Giveaway: Flings Trash and Recycle Bins

With the busy Fourth of July weekend, most of us will be cooking out or attending a BBQ. (Whoo hoo!)

Let me tell you something I learned last BBQ I hosted: no one will even attempt to recycle things if you only have one trash can outside. Most people won't even bother to walk to the trashcan on the side of the house with their trash even though it's a matter of feet away. That means I get to spend a half an hour gathering up trash and sorting out the recycling after all my guests have left, because I can't bring myself to just toss everything. (Sigh - see? I do tend to be a good little environmentalist) I only have one indoor trash can, and I thought about bringing it out and stationing it on the deck, but then I wouldn't have anything inside while I was preparing side dishes.

Enter Flings Trash and Recycle Bins. They will save you more time - and not get your indoor trash can dirty, either. All you have to do is open the package, pop the bin open, and place it where people are gathering.


Plus, there's even a design that has the recycling symbol on it too, so folks can easily drop it in the bin.


I'm not going to guarantee that everyone will throw their trash away properly, but hey, it's a start! And at a suggested retail of about $4 each, they won't break the bank, either.

Want some tips for your next get together from Jeanne Benedict, a nationally renowned event planner? Check out this video:



Direct link for the feedreaders

I'm going to try some of her ideas for our Fourth party!

Win it! Would you like to try a Flings bin for your next get together for free? One lucky reader will win a Flings bin! To enter, tell me what's (or was) on your menu for the Fourth of July! (I'm looking for more ideas! LOL) Easy peasy! :) Do you have clean up issues too? (Do you wish you could hire a maid just to clean up for those occasions? lol)

As always, you can receive extra entries for:

-Subscribing to my feed or following my blog
-Blogging about this giveaway with a link back
-Tweeting about this giveaway (leave the link or @psychotichouse)

That's four (4) possible entries! Giveaway ends July 10th at 11:59 PM PST, and please leave your email address in your entry or have it available in your profile. US only, sorry :( Good luck everyone!! :)

I didn't receive anything for writing this post, but one winner receive the nifty prize stated above.

How Horrible!

A little girl was recently crushed in the UK by a closing gate.

This is a horrible, horrible tragedy, and as a mother I can't even begin to imagine. My heart breaks for this mother. None of us should ever, ever see our child die before us.

But when I read comments like this:

It's about time electronic gates were banned, get out and shut them yourself like the rest of us. It's a tragic accident waiting to happen. Poor little soul.

A slip in the tub can kill you too, but do we ban them? No, we don't. More people die in car accidents because they were speeding, but is the maximum speed limit the car can go when it's made 55? No, it's not. You can't ban everything, just because "someone might die". In that case, I vote we ban cars all together - it's just as absurd.

Sadly, the child took a stupid risk that she never should have taken to begin with, and as much as I hate to say it, where was the Mom? She didn't even know her six year old child was out in the back area at 7:30 at night!

What are your thoughts? Ban the gates?

Book Review: When A Woman Takes An Axe To A Wall by Allegra Bennett

I recently received a copy of the book, When A Woman Takes An Axe To A Wall (Where Is She Really Trying To Go?) by Allegra Bennett.


They had me at the title. The frustration I have with this house and everything falling apart faster than we can fix the last thing that fell apart? Give me that axe so I can just bash in these walls - it's been so tempting. I woe the day I let the hanging pots and pans rack rope me in when I saw the first pictures and thought it might be a good idea to come check this place out.

One of the things I've learned over the last few years, is that if I wait on my DH to fix something, I'm going to be waiting a very long, long time. (Due to his job schedule) I always looked at the "fix it jobs" as the husband's job to do, not the wife's - the kitchen and cleaning inside are my domain, the yard is my DH's, and I just supervise over anything that involves painting or changing things out. ;) Now, I know that if I can handle tackling something, I better, or I'll have to live with it. (See my attacking the back yard a few weeks back)

When I first saw the title, When A Woman Takes An Axe To A Wall (Where Is She Really Trying To Go?), I expected a motivational story about fixing your home by yourself. While there are lots of remodeling stories in the book, that's just it - it's a collection of short stories mostly, split into three "book" sections: House Power, Hard Hats, and Foundation Fundamentals. To me, the book is like a blog tour - because each little story (some only a page or two long) almost seems like it comes from a different blogger each time. They'll mention a project they had to do - many times single or divorced Moms - and then what they seemed to come away from the project (or projects) learning about themselves.

If you like collections of motivational stories, you may want to pick up When A Woman Takes An Axe To A Wall (Where Is She Really Trying To Go?). It's a quick read - most folks could probably get through it with no problems in a day or two.

When A Woman Takes An Axe To A Wall (Where Is She Really Trying To Go?) is published by Writer's Lair Books. It's 144 pages long, and the suggested retail price for this paperback book is $15.99.

Win it! Want to win your own copy of this book, When A Woman Takes An Axe To A Wall (Where Is She Really Trying To Go?)? To enter, just tell us about a home project you've tackled yourself!

As always, you can receive extra entries for:

-Subscribing to my feed or following my blog
-Blogging about this giveaway with a link back
-Tweeting about this giveaway (leave the link or @psychotichouse)

That's four (4) possible entries! Giveaway ends July 10th at 11:59 PM PST, and please leave your email address in your entry or have it available in your profile. US only, sorry :( Good luck everyone!! :)

I received a copy of this book to write a review. One winner will receive the prize above.

Random Thoughts Tuesday - Cold?

Seriously, I can hardly keep my eyes open this morning. *yawn* It's overcast, so I'll blame it on the weather.

