Top Droppers For September

I haven't been around in a few days because I've been really busy with birthdays... so I have a lot of updating to do in the coming days. We celebrated Sarah's 21st birthday on Saturday... so I have pics and updates on that. And tomorrow is lil Steffie's 4th birthday... so I will have pics and updates on that as well. Getting everything ready and doing our bi-weekly shopping has kept me far away from my computer. We also celebrated my niece's 5th birthday on Sunday. Tomorrow' s celebration should do it for a few weeks on the parties so hopefully I can get back to my regular blogging schedule. I've really missed all of my blog friends and have a lot of catching up to do. I also have some awesome new awards to share :).... so thank you to those who shared them with me... I'm looking forward to passing them on.

But for now I want to thank my Top Droppers for September.... I really do appreciate your visits and comments.... and I hope you'll keep coming back

Dropper # of drops All Stace, All the Time 31 Mom's Place 28 One World Realty 24 AsTheCrackerheadCrumbles 24 Luv a Bargain 23 Cooking Japanese Style 23 Grampy and You! 23 Small Town Mommy 22 Momspective 22 Momspective Reviews 22

A Lil Enchanted,
~LaShan~

50 Questions I Stole From From Someone's Blog

I stole this one from Stace over at All Stace, All The Time ..... and she stole it from Jen over at My Kids Are My World. I LOVE both of these blogs.... they are both on my daily visit list. I even stole that lil picture up there...lol!

1. Where were you three hours ago?
In the living room playing Which Witch with Steffie.

2. Who are you in love with?
Well hmmm.... my hubby... my lil Steffie... and Stevie Nicks... of course...

3. Have you ever eaten a crayon?
Um...no... have you???... do the colors taste different???

4. Is there anything pink within 10 feet of you?
Yes, Steffie's room is really really pink! I do mean really!

5. When was the last time you went to the mall?
It's been months... don't go to the mall much... what's the point when you have no money to spend??? lol.... besides I can shop cheaper in thrift stores!

6. Are you wearing socks right now?
nope.... my feet are naked

7. Do you have a car worth over $2000?
yes, and I pay out the butt for it each month :(

8. When was the last time you drove out of town?
Well I didn't drive... but I went to Nashville in June.... to see Stevie... remember???

9. Have you been to the movies in the last 5 days?
nope.... and probably once in the last 5 years... I don't get out much...

10. Are you hot?
Temperature wise? nope comfortable..... Attractiveness? I guess that depends on who you ask.... I've been called a MILF a few times ;)

11. What was the last thing you had to drink?
Coffee.... and lots of it!... if I'm awake I'm drinking coffee....

12. What are you wearing right now?
Black broomstick skirt and a black velvet tank top and black.... well I guess you don't need to know that...

13. Do you wash your car or let the car wash do it?
Well at this point neither... it's been at least a year since my van has been washed and I told Adrian that is what I want for my birthday... my van cleaned inside and out! It's disgusting!

14. Last food you ate?
A burger and chips

15. Where were you last week at this time?
Same as now - on the computer and sick :(

16. Have you bought any clothing items in the last week?
Nope :(..... I need to go to the thrift store

17. When was the last time you ran?
A couple of months ago when I was chasing Steffie

18. What was the last sporting event you watched?
I don't watch sports..... boring!

19. Your favorite animal?
Cats... lil black ones especially

20. Your dream vacation?
Hawaii.... or New Orleans

21. Last person’s house you were in?
I think my Mom's a few weeks ago.... I told you I don't get out much

22. Worst injury you ever had?
Hurt my back and neck in a car wreck probably 15 years ago... still bothers me

23. Have you been in love?
Yes

24. Do you miss anyone right now?
My aunt and my Granny and Pawpaw

25. Last play you saw? Probably some elementary school play when the kids were lil

26. What is your secret weapon to lure the opposite sex?
Eyes and boobs... definitely.... but why would I lure anyone???

27. What are your plans for tonight?
Watching TV.... again... I mean it *is* Friday night... what else would I be doing???

