Week 30 - Still chugging along!

I just dusted off my folder of letters and responses, and picked one that can hopefully help me claw my way to victory in this thing…slow and steady wins the race?

The photograph included with this letter will come as no surprise to those of you who are frequent visitors. Without further ado, let's get some Quazy Quisp!

Dear Quaker Oats,

I realize that to the indiscriminating eye this photo of our cereal shelf look adequate. 

Some may even say that we have an overabundance of offerings, considering that only two out of the four people who live in our house reach for any of these boxes regularly. However, my husband and I each know something is missing.

My husband sits down next to me on the couch every night with a bowl of vitamin and mineral fortified goodness. Every now and then I see his gaze shift off into the distance, and I know where his thoughts have turned to…Quisp cereal. There have only been a couple of occasions in our travels when I have had the opportunity to see the glimmer in his eyes when spotting a box of Quisp on the grocery store shelf. I just confirmed via your online store locator that there is no Quisp available at grocery stores within fifty miles of us. Hopes dashed, fears realized, and disappointment in no quazy energy sinking in.

Now as for myself, I long for the Crunchy Corn Bran. I have seen it here and there at times over the past fifteen years. My step-father and I used to report our sightings to each other, until they sort of faded out. Apparently Target is where we can find those golden yellow boxes. I have to admit that there are a lot of things at Target that distract me from their grocery section, but I will be sure to check the next time I am there.

For now the Quaker is hanging out in our pantry on the boxes of Life, but he is lonely and wants more company. Milk, spoons and bowls at the ready!

Quispy and crunchy,

Andrea 

Blogger at Maybe It’s Just Me

Andrea-maybeitsjustme.blogspot.com

Did they take pity on our Quisp-deficient souls? Certainly they'd send at least one box, right? Wrong! Roberto sent me this fine letter confirming that we were basically out of luck.

He did also include a shiny coupon, that of course I cannot find my picture of. It was basically for any product that fell under the giant Pepsico umbrella, except for cereal. It seemed to add a little bit of insult to injury, as Roberto had clearly given up hope for our Quisp plight. Within a week of receiving the letter, however, my husband took matters into his own hands and merely wandered into a different nearby grocery store and found…AN ENTIRE ENDCAP DISPLAY OF QUISP! His look of satisfaction made it difficult to reprimand him for not gathering photographic evidence.

I could probably take 25 points for magically having Quisp appear on a local grocery store shelf, but I will just take my two points for the shiny coupon. 

62 + 2 = CURRENT POINT TOAL OF 64

Check in to see who the competition is loving this week!

Just a little random

Greetings from the balmy tropics of our garage...

…yes, that means it was even colder outside this morning! I know a lot of you are experiencing the same bit of frostiness -hooray us! My daughter and I just read in a magazine that people should lower their thermostats at night because sleeping in temperatures under sixty-six degrees can promote weight loss. We both laughed because our house isn't set as high as sixty-six even during the day. Maybe it's the shivering that burns calories.

Fozzie wants your sympathy for the disruption this bitter cold has caused to his neighborhood walking routine.

I am trying to explain to him that nobody is going to take pity on his fleece blanket bundled, head on a monogrammed flannel pillow, furry self.

Did you know you could order things in "eaches"?

How many "eaches" are in a "some" I wonder?

I do not want to name names, but somebody gave me some storage containers the other day that had been cleaned out of a cupboard. I admit that I was happy to see the top and bottom of one that is not pictured, but we all pretty much cracked up at this useful assortment.

Seven lids and one bottom that none of those lids fit. The main problem? You know I am having a hard time throwing any of them away for fear that their mates will somehow appear in the next bag I get. Although this might be even just a little too random of a selection for me!

Stacy is still hosting and rocking the random! Thanks, Stacy!

REVIVE!

I was doing some reading over at my friend Kirby's place. She is hip and happening, and in addition to being a more than capable DIY lady, she is also very cape-able! Oh yes, we went there...

On New Year's Day she posted her words for this year (that link up there will show them to you), and asked for ours. Last year I just sort of glommed on to her word, which was purge. No harm no foul there, as I did get rid of a lot of stuff! This year though should be different. There are a lot of words, and I even know what some of them mean. I considered the first one that popped into my mind…reinvent?

Quite frankly it sounded exhausting. I felt defeated before I could even entertain the possibility of drawing up a plan for such an overhaul. Plus, if I were to reinvent myself, would I then become someone else? Various parts of my body snapped to attention at the notion:

• "She isn't going to start wearing high heels, is she? We love our Nikes!"
• "She isn't going to give up candy is she?"
• "Oh great, she's going to be less sarcastic?"
• "OH MY GOD! SHE ISN'T GOING TO TRAIN FOR A MARATHON!!!"

