The Million Dollar Homepage

Have you heard of the Million dollar Home Page?  It's the brainstorm of a 21-year old in Britain, looking to pay for college.  He created a home page of a million pixels and sells advertising space on the page for $1 a pixel (minimum order of 100 pixels).  His goal is, obviously, to raise a million dollars. 

He's already at close to $700,000.  More than that, the site is getting huge press attention and has about 700,000 unique visitors a month.  Click here to read the Nov. 22, 2005 write up on the site in the Wall Street Journal.

Why am I writing about this?  Because I took a gamble and decided to buy some pixel space.  And a gamble it is.  I was only willing to shell out the $100 for the smallest allotment of pixels, which means you can't properly see my graphic.  (However, if your cursor passes over it a message pops up that reads: "Cat Humor Book - Erma Bombeck of Cat Writers!")  But the site is new, people are intrigued, there are testimonials from people who have seen a marked increase in traffic to their site since signing up for a slot on the page, and even the WSJ seemed to offer an endorsement.  So, I'm in.  Best scenario, new people find my book site.  Worst case, I'm out one hundred bucks.

To find my link on The Million Dollar Homepage , go to the site and look about halfway down the screen for a large red "15" on a blue background.  My cat icon is to the immediate top right of the number 15.   If you need more help, look for the "Web Hosting" block, fairly large, with a small heart in a block underneath it.  Go down about four big squares from there and you'll see the number 15 and move your cursor to the right and you'll find me.

I've only been up for a day.  After a month, I'll see if I can track how many hits are coming in from the site.

Early Bird Door Buster Prices

Ever wonder who those maniacs are who wait outside the stores at 4:45 AM the day after Thanksgiving, rocking on their toes, blowing on their chilled hands and eyeing the people next to them in a mental evaluation of who would win in a foot race to the register?

Wonder no longer.  Those people are us.

We set the alarm this morning for 4 AM and were out the door by 4:40, intent on being among the early arrivals for the 5:30 am opening of Dick's Sporting Goods.  You see, kayaks were on sale, almost 60% off until 2 PM. We've talked about buying kayaks but weren't entirely sure we'd use them enough to justify the investment.  But this was such a good deal, we decided to go for it.

There were only 5 kayaks in the store, and we snagged two of them - a bright red and a bright yellow.  We even got a $20 coupon because we were one of the first 250 customers in the store.  We purchased a basic roof kit to secure the kayaks on top of the Explorer, and pulled around back to pick them up.

For the next 35 minutes, Blair and two other men tried diligently to make the kayaks fit, but it was a no go.  We were presented with the option of purchasing a $150 deluxe roof kit, per kayak, to secure them, but at that point the good deal lost its good feel.  So, we stood in line and returned the kayaks, the roof kit and yes (sniff), even the $20 gift certificate.

We had a little more luck as the morning wore on, but both of us remarked the door busters this year really weren't getting up early for.  Nothing blew us away.  In years past, we prided ourselves on our day after Thanksgiving shopping prowess.  A few years ago, we were inside a mall waiting for a store to roll up its heavy armored gate.  As the gate began rising off the floor, Blair and I looked at each other and said, "Drop and roll, baby. First ones in. Drop and roll!" (Don't worry, we didn't really do it...)

We've spent the better part of the afternoon addressing Christmas Cards.  Some day, I'll have my address book up to date.  As it is, I piecemeal together a list from the address book, business cards, e-mails, and random envelopes I've saved throughout the year.  We've decided our friends are just way too transient of a group and ya'll need to settle down and make our lives easier.

Happy Early Bird Door Busting Shopping Day to You and Yours.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving or, as we like to refer to it, "Carbfest '05."  I read in Newsweek that the average person consumes 86 grams of fat on Thanksgiving Day, or the equivalent of 18 slices of pizza.  Amateurs.  I'm sure I consume at least 200 grams of fat, which is equal to closing down a Domino's Pizza.

Blair does most of the cooking for us.  I contribute a pumpkin pie and some minor side dishes, but Blair makes the turkey, sweet potatoes, ham, stuffing, corn pudding, peas, homemade mac-n-cheese (an odd but tasty Thanksgiving tradition), cranberries, biscuits, and whatever else gets thrown on the table. 

We get up early, about 5-6 am, and fire up the oven.  I'll make the pie first so the house smells of brewed coffee and pumpkin pie as we start the main meal cooking.  (Or, as Blair starts it.  I'm banished from the kitchen because I get nervous and want to start making dishes too early and throw Blair off his groove.  I'm then assigned table setting duties).

I remember the first Thanksgiving I spent with Blair.  We went to his parents house in Fayetteville, NC and I--the dieting nut at the time--watched in horror as his mother whipped through about 10 sticks of butter as she prepared the meal.  "I can't eat this," I whispered to Blair.  "My arteries will explode on the spot."  Then I took my first bite and I've never looked back.  Butter makes everything taste better...

A quick list and by no means complete list of what I'm thankful for.  I'm grateful for:

• My health and the health of those I love
• My warm home and stocked fridge
• The love of a man who not only encourages me in my dreams, but helps to see they become a reality
• My family and friends, who I don't tell near enough how much they mean to me
• My cats (no brainer...)
• My car and the gas money to fill it
• The millions of daily things I take for granted like eating,  having clean water, standing up, breathing on my own, being able to see, hear, laugh, love
• Getting to do work I love every day (no matter how much I complain!)
• The generosity of friends which has become so clear to me in the process of putting out this book.  I continue to be touched and amazed at how happy others are for me, how they offer their support, and how many truly good, kind people I find myself surrounded by.

If a magic genie were to appear and offer me the life of anyone I wanted, I wouldn't blink an eye as I informed him he would do well to be living my life, thank you very much.  I am blessed.

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours. 

~Dena~

Decorating Diaries--Madcap Update

Here is where we stand in the master bathroom renovation saga.

"Cabinet Woman" has now become "Cabinet/Tile/Liner/Shower Woman." We have this superwoman of contractors (and help) arriving at our home the week of Dec. 5th to get busy.  Here is my tentative (and I'm sure, entirely wrong) understanding of the schedule:

The wires are in the place for the heated floor.  What must come next is laying down the shower liner.  And then after that the skim coat, followed by the tile for floor and shower.  EXCEPT, at some point in there we need to build out a wall for the shower door.  If we leave it as is, we have to order a customized door--very bad for the budget.  So, my general contractor was here today and he said he thinks he needs to come build the wall before the liner goes in.  Oh, and the heated floor people have to come back after the skim coat is one but BEFORE the tile is applied, to test to make sure the heating system works okay.

(The whole process reminds me of that medical song: "The leg bone's connected to the...hip bone.  The hip bone's connected to the...whatever bone.)

So, by this weekend Blair and I must pick out a shower door, get the measurements to the general contractor, who will then call "Cabinet/Tile/Liner/Shower woman" to discuss when the wall should be built and then--God willing--things will start to happen. 

I've set my sights on the end of December to have the bathroom completed.  A month ago, that seemed a no-brainer.  Now, I'm not so sure...

All I know is that winter is coming and the temperature in that bathroom is sinking fast.