You've Got Mail Monday

Our postal carrier was working overtime last week. Our mailbox was so full, they must have thought all we do is order things.

Catalogs arrived from Land's End, FrontGate, Kiddly Winks, Oriental Trading, L.L. Bean, and Soft Surroundings (this is a new one). Our second issue of Antiques Roadshow Insider arrived, but I've decided to discontinue this subscription. It seems interesting, but it's only a 15-page booklet. It also irked me that they sent me two invoices for my trial issue before I even received a single copy. History Magazine arrived. I think this is one I ordered from the fundraiser at school. The November/December 2013 issue of Traditional Home also showed up last week. I certainly won't be bored.

Actually, there is no way I could be bored because I won the Christmas in October giveaway from the Penny's Tales blog. I walked away with more than 50 prizes, which included numerous books and swag. They began arriving last week, so I'll have plenty of reading material to keep me busy. I also received Christmas from Heaven: The True Story of the Berlin Candy Bomber which included a DVD with music from the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and a reading of the book by Tom Brokaw. This book review also included a set of 12 Biblical NAMES OF CHRIST Heirloom Ornaments to adorn one of my numerous Christmas trees this year.

We had fun celebrating the Lil' Princess' birthday this past week. Her big--and I do mean big--present was this nearly five-foot tall Melissa and Doug Plush Giraffe. She quickly named it Spots and takes it with her all around the house. That was tough to hide once it was delivered.

We also picked up a copy of the new LEGO Marvel Super Heroes game for XBOX 360. The Lil' Diva loves it! I'm so thrilled. Though it does make me realize they have no real comic book super hero knowledge. I lived on comic books as a kid. When one of the girls thought Batman lived on Krypton, I knew I had some work to do.

That's it for this week of You've Got Mail. This might be a slow blogging week since I am preparing for a writers conference.

You've Got Mail Monday

It's Monday. The sun is shining for the memorial service of our dear friend, Dianne, who passed away last week. It was touching to see so many friends turn out for the wake last night. We waited in line for two and a half hours. Dianne always had a smile on her face. She greeted you with that smile and a hug. I never heard an unkind word cross her lips. She will be greatly missed.

The post office hasn't delivered all our accumulated mail yet, so I don't have much to report for this week. They did, however, deliver Saturday's mail, which included a Justice® catalog just in time for back to school clothes shopping, and the August FrontGate catalog. Love their outdoor furniture, but won't spend that type of money on something that is going to get rained on.

Also from our mail carrier came Murder As A Fine Art by David Morrell. I won this during his virtual book tour. It sounded amazing and the cover art has to be seen up close. It's gorgeous. Can't wait to dig into this one.

That's it for this edition of You've Got Mail Monday. Hope you have a blessed week.

You've Got Mail Monday

Another week has come and gone. Last week was a crazy one with doctor visits, end of the school year activities, and dance recital. Today is the last day of school, so now the schedule should lighten up for a month or so.

In addition to my latest issue of All You magazine, the postman delivered catalogs from Boston Proper, Land's End, and FrontGate. Not feeling in the buying mood--meaning, I am so broke it hurts to even browse--they swiftly made it into the recycle bin.

Two books arrived this week and I am so excited. The Many Faces of Katniss Everdeen and Buffy and the Heroine's Journey. These books are by Valerie Estelle Frankel. I read Frankel's other Hunger Games book, Katniss the Cattail, which is a guide to all that is Hunger Games. She kindly sent me these two other books for review. What a neat niche she has created with her movie and television show tie-in books. You can find her here if you would like to learn more.

That's it for this week's You've Got Mail Monday. Hope you have a lovely week.

You've Got Mail Monday

Blogging has taken a backseat to getting the garden planted. Plus it was Greek Easter this past weekend, so we were at the in-laws. With Mother's Day coming on Sunday, my sister-in-law and I are plotting some gardening work in my mother-in-law's yard. She loves flowers, but just can't do as much as she would like these days.

I ended up buying some soil and plants for her and brought them over on Sunday. Today, I bought two large whiskey barrels to replace the broken ones she has, and another smaller one for a plant she has on her deck that has outgrown its pot. On Mother's Day, I'll visit and do some planting in front of the deck. They have more shade than sun in the backyard, so it's been a challenge for her to find just what she wants. I'm hoping she'll enjoy the new plantings.

