Random Question...

 (obviously not MY baby, but a friend's :-P)

So I almost apologize for the prolific baby-ness that will be sneaking into this blog now. But when you feel nasty for at least part of every day, and are fighting the puke... you gotta remember WHY you're dealing with this (with so little complaining too!) And that's just bound to overflow here :-P

SO... a little survey I hope you'll all play along with me in today...

What is the one (or more if you're feeling generous) baby-item(s) that you couldn't do without?

Ideally, I'm curious about the one that surprised you the most, or was least expected... but I'll take anything. If you don't have a baby, what's one that a friend used that you thought was cool? Or some baby thing you've seen on the street that you've said "Wow! I need to remember that!" Double points if you tell me why :-P

-Betsy

Monday Monday! Happy Memorial Day!

Nope, I didn't forget!

This Monday Monday edition is brought to you by Random.org!  Random.org has chosen 8-10, Springtime Carriage Paths, for this week's deal!

Do YOU want to play this week? Go to www.somethingbetsy.com and check out the galleries to leave a comment here with the image number of YOUR favorite photo (or favorites!). Next Monday, I'll use Random.org to select a photo from those in the comment section of this post for the next deal!

Fine print: Each person can only submit each image ONCE. BUT, you can pick as many images as you like, and you can definitely send your friends over to comment "for" you. The only other stipulation: the image cannot have been featured for the past 4 weeks. Now... comment away!


**This deal is over, but check out the latest Monday Monday post for the latest deal!**

-Betsy

Food Friday - Mine, and where you SHOULD be looking.

Friday. I'm supposed to deliver some yummy-ness or something.

Except this week, I ate this (or tried to at least)

Pizza from the local shop, frozen, and reheated in the microwave with some cucumbers and dip as a "veggie". Bean likes pizza. Bean doesn't like dill dip apparently.

And the next night I ate popcorn and gingerale. Yes, I ate 2 bowls of stove-popped popcorn and 2 cans of gingerale as dinner. Dessert was 2 slices of American cheese.

Knowing this, I pass on Fidelio's recipe of the week, which she graciously posted on a Thursday, so I could schedule this post. ;)  No-Bake Key Lime Cheesecake.

-Betsy

Thing Thursday - Decision Deals

So I've been working on this baby registry thing. Part of me had decided I shouldn't really mess with it till the wee one was 24 weeks along... but as opposed to waiting ANOTHER 10 weeks, and possibly having it be a "job" then... I figured I'd play around and register for stuff as it popped into my head when I felt like it. You know... spread the joy (and the pain).

A while back, I found a Baby Bjorn Carrier at the Thrift Shop... marked for $5.00 (WHAT?!?!) Needless to say, I was not pregnant and didn't CARE! I was bringing that puppy HOME!  And when I went back a week later, THERE WAS ANOTHER ONE! I'm not sure what the cause for the run on Baby Bjorn Carriers was... but I was TOTALLY cashing in on it! So one carrier went "on loan" to my then-pregnant friend to try with her bundle when he arrived, and the other stayed tucked in the "spare room" closet... waiting for it to become the "future nursery" (they're good to different weight limits, so heck yea they're both "staying mine!")

When Hubby first saw it though, the following conversation ensued:

Hubby: I'm not wearing that.
Me: OK, well... what would YOU want in a baby carrier?
Hubby: Well... can I wear that one on my back?
Me: Not that I know of...
Hubby: Well I'd only wear it on my back.
Me: When WOULD you wear one? Should I really look for a hiking one for you?
Hubby: I might be able to handle that.
Me: Would you want a soft one, or one that had metal supports... like your backpacking backpack?
Hubby: Metal sounds good.

Ok, so with a "Back. Metal. Good." male mindset, I scoured the internet... what were the good reviews, what might he use, what would work for US???  And I picked out like, 5. Ok... so now which one do I GET (aka, register for)?!?!

And then... today at the Thrift Shop.... a Kelty Kids Back Country, self supporting, sun shading, big, blue backpack staring at me for... wait for it... $7.00!! I looked online at what the NEW Kelty would cost if I had gone with it... $250.00.

