Posted By AmyD. on August 15, 2010

Back when the CW was stupid enough to cancel Veronica Mars and gave The Gilmore Girls an ending that did not live up to the real spirit of the show, in my humble opinion anyway, I swore off ever getting attached to a television show again. Honestly, I stuck to it for years and I still refuse to watch anything on the CW, even if those gorgeous Winchester boys are still battling demons.

But something shifted over the last several months. I finally gave “Bones” more than just a passing glance (admittedly, I wrote off Boreanaz as not being able to pull of anything other than moody vampire named Angel) and quickly found myself absolutely addicted to it. If it weren’t for my addiction and TNT running reruns almost every night I might not have been clued into my latest viewing addiction, Memphis Beat. I have yet to miss an episode.

I just have to say, again, that if you haven’t caught “Memphis Beat” on TNT (Tuesdays!!!) you are seriously missing out. I think it’s probably one of the best new shows out there. I love the dry humor and I think Jason Lee is definitely at his best here.

I have a love-hate relationship going with Lieutenant Tanya Rice played by Alfre Woodard. I find the character hypocritical and a tad annoying. Mike thinks it’s funny that I’m that annoyed by a character. Mike and I both couldn’t figure out what else we had seen Alfre Woodard in… so I checked IMDB.Com (although, for the record I had a sneaking suspicion and I was RIGHT!) and found that she played Grace, Bill Murray’s secretary in “Scrooged” which is a huge family favorite!

But, Memphis Beat seems to be riddled with faces you have seen in other places. Abraham Benrubi is easily recognizable from ER, Twister, and Open Range; one of Mike’s favorite westerns, I have to admit, I love it too. Those of us *cough* *cough* old enough to remember “Hardcastle and McCormick” will instantly recognize Daniel Hugh Kelly playing the questionable boyfriend of Dwight Hendricks’ (Jason Lee) mother.

Mike was with me from the start of this one, but I’ve even managed to rope Katie and Ethan into it as well. Between the great characters and the really awesome soundtrack, Memphis Beat was just a really easy show for me to totally fall for.

Still not sure? Have a peek at my favorite beginning to an episode so far…
It’s here at YouTube from the Episode “Run On” for some idiot reason the person who posted the video has it as “I Thank You” by Bonnie Raitt. It’s not, they use the original version by Sam?? and Dave – I Thank You. Although, ZZ Top did a remake of the song that is pretty kick ass as well.

Category: Observations, Personally, Silly Rants, With Music | 6 Comments »
Tags: Abraham Benrubi, Alfre Woodard, Angel, Bill Murray, Bones, Boreanaz, Daniel Hugh Kelly, Hardcastle and McCormick, I Thank You, Jason Lee, Memphis Beat, Sam and Dave, Scrooged, TNT, ZZ Top

Posted By AmyD. on August 14, 2010

I don’t know if it’s the economy and all the doomsday articles I run across on my daily jaunts through the news online but it sure seems like saving money is a pretty consistent theme these days.

Promotion codes are huge now. The other day I was shopping for some new rugs for the kids’ bathroom and found myself doing a quick search to see if there were any coupon codes online for the store I was shopping at and I was fortunate enough to find one that gave me $10 off and free shipping!

Savoo vouchers offer discount codes, coupons, etc. for stores all over the internet including Ebay and Adobe UK. There are easily a dozen or so Adobe promotion codes alone!

Just a tip here, before you click that final “Place Order” button do a quick search to see if you can score yourself an extra discount!

Category: Observations, PPP | 2 Comments »
Tags: Adobe, Adobe UK, discounts, Ebay, ordering online, promotion codes, Savoo, Savoo vouchers

Posted By AmyD. on August 11, 2010

Good morning! There are only a few more days of summer vacation left. Another summer nearly gone. It’s amazing how fast the time flies. My kids have had such a busy summer. Ethan and Ashton just got back from San Diego and have made numerous trips to Newport already, Katie has been to Magic Mountain, Hurricane Harbor and has seen more movies in the last two months than I have in the last 6 years! Maggie has been busy with bug research, begging her dad for a dog, lots and lots of swimming, and the annual obsession with Shark Week that took center stage over her typical obsession with Animal Planet. Sometimes the diversity that comes with children of varying ages all under one roof is nearly schizophrenic! It’s never really boring around here, that’s for sure.

I’ve been monkeying around with SwagBucks lately. Basically you earn points for doing searches, answering simple polls (a recent one asked about auto insurance), or taking surveys on things like video games or life insurance. There are a lot of ways to earn Swagbucks and most of them are pretty effortless.

It seems like there are a lot of people who devote a great deal of time to searching for SwagCodes which are codes found on websites, blog posts, etc. And, they could be on just about any kind of website from a health insurance site to a jewelry site. Usually you are tipped off through the Swagbucks blog. But, a friend introduced me to SwagCodez, a group page on Facebook that sends out alerts on new swag codes posted. They also announce on Twitter as well.

Basically you find a code then copy and paste it (before it expires) into the Swagbucks website and you earn Swagbucksl. I keep an eye out for those when I can but, I’m not obsessively chasing Swagcodes all day. Even without chasing swag codes I’ve already amassed a respectable amount of swagbucks in just a couple of weeks.

Swagbucks are then exchanged for everything from credits for games on Facebook to Amazon (and other stores) gift cards. It’s free and the points rack up quickly so I’m thinking this might help put a dent in Christmas!

I know everyone groans at the first mention of Christmas when the temps are still so freakin’ hot outside still you can’t deny it’s right around the corner!

