If we happen to lose you (especially those of you who read through subscriptions), come find me!  Just come here, and you should be redirected to the new site.

See you in my pretty new home soon!

~ 1 ~

At the end of last week, I declared to Eric one night at dinner, "I need a PDA." Then, in my defense, I did follow that up with, "Hang on -- did I see need?  I meant I want one."

I went looking around on Amazon that night and saw that one of the things that came up again and again as something that other customers bought instead of one of the PDAs was an iPod Touch.  Hey!  I have an iPod Touch! 

That's when I sat down and realized that all of the things that I really wanted from a PDA were also things that my iPod Touch can already do.  I did buy one extra app, but $4.99 is definitely a lot cheaper than a PDA. 

I was so proud of myself!

~ 2 ~

I have yet to find anything to watch regularly from 11:30 pm - 12:30 am on TV. 

I still miss you, Conan.

~ 3 ~

I've been having a strong desire lately to unfriend some people on Facebook.  It's not that they have annoyed me or even that I know specifically who it would be (I have some ideas though).  But, when I have people that I only kind of knew in passing on an online message board or people that I went to school with but never remember talking to, it just seems silly.  But, then I don't want to make waves and take the chance at hurting anyone's feelings.

Then again, if I feel like I barely know them and would likely never comment on their statuses, they probably wouldn't notice if we weren't "friends" anymore.  (And, chances are, if you're reading this and feel that we actually are friends, I'm probably not thinking about unfriending you.  So, don't worry.)

Thoughts on this?

~ 4 ~

Holy Cow!  This week's episode of The Big Bang Theory was hilarious!

"A neutron walks into a bar and says, 'How much for a drink?' The bartender says, 'For you - no charge.'"

I laughed at this episode until I almost cried.

(I was extra thrilled then to find a Flash Gordon shirt for Noah at Once Upon a Child this week.  If you watch the show, you will understand my excitement.)

~ 5 ~

In anticipation for moving my blog to self-hosted WordPress, I am going to start selling ads for Many Little Blessings more actively.  They will be higher on the page than they are now (much higher), and I am starting the pricing off pretty darn low.  (Really low, especially considering that I tend to get my best traffic at this time of year.)

If you have a small business, this is a great opportunity to get a great rate on advertising.  Please contact me if you want more information about advertising here (or on any of my blogs, such as Catholic Mothers Online or The Homeschool Classroom).

~ 6 ~

Last weekend found us at my new favorite furniture store.  I mentioned it in #5 of my quick takes two weeks ago.  (It was the furniture store that gives a huge discount for paying with cash.  Love it!)

I'm now not allowed in there for a while. 

No, I didn't cause a scene or anything crazy like that.  It just seems that what with buying a desk for Molly and an awesome bunk bed last time, and then buying a love seat and a head board at our last trip, Eric thinks it's best for us not to go there for a while. 

On the up side though, the kids now have a great love seat for the play room (which used to be the school room), and we saved $45 off the price by using cash!  Love it!

~ 7 ~

I had realized that today (the 26th) was going to be my Grandma's birthday a few weeks ago, but then forgot about it until my Mom mentioned it on the phone.  I don't know why the whole thing still seems pretty surreal.  What I seem to have the biggest mental block on is that I just can't imagine that someone else lives in her apartment now.  That seems like such a funny sticking point, doesn't it?

Happy Birthday, Grandma.  We miss you.



This post is linked to 7 Quick Takes and Weekly Wrap Up.


lemonade stand photo by shaletann

Last week, Seamus the Leprechaun came to pay us a visit for St. Patrick's Day.  I have had a few people who wanted me to theorize how in the world Seamus did his little trick with our Cool Whip.  So, here's where I take my guess.

Well, first, in case you didn't read about it, we got our totally sealed package of Cool Whip out of the refrigerator after being told by Seamus in a note that he left us a trick in our Cool Whip.  (Seamus is lucky we had Cool Whip, as I never buy it.)  We cut open the seal and opened it to find regular Cool Whip.  Just in case a trick was hiding, we got a spoon and stirred it around to see if anything was hidden inside.  Imagine our surprise when our Cool Whip started turning green!  How crazy!

So, while I totally think that Seamus is just a prankster, I do have a guess on how he might have been so tricky, just in case you ever wanted to see if you could reproduce what he did for another holiday or April Fools Day.  (For the record, I don't like April Fools Day pranks, but this would be pretty harmless, so I'm all for it.)

My guess on this step by step process:

1.  We already had the Cool Whip in our refrigerator.  If we hadn't, I'm sure Seamus would have had to have allowed it to thaw first.

2. I bet he might have turned over the sealed Cool Whip container and used a steak knife to cut a long slit along the bottom.

3. From there, I imagine he would have taken a gel food coloring and stuck the tip of the green right inside the slit on the bottom of the Cool Whip.  I suspect he just went a little crazy putting a bunch in.

4. He would have had to have fit the opening back together, and wiped off any mess that got out (being careful to throw away paper towel that got food coloring on it).

5. Then, maybe he used packing tape to seal it all up on the bottom very well.  He probably would have known that my kids wouldn't have inspected the packaging.  But, if kids were apt to do that, I wonder if he might have put some white paper over the opening before sealing it up.

6. Just because Seamus cares about the chance of leaks in our refrigerator, I bet he would have finished up by casually setting the container on a plate in our refrigerator.  He may be a prankster, but I bet he would be nice enough to not want to take the chance of getting food coloring on my shelf.  (For the record, he wouldn't have needed the plate, but better safe than sorry.)

This is all just my guesses, of course.  Maybe you have a better guess than I do, or you might want to try a different guess for just certain steps. 

Have fun!

It seems like so many businesses and blogs are making sure that they have a Facebook presence.  The best way to do that is to set up a Facebook fan page (not to be confused with your personal page).

So, let's just say that you already have your Facebook fan page set up (and maybe you do).  I set mine up for this blog a few weeks ago.  I got man fans from within my Facebook friend pool, but only a few other people were becoming fans, even after I mentioned it in a blog post.  (That was mainly when I added a few more from my readers.)

This afternoon, I was on The Homeschool Classroom and thought, "Hey -- I have a lot more fans for my Homeschool Classroom page than my Many Little Blessings FB page.  I wonder if it's partially because I have a fan box on HSC and not on Many Little Blessings."

I tested the theory and added a Facebook fan box to the sidebar here at Many Little Blessings.

In about three weeks (or so), I had 51 fans.  (I know, it's not a huge number at all.)  Twelve hours after adding a fan box to my sidebar here (but not mentioning it otherwise), I am at 73 fans.  Not bad growth, huh?

So, here's the take away message: If you have a Facebook fan page for your blog, and if you have some free sidebar space, add in a Facebook fan box!

Other Information

How do I set up a Facebook fan page?

While I'm sure there is more than one way, one easy way is to go to your personal account's "home" page (where you see your friends' updates).  On the left side, click on "ads and pages."  You will then be taken to a page that has an option to "Create Page."  The directions from there are pretty self explanatory.

How do I get a Facebook fan box?

Once you have created your fan page, click on "edit page" from the left side of the page.

This will bring you to a page with a lot going on.  Just look on the right side, just above where it shows who the admins are.  There is a link that says, "Promote with a Fan Box."  Just follow the directions from there.

This post is linked to Works for Me Wednesday.