Thank you, Thrift Shop, for making that decision for me! (I'm fairly sure there was a little help from The Big Man involved too, so thank You too!)

I told Hubby I got him a present when he got home today. He didn't seem that excited at first when he saw it... and then the wheels started turning "We can take that, like, CAMPING. It can be our "outdoor high chair"... I can load stuff up under the kid's butt and we can REALLY camp!"

Yes Daddy. We can ;).

-Betsy

Today Only!

OK, because I was "cold called" by The Hunduddle Hussy on FB... and I've given up on the daily themed posts... today's post is saying

Click here: http://www.circleofmoms.com/blogger/model-lady
Then click on the little thumb on the right and watch the number go up another vote.
Then if you wish... go to a different computer and repeat until all your computers are used up.
It will make Lady happy... and the Hussy happy... and I can stop reading about how we should all vote on FB ;).

Now: off to find something Bean wants me to eat...

-Betsy

Monday Monday

Ok, I'm totally cheating, but since I'm telling you I'm cheating, it doesn't count as cheating. I'm totally "back-posting" this post because yesterday I was such a mess that there was no way I could put a post up...

SO... since I was delayed on last Monday's Monday Monday (that's a lot of Monday's!)... I extended it through this week! SO, check out last WEDNESDAY's post for the buttons to get 10% off THIS photo, chosen by the wonderful Jessica!

Oh, and if you'd like to play for next week, you can make a comment on this post OR last week's post with the photo you think should be featured!  AND, if you'd like me to link to your blog (providing your photo is picked by random.org), leave it in your comment!

-Betsy

Food Friday - Snapple

So since being preggers, I've found I can't make it all the way through the grocery store without something to eat and drink... and of all places, the grocery store seems the oddest to "bring your own food". SO, I've been treating myself with those little-kid individual boxes of goldfish (if a Toddler can eat it, a pregnant woman can in my mind) and a Raspberry Snapple. The thing is, as soon as I finish a Snapple, I want MORE... so I decided I should see if I could make something similar at home (as I could PROBABLY drink it by the gallon).

SO, here is what I made today, although I may make additional tweaks in the future.

Ingredients:
8 Cups Water
1 Green Tea teabag
1 Black Tea teabag
2tbsp Lemon Juice
1/4 cup Sugar
1 tbsp Raspberry sauce (like for coffee - often in the coffee isle even)

Directions: boil 8 cups water, then remove from heat and put in 2 teabags (1 green tea and 1 black tea). Let sit for at least 2 hours. It can sit as long as you want though, no worries. I let mine sit overnight.

Take the teabags out (don't squeeze them!) and add the sugar. It'll take a bit to mix if the liquid isn't hot still, but it WILL mix. Then add 2 tbsp lemon juice and 1 tbsp raspberry sauce, stir and cool.

Personally, I found it a little weak and a little sweet, so next time I'll  use 2 teabags of each and keep everything else the same... if it's still too sweet, I'll reduce my sugar, BUT, it might just need to be colder as colder things don't taste AS sweet as room temp or warm things. Interesting tidbit, yea?

Do YOU have a favorite flavor of iced tea? In looking stuff up, it appears that all snapple is made of the same base, and flavor is just added... so make your ::insert flavor here:: tea the same way, but replace the raspberry with a different flavored sauce!

Don't forget the lemon juice though ;)

-Betsy

Thing Thursday - A Happy little package :-D

So you may have noticed my consistency of blogging has been a little off. And there hasn't been great recipes in "Food Friday" when it's made it's appearance... and I've mentioned fun projects on Facebook, but not shown them here... and that would be because I've been carrying around a little secret for a while. BUT, this little secret is not as little as it was anymore...