28. Who is the last person to send you a Myspace message or comment?
I have no idea.... I don't check my MySpace very often

29. Next trip you are going to take?
Probably over the rug in the living room....

30. Ever go to camp?
nope.... isn't that where Jason lives???

31. Were you an honor student in school?
Not in High School.... but I had a 4.0 in college

32. What do you want to know about the future?
Will I ever be able to afford to do the things I want to do? Will Sarah ever get into showbiz where she belongs? Will Jordan make it as a rapper? Will Justin be a rich business man? And what will lil Steffie grow up to be? Will I ever move out of this crappy place? Will I ever meet Stevie Nicks? The list goes on and on and on....

33. Are you wearing perfume or cologne?
Neither.... they give me a migraine

34. Are you due sometime this year for a doctor’s visit?
Do I look like I can afford to go to the doctor????

35. Where is your best friend?
Nowhere.... I don't have a best friend... I need to have my own reality show to find a new BFF.... Paris Hilton did it... why can't I???... oh yea... I'm not rich...lol

36. How is your best friend?
See above...

37. Do you have a tan?
LMAOI.... no.... I'm as white as a sheet!

38. What are you listening to right now?
My husband standing behind me burping

39. Do you collect anything?
dust????.... Stevie Nicks and Fleetwood Mac memorabilia.... and a few Barbie dolls... and tarot cards.... and... okay... I'm a "stuff" person....

40. Who is the biggest gossiper you know?
My hubby....lol... he gossips more than any woman I know...

41. Last time you got stopped by a cop or pulled over?
Late one night a couple of years ago... I had a Ouija board sitting in the passenger seat...and was wearing a long black dress (of course) lol... he let me go pretty quick.... guess he thought I was a lil spooooky...heehee

42. Have you ever drank your soda from a straw?
Ummm.... yeeees.... who hasn't???

43. What does your last text message say?
"Have you tried Buddy Bears today?".... not very interesting huh???

44. Do you like hot sauce?
Nope

45. Last time you took a shower?
This morning... you????

46. Do you need to do laundry?
No!.... I just finished the laundry a couple of hours ago!.... nasty stinky stuff....

47. What is your heritage?
Heritage?.... well my family has a lot of Irish... and I follow a traditional Strega path

48. Are you someone’s best friend?
I doubt it...

49. Are you rich?
Hell No!!!.... I'm broker than shit!.... it's 3 days before payday...lol

50. What were you doing at 12 AM last night?
Watching tv


A Lil Enchanted,
~LaShan~

Decisions... Decisions...

Well we finally made a decision on Steffie's gift. We went Walmart (grrrr....) to look at a few things and decided on the VSmile... it was on clearance for $40 and the games for it were $20 each (it also came with one).... she loves to play games... it's educational... it was a great deal... it doesn't have a million lil pieces.... and she picked out a Handy Manny game to go with it. Right now she's really into that show... not sure why... but she is... oddly enough the only toys she got excited about were the Handy Manny ones. She usually throws fits for baby dolls... she had no interest in the $70 walking doll I showed her... or the ones that cried real tears and looked like they were breathing while they slept.... but she wasn't feeling well at all today and not her usual self. So she knows what she's getting... and oddly as well she didn't have a fit for it today.

I'm still undecided about what to do for Sarah.... but I have a few ideas...

We still haven't finalized Steffie's party plans... the place was closed today... we think due to the recent floods... hopefully I can contact them tomorrow.

But at least we got Steffie's gift... something got accomplished! Oh yea... where was my brain??? I totally forgot to look at the cakes.... duh!!! I swear I'm not usually this disorganized!

A Lil Enchanted,
~LaShan~

Bedtimes, Potty Training and Birthdays.... Oh My

Thanks to everyone for your get well wishes :) We are all on the mend and that's a good thing... got to much to get done to be sick. I finally managed to get my fall decorating done yesterday.... and I spent today working on Steffie's room... it's been such a mess. She hasn't slept in there in over a month and I got out of the routine of putting all of the toys away as part of our bedtime routine.... they just kinda all got dumped in the floor and left there to be picked up later... so it was quite the mess. But I'm happy to say it is once again picked up and organized..... and even happier to say that she is sleeping in her own bed once again. I was amazed that she quickly agreed to sleep in her room!

She also went 4 days in a row without peeing in her panties! That is until today :(.... she was upset that she didn't get her special sticker though... so maybe tomorrow she will get back on track with that. We got the Pampers Pull-ups potty training kit in the mail with stickers and a special chart so she has been really excited each night to put her special sticker on the chart for the day. She cried today because she didn't get her sticker. Hopefully that will be incentive to get her back on track with it tomorrow.

