Top Droppers for January

Thank you so much to my top droppers for January. If you want to know more about this, please visit EntreCard And thank you to Barako Brew for the cool Top Dropper logo.

Search Engine Panel
Discussions on search engine optimization (SEO) and search engine marketing (SEM). Tips, help, and news on high organic ranking, website optimization, and search marketing.
Serian Man
Some thoughts on teaching and the exploration of the land of the hornbills, my beloved Sarawak, on the island of Borneo.
Zack Zoomer and the Internet Adventure
An in-depth examination of money making options online.
sudhersana
sudhersana blog showcases the lifestyle and culture of India.
datas-recovery.blogspot.com
Data Recovery References
Treasure Nature
Blogging for nature. Everyone's welcome but with clothes on please. Birthday suits not allowed. :D
It's a woman's world!
It’s a woman’s world is written by a not-so-everyday 40-year-old mom of an infant, two preschoolers and teenager with a home and a freelance writing career. It's a place to talk about new products, parenting issues and everyday life.
Superficial Gallery
The Superficial Gallery has the funniest columns, the best videos, a great forum, free gum* games with great prizes and thousands of celebrity pics thrown in for good measure.
*We are out of gum. Deal with it.
C'est La Vie
This is my blog! It's the chronicles of a single mother who's balancing parenting and being a full-time college student with aspirations to become a nurse.
Confessions of a Psychotic Housewife
I am the Psychotic Housewife - a gothic Martha Stewart, SAHM, addicted to shopping and saving money while living in a Murphy's Law zone where everything that can go wrong, will go wrong. I love to give my opinion and share the deals I come across.
DB Comix
News and Updates for Minos the Minotaur: the webcomic.
Spices of Life & Everything Nice
Its all about the essence of being a woman
TechnologyINSANITY.com
Blog and forums focusing on technology, internet, computers, programming and gaming.
Mommy in Pink
Blog about Fashion, fitness and all things fabulous for moms!
Sandys Space
Knitting, Crocheting and life's stories
My Careless Whispers
a mommy's blog of her everyday life
Nuclear•Winter
The view from my window.
Hot in Singapore
This blog started off about the life of a Malaysian woman living in the German part of Switzerland. But following her husband's expat posting, she has now ended up in Singapore where she has to face up to the reverse culture shock and unbearable heat in an Asian country. Be prepared to get hooked!
Random Detoxification
I am a... student, programmer, debater, teacher, traveler, photographer, documenter, a lover of happy things. This is my pensieve... my thoughtful and eyecatching version of life.
One
Environmental tips, ideas and news. We only have one Earth, one life, one chance...
Coloraddiction - glass, beads and color
Kandice Seeber's reviews, musings and discussions of glass colors used in lampwork bead making, plus discussions of color in fashion, arts, crafts and jewelry in general.
The Treasure Chest
A blog about great fashion finds.
Irresistible Fascinations
A mommy blog that accounts on women fancies and interests that will eventually become full-blown irresistible fascinations.
Matt's Musings
My mixed bag of information. News, views, and other stuff.
CoolAdzine for Marketers
CoolAdzine.blogspot.com-above fold/no scroll placement on established marketing blog with PR3.

Balderdash

We had a power outage during the winter snow storm that hit much of the midwest so my kids and I decided to dig out our old Balderdash game (I had to take a flashlight to the basement to find it). We have the old edition which is strictly definitions. Everyone takes turns being the "dasher" which is the person who knows the real definition of the word. The other players try to create a definition that sounds real enough that it will bluff the other players so they will choose it as the real meaning.

Needless to say, we had a blast. We were laughing so hard. My daughter even saved her made-up definitions 'cos she thought they were so funny.

I'm not in any way affiliated with whomever makes Balderdash.

Twitter

I joined Twitter several weeks ago and I've been somewhat disappointed. I didn't quite know what to expect but the onslaught of conversation is HUGE and a little overwhelming. There are SO many side discussions that I feel like I'm at a party with everyone talking at once.

