decor posts, but somewhere in the middle I usually take a break to work on my post for the day.  Which I'm doing now.  But I just started to upload a photo to blogger and while I was searching for the pic, I suddenly realized that Safari/Blogger/iphoto might crash the system, which they are oh so prone to do, because they hate each other!  I immediately canceled the upload because then I would lose all my tabs that I haven't read yet!

A girl has to have her priorities.

~2~

On my trip to the library the other day, I was looking for Confessions of a Prairie B**** by Alison Arngrim,  (of course, they don't have it, but I think I've requested it already) when I found the graphic novel version of Dean Koontz's Frankenstein, The Prodigal Son.  Madden was surprised to see me reading a graphic novel, but I'm starting to see the attraction thanks to Melissa and her Comic-Con updates.  It's certainly a much faster way to read a book!

~3~

This is one of the fun finds this morning in blogland.   I'm posting it for my darling KT who will adore this tiny Victorian cottage in the Catskill mountains.  Read the story that goes with it.

Seriously, who wouldn't want a little retreat like this?  Only someone who insists on toilets and electricity, I'm sure.  

~4~

Another reason for loving Friday....

I don't have to go anywhere today, so Madden can take my car to football practice.  That means I don't have to pick him up and I don't have to go anywhere!

So you're wondering what I'm going to do all day?

Maybe make some school lesson-plans.

Maybe start painting Hitch and Madden's room.  

We'll see how much energy I have.  That is in seriously short supply these days.

~5~

Fridays are much more exciting than they used to be since my good friend, Kathleen, invited us out to Trivia Night at Starbucks.  We've been twice and had a great time.  It's fun for the whole family, just like she promised.  Everyone gets a treat from Starbucks or the Bruster's Ice Cream next door, and it's a little bit educational.

Do you know how to rank these ancient units of measurement from smallest to largest?

cubit, digit, palm, span

~6~

In our near-epic storm the other night, which was more epic for it's wind and rain than thunder and lightning, we lost a tree, evidently.  Meg found it yesterday when she went out back to the swingset with her friends.  It was a tall, old tree in the back corner of our yard.  I'm not even sure it's technically in our yard since it's on the border.  But, thank heavens, it had the good grace to fall into the buffer zone between houses/neighborhoods, not into our yard or onto our playset, so we don't have to do any cleanup!

It was one of the posts for our zip line, which the kids have always loved.  So that's kind of sad.

~7~

24th wedding anniversary coming up Monday.  We're at a loss as to how to celebrate.  Any ideas???

I'll be going to Six Flags to celebrate.  What will my dear husband do?  ;-)

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Visit Jen's for more 7 Quick Takes.

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Don't forget to visit here if you want to be entered into the drawing for The Help.

Sharing the Love!

As you know, one of the highlights of my trip to Cincinnati was meeting up with fellow-blogger Barbara at Praying for Grace.  She's such a sweet, generous person that not only did she drive 2 hours to take me and Meg to dinner, but she gave me her book that she had just finished reading!

Probably everyone on the planet has read this book by now.  The Help by Kathryn Stockett.  I found it to be a page turner, very hard to put down.  It was also very thought-provoking.  Moreso because I had just been to the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center just before I met up with Barb.  Not enough had changed one hundred years after slavery was ended, but it was starting to!

I'm going to give someone else the opportunity to read this book.  Just leave a comment if you want to participate in the drawing.  I'll pick a winner next week.  I'd give you a date, but it would probably change!  Lol.  

Now is the time for all you lurkers to come out of the woodwork and comment.

Giveaway!

Have you heard about Jessica and Charlotte collaborating on Garden of the Good Shepherd plans for the Easter season?  It sounds like a lot of fun to do with your little ones.

If you don't already have the book (as I don't), you might want to hop on over to Become What You Are to enter Sue's drawing for a copy.

More Betsy-Tacy!

Looky what came in the mail!!!!!

KT and I had ordered all of these from the Betsy-Tacy Society back in June, when we first found out they were being re-issued.  We ordered a couple of other things at the same time, like some adorable notecards and Emily of Deep Valley (scroll down).  I wasn't sure if we had really ordered them because we didn't have any record of the transaction, nor did we find a place on the site to check.  It's not like shopping at Amazon!  I was wondering if I would have re-order from Amazon, but they came, and the bonus is that we got a special CD of Letters from Maud!  I can't wait to look at it.

