An Award and a Crackerjack Prize!

A kind blogger buddy gave me an award this week.

Thank you Jerralea from Jerralea's Journey!

I love the 'sisterhood' idea, because there really is a unique friendship that evolves on Blogwarts where women share their lives and hearts.  It's a wonderful place full of estrogen and chocolate.   I try to visit at least twice a week.

The homework that comes with this award is the 7/7 assignment:  share 7 things about yourself, and then pass the award on to 7 blogging sisters.   I figure there's a lot of information about yours truly all over this blog, so, instead, I'm going to post 7 pictures - snippets of life here in the Ballpark.  There might be a quiz involved.  Update:  Quiz is now closed. 

1.  What are these?
     a.  the names of my cats
     b.  the names of my children
     c.  the names of the hurricanes that ripped through central Florida in 2004.  We had to get a new roof, which now has a leak, but I'm not bitter.  OK, maybe I am. 
     d.  the names of the sandwiches at Hurricane Grill

2.  What is this?
     a.  my favorite sandwich
     b.  a sandwich my husband loves, but I hate 
     c.  Meryl Streep's favorite sandwich
     d.  the ex-clown's favorite sandwich

 3.  What are these?
     a.  fancy paint stirrers
     b.  crooked rulers
     c.  mummy fingers I uncovered on an archaeological dig in Malaysia
     d.  Halloween sugar cookies

5.  Who is this?
    a.  the ex-clown
    b.  Miss Curly-Cute with a shrimp on her nose
    c.  my high-school graduation picture
    d.  four-year old Drew Barry's mug shot

6.  What is this?
    a.  a flower lasso and some colorless Rubik's cubes
    b.  a Home Depot project that went awry
    c.  I have no idea
    d.  a 9 (the flowers) 11 (the twin towers) tribute created by our daughter's high school students.  I welled up when I first saw it. 

7.  What is this?
    a.  a quilt I made, but it had too many arms 
    b.  a potholder
    c.  last year's swimsuit
    d.  a never worn Coldwater Creek cotton jacket I'm giving away (the tag says size 16, but it runs small; I'd say it's a 14.)

There ya' go!  Put your answers in the comments box, and the first one to get all the right answers wins the jacket - if you want it.  If you don't want it, I'll send you some Ballpark brownies.  If you don't want the jacket, or the brownies, you can still put your answers in the comments box, and discover how smart you are when I share the answers in the next post.

As to passing on the award to 7 bloggers, that's like asking a mom to pick her favorite kid.   I enjoy so many blogs, I'm going to offer the award to any reader who wants it.  I've seen a few bloggers do that recently, and I'm stealing the idea.  I can't pick just 7, and you can't make me.

Thank you, Jerralea, for thinking of me and giving me the opportunity to unload that jacket.

Who will win??!?!?!  The suspense is worse than waiting for the last season of Lost.

Winners! (and losers)

Two weeks ago, I posted a "camera dump" quiz involving pictures I was excited to take and then forgot about for a month.   I emptied the camera and created a tremendously difficult quiz where the top five winners would receive one of these homemade potholder towels.

I was shocked that every entrant had all the correct answers.   Ballpark fans are brilliant.  If you missed the quiz, check it out here:  Camera Dump Quiz.

I shuffled the names of all the entrants in a Tupperware bowl and drew out these five:

Aneta at Rabbit Trails

Melody-mae

B.W. at In my Mind it's Always Funny

Rita at Soul's Comfort Corner

Susan at I Think; therefore I Yam

Congrats, ladies!  Thank you for playing.  Your fine gifts from the Ballpark will be in the mail shortly! 

My brother, the ex-clown, was disappointed to hear that he didn't win.  He was the first entry, and all his answers were correct.  Subsequent entries were also correct, so he claims everyone simply copied his answers, and he should be awarded a prize.  

When I showed him the prizes, he made a face and said he didn't really want a potholder towel.  He thought a cherry pie would be more appropriate.  

He likes to enter my quizzes and actually won the first one.  (Click here for that brain teaser: Fancy-Pants Giveaway).  But, he wasn't crazy about the prize - $35 worth of coupons at Coldwater Creek.   

So, I offered to treat him to his favorite fish sandwich.  Sadly, that restaurant had closed.  I ended up baking him a cherry pie, which he loved.  

I've created a monster. 

I told him if he doesn't like the prizes, don't take the quiz.  Oh, but he loves to win.  He just wants better prizes.  Or pie.  

He's a really good brother for an ex-clown, so I tolerate his competitive/whiny side.  

I guess for my next quiz, I'll have to give away a power tool.  Or a pie.

Camera Dump Quiz

I'm always surprised by the number of pictures I take, but forget to download from my camera.  When I finally download them all, I reminisce about events and think, I should have posted this two months ago, or I was supposed to get this picture to so-and-so weeks ago.  I think professional photographers get paid so much because they actually look at and deliver their pictures.