Adrian is off work tomorrow and hopefully he'll feel pretty good... he was the last one to get hit with the bug so he's still feeling a bit lousy. We have stuff to get done though... so I hope he feels better tomorrow. I still have absolutely no idea what to get Steffie for her birthday on the first and it's a week away! I can't believe I don't know what to get the child.... she has tons of toys so I want to get her one or two nice items that don't have a million lil pieces to scatter all over the floor and that she will like a lot and play with.... any suggestions???

I also still need to finish planning her party... I told you I'm behind! It's too late to send invitations so I'll just have to call people. But I'm pretty sure of the when and where we just need to get some info and finalize it.... oh and shop for the party goods and order the cake. I've never put off party planning this long... I can't believe I've done this :( .... her birthday is a week away and I haven't planned the party.... shopped for the party.... bought her gift... or even have any idea what to get her....OMG.... what's wrong with me???

And speaking of birthdays.... Sarah's 21st is Saturday!... I had planned to bake her a cake.... she was supposed to go out to a club with her friends.... but now they've all bailed on her.... some friends huh?!.... so now it's all up to ME to be her birthday entertainer. Don't get me wrong.... I would love to spend her birthday with her but I can't go to a bar because Steffie can't go to a bar and wherever I go she has to go.... I have no sitter! Sarah wants to buy her first legal drink to celebrate her birthday... it means a lot to her...lol.... so now we have to find someplace to go so she can drink... and so Steffie can go too. She was really excited when she thought of Chuck E. Cheese....LMAO.... she thought it was perfect.... she could drink beer... Steffie would love it.... and we could all eat pizza and play games. Can you imagine someone partying it up at Chuck E. Cheese for their 21st birthday and thinking it was awesome???? But alas... it's not to happen... our Chuck E. Cheese no longer serves beer.

So now we are back to square one.... where the heck can we go so she can drink... Steffie is allowed... and that will be fun???? We talked about Don Lolo's... they have karioke and Sarah loves that!...... But she hates their food.... and she says she always stinks when she leaves there....lol... but I really can't think of any other place to go. Suggestions are welcome!!!

A Lil Enchanted,
~LaShan~

Harvest Blessings and Happy Mabon To All

Today is the first day of Fall..... Mabon pronounced (May-bon).... or as we call it simply Harvest. It is a time of balance when both dark and light are equal. I'm sure you've noticed that the days are shorter and the darkness of night is coming earlier and lasting a bit later..... at this point the light and dark are equal. But now the nights will slowly become longer and the light of day will become shorter. We feel the air cool as the crisp leaves change color and fall to the ground. The gardens are filled with the fruits of our labors and it's time to celebrate the bounty that Mother Earth has given us. It's a time of feasting and celebration..... but it is also the time to gather those remaining fruits and vegatables and store them before the dark time arrives.

This is my favorite time of year because the heat of summer is cooling.... Mother Earth gives us such amazing colors to enjoy.... and to me this begins the times of celebration. We celebrate our accomplishments and give thanks for the blessings that we have received. Here in our home we celebrate many birthdays during this time.... my children, myself and husband have birthdays in the fall.... our wedding anniversary is later in the fall as well. We celebrate our ancestors.... and we remember those who have passed.... we celebrate their lives and the memories they left for us. And of course we celebrate the tradition of Thanksgiving and prepare for the long celebration of the winter holidays. So for me the holiday season starts here.... on this first day Fall... the Mabon Harvest.

I Wish you all a bountiful Harvest.... and Beautiful Fall.... and many bright blessings....

A Lil Enchanted,
~LaShan~

Sick Again....

Not completely out.... but feeling pretty crappy. I'm so glad I got my laundry, vacuuming and dishes done yesterday. Around 11:00 last night the chills hit.... I snuggled up on the couch with my thick fuzzy blankie and tried to get warm and stop shaking. I finally took some Nyquil and went to bed. Today just brought the feeling of crap.... I've gone back and forth from bed to computer to couch several times. If there is some weird bug out there lurking it will surely find me! Steff isn't feeling great either. Hopefully tomorrow we'll both be better.

Everyone have a great weekend.... and hide from the bugs!

