Review: Kylie Minogue The Abbey Road Sessions

When I hear Kylie Minogue, the first thing I think of is Locomotion.  We played that song at all our dances for a lot of years!

Kylie has been singing and recording for the last 25 years.  It has been an extraordinary career so far—60 million global album sales, multiple hit singles, global tours, and industry accolades, but I haven't really kept up with her since Locomotion.

This album, The Abbey Road Sessions, features 16 tracks from Kylie's 25-year career, some of them her greatest hits along with some previously unreleased tracks.  All of them have been stripped of Kylie's usual high-end pop production and re-worked.  The album was recorded in London’s legendary Abbey Road Studios with Kylie’s band and a full orchestra.  The result is beautiful, with Kylie's voice front and center.  Locomotion is on there, but it's probably my least favorite track.  I especially like Better the Devil You Know and On a Night Like This, but the more I listen to this CD, the more I find to like. I've just been turning it on and letting it play, and I used it for my 'soft music' twice when we showed the house. If one of those people buy the house, I'll have Kylie to thank! (at least a little)

For a taste of this album, listen to this video:

Beautiful, right?  The Abbey Road Sessions is available now, in stores and on Amazon and iTunes.  Be sure to grab your copy.  Also, be sure to watch Dancing with the Stars tomorrow night on ABC, because Kylie will be appearing on the show.  I know I'll be watching!

Note: I received a free copy of the CD from One2One Network to facilitate my review. By posting, I am eligible for incentives. All opinions stated are my own.

Have You Tried Deal Dash?

More than 1 million US shoppers have tried DealDash. Have you?  I haven't.  I keep seeing the Deal Dash ads on Facebook, and it looks like people are getting some good deals.  I'm just not sure I have the time or patience for it.  You have to buy Bid Packs and then bid on the items you want - and the auction times keep resetting as long as people are bidding, so those auctions can go on for a while.

I think if you like shopping and online games or online gambling, then DealDash might be the perfect thing for you.  A little fun and excitement, and you could get a new computer, camera, Kindle, or something else you've been wanting for an unbelievably low price. 

Maybe if I had something I really wanted?  And some extra time for bidding?  Let me know if you've tried it and how it worked for you.

Thank You For Your Service

I saw this video this morning. I dare you to watch it without just a few tears.



Let's not forget to thank our Veterans - and not just on Veterans' Day.

Moments.org

True Love?

chocolate chip cookies
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

From my email: 

A very old man lay dying in his bed. In death's doorway, he suddenly smelled the aroma of his favorite chocolate chip cookies wafting up the stairs.

He gathered his remaining strength and lifted himself from the bed.

Leaning against the wall, he slowly made his way out of the bedroom, and with even greater effort forced himself down the stairs, gripping the railing with both hands.

With labored breath, he leaned against the door frame, gazing into the kitchen. Were it not for death's agony, he would have thought himself already in heaven.

There, spread out on newspapers on the kitchen table were literally hundreds of his favorite chocolate chip cookies.

Was it heaven?  Or was it one final act of heroic love from his devoted wife, seeing to it that he left this world a happy man?

Mustering one great final effort, he threw himself toward the table.

The aged and withered hand, shaking, made its way to a cookie at the edge of the table, when he was suddenly smacked with a spatula by his wife.

"Stay out of those," she said.

"They're for the funeral."

I really did not see that coming! So I had to share.

Walmart's 12 Days of Giving

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Walmart for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.
 

Is there a nonprofit in your community that could use some help?   Be sure to visit Walmart's 12 Days of Giving page on Facebook and nominate them by November 18th, and they could be one of many to receive a portion of the $1.5 million in grants that Walmart is giving away this holiday season.

Simply visit the Walmart Facebook page to get started.  Click the 'Nominate Now" button and fill in the information - nonprofit name, contact info, web page, and an optional photo.  Then, in 200 words or less, tell Walmart how this nonprofit organization benefits your community and makes a difference in people's lives.  On December 10, Walmart will start the “12 Days of Giving,” by announcing funding to the winning nonprofits.