While clearing out my camera, I created a quiz to go along with some neglected photos.  It makes them feel better and helps me remember what image went with what event.

There's a homemade prize for five random entries (with correct answers, of course.)  Simply put your answers in the comments box.  Quiz will be open until midnight (EDT) Sunday.  Here we go!

1.  This is...

a.  a Mother's Day cake
b.  a shard of broken Pyrex in the shape of Florida
c.  a homemade apron

2.  This is...

a.  an Easter lamb cake
b.  Grandpa on his 89th birthday
c.  a peacock


3. This is...

a.  a potholder/towel I made to hang on my oven door
b.  a newly-engaged young friend who made for her fiance the apron she's wearing.
c.  a peacock


4.  This is...

a.  a silly hat at the Cinco de Mayo brunch
b.  birthday pies
c.  a bouquet of Mother's Day flowers


5.  This is...

a. a peacock
b. a shard of broken Pyrex in the shape of Florida
c. a silly hat at the Cinco de Mayo brunch 


6.  This is...

a.  a potholder/towel I made to hang on my oven door
b.  a silly hat at the Cinco de Mayo brunch
c.  a homemade apron


7.  This is...

a.  Grandpa on his 89th birthday
b.  a peacock
c.  a newly-engaged young friend
 

8.  This is...

a.  a newly-engaged young friend
b.  a homemade apron
c.  Grandpa and son-in-law at the Cinco de Mayo brunch


9.  This is...

a.  a Mother's Day cake
b.  birthday pies
c.  a lamb cake


10.  This is...

a.  Grandpa and son-in-law at the Cinco de Mayo brunch

b.  a peacock

c.  Grandpa on his 89th birthday

11.  This is... 

a.  a Mother's Day cake

b.  birthday pies 

c.  Mother's Day flowers

Wasn't that the easiest quiz you've ever taken?  Don't you feel smart?

Enter now and win a homemade potholder/kitchen towel to hang on your oven door!  In colors of your choice!  Just type your answers, 1-11, in the comments box.  Five entries will be picked at random.  I'll email winners to get their color choice. 

Thank you for helping me remember what all happened this Spring.  We clearly eat too many desserts.

BEHIND DOOR #3

Hurricane Irene is whipping up the Florida coast as I write.   Looks like she's going to just tease Florida and then whollop North Carolina, Virginia, and New York.

Right after they've had an earthquake.

It's just not their week.

Nor my brother's, the ex-clown.  He's in Florida for the week working at the Cape, and he's had some surprises: 

1.  He was expecting me to treat him to a mahi-mahi sandwich at our favorite fish joint as soon as he arrived.  This was his second "prize" for winning my "Fancy-pants" giveaway.  (He wasn't that excited about Coldwater Creek coupons, which were first prize.)

When we arrived at the restaurant, we discovered it was closed.  Not just closed, as in "after hours", but closed as in this...

NOOOOOOO......

We didn't believe it.  We kept peering in the windows and yanking on the door, thinking maybe people were just in the back.  With the lights off.   

We were beyond disappointed. 

I offered to take him someplace else for dinner.  But equivalent to Hurricane Grill.  He suggested a higher-end grill, then offered to treat me because my birthday is coming up. 

I relented.  If he wanted to buy his own prize, who was I to stop him? 

Here he is after we stuffed ourselves silly.

These are pre-Irene waves. 

2.  He's been working 16 hours days.  Good grief. 

3.  He's due to fly home to Maryland on Saturday morning.  Exactly when Irene is predicted to blow in.  He might not get out of here.  He was stuck in Florida last winter due to snow, and he's not looking forward to that experience again. 

So, because he's my favorite ex-clown, and he's had an exhausting week, and I owe him something, I'm going to bake him a cherry pie.

Not the same as Coldwater Creek money, or the best fish sandwich in Florida, but a fair attempt to reward the winner of my first contest.  (Pioneer Woman never has this problem.)

The ex-clown has decided Ballpark contests are a bit screwy.   The first prize may not be something you even want, especially after you understand what it is.   You might end up paying for the 2nd first prize.  The 3rd first prize might be darn tasty, but you have to fly out of state to get it.   Who has time for such nonsense?

I'm going to tell him to read the fine print next time.

Good night, Irene.

 

CRACKER JACK Prize Winner!

Shock of all shocks.

The winner (all 5 answers correct) of the "Fancy-pants Giveaway" is my BROTHER.
  

The ex-clown.  Who doesn't even know what Coldwater Creek is.   Who doesn't even have a CC store nearby.

Really?!?

Unbelievable.

So I called him and told him he won the CC coupons.  He laughed.  Howled, really.

I asked him if he really wanted the coupons, explained that they were for a women's clothing store. 

