Robert Hruzek from Middle Zone Musings has a group writing project going on that asks that you link to an old funny post. I am actually linking to several. Enjoy!

Peter’s Ponderings

Headless Trucks

What a Surprise

Just A Husband

Scary Bathrooms

My husband is the winner of my group writing project. Wanna know why? Because he was the only one who participated! Wanna know what his prize was? A great big kiss. Oh, don’t worry, if you had entered and won, it would have been a different prize. I like to custom make my prizes for each winner!

By the way, if you are wondering what my favorite flower is, it is pictured in my original group write announcement. For those of you who are impatient, here is another picture. But now aren’t you curious what the first one looked like? Guess you’ll just have to check it out!

Ready for another group writing project or have you forgotten what those were? I have not hosted one in quite awhile. Here’s the scoop.

I want you to let me know what type of flower is your favorite and have you post a picture of it on your blog. If you make sure to link to my blog in your post, I will write a follow up blog post for you.

The deadline is June 27. If you have questions, please let me know. Ready? Set? Go!!

Winter is officially over. Spring Equinox has past and the weather was beautiful today. It is time to say goodbye to winter, but it is a fond farewell.

Two weeks ago, I announced a group writing project on the topic of the best things about winter. I have listed all the participants so far below. If you have not submitted your post yet, right now is a great time to do it. If you wait too long, you will forget about it.

Savoring the Now – Karen Swim

Group Writing Project: Goodbye Winter – Luke Gedeon

Winter’s End – Tabetha Gedeon (me)

Even though winter is technically over, it still feels like winter here in New England. Now is my last opportunity to think of those things I want to make the best of before winter’s long nap. Here is my list. I am sure there are more things, but I can always add those later, right? What would you add to the list?

• the refreshing warmth of hot drinks
• snow
• pumpkin pie
• the serene silence of the outdoors
• the ability to keep cold food on the porch
• the lack of aroma when passing the trash bin outside
• Christmas
• the blazing sunset behind bare trees
• indoor family time (like boardgames)
• my winter wardrobe
• the smell of wood smoke

Well, Spring is right around the corner. Anybody have Spring fever? Me too!

I think it would be a good idea to let Winter go out with style instead of with a “good riddance” attitude. So,  here’s the question. What part of Winter are you going to miss?

Wondering why that is important? If you recognize your favorite parts of Winter soon enough, you will have more opportunity to enjoy Winter as you are focusing on getting in those last minute “missable” moments.

So, go ahead! Give Winter a party and let it end with style! Spring might just slap you in the face before you know it!

Here’s the plan. Write a blog post about your favorite part(s) of Winter and link to this post. For those of you who don’t have a blog, let me know in the comments section below. On March 21 I will post and link to all the entries.

Note: I realize some of you are located further south than me. If it is no longer cold where you live, let us know what you enjoyed about this past Winter or what you enjoy about Winter in general.

Ever try to choose a favorite post within a 30 day period? I did it 12 times! Wanna know why?

BLOGAPALOOZA!!!!

Roburt Hruzek over at Middle Zone Musings (thus the title of my post) hosted this blogapolooza for the  month of January, and today was my day to be featured. It is basically my list of 12 favorite posts of 2008 (one per month) and a brief description of each!

Head on over and take a look. If you get a bit distracted by the posts of others besides me, that is okay (provided you DO eventually look at mine)! By the way, if you’re quick, you can get in on this year’s blogapalooza! But you better hurry! Tomorrow is the deadline!

Have fun!

Joanna Young at Confident Writing is doing a group writing project entitled “Simply the Best.” If you are interested in participating, here are the rules.

If you are interested in participating in Joanne’s group writing project but have no idea where to start, hop on over to Robert Hruzek’s blogapalooza to get started. This will get you started by allowing you to choose your favorite post from every month of 2008. Once you have it down to twelve, it is a bit easier to narrow it down to a single blog post.

