Monday, December 19, 2011

Merry Happy

My sweet baby niece Olivia.

Whatever you celebrate, may your holiday be bright.
xoxox
Joanna

Friday, December 16, 2011

Fly Away


Continental Airlines sent me a lovely gift in the mail today. It arrived in a big fancy envelope and even included luggage tags! It was a Silver Elite card that qualifies me for free upgrades, bonus mileage and other nice perks for frequent fliers who spend way to much time on their cramped, stuffy airplanes flying cross-country.

I was all over those fabulous upgrades until I read that the card-- received December 15th-- was for the year 2011 with a January 31, 2012 expiration date. So yeah! I qualified for a 2011 upgrade card but I didn't get it until 45 days prior to expiration.

Huh?

I could have used those upgrades on the eight flights I made back home to Ohio this past year but alas, my card arrived with only a few weeks to actually use it.... And since Cleveland is colder than a you know what this time of year, that big fancy promo package and Silver Card they sent me is pretty much useless.

But, not wanting to give up the dream of Business Class air travel with big cushy seats, I called Continental's Elite Desk and got a guy that said....

"Um, well, hmm, ahh, wow, um... I'm pretty sure you can maybe perhaps use it longer... yeah, um... probably... huh... yeah... could you, um... maybe call back tomorrow... if you want... and maybe speak to a supervisor because... um... our office is closing for the evening."

Will I maybe, um, sorta, probably, um... call back and try to get a full year of benefits? You betcha! Cleveland to Los Angeles is close to a 5 hour flight!

But it does give me pause as to the quality of my hard-earned frequent flyer points, not to mention the IQ of their customer service people. But oh well, you get what you pay for.

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And.... Have you noticed the new Google Profile Page-- The one that distorts 95% of our profile photos so we look like our picture was taken in the reflection of the crazy mirror at the carnival? That stinks, but that's not my problem....

My Blogger problem is when I click on your comment on my blog I link to this new page (the one with the crazy looking profile pic). Then, when I click on the link to your blog, about 25% of the time I'm getting this message...

Profile Not Available

The Blogger Profile you requested cannot be displayed. Many Blogger users have not yet elected to publicly share their Profile.

So unless a lot of you have suddenly gone underground, there's a problem because I'm trying to read your posts and can't leave comments. Are you having this problem too?

Hope your holidays are great so far.
Welcome to www.TheFiftyFactor.com - Joanna Jenkins
Photo Credit: © jaddingt - Fotolia.com

Sunday, December 11, 2011

Drum Roll Please...


And the winner of my Silver, Gold and Cash Giveaway is....


A million thanks to all who entered. I really appreciate it. Please know how meaningful it is to me that you participated and that you learned more about Attila The Mom's great company, Highland Roses Design. The ornaments designed and made by her crew are truly stunning. If you haven't checked them out yet, please do. Below are the ornaments I purchased.


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In other happy giveaway news, I found out this morning that I was the lucky winner of This Stop Willoughby's giveaway presented by Novica in Association with National Geographic. I was able to purchase a beautiful shawl with my gift card. THANKS!

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I type this with several paper-cuts on my hands from wrapping holiday packages for shipping to my family back home in Ohio. They will laugh out loud when the boxes arrive. I think I used nearly an entire role of packing tape to secure the boxes.

Instead of focusing on the task at hand-- positioning three, maybe four, pieces of tape per box, I was thinking about my sweet Step-Dad Dave who passed away in July.

Dave was a meticulous packer. When my mother-in-law passed away a few years ago, Baby Sister baked her famous peanut butter chocolate chip cookies for us and Dave wrapped them so carefully for FedEx that not a single cookie broke in the cross-country shipment.

Tears are rolling down my face as I think back on it. I miss my family and the holiday blues are starting to sink in.... Tis the season.

Big sigh.

Are you ready for the holidays?
Welcome to www.TheFiftyFactor.com - Joanna Jenkins

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Bye-Bye


I'm blaming it on my high school boyfriend, Roy-- He had no telephone manners whatsoever. At the end of our countless conversations-- you know the high school kind with long pauses, mindless chit-chat and lengthy monologues all about him-- When I'd say it was time to wrap things up to start my homework he'd say "Okay." followed by a CLICK.

He'd just hang up.

No parting with sweet sorrow, no see you later alligator, not even a single syllable "bye". Roy would simply drop the old fashioned, big, clunky telephone receiver into the cradle with a loud clunk.

I hated that and never forgot it. I've made it a point not to be that-- what would you call it-- rude, thoughtless, annoying, whatever. I'd make sure people I was connecting with knew I was saying a proper "good-bye."

So long story short, that's why 99% of the time I sign-off on my blog comments with my initials and why I sign my name at the end of each post-- That's my "good-bye" so to speak.

But, in the era of Internet shorthand, I'm one of the very few who does it-- And since my name, like yours, announces myself loud and clear before my comment, it's a bit redundant and stating to make me feel a little foolish, like I'm taking up too much space or something.

Hmm, what's a girl-- with a longstanding habit, to do. I'm not sure yet.

But I do know there are only a few days left to enter my


You could win a gorgeous handmade ornament and a $50 Visa Gift Card!

Giveaway ends at Midnight, Pacific Time, December 10, 2011.

All you have to do is leave a comment below on THIS POST telling me if you prefer the silver or gold ornament pictured here if your win. For full contest details CLICK HERE.

Anyone, anywhere can enter, not just in the USA. So come on and join in!

The gorgeous ornaments are from Attila The Mom at Cheaper Than Therapy who heads up an awesome organization that's a privately-funded project providing individuals who live with disabilities and/or mental illness as well as the family caregiver an opportunity to step towards independence through the sale of their own art and crafts creations. Each distinctive ornament is produced by several sets of hands-- all working to create something special.

Click here for details for a 10% discount on all ornaments. I ordered several and trust me, they are stunning and very reasonably priced.

Come on, please enter the Giveaway and please check out the beautiful ornaments.
Welcome to www.TheFiftyFactor.com - Joanna Jenkins
Photo Credit: © Andrey Zyk - Fotolia.com