Speaking of plants and gardening, the last few plants in that garden plan I am working on arrived on Friday thanks to the postman. With the spring vegetables and some herbs now planted, I can get to work on the front yard. Here is my before picture. The tall bush is getting pulled out and placed in the backyard to hide our generator. The lower vine-like ones are going to be donated to a new flower bed we're creating at church on Saturday. This will all be flowering plants when I'm done with it.

The Lil Diva's (11) bathing suit arrived from Land's End last week, too. We're taking them to Disney this month and I swear that child has grown out of everything she owns. So, bathing suit shopping was on the agenda. I like that their bathing suits are modest, whereas some of the ones I find around here show way too much skin than I am (and she) are comfortable bearing.

My May/June 2013 issue of Gardening How-to arrived early last week, in addition to my May/June 2103 issue of History Magazine. Catalogs from Bluestone Perennials (where most of my new plants came from), Ballard Designs, Grandin Road, Land's End, and FrontGate also arrived.

That's it for this week's edition of You've Got Mail Monday. Hope you have a lovely week.

You've Got Mail Monday

Time to start planning that garden for spring. The groundhog telling us that we will have an early spring certainly helped me feel like I better start browsing my gardening catalogs. I've already been thinking about how I can expand the vegetable garden this year. The three raised beds were nice, but not quite enough space. I saw this neat idea online where a gardener had built a slanted support system for her pea plants and planted lettuce underneath it. I think I'll try that this year. My lettuce takes a beating during our hot summers, and it would gain me some space.

Hope you'll share a gardening tip with us, too.

My Gardener's Supply Company catalog arrived last week, as did a new one from GardenersEdge. What trouble I could get into if I had an unlimited budget. Of course, that applies to home decor, too. My FrontGate and Ballard Designs catalogs also arrived, reminding me, I really need to give the house a pick me up.

Only one book this week: Under Shifting Glass by Nicky Singer. It arrived without a prior request. The Lil Diva (11) said it sounded interesting. We might try it out.

That's it from my neck of the woods. Hope you have a great week.

You've Got Mail Monday

I figured if I didn't share the contents of my mailbox pretty soon, you might be thinking the mail carrier doesn't love me anymore. Actually, that's far from true. The holidays will quickly be upon us, which means the arrival of catalogs galore from places I've never heard of or ordered from before.

One of those unknown places catalogs came from HearthSong®. They have some neat things, like this Putter Pool Game. I want one of those! I'm thinking of getting these Sno-Paints to put in the girls' stockings. Another new catalog in our house came from FrontGate®. I am seriously considering this iPad Caddy for the hubby. It looks stunning.

In addition to the plethora of catalogs that seem to arrive every day--so much for the world going paperless anytime soon--I received three books:

• The Proxy Assassin by John Knoerle, which I'll be reviewing at The Book Connection for his tour this month,
• Cartwheel: A Sequel to Double Eagle by Sneed B. Collard III, 
• Diary of a Stage Mother's Daughter: A Memoir by Melissa Francis, which I had pre-ordered as soon as I heard about it.

I read the second book of Knoerle's spy trilogy and was thrilled to learn the last book was out. My father-in-law has read the first two books and loved them. I haven't read the first one yet.

Melissa Francis was a name I heard from the years I watched Little House on the Prairie. She and Jason Bateman were brought onto the show late in the series run, becoming the adopted children of Charles and Caroline Ingalls (Michael Landon and Karen Grassle). I hadn't heard the name for years, until I spotted Francis on the Fox Business Network, looking much different than her LHOP character, but still with those huge, beautiful eyes. I haven't had a chance to dig into it yet, but I'm trying not to overload my review schedule in the new year, so I might have time to read it before too long. I've purchased the memoirs of three other Little House on the Prairie stars: Melissa Gilbert, Alison Arngrim, and Melissa Sue Anderson. I knew I wanted to add Francis's book to my collection.

That's it for now. I hope your preparations for Thanksgiving are going well. It will be here before you know it.