A Lil Enchanted,
~LaShan~

Friday Frustrations - Random Frustrations

The last two days I've been feeling like crap... not sick... just tired and no energy... I'm sure you know those days... the ones when you just don't feel like doing anything. I also seem to have developed a pretty deep cough since yesterday... I hope I'm not coming down with something.....I don't have time for it. The things I wanted to get done this week are only about half accomplished.

I got my shopping done a lil faster this time but it still took 2 days and a day of planning... mainly due to unexpected events. I'm hoping next trip will go even faster. I did get quite a few freebies and lots of bargains.... so I can't be too frustrated about that! I just want to get the process down to spending less time doing it.

I haven't spent much time this week blogging.... dropping.... or visiting my favorites.... so I'm really sorry... I haven't forgotten you... I miss you terribly..... but time is just NOT on my side. I'm hoping to get caught up on everyone this coming week. It's been a few weeks since I've managed to drop 300 EC's... lately I'm rushing in here at 10:00 pm to quickly drop and click 100 EC's and Adgitize ads before midnight. Needless to say doing it that way feels more like a chore... I much prefer visiting my favorite blogs slowly thoughout the day... reading... commenting... and just relaxing as I do it... but lately it just hasn't happened for me. Let's hope that next week is a bit more calm and laid back.

I wanted to get the house dusted and vacuumed yesterday... dusting done!.... vacuuming still waiting. My main frustration is the dog! It's her shedding season and she doesn't just shed.... the dog drips HUGE clumps of long white hair with every step! You would think by looking at my carpet.... and my furniture... at this point she would be a bald dog.... but nope she still has fur... and she's still dripping. I swear I could gather up the clumps from my floor and have enough to make a whole nother dog! Now this dog knows she is not supposed to be on my furniture and my bed.... but as soon as I leave the house where does she go??? On my furniture and my bed! Does she really think I won't know???? Does she not realized she leaves a trail of evidence behind her with every step??? She hides under the couch and waits for me to leave so she can roll around on the couch... and then do the same on my bed. And if that's not bad enough.... she uses my floor for her potty :( She can spend hours outside and then come in and do her business on my carpet! It's like she saves it up just for me.... grrrrr

And speaking of potty training.... you would think that by this time Steffie would be fully trained. She turns 4 in a couple of weeks! She has weeks when she uses the potty great... and then all of a sudden she'll go for days and not make it to the potty even once. And not only does she pee in her panties all day.... she will poop in them too.... it's so nasty at this point. She's such a smart lil girl.... why does she just refuse to use the potty???? I really don't get it. Am I destined to clean pee and poop for the rest of my life???? Will this child be 6.... 8.... 10.... and still not using the potty???? Heeeeeelp! My couch and my carpet smell soooo bad from her and dog. How do you get pee smell out of your couch cushions??? I soooo want new furniture.... but it's pointless to even think about until she gets fully trained.

And the carpet is just hopeless.... 10 years of pet pee and poop.... and now Steffie's pee.... and drinks spilled.... etc... the carpet is ragged and coming apart from multiple cleanings.... it too is disgusting.... I can't afford new carpet or any other type of flooring.... if there was anything under it besides particle board I would rip it up and throw it out. I'm living in my own personal litter box.... YUCK!!!

So as you see I'm having quite a hairy.... pissy.... and shitty week. I need proffesional help for the dog.... the kid... and the carpet.

A Lil Enchanted,
~LaShan~

Wordless Wednesday - Enchanting

A Lil Enchanted,
~LaShan~

Music Monday - Dreams by Stevie Nicks

Dreams is another of my favorite songs from the Fleetwood Mac Rumours album... this version is again from the Stevie Nicks HBO Special. Can you tell that this is my absolute favorite concert of all time???

Here is the enchanting Stevie Nicks singing Dreams....




Lyrics | Stevie Nicks lyrics - Dreams lyrics

Come join Music Monday and share your songs with us. One simple rule, leave ONLY the actual post link here. You can grab this code at LJL Please note these links are STRICTLY for Music Monday participants only. All others will be deleted without prejudice.




PS: Because of spamming purposes, the linky will be closed on Thursday of each week at midnight, Malaysian Time. Thank you!