I don't really know of a local  nonprofit that I'd like to nominate, though I'm sure that there are some quietly doing good work that really could use some help.  I have a soft spot in my heart for our local Friends of the Library organization, because they do so much for our local library, and that really does do a lot for our community.  However, when I read through the categories in the drop-down under "What does this nonprofit do your community?" - Fighting Hunger, Communities Impacted by Disaster, Infants/Babies/Children, Warm Weather Clothing, Shelters, Veterans and Military Family Assistance, Senior Care, Women, and Other - I wonder if what they're doing is important enough.  Organizations serving in some of these categories can really make a difference in people's lives.
 
Is there a local nonprofit you're going to nominate?  Be sure to do it by November 18th!  Then come back and tell me about the difference they're making in your community.  I'd love to hear it!

Open House this Sunday

We're having another Open House this Sunday.  Hopefully we'll get lots of people through here, and they'll all want the house and start a bidding war to get it.  Wouldn't that be nice?

All it really takes is one to come along and offer us the right amount, so we can pay the realtor fees, pay off the mortgage, and have the money we need to make a down payment on a new house.  We don't even have to find that new house right away, but we'll be able to call the movers montreal (or Milwaukee) and get moved out of here as soon as the new owners want to get moved in.  The cats and I can live with Jeffrey in the apartment, and we can put everything else in storage until we find the right place.  Not the ideal situation, but it would work - and I really would enjoy living with my husband again.

kitchen and dining room

In the meantime, I need to be sure the house is in perfect order by the weekend.  It's really not bad, since we had that showing last week.  I just have to keep it looking that way.  Why is that so hard, considering I'm the only one living here?  I'm looking forward to having a definite buyer so I can start concentrating on packing and getting ready to move, instead of always just trying to keep everything looking good.

And when the house looks good, I'm reminded of how much I like this house.  It's not so easy to let go, but I keep reminding myself that it will be good for someone else to get to enjoy it, too - and we'll be able to move on, together, and find a new house to enjoy.

A Different Way to Shop

I've been seeing posts about DealDash on Facebook recently. People are getting some really good deals on things like cameras, computers, and eReaders - just to name a few of the deals I've seen.

DealDash calls itself the fair & honest alternative to penny auctions.  I haven't tried it yet, but it looks like all you have to do is sign up for a free account and purchase what they call Bid Packs.  These are sold in packs of 60, 100, or more and usually cost 60¢ per bid, but there are often Bid Sales where you can get them for as little as 15¢ per bid.  Currently they're going for 17¢.

Once you have your free DealDash account and have purchased some bids, you can start looking for deals and start bidding.  All auctions start at $0, and each bid raises the price by one penny.  Highest bidder wins the auction, and they pay whatever price the final bid came in at.  I've been watching the front page, and there are lots of items available.  The final prices are pretty good, even if the auctions do seem to go on for quite some time because the timer resets to 10, 20, or 30 seconds every time someone bids.  I guess eventually someone gives up and the other guy wins.  I can't really tell how many times people are bidding on these items, and the cost of the bids would have to be factored into the cost of the item.  Even with that, I think people are getting items for significantly less than they could buy them elsewhere.  They must be, right?  Otherwise they wouldn't be so excited about all the stuff they're getting.

It's risk free to try Deal Dash for several reasons:

• If you’re a first time bidder on DealDash and use all your bids without winning a single auction, DealDash will return all the bids from your first bid pack purchase, for free, to give you a second chance!
• Bidding on DealDash is also risk free thanks to the Buy it Now option. If you don’t win the auction, you can buy the item you were bidding on for its regular price and get back all the bids you used in that auction for free. This way you not only get the desired item, you don't lose the bids and can use them again to try and win another auction.
• DealDash offers a no questions asked 100% money back guarantee. If you are not satisfied for any reason, DealDash will refund your entire first purchase – no questions asked!

If you're looking for some good deals, be sure to check out DealDash.  If you've already tried it, let me know what you think. 

OK, They Like It

Thanks for all your prayers, because the people who looked at the house the other day do like it.  In fact, they gave us an offer - which should be good news and may just yet be good news.  The problem is that their offer is WAY below the asking price - so low that, had it been us, we never would have dreamed of starting that low. It may be a 'buyer's market' but I don't think sellers should be expected to practically give their house away...  But anyway, there's room for negotiation.  Right?