Poll for my Southerners: Do you eat your fried chicken cold, too? My DH about had a coronary last week when I told him just to eat the leftover fried chicken cold - he went to go drag out out the microwave just to warm it up. Now I was a vegetarian as a kid, so I never did - but I know everyone around me ate meat cold too in the hot Summer months, and it doesn't bother me now that I eat some meat. I always assumed it was just a Southern thing, but maybe not?

It's funny, we're both from extremely small towns with dirt roads, pretty similar family backgrounds, and then I'll ask him if he remembers doing something when we were kids, and he'll look at me like I'm an alien. Actually, I think I know what it is - he grew up in the "city" (ha!) limits, and I grew up on a farm. (and yet I'm the one who spent my adult life in big cities, while he stayed home. He lasted all of 6 weeks in Dallas, before he went running back home because he hated it)

It seems to be prime Corgi fur blowout season - I could Swiffer ten times a day and still not get it all - and that's with using the Furminator! Good grief. Pudgy never really shed much, but these two certainly make up for it.

We're still on DH's wonky schedule at work. He has become the go-to guy and it's driving me insane - and I really don't need anymore help with that, thank you very much. He called me earlier asking what we were doing on the 3rd, because someone was trying to get him to switch days with him. I told him that if he switched days with anyone over the Fourth of July weekend, I would change all the locks. Seriously! I said for once we have an entire holiday weekend off, we are having our Fourth BBQ party, going to the parade, maybe do some fishing and swimming on the 3rd, and behaving like the average American family celebrating.

I may have had too much time on my hands late last night, because I found this Disease Mongering Engine and had too much fun with it. (You know, because they are back pushing that H1N1 vax because we're having such a big resurgence this summer. Vitamin D, it does a body good.) I liked this one: Delusional Dissociative Behavior Dysfunction (DDBD)
DDBD is characterized by unreal thoughts, visions or voices correlating with a perceptual isolation from reality when engaged in real-world activities.

...what's wrong with the voices in my head? They keep me company and have such good ideas... LOL!

We're impatiently waiting for Daddy to get home so we can go to the park and play. It's been so much fun going out more. I hate to think of the extra gas and other expenses, but on the other hand, we can't just stay at home all the time. I pack snacks, and I've found lots of places to go within an hour distance that are free or near free.

Fathoms O' Fun Festival 2010

Friday kicked off our local Fathoms O' Fun Festival here in Port Orchard - there's a craft fair, some local music, and food this weekend, along with a Street Scramble, where you go on a treasure hunt of sorts - this one, you have to mark off sites around town, all within walking distance. It's a sneaky way to get some exercise in for some folks. ;) The weekly Farmers Market was also going on too!

The one thing I want to say though before I post pictures, is that as we were walking through the craft fair just as many of the vendors were finishing getting ready for the big crowds today, is that I am extremely disappointed that the folks in charge let booths that did NOT belong as part of a "craft fair" in. This was no place for someone to be begging for election votes (there was!), trying to sign up people to "win" free windows - there was two different windows people!, and several other things that did not belong. It seems to me that money was the name of the game, and calling it a craft fair was just convinient. Call it entirely a street festival, fine, but not a craft fair and farmer's market - shame on those involved with letting vendors in! (Looking at the website, I see they are now calling it a "craft and vendor show" - whatever! It's still pretty pathetic.)





Seriously, these folks need to come camp out at my house for the mornings I'm out of caffeine around here. It gets ugly!


Did you know pony rides can get expensive? Really, yet another reason we need land so we skip the middleman and our own. I got my own when I was three, daddy better get a move on it. LOL


I hope you and your family are having a fabulous weekend together too! :)

Faster Than A Speeding Bullet!

That's us, at the first sound of this:


DH goes, I hear Texas! Haha! Good thing Mamma had some cash hidden, because even if it's overcast and dreary, nothing says Summer like the ice cream truck. ;)

It's the first time we've heard it this year - and he'd better be back! (even if his prices are highway robbery - sigh!)

DVD Review: Madeline's Great Adventures

I'm Madeline, I'm Madeline, I may be very small, I'm Madeline, I'm Madeline, but inside I'm tall!

We recently received a copy of the new DVD, Madeline's Great Adventures.


As some of you may know, we are super big Madeline fans over here, so we were excited to see another new Madeline title available! This latest DVD contains six fun Madeline stories, including: "Madeline and The Magic Carpet", "Madeline On Safari", "Madeline and the Lost Crown", "Madeline and the Gypsies", "Madeline and the Pirates" (our favorite on the DVD - PIRATES!!), and "Madeline and the Forty Thieves".

As usual, the stories on the DVD are all inspired by the stories in the books, and you'll see Madeline's spunky self, along with her adorable doggy Genevieve, her teacher Miss Clavel, Pepito from next door, and of course, all her friends. Once again, with Madeline's help, the DVD delivers the message that little girls can achieve anything they want to, if they are stubborn enough! ;)

Madeline is always welcome in our home, and this is another one of the kids shows that even I can't get tired of. If you're into printable coloring sheets, there's a really cute Madeline one here! (It's a zip file)

Madeline's Great Adventures will be released on DVD on Tuesday, June 29th, 2010, and runs 132 minutes long. It is full screen edition, and rated G - it's best for ages 3-5, older kids will probably be bored. There is no violence or bad language to be worried about, and this DVD doesn't contain any special features. The suggested retail price is $12.99, but Amazon has it on pre-order as of this posting for just $8.99.