That little "Bean" has forced me into **Gasp!** Maternity Clothes! (probably this soon because I didn't lose the intended 20 lbs before the little life made it's appearance in this world) And so it's about time to give up the secret part so I can share things again ;)

So on a good note, I've begun feeling a bit better (knocks on wood)! And on another good note, I'll be posting up some cool clothes I've made and will be making to fit my growing belly! But I'm still not sure when "Food Friday" will be back... there WILL be one this week though. I'm gonna write it in a minute and schedule the post too, so I won't be lying to you ;).

As a side note of randomness: the smart-water bottles, filled to about 1/2 inch below the end of the domed top... makes a pretty good tornado bottle. Told ya: random.

-Betsy

Monday Monday!... on Wednesday?

Thank you Jessica for your patriotic vote last Monday!

Do YOU want to play this week? Go to www.somethingbetsy.com and check out the galleries to leave a comment here with the image number of YOUR favorite photo (or favorites!). Next Monday, I'll use Random.org to select a photo from those in the comment section of this post for the next deal!

Fine print: Each person can only submit each image ONCE. BUT, you can pick as many images as you like, and you can definitely send your friends over to comment "for" you. The only other stipulation: the image cannot have been featured for the past 4 weeks. Now... comment away!

Jessica chose image 11-5, Thank You, in honor of Memorial Day approaching!

This Monday Monday is a little special... because I didn't put it out until Wednesday... oops! So I'm going to leave it up an extra week! You can still vote for your favorite photo, but the next Monday Monday image will be posted May 30th!

**This deal is over, but check out the latest Monday Monday post for this week's deal!**

-Betsy

Wordless Wednesday - Panini Fail

This is what happens when you try making a ham and american cheese panini on a George Forman grill and walk away. You end up with a ham sandwich and american cheese-its.

-Betsy

Thing Tuesday?

In our neighborhood (whether it's allowed or not, being part of a Home Owner's Association), we get a lot of solicitors. People selling meat out of the back of a pickup truck (3 last year), selling bug-maintenance memberships, savings cards, coupon books, driveway seals... it's a little ridiculous. It drove me NUTS all last summer, and yesterday, the first of the season came by. It's begun. So once he was gone, I immediately went to the garage, grabbed a hunk of scrap wood, painted it, drilled some holes and hung it on the front door with some fishing line.

This WELCOME sign was not my first plan of action. I considered following through with last year's idea of a mail-slot with a "Solicitors will be shot" sign underneath and placing the (unloaded) shotgun in the front hallway so that I could peek the end out, and if the person then announced who they were (and I knew them), I'd open. Otherwise, they'd hopefully run away. That's a little excessive, but that's how many people came by last year!

I tried to tone it down a bit, and the signs I came up with before this one were:

"No Solicitors. I'm poor, but I still have a shotgun"

"No Solicitors. Yes, that means you." 

"No Solicitors. I have my own Girl Scout" 

"No Solicitors. I won't buy it anyway". 

Obviously, I went with none of them :) And the look on hubby's face when he came home to the "Welcome" sign with fine print below... was priceless. HOPEFULLY, I won't get any doorbell rings. And if I do, this year... I'm pointing to the sign, and closing the door.

-Betsy

Don't forget to check out www.somethingbetsy.com and find a photo to enter for next week's Monday Monday deal! Just make a comment on this week's Monday Monday post with the image number!

Monday Monday - Alaska

Back to a random.org website pick.

Do YOU want to play this week? Go to www.somethingbetsy.com and check out the galleries to leave a comment here with the image number of YOUR favorite photo (or favorites!). Next Monday, I'll use Random.org to select a photo from those in the comment section of this post for the next deal!

Fine print: Each person can only submit each image ONCE. BUT, you can pick as many images as you like, and you can definitely send your friends over to comment "for" you. The only other stipulation: the image cannot have been featured for the past 4 weeks. Now... comment away!

Random.org chose image 10-3, Water Taxi

These buttons will add this week's image to a shopping cart... which means there is no limit to the quantity/type!  You can also shop from the website www.somethingbetsy.com to the same shopping cart (only pay shipping once!). So shop away, or make sure to check back next Monday for a different random sale!

