Keeping busy and other ramblings plus a giveaway on my FB page

Let me tell you...keeping up with a website, 2 blogs (yes, I know I've been on my Disney one a lot more than this one, apologies and that'll be changing soon), multiple Facebook pages, Twitter...plus trainings for my TA business (travel agent)...in addition to regular life stuff like my regular Mon-Fri job...I get sleepy just thinking about all that.  There's a lot of behind-the-scenes stuff that goes on for all the web and social media stuff-not just the tech things, but learning how to do the tech things too.  It can make your brain spin.  But I'm learning a lot for sure ;-)

The weight loss is going slow.  Like turtle through quicksand slow.  The last several weeks it's been down 0.2, down 0.2, down 0.2.  At this rate I might meet my goal by the time I retire.  I'm hoping as I add back in my workouts as my marathon training starts to pick up that it'll kick start something.  See, that huge 4.2 lb loss at the beginning was just a tease--I must have freaked my body out or something.  I'm thinking I might add hill training at a local park once a week to help change things up.  But at least the trend is still downward...much better than the alternative.

Before I forget ('cuz ya know, if I don't write things down they just totally fly out of my mind), my TA Facebook page is co-sponsoring a $100 Disney Gift Card giveaway with a bunch of other Disney-themed pages, so if you're interested (of course you are, who doesn't love free Disney money???), head over my Facebook page and check out the giveaway tab...liking my page will get you 2 entries to the giveaway--just make sure after liking my page that you log your entry on the Rafflecopter form on the giveaway tab.

And to celebrate my one-year anniversary as a TA, I'll be doing a separate giveaway on my other blog, The Disney World Files starting next week...it'll be a good one with several fun items going to the winner, so keep an eye out for it-I'll post it here once the giveaway is live.

That's it for now...be back in a couple days, I promise :-)

Busy Busy Busy

Sorry for this kinda boring post, but just wanted to let everyone know what I’ve been up to since I haven’t posted for a couple of weeks.  Gotta get back on a schedule, keep poking me people!  ;-)

Been staying busy working on behind-the-scenes stuff for my blogs (this one and The Disney World Files), website and business (you remember, I’m an independent travel agent specializing in Disney destinations).  I’ve been working on the travel deals newsletter that I’ve been wanting to get started and sent out my first test issue.  I know it needs much critique and polishing up.  I’m not sure what layout, formatting and elements people would like to see...though DH has already told me he’s not fond of the social networking buttons at the top.  

But this is my first try at a newsletter so I know it’s a little rough around the edges.  If you’d like to help me out (please please please), I’d appreciate it if you’d check out the first issue...if you go to my business Facebook page and then click on the newsletter signup button at the top (you’ll need to “like” my page to see the newsletter if you haven’t already), in addition to the signup box you’ll also see the first issue.  Any and all feedback is appreciated-I’m looking for technical feedback more than content.  Since this is the first issue and was meant as a test issue, I limited the topics to concentrate on current/upcoming WDW deals.  Oh, and thanks in advance for any feedback you can provide :-)

Anyway, figuring out how to set up the newsletter, then figuring out how to add the newsletter app to my FB page, how to “fan-gate” the app (meaning you can only see it if you’ve “liked” the page first), how to put a picture in the little box, etc etc etc...the time flies before you know it.  I’m a detail-oriented person and I research everything before I start it, then go step-by-step for every little thing so I don’t miss anything so I probably take longer at stuff like this than more tech-type people would.

As for my weight loss progress?  Slow and steady, averaging just under 2 lbs per week for the first month...down 7.2 pounds total for June.  But the past week and a half have been yuck.  Last week was up a pound even though I was within my calorie range for almost every day and definitely for the week (I did go slightly over on my bday and the day after, but made up for it before and after)...so I don’t know why that pound came back.  I fear I may not have chased it back off this week either.  *sigh*  And only 2 more weeks until my “official” marathon training plan begins.  

And so this weekend is a planning, catchup and get ahead weekend...and oh yeah, a clean out my closets weekend (I promised DH, they’re kind of disorganized and overflowing).  Any volunteer helpers?  Anyone?  That’s okay...I wouldn’t volunteer to help with this project either.  

Any helpful closet organizing tips?

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Angry Birdies

The Angry Birdie

Can you see him?  Sitting up there at the top of the mostly-branches, barely-any-leaves tree?  Looks relatively innocuous, right?  Uh-huh, sure.

And then you realize there's a scrawny little nest in that scrawny little tree...and you start running for your life the moment Mr. I'm-just-a-little-birdie-don't-mind-me takes to the air...

...cuz this sucker is out for blood and will attack your head, arms and anywhere else he sees fit to keep you away from his tree.  That's right boys and girls, those frisky little birdies are laying their Spring eggs and heaven help you if you parked your car right next to one of their trees.  At my office, we get to play a unique form of Angry Birds every day trying to get into and out of the building every day.  Seriously.