I received a copy of this DVD to view in order to write a review. All links contained are for your convenience, they are not referral links.

Puget Sound Naval Museum

I had hoped to have better - and more - photos for this post, but my camera just wasn't in agreement. Sorry about that!

The Puget Sound Naval Museum is located in Bremerton, Washington, over on 1st Street. Originally, it was located on base, so you needed to have base access in order to visit, but in recent years it has been moved to it's current location, just outside the base and an incredibly short walk from the ferry dock. It has a great collection of goodies from the Puget Sound's ship building past, as well as some great information about the USS John C. Stennis, which is home docked here in Bremerton.

The Puget Sound Naval Museum even has a great area for kids to play on in a hands on exhibit - everything from a super sturdy play kitchen set that my family is now coveting (lol):


To areas with military clothing dress up, and lots of mirrors to see yourself in:



As a mom, I have to tell you this was one of the best play areas I've seen at a museum. There was also a TV with some videos, and coloring areas too. I wanted to ask how much it would cost for babysitting! ;)

Here's some shots of exhibits:




One of my favorite pieces of the exhibits was this World War II ration book from Mrs Marie Greer and her shipyard badge. Sometimes we tend to forget how easy we have it these days!



As I mentioned above, the USS John C. Stennis is a big focal part of the museum, and there's lots of fun stuff to see and play with.




You can even get onto a life size bunk, which as you can see, my poor DH kind of got stuck in. LOL


There are videos to be seen, and talking exhibits too. Plan to spend about an hour walking through it if you visit. Admission is free, and they are open 10:00 AM-4:00 PM Monday through Saturday, and 1:00 PM-4:00 PM on Sundays. There is an elevator making it stroller friendly for fellow parents, and it has a great Navy gift shop.

Thrifty Thursday - An Idea For Used Gift Cards

This week for my Thrifty Thursday post, I've got a use for those used gift cards that you can't - or won't - reload.

Unfortunately, used gift cards seem to pile up. Want a fun use for them? Have a guitarist in the house? Get yourself a pick, a marker, and some scissors (this is a supervised projects for kids, and remember, scissors and plastic can be hard to work with!)

Take the original pick, and trace the design onto the card. Keep doing it until the card is covered or near it - I was able to get 5 on each card for mine. Then trim it inside the marker, being very careful! If you have any sharp edges, just use a regular nail file to soften it.




If you have a family member who plays, you probably know how easily they go through them - or that the pick fairy tends to take off with them. ;) This will save you a little bit of cash that could be better spent on more equipment by using these for practice, and you're helping to save the environment too. Now if you prefer a thinner gauge pick, this might not be more you unless you happen to have more wobbly gift cards, but these are about on par with what most people use.

CD Review: Sergio Mendes - Bom Tempo

I recently received a copy of Sergio Mendes' latest CD, Bom Tempo.


I started to write this review, and suddenly realized that a huge portion of my readers probably have no idea who Sergio Mendes is. He is a lengendary Brazlian pianist and composer - his music is bossa nova (which I realize most people probably only know from the auto settings on keyboards LOL) with a great Latin dance beat and a little R&B & Carribbean flavoring that begs you to move. This - this is the style of music my great-grandmother and grandmother could listen to all day. It makes you want to sit out on the street with a margarita or cool drink in hand and watch the musicians play. He's released over 35 albums so far during his career.

Bom Tempo (English translation: Good Times) does not disappoint Sergio's fans, and if you're willing to give it a chance, will bring in new fans. For the unfamiliar fans, the female voice heard on the CD is actually Sergio's wife, Gracinha Leporace. (Black Eyed Peas may recognize her voice from the song Mas Que Nada). While most of the songs are in Sergio's native tongue of Portuguese, several songs do have some English in them - not that you need English to dance to, folks. This CD probably has the most urban dance beats ever from Sergio, so it makes a good crossover CD if you're into that kind of music. Here's the track listing:

1. Emorio
2. Maracatu Atomico
3. You and I
4. Ye-Me-Le
5. Magalenha
6. Orpheus (Quiet Carnival)
7. Pais Tropical
8. Maracatu (Nation of Love)
9. The Real Thing
10. Caminhos Cruzados
11. Caxanga
12. Só Tinha De Ser Com Você

Bom Tempo definitely makes a good BBQ or outdoor party CD if you want to change up your flavoring, or if you are just looking for a CD to boogie your tush on to while cleaning the house or working out. "Magalenha" with it's cheering and whistles is a good song to add to any World Cup party, by the way. I dare you to put on this CD and not want to dance - you can't help it, trust me. ;)

Sergio Mendes' Bom Tempo is available now wherever you purchase CDs, sites like Amazon (where as of this posting it's $12.99), or for download from iTunes.

I received a copy of this CD to write a review.

Swagbucks Promo Code For New Users

If you're not already using Swagbucks to search, now through Friday (tomorrow at 11:59 PM), this code gives new users 20 extra Swagbucks when signing up: SweetTweeting.


Swagbucks has introduced a lot of new "bills" in the last couple of months - now you can earn anywhere from 5 to 100 pretty much on your searches when you hit their little "jackpot". I'll admit, when they first changed the format, I wasn't too thrilled. I felt in the long run I was going to end up for less for my searching efforts - but it's not like Google pays you anything to search! Now that I've looked back, it turns out I'm actually ending up with a little more, which makes me happy. They've had some easy ways to get extra Swagbucks too - you can earn a Swagbuck every day by just taking the Daily Poll, located on the left hand sidebar of the site. You'll also get another Swagbuck simply for logging into the Trusted Surveys area, too. (Easy peasy!) And, another one if you click though all the Special Offers, which sometimes has some great coupons and offers located on it. (They had a $10 off coupon for Firestone oil changes this week!) Plus, if you download the toolbar, you get another one each day for using it, as well as special codes from time to time. I'm not a fan of downloading anything extra myself, but if you don't mind, you can search directly from that toolbar, as well as a host of other things apparently.