Category: Family Antics, Holidays, PPP, The Art of Momming | 1 Comment »
Tags: auto insurance, Christmas, health insurance, Holidays, Kids, life insurance, shopping, summer vacation, swag codes, swagbucks, swagcodez

Posted By AmyD. on August 8, 2010

Recently, Anne Rice posted that she was leaving Christianity (specifically Catholicism) in the name of Christ. I have followed Ms.Rice on Facebook for a very long time, I think she’s brilliant, eloquent, and extremely intelligent. Since her announcement she has consistently posted articles that both support and condemn her decision. Today (Sunday, August 8, 2010) she has posted several articles that I’ve followed through and read. I think it’s very apropos that on Sunday so many people are interested, reading and discussing and I think it’s wonderful that even people who don’t agree with her are polite and respectful when voicing their opinions.

That being said, I am both baffled and annoyed at the responses to her decision that basically act as if by no longer claiming a religion (let us all remember that RELIGION is a MAN-MADE concept) that she is somehow no longer a spiritual being engaged in a very real relationship with something greater than herself.

I suppose I’m a little offended as well because even though I have never come right out and said it – I walked away from mainstream Christianity a long time ago. By “mainstream” I mean the version of Christianity that feels the need to engage in political endeavors and send out the memos “this is who we judge and dislike this week” and “this is what we are voting for next week.”

Sadly, I’ve been accused (by very small-minded and ignorant people) of “hating God” and being an Atheist to just about everything and anything in between. Neither are true. I take aspects of all sorts of spiritual beliefs and own them as my own personal spiritual truths. I lay no claim to any label and I certainly don’t condemn or judge you if you elect to label yourself in any way or profess yourself to be a member of any religion or other organization. I respect your right to choose what is best for you, it would be nice if everyone felt that way and gave that same respect to others. Your beliefs should decide your actions and behavior they should not decide the actions and behaviors of others.

Believe it or not, I have friends who are Christian, friends who are Catholic, friends who are Mormon, and friends who are Buddhist and I have friends who fall into every other sort of religious category you can think of. They are all still wonderful people and I enjoy their friendship even if we don’t show up at the same place on Sunday, hold hands and sing Kumbaya. I don’t really entertain political discussions with them but I like to believe that my friends, regardless of religious affiliation, do not vote in ways that would bring about laws forcing people to abide by the religious beliefs of someone else.

After all, we all have our own paths and we are all going to meet our maker someday, it’s not up to any one human being to decide what the outcome of that meeting will be. But, by all means, please conduct your own personal behavior based on whatever version of events you believe will happen once you hit the pearly gates – that is certainly your right and I will respect it as long as you don’t attempt to rob others of their own free will by forcing your beliefs on them.

My personal truth, is that I am communing with God and feel closer to Him (or Her, if you will) when I am sitting in the middle of a forest filled with the nature He created. I feel closer to Him when I am listening to music that pleases my soul and touches me on a level that nothing else can. And, I even feel closer to Him weeding my yard and listening to the hum of bees and watching the birds and butterflies than I ever have in a man-made church.

And, regardless of your thoughts or opinions or the thoughts of opinions of any pastor, priest, or rabbi… I can have that relationship with God or the Universe or whatever else anyone wants to call Him/Her regardless of whether or not I am a member of a church or any specific religion. My spirituality is not up for your discernment… and neither is the spirituality of anyone else.

You know what most of this comes down to? If we all just tended to the weeds in our own yard instead of worrying about the weeds in someone else’s yard – at the end of the day – you are really only held responsible for your own yard not your neighbor’s.

After all… “Code Enforcement” (or God, if you will) isn’t going to fine you because your neighbor has a yard full of crabgrass and stinging nettle. The problem is that when we worry so much about other people’s “weeds” we overlook the weed creeping up in the crack of our driveway or in the sidewalk right in front of our house. It’s funny how it works out that way 100% of the time.

So, while I apologize for this lengthy diatribe, I won’t and can’t apologize for having a relationship with God outside any label, church, or man-made organization.

http://brianmclaren.net/archives/blog/my-take-why-i-support-anne-rice.html
http://www.salon.com/life/feature/2010/08/08/im_staying_a_christian/index.html

Category: My Soapbox, Observations, Personally | 2 Comments »
Tags: Anne Rice, Catholics, Christianity, God, religion, spirituality

Posted By AmyD. on July 28, 2010

Isn’t this the cutest house? It’s in the Wilmington NC real estate listings. It’s worth going over there and checking it out you can pull it up using the MLS listing number 448119 – And, the Wilmington NC real estate prices don’t seem too crazy either.

I swear, if I could I’d snap it up, buy a bunch of moving supplies and be packing right now… even as ridiculous as that sounds and even as much as I absolutely hate moving and packing. It might be worth it just because this house is so adorable.

It’s really the sort of thing I love. The hard wood floors, lots of built-in details that you don’t find in contemporary homes. It’s been updated and remodeled, but it still stays true to the time period when it was built. You just can’t ask for more unless you find something and remodel it yourself. Which, has always been a secret dream of mine, to buy some rundown Victorian or Carpenter style home and restore it.

Sometimes the perks to having a husband who is a real estate appraiser, and there aren’t many, is getting cool links to real estate listings all over the place. It’s fun to see how people in different parts of the country live.

Category: Observations, PPP | 1 Comment »
Tags: cute houses, houses for sale, moving supplies, nc, north carolina, real estate, real estate listings, Wilmington NC real estate, wilmington north carolina