Hey gang!

It’s time to get some lurkers out commenting, here! Who’s reading this blog, these days? Drop me a comment!

And, for bonus points…

Tell me a subject you’d like me to blog about. I promise I’ll blog about anything (other than super-private stuff, or x-rated material) you request!

I totally adore each and every reader that comes by! Thanks for sharing the comment cheer, or dropping me a line through email throughout the year. Can you believe 95% of my friends that I have, have come from this blog?

Merry holiday season to you all!

xoxo …Tan

Hey guys! It’s that time of the week, again… Time to socialize on the fly! (And, I’ll have one of those shots in the photo, please!)

Here’s how it works:
I’ll start with a question, and the first person answers my question, and then asks a different question for the next person in the same comment.

I’ll start!

What’s one holiday tradition you’ve kept up with, from your past?

Barry’s 40th birthday was on Monday (happy birthday again, sweetheart!), and I thought I’d give him an experience for his birthday gift…

I’m usually pretty good with keeping secrets, but this one was especially hard as I almost blew the secret adventure out of the water when I was especially tired after flying home from San Diego a few weeks ago. I’d asked Barry if he could take Monday off of work (which as a sidenote, turned out to not be an issue, as Barry was laid off from HSBC last Thursday — a day after his licensing *finally came through for BC/Alberta [unhappy face]) — When asked, he mentioned that he’d probably need to call into a conference call that Monday morning, but otherwise, he couldn’t see a problem.

To which, I blurted out: “Oh. Well, it might be expensive to have a long call from the states.”

Doh.

He laughs. “We’re going to the states, are we?”

(more…)

It’s all about winning today, at “This Chick’s Life”!

Want to win a $50 Starbucks card from FabulousSavings.ca?

It’s as easy as heading over to their site, and then coming back here with a name of a merchant offering an exclusive coupon on FabulousSavings.ca!

It doesn’t get much easier than that! I’ll draw a name from all the valid entries next Tuesday, December 1st at 4pm PT…

This contest is open to Canadian residents only, please. Please enter the contest once only, thanks!

GOOD LUCK!

UPDATE: Pamela of FabulousSavings.ca picked the winner randomly, and congrats to Vern for winning this fun contest!
(more…)

Comment on this post and win!

I’m giving away two scratch & win tickets tomorrow at 4pm PT — You could win the “SportsFunder Win 20 Gold Tickets Contest”!

Scratch and win INSTANTLY not one…not two…but 20 highly coveted tickets to the Men’s Gold Medal Ice Hockey Game at the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games! Imagine being there with you and 19 friends cheering for Canada!

(more…)

December 1st is Worlds AIDS Day, and Starbucks is helping with the cause.

Next Tuesday, head on over to Starbucks and grab one of three their signature, (RED)-inspired beverages, including the Caramel Brûlé Latte, Gingerbread Latte and Peppermint Mocha, which they’ll personalize for you in traditional Starbucks fashion.

For every one of these handcrafted beverages sold on December 1st, Starbucks will donate 5 cents to the Global Fund which works to improve the lives of those living with HIV/AIDS in Africa. To date, Starbucks has generated contributions equaling more than 5 million daily doses of antiretroviral medicine through the purchase of select Starbucks (RED) products.

Sarah from Karyo Edelman was sweet enough to drop by my office so that I could try a Starbucks Caramel Brûlé Latte… Oh, YUM! I’ll definitely be heading on over to Starbucks next Tuesday to try one of their other (RED)-inspired coffee treats… And I hope you do, too!

Way to go, Starbucks! Every little bit counts.

Welcome, everyone! Continuing where the lovely Michele left off… Here’s your Weekend Meet n’ Greet!

Thank you to the wonderful people who play multiple times, each of you are guilty of spreading lots of comment cheer – hugs from me.

Spread the Comment Cheer!

How to play:

1. Leave a comment here that says hello.
2. Now, visit the person who commented above you, leave a comment on their site that includes the oft-repeated tagline: “Hello, NetChick sent me”.

Please play along.

Note to the first person commenting: simply say hello to me.

And YES, of course you are invited to play often. As you know, Michele always encouraged this, and so do I!

~ Tanya

—-

Help spread the word: Please ReTweet the game by clicking on this link, or let your own blog community know about it… Always fun to get new faces in the mix! Thanks guys!

With the new condo came a new, front-loading washing machine. I love it. It’s quiet, cleans really well, and spins out far more water than my old top-loading machines of the past.

But… It’s got a serious problem. The clean clothes that come from it, in a word, stink.

At first, I believed the problem was caused by Barry washing his running gear with the towels… But, that wasn’t it. In an unrelated issue, we had an appliance guy come by to remove an underwire from a bra that fell apart in the wash, and got lodged in the motor — He asked Barry if we were dealing with a musty smell coming from the machine. We were.

As it turns out, we were using the wrong detergent! I didn’t know that the new front-loading machines require HE (high efficiency) detergent, which foams less, and gets completely drained with the water, versus the concentrated regular detergent which doesn’t completely rinse out, leaving foam to sit on the rubber seal — This causes… You guessed it. Mold.

Here’s some other tips I found online to reduce the odor:

• Only use high efficiency (HE) detergent and never use more than the recommended amount.
• Remove wet wash right away.
• Keep the door open a bit to let the washer dry out (or, dry it out after each load).
• Run a “cleaning cycle” once a month – no clothes just hot water and a cup of bleach.
• If there