Right now, 450 Swagbucks equals a $5 gift certificate for Amazon. Just by searching when I think of it, a few promo codes here and there that I catch (I think I land maybe 1 out of every 5 they release, they do a bunch but I always miss them!), and the daily clicks above, I'm getting about $15 a month in Amazon gift cards - so it's definitely worth it, especially getting money towards a holiday gift or two. I find that my evening searches end up with more Swagbucks than the day time searches, by the way. (which works well for me, because it's after bedtime I'm online more)

Why I'm so happy right now? Thanks to Swagbucks and some surveys from sites like Opinion Outpost (you can see them on my righthand bar), I'm about to buy a Canon point and shoot camera from Amazon, with no cost to me out of pocket! I'm just waiting on one more $5 gift certificate so I can cover the tax - I could use the checking because it's not very much, but I want to be able to say I did it all myself! (I'm a dork like that I guess) You know what that means? In a few weeks I'll be able to take recipe photos again! LOL The post I'll be doing here in a few minutes from a local museum, I shot over 100 photos just to end up with a few nice ones, it was depressing. I've hated missing out on opportunities for family pictures - now outdoors, the camera I have now still does really good. Go figure!

Referral links above!

CD Review: Kenny G - Heart and Soul

Oh, I can hear the laughter already. Shush. I recently received Kenny G's new album, Heart and Soul to review.


Alright... so that mane of hair does lead to giggles. ;) But c'mon, don't we all look for some romantic and relaxing music from time to time? Blindly, if you didn't know who Kenny G was, chances are you'd probably like his music if you don't already. The guy has been around for years, and has consistently put out CDs and new music that sells well - the guy has sold over 75 million records/CDs. You have to give him props for that, even if he's not your kind of music. He's a Grammy winner for a reason, and his saxophone playing is probably one of the best you'll ever hear.

(Trivia: Did you know Kenny is originally from Seattle?)

Heart and Soul at times seems awfully familiar, you'll have a sense of deja vu if you're a fan, but a deja vu from earlier records - not the stuff he's put out the last 10 years. There's a little less adult contemporary "fluff" - a la his cover album he put out a few years ago - and a little more R & B jazz oomph - you know, like the style that made him famous back in the 80's back before he became the butt of every joke it seems.

Crud. I just showed my age there. lol There's some guest artists on the CD - which seems to be the craze these days? Doesn't everyone seem to have a guest artist or two on their CDs? This one features Robin Thicke on the album single “Fall Again” as well as Babyface on the single "No Place Like Home".

Here's the official track listing:

Track listing is as follows:
1. Heart And Soul
2. Déjà Vu
3. Fall Again – featuring Robin Thicke
4. Letters From Home
5. The Promise
6. No Place Like Home – featuring Kenny “Babyface” Edmonds
7. My Devotion
8. G-Walkin’
9. Sunrise
10. One Breath
11. Encore
12. After Hours

Heart and Soul makes a great CD for a romantic dinner at home with your husband or wife. Send the kids to the grandparents, pick up some great take out, and a bottle of good wine if you drink, sit back and enjoy the evening.

Kenny G's new album, Heart and Soul will be released on June 29th, 2010, and you can find it at your favorite music store, sites like Amazon (where it's available on pre-order as of this posting for $12.99), and available for downloads from sites like iTunes.

You know the drill: I received a copy of this CD in order to write a review.

Mamma Needs A Vacation

I'm sure many of you know that feeling well. lol

DH is fine - he just ate too much junk and didn't sleep enough before going back to work. Seriously, I didn't feel sorry for him. I'm sure they sent him home because when he tossing his cookies up (lol, sorry), you can hear the guy for miles. Even though I knew he wasn't contagious, they don't know that, so I'd do the same thing.

Sigh.

The Grumpy Princess is resting comfortably right now in her little bed. She's actually doing better than I thought she would when we picked her up last night. For a lack of a way to put it, there's about as many different medications on my counter as you might see with an elderly person, so I have a little schedule to follow so not too much is being taken at once. (So we can see if she has any reactions to specific meds too.)

DH says I am too hard on vet offices, but I look at it this way: I am paying cash for a service to be performed. It's like a haircut - if you have a lousy haircut time and time again, wouldn't you look for a new stylist? I expect a certain level of service.

I was just super unhappy with the way things were handled. I do realize we were a last minute emergency, and I am grateful they choose to see us at all. However, if you are that far behind because you have double booked, I would rather be told to stop by, pick up a photocopy of the medical records, and head on over to the emergency clinic in Poulsbo. I don't know what it is, but I just feel like the vets out here aren't the same as back home. Meem's vet was the BEST. All my questions were always answered, she was honest when something wasn't needed, reminded me that domestic cats aren't supposed to weigh 18.9 pounds... LOL (Ah, if she could only see how big Muffin is!)

I probably should have just been a vet like I wanted to be when I was a kid, right? lol My sink full of dishes is calling me - blah. One day I will own a dishwasher that actually works right.

A girl can dream, right?

Wordless Wednesday: USS Turner Joy

Your trivia for the day: the USS Turner Joy is the last Forrest Sherman class destroyer built.

