Vote For Me! Just click on the pic and it will open a new window with the voting page.

(It’s a Facebook thing.)

Clicking here will take you to the slide show, but don’t do it until you’re absolutely ready to leave my site. I can’t show the pics here for copyright reasons, though if I were on blogger I think I could have sent the picture there. Oh well, the price I pay for autonomy.

But, why didn’t they show pictures of the crematorium or the toilets, for gosh sakes. How many pretty pictures of the walls can we look at? I want to see the details, the nitty gritty of life. Plus, if the crematorium reaches high temperatures, wouldn’t the bottles melt? I’m thinking outhouse style toilets? I know nothing of the sanitary conditions of these monks.

My friend Viv, who runs 4RV Publishing, those friendly people who gave us Trockle, are hosting another blog tour. If this book is as good as the rest, it’s sure to be a hit. Stop by and you could win a $25 Amazon gift card.

The Midnight Hours Tour Schedule is as follows:

Oct. 26 Holly Jahangiri

Oct. 27 Brian L. Porter
Lee Lofland, The Graveyard Shift

Oct. 28 Karen Syed
Joyce Anthony

Oct. 29 Elysabeth Eldering
Joyce Anthony

Oct. 30 Joyce Anthony
Jean Henry Mead

Oct. 31 Aidana WillowRaven
Joyce Anthony

Nov. 1 Crystalee Calderwood

Nov. 2 Vivian Zabel - Vivian’s Site and Brain Cells & Bubble Wrap
Midnight Tour wrap up.

Rules:
1. Each person who comments on a blog stop receives one entry. For example, if a person leaves a comment on four blog stops, they have four entries. (one entry per blog tour stop).

2. A purchase of Midnight Hours from the 4RV Bookstore or from the author receives fifteen (15) entries.

Books must be bought directly from the author or from the publisher.

A person may have entries from a purchase and from leaving comments.

3. The final step in the contest: Each person with entries must send an email to president@4rvpublishingllc.com with the answer to the following question:

What time does Midnight appear on the game site to chat with Martin?

November 5, a random drawing will be held using a program online to choose a winner. Viv will notify the winner by email and will post the result on her blogs at Vivian’s Site and Brain Cells & Bubble Wrap.

Today, tons of ideas. And yes Liz, I’m writing them down and drafting, not keeping them in my mental version of Word, the one that doesn’t save properly, LOL.

What’s changed? Well, me mentally and pysically. I was down for the count over the weeend with a migraine and spent yesterday on the couch with the ususal post-migraine washout. Resting, napping, totally low energy and slightly depressed. Wanting to do stuff but just not able. Mentally I was down too. My shields were down to 10% and all the negative self-talk was creeping in, insidious crap. Rehashing discussions and conflicts with my mother, anticipating discussions and conflicts with my mother (self-preservation technique). The holiday crazy train is gathering steam at the station, and it’s not even Halloween yet. More than that, but you get the idea.

Last night and this morning, I just let my mind go. Didn’t turn on the TV to fall asleep to, didn’t turn on the radio in the car during the morning carpool, just drifted free.

Guess I just needed the freedom to be, the freedom not to write, for ideas to start spilling out. It feels good to be back at the keyboard again. I don’t know how I’ll solve my money woes or the crazy train, but I’m hoping I’ll get some funny stories out of them.

1. Stay in town when I take kiddo to school. It’s a 30-mile round trip, which I have to do twice on the days that I teach, but on the days that I don’t, I can plan to pack coffee and a lunch and stay.

Savings: 30 miles X 3 days X 0.51 (IRS reimbursement) = $45.90/week in savings figuring in the wear and tear

or X 4.00 for a gallon of gas = $12/week

What would I do with that time?
-read (got a backlog of books to review)
-write (got a backlog of projects)
-edit (again, a backlog)
-walk
-volunteer at kiddo’s school
-hopefully be called in to sub

#2. Hang dry our clothes instead of using the clothes dryer. A rough estimate is that I do 20 -24 loads of laundry a month. I think I will do an audit just to see since I’m curious now. I’ve never though about it before. Hubby estimates that it costs about $1 for each load.

Savings: $16-$18 (work clothes will need to be dried or fluffed to dewrinkle them. No ironing in our house.)

How: I’ve got two drying racks, and I’m very familiar with using them since when we lived overseas we hung all our clothes to dry. If we can get a line set up in the shade outside, I can dry the work clothes out there and almost eliminate the dryer use.

3. Better menu planning.

I’m ashamed to admit that we throw away too many leftovers and uneaten, rotten veggies. Just spending more time planning and freezing excess would save a bit.

4. Stay out of McDonald’s.

What can I say. I’ve discovered Cinnamon Melts. And if I really, really need one (I’m a stress eater) and kiddo is in the car, then I have to buy him something too. I’ve begun taking a different route home to avoid the temptation.

I’m sure I can come up with more, but that’s enough for now. I’m going to go make some cinnamon toast!

We have guests coming in today in a matter of hours. I’ve gotten as much as I can get done, with a migraine, and I have to let the rest go. Kiddo has a half day of school and a Dr.’s appt, so nothing further can be done until after they get here. The thing is, the house looks great! The kitchen floor didn’t get mopped, but there aren’t big black spots on it. The hardwood floors didn’t get swept and only part of the downstairs carpet got vacuumed. Nothing got dusted. But, the bathrooms are clean, the place is picked up. It’s me with an issue.

What’s the problem? At the beginning of the summer, I decided that I would clean the garage and do a big cleaning/decluttering in the house. I wanted to finish before I started teaching in September. Well, a couple of migraines (long ones), a few camping trips, an unexpected trip down from my mom (wonderful!), and now our guests, threw off that schedule.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m proud of what I’ve accomplished. The garage is 1/3-1/2 done (it’s hard to judge). The house is cleaner and certainly more decluttered. It’s just so HARD to let go of those last few things that didn’t get done, that probably only I can see.

I hate getting migraines, but at least I’m learning to let go and enjoy life, such as I can.

(Written August 19, 2008, but between migraines, guests, and life, I’m just getting around to posting)

Back to the entry,

As the title implies, I’m part of a monthly book club. We don’t have a name, but it’s been around for over 10 years. Me, I’ve only been a part for about two, maybe a little less. I’ve been to two of our Holiday dinners at the Melting Pot, so that’s how I count my attendance. (If you’ve never been to the Melting Pot, go. Cheesy, chocolaty fondue goodness.)

But I digress, again. (I tend to do that a lot, as my friends will attest.) Hey, stop nodding, would y’all? I’m getting dizzy over here.

Our book this month is:

I haven’t started yet, so I can’t tell you a thing about it. I was intrigued because of the Russia connection since I lived in Armenia for five years.

In theory, there was a way for me to do some sort of mouseover link with product reviews, but I couldn’t get it to work right. Maybe next time. *sigh*

More soon….

Amazon.com created an Amazon Green program where customers can pick the best three green products Amazon offers, and also allows customers to shop green in one location instead of searching hither and yon throughout the site. I wandered through the section today and enjoyed the selection. I liked the advice in the few buying guides I skimmed. Certainly worth a look. It’s a good place to start if you want to be more environmentally friendly and don’t know where to begin.

And if your product is eligible for Amazon Prime, you can save yourself gas, time, and shipping costs.

The section I liked most was in the shipping help, Amazon and the Environment, where they answered questions about reducing shipping waste and saving energy at their different operations centers. Interesting reading. Is it enough? Doubtful, but a good start. I hope they keep it up.