Yes, I definitely see the networking advantages and yes, I like being able to follow people (in my case it's nice to follow the shop owners that are listed on my blogs). But I think I'm more of a blog-speed, forum-speed, or Facebook-speed person. I told you in my introduction that I'm not overly talkative, so I'll communicate at a pace that's comfortable for me.

Julia Spencer-Fleming Series

Along with the Donna Leon series I described in an earlier post, I'm reading this mystery series by Julia Spencer-Fleming. The main characters are Clare Fergusson, who is an Episcopalian reverend, and Russ Van Alstyne, who is the police chief. It's set in a small town in upstate New York.

I'm not divulging any secrets to say that Clare and Russ find themselves solving mysteries together and becoming very emotionally attached to each other. Except that Russ is married - although we know that his wife is going to be killed in the series. Still, I can't wait to keep reading to find out what happens next. If you're interested, you can visit Julia's website.

EntreCard Top Blogger Day 1/31

You've probably seen all these little yellow E's on people's blogs with "Drop" under them. These are for EntreCard which is a fast-growing blogging network where bloggers visit and "drop" their virtual business card (EntreCard) as a way to say "Hey, I was here".

This is from the EntreCard blog:
"Now, on the last day of this month, we are going to make a HUGE push to get as many Entrecarders as possible to give their top droppers some link love. This will include writing a special “thank you” post on your blog and linking to your top droppers. We’re also going to think of one compliment to give each blog. We all work so hard on our blogs, blogging, promoting, dropping, that this will be a nice way to recognize each other’s efforts."

This is my only blog that's formatted where I can meet the requirements, so I'm in for Top Dropper Day !!

RetailMeNot

Since you know I love online shopping and I love coupons, I found this great site where users input coupon codes they have found for retailers. I was getting ready to purchase security software and decided to search for coupon codes just in case. Lo and behold, at Retail Me Not, I found a coupon code for a 25% discount for the software.

I've joined the site's community and forums, so I'm still exploring all the different ways to "network" about coupons and deals.

(I'm not in any way affiliated with Retail Me Not).

Christmas Decorations

I guess it's time to take the Christmas decorations down and store them away for another year. Yes, I know it's almost the end of January, but the house looks so festive when we have it all decorated in red. And January can be such a dreary month that having the extra color helps to fight off the thought of all that white snow.

Sally Watson books

I first read "Witch of the Glens" by Sally Watson when I was in 4th or 5th grade and it is still one of my favorite books. I was so excited when Sally's books came back into print through Image Cascade Publishing so I could finally own a copy. Sally's books have been selling for exorbitant amounts on the internet so it was impossible to get a copy of one.

The other cool thing is that Sally is still writing and self-publishing her novels, so I buy them whenever a new one is available. If you're a Sally fan, she has a Yahoo group where her devoted readers can interact with her - it's really very amazing.

(I am not affiliated with Image Cascade in any way).

Recycling

I'm a recycling fan so I'm very happy to have found that our local center takes a majority of the items we dispose. There are about 10 big bins for plastics, mixed paper, cardboard, glass, and aluminum/stainless steel. The bins are open 24/7 which makes it extremely convenient for me.

Although when it was 10 degrees the other morning, I was wishing I was more organized and had presorted my recyclables. Or I was wishing I'd worn gloves.

My next goal is to try crocheting the cute tote bags out of plastic bags cut into strips called "plarn". That looks like alot of fun.

The Memorist by M. J. Rose

I just finished "The Memorist" by M. J. Rose which is a sequel to "The Reincarnationist". They were fun page-turners about a search for memory tools which help people to unlock their past life memories.

"The Memorist" is set in Vienna and has flashback insights to Beethoven's life. This book did pique my interest in Beethoven and made me want to learn more about him.

Inauguration Day

What a historic, momentous, hopeful day. I'm still proud of America for having the courage to choose a president that embodies and symbolizes and will help bring the change that we need for the future. It's time for more understanding and tolerance.

Australian Open

As I stated before, tennis is one of my favorite sports. Tennis coverage on network television is often sparse, so when one of the four major tournaments starts, it usually means coverage at least every day.