Book Review: Montana Destiny by R.C. Ryan

I recently received a copy of Montana Destiny by R.C. Ryan to review.


Montana Destiny is a romance novel set in - yep, you guessed it - Montana. This is actually book two of a trilogy - the first one Montana Legacy is already available as well, so you may want to check it out before reading this book. (Although, it's not necessary) This book has the character Marilee Trainor who is an EMT. Her love interest in this book is Wyatt McCord - one of three cousins that this trilogy is based on. (Each book is a different cousin)

Marilee is kind of a tough cookie - she's not afraid to do whatever she wants to. In the trilogy, the McCord family has a pretty large range (farm to you city folks lol) that's worth a great deal of money, especially due to the fact that's got some buried treasure on it. Yep, the family fortune is buried in the ground. Marilee happens to find a "clue" towards where the treasure might be, and because of this, someone wants her head on platter. Wyatt likes her spunk and wants to protect her and move their relationship forward, and you can kind of guess where the story is going from here - it's your usual uh, romance from there. ;)

Montana Destiny is a good way to waste some time in the evening or on vacation, and this one is in mass market paperback, with a suggested retail of $6.99, so it won't break your budget, and it's easy to slip in your carry-on or purse for the waiting rooms. The story itself is contemporary, and it's got a country feel to it with the setting in Montana. If you're into your romance stories being in the city with lots of information about the latest clothes your character is wearing or where they are eating dinner and going dancing, maybe this one isn't for you then. I enjoyed relaxing with it though. This is a best selling author (you may recognize her other name - Ruth Ryan Langan), and the writing is well done. I've read some doozies in the romance field where I couldn't keep track of who was coming or going and things weren't making sense - you won't have this problem with this one.

Montana Destiny can be found at your favorite local bookstore, or places like Amazon, and you can also get it as an e-book if you have a Kindle or Nook reader too. It's 352 pages long. The third book in the trilogy is set to be released around November - if you want to read them all one after each other to keep in the swing of the stories, then you may want to wait until then. (Or just take the excuse to re-read the first two just before it comes out!)

I received a copy of this book to write a review.

DVD Review: The Secret Life of the American Teenager Volume Four

I recently received The Secret Life of the American Teenager Volume Four on DVD to review.


If you are unfamiliar with the series, The Secret Life of the American Teenager, it's a show seen on the ABC Family channel. The first season started off with the unexpected teen pregnancy of the daughter in the family, who tried to hide it. Most people assume that every teenage pregnancy is from the "troublemaking" kids - this one's an honor student, so it blows that stereotype out the door. As the second seasons go on, it shows how Amy deals with motherhood, and her mother - played by one of my favorite 80's actresses Molly Ringwald- deals with her cheating husband and finding out she's now pregnant. (Isn't that just Murphy's Law?)

While the series probably isn't the most wholesome when you think that you've got teenage pregnancy before marriage, mom and dad having marital issues, with cheating and divorce, let's be honest - this is normal these days. If nothing else, watching the show with your teen does gives you a chance to open up some dialogue and discuss what is happening, and give you a chance to hear your kids' thoughts on the subjects. Molly Ringwald is great as the Mom in this series, and the daughter, played by Shailene Woodley, is really great as well. I enjoy watching this show, and usually catch up via the Secret Life website on ABC Family. If you haven't watched the series, definitely start at the beginning - check with your local library for the older volumes, or check out Amazon - I've seen some great deals on the series at times.

Volume four is the second half of season two, and contains the last episode of the season. It contains three discs, with 12 episodes in total. It also contains bonus footage in an exclusive preview of Ashley Juergen's Secret Diary, a novella released on June 15, 2010. There is also some behind the scenes footage, and you'll be able to hear some of the cast members talk about the importance of family.

Now I really wish they'd wait and put each whole season on one disc set, because it's easier for us with our DVD collection overtaking shelves, but I do appreciate not having to wait until several months after the season ends to get to rewatch episodes from the beginning.

The Secret Life of the American Teenager Volume Four was released on June 15th, 2010, and is available now wherever you purchase your DVDs or downloads. The total running time of the box set is 516 minutes (including bonus footage), and it is rated TV14 with parental discretion advised due to the subject matter (sex and adult situations). The suggested retail price is $39.99, but as of this posting, Amazon has it for $25.49.

I received a copy of this DVD to write a review. No other compensation was given.

Ba Back As Soon As I Can

DH was on vacation, so we've been out and about... but today he just came home sick, and now I have a corgi emergency - it's the Grumpy Princess again. :(

How About A Little Basketball?

I'm so famous, they named a WNBA team after me! LOL!!!


Yesterday, we celebrated Father's Day over in Seattle. Sadly, it was typical Seattle weather - look at this driving in:


Thanks to One2One Network and the fabulous folks over at WNBA and the NBA, we were there to see the Seattle Storm (hehe!) take on our former home state San Antonio Silver Stars! (Yes, DH wanted to cheer for them and had to stop himself. LOL) It was super exciting for us, and I've never been to a pro basketball game! I've done every other major sport - but this was my first basketball game since college at OSU!




The Storm had a little bit of a slow start, but by the end of the second period they were SMOKING. It was pretty obvious why the Storm was number one right now in the Western Conference! The final score ended up being 82 to 61. Don't ever try to say women athletes don't play as hard as the men, because these women are AWESOME athletes! (Flash wasn't allowed during the game, and as you may know, my camera is on life support, so the photos I tried to take during play didn't come out, or I'd have more rockin' shots to share!)