A Lil Enchanted,
~LaShan~

Random Thoughts On The Coming Week

I've been busy this week working on some small scale fall cleaning... mainly decluttering. We don't have a lot of clutter but we do have areas that tend to collect some. So I worked on the bookshelves/entertainment center in the living room and the two areas in the kitchen that had accumulated clutter. I got my bills and receipts organized... something I've let go for almost 2 years... but now it's back in order.... and you know... it really didn't take that long.... and hour or so... why did I put it off??? And I'm working on getting my coupons reorganized. So I'm feeling like I'm making some accomplishments! I even cleaned a few areas of carpet....lol... well...ok... I did that because Steffie spilled her Coke.... but then I just kept going until I had a nice sized area cleaned... and then I started another.... I never finished that one though... not yet... maybe this coming week.
Speaking of this coming week... it's pay week and therefore grocery shopping week again. I vowed last time to have my coupons clipped and organized by the next time... so I'm working on it. We'll see how The Grocery Game plays out for me this week. I don't anticipate spending nearly as much time organizing my shopping plan as I did last trip. Although I think having a plan is key to saving more money... last time I spent as much time planning as I did shopping... maybe even more. But I'm learning as I go and getting faster at the game. A Lot of it is due to one of my favorite blogs and my friend Sherri over at Luv A Bargain... she really makes it easy to find great freebies and deals at Walmart, Walgreens, K-Mart, CVS, Target, Rite Aid and more! So if you want to shop for free... or nearly free... check out Sherri's blog... print out her current list and grab your coupons and go shopping. The other day I got $45 in items for $12 at Walmart.... Thanks Sherri!!!.... would have been less but I had to buy stuff Steffie wanted...lol

My goal for this week is to continue decluttering.... decorate for Fall/Harvest... get my shopping done... and start planning Steffie's birthday party.... I can't believe how close it's getting and I haven't planned the first thing yet except that there will be a party, a cake and gifts.... so I'm getting behind.

This time of year is probably my favorite. I love Fall and the colors it brings... the cooler temps... opening my windows and turning off the air conditioner(can't wait for that one!). But one really fun thing about the particular weeks we are in right now is that all three of my older children are the same age... for 19 days out of each year they are all 3 the same age... right now they are 20. I used to really love to have fun with this when they were small. We had a triplet stroller (bought used from a friend who had triplets)..... and they were pretty close to the same size... so people always stopped us to ask questions. "Are they triplets?".... "No".... "How old are they?".... "two".... "All three of them are two but they are not triplets?"..... "yes".... I would play with the questioners for a few minutes before finally explaining that Sarah would be having a birthday in a few days.... that the the boys were identical twins and Sarah was 11 and 1/2 months older. It was just fun to watch them try to figure it out... I know I'm a bit rotten :)
Sarah's 21st birthday is coming up.... of course she plans to party it up at the club... she keeps asking me if I'm going and I keep telling her no.... she'll have plenty of friends there to keep her distracted.... I doubt she'll miss her Mother....lol.... but for whatever reason she wants me to go. I haven't been in a bar in how many years??? I don't even know. A lot! And being in bar with a bunch of barely 21 year olds... just doesn't sound fun. I'll bake her a cake and I'll stay home while she parties.... she can show me pictures and tell me all the details after she sleeps it off :) She tells me everything.... even when I don't want to know....

So that's my random what's going on in the world of LaShan.... everyone have a great week!!!

A Lil Enchanted,
~LaShan~

My Answer

It is a hard question to answer because you can't really know what your first gut reaction will be... what your first thought will be.... unless you are put into the situation of being told.... and believe that it is true..... that you only have a certain amount of time left to live.

Now let me tell you why I asked the question. My son showed me a web site that answers questions... any question.... he typed in the questions and it gave the answers... of course I was very suspicious... but I couldn't figure out how it was answering every single question with perfect accuracy. But the more questions we asked the more amazed I was at the accuracy of the answers... some were even really funny. Then my son said "do you want to know when and how you are going to die?".... I said NO... but he typed in the question anyway.... and it said "in 3 years from cancer". Now after answering every single question accurately to this point of course I had some smidgeon of belief that this might actually be true.... wouldn't you if every other answer had been spot on??? Of course I'm still trying to figure out how it was answering my questions accurately! Anyway when it said that.... my heart completely dropped.. as did my mouth... I was frozen in fear and shock.... my first thought was of Steffie.... she would not have a Mother to teach her things a Mother teaches a daughter.... all of the things that I want to teach her as she grows up.... then sadness for myself that I would never know what she would grow up to be... all the times in her life that I would miss.... nothing else truely mattered to me at that moment... nothing except the time and the moments that I would not have with my baby girl and how I could possibly change it to have more time with her.