**This week's deal is over, but check out the latest Monday Monday post for 10% off!**

These buttons will be moved to a new Monday Monday post when it comes out (next Monday silly). Only purchases made from THESE buttons will have the discount. I check and fill all orders before moving the buttons, but feel free to add in the notes to seller which photo you're expecting if you'd like.  All purchases from www.somethingbetsy.com will be full price, even if this image is selected.Oh, and you have to be ON the blog to click the button... sorry Reader readers :-P.

-Betsy

I missed Thing Thursday. Food Friday instead

Oops! I missed Thing Thursday!! I even had stuff I could have posted. My new, super comfy skirt... or the (not so exciting) black out curtains. Or the guest-room black out curtains that still haven't been hung... even though we have people sleeping in that room tomorrow. 

I think I'll stick with having skipped Thing Thursday and instead do a really lame Food Friday. Because I discovered something recently...

Peanut Butter/Nutella Sandwiches? Are delicious. You should make one. And since Nutella is apparently just as healthy as peanut butter... it can TOTALLY be considered healthy. At least... that's what I'm going with.

(not my picture, click for source link)

-Betsy

Wordless(ish) Wednesday

I love how this plant collects little jewels of water. I just think they're so pretty :)  And I'm extra happy that it survived my "split and transplant with no plan or knowledge" experiment earlier this spring! Now I have 3 nice sized bushes! It apparently likes it's new home better, lol.

Thank you to those that commented yesterday! :-D Love you guys!!  The offer still stands: let me know if commenting doesn't work for you - it looks like the setting change fixed things though. And don't forget to submit images on Monday's Post for next week's deal! No purchase necessary ;)

-Betsy

Touch Up Tuesday - Head Swap!

Did you notice that I didn't schedule today's post again? :-P... Oh well. I almost decided to say "screw it" to "Touch Up Tuesday" and complain write about something else, but instead, I'll show my latest... well, touch up. An example of the infamous head-swap. Now, I don't have the latest and greatest photo editing software, so I can't just click and fix like on the TV commercials (I say this so you know I had to work at it, lol) but I still get pretty good results. I can't link this one this week though, because I didn't take these photos... I just fixed them for my Aunt :)

Anyway, she had these two shots:

Obviously, the ideal shot is where EVERYONE is looking at the camera... so with the magic of the computer (a little copy/paste, a little eraser tool, a little fine tuning of levels) and we have....

Ta da!! Anyone else have the chance to swap some heads recently? heeheehee.

Oh, and please, attempt to comment on here - even just to say hi... if you can't, shoot me an e-mail at 

betsy @ somethingbetsy.com

I've gotten 2 remarks from people that they can't comment, and am trying to figure out what's up. I changed a setting today, so we'll see if that helps :)

-Betsy

Monday Monday!

Thanks Debbie for playing!!

This was Debbie's favorite picture last week... and so it's this week's deal!
Do YOU want to play this week? Go to www.somethingbetsy.com and check out the galleries to leave a comment here with the image number of YOUR favorite photo (or favorites!). Next Monday, I'll use Random.org to select a photo from those in the comment section of this post for the next deal!

Fine print: Each person can only submit each image ONCE. BUT, you can pick as many images as you like, and you can definitely send your friends over to comment "for" you. The only other stipulation: the image cannot have been featured for the past 4 weeks. Now... comment away!

Debbie chose image 2-20, Seashells for Rent

These buttons will add this week's image to a shopping cart... which means there is no limit to the quantity/type!  You can also shop from the website www.somethingbetsy.com to the same shopping cart (only pay shipping once!). So shop away, or make sure to check back next Monday for a different random sale!

**This deal is over... check out this week's deal instead!!**

These buttons will be moved to a new Monday Monday post when it comes out (next Monday silly). Only purchases made from THESE buttons will have the discount. I check and fill all orders before moving the buttons, but feel free to add in the notes to seller which photo you're expecting if you'd like.  All purchases from www.somethingbetsy.com will be full price, even if this image is selected.Oh, and you have to be ON the blog to click the button... sorry Reader readers :-P.

-Betsy