I have to tell you that this was the most family friendly sports game I have ever been to - I have been to a lot (mostly hockey and baseball). It's my first since being a Mom, so maybe I just noticed it more... no I don't thinks so. What they did for the kids was amazing - we arrived a little early and during warm ups one of the player's kids was playing on the court while everyone warmed up. During breaks, they did activities with the kids, even a conga line at one point where all the kids were welcome to come down on the court and dance. And when the game ended, kids were welcome to come on down and shoot a few hoops! How cool is that when you are a kid?

And when the game ended too, we were able to get autographs from Ashley Robinson and Le'coe Willingham! DH had his picture taken with Ashley too for his collection of famous people photos. (He's such a dork!) The players all went nuts for our new t-shirts - we had them sign our daughter's shirt since it's too big for her now. I guess the shirt isn't widely available yet and they all want one of their own! (Thank you NBA!)

We cannot wait for the next time we get to go see the Storm play! We'll probably go again when San Antonio is in town, since it's Texas and all. ;) (The Silver Stars have the coolest uniform in the league, I have to admit!) For those who think heading to a WNBA game might be too expensive, all the teams tend to have some deals - last night's game was 2 for 1 tickets. Hit up your local team's website and check out what promos they have going on. And the WNBA is offering all my readers - no matter which WNBA team you are going to go see! - a discount on your tickets! It's about a 27% discount per ticket depending on the price range:

$10 tickets will be discounted to $8.
$19 tickets will be discounted to $12.
$25 tickets will be discounted to $15.
$55 tickets will be discounted to $30.
$60 tickets will be discounted to $35.

They just go to this website, enter promo code WNBABLOG to purchase tickets to the game or game of your choice! You will need to create an account in order to use the code, simply enter your email address, create a password – and discount! Trust me, you will have a BLAST!

(Psst... Seahawks fans, Matt Hassleback was in the house with his family last night!)

I have to end my post with this wonderful banner they have cheering me on!


Snort, snort, giggle, giggle. DH says it's all going to my head. Whatever! ;) Seriously, GO STORM! Here's hoping the championship is all yours this season!

Thank you again to One2One Network and the WNBA/NBA for this fabulous night out and these awesome seats! We received tickets for our family to attend this game above.

Giveaway: Dads & Pets

You might remember my Chicken Soup for the Pet Lovers Soul post last month. Well, this month, in honor of Father's Day, the theme is Dads & Their Pets. We have an abundance of pets here, and my husband is definitely an animal lover. The Pudgy Princess was really our first born child. Now, with Captain and the Grumpy Princess in the mix, we like to say we have three kids running around - some moments it feels like it's insanity with one little one dashing around giggling and the two dogs following her. LOL

In honor of the Dads & Their Pets theme, I asked my husband to write the post with me. The following is from him:


The Pudgy Princess

Our first furry child we've had together as a married couple was our Pudgy Princess. She was the greatest child we could ever have. She was an older child, 11 years old, but she acted like she was still a very young corgi. Full of energy and always wanting attention from her new family. I remember when we first moved into our house she would always want greet me at the front gate whenever I would arrive home from work. She was truly our princess and having to let her go was the most difficult decision we had to make. Even after almost a year since we had to let her go, I just need to see her pictures and I just become very depressed for having to make that choice. When the opportunity came for a rescue we took it. My wife found 2 corgis and we just knew we had to take them in. They may be brother and sister but they are polar opposites from each other. The girl is a lazy, grumpy growly princess and the boy is hyper, affectionate prince who hogs up all the space in the bed and never wants to be apart from his mother. hehehe Even though they are nothing like our Pudgy Princess they are special in their own way. We love out furry kids with all our heart and would do anything for them to make them happy.

Captain and Grumpy Princess
Pudgy always used to greet him - that first night when she was gone it was really hard for us. :( Never come between a man and his dog, let me tell you! She would complain every time he even tried to hug me! LOL It's funny, because we adopted her to be my dog, and she ended up being HIS dog! She really was Daddy's girl. My husband didn't mention his kitty, but he has his cat too. He found Sabbath underneath the car when we lived in the apartment - he walked in the door one day and goes, Um, I found this under the car? LOL


Sabbath
I have to say, I have a great husband when it comes to our pets - he doesn't blink an eye whenever someone else needs a home. A lot of guys aren't that easy going. There have been moments we've felt like the crazy cat people, but he takes it all in stride - even when there have been nights that we've had as many as 7 pets sleeping in our little bed with us! LOL


Did you know that Chicken Soup for the Pet Lovers Soul has a page over on Facebook? If you "like" them, you'll be able to find out about new products, and specials going on with the brand. You can also follow them over on Twitter too!

Win it! Chicken Soup for the Pet Lover's Soul has a prize for one lucky reader - you'll receive a sample bag of their dog food, Chicken Soup for the Dog Lovers Soul. It's a great way to try out this brand of food if you haven't had a chance too yet - it's a brand I've used with my pets. To enter, tell us about the Dad in your life and his pets.

As always, you can receive extra entries for:

-Subscribing to my feed or following my blog
-Blogging about this giveaway with a link back
-Tweeting about this giveaway (leave the link or @psychotichouse)

That's four (4) possible entries! Giveaway ends July 3rd at 11:59 PM PST, and please leave your email address in your entry or have it available in your profile. US only, sorry :( Good luck everyone!! :)

I didn't receive anything for this post, but one reader will win the prize stated above.