Thank goodness the whole thing was a trick! He finally came clean and showed me how it worked.... but how could I not have a tiny bit of belief after it answered over 20 questions with complete accuracy??? I was still shaking from the thought of it even an hour after he told me it was a crock. It really made me think about what is important.... and how I spend my time...

So now I know what my reaction would be.... what my first thought would be.... what I would feel.... what is the most important thing in the world to me..... It's a horrible feeling thinking you might only have 3 years left to live. I hope none of you ever have to experience that paralyzing and devastating moment. But now I ask myself throughout the day "what if it had been real... what would I be doing right now instead of what I am doing?"

Of course we can't live every day like it is our last... no one would ever go to work... I know I certainly wouldn't want to spend my last day alive working or doing laundry.... but I hope I never forget to stop and ask myself occasionally "what if I have only this much time left?.... what would I be doing differently?"

A Lil Enchanted,
~LaShan~

What Would You Do???

This is a total hypothetical question... but give it some thought...

What if you were given the knowledge that you will live only 3 more years... there is nothing you can do to change it or prolong it... how would you feel?... what would you do differently?... what would be the first thought that went through your head? How would you spend those next 3 years? Would you treat people differently?.... those that are a part of your daily life... and those that you meet in passing....

Just having a bit of serious pondering for the day...

A Lil Enchanted,
~LaShan~

Wordless Wednesday - Kiss The Cook!

A Lil Enchanted,
~LaShan~

All About Kids - Happy Birthday Justin and Jordan!!!!

What great timing on the new meme created by Stacie at Super Mommy To The Rescue. If you would like to participate as well just click on over to her blog and grab the button.... then add your own blog to the list.

Yesterday my boys Justin and Jordan celebrated their 20th Birthday!!! Now of course they are not kids anymore.... but they are still *my* kids.... lol.... and Steffie had an exciting time making their very small and simple birthday party. She is all about the birthdays! So we made them a cake.....












And of course licked the beaters.... bowl... and spatula!












And TADA!!!! We have a cake!


Now of course I had to be tricky and buy the candles that relight after you blow them out... right??!!... Cause that's just the kind of Mom I am... ;).... and yes they were suspicious... they always ask me if I did that and I never have before... but this time I really did it.... of course I didn't admit to it....

Here are Austin and Steffie practicing singing Happy Birthday....



And here are Justin and Jordan blowing out their candles and the kids singing again... Jordan is in the plain shirt and Justin is in the stripped shirt...



Happy 20th Birthday Justin and Jordan!!!!

A Lil Enchanted,
~LaShan~

Music Monday - Dirty South Boyz

This week for Music Monday I want to take a lil break from Stevie Nicks and Fleetwood Mac and share a special video with you. This is my son Jordan and today is his 20th birthday.... it's his twin brother Justin's birthday too...lol... but Jordan is a rap artist. He's following his dream to persue a successful career in rap music. Now rap is soooo not my thing... but I support him in his struggle.... and to honor his birthday I want to share with you a video of him performing with a group he formed a few years ago... I think he was 15 maybe 16 at the time... he works mainly on his own now... but this is the only video that I have. The boys sold everything they could get their hands on to take a trip to Atlanta to perform in a huge rap thing down there called Hood Hard.... they only had 2 microphones to share and the sound is not great... but this was their first public performance.... they were even on the radio a few times :) Jordan is in the middle. This is their performance... not bad for 3 young southern boys if you ask me :)

If you like rap and like this performance you can visit his MySpace at http://www.myspace.com/jayflow09 and hear his more current work..... he's grown a lot musically since then.

Here are The Dirty South Boyz!

Come join Music Monday and share your songs with us. One simple rule, leave ONLY the actual post link here. You can grab this code at LJL Please note these links are STRICTLY for Music Monday participants only. All others will be deleted without prejudice.




PS: Because of spamming purposes, the linky will be closed on Thursday of each week at midnight, Malaysian Time. Thank you!



A Lil Enchanted,
~LaShan~

Blogger Buddy Award... Thank You Stacie!!!!