I had a bit of a hard time choosing my favorite post because…..well….that’s a lot of writing to choose from. I almost picked A Great Mother’s Day because it has great (almost) professional pictures of my children.

Name that Kid was almost chosen because it is a great example of my life with five children. It it also helping me to remember to use my children’s names when I speak to them.

Even though the choice was hard, I like Scary Bathrooms best….barely. It is simply the best because it helps you to think like a child again. This post allows you to step into a two year old’s mind and see how he views modern technology in bathrooms.

I know what you are thinking. How do I know what it is like to be in the mind of a two year old? No, that is not my mental age. I just happen to have had 4 two year olds within the last 6 years and therefore have a bit experience with them. Six more years like the previous six, and I might actually have the mental age of a two year old!

So, now that your questions are put to rest, go ahead and read my favorite post (on my blog) and then take a peek at my husband’s favorite post from his blog.

Thanks so much to those who took time to share their favorite homemade gift ideas. Grab a cup of  hot chocolate, have a seat, and enjoy these creative ideas with me!

Gifts Made By Hand Come from the Heart
by Em Dy

Em believes that homemade gifts are the way to go because they are more personal than a store bought one. She suggests making a gift that fits the personality of the receiver. She gives several specific and personalized ideas for any season!

Does a Website Count as a Homemade Christmas Gift?
by Luke Gedeon

Luke helps us see that virtual gifts can be some of the best “homemade” gifts you could ever give a geek. I believe it might even be a cool gift for a non-geek, who could truly use some help. What a wonderful idea!

The Homemade Design that Made My Birthday
by Erica DeWolf

Erica tells of a gift in the mail that is the next best thing to seeing your loved ones in person. What creative friends she had! If I had the ability to make this gift, I would make it for my own daughter! Maybe I should practice a bit and consider making it for another occasion!

My Favorite Homemade Gift
by me

I tell about a gift that I received and like so much that I made up a batch and gave them away as gifts. I would give them again if it wasn’t too redundant!

From a Friend Without Internet Access

I also have another to add from a couple with no internet access, who gave my children homemade gifts this year. They made allergy free gingerbread cookies, and decorated them beautifully. They actually look like Christmas ornaments, only the are edible!! What a perfect personalized, made with love gift!!

At the end of a summer mission trip to Colorado I went on in 1998, all the church members from the church we were helping out gave my partner and me small gag gifts. One of my gifts was an eye pillow because it had inspired quite a bit of laughter between one of the ladies in the church and me. Unfortunately, I can’t remember what we were laughing at! I’ll have to dig through my own journals to find out! But that isn’t the main idea of this post. (Some how I get the feeling that some of you are going to make me explain that one later).

Several years ago, my beloved eye pillow that had gotten me through many headaches was irreparably torn. I was sad but did not let my sadness keep me from being inspired by the fact that I now knew what the eye pillow was filled with and how to make a replacement.

Turns out that the replacement was so easy to make that I made a bunch and gave them away as gifts. The gifts were well received, and I even got a request to make one for someone else later on.*

So, a homemade eye pillow was one of the favorite gifts I ever received, and quite honestly, one of my favorite ones to give. I felt like I was giving such a personal gift because it is one made with my own hands.

Wondering how to make one? You can find step by step instructions on ehow.com. I didn’t do much more than email back then, so I did not have access to step-by-step instructions. Needless to say, I did not follow these exactly. Here’s what I did differently.

• Used bird seed instead of flax seed
• Left out the scented herbs
• Made them 2-tone (meaning sewing all 4 sides instead of just 3)

The main thing is to make sure you do not over or under fill your pillow. You want it to have enough room to let the filling settle down over your eyes. If it has too much or too little filling, it won’t work very well. Hopefully you can get an idea of how full it should be by the pictures below. Let me know if you have questions.

*Unfortunately I can’t remember whether I ever followed through on that request. If you are reading this and requested an eye pillow that you did not receive, please let me know.