Another Reason I Don't Do Public Schools

This one just takes the cake. An 8 year old boy created a hat for a project that contained a patriotic theme. He wasn't allowed the wear the hat, and was told to re-do the project. The boy's crime?

He violated the schools no weapon policy by his tiny, little plastic dollar tree army soldiers carrying their tiny, molded, plastic attached weapons.

Really? I mean, REALLY? Is this school district serious? Do they really think our brave men and women who died for our glorious freedom did it by tickling their enemies to death? C'mon! Carrying a plastic switchblade to school? Alright, I get it. But toy soldiers that are an inch high with teeny tiny little weapons that don't even come off is beyond ridiculous.

This boy, David Morales, gets my kudos for standing up, and I'm proud of him. I'm glad to hear that Lt. Gen. Reginald Centracchio gave this little boy a medal - he did nothing wrong.

Giveaway: National Wildlife Federation’s Great American Backyard Campout

Did you know that June 26th is National Wildlife Federation’s Great American Backyard Campout?

The Great American Backyard Campout is an event that happens every year now - this is the 6th year in a row! It encourages kids to step away from the square box known as the TV and the video games, and get outside! You don't have to travel far to go camping - you'd probably be surprised at how many campgrounds may be in your local area, and you can even camp in your backyard! Pull out the sleeping bags and dust off those tents, and go camping - and don't forget to leave the electronics at home. You'll have yourself a BLAST! If you're in need of a tent or new sleeping bag, don't forget to check out a thrift store, or ask around on Craigslist and Freecycle. I know we have more than one tent because we've outgrown our original one. (A 2 person tent does not fit 2 people, 1 toddler, and three medium size dogs anymore LOL)


If you can't go camping on the 26th due to schedules, consider at least spending some time outside in your backyard, and make smores over the grill! You can print a coupon to save $1 off your next purchase of Hershey's Milk Chocolate 6 bar packages (I saw these on sale at Freddy's for $3, so with the coupon you are getting 6 bars of yummy chocolate for just $2!! What a deal!), plus I've noticed lots of deals on graham crackers and marshmellows right now in honor of the Great American Backyard Campout - look for displays at your local store.


And if you'd like to find some free campout games, nature activities, and tips for safe camping, visit www.backyardcampout.org. I recommend making sure that on top of your usual camping supplies, that you bring along extra batteries for your flashlights in case they die out quickly, and don't forget to check that the supplies in your first aid kit you are bringing along are non-expired and have been re-filled - we all know you can never have too many band-aids when camping with kids! ;)

Win it! I have a totally awesome giveaway for you in honor of the National Wildlife Federation’s Great American Backyard Campout! One lucky reader will win a Hershey’s beach towel, Hershey’s Milk Chocolate Bars, Honey Maid® Graham Crackers and Kraft Jet-Puffed® Marshmallows to make their own S'mores this summer! To enter, tell us all about a camping trip you've been on. Did you get lost? Rained on? Have a blast making s'mores as a kid?

As always, you can receive extra entries for:

-Subscribing to my feed or following my blog
-Blogging about this giveaway with a link back
-Tweeting about this giveaway (leave the link or @psychotichouse)

That's four (4) possible entries! Giveaway ends June 26th at 11:59 PM PST, and please leave your email address in your entry or have it available in your profile. US only, sorry :( Good luck everyone!! :)

I received a S'mores gift package. One reader will win the same, thanks to the giveaway sponsor.

Ahoy There, Matey!

As my Wordless Wednesday post showed yesterday, the Tall Ships as they are known have arrived back at our Port Orchard Marina. This time we were able to see them - well, actually twice. We went down when they arrived, and then we went back yesterday to tour the boats. So you can probably tell by our lovely Washington weather that there are two different days worth of photos - there was no sun yesterday, which was a shame.

The Lady Washington is a brig ship. She's our official ship of Washington state, and is usually followed closely beside Hawaiian Chieftain, which is a topsail ketch. For those of you thinking a historical ship is a historical ship, look a little more closely, as you'll see some differences when you see both ships side by side.



Would you want to hang out in the Crow's Nest?


If you live in the Washington area and would like to come check out the ships, you can! They are here in our marina until Sunday, and there are free tours (donations of $3 suggested) where you can walk around each ship, learn more about sailing, and even go below deck. Hours are 4 to 5PM now through June 18 and from 10 AM to 1 PM June 19 and 20. You can also participate in the sail from our marina to their next scheduled stop, Gig Harbor. Visit their website to purchase tickets to take part of the sail. If you've never had a chance to sail on one of these replica ships, I recommend it highly - I did it about 10 years ago when the Tall Ships were in Toronto and had a blast!

The Chicken Nugget Is A Stink Bomb

We spent the afternoon yesterday at the vet. At least this time it wasn't Captain! No, this time it was the Grumpy Princess, who has taken on the new nickname of Chicken Nugget - because she's terrified of the flooring in the hallway by the laundry alcove... it needs to be replaced again and I guess she's afraid of falling through. Really, it's not that bad that her 35 pounds is going to make it cave in. Drama Queen! LOL


What does a stink bomb have to do with it? Well... girlfriend has MAJOR gas thanks to a bacteria infection. And DH is proud to tell you that she let one giant doozy of a stink bomb go off right in the vet's face. You should have seen the grin on my husband's face... it matches the grin on her face up above after she did it! what is it with guys and that? Then she proceeded to do it a second time when the vet tech went to pick her up and take her for x-rays. They are never going to forget us after this, let me tell you! LOL

Luckily it wasn't as bad as it could have been - we caught it before it got to the same level as Captain's did last fall, and we're home now with medication. She's doing better today, but geez, can't a girl catch a break? Here I thought Captain was the disaster - maybe I need insurance on all of them!

