Pink Polka Dot Thoughts

Pink Pony Down

R.I.P. pretty pink pony. I don't know why Cooper the dog hates you so much, but he finally took you down.

You'll be missed.

The Book

Mr. Polka Dot has fixed my laptop! Well, actually, nothing was really wrong with it except that it had way too much junk on it and was running slow. I didn't need anything that was on it, so I had him reformat it and only put exactly what I need back on.

Now it runs soooo fast, I don't know what to do!

I can start on my book now. God knows I have plenty of material to work with. Now just to figure out who I want to play me in the movie version. I'm thinking Drew Barrymore--except she's decided that Twitter and Facebook are bad. How could she play me?

(Yes, she COULD play me. Be kind! ;))

High School Reading

My friend, Liane recently posted her Top 10 Books from high school and all I can say is that Liane was a lot more studious than I was. Her list includes Shakespeare and classics like Lord of the Flies.

While I did read those books, I honestly didn't enjoy them! Ok, The Great Gatsby was pretty cool, but I read most of them because I had to and I can't say that I truly enjoyed them. American Lit, I enjoyed more than the rest, but I have never truly enjoyed Shakespeare. (Someone smack this English major for admitting such a horrible truth!)Most, I read because I had to, not because I wanted to or because I enjoyed them!

Now, I did read tons of books for fun. I read a lot as a child and a teen. In high school though, I'd say I was more into Flowers in the Attic than MacBeth. The Outsiders and Rumblefish were more fascinating than The Grapes of Wrath...

And Beowulf? Really, Liane...I would rather poke my eyeballs out than read that again. I read it in high school. I read it in college...and I'm not sure I ever enjoyed one second of it. Of course, maybe it was my teachers. I'm not sure.

Yes, I'll blame it on the teachers. ;)

I'm not one of those bloggers...

Over the years I've been blogging here, there and everywhere, I've noticed a certain type of blogger. It's the blogger who will do anything possible to get more hits, more views, more followers. They don't care what it takes.

They'll make you think they're your best friend. They'll post a million comments a day. They'll spam your email box, your facebook, your Twitter. Basically, they'll sell their souls if they think it will help their blog.

I don't pretend to know everything about blogging. I don't pretend to be a "super-blogger." I simply draw from my experience. I also know I couldn't be one of "those" bloggers. I don't blog for the free stuff, although the free stuff is a nice perk at times. I don't do it for the giveaways.

I don't do it to see how many followers I can get, because if I'm not posting useful content, they sure aren't going to stick around!

I blog because I enjoy it. I blog because it's fun. I couldn't be the other way. I want to remain true to myself because I AM my blog(s.) I want the things I post, the things I write, to be a true reflection of myself. Otherwise, I couldn't be proud of myself or my blog.

That's who I am. Just me.

What to do?

I've been working on a topic for a new blog because I want to write in a more focused way. I can't decide if I should do a totally new blog and leave this one as it is or if I should revamp this one in a new direction.

I have so many passions that it's hard for me to box myself into one topic. A food blog is definitely not for me because while I do enjoy cooking, I don't want to take pictures of my food at every step of the cooking process and write blog posts about how I made it. That's just not me. It would drive me nuts!

I'm not one of the "mommy bloggers" so focusing so much on family doesn't work for me although my family is definitely a part of my life and my blog.

I already have the shopping blog.

Then I realized earlier that a lot on this blog is TV related. I honestly didn't realize I watched so much tv until I looked over this blog. Maybe a TV blog is an idea, but I have a friend who already does that well.

I am passionate about politics, but I don't want to get into debates and after the 2008 election, I've been rethinking a LOT of my positions. I'm not even sure if I'm still a liberal in the sense that I once was. I couldn't blog about the democrats and I couldn't blog about the republicans either. I should just start the Party of Polka Dots!

So, as you can see, I'm still brain storming. I don't know what I'll come up with or why I even think I NEED another blog. Isn't 4 enough? Ha! Never...

I stay in my pajamas all day. So what?

I work from home. One of the benefits to working at home is that I can lounge in my pajamas until I have to leave the house. I don't have to buy clothes for work. I just have nice pajamas!

Most days, I don't get even out of my pajamas until after 1pm and only does it happen then because I have to have real clothes on when I pick the kids up from school. For some reason, when I show up in my Mickey Mouse pajamas it really embarrasses them. Who knew!

If you show up at my house at noon and I'm still in my pajamas, don't be surprised. I'm not lazy. Chances are, I've been up working longer than you've been awake! I work better when I'm comfortable. Who doesn't?

There are days when I just change from pajamas to sweats because that's all I HAVE to do. I don't HAVE to get dressed to go to work. I don't have to put on make up. Heck, I don't have to brush my teeth(but I DO!)

So next time you pop by unannounced, don't give me a look like I haven't been DOING anything all day. I've put in a long day at work by noon whether or not I look like I've been working.

