Ends Aug. 31, 2010 at 12 Noon: $25 Walmart Gift Card Giveaway via General Mills

Check the July 31, 2010 blog post entitled
$25 Walmart Gift Card giveaway via General Mills
for details on how you may enter.

Deadline:  August 31, 2010, 12:00 Noon

Seasons and cycles

Summer is winding down.  School has reopened.  Kids are sporting new backpacks, new shoes, and new threads.  So as we see the lazy, hazy days of summer decline into shorter and shorter bursts of sun and play, we realize that even though there is so much "newness" abounding around us in the stores, shops, various market places, it is also a time of endings.

The warmth of the sun comes to an end as the days get shorter and there is less sunlight to warm us.  The leaves on the plants begin to dry and fall and annual growth plants die out.  Soon the Fall winds will blow and with them will come chills and barrenness.  Then Winter sets in.  The winter of our year.  And the winter of our lives.

We should all realize that there is a cycle never ending that begins and ends regularly.  The cycle of the seasons, the cycle of plants, the cycle of growth, the cycle of life.

Facing the winter of our lives is most assuredly the most difficult that we are ever confronted with.  Sometimes it is the winter and the end of our loved one's life that we watch.  Sometimes our own season of living is  beginning to cycle through toward that inevitable Winter.  But there is a time for everything under the sun as is written:

To every thing there is a season,
and a time to every purpose under the heaven: 

A time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted.... Ecclesiates 3:

So you see, whether it is the ending of the cycle of the seasons of the earth - Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter - or the season of our own lives, there is a TIME determined that we should be born and that we should die.  There is a time to plant a seed and a time to pluck up that which was planted.

Give / Get 30% off deal

Semi-annual Give and Get special at GAP, BANANA REPUBLIC, and OLD NAVY for the weekend of August 26-29, 2010.  Shop using the coupon at this link and save 30% off of your purchase.  The store you shop at will donate 5% of your purchase to Big Brothers & Sisters.  So you can save a bundle, do some good works, and look good yourself! 

Now how about a bit of feedback from this one.  If you like this and take advantage of it, why not post a comment sharing what you got and the store you shopped.

Rite Aid "free" deals week of 8/22/10

According to the ad for the week of Aug. 22 and the Single Check Rebate booklet for this month, the following items will be free after your single check rebate.  Of course, you have to either mail in your receipt or enter the receipt information into the Rite Aid Single Check Rebate online webpage.  Check it out at http://www.riteaid.com/ for details on the program.  Rite Aid also has a video that you can watch and it give you the opportunity to print some Rite Aid coupons THAT CAN BE USED WITH MANUFACTURER'S COUPONS.

• Salonpas Pain Relief, On Sale $5.49 - Get $5.49 SCR - Final Cost: FREE after SCR
• Cramp 911, On sale $6.99 - Get $6.99 SCR - Final Cost: FREE after SCR
• ArthArrest Topical Analgesic Lotion, On Sale $14.99 - Get $14.99 SCR - Final Cost: FREE after SCR
• Stopain Pain Reliever, On Sale $6.99 - Set $6.99 SCR - Final Cost: FREE after SCR
• Backaid, On Sale $3.49 - Get $3.49 SCR - Final Cost: FREE after SCR
• Royal Gelatin Dessert, On Sale 4/$1.00 - Get $1.00 +Up Reward wyb 4 - Final Cost: FREE after +Up Reward

(information compliments of http://www.kouponkaren.com/)

Using the good stuff

CoverGirl has a new mascara that is terrific.  It coats the eye lashes and gives your eyes a  bright look.  The lashes separate very nicely, are wonderfully enhanced, and look naural with no clumping.  Now for my personal use, there is a slight glitch - it seems to irritate my allergies.  This doesn't happen every time I use the mascara, but enough that I am very leary of using it on a regular basis. 

Would I recommend it?  Absolutely!  It is good.  But if you do have allergies, use with caution because nothing is quite so irritating as irritated eyes. 

A sample of CoverGirl LashBlast Fusion was graciously given to me for evaluation by CoverGirl and BuzzAgent.  I received no compensation for evaluating this product. 

Living the Southern Life

Life in general is slower and more relaxed in the South than it is in the Northern and West Coast areas of our great land – USA! But you know, that doesn’t make us much different. We just take things a bit easier.

Now it is a “given” that it gets pretty hot here in the South. Well, today here in North Carolina, the actual temperature in our area is suppose to hit 97 F. That doesn’t indicate a little tiny bit just what the heat index is, folks. That heat index gets you every time! And it is a “Code Orange” day, too. That means each and every breath you take while you’re out in that heat is going to be a rough one. And the more you hustle and bustle and get in and out of your car, the harder it is for those breaths to get down in those two lungs of yours. Yes, it’s hot living in the South. And where the living is hot, the living is slower.

But you know, life is good in the South. Here in North Carolina, you can bask in the sun and dip in the ocean at some of the most beautiful beaches in the world. Or you can drive just a few hours and you’re in the cool mountains. The Smoky Mountains are beautiful to behold in their smoky, blue tinged, mysterious majesty. Or if you just want to drive somewhere else, there are revolutionary war and confederate war museums and battlefields abounding across the state as well as peach and apple orchards and wineries.

But living the Southern life isn’t just about a place, it is an attitude. It is being genteel , lovely, gracious, giving, sweet, kind – you know, all those great adverbs and adjectives. It is about caring for one another and giving to each other. A hand raised in greeting to strangers you pass on the walk or ride through town. But living the Southern life is much more and you’ll only know if you experience it for yourself – then you can describe it if you can find enough adverbs and adjectives.

Breathing Earth

This is interesting. Turn your sound on, too.

CLICK PICTURE and watch for awhile.
I'm not saying it's good or it's bad. It is simply something interesting.
Different actions occur to indicate carbon emissions, births, deaths, etc.
Thot: Mind boggling to think of the blinks that would show
if every aborted baby was also shown.