Reading is a privilege....

I took my blog off "private" status for a probationary period. Yep, I work with people on probation every day and have decided this is the action I should take. You have served your jail time and now you're on probation.

Here are your terms and conditions:

1. If something offends you, um, don't read my blog anymore. Simple.

2. If something offends you - resist the urge to tell others who would get offended just how offensive my blog was. While I may slightly enjoy the fact I offended someone, telling others what an offensive jerk I am bugs me.

3. I reserve the right to say what I want on my blog because well, it's MY blog. It's not my husband's, my son's my dog's, my mother's, my coworker's. It's MINE. . . and one of the only things in this world that is mine alone - so what is said here is solely the property of me and no one else. Don't blame them. If you want to write something on YOUR blog about how much you don't like me or what I do/say/think/blog, that's your right too.

We normally print out these little agreements and have our probationer's sign. Since I can't do that, I'll just assume if you read the blog, you agree. As judge/probation officer/prosecutor of this blog and my readers, I retain the right to revoke probation at ANY time. And remember, as we like to say in this business, probation is a privilege!

I plan on putting a sidebar with some of this information on it just to remind those of you who need to pull out your probation agreement every once in a while and look it over...

ArtsCow

Many of you received an email referral from me for the photo printing site called ArtsCow. I know that a lot of these places have promotions that seem too good to be true, but this one actually seems to be legit. The site claims to give you like a bazillion free prints and then once you join, it gives you a bunch of other credits for other cool stuff like mousepads, photobooks, etc. They also give you credits toward free or discounted stuff when you spend x amount of money too.

So... I uploaded some photos today and added them to my cart and then proceeded to pretend to check out, just to see what would happen. Voila! The .42 that I was going to be charged for the 6 or 7 prints I added to my cart was gone, and only $1.79 was left for shipping costs. I have to admit I don't know how much shipping is if you have more prints than that, but I hardly doubt it is too astronomical.

Next I went to the page that lists all the other cool stuff they claim is free and clicked on the Generate Button next to the "Heart Keychain" and then clicked on the Order Button. This took me to a page where I could add the photo I wanted to the keychain. I picked a cute one of Dave and Logan and again went to the checkout, expecting a catch to all this free stuff...

...and yep, there was a catch! I had to jump through a small hoop or two which I won't explain in detail here (if anyone joins and needs help here, it is a little tricky and I can try to help!) but in the end I wound up back at my cart pretending to check out, and my balance was only $5.78 for the 7 prints (.6 each) and the "Heart Keychain" ($7.99). Not too bad!

So the moral of my story is, so far I am pretty impressed with this site. I hope that you guys will check it out too. I haven't ordered yet because I'm planning on ordering a bunch of prints and I need to get them all on the site in albums first but when I do I will post an update of the print/product quality.

If I didn't send you a referral and you want to join, please, please, email me or comment and let me send you a referral. You get extra credits for referring people and I would love to take advantage of as many friends and family members as I possibly can ;) I am on a computer anywhere from 5-10 hours a day at work and on weekends I check occasionally so if you are chomping at the bit to join I will most likely get a referral sent to you with a pretty quick turnaround.

And I hope no one is surprised if they get photo gifts for every birthday/holiday/Christmas from now on! Who doesn't love a bottleopener with a loved one's photo on it?!

Another Tragedy

I feel, almost odd, blogging about this. I didn't know Mandy Johnson super well personally, but for some reason this tragic accident has stuck with me. I know most of you that have access to read this blog knew Mandy and know her family and might be feeling the same way. Because I didn't know her well personally I wasn't sure if I should even be "allowed" to write something in her memory. I am hoping that by writing down a few of my thoughts I am not in any way offending anyone.

Mandy was 3 years younger than me in high school, but instead of only knowing her as someone younger than me that I may have known their name but nothing more, I have a distinct impression of the kind of person I believed her to be. I envied her. How often does that happen in high school? When I was a senior she would have been a Freshman (I think), and I envied this girl. She had it all from what I could tell. I never saw her with anything but a smile on her face. She was gorgeous, and not only on the outside. You could see her testimony on her face from a mile away. She was popular, but also seemed to be one of those popular kids who had time, and not only that, but a desire to talk to anyone who may have needed a bright spot in their day. She was definitely a bright spot in anyone's day.

Dave knows the family of the boy she had just gotten engaged to and commented to me that the kid was pretty amazing. I responded that he must of been because of the person she was. I am so sad for him as well. To have just asked someone to be your eternal companion and have something like this happen must be absolutely devastating. In a way though, I hope he is comforted in knowing that that very act of proposing made her last actions, thoughts, and words on this earth full of the most amazing excitement that a young girl can feel. I imagine she spent much of that day retelling the story of the proposal, discussing wedding plans and showing off her ring to her co-workers.

My prayers are with the Johnson family and the others who are devastated by this loss.

For anyone who hasn't taken the chance to visit the blog in memory of the medical team and pilot, you can visit it here: http://www.cedarcondolences.blogspot.com/

For my non-Hurricane readers you can read the story and see a picture of Mandy here. http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=148&sid=4092033

Finally!

Logan and I went to the doctor today to get his tongue clipped. We've been there so many times in the last 5 months and every time we do it something goes wrong or he gets sick so we can't. Well today was finally the day and I was going to make them do it no matter what - I was so sick of psyching myself up for it just to have it not happen. He did have an abcess from a diaper rash gone horribly wrong that they ended up having to cut open to get the crap out (sorry for the TMI) and that was actually way worse than when the clipped his tongue. Poor guy! He just screamed and screamed while I held his hands.

After they clipped his tongue (no numbing or sedative mind you...) the doctor said he would cry for a few minutes and be done and he was right. I rocked him and let him play with my cell phone and he quit crying after a few minutes. What a champ! He's sleeping now but if I can get any pictures of him and his new, improved tongue I will put them up later. I'm just so glad this ordeal is over!

By the way, my doctor is AWESOME! I switched from one of the more popular offices here in Cedar and I am so SO glad I did. If anyone is looking for a pediatrician in Cedar - Dr. McCune and Color Country is the BEST!

Tragedy on the Mountain

We are all fine. Yes, Dave is in California right now. And yes, he is there on a helitack (helicopter) crew but No, he is not one of the nine missing. I have had a hard time keeping myself together since he told me about the accident early yesterday morning. He has over a week left on this trip and I told him not to tell me if he flies again - I don't want to know. My dad did make a good point however, after things like this horrible accident happen, people are that much more careful to do things 100% by the book. It's a little comforting, but I am still close to tears every time I stop to think about it.

If you have no idea what I'm talking about, read on:

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-crash8-2008aug08,0,7182403.story?page=1

Thanks for everyone expressing their concern to me, the families are in my prayers...