Snipe and Dumbledog

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tx1XIm6q4r4

I only had to show the kids "Potter Puppet Pals" once for them to start quoting it.

If you haven't watched this yet, now is the time.

Visit my Stampin' Up! Demonstrator Website

Visit me Online!

www.stampinjenny.stampinup.net

I am so excited to announce that you can now order Stampin' Up! products online from my website anytime day or night!

Ordering online is easy and convenient, and you still get the same great Stampin' benefits, not to mention your order will be shipped right to your door wherever you live!

Plus, I can now accept credit cards online or in person on all customer orders!

Visit my Demonstrator Website to:

• Find products and promotions
• View my calendar of events
• View project samples
• Place an order
• Sign up as a Demonstrator

Once you’ve seen the exciting promotions and new products available, you’ll want to book a workshop right away and get your hands on the new catalog. Hostesses receive a free catalog, or receive a free catalog with an order of $50 or more.

Upcoming Events
2 for $2 Cards
Thursday, September 18, 7pm

World Card-Making Day
Saturday, October 4, 6pm
$1 per card, limit 10

Scrapbook A La Carte
Friday, September 19, 2pm-4pm & Saturday, September 27, 9am-noon
You provide your own paper and I’ll provide the stamps, ink, punches, and tools. I’ll also help you with layout and color-scheme ideas. Hardware can be provided on a pay-per-use basis.

Why I love Stampin' Up!

1. I love the opportunity to be creative, the associations, and of course, the products!

2. Stampin' Up! is progressive--as evidenced by the new online options for ordering and recruiting, Stampin' Up! is reaching more people online.

3. Also, Stampin' Up! is staying on top of the crafting industry--they won't be left behind! Here are a few new product lines that Stampin' Up! is now carrying, reaching a wider audience of crafters and broadening horizons:

Celebrando Creatividad, a new line of stamps and accessories in Spanish. Business supplies are also availalbe in Spanish for Spanish-speaking demonstrators.

Décor Elements, A new line of adhesive vinyl wall art.

Big Shot Die Cutter, Stampin' Up! has now partnered with Sizzix to carry the Big Shot Die cutter, with exclusive new dies.

Plus, Stampin' Up! is always offering terrific promotions! Visit my Demonstrator Website and click "Stampin' Up! Products" to see the current promotions.

There’s never been a better time to stamp!

Jenny Fosdick
Independent Demonstrator
jennyfosdickATgmailDOTcom

I probably have better things to do...

This just looked like fun! Although, both kids are sleeping which means I should probably go to bed instead of goofing around on the computer...

How Observant are you?

Need something to occupy your time for 3-5 minutes? Thanks to Julie for this little quiz. Take it to see how observant you are about everyday things. I scored 20 out of 25 and I didn't cheat. Take the quiz here and then let me know what you scored!

http://www.oldjoeblack.0nyx.com/thinktst.htm

Why I haven't blogged all week

I guess you could say that I'm in survival mode this week. Aside from making sure that everyone is fed and diapered, there isn't much else I've expected to get done. At the beginning of the week, I mad a checklist of small things to make sure I did every day. It includes: read scriptures, get dressed and put in contacts, empty and load dishwasher, sweep kitchen floor, put away contents of dryer, spend 5 minutes tidying living room, spend 5 minutes on stationary bike (to get in the habit), give Chris a hug, read to Leah, put on happy music. Really, each thing can't take that long, and I figured that if I paced myself and did things over the course of the whole day, by the time bedtime rolled around, at least I would have accomplished something.

Well, that was the theory. I won't tell you which things actually got done regularly and which things got neglected--use your imagination. But there are other things that I didn't realize would take priority. For example, I've been very interested in filing our taxes this week and am waiting for the IRS to be "ready to process my return" which they're not. I've watched our Netflix movies right away so I can return them for another one--very important task. I've made bread in my breadmaker two days in a row (well I have to make sure it works!). Yesterday I even had the desire to make homemade soup and serve it to Leah's playdates and their mom. I've spent way too much time reading blogs--it's just so easy to keep sitting and to let my 2 year old run circles around me and watch Disney movies all day. And I've been planning projects to demonstrate at my next Stampin' Up! Workshop. What I should be doing is spending time with my kids, sleeping when they're sleeping, and preparing a RS lesson for Sunday. Let's hope today I have the energy to get off my duff and get to it!

