maybe i should go and buy a lottery ticket?

i just won my FOURTH! give-away on saturday morning...

fourth!

just several days ago, i had commented that i had won two give-aways.

then friday night - yippee!
and saturday morning - double yippee!

and i realized that i've never taken the time to thank all of these bloggers for the give-aways!

(and to be absolutely completely honest ... i've truly only entered, maybe, 15 give-aways that i can think of. so i'm thinking my odds are getting better and maybe i need to go and buy my winning lottery ticket tonight.)

so i'm giving a big shout out to these lovely bloggers ...

thank you!

first...

connie from the young and relentless
-- the story behind the win: i entered a past giveaway in july ... in which i was one of 8 to enter. my odds were decent there. her latest giveaway ... notsomuch. 121 entries!
quite honestly ... i think my win was set up ;) ... i had just hooked her up (god, that sounds like a dating service) connected her with a friend that lives near her. they had hit it off and were hanging out together (and are still) on a rather-regular basis. i think being her winner was basically her thank you for introducing her to my friend. then again ... maybe not, since she didn't elect me to win this most recent giveaway. i'll have to talk to her about that...
-- why you should visit her: she has regular installments of her personal diary ... too funny. and she's way into the countdown to christmas ... in fact, this year they are adopting a little one in the spirit of the holiday. in addition, her kids are really cute dancers ... and i'm all for cute kids (as long as they aren't quite as cute as mine.)

second...
karen at mommy, i am home
-- the story behind the win: at the end of october, i entered her giveaway ... because i have loved maya angelou's writing and because the name of the book is "a letter to my daughters". it struck a chord. there were a total of 39 entries ... and lil' old me won! i had initially found her through allmediocre because a recent post had popped up with the title 'not where i'd rather be'. and it intrigued me.
-- why you should visit her: she plans her weekly dinner schedule ... wow. i really should start thinking in that manner again someday. maybe she'll inspire me. she's good at reminding herself of her best qualities. and her daughter is quite the shoe model. not to mention, she's recently tried, out of the kindness of her heart, to help old(er) ladies in the locker room.

third...
kat at sunshine&lemonade
-- the story behind the win: no idea how i got to her site initially - probably intrigued by the homeschool thing. but ... she LOVES 'wicked' the musical. and i stayed tuned because she was giving away the book and soundtrack. and i was going to be seeing it in the very near future. unfortunately i didn't win that...but i entered the next drawing by going into her comments and telling her how much i had LOVED wicked. (more on that, another time. truly amazing.) out of 73 entries ... i won the grand prize! a pink cookbook, pink measuring cups, pink measuring spoons, a pink spatula and a magnet that says "save the ta-tas". i can't wait to put the magnet on my husband's truck and watch him make dinner with all pink utensils!
-- why you should visit her: because she is having weekend giveaways, still! and the most recent is something to do with 'twilight' or something ... i haven't gotten on that bandwagon. yet. but a dear friend just mentioned it to me on friday. over wine. which generally helps to sway me in the direction of something. on fridays, she does a fun question and answer session. it's fun to read everyone's responses. i also love to read about her girls and how she has chosen to homeschool one and encourages the other to go to a public school. it is a true representation of individualized education. something that i toy with in my mind as we are approaching *gasp* making kindergarten decisions for next year.

so then ... i was feeling damn lucky but didn't go get a lottery ticket ... 'cause luck only happens in 3s, right??

fourth...
jennifer for at playgroupsarenoplaceforchildren
-- the story behind the win: yes. you read that right. the big time blogger that has bagazillions of readers. i mentioned her in a past post, something about inviting her to my pretend blogger party. (speaking of which ... none of you ever REALLY showed up. did you think i was kidding?) initially i started reading her blog, 'cause i linked through blogger because she's a speech-language pathologist! like me! i had no idea that she was also a big time blogger. silly me. anyhoo. i really really really wanted to win her giveaway for an upgrade on picnik. and didn't ... but in the process put myself in the running for these super cute placemats from olive kids. this time ... there were 74 entries!
-- why you should visit her: just because. her writing is fabulous. she gives great tips on blogging if you are looking for information. (i, obviously, don't read those...) she just moved and needs to be reminded that her temporary house in not permanent ... and she won't always be where dead floral patterns come back to haunt people. plus, today she dumped out her whole purse on the internet! (brave brave lady) and is still giving stuff away!

by the way... did you notice the number of entries in which i won, going up? i'm thinking lottery entry would be progressively next? no?

so, there ... yes, i'm knocking on wood. yes ... i know this was a brag-about post. yes ... i know that i should give another three things away to make up for all that i've won. (oh, did you miss my giveaway? sorry. better luck next time. maybe on my blog-versary?)