I'm a very big Roger Federer fan and hope that he is recovering from his illnesses last year. Roger epitomizes all the grace, sportsmanship, competitiveness, and respect (for himself, his opponents, and the sport itself) that players of any sport should try to emulate.

AFC & NFC Championships

I really, really like football so I'm excited for the AFC and NFC championships this afternoon.

Who would I like to win? Cardinals for the NFC, and the Ravens for the AFC.

I know that I'm not cheering for the favorites, but the unpredictability and underdog factor are what makes sports so much fun.

Louisville vs Pittsburgh

Tonight at 6 pm Louisville will battle Pittsburgh in a Big East conference game. I'm a Louisville fan since I attended the university back in the 80's, so I'll be watching and cheering and probably pacing alot.

The Big East conference is absolutely amazing this year with such phenomenal talent. And I get to see most of the games since they're either televised or available through ESPN360 (yes, I have watched games on my computer).

Rag Crochet Vase

Late last year I decided to learn how to crochet since I wanted to make some rag baskets (made from strips of fabric). I've made 3 from patterns that turned out very nicely.

Next I wanted to make some baskets to act as vases but they needed to be about 18 inches tall. I searched and searched for patterns and couldn't find what I needed. So I decided to try my own and here's the result.

Yes, I did have to redo it (which is easy since you pull it all apart to start over) about 3 times, but I'm finally happy with it. And now I have to make another one since they're going to sit on top of my bookcases.

Donna Leon Series

I enjoy reading books in series and I've recently started the Donna Leon series featuring Venetian detective Guido Brunetti. I just finished the 4th book and I can't wait for the next. Currently there are 17 and I think our local public library has them all.

I'd compare Guido Brunetti to Ian Rankin's John Rebus and Michael Connelly's Harry Bosch with the huge exception that Guido is happily married and his wife often gives him valuable insight into his cases.

The books are delightfully complex, though, and there's not always a clear line between the "good" guys and "bad" guys. But Guido's doggedness and helpful co-workers uncover the truth even though sometimes there are loose ends left dangling. I think this makes the books more appealing, though.

SparkPeople

When I wake up every morning and turn on my computer, the first page to load is SparkPeople. I've been concerned with weight loss my whole life since I was pudgy as a child (I love to eat and I'm an emotional eater, too) but the biggest help for me has been SparkPeople which is a free, online, diet and fitness plan, community, and so much more.

It's completely free to join. SparkPeople is supported financially by showing ads and by Google AdSense. I haven't found the ads to be intrusive and I would rather have them in order to keep the site free.

I joined SparkPeople back when they were launching in 2003-4 and the site has grown tremendously since then. So many new features have been added. Some of the main features that I use daily are

1) the food tracker - I've been tracking my foods every day for almost 5 years now

2) SparkPoints - you earn points for being active on the site. To date, the points are used only as a measure of your involvement, but I keep hoping that sponsors might donate prizes so we can actually use the points.

I'm not in any way affiliated with SparkPeople, just a happy member of the site

Tennis

Tennis is the only sport that I've ever been able to play somewhat successfully. I was always very uncoordinated as a kid and I still have trouble catching any ball that's thrown at me (to me?) However, my hand-eye coordination seems to be much better when I have a racquet in my hand.

It never gets boring or monotonous (unlike some exercises) and the time passes so quickly while we're playing. I want to keep improving and I've come so far in the past couple of years, but I'm also trying to be realistic about what I can expect at my age.

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Welcome to New Blog

I thought it might be fun to start a more personal blog about me and my interests. I'm not a very talkative person, so I won't write long novels. And I love lists, so here are some of the topics I might cover as they relate to my day:
- football
- Big East basketball
- eating healthy
- books and what I'm reading
- crochet projects
- bead projects
- tennis
- menopause
- recycling
- movies

Here's to a fun adventure !!
Janet

These are my personal opinions. None of these are paid or sponsored posts. If I'm an affiliate for a company, I will plainly state that.