Welcome to SoFla's "Spring".........you may want to carry an umbrella at all times.  Don't say I didn't warn you.

And my favorite blogger is..........

April Blogger Challenge #8 (days 22-24...yes, I know it's behind)-your favorite blogger and why

You all know how much I love Disney, especially Walt Disney World.  I’m always reading up on new things happening at the resort, checking out different online forums for trip planning, park tips and so on.  Plus I usually visit anywhere from 4-6 times a year.  So it should probably come as no surprise to you that my favorite blogger is someone who writes about WDW.  Some of you may already be aware of the site-it’s Josh over at easyWDW.com.  

First off, he’s in the parks ALL the time.  He provides insanely accurate crowd calendars (I have never gone wrong using them to choose which parks to visit on which days), in-depth analysis of events and has just the right amount of snark and sarcasm to make everything he writes a really fun read.  Those of you who like a more straight-laced, serious approach might not like that but for me, I get a kick out of his comments and it makes for very entertaining reading material.  He’s always got great photographs too.  He interacts with his readers when they leave comments which I think is great.  If you’re looking for a really good WDW resource, be sure to check out easyWDW.com...even if you’re not into the snark, the calendars and information are extremely useful and thorough.

I do have about 40 different blogs I to which I’m subscribed-I use the Reeder app on my Mac to pull in all the posts for me so I don’t miss anything.  Maybe somewhere between 15-20 of them post regularly.  You can see some of my favorites here on my blog in the sidebar (“My Favorite Blogs”).  Most of them are running friends (hi guys!)...I try to rotate the list every so often so when some people aren’t posting so much-or at all- for a while, I’ll rotate someone else in, I just don’t want the list there to be too long.  

Just half of my list...

...and the other half

Oh, and my runners-up for favorite blogger?  Dana over at The Dragyn’s Lair, Heather at Through Heather’s Looking Glass, Megan at Elbowglitter, Amy at The point one will getcha! and Jess at Run with Jess.  But I like all the blogs I’m subscribed to-after all, if I didn’t I wouldn’t have subscribed to them-but these are some that just pop for me.

Who's your favorite blogger?  Are you a blogger yourself? 

Lysol Touch of Foam Soap product review

As some of you may already know, I am registered with BzzAgent.com.  For those of you who don’t know what BzzAgent is,they’re a social marketing company.  You can sign up on their website to become a BzzAgent, and when campaigns come along that are a match for you, you can join and get some free or deeply discounted products to try out, then spread your thoughts about it to friends, family, online or off.  The companies who supply the products get word of mouth advertising, and you get free stuff.  I’ve done a bunch of campaigns, from chocolates to cosmetics to a cool all-in-one remote and a Sonicare battery-operated toothbrush.  This time around, I joined the campaign for Lysol’s Touch of Foam Anti-Bacterial Hand Wash.

I was sent a free full-sized bottle of the creamy vanilla orchid scent hand wash to try out along with 75¢ coupons to hand out to friends.  As soon as my kit arrived, I got the bottle out, snapped a pic and tried it out.  (Rest assured, all opinions given here are my own)

Now normally I don’t use anti-bacterial soaps.  I’m not a fan of all these anti-bacterial products everywhere (seriously, do I really need to use hand sanitizer after I clock in/out at work?  Might as well not touch the doors or computers or file cabinets, etc at all if that’s the case).  BUT, I don’t mind as much having anti-bacterial soap to use after using the restroom.  The only problem I run into?  These soaps always dry out my hands, so then I need to use lotion or hand cream afterward.

Enter my new freebie.  As you probably guessed from the product name, this is a foam soap.  It’s nice and thick and smells delicious.  It lathers up really well, but most importantly for me-once rinsed and dried, my hands aren’t dried out.  They actually feel nice and soft and smell really good.  For me, it’s a winner...and I do recommend it to others. 

Thick, no-drip foam soap

I think I’ll try the Wild Berry Bliss scent next ;-)  I’ve already passed out all my coupons, but I’m keeping my eye out for a great deal so I can stock up!  Right now thru tonight Walgreens has it buy one, get one 50% off plus you get 750 Balance Rewards points when you buy 2, so I'm going to take a walk over to the store (about 3/4 mile away, good way to get a nice walk in) and grab a couple before calling it a night.

Have you tried Lysol’s Touch of Foam Antibacterial Soap?  What did you think?  What are your thoughts on anti-bacterial soaps (and other products) in general?

PURPLE!

Another just for fun entry :-)

So today’s topic for the April Blogger Challenge I’m doing is “favorite color and why”.  And I LOVE purple.  Any shade from the palest lilac to the deepest violet.  I even painted my office a lovely pale violet shade at one of our previous homes.