Stacie at Super Mommy To The Rescue has given me the Bloggie Buddy Award.... and she is definitely one of my best Bloggie Buddies..... Thank you Stacie! I am so honored to receive this and honored to be one of Stacie's best bloggie buddies. Makes me think of all the great bloggie buddies I have met through blogging.

Now I am passing this on to some of my Best Bloggie Buddies:

PJ at PJ's Prose
Storm at Confessions of a Psychotic Housewife
Kat at Candles, Crafts and WhatNot
Stace at All Stace, All The Time
Russ at Grampy and You
Maria at Conversations With Moms
Jodi at Bargain Central
Becki at Harmony In Motion
Sherri at Luv A Bargain
Jennifer at J. Leigh Designz
Melissa at Melissa's Homeschool Blog
Annie at A Nice Place In The Sun
Bingkee at I Love/Hate America
Dorothy at Grammology
Chatty at Chatty Crone
DJ at Nodin's Nest

Just want to thank you all for being the best bloggie buddies anyone could ask for! Your comments and visits mean the world to me!

A Lil Enchanted,
~LaShan~

Buckle Up!... Mercury Retrograde Is Around The Corner

Buckle up your seat belts... both actual and mental... Mercury retrograde begins on Monday. I'm terribly afraid that this one is going to be a doozy. I've been feeling the effects of it for weeks... and I'm not the only one. This is known as the "shadow phase" and can be felt for up to 3 weeks before and after the actual retrograde period. I'll bet if you think about it you've felt it too.

If you don't know already... Mercury retrograde effects all things having to do with communication and transportation and anything to do with machinery and mechanics.... which means computer issues... things getting lost in the mail... or just in translation and understanding.... telephone issues... bills getting lost... vehicle issues... being late for appointments... weakened concentration.... beware of signing contracts... read them carefully more than once..... watch other drivers on the road more carefully etc.

This retrograde period falls into Libra for the first half which is not so bad.... but it will have more of an effect on those with Libra strongly in their charts.... which is me.... I'm a Scorpio with Libra Rising and the Libra in me often outweighs the Scorpio and the Scorpio in me gets very frustrated with the Libra... it's very conflicting. But back to MR.... Libra is the sign of balance, love, beauty, introspection, money and art. So the first half doesn't sound so bad and could even bring some welcomed changes for the good (but don't let your guard down!lol).

On September 18 batton down the hatches... Mercury moves back into Virgo which is the sign of anal retentivenesss....lol.... seriously.... it's the sign of health, employment, perfectionism, daily life, routine, analysis and critical ability... and is Mercury's own sign of transportation and communication. So as you see this is where the trouble will probably lie..... like a double whammy.

This retrograde period lasts from September 7 until September 29th.... with the shadow period being from August 18 through October 18. Fortunately Mercury goes back into Libra on October 10. So to break it down Mercury turns retrograde in Libra while the Sun is in Virgo on Sept. 7, but retrogrades into Virgo at the Virgo New Moon on Sep. 18 while the Sun of course is still in Virgo. The Sun moves into Libra at the Equinox on Sep. 22 while Mercury is still in Virgo, but Mercury heads back to join the Sun in Libra on Oct. 10.

Rob Tillett from Astrology.com sums it up like this....
"It is not exactly wise to make important decisions while Mercury is retrograde, since it is likely that such decisions will be clouded by misinformation, poor communication and careless thinking. Mercury is all about mental clarity and the power of the mind, so when Mercury is retrograde these intellectual characteristics tend to be less acute than usual, as the critical faculties are dimmed. Make sure you pay attention to the small print!"
http://www.astrologycom.com/mercret.html

So be aware... be alert... and be careful! Hopefully we'll all get through this with minimal damage and upset :)

A Lil Enchanted,
~LaShan~

Friday Frustrations

My main frustration right now is Entrecard and Adgitize....grrrrr...

