20 to Life

So among wandering around different giveaway sites (loving the ease & efficiency of Rafflecopter btw!) and getting things done for the Christmas season, I've noticed that while it's true that Christmas has become more and more commercialized, there is still something magical about this time of year. I know it sounds trite, but there are still so many people who celebrate Christmas by remembering the spirit of the season. Not great prices and door-busters, or making sure you have a gift for everyone you've ever met and their next door neighbor, but giving service, making sure someone else has something you can selflessly give to them to make their holiday. Doing unto others and so forth. I love when I notice my kids taking it upon themselves to put the neighbors trash can back beside their garage - just because they were putting ours away. My daughter will never sit beside her friends at any kind of gathering, if she can help it, she'll go out of her way to spot that person sitting off by themselves and will go and plop herself down and talk their ear off, making them feel included, welcome - and wanted. So this season, when you have a million things to do, you're tired of singing "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer" 20 consecutive times and you can't believe what stores are asking for a no frills, basic barbie doll - remember what this is all about. Even if you're not inclined to be actively religious the rest of the year - it's universal (at least, in most places I've ever been) that Christmas is a time to celebrate the birth of Christ, to go out of your way to do as much as you can for others, and to give until you have nothing left - and then go give some more.

"Be It Unto Me" by liz lemon swindle

There is nothing that will make you feel better about everything in your life, than by doing a selfless act, showing kindness to someone who needs it (and those that don't) and making this that magical time of year for your kids so when they're all grown-up , have kids of their own, and are blogging away in the 5 minutes they have between rushing to pick kids up, clean, grocery shop and prepare; they can look back and remember how wonderfully fulfilling and magical Christmas time is supposed to be. Cliche - but, "Peace on Earth, Goodwill to Man".

Oh, and as a "p.s" I was sent a fantastic link to a great site that will personalize a video of Santa for your child for free. It takes about 10 minutes to enter in the needed information and upload a couple of pics - and you're ready to make your little girls day! I can't WAIT to see A's face - Merry Christmas! http://magicsanta.ca/homepage.html

Due to the demanding emails I received from several of you (you know who you are lol) I cleared some time to keep my blogging contributions to the net going.

I'm not quite ready to jump back into giveaways just yet - but I will definitely be posting about awesome freebies and other sites with amazing giveaways going!

So as a quick recap, to those who are interested & unaware of what's been going on in the house of Degen, I'll give the cliff notes version for you. Due to my illness (we think) I developed complications in the form of seizures. My worst experience so far has been me talking on the phone, having a seizure strike, falling backwards (absolutely straight & stiff, like a board) & cracking my head on the tile - 75% of our house is tile - and all this in front of all 5 of my kids.

All I remember from it, was responding to paramedics asking me if I knew who the president was. (To which I promptly replied, "No ... but I know I don't like him ..." *blush*)

So after numerous tests, trips to the doctors & the emptying of our wallets, we're still no closer to understanding what causes the seizures or how to stop them etc. etc. Although I'm allowed to drive again (I was in the no-drive zone for 8 months or so), which has made a huge difference to my husbands schedule, since he was coming home from work, dropping the kids of at George Washington Academy before rushing to Dixie College for his own classes, coming home - changing - back to work, then home, grabbing kids, back to school for another class, then home for 4 to 5 hours of homework!

He's been an absolute CHAMP!

So, needless to say, I was offline for a while, am now back, although I do need to limit my time in front of the screen (another little 'perk' of having seizures).

SO! On with the show, I'll post a few of the goodies I know of to do with freebies ... but until I get my bearings online again, please forgive my rushed sounding posts, and possible format changes. Eventually I'll get back to my usual, efficiently awesome self.

Jaime at Coupons and Freebies Mom has some giveaways perfect for the holiday season, and her "bonus" entries (the usual FB, Twitter followers etc.) are easy & simple to enter (basically it's clicking a box, hitting submit & you're taken right back to the beginning with minimal upload time!) Nothing is more frustrating than trying to enter a giveaway multiple times & having it be a complicated process. Giveaway fiends, such as myself, will understand exactly where I'm coming from!

So go check out what she has going on.

Here's a list of a few freebies you might be interested in:

As the days go on & Christmas draws near, I'll post any other interesting finds. I want to add a 'shout-out' to this great non-profit organization I heard about, via email, from Jenny who was anxious to get the word out. Canines for Disabled Kids basically supply assistance dogs for disabled kids who strive to gain more independence for themselves. They work with a variety of different disabilities, but have a look at their website, they do such fantastic work and there are many ways you can help. One of these is what I heard about from Jenny at My Own Pet Balloons.
This is a fantastic website that makes these amazing balloon animals, visionary artist, Treb Heining, is the pioneer behind the company. They have the coolest selection of pets to choose from - frogs, ponies, cows, cats ... the list goes on!

So what My Own Pet Balloons wants to do to help is, for every balloon pet you buy, they will donate $5.00 to Canine for Disabled Kids!

"Canines for Disabled Kids, a non-profit organization, is helping children with disabilities gain independence and participate more fully in society. This helped inspire the MyOwnPet balloon line, allowing children to simulate that experience with any animal. I thought you would be interested in sharing the news with the readers of 20 to Life that right now, for every MyOwnPet balloon purchased, $5 will go directly to help Canines for Disabled Kids"

So not only are you getting a great gift for someone, you're helping a worthy, non-profit organization help kids nationwide! What more could you want for Christmas? Fabulous idea, thanks Jenny for letting me know, and here's more information from My Own Balloon Pets & Canine for Disabled Kids.

That's me, wrapping it up for today, please stop the onslaught of emails, lol! I'm here. I'm back. And I love you too! Also, please pray for those less fortunate this season, and try and do all you can to lend support, in any way you can, to those having a hard time this year. We've all been there, we all deserve to know someone out there cares & is willing to help. And if there's any way I can help, let me know, I'm more than willing to do my part, however small, to brighten someones day. Speaking of! Our family is doing a "12 Days of Christmas" for someone in our neighborhood which I'll document here, because it's always fun to doorbell ditch someone and leave them a surprise. (A good surprise. Burning dog-poop bags don't count. Ew.) So I can't wait for that. Til we meet again ...