Yes, I am aware there is a difference in “purple” and “violet”.  I usually lean more toward the violet since it has more blue in it than purple.  If you want to read about the difference between purple and violet, click here for purple and here for violet to see the Wikipedia entries.

For me, the violet hues just feel relaxing and comfortable while the purple ones just make me feel happy...I can’t explain it better than that.

I also am a fan of red, especially the deep crimson shades...but purple/violet is and will probably always be my #1.  

What's your favorite color and why?

While you're here poking around, please don't forget to check out my fun test giveaway with a real prize located here.  It's a small but cute prize of a Disney Parks Growth Chart...I'm using this giveaway as a test for myself to try out the Rafflecopter widget (so far I'm really liking it, very easy to use).  I'm going to be growing both this blog and my Disney blog (The Disney World Files) and one of the things I want to do is host giveaways on both blogs so I'd love it if everyone would try it out.  Any and all feedback is appreciated!

10 Words That Describe My Blog-April Blogger Challenge #2

1-Disney-my biggest addiction!  Especially Walt Disney World...I can never get enough of WDW :-) 

2-Running-or, okay, walk/running...but still, I’m out there moving! 

3-Pictures-I like to include pictures with my blog entries, I think it makes them more interesting
4-Recaps-as in race recaps, I try to recap all of my races-not just because others may be interested in them, but as a way for me to be able to look back and remember all the fun (and not-so-fun) times.  Interesting tidbit?  My Expedition Everest recaps are my most viewed posts and continue to get views every week!

5-Lighthearted-most of the time anyway.  I prefer to have people smile when they read than have to break out a box of tissues
6-Honest-I don’t put fake stuff out there
7-Free-that’s right peeps, you don’t pay a cent for any of this content!  Okay, you had to buy that computer...and get internet service...but hey, you didn’t just get that to read my blog, right?
8-Friendly-I welcome everyone to come read.  Even if you don’t agree with something I say, as long as any comments you post or emails you send me aren’t nasty, derogatory or the like, everyone is welcome here :-)
9-Personal-yes, I am writing about my own life, experiences and opinions.  Not too personal of course (that’s reserved for only my DH) 

10-Growing-my audience has grown and is still doing so.  I’m looking at ways to expand pages within my blog, connect with other blogs and sites and just keep things interesting here.  After all, if there’s nothing to bring others here, it’ll just be me all by my lonesome...and that’s no fun, everything’s more fun with friends :-)

If you have a blog, what 10 words would you use to describe it?

Don't forget to check out my post from yesterday with my test giveaway.  I'm giving away a fun Disney Parks Growth Chart...just something simple to test out the Rafflecopter widget (my first time using it) to prepare myself for future giveaways on my Disney World Files blog.  I know the growth chart is not a big, fancy prize, but I'm just using it as a way to learn the Rafflecopter stuff.  Please try it out.  If you win and really don't want the chart (though you could give it to a friend or family member who might use it), I can treat you to a drink during any race weekend we're both at instead. Deal?

10 Things My Readers Don’t Know About Me

April Blogger Challenge #1

1. I collect full-sized swords and daggers.  I started at the first Florida Renaissance Festival that I went to and normally pick one (or more) up every time I go.  I’ve also picked up a couple at Epcot (one each from the Japan and China pavilions).  I’ve got some pretty cool ones, including these babies:  
   
   
   
   
2. I’m addicted to paranormal romance books (mostly Young Adult).  And there are a ton of them available for FREE in Amazon’s Kindle bookstore.  How addicted you ask?  At last count I have over 550 of them.  I think I need serious help (and no, I haven’t read them all yet but still check Amazon almost every day to see if there are any I don’t have yet). 
   
3. I can’t stand seafood...well, except for tuna fish sandwiches (but only solid or chunk white tuna, can’t stand that “chunk light” stuff-yuck!).  Can’t stand the smell, though I tolerate it when others are eating.  Funny thing is, when I was a kid I ate nova, lox and whitefish.  Now?  No way, no how, nuh-uh.  Good thing is, my BFF is exactly like me when it comes to seafood, so I’m not alone.
4. I have a horrible short-term memory.  If I don’t write something down when I think it or log it in my phone, I’ll forget.  Classic example?  DH and I stopped at a grocery store for a few things (I can’t remember what, it was many years ago).  He didn’t want to go inside and asked me-right before I stepped out of the car to enter the store-to also pick up a can of ravioli.  And yes, as you may have expected, that was the ONE thing I forgot...even though he had JUST told me a few minutes before.  And he has never, ever let me live that down.
5. I can fall asleep anywhere, anytime under any condition just...like...zzzzzzzzzzzzz
6. I’m actually shy in person.  I tend to stay on the fringes unless I’m with family or a group of close friends.
7. When I get in a mood, I can sit for hours on end watching through complete seasons of my favorite shows.  I usually start at the very beginning of a series and keep going until the series finale.  Of course this can take days, weeks or longer since I still have to work and do other life stuff.  And yes, I can watch my favorites again and again.  My faves? Buffy, Angel, Charmed, Firefly, Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis and SG-U. 
   
