2010 Ultimate Blog Party

Welcome!  If you're stopping by for the first time from the Ultimate Blog Party, please come on in and make yourself at home! (And if this isn't your first visit, well, you know we're very casual around here-- so you should come on in, too!)

If you came to my home in real life, I'd direct you over to my kitchen island to grab a snack.  See... over there... go ahead and help yourself to some of my broccoli dip or my ranch cheese ball.     If you want to stick around for supper, you're more than welcome-- we'll be having my world famous chicken enchiladas, my family's favorite bean dip, chips, and fresh veggies.

As for this blog, well... I write about all kinds of things:

• The majority of my posts relate to frugal deals,  thrift store finds, coupons, etc. 
• I read a lot, and lately I've been doing a lot of sponsored  book reviews for various companies.   
• I like to share my craft projects, though lately I haven't had a lot of crafting time.  I created a Sunday meme for scrapbookers & paper crafters ~ Sunday Scrappin' ~ and these last several months my wonderful co-host, Bailey's Granny, has taken over the hosting duties. 
• From time to time you'll find political and religious posts here-- those topics aren't off-limits in my home, so they're not off-limits in my blog, either.   I'm a ProLifer, moderately conservative (somewhere between Republican and Libertarian), not in favor of the Obamacare bill that was recently forced on us, a big fan of Sarah Palin.... and I enjoy a lively debate on any of these topics.  However, I do tend to tone things down on this blog, as I find these discussions are much better in person.   ;)

The #1 search that brings people to my blog is my post from 2007 about how to clean your dishwasher and clear up cloudy glassware.  It's not really my secret, it's something I learned from The Queen of Clean... but apparently it's a pretty common problem, because I have visitors every. single. day. who read that post.

If I can be serious for just a moment.... and I can... let me tell you  a little something about Juvenile Diabetes.  My seven year-old daughter was diagnosed with Type I Diabetes (so-called Juvenile Diabetes because it's usually diagnosed in childhood) when she was five.  If you take nothing else away from this party stop, let it be this: Type I Diabetes is very different from Type II, which is the type of Diabetes you usually hear about.   Type I Diabetes was NOT caused by anything she ate, and she will not "outgrow" her daily need for insulin- in fact, those insulin injections are keeping her alive.  And, because she needs insulin after every meal, she can eat anything she wants... so please don't judge when you see her eating an occasional treat like any other kid.  Sorry for the serious tone, but I like to take any opportunity I have to help educate others about this rotten disease.   It's a part of daily life around here, so I can't ignore it, even for a party. 

Back to the party...

If I look familiar, you might have seen me hanging out online somewhere- posting my recipes at RecipeZaar, at the Children with Diabetes forums, or on a variety of other forums.  I'm known as AmyMCGS pretty much everywhere online. 

I have a Twitter account, but I don't really tweet much... I don't think I quite have gotten the hang of that just yet.  Maybe you'd like to help me out and tell me what you enjoy about Twitter in the comments section?  Edited 4/11: OK, since the UBP started I've been playing around on Twitter a lot more, following #ubp10 posts, and I think I'm starting to "get it"!  :)  I'm adding a lot of new UBP friends to my follow list!

So... I know you have other parties to visit.   It's nice to have you visit, and I hope you'll come back again.  If you're like me, party-hopping today, you're probably finding lots of interesting new-to-you blogs, so you'll want to subscribe to my feed so that you don't lose your way back here.  Happy party hopping!

P.S.  If you're not familiar with the Ultimate Blog Party, go check it out-- there are lots of prizes to win just for participating!   I'd love to win the Be My Guest certificate ($250 value), which  is a 2 night stay for a family of four at any Hilton Garden Inn-- that would mean that my family would get to take a little mini vacation this year.  Of course, I'd also be happy with the Your Shape Wii game, the Hobo clutch bag, the Amazon or Target gift cards... or really, any of the other great prizes that are up for grabs! :)