These books are lovely.  They feel wonderful in your hands and the covers are the original, delightful Vera Neville illustrations instead of the much tackier covers that they used in later editions.  There is one particular set of re-issues, which we have a few of, that I abhor.  They don't do justice to the charm of the story or the characters themselves.

A special addition to these books is, literally, the addition to the backs of the books.  They each come with a post-script which gives the reader the scoop on what was really happening in Maud Hart Lovelace's life at the same time.  There are photographs of her and her friends who come to life on the pages of the books. 

Another interesting note is that her whole romance with her husband is made up.  She didn't actually meet him until after The Great World, although his story in the book reflects his childhood.  But that marriage proposal at the beginning of Betsy's Wedding?  Oh, be still my heart.  That has to be one of the sweetest, most romantic things I've ever read.  Even more romantic that Darcy and Elizabeth.

If you missed my little giveaway....you have another opportunity!  You can stop by Kate's Book Blog for a chance at her giveaway.  She has several copies to give out. 

On a side note---I'm sorry I got to know Betsy so late in life.  In the books she lives in Deep Valley, MN, which is actually Mankato, MN.  I was there in 1997!  We went to a CCL convention in  Minneapolis and then took a little tour out west with some friends to visit all the Little House on the Prairie sites.  Did you know that the dugout on the banks of Plum Creek is just outside Mankato?  We were in Mankato for a little while, looking at a pioneer museum, and we waded in Plum Creek, but we didn't know we were missing Betsy and Tacy's homes!

O di immortales!

I Love Betsy-Tacy!

I can't remember when KT and I started reading the Betsy-Tacy books by Maud Hart Lovelace, but we adore them. We've each read them several times and she read the first 4 to LP and Pipster this summer. They start when Betsy and Tacy meet at age 5 and end with Betsy's Wedding, the first year or so of her marriage. They graduate from high school in 1910, so that gives you an idea of the time period we're talking about. I've just finished re-reading the last 6 books: one for each year of high school and 2 post high-school tomes.

My favorite books of all of them are Betsy and Joe and Betsy and the Great World, her senior year, and the years after high school which include her year abroad. As a senior in high school Betsy finally starts to mature and take life a little more seriously, thinking about others more than herself. She still makes lots of mistakes and behaves very childishly at times, but she matures even more out in the Great World. Through it all, she is charming and friendly. Everyone wants to be her friend. She views everything in Europe with a childlike rapture and details all her adventures with a girlish exuberance which is very engaging. I'd love to go on a tour of all the same places she went!

On September 28, the last 6 books are being re-issued in 3 volumes. Bookclubgirl has given me a copy of the first volume: Heaven to Betsy and Betsy in Spite of Herself to give away to some poor soul who is unaware of the charms of Deep Valley, Minnesota. So far, only one person has expressed interest, but this is your last chance!

Leave a comment telling me why you should get this book and I'll randomly choose someone to give it to. I know I have more than 3 or 4 readers out there, so I hope I get more responses than that! If you all read them already, chime in and tell me that, too! Which one is your favorite?

I'm looking forward to hearing from all of you!

Don't Enter This Giveaway!

At The Inspired Room

I want to win.

I know it's just a grain sack, but have you ever seen one up close and personal? KT and I found some at the antique mall we discovered on my birthday. They were $100 and gorgeous. I was amazed at how soft and buttery the fabric was.

I wish I were a bushel of grain and could wear such nice clothes!

You know, if I win, maybe I'll just make a dress out if it instead of pillows, which was my first thought.

Happy Day!

Looky what I got in the mail yesterday from Barb at Praying for Grace!

It's simply stunning---thank you!

Giveaway!

One of my favorite bloggers is having a little giveaway. It's a little, homey thing, just like her blog.

And she's a sweetheart. Although, I should say "they" because it's a team blog.

I'm putting her on my sidebar and hoping you'll stop by to say hi to Leila. You might even win something!