For the last several days EC has been working only sporadically... I've been really busy this week and have had lil time to spend visiting blogs and dropping EC's... between my computer running slow and the EC drop button not showing more than half the time it's been very difficult to get much done. Adgitize hasn't helped since they changed their list of "blogs not dropped on today" to the preferred blogs list (or whatever they are calling it)... because now it does list ones I've already clicked on so I can't even depend on that to go to unclicked ones. Also speaking of Adgitize... I've been trying for 3 months now to earn the $14 just get my ad on there.... and I'm still lacking about $5.... so I'm frustrated that it hasn't added up a lil faster.... at this rate I still won't have the complete amount even after another month :(

Another frustration.... I decided to try The Grocery Game... I've been thinking about it for awhile... this week was pay week and grocery shopping time... so Monday I signed up hoping to find great deals and make getting my list done easier and quicker. Well... it wasn't.... I spent over 6 hours on Monday getting familiar with using it (it'll be be quicker next time because I know how it works now).... and getting my coupons and list together. I was doing like it suggested and just marking my coupon flyers with the date they came in the paper... this is how they tell you where to find the coupons to get the great deals. Well it took forever to find them that way because I had to keep going back through each flyer every time I wanted to find a coupon and there were tons that I wanted to find. So most of Monday was spent getting my shopping plan ready. It also didn't help that my old printer (the only one that has ink in it) would not print my lists from the website... that would have made things much easier and faster as well. So I've decided that I need to clip all of these coupons (100's 0f them) and file them alphabetically so I can find them faster. This is a task that I've been needing to do for quite some time... and one that will take hours :( Then it took the majority of Tuesday and Wednesday to do the actual shopping because I went to 7 different stores... I got a late start on Tuesday so I had to carry it over to Wednesday... and I had to drag Steffers along which makes everything take longer.

I have to say that I did find quite a few bargains by using The Grocery Game... so we'll see how it goes next trip (in 2 weeks).... if you want to give it a try they offer a free 4 week Trial Membership... and please list me as the person who referred you ALilEnchanted@gmail.com.... I can earn free weeks of membership :)

I'm still frustrated with the condition of my home... though I've been making myself spend more time cleaning. I really need to spend some major time focusing on getting it into shape.... it's almost fall and that means fall decorating... and then Christmas decorating etc.... and I always get the cleaning bug in the fall.... most people Spring Clean.... I Fall Clean. Soooo I've been seriously considering taking a week off from blogging to focus on my home... I haven't decided yet if I can have the will power to do it....lol... but I'll let you know if I decide to go through with it. I really do need to do this. Maybe now would be a great time since EC isn't working well anyways.... but geez I'll miss everyone :( .... I'll let you know in a few days what I decide to do.

Time seems to always be my biggest frustration... I need a few clones so I can get everything done.... can they speed up the process on that clone thing??? lol

A Lil Enchanted,
~LaShan~

Random Silliness From Sarah

A couple of days ago I posted the video of Steffie in all her cuteness... so today I'll post a video of Sarah in all her silly weirdness... well you won't actually see much of Sarah... but you will hear her... this is a hilarious lil clip she that she randomly recorded one day a couple of years ago. I ran across it and just laughed really hard... because it's so her... and so silly... it may be funny to you all as well... or maybe you'll think it's just silly and stupid... but anyways here is random silly Sarah doing what she does...

Thank You August Top Droppers!

Thank you to everyone who visits my blog. I really appreciate that you take the time to stop by and to leave your wonderful comments. My August Top droppers are:

PJ's Prose	31
All Stace, All the Time	30
Momspective Reviews	29
Momspective	29
Wii Mommies	29
Luv a Bargain	29
Mom's Place	28
My Reflections and Impressions	28
Mike's Blog Marketing Tips	28
Patsy's Words of Wisdom	28

I hope everyone has a great September... I look forward to another month of your visits and especially visiting your blogs as well :)

A Lil Enchanted,
~LaShan~

All About Kids

I wanted to participate in the new meme created by Stacie at Super Mommy To The Rescue. If you would like to participate as well just click on over to her blog and grab the button.... then add your own blog to the list. I thought starting out with these lil videos of Steffie would be fun.... and I promised them yesterday... so here goes...

As promised here are a couple of short videos of Steffie singing and dancing along with her favorite Stevie Nicks song I Need To Know. She was about 2 years old and used this baby rattle for her tambourine. Notice how intently she watches Stevie's movements on the tv and tries to copy her. It's sooo adorable :) At the beginning of the Stevie concert her father comes out and says "Please welcome my daughter Stevie Nicks" and for the longest Steffie called her "my daughter Stevie Nicks"... it was sooo cute!





A Lil Enchanted,
~LaShan~