To Deal or Not to Deal... that is the question

During a recent conversation it was brought up that the 'other blogger' on here doesn't appreciate the "Deal of the Day" posts that I do & maybe I should do my own blog after all. I think if I had my own blog that I wouldn't be as consistent with posting as I am on this blog, since this one isn't really my "responsiblity" (yes there is a prize if I use so many quote marks per post) :) Anyway - I need to know from you - do you use the Deal of the Day? Do you find it to be beneficial? Do you think I should limit it to like the Deal of the Week or do I just need to pull up my boot straps & get my own blog? Let me know how you feel about it, because I love deals & I like to share good finds but if no one is using them, then I'm just wasting my time & annoying the 'other blogger'.

A Post of a Post

A good friend of ours has a blog & he had a very insightful post the other day. Check it out here.

Happy Friday!

Riding Sparkles on the trail

Over the holiday weekend Phil & I had the opportunity to go horseback riding at Jerry Cooper's Ranch - Black Horse Run. Let me just tell you it was a pleasure to meet this man. He was kind & gentle with the animals. He made sure that both Phil & I felt comfortable on the horses before taking us out on the trail. The ranch is not that far off of Fairview Road but on the trail you feel like you are so much further out from the city. There are beautiful trees & a lake as far as you can see.

During our trail ride Jerry told us about a previous ride where he had seen a baby black bear run across the trail. You could tell that he just loved doing what he does. We had such a wonderful time & plan to make it back out to Jerry's ranch in the near future. His prices are also quite reasonable. For both of us to ride for an hour it was $75 and the more people that go, the lower the prices are. So if anyone is interested in a group ride (..lifers?) let us know & we'll go enjoy some time together at Black Horse Run.

Jerry Cooper - #864-505-7920

A Princess Party

Back in the day I don't remember having themed birthday parties. Maybe it was because we were in the lower-middle class, maybe it was because I wasn't allowed to watch very much TV so I wouldn't have even be able to know what "theme" I wanted or maybe it was because my parents didn't love me enough, yeah I'm sure that's it. Really though I do have very fond memories of my birthdays growing up. Every year my mom would bake peanut butter cookies & put the number of M&M's on the cookies of how old I would be, sometimes she even let me put the M&M's on there myself. Then I was allowed to invite as many friends as I was old. Just thinking about those times brings a cheerful tear to my eye.

My beautiful niece KDP recently celebrated her fourth birthday that was a "Princess" theme. I wonder if she'll remember that all the princesses (including Ariel) were present on her cake or that she got a TON of presents.... Or will she remember all of the family members that were there & that come to all her birthdays, driving over 3 hours to get there just to share in the celebration? Will she remember years from now how much her parents loved her & that they did everything they could to make her birthdays special? I sure hope so. Happy Birthday Princess, you are truly loved.

Deal of the Day

Another one from Papa John's.
Get an XL pizza with up to three toppings for $15.99. Use the promo code 71508T. May I suggest mushrooms, pepperoni & ital. sausage as your three toppings? Yum! :)

All Star Games

(cross posted on Red Shirt Football blog)

With the MLB All Star game today, it got me thinking about how little I care for the All Star games. And I think that's true for most people these days. Maybe not, maybe I'm wrong, but it seems like they don't matter nearly as much as they used to. I feel like even as a kid, back then the build up was bigger and they were more anticipated then they are now. I have a couple reasons for why I think the importance and significance of the all star games (for all sports, not just baseball) is down. The first is just access to games. 15 years ago, heck, 10 years ago, not every game was on TV. Not every game was streamed live on the Internet. The guy that sits in front of me in class watches the gamecast for every Braves game during class. We have Baseball Tonight, Sportscenter, Inside the NBA, a dozen NFL and NCAAF telecasts. We are surrounded by sports coverage now. I think that takes away from it some because we are exposed to both leagues and all teams now. Back in the day, you got coverage of your local and sometimes regional teams, but beyond that, you didn't get to see the everyone play. So, the All Star game was a big deal. 20 years ago, if you were a Red Sox fan, that was probably the first TV coverage you caught of any NL players that year. Another factor is interleague play. We are seeing AL teams, AFC teams, Western conf teams, play against the the NL, NFC, Eastern conf. So, it isn't as special. Also, I don't think the conferences mean as much as they used to. Some of this probably goes back to the vast amount of sports coverage we get now. Divisions still matter, but outside of your division, I just don't feel like AFC vs. NFC, etc doesn't have as much weight to it. Again, these are just ramblings and I'm probably off in left field here. But, I can tell you one guy who won't be watching the All Star game tonight and won't regret my decision at all. I just don't have the motivation to watch a meaningless game whose stats don't even help me out fantasy-wise. Maybe that's how we can get people to watch it: 1) fantasy all star challenge? or 2) legalized gambling on all star games. The game doesn't count anyway, why can't we gamble on it?