8. I used to be a pretty good bowler.  I had an average in the low-190’s, a high game of 289 (darn 10-pin!) and two 700 series.  And then Hurricane Wilma decided to blow thru South Florida causing enough damage to the center I bowled in for it to close down...and I wasn’t going to drive any farther somewhere else so I pretty much stopped bowling altogether.  I tried to get back into it a few years ago, but my average never got above 165 or so (using my bowling balls from 5 years prior that had been sitting in a hot garage may have had something to do with that).  I don’t bowl anymore except for parties that might be held at a bowling center.
9. I don’t need much to keep me occupied.  I can curl up on a couch with my blanket and just start out the window and be content.  Or just sit reading for hours on end (do you get why I’m addicted to the Amazon Kindle bookstore?).  I don’t constantly need new books, shows or activities either-if it’s something I really like, I can read, watch or do it over and over again.
10. I never, ever thought I would become a blogger.  I’m just not the writer type.  Voracious reader and watcher, sure, but writer and blogger are never words I would have expected to be used when describing me.  Then I decided to lose weight, get in shape and chronicle my journey and it kind of snowballed from there.  Now I have 2 blogs that I try to keep up with.  So ladies and gents, never say never about anything...it might actually happen when you least expect it.

So, what don’t your readers (if you are a blogger) or your friends (if you’re not) know about you?  Were you surprised by any of the things I listed about myself today?

A little off topic-Glade Expressions, new smelly stuff!

There’s lots of cool sites out there that let you try free products, usually as a free sample or maybe as part of a survey where you get to test new products before they hit the store shelves to make sure they actually work.  One of my favorite sites is BzzAgent, a social marketing company that runs “campaigns” for different products.  How it works-you sign up on the web site, answer surveys so they can determine things like demographics and such, then they’ll notify you when there is a campaign that you would qualify to join.  For example, if you don’t have any babies or toddlers, you wouldn’t be offered a campaign that is about baby foods or toys.  Once you join a campaign, they’ll send you products (or coupons to pick those products up free at the store).  All you do in return is share your opinions about the products to others through reviews, Facebook posts, tweets, pictures and so on.

Anyway, I love to use Glade products, especially the plug-in oil warmers, so when I saw a campaign for the new Glade Expressions products come up, I immediately signed up to participate.  They sent me coupons to pick up one each of the fragrance mist and oil diffuser to try out myself and a bunch of high-value coupons for both items to share with others (yeah, those went REALLY fast LOL).  This is my review of those items.

I decided to pick up the Glade Expressions Fuji Apple & Cardamom Spice scents for both the fragrance mist and oil diffuser so I'd have the same scent going throughout my house.  The oil diffuser was very easy to set up and the second I opened it up I just thought "Yum!"  I love those apple and spice smells and this smelled wonderful!  

I set the diffuser up in between my kitchen and living room.  It’s designed to look like an artsy-type piece so you can display it pretty much anywhere without it actually looking like it’s there to make things smell nice.  The only thing that was slightly disappointing (and why I gave 4 stars in my review instead of 5) was the reach of the fragrance.  You needed to be pretty close to the unit to smell it.  So while it did diffuse the fragrance, it didn't cover a very large area.  In that respect I believe the regular Glade plug-in units with the fans do a better job.

For the fragrance mist, we've been using it on an as-needed basis, like after cooking or if the bathroom gets used and any...ahem...lingering smells are around.  Or even if I just want to smell a boost of scent just for the heck of it.  I plan on keeping the fragrance mist handy for those situations going forward.  It’s basically a can of the scent with a decorative piece that goes over it-all you do is squeeze the decorative cover and the mist comes out.

Overall I was pleased with both products and would recommend both to anyone looking for a good way to introduce pleasing scents into their home.  Just be aware that, in my experience, the diffuser will only cover about a 100-150 square foot area well so you may want to get more than one (of the same scent) if you have larger rooms.  In addition to the Fuji Apple & Cardamom Spice scent I got, both the diffuser and mist also come in Cotton & Italian Mandarin, Pineapple & Mangosteen and Lavender & Juniper Berry scents.  I think I’ll try the lavender one next, I’ve always loved lavender scents.

As far as prices go, when I got mine I went to Target where the diffuser ran $5.99 for the starter kit and $3.49 for a refill.  The fragrance mist was $2.99 and refills were $1.99.  I would consider those prices about average when compared to other scent products, but like most Glade products you should be able to score some coupons either online or in the Sunday paper in your coupon inserts.

Do you use fragrance products in your home?  What are your favorite products and scents?