October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month (and a Giveaway)

You're probably aware that October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month.  Self-examination, regular doctor exams, and regular mammograms after 40 are things that women can do to hopefully catch breast cancer in its' early stages -- but even if it's caught early, there is still a fight!  Breast Cancer Awareness Month not only wants to make people more aware of the importance of self-care, but also raises awareness for the need of money to fund breast cancer research.

When I was contacted recently by a PR firm asking if I'd like to give away a pair of pajamas for Breast Cancer Awareness, I was a little intrigued.   I found out that KN Karen Neuburger and Dillards department stores teamed up to raise funds for breast cancer research.  They are sponsoring "Pink Parties" and will donate 30 minutes of research to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation for every pair of pink pajamas sold at Dillards during this parties in October. You can also purchase pajamas directly from KN Karen Neuburger. The goal is to fund a month of cancer research through this program -- with the ultimate goal of developing lifesaving treatments and an eventual cure.


I didn't realize how important each minute of research is, until I read the following statistics:

• One hour of research allows a breast cancer biopsy to be performed
  
• One day of research allows a clinician to conduct genetic counseling for one woman
• One week allows researchers to compare ten tumor samples

I always want to know more about the charities and organizations I am considering sending a donation, so I found out a little bit more about the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.  I found that they support scientists at top universities and academic medical centers around the world. A minimum of 85 cents of every dollar donated goes directly to breast cancer research and awareness programs.  To give you an idea of the breadth of their program -- in October 2008, 166 scientists from the United States, Australia, Canada, Latin America and the Middle East were awarded $34.5 million.  They also received the Charity Navigator's highest rating of four stars, which puts them above 99% of the evaluated charities.


To help increase awareness of this program, I was generously given a pair of pajamas and pink socks to give away to one of my readers!  Please help spread the word about this worthwhile cause, and maybe you'll be the lucky winner of a cozy pair of pajamas!

To enter the giveaway, leave a comment below telling me what you've done this month to help raise awareness of breast cancer, or to raise funds.  For up to 3 additional entries, please:

• Tweet a link to this post, and leave a comment letting me know you tweeted.  You can even copy this tweet:  Check out @AZMelly pink pajama giveaway for Breast Cancer Awareness Month! http://bit.ly/1pPx5B
  
• Post a link on Facebook, and leave a comment letting me know.
• Blog about this post, and leave a comment letting me know.

I will use random.org to choose a winner Monday, October 19, 2009.  Winner will be notified via email, and the pajamas will be sent directly to their home from the PR firm.

Thanks for helping to spread the word!

For more information, visit Karen Neuburger's site. You can also donate directly to the Foundation by visiting the Time For Research website. 

(Disclosure:  The pajamas were generously provided by the PR firm, for KN and Dillards, for this giveaway.  I also received a pair of pajamas for myself.  I was not compensated in any other way for this post.)

** This giveaway is over and the winner contacted **

Wordless Wednesday - An Office

(Can you guess who worked in this office?)

 Play along at Wordless Wednesday!  Come back tomorrow for Tell Me Thursday! 

Apple Cake

I know it's fall, because the Rome apples are in the store and it's time for my yummmmy apple cake!

I posted the recipe over at Prevention last year, and even though they shut down that program, all the posts are still there.  It truly is a delicious cake and I have one in the oven right now!

If you're looking for a nice autumn dessert (or breakfast), check it out!  Let me know if you try it and what you think.

Money Saving Monday #28 - Homemade Beef Jerky

My 7yo loves beef jerky.  He would ask for it at the store, but I always told him no, because I thought it was gross.  Bo would buy it for him, though, and we found out that he loved it.  I still said no in the store, though, because it seemed expensive.

Last year, my husband and Nate decided to use our dehydrator to make their own beef jerky.  It was delicious (I never thought I liked beef jerky, until I tried theirs!) Nate has recently been asking about it again, so when I saw that London Broil was $1.77 / lb this week, I picked some up so they could make more.

It is an easy recipe, and the taste is amazing. Plus, it is so much cheaper than buying it from the checkout lane. My husband removes as much fat as possible from the meat, then slices it into beef jerky-sized slices. They make a simple marinade (2/3 cup soy sauce, 1/3 cup Worcestershire sauce, 1/3 cup brown sugar, few dashes of liquid smoke, some pepper, and a couple crushed garlic cloves) and let the beef marinade for 3 - 4 hours.  They put the beef onto the dehydrator and let it go for 6-10 hours.  We then package it up and enjoy!

If you don't have a dehydrator, you can also use your oven on low, with the door cracked just a bit. I'm not sure how long it would take, but I'm guessing 4-6 hours.

We gave it as gifts last year, and it was a hit!  I think it cost us about $10 this time to turn 3 lbs of London Broil into jerky -- which to me is quite the money saving venture!

168 Hours

A couple weeks ago I taught a seminar about time management.  One of the topics was 168 Hours, during which we talked about the fact that there are 168 hours in each week and everyone decides what to do with those 168 hours.  While I was familiar with the number, the seminar material encouraged participants to figure out how many hours they spent doing various things.

Being a bit of an Excel geek, I created a spreadsheet that broke out 168 hours.  The days of the week were across the top, and each hour of the day went along the side. For each hour, I filled in the necessary tasks -- whether it was sleep (56 hours in a good week), spending time with friends (3 hours set aside the week of the seminar), writing, preparing for classes, teaching classes, homeschooling, etc. etc. etc. 

