Wait! Don't leave...

You are at the right place. This is still the 4th Frog blog. Just made all pretty and new! (If you're reading this in a reader or as a note on Facebook, do yourself a favor and click over to the blog URL to enjoy all the prettiness.)

I can't say thank you enough to Kristin from Simply Klassic Blog Design for this great new look. I won a free blog makeover from Kristin by entering a giveaway at Absolutely Narcissism.

To be honest, I was a little nervous about working with Kristin to for a blog makeover. Don't get me wrong. She does great work, but many of the other blogs she's designed are so pretty and delicate and soft. Not my style. But she had me complete a very thorough questionnaire to let her know what I wanted, what colors I like, what style of letters, etc. She let me have a peek at what she was working on several times through the process to make sure she was headed in the right direction.

And boy, did she deliver! There is still some work I need to do on my end (like linking pages to the menu bar items at the top), but I love it. I think this is the happiest I've ever been at 4 o'clock in the morning. Well, the happiest I'm willing to talk about in public...

If you have a blog and feel like it needs a pick-me-up, please give Kristin from Simply Klassic Blog Design a try. You'll be happy you did.

Fragalicious

It's another fragalicious Friday. Little bits and bobs, to borrow a phrase from the Brits in honor of the royal wedding, floating around in my brain.

Bit: I hosting a Vera Bradley tote bag giveaway. If you're a Vera fan or you just want a great bag to carry library books in, be sure to check it out. The winner will be announced on Monday.

Bob: Coverage of the royal wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton begins in just 3 hours. Maybe I should just stay up? Will you watch?


Bit: Today was the last Weight Watcher meeting in this at-work series. I ended on a good note, losing 2 pounds since last week. I'm going to try to keep the momentum going. Especially after reading this inspiring guest post from Annie Weighs.

Bob: Speaking of momentum, Charlie's class is having it's roller coaster exhibition in the morning. I got a sneak peek of several of the coasters -- lots of very fun ideas!

Bit: Mike was uploading some videos for me tonight and was a bit frustrated because I had shot some of it sideways. He said "You are not allowed to be this technologically impaired and still be married to me." I wonder if that was an offer or an ultimatum?

Bob: My blog makeover is well underway. I can't wait to get it uploaded. It's a great, fresh new look!

Bit: Even more exciting than a blog makeover, Mike has a job interview next week. Prayers appreciated.

Bob: Annie leaves on her 8th grade class trip on Monday. I think I might be a little verklempt sending her off and only partially because she'll be leaving me surrounded by testosterone for 5 days. Prayers appreciated for this, too.

That's all the bits and bobs I've got this week. For more fragalicious Friday fun, be sure to visit Mrs. 4444s Friday Fragments post.

Luck o' the Swiss German?

I have been so lucky lately. And I'm not even Irish!

After my post about the dog (who is still here), I had one friend offer us her carpet cleaner and another offer to take Gabby for a playdate with my friend's two dogs. The playdate was today and Gabby gave it 2 paws up.

Then, I was invited to join a group of bloggers at a chef's table meal at a new restaurant in Indianapolis next week. Thanks Jeremy and Cherie (aka The Queen of Free) for throwing my name out there.

Last week (or sometime near then), I won a book giveaway at The Lazy Christian. My book, The Sacred Echo: Hearing God's Voice in Every Area of Your Life by Margaret Feinberg, arrived in the mail today. Which is why I'm keeping this brief tonight, so I can do a little bedtime reading.

And today, I received an e-mail telling me that I won a blog design makeover! This is fantabulous because I've been thinking about giving the 4th Frog Blog a facelift for some time, but couldn't justify the expense right now. The giveaway was at Absolutely Narcissism and my makeover artist is Simply Klassic Blog Design.

Finally, when I went searching for an image to use for this post, I typed in "luck o' the German" and that picture up top of George Clooney appeared. How's that for luck?

Woohoo! I am one lucky -- and grateful -- Frog! Maybe I should buy a lottery ticket? Hope you're having similar good fortune in your neck of the pond.

In my best Oprah voice...

it's time for Fridaaaay FraaaghMENTS!

This week has just zipped by. I much prefer that to those weeks where Tuesday feels like it should be Friday.


Now that I've got my hair squared away, I'm thinking of giving my blog a makeover. It's had the same look for about 2 years. Well, my froggy does get a hat and scarf in the winter time. But I'm thinking maybe something to freshen up the place a bit. What do you think? Got any good ideas?

I had the opportunity to interview for a new job at work recently. It would have been full-time (I work 3/4 time now.) There were a lot of good reasons to go for it. But in the end, I decided that now is just not the time. While Annie is pretty independent, the boys still need a lot of guidance and hand-holding when it comes to after school and homework. So I declined the interview, though the extra money would have been handy. Since then, Mike has been approached about a new freelance opportunity and I had one drop in my lap today. Together, these won't make up what I could have earned by going full-time, but I do feel like these opportunities are validation that I made the right decision and the patience and family focus is paying off.

This internet stuff can just get you sucked in, can't it? But I have to think that anyone with internet access probably never pays full price for anything ever again. I've been doing the Swagbucks thing for a while and have earned about $150 worth of credit at Amazon. Then I became familiar with Groupon, which offers great deals on restaurants, spa services, museum and recreation admissions, etc. Some of the deals are city-specific, others are web-based deals. Now there's Eversave. Very similar to Groupon, but with deals that seem to be a bit more eclectic. My best Eversave deal so far? $19 for a mani-pedi at a local salon. Even better, I got it free because someone I referred to Eversave made a purchase. Woohoo! 

I'm going holiday bazaaring with my mom and sister on Saturday. It's become our own little tradition. (SMB -- are you sure you don't want to join us?). I don't usually buy much, but it's fun to browse and count how many times my mom picks up something, then whispers to me..."I could make that," even though we both know she won't.

A Facebook friend of mine posted a picture of a skillet with white powdery stuff in it. Her 7 year old son tried to make pancakes and started by dumping the pancake mix right into the pan. That was funny. But what was REALLY funny was the story one of the guys who commented on it told about his son. He gave me permission to repeat it here:

Try taking your 15 year old son to the DMV to get his learners permit. I have told him all along that he is responsible for having everything he needs to get this done. We show up to the DMV and get out of my truck to go in and he has NOTHING in his hands, no birth certificate, no SS card, no NOTHING... so I ask my young Generation 'next' genius if he brought anything with him as proof of i.d. and do you know what he said? He looked at me like I was the dumbest person ever thought of and said, and I freaking quote..."can't they just google me?"

Hope you have a great weekend. Mine is quite full, but I'm hoping to find some time to reclaim my office space in the basement. I used to do all my work there when I used a desktop computer. With the laptop I can work from the couch, the bed, the kitchen table...and I do. But I'm not nearly as productive. So back to the basement and the laser-focused productivity...(as soon as I check Facebook...)!

PS -- Popping back in because I forgot that I wanted to add a link to a post about the Veterans History Project. If you know and love a veteran, please check it out. What a great way to honor our U.S. veterans.