Pray that, if these are the right buyers, they'll agree to a number that actually works for us.  It sounds like they'd really like to live here.  And, if they aren't the ones - keep praying God sends us a buyer - one ready to give us a reasonable offer.  And some good neighbors - for the really great neighbors we have here - that would be nice.

Call the Repairman First

Every time that I spend the day baking, like today, I really appreciate my stove - and Appliance Repair. I like to think that I didn't take the stove for granted before, but a few years ago, the oven stopped heating properly.  You really find out how much you depend on something when it stops working!

I ended up calling an appliance repair company to come out and take a look at it.  I thought it was the heating element in the oven that was going to need replaced - because, of course I know how to diagnose a problem like that!  The repairman who came out tested that, and that was not the problem.  It was bigger than that - the computer chip that controlled everything was bad.  The oven was just the beginning, this thing controlled the burners, the clock, the timer, everything.  That's when we had to decide, either go ahead with the repair, or buy a new stove.

A new stove was tempting... but in the end it would have cost more, and really my stove was in perfect shape - except for the not working part, of course.  So, we went ahead with the repair, and for about $300 we got, for all practical purposes, a new stove. Its body was in good shape, and with a new brain, it could again do the things it was made to do.  There is no way we could have actually gotten a new stove for that kind of money.

If any of your appliances stops working properly, I would strongly suggest calling an appliance repair company first, before you rush out and buy something new.  You can have a repairman come to your house, diagnose the problem, give you an estimate, and oftentimes fix your problem right on the spot, so you can get back to doing the things you need to do, all at a significant savings to buying something new.  Mine took a bit longer because the part wasn't one he carried in his van, so he had to order it in and then come back to fix the stove a few days later.  In the meantime, I realized how much I use the oven, even more than I'd realized before - and that's why I still appreciate it pretty much every time I use it.

Now That's a Pastrami

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Wonder bread for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.
 
Kids have been enjoying sandwiches made with Wonder bread for over 90 years.  This may be hard to believe, but I'm not one of those kids.  I've never had a sandwich on Wonder bread. We always had homemade bread when I was growing up.  My husband, on the other hand, must've had Wonder bread.  Did I ever tell you about the first time I made bread after we got married?  He ate a slice.  Then he said, "This is OK, but why can't we have real bread?"  And here I thought that what I just gave him was real bread!  I like crusts, too.
 
For many families Wonder bread is their real bread.  They love this soft and delicious bread, and now there are more than 20 varieties of Wonder products, something for everyone.
 
To be sure kids are getting the nutrition they need, Wonder  introduced new Smartwhite for Kids this summer.  With the same delicious flavor and soft texture kids have come to expect, Smartwhite

• is baked with NO high fructose corn syrup
• contains only 50 calories per slice - that's 100 calories per sandwich 
• is fortified with the fiber of 100% whole wheat bread
• contains the calcium of an 8-ounce glass of milk
• and is a good source of nine essential vitamins and minerals.

Add some great sandwich fillings, and you can pack a lot of nutrition into a little lunchbox.  I tried out The Sandwich Wonder-izer! and created a really yummy-looking sandwich using the new Smartwhite for Kids bread.  I layered (from the bottom up) spicy mustard, turkey Pastrami, dill pickle slices, sliced tomato, cucumber, provolone, alfalfa sprouts, avocado, spinach, and Ranch dressing between two slices of Smartwhite bread.  It looks pretty good to me.  What do you think?  I shared it on twitter and facebook, but I don't know if I got anyone drooling on their keyboards or not - besides me, of course.
 
Be sure to try the Sandwich Wonder-izer for yourself.  You can either start from scratch or from several pre-made sandwiches if you need inspiration.  Choose your bread, meats, cheeses, veggies, condiments, etc. Then check the nutritional value, save your creations, and share with friends - or head to the kitchen and create a masterpiece you can actually eat once you've been inspired.
 
Don't forget to share your creations with me.  I'd love to see what you come up with as well as hear your memories of Wonder bread in your lunchbox.  Be sure to Like Wonder bread on Facebook, too.