It was eye-opening and I realized why I've been struggling so hard to get everything done!  There really aren't enough hours in a day (or a week) to complete all that I put on my plate. It made me look more carefully at what I can do to free up some time for different pursuits.

One thing I did was resurrect chore charts.  We've tried them in the past, with varying success, but I decided that the boys' ages were well-suited to take on more responsibility.  In the past, I would have them share chores (thinking that it would be easier to complete certain things with help) but these new chore charts are all about individual tasks.  I thought about the things that we often ask them to help with, and simply filled in the week with necessary chores.

Each day starts with the basics -- brush teeth, get dressed, make bed.  The day begins with schooling, then each day's chores are listed.  For example, on Mondays, Colin is responsible for trash pickup, setting the table, picking up the hall (for some reason they tend to strew things in the hall outside their bedroom), kitchen floor and "as needed chores." Nate is responsible for picking up the living room, feeding the dog, kitchen duty (which means helping keep the kitchen clean throughout the day) and "as needed chores."  The chores are balanced throughout the week between the 2 boys, so they are responsible for different areas each day, but the entire house throughout the week.

The day finishes up for them with picking up their rooms (ok, this is the ONE area that we still need more work on -- but I'm taking baby steps), getting ready for bed, brushing teeth, and going to bed.

I printed the charts and posted them on the refrigerator.  There have been plenty of reminders, but they have each stepped up to their responsibilities and are doing well! They like being able to see what they are each responsible for doing, and I have been heavy on the praise as they act independently and complete their jobs well.

I need to make some other shifts throughout the week to free up some time for myself and some things I'd like to pursue, but this was a good first step.  I'm going to keep reviewing the schedule and fine-tuning it to make sure I'm getting as much as possible from each 168 hours!

Tell Me Thursday - Shovels & Dirt

While I can see why some would think this was a beach shot -- it is not. This is a picture of Colin sitting in the middle of the plot which became our home. 8 years ago this week we signed the papers to move into the home we had built.

You can see the outline of our house better in this picture:

In fact, you can visit this site and take a look at a bunch of pictures from when we had the house built!  (I can't believe that site is still sitting there -- but I'm glad it is so I could pull these photos!) I think we signed the papers to start building around Memorial Day, and we moved in the first week of October 2001.  Bo wanted Colin to take his first steps in a house we owned -- and he waited until that week to take his first steps!

I've never lived in the same house for 8 years before in my life!  We talked a couple years ago about selling and moving, but looking at these old pictures make me glad we didn't.  Bo put a lot of work into building this home for his family, and I like the fact that all of our kids are growing up here.

Did you play Wordless Wednesday?  If so, tell your story today through Tell Me Thursday!

Wordless Wednesday - Shovels and Dirt

Play along at Wordless Wednesday.  Come back tomorrow for the story when I post Tell Me Thursday!

Money Saving Monday #27 - Holidays and Gift Cards

Christmas is less than 3 months away.

I'll let that sink in for a second.

We always approach the holidays as a cash-only endeavor, and I have no plans to change that.  I plan carefully and spread out the spending during the months leading up to Christmas.

One thing that I have already started doing is picking up gift cards when I'm shopping.  At most grocery stores these days, you can buy a gift card for pretty much anyplace, but the smallest denomination is often $25.  Sometimes I want a card worth $25 or more, and it's so easy to add it to my grocery bill that day.  It's especially nice when I've managed to save that amount (or more) with coupons!

Gift cards in the $5 - $10 range are great to have on hand to give as tips, include in cards, or stuff stockings.  By picking them up during a regular shopping trip in the months leading up to Christmas, it helps spread out my holiday budget. Who doesn't like a $5 gift card to Starbucks?  Even though I don't drink coffee -- I do drink tea!

Have you started your Christmas / holiday shopping yet?  Some years I'm almost done by now, but I haven't really started yet this year.  I have just a few gift cards tucked away in my closet, but will start looking for deals and specials in the coming weeks!

Wendy's Gift Card Giveaway Winner!

Can you see the randomly generated number on this screen shot? It's comment #10 -- which was left by Bunny!  I'll send off an email and she'll have 48 hours to respond so I can get the gift card to her!  If she doesn't respond within 48 hours, I'll draw another random winner.

Thanks to all who left comments!  I'll have more giveaways in the future, so please keep reading!

Thanks again to Mom Central & Wendy's for making this giveaway possible.

One Thousand Posts

In 2003 when I started this blog, I don't think I could have envisioned what life would look like 6+ years and 1,000 posts later, but here I am!

I have scraps of notes of things I want to write about in October, so I thought I'd just throw them out here as bullets and hopefully hit them all before November rolls around!

• 168 hours
• stuttering
  
• book reviews - I have 3 on my desk, and a 4th in the mail on the way to me that I need to do this month.
  
• day in the life post (mainly because I always love reading those posts when others do them!)
• cookie recipes
• child care issues
  
• homeschooling
• holidays
  

I'm sure there is more I'll write about, but those are the things rolling around at the moment.  I didn't realize this would be my 1,000th posts until I logged in tonight - so I don't have anything exciting prepared.  I will announce the Wendy's gift card winner tomorrow though!