So happens, he's going to be in Florida for work in about two weeks (staying with us), and he thought, if he won, he'd stop by our store here and pick out something for his wife.  

His wife wasn't thrilled with that idea.  What husband ever hits a home run when he picks out clothes for his wife?  Smart woman, my sister-in-law. 

So, I offered my brother something else.  I mean, he did win, fair and square.  I suggested something he might actually enjoy.  Dinner at Hurricane Grill (our favorite fish joint), or his favorite home-baked dessert.  He snapped up the fish dinner.

Food really is the way to a man's heart.   The CC coupons were dumped immediately.   He's an amiable guy, the ex-clown. 

SO.....I moved on to the next winner.  Who is Mari from Virginia (4 answers correct and first to respond).  Yay Mari!  I'll pop those coupons in the mail today.  Hope you find something wonderful.

The answers to the quiz:

1. As of the date the quiz was posted, I had NOT chopped up any mangoes.  I was too chicken.  However, just yesterday, I took the plunge and diced up a fat mango from the grocery store.  It was not as juicy or as huge as the ones that gave me trouble, but it had pretty much the same yummy factor.  

I ate the whole thing.  Then I scrubbed up to my elbows like a surgeon.  Twice.

So far, so good.

2.  My mom's back procedure was a kyphoplasty.  Which sounds nothing like what it is.   What the heck is a kypho?  I don't know, but it got plasted. 

3.  My thrift shop excursion cost me $16.42.  Everybody got this right.  My brother thought this was actually high for thrift shop shopping.   However, we've already determined that he knows nothing about women's clothes.

4.  My dear husband has been tending to my sweet rose bush. Quietly, he waters and fertilizes, and just recently told me that the thing thrives because he takes care of it.  I never knew this.  I really should pay attention to what goes on around here.

5.  Favorite TV show...

When Home Improvement, The X-files, MacGyver, and Lost were still running, they were all my favorite shows at the time they ran.   I would watch any of these today, if I could find them on re-runs.

However, Lost has stayed with me, where the others have faded a bit.  The writing was so innovative, the characters so interesting.  Several episodes moved me to tears.  Good writing does that to you.  You just don't get that with Jersey Shore.  

There you have it.  Thanks for playing!  All five of you.  You now know more about my life than you probably want to. 

(p.s. does anybody have any Hurricane Grill coupons they want to unload?)

FANCY-PANTS GIVEAWAY!

I've been blogging for just over a year, and it's time for a giveaway.

Keep in mind, I'm not Pioneer Woman, who gives away KitchenAid mixers and $350 Target gift cards. My prizes are more like the booty in the Cracker Jack box.

Today, I'm offering $35 in coupons to Coldwater Creek clothing store.

With Pioneer Woman, you simply have to type anything in the 'comments' box, and you're entered.   Winners are randomly drawn.  It must be this way, because Pioneer Woman has 20 million viewers a week. 

Here at the Ballpark, your odds of actually winning are much higher.  Like 1 in 4.  And with my giveaways, you actually have to use your brain.  Not much, but a little.  

Answer these five questions correctly, and I'll mail you these....

The bottom coupon expires 8/31, so you want to be on the ball here.

Off we go...

1.  A few weeks ago, I had a run-in with mango juice that resulted in a doctor's visit and medication.  In the post I wrote about that unfortunate event, I stated that when I was well, I was going to test that allergy again to see if I was truly allergic to mango skin.  Have I chopped up any mangoes since my arm has healed?

a.  yes
b.  no
c.  this is a stupid question


2.  In April, Mom had a procedure to repair a broken vertebra.  What was that procedure called?

a.  kyphoplasty
b.  fix-a-bone-aplasty
c.  vetebroplasty
d   plug-a-crackaplasty


3.  Below is a picture of seven shirts I recently purchased at a thrift shop. 

What was my total bill?

a.  $30.25
b.  $22.78
c.  $16.42


4.  I discovered yesterday that someone actually DOES tend to my sweet little rose bush.  Unbeknown to me, someone has been watering and fertilizing the tiny thing, keeping it alive and well, so I can continue to be amazed.  Who is my secret gardener?

a.  a neighbor
b.  my husband
c.  the mailman
d.  my dad


5. What is my favorite TV show of all time?

a.  Home Improvement
b.  The X-files
c.  MacGyver
d.  Lost

There ya' go!  Just enter the letter of your answer in the comment section (example:  1. a,  2. c), and I'll mail the CC coupons to the whoever gets the right answers.  Or the most right answers.  If more than one person answers all correctly, the coupons go to whoever answers first.   Deadline for entries is noon EST Wednesday August 10th.

Isn't this exciting?!?!

Not exactly the Publisher's Clearinghouse, but prizes might improve down the road. 

Good luck!