Free Food!

Swap a candy bar wrapper for a free bag of Hershey's Pieces! Explanations and the redemption form are here, but don't dawdle...deadline is 2/10. (Darn it, I had an Almond Joy yesterday afternoon...and the wrapper has gone out with the trashman this morning.)


Let Qdoba take you out for lunch! They say that thousands of prizes are being given out daily. I only won a free drink today (darn it) -- so did Husband -- but I got a coupon for a free meal a few days ago.

And El Pollo Loco is giving out free Steak Quesadillas when you purchase 'stuff,' plus coupons for BOGO Steak Grillmaster Tacos. Go here for more info. (Thanks, Coupon Cravings!) Yummm...

I must be hungry...wish Husband would get home so we can go redeem that Qdoba coupon! Have a great weekend...

The Kirk Collection - Quilt Heritage Foundation - and Crazy Quilt Society

Nancy Kirk is a colleague in many ways, including appraising, teaching and writing. She wrote the foreward to my book, Crazy Quilts. She also was one of the first quilt professionals I ever met, during a show at Kansas City, when I was a fledgling editor for Quilter's Newsletter. (I admired one of the quilt tops her business, the Kirk Collection, was selling -- it's still in my collection.)

Ever since then, she has become a good friend. I've often taught for the nonprofit she co-founded with husband Bill and Camille Cognac, the Quilt Heritage Foundation.

In early January, The Kirk Collection and Quilt Heritage Foundation websites were hacked by Saudi Arabian terrorists. They managed to crash and erase everything. Fortunately, they were not able to access the mailing lists or personal info of customers or members...but those things could and did disappear. Permanently.

The websites are back up and slowly rebuilding. Nancy needs your help, though -- she is trying to re-collect a database of people interested in old quilts and textiles (The Kirk Collection and QHF), as well as quilt restoration (The Quilt Restoration Foundation) and Crazy Quilts. (Crazy Quilt Society).

Start the process at the Kirk Collection website. (I did.) Your info will be on a secure site, and not used for anything else but contact information for the groups mentioned.

An e-mail to Nancy (and your prayers) wouldn't hurt, either. She's had a rough few years, health-wise, and was just starting to get back up to speed.

Hang in there, friend.

Stuff on the Way to Other Stuff

Ha.

Our 'tremendous' storm has turned out to be the weather equivalent of a two-year-old: a little temper tantrum, snow-wise, and now it's just sulking in the corner. Bleary skies, lots of fog, and a few sullen bits of snow now and then.

Darn.

I've stumbled on all sorts of interesting things this week:

*A gallery of art accidents -- paintings, ceramics and such stumbled into, hacked at by maniacs, and even thrown away as trash! (I am not making this up -- go take a look.) The list includes works by everyone from Michelangelo to Picasso.


*The folks at Money Crashers are hosting a HUGE giveaway! Prizes galore, and it's easy to qualify for them. Take a look here, and don't hesitate -- deadline is Jan. 31 to enter. Preferably multiple times.

*The University of East Anglia -- whose scientists were behind the recent hacker-uncovered scandal on faking and covering up climate warming data. (Or non-warming, as the case may be. I covered this earlier...look here.) Anyways, the university has finally admitted that it deliberately ignored or delayed public requests for information...a federal offense. (Strangely enough, it's still doing it!)

*Strange presidential facts, from Panati's Extraordinary Endings of Practically Everything and Everybody. An amazing book, though more than a tad kinky in spots. (It's only a nickel at Amazon -- and a great book for your research library!)