(By the way, I'm proud to say Captain is no longer classified as anorexic - he's looking awesome and clocking in at 34 pounds!)

Thrifty Thursday - Credit Card Debt

This week for my Thrifty Thursday post, I'm talking about getting the balance down on those pesky credit cards, even when you're struggling.

I know the feeling all too well myself - the unbearable crush of credit card debt. Every time you think you're making headway on the debt, something else goes wrong. At moments like that, there really may be nothing you can do - if it's an emergency, it's an emergency. Always ask before handing over your credit card if there is a chance you could participate in a payment plan so you can use what is in your checking account vs. having to use a credit card. Most hospitals, doctors, etc will work with you, but you're probably stuck when it comes to car repairs. Still, it doesn't hurt to ask. If you have more than one credit card, try to make sure you are using the one with the best interest rate.

It's recommended that you try to pay at least double the minimum payment on your credit card when trying to pay off debt, but what if you can't? What if you already have a minimum payment that you are struggling to scrounge together?

First off all, don't wait until the last minute to pay your credit card bill if you can help it. Pay the bill as soon as it comes in. Depending on how high your balance is, you could easily save as much as $5-10 in interest.

Most credit card companies will allow you to schedule or post up to four payments each billing cycle. If you're only paying the minimum payment, or just above, try to at least round to nearest $10 - for instance, if your minimum payment is $292, try to round it up to $300. If you can't do that right away, try to log on each other week that your bill isn't due, and schedule in an extra $5 payment. It doesn't seem like much, but it will help eat at some of that interest or balance you have there. The faster you can pay it off, the more money you will have in your pocket down the road.

Above all, don't let the debt bring you down. Keep plucking away until you see that balance hit 0, and celebrate with a little treat once it's gone!

Book Review: Dangerous By Diana Palmer

I recently received a copy of the romance novel, Dangerous by Diana Palmer to review.


Dangerous is the story of FBI agent Mac Kilraven, whose daughter and wife were killed seven years ago. If you're familiar Diana Palmer's stories, you know she has a thing for Texans, and of course, Dangerous has another Texan in agent Kilraven. This one is set in fictional Jacobsville, Texas, just like a whole host of Ms. Palmer's books, and if you've read some of them, you may notice a lot of familiar things and characters. Winnie Sinclair, who is 22 and the town 911 operator, is his love interest in the book. When two cold cases seem to be tied together after a dead body appears in the river by town, Agent Kilraven asks Winnie to pose as his "wife" when he has to follow a lead all the way to the Bahamas. Winnie has some problems and sadness of her own - her mother left her father for her very shady uncle years ago and it was not pleasant - and it could be that her family has a tie to Mac's case. Of course, as the story goes, the romance slowly grows - it's not a hot and heavy bordering on soft porn kind of romance novel.

Now that we've gotten the plot out of the way, let me say I don't read romances to learn anything. I read them to zone out. The fact of the matter is that most romance novels are churned out one after another, and they aren't really anything special. This one is an enjoyable way to waste an evening or read while sunning on vacation and I liked it, but most of the romance books I read are either borrowed from the library, or bought secondhand. Dangerous is a hardcover book, clocking in at $24.95 retail. If I wanted to get this book signed by the author, I would buy hardcover (and it's a great cover, no one is half dressed!), but this isn't the style of book I would normally fork out hardcover prices for. (Hey, I'm an honest!) Borrow it from the library, try to snag it used, or try to wait for the paperback edition, unless you are big on hardcover romances or are looking for a gift.

Dangerous by Diana Palmer is available now at your local bookstore or online via sites like Amazon (where you can currently buy it for just $14.43!) It's also available as a download for your Kindle.

I received a copy of this book to write a review, and this is just my opinion - I'm a housewife who likes to read books, not a literary critic. Any links contained are for your convenience, they are not referral links.

DVD Review: The Good Guy

I recently had the chance to receive the new movie, The Good Guy, on DVD to review.


The Good Guy stars Alexis Bledel, Scott Porter, and Bryan Greenberg, and is set in New York City. Beth, played by Alexis Bledel (who you might remember from The Gilmore Girls) is the new-ish girlfriend of Tommy, an investment banker and Wall Street suit kind of guy at a firm called Morgan Brothers. While Andrew McCarthy doesn't make top billing in this movie (ah, you knew there'd be an 80's tie in somewhere in here with me! lol), he makes an appearance as Tommy's not-so-nice boss. In comes Tommy's new co-worker, Daniel, who Tommy kind of takes under his wing to make him more Wall Street hot shot suitable. I'm sure you can kind of guess what's next, but you'll have to watch the movie to see if you're right. ;)

So The Good Guy borders on being a chick flick, but a chick flick you can probably con your husband or significant other into watching with you as a date night at home movie. It is one of those take it or leave it movies - at times, you might be tempted to turn it off and call it a day, but if you hang in there, you'll probably enjoy it. Worth a Netflix or Redbox rental? Yes. Owning it the moment it comes out? Eh... watch it first, unless you're a die hard fan of any of the actors involved. Want to see the trailer?


The Good Guy hits the streets June 22, is rated R and is not for small children - use your judgement here. There is bad language involved, and some sexual content as well. The running time is 91 minutes long, and it's widescreen edition. The special features aren't too exciting - it includes some audio commentary with the director and Alexis Bledel, as well as the trailer for the movie.

I received a copy of this DVD to write a review. No other compensation was given.