The word grandmother often makes people think of home cooking and fresh baked pie. For me, when I think of my Gramma (or Nanna to Drama Kid) I think not of pie, but of pie dough.

When I was young, we could take the train from Chicago to St. Louis and we visited our family often. There weren't too many little kids in her neighborhood so Gramma came up with a way to keep me occupied. She would have a ball of pie dough wrapped in plastic waiting for me in the fridge. I'd play with that dough for hours then put it back in the fridge until later.

By the time our visit was over, that dough would be gray-black with dirt, specks and carpet fiber and I'm sure it looked horrible in her fridge next to the leftovers. But it made me happy. Which is all my Gramma has ever wanted to do.

Thanks, Gramma for the pie dough and putting up with my whining over the Hydrox versus Oreos and Vienna Beef over Ball Park Franks. Thanks for making all my friends jealous with my birthday/back to school wardrobe. Thank you for making my favorite breakfast every time I ask. Thank you for doing all the laundry when you visit and letting Drama Kid walk on your back.

Thanks for all the belly laughs we've had over the years and for being such a great Nanna. I love you Gram. Happy Birthday!
(dough photo from here)

Wordless Wednesday: Night Photography, Need More Practice

For more Wordless Wednesday visit 5 Minutes for Mom, Mom Dot, What's That Smell

Tony Hawk Proved That I Really Need A Blackberry

When I woke up this morning I didn't have much to look forward to besides a possible trip to the laundromat and Costco. Then, around 9:30, I saw a Tweet from Cameron (greengoody) that Tony Hawk hid a skateboard behind a fire hydrant for his local followers to find.

I clicked over to his profile and read that the board was on a street very close to my house. I jumped out of my chair, left my breakfast and chai latte and literally ran out of my slippers in my haste to get up the stairs.

Like any good blogger, I grabbed my camera and my Flip and hopped in the car thinking how stoked Drama Kid would be when he got home from school today.

Naturally, I caught every. single. light on the way there! I turned onto the street right behind two other guys. The look on their faces was priceless. I'm not sure they turned their car off. It jerked to a stop, both doors flew open and the younger guy went thrashing through the bushes just in case case Mr. Hawk decided to be sneaky. The older guy was on his cell asking if anyone Tweeted that it had been found. We both laughed that we weren't able to keep up on what was happening because neither of us were connected to the web.

(I will always think, "what if" whenever I pass this hydrant.)

I'm not sure how far behind the winner I was, but I know I wasn't the only one who got a late start. A few other locals sent out Tweets that they had just missed it too. So, thank you Mr. Hawk for bringing a little excitement into my morning.

And for any business or company that has yet to see the benefits of social media, Tony Hawk proved today that there are creative ways to market yourself that are engaging, low-cost and beneficial to your customers.

Chili's Guiltless Grill Giveaway and, Meet My Mom

*CLOSED* Let's start the week off with a giveaway. I had an opportunity to try the new Guiltless Grill menu items from Chili's through Bzz Agent. It was nice to be able to treat my mom to lunch for a change, especially since she took such great care of me the next few days after my wisdom teeth were pulled. Take a look at the short video, we each had a different entree (sorry for the weird angles, you may need to up the volume).


Since we were so good with lunch we decided it couldn't hurt to have a little dessert. Those Sweet Shots are genius! We had Key Lime Pie, Red Velvet Cake and Double Chocolate Fudge Brownie.

(slightly related side note: we ended up back at Chili's for dinner to celebrate Drama Kid's successful purple belt testing. I went completely opposite with a bacon cheddar burger and fries)

Now for the giveaway:

1. We went from guiltless to guilty with the dessert (but it was so worth it!). To enter, leave me a comment with your guilty pleasure (required). That's it!

2. One winner will receive two coupons for a free Chili's Guiltless Grill entree (they expire 5/31).

3. For an extra entry (not required), send out a Tweet about this contest and come back to this post with the link to your Tweet. Here's the shortened link to this post: http://tiny.cc/Rptsc (you'll need a Twitter account.)

4. I MUST have a way to get in touch with you! NoReply@Blogger will not send you a response. I will have to delete comments with no contact info.You can leave your email address in the myemail [at] thisaddress [dot] com format to prevent spam.

5. Comments will close on Friday, April 3rd at 11:59pm CA time.

6. I will use random.org to draw the winner and post the results/notify winners via email, Twitter and in a "Winner" post on Saturday 4/4.

7. Winner will have until Monday, 4/6 to respond or a new winner will be chosen.

8. You don't need a blog to win, but I MUST have a way to contact you. US residents only (sorry!)