I posted previously about saving money this season to put toward a worthy project. Hand made gifts are a great idea, and I think more of us would make gifts if we had a bit of inspiration. Soooooo, that’s where I need your help.

There are several options with this group writing project.

1. Share a time in your past when you made gifts.
2. Share an idea that you think would be a great one for a home made gift.
3. Tell of a time when you received a home made gift.

I know this is a busy time of year, but take a moment to share a few ideas with those who are interested in saving money to give for a wonderful cause! Tell us about your fond memories or wonderful dreams for a handmade gift idea!

Pleas submit your entry by December 17 and link to this post. If you do not have a blog, just put your suggestions in the comment section below this post. I’ll be looking forward to your entries!

It has been a month since I began this group writing project, and I am just now realizing that it was not a group writing project. It is a group picture project. Maybe that is why not many people responded. Maybe people who like to write are not the same people who like to take pictures (although this is not true in my case).

Besides me (and I even posted mine late), my husband posted his favorite pictures, and Meg linked to me with a picture from her blog. I don’t know that it was her favorite, but it was a cool picture nonetheless.

If you meant to post your favorites and were too busy, too forgetful, or a combination of both, please go ahead and post your favorite pictures. If you don’t want to go through all your pictures, you can just pick one you like, or maybe you could let me know which pictures you like that others have posted. And then, of course, there is always the option of just enjoying the view.

Because I got my dates mixed up, I am posting late for my own group writing project! So, if there is someone out there who still wants to participate, please don’t feel bad for submitting your picture late.

By the way, it doesn’t have to be just one picture. I am not sure I could pick one favorite picture, so I picked quite a few! I hope you enjoy them!

Last month’s groups writing project went well, so I decided to go for a 2nd round. This time I would like you to take a trip down digital memory lane and choose your favorite picture(s) that you took of nature and post them on your blog or link to them.

After you choose your picture(s) please link to this post and/or leave a comment with a link leading to your blog post and/or picture(s). Since this is a photo project, you are welcome to link to your favorite picture(s) on your preferred photo sharing site. Please leave a comment or link by October 19, and I will link to your favorite picture(s) on my blog.

I am looking forward not only to my trip down memory lane, but also to seeing the results of all of your trips down memory lane! Happy memories!

When I read some of your “Favorite Smells” lists, my mind was refreshed to some favorite smells I overlooked in my list.

Em reminded me that I like the smell of freshly shampooed hair. The funny thing is, I never smell my own hair. It is usually on of my kids when they sit next to me.

Luke reminded me that I love the smell of oranges. There is something about the smell of an orange that makes you just have to eat one! I can look at one all day with no temptation, but the smell….. There is no scent that matches it. I don’t care for dish detergents and other artificial citrus scents, though. It has to be the real thing!

Dani reminded me that I like the smell of dryer sheets. I like the smell of the dryer sheets by themselves, but the best part is to smell them from outside when you walk by the vent to the dryer.

Thanks to those who participated! It was nice to share and even nicer to realize that I am not the only smelly one around!

If you are sorry to have missed this opportunity, take a peek at the end of this month to see what next month’s “My Favorite Things” group writing project will be!

After writing a previous post about My favorite smells, I began to wonder what your favorite smells are. In an effort to find out, I decided to start a monthly group writing project.

I got this idea from Robert Hruzek’s “What I Learned From” series of blog posts at Middle Zone Musings, who assigns a group writing project each month. He gets a lot of interesting responses.

I hope you will participate in my new “copy cat” venture by letting me know, on your own blog, what your favorite smells are and email me or leave a comment with a link. If you do not have a blog, you are welcome to put the list in my comments section.

I will pull together, and link to, everyone who responds to this group writing project by September 7. I can’t wait to hear (read?) from you! Stay tuned next month to see what the next “My Favorite Things” post will be!