Ok? If I want to sit here all day in pajamas, I'll do it because I CAN! Did you hear me? I CAN!

(This has been a public service announcement for all of us who work from home in our pajamas.)

Tax Time!

It's tax time! April 15th will be here before you know it. I've been busy working on our tax returns and usually it's not much fun, but this year has been nice.

I got to add up all my earnings for this year and was happily surprised. Sure, I've kept track and done all the things I should do, but I was still surprised to see the total that popped up on the screen.

NICE.

Who says it doesn't pay to sit home all day in your pajamas and write?

I LOVE IT! I wouldn't do anything else or work for anyone else now!

Did I tell you I won? No? Well...

Ok, it's time for me to make a confession. Over the years that I've been blogging, I've also been extremely jealous of all the bloggers who seemed to be raking in the free stuff, getting the free trips and all the publicity some seem to get.

I've wondered why I didn't get the same. I mean I work my ass off on my other blog. I spend as much time on it as I would a full time job. Yes, I make some money, but I still always wanted a free trip...or something. ;)

Then last summer, my free trip invitation arrived, but it came at a terrible time. I'd just had surgery and it was a surgery that left me in quite a bit of pain and I knew that I just couldn't commit to a trip. I had to say no and it was sooo hard.

Disappointing.

Not long after that, however, I was approached to run a contest on myblog for GE. It sounded fun and because I honestly LOVE to give things away they really didn't have to ask me twice. The winner got to choose a GE appliance and the kicker for this contest was that the blog the winner clicked through would also win an appliance.

I didn't hold out much hope because I have trouble winning $5 on a scratch off lottery ticket!

Seriously. I'm just not a lucky person.

I promoted the contest, but really had no hope of winning. Then, not quite two weeks ago though, I got a very surprising email!

Congratulations! You are the potential winning BLOGGER...

That's about as far as my eyes got on the email before I began to scream bloody murder, waking my husband and causing him to race to my office in a panic.

I finally read the rest of the email and learned that the winner from the Strong as Steel contest had clicked through my blog. That meant that I was also a winner! I got to choose from a new refrigerator, stove, microwave or dishwasher --all stainless steel!

Excitedly, I printed out the paper work. I filled it out, got it notarized and sent it back the next day.

The papers were sent back on Wednesday and I chose the refrigerator.

On Saturday, Mr. Polka Dot and I were lounging in bed(yes it was 10am) when The Girl yells through our door that there's a big truck outside. Mr. Polka Dot goes out and then yells to me "Honey, when were they supposed to deliver the refrigerator?"

What? HUH? WHAT DID YOU SAY?

I was flustered because the paperwork couldn't have even reached them yet! Not only that, but it said I'd get a phone call to arrange delivery, so I sure wasn't expecting it for a few weeks at least.

GE is certainly prompt!

I spoke to the delivery people in my pajamas and found out that they had an old telephone number for us. It had been disconnected for a few years and we hadn't even lived in that state in ages.

So then the dilemma became what to do. We weren't prepared for this refrigerator.

Here's the problem. I have a tiny kitchen. By tiny, I mean tiny. I'm not exaggerating. My current refrigerator was not large. It was only 18 cubic feet. Yes, seriously.

This new, giant stainless steel refrigerator is 25 cubic feet! It's also a side by side, so it's wider.

Possibly regretably, I had them take the fridge back to deliver again later.  They said they'd call me.

After they left, I got nervous. I didn't even know WHERE they came from!

I called the number on a card they'd left on Monday and they didn't know anything about my situation or my redelivery. They wanted me to call Home Depot at first until I explained the situation! Finally, the redelivery was scheduled for TOMORROW -- MONDAY. Phew! At least I knew it would be delivered again.

But that didn't end my drama.

As I said above, this fridge is about 3.5 inches wider than the old one. That meant we had to do some kitchen demo. Ha...yes, we are remodeling cabinets.

As I type this to you, the spot is clear in the kitchen for the fridge. I have two large coolers on my front porch full of food. I feel like I'm living in the pioneer days!  Thank goodness we just had a blizzard! At least the food will stay cool.

I'll post more when it's finally delivered and I have ICE and WATER flowing freely through the door!

(Yes, I'm excited, so you'll have to suffer through another post or two about my new refrigerator! Did I mention that I've never won anything before? ;))

Let's hope this is a precursor to what 2010 will bring!

No, you're not crazy!

Pink Polka Dot Thoughts has a new home. I moved it the other day and I'm working on getting a new design up. It looks like for some reason many of my posts are here twice. I've deleted a ton, but it's a real pain, so the rest of the older ones might just get to say. Hey, it was so good, I had to say it twice, right?

I also just discovered all my categories are gone. :(  I can't fix that. It would take forever.

From here on out, things will be categorized. I promise. :) Have patience here for a bit!