Free Music Friday

I don't know if there's enough good free music out there to do this every week, but on Fridays I'm going to try to highlight something free, anyway.

Our first download today is Amazon Presents Green Hill Music Digital Sampler. The sampler has five songs. All fall under the genre "New Age/World" music, and if you hate that genre it won't be for you. I listened to them on my walk this morning and while they were a little too slow and relaxing for a walk, I found them very pleasant and melodic, and I'm sure I'll call them up again on my music rotation.

The second free download is a surprise: Steve Martin's Daddy Played the Banjo, from his album "The Crow: New Songs for the Five-String Banjo." I expected something along the lines of King Tut, but this is a straight-up bluegrass album, with songs all written by Steve Martin. Apparently the album features vocals by Dolly Parton, Mary Black and others. I tried to figure out who does vocals on this song, but it sure doesn't sound like Steve. I wish they'd let you see the "back" of the album on downloads or see the credits somehow. Anyway, great bluegrassy banjo song and definitely worth downloading.

Amazon has a slightly weird downloading process. You have to download the "Downloader" first, then once that's installed, it will open the downloads for you and automatically load them into iTunes (or whatever software you use, I think, but I use iTunes so I can't speak for other programs). It's very easy once you do it once or twice, and get used to it opening, queuing, then downloading the songs.

Giveaway Alert

Since the boys have become Pokemon-obsessed, I have had the opportunity to peruse many Japanese import sites (damn you, Pikachu, for hitting your peak of popularity 10 years ago and now only being available via internet)...and I have come to conclude that Japanese stuff is really, really cute. Very, very cute.

There's a giveaway right now over on one of my favorite crafty sites, Crafty Crow, where you can win $25 in cute Japanese fabrics. I can't sew, except for rudimentary hemming, but I would definitely be able to find something to do with $25 in cute Japanese fabrics.

Because It's In The Christmas By-Laws

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Shutterfly

Template by Dani Mogstad

Gotta give a shout-out here to Shutterfly. Every year I make calendars for the grandpas, and this year I finally uploaded all the layouts on Tuesday night.

TODAY I got an e-mail saying they'd already produced and shipped both of them! Not bad, eh?

The other reason I used Shutterfly for the calendars is that it's easy to load all the birthdays and anniversaries in the family and save them from year to year. This year I just added the two new babies, and was done! Honestly, that's a huge reason I don't try another service. Shutterfly lost my dad's calendar two years ago and so I've been tempted, but I don't want to enter all those dates again.

Their interface has improved over the last few years, and hey, I'm really impressed that they got shipped in two days without asking for a rush order or paying anything more than standard shipping.

I Would Be Shopping Anyway.....

I just signed up for a FREE rewards program that rewards online shopping - if you have more holiday shopping to do and you do any of it at retailers like Macy's, REI, Target, Omaha Steaks (and many, many more), sign up for the Priority Rewards Program and earn 3 points for every dollar spent.

While the site is heavy on the travel side - lots of points earned for hotel stays and you can also earn miles instead of points, there is an on-line shopping section. You still buy directly from the retailer, you just get to their site through Priority Rewards' site, and the points from any purchases will be added to your account (the site says it can take up to 8 weeks). You can also sign up for their Visa card and earn points that way. I bought my nephews' Christmas gifts from Target.com, paid what I would have any way, but also earned points towards a reward for me.

Browsing through the rewards, I found houseware, electronics, charitable donations (nice idea), and of course, lots of travel rewards. The rewards list is really impressive - name brands, nice stuff, very large selection. And if they don't have what you're looking for, try the online shopper who can authorize the use of points for something not on the list. Personally, I've got my eye on this Le Creuset square baker for 25,000:

Making Peace with White Shirts and Free Giveaway

"Free Giveaway" is kind of redundant, huh?

Anyway, whoever thought it was a good idea to put little boys into white uniform shirts probably saw the little boys so cute and fresh about 2 minutes after they dressed, because that's as long as those shirts stay clean. Now that our school requires us to buy our uniforms from Land's End, it can get pretty expensive when my 6-year-old ruins his shirts. Add pizza and spaghetti to hot lunch day, and I cannot believe how dirty those things get.

But until the school sees the error of its ways and allows the kids to wear the dark blue polo shirts, I will be fighting the good fight. Usually I set them aside and once a week I bleach the hell out of them. It's a little inconvenient and wasteful because I have to have a special load for only 5 shirts and whatever white socks I can find.

So when I was given the chance to try out Clorox 2 laundry booster, I was skeptical. Nothing but very super concentrated bleach worked on these shirts. Guess what? It worked. Looked like I'd bleached them.

They also have a new site where you can upload your messiest pictures and see others' laundry nightmares.

Want to try? Leave a comment. I've got a couple of coupons for a FREE bottle. Yep, FREE.

Free Chocolate!

Get a sample package of 8 truffles:

Haydee Chocolatiers