Thursday, December 06, 2007

My "Lucky" Day

Emma and my mom have this adorable thing where they say, "It's my LUCKY day!" Now, for the record, I have said many a time that I do not believe in luck...I believe in grace. I really like American Heritage Dictionary's definition (one of quite a few!):
A favor rendered by one who need not do so; indulgence.
So, with that...I am about to make a short story long. Last Christmas, Ben and I each got an Ipod Nano for Christmas. I was new to this technology, but it came at a great time since our radio in our car doesn't work well, and our CD player no longer works. It doesn't take long to get used to that cool little gadget, not to mention that it is nice for Ben out on his own all night when he works night shift. Anyway, before we moved, some teenagers (sorry for the stereotype!) moved in down the street, and one day our Ipods were gone. Now, I do not know that it was the teenagers who did it, so I am not going to say for sure that they did. And it is mostly my fault anyway because I left the car unlocked. But, it was a bummer.
So...fast forward. KDAR (the Christian radio station) announced that Adventures in Odessey (a children's audio program) was giving away 3 Ipods a day for 12 days. It comes pre-loaded with Adventures in Odessey Christmas editions, and it is a "big" Ipod (30 GB?) So, I entered the contest each day, until I finally read the rules stating that you had to be the first entry received by 1) 7 am, 2) 10 am, or 3) 6 pm. So, Saturday, I filled out the entry form, then set out to do Emma's hair. I set the timer to beep at 9:59am, so I could come and send my entry. The timer went off, I came and sent the entry, then my computer took FOREVER. So long that I left to finish Emma's hair. When I came back to the computer, there was an error message so I assumed that the entry didn't even go through.
Saturday night Ben and I went to Aera's Christmas party. They were raffling off a bunch of prizes, the grand prize being a 32 inch LCD HD TV. During one of the raffles, we won a GPS system for the car. Then, they were drawing the name for the TV...you guessed it, BEN HESTER. Finally, towards the end of the night they called us again and we won a garage light?? I'm not really sure what it is, but I am sure Ben needs one, because he doesn't have much!
So, Monday morning I am getting ready to enter the IPOD contest again. While I was waiting for the right time, I clicked on "Contest Winners." It showed on Saturday, 12/1/07, that there was a "Lisa H. from CA". Now, I know there are a million Lisa H.'s in Ca, but still, you gotta wonder! So I called them to see if that was me!! That must have thought I was a kook!! They said that if I had won, I would have received a phone call, and I hadn't. So, I hung up the phone, the kids and I went on with our day and we were saying our morning prayers (no, I didn't mention the Ipod in our prayer!) Not even a minute after we finished praying, my phone rings, and it is Focus on the Family, calling to tell me that I won the Ipod. Seriously. I almost fell over, somewhere between laughter and tears. I thought, O Lord, this is just too much!! But thank you!!
So, some would say Saturday must have been my lucky day...But I would just have to say that the Lord was ever-so indulgent on my behalf.

Monday, December 03, 2007

P.S. on the vinegar/baking soda

Becky! These articles were also very helpful as far as how much, etc.
Baking soda:http://www.thenewhomemaker.com/bakingsoda
Vinegar:http://www.thenewhomemaker.com/vinegar
Happy Cleaning!
P.S. Does anyone remember the episode of Punky Brewster, when Punky's friend and sibling are at the house, and the sibling drinks some of a product under the sink, and the friend doesn't know how to help because she can't read the label?? Anyway, I was thinking about that, it obviously made a big impression on me...