Google Searches

Since I started tracking my stats in August (using StatCounter), I've noticed some pretty strange internet searches that have landed the viewer on my blog. Here are some of the searches that have led here. Some of them make sense, others not so much:

• My husband is a miser
• Pictures of baby in utero
• I forgot to put in the eggs
• Twilight preview writing
• the minutiae elaine seinfeld stinking apartment
• baby laughing commercial
• 29 weeks pregnant my baby trembles
• free toothbrushes for dentists
• lds women
• his sympathy weight
• celine deon salt lake city
• Is banana bread supposed to be refrigerated
• Supermom funny checklist
• Captain belly flop strikes again T-shirt

Yeah, that's what I thought: pretty strange.

Life Disconnected

Our cable modem stopped working at some point mid-Saturday. Since we have VoIP, this also meant that our phone was not working. As soon as I got home and discovered we had a problem, I did some troubleshooting and then I called Comcast. They'd send a technician out on Tuesday. Saturday to Tuesday without internet or home phone? Yikes! That seemed like an eternity!

In actuality, it was almost exactly 72 hours that we were disconnected for. But we do have a cell phone, so we hadn't completely fallen off the face of the earth, and some generous neighbor has an unsecured (albeit VERY slow) wireless network that I tapped onto a time or two to at least check my email. I guess it could have been worse. But seriously, on a daily basis, I spend a significant amount of time on the computer doing email, managing all our financial accounts and paying bills, blogging, etc. I get all my recipes from the internet. I get parenting tips from the internet. I get directions on the internet. I check when my library books are due on the internet. Whenever we have a question about who that actor is, what to do when such-and-such body part is bleeding, or how to fix a bike tire, we simply "google it. " Not having the internet meant that I felt very much...abandoned!

It is so good to be back!

Take me on

I recently became a craigslister, and have been regularly scouting out deals on furniture and other things, and have also advertised my babysitting services. I’ve had several successful transactions. Of course, I’m very cautious about what personal information I disclose. I wont even contact someone by phone unless I’m sure it’s a legitimate transaction.

A few weeks ago, I received a very interesting email in response to my advertised babysitting services. “Lisa” asked, in somewhat broken English, if I could take on her three year old daughter in my home, in addition to the “care of her laundries.” She mentioned that she had a very generous weekly budget. I was a little surprised at the quoted weekly salary, and a little confused by it, and a little wary that it was too good to be true. Keeping myself as anonymous as possible, I probed for a little more information to see if it was for real or not. How much laundry? Can she drop her child off since I won’t always have a car? Does her child have any special needs (which would answer why she was offering to pay so much), etc. I even quoted her how much a private daycare costs around here and that she could do that for less than what she had offered me.

I got a reply from Lisa, who avoided answering my questions, but asked about my credentials as a caregiver. Am I certified? Do I know CPR? Do I have a drivers’ license and how long have I been driving? All of the sudden, this became a job interview for me. But she emailed me first! I was becoming more and more uncertain of this woman, and more certain that I was being fooled.

Then I got Lisa’s next email. She congratulated me on her decision to “take me on” and told me that I would need to submit some information to her so she could wire me my payment from some client of hers in the states that owes her money, and then I send her the rest…etc. The scheme was very detailed. To be honest, I didn’t even have to read the entire thing. I just noticed the bulleted list of needed information midway down which included:

• Picture
• Drivers’ License number
• Social Security Number
• Bank Account Number
• and many more…

My response: Ha! Nice try!

Lisa never emailed me back.

Now, I’m an intelligent person. First of all, why did “Lisa” target a stay at home mom advertising her childcare services? Do I represent a cross-section of Utah Valley that is so easy to manipulate? Second of all, should I feel stupid for letting it go so far? I mean, honestly, it was too good to be true, and the English was so broken and awkward that it should have been a dead give away. And third, is the fact that I did let it get so far an indication that I’m desperate?

I really regretted that I deleted the string of emails, because you all would have gotten a great laugh out of it (whether you would be laughing at her or at me has yet to be seen). But then I got another one today! This time it’s from James and it was in response to a Wireless Network Adapter I posted for sale. Here it is. I have made no alterations to the spelling, grammar, or punctuation.

Dear customer,

how is everything including your work,hope all is well with you?if so splendid.It afford me a great deal of pleasure forwarding you this note from my desk.While i was searching trought i saw your past .i will like to buy your goods .Pls i will want you to get to me back so we can talk more better on it.

THanks.

I know, it makes the ESL specialist who is reading this cringe. And he saw my past? Woah, that’s creepy. I’m almost tempted to “get to him back” and see what the scam is this time. Maybe he knows Lisa!