MuteMath

We saw MuteMath at the Tabernacle last fall & they yet again topped their previous show. We didn't tape any of it, but someone else was able to get some shots. Check them out. New album is coming soon (can't wait!!)

Deal of the Day

The Discovery online store is having their Semi-Annual DVD Sale: Up to 75% Off+ Free Shipping Offer! If you spend $75 or more you will get free shipping. Be sure to check it out they have stuff on there that's not "educational" as well. It's not to early to be thinking about Christmas presents! ;)

Deal of the Day

Here's another one for today - Redbox is already such a good deal for a little over a $1 for movie after tax for rentals, now it's even better. Free Rental Monday - use code 83CB4K at your local redbox & get a movie to watch tonight FREE.

Deal of the Day

Happy Monday!
Pet Food Direct is having a sale. You'll be able to save an additional 5% when you use coupon code INSTANT5

Deal of the Day

I really like Ten Thousand Villages. They work with over 100 artisan groups in more than 30 countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America to bring you fair trade jewelry, home decor, gifts and more. Fair trade enables artisans to earn a fair wage and provides the opportunity for a better quality of life..

Their Greenville location on Augusta Road is having a sale:
World Caravan Sale
Lewis Plaza Sizzling Sidewalk Sale

Begins tomorrow -- July 12
Continues through Saturday, July 19

Many selected gifts, home decor, jewelry
and more on sale!!

Be sure to check it out & if you can't make the sale, Visit during regular store hours Monday - Saturday 10:00 - 5:30. They still have great things for reasonable prices.

Deal of the Day

Today at Chick-fil-A they are giving away free food if you come dressed like a cow. Apparently it's "Cow Appreciation Day". Check it out here & if you all do dress up, or have your kids dress up I expect pictures. :)

What's that noise?

Oh, it's just my head pounding. So, we've had an ongoing issue with our cat, Dirty Sox crying/meowing to wake us up in the morning. She actually didn't start with the crying, she first messed with the blinds in the bedroom. We thought we had won. Since she figured out that she couldn't get up on the windowsill, she stands at the end or side of our bed & just cries. We tried calling her up on the bed & petting her, which worked, until about an hour later, wash, rinse & repeat. We tried carrying her out from our room & putting her in the guest bedroom. Which worked, but prevented Austin from being able to get in there & use the litter box. We tried earlier this week taking her out & putting her in the guest bathroom. She HATED that & cried the whole time & pawed at the door. We tried just simply closing our door & they BOTH sat outside of it & cried. So yesterday, exhausted & at the point of giving up, I turned to my friend. The two most common pieces of advice were to use a squirt bottle & to simply ignore the cat because any response from the owner is a response, so the cat will keep on keeping on. Phil & I are against the water bottle because I think it's mean & DS is skittish anyhow & we fear that would prevent her from wanting to come into the bedroom at all. This morning was day one of Mission: Ignore DS. It went okay. She started crying/meowing at about 5:30 & kept on doing it on & off until the alarm went off. She also managed to knock down one of the monkeys & started messing with the blinds because she was so determined to get attention. Day One: Us - 1 DS -0... I think.....

Deal of the Day

Hope everyone had a great holiday weekend! We had a wonderful day off of work, more about that soon. But now - the Deal of the Day - CVS Photos - Add 50 4x6 prints in your cart, enter promo code 50get20 and pay for only 30 prints . And right now all prints are only .15/ea. so go & get those holiday photos uploaded!

Deal of the Day

Having a bunch of folks over this holiday weekend? Order your pizza online from Papa John's & use coupon code 70308A and get FREE Cheesesticks when you buy a large pizza with three or more toppings at regular menu price. Hope everyone has a safe & fun holiday weekend!

I love me some sales

Shortly after I moved to the south I heard about this great store (Kohl's) that was having a HUGE sale & it was over at midnight that night. Well I LOVE deals so I was all excited to head over there. If memory serves, I cancelled the plans that I had just to go to this sale. It was a "grand opening" sale for a store that had already been opened but they had a store opening in another state, so hey, let's all celebrate. I went to the sale, found some great deals & was all proud of myself for my pickings only to notice that the next week they were having another sale that ends at midnight & hurry in these prices won't last long. This is not to say that I don't like Kohl's, because I do & you CAN find good deals there but if you miss one sale, don't fret they'll be sure to run another one in prob. less than 7 days.

Deal of the Day

Kohl's is having a sale (as always) & shipping is only .99 (if you read the fine print this seems to be per item not total shipping costs - BUT still less than gas these days) So if you are only buying a few things this may not be the deal for you but once you buy up to 5 things the shipping starts going below .99/item.