      Tidbits from the U.S. President section:
     *Andrew Johnson (Lincoln's successor) sewed his own and his wife's clothes. He was so proud of his work that he would often point out details to his audience. (Hey, the guy was a tailor in one of his other lives!) Johnson was also the only president with no schooling -- he learned to read and write about age 18, taught by his wife.
     *James Monroe and his wife sold their worn furniture to the White House -- and kept the money. A big chunk of the rest of the 'redecorating' funds allotted by Congress went to lavish parties the Monroes threw -- sometimes $100 or more just on candles for an evening. (This became known as the "furniture scandal.")
     *Benjamin Harrison was the first to see electricity installed in the White House. He and his wife were so terrified of this new invention that they refused to touch the switches, for fear of being electrocuted. If there was no one else to turn off the switch, lights would blaze all night while the Harrisons slept.
     *William Henry Harrison gave the longest inaugural address -- hours on end -- and lasted the shortest in office: only a month. (He refused to wear proper headgear and clothing to the Inauguration out of respect -- caught a cold that never really went away.) Franklin Roosevelt, incidentally, delivered the shortest speech: only about 23 sentences, for his last term. (He didn't finish that one, either.)
     *Chester Arthur may have been Canadian-born...evidence suggests it was possible... thus disqualifying him for the office in the first place.
     *Calvin Coolidge was the first president with Indian blood in his ancestor line.
    *Barak Obama may not have been the first US president with black ancestry, after all -- evidence suggests that Warren Harding held that honor. (Though it was covered up.) 
     * One of Lyndon Johnson's first actions after becoming president -- get rid of John F. Kennedy's famous rocking chair.
     *Eleanor Roosevelt (Franklin's wife) was the first First Lady to actually get to vote in a presidential election.
     *Teddy (Theodore) Roosevelt's life was saved by a thick speech -- and a silver case -- stored in his pocket. A would-be assassin's bullet pierced both, and went a few inches into the president's hide, as well, but Roosevelt survived. (He also gave the speech before leaving for the hospital!)

Speaking of presidents, did you hear President Obama's State of the Union address last night? It was by far the most down-to-earth, sensible pronouncement (including admissions that mistakes had been made, both by him and -- gasp! -- the Democrats) that I have heard in decades. His goals are admirable...but Husband and I both thought, 'How in the world is he going to accomplish them?'
    Time will tell. I hope Congress was listening -- and taking him seriously.

Here It Comes!

It's 4 p.m. ...and just started to snow. Now if I can finish running errands before it really gets nasty...

The Calm Before the Storm

...it's coming.
   Our Southern neighbors got smashed with a two-footer earlier this week...approx. 1" of snow per hour, with driving winds and ice. We're supposed to be next, starting sometime late today. Who knows if it will be just as bad here -- the mountains often protect us as much they 'hold' the storms in place. But there is an ominous stillness outside...just a breath of wind...and the sky is filled with wispy cloud trails. A sure sign that, as my dad would say ominously, "THERE'S A STORM COMING." (wiggle your eyebrows to get the same effect!)

Wal-Mart has one of the stranger clown commercials out there (for Superbowl, I think)...people are saying it's terrifying, but I couldn't stop laughing! Even better: the "Shake Your Booty" commercial. Check 'em out.

   See the things you get, by reading this blog?!?  Weird clowns and booty-shaking...whoo hoo!

Get a Subway Sandwich...free!

Subway sandwiches are some of the healthiest fast food you can get. For a limited time, experiment with various ingredients on their site, and get a coupon for a free sandwich when you buy one!

Click here at  "My Sub, My Way" to get started.

Eating from the Pantry Challenge - More Thoughts

Whoo-hoo...only a gallon of milk's needed to get us through the month -- I just found a few dozen eggs in the back of the refrigerator! That's the flip side of having your mom come to stay for three weeks; I've found food items stashed in unusual places ever since she left. She has her system, I have mine, I guess.

I've gone over the goal already, but for good reasons -- like One Frugal Girl's post explains, it's really tough to give up good sales on items you really like. (Me too, Frug.) The temptation will be strong again today, when I hit Safeway for the milk, and see those 99-cents-per-pound pork loins they're advertising this week. (I will probably give in.)


The Prudent Homemaker has been keeping her budget down by using potatoes -- 360 pounds of them this winter. (She gets them for 20 cents a pound -- we pay double that. You'll want to take a look at her pantry system, too -- it's amazing. She mentions 'Funeral Potatoes' on her list of potato dishes, but no recipe. I found one here. Turns out it's a Mormon specialty...and to my great surprise, one of my mother-in-law's signature dishes!)

More lessons learned -- if there's less in the refrigerator and freezer, you can actually see what you've got. (I have a bad tendency To Stuff.) And just a bit of meat will flavor a whole dish. But the best lesson is with Husband -- eating hotdogs and leftover caramel corn with him on a Monday lunchtime, talking and laughing, is better than caviar by myself.