Everybody just calm down! There must be some good bits of a person in here somewhere, so let's dust them off and revive them. Yes…REVIVE! Step away from the Christmas cookies and Twix bars. Save those for special treats, and those salted caramels? Save them for when you need to feel a little fancy. Get back to what you know, Andrea. Grab a handful of those peanut m&m's that are as comfy and vital to your well-being as a cup of coffee is to others, and revive yourself!

Stop using the pedometer only to check the time of day. Try following a recipe that isn't on a packet of taco seasoning or the back of a rice box. Come on, girl, you know this person! Get rid of that box of hair color that has been hanging around by actually putting it IN your hair! Clear out some more clutter, you know how you love that. Write down that mental to-do list and stop ignoring it, you know how you get crap done just for the thrill of crossing it off your list. Ask your daughter again nicely to help redesign your blog, maybe even write an actual post. Put on a cape, write a letter and laugh! It is time to revive yourself! Phew! 

Superhero Sunday - Elixir

Popeye had his spinach and now, in addition to this beautiful cape, there has been some restocking...

…stay tuned for…

Week 29 - an update

Let's go back to where this started for me. You don't remember where? Well then let me show you wear…as in 'wears…as in underWEARS! My letter to Hanes was the first one I posted for this CONTEST.

Sadly, I received no response from the panty people. A super awesome friend swooped in and was able to provide actual names of people I could send my letters to. I resent the original letter to the vp of something or other, and then decided to whip up a little something extra for the VP of women's underwear...

Dear Hanes Brains,

A few months ago I sent a letter of appreciation to your company. While I was disappointed that I did not hear anything back, I realized maybe either I hadn’t included enough love for Hanes her Way, or my envelope had not found its way out of the mailroom yet. A friend of mine in Winston-Salem gave me this specific address to write to, so I thought I would try again. May I present…

Ode to Undies

Methinks it’s neat

How you cover my seat

No need to feel edgy

Retrieving a wedgie

Your lo-rise briefs rule

Cottony soft and cool

Softly hugging my fanny

The fit is uncanny

Not too loose or tight

Sized just right

Thanks to the low cost

The college fund is not lost.

Thanks for having us covered!

Wearing the ‘wears,
Andrea

So did I fare better with my 'wears this time, or was I left dangling in the breeze like stretched out elastic? BOING! Um, yeah, that would be the sound of a waistband snapping. No points for me, butt at least my underwear fit!

Current point total = 62

The competition had a pretty bad case of the windchills and kids out of school this week, so her return to the contest is operating on a slight delay.

Return of the Random

Despite the snow day we had yesterday for what would have been the first day back to school…

...it has come to my attention that today is Tuesday…all day long! Let's try to stir up some random, shall we. Gosh, the holidays seem like such a blur, don't they?

Oh wait, sorry, that was just my camera.

Hope you all had visions of sugarplums dancing in your heads…if you like that sort of thing. Maybe you're more of a carnivore? 

All I could picture was Fred Flintstone's car tipping over when his meal was served as I saw the portion of meat my father dished up for my son.

Hope you all had joyous tunes in your head. My son played the viola as part of a string quartet at our local library. I had signed out one book and purchased three others before I even sat down. (Yes, I purchase books at the library, don't ask.)

Fifty-five minutes of fabulous holiday tunes…fifty-five minutes of oh-my-gosh-look-at-all-of-the-books - MUST READ THE BOOKS!!!!!

Hope you all got to spoil yourselves…you know by getting some "clean" legos instead of dusty ones! (Go ahead and click here if you didn't get that reference.)

Hope you all had good hair days…never once accidentally getting a hammerhead shark caught in your locks. 

Oops, poor baby girl! (She was immediately helped once the photo was taken.)

Hope you are all settling back in to your regular, and no doubt glamorous, routines! 

Yes, the thirteenth series of Lego mini figures is out, so I made myself comfortable as a new quest began! Well, it is really more of an old recurring quest, I suppose.)

Happy New Year and cheers to all of you!

As far as resolutions go for this year, I am planning to try to floss my teeth more often and maintain my sanity…and also apparently giving you all the opportunity to feel like you are better at making resolutions than I am! (You're welcome.)

Superhero Sunday - GADS!

It might take more than a cape to get this show back in the road! Is this thing on? Is there anybody still out there? Seriously, did my cape get thrown out with the wadded up wrapping paper? Is it reasonable that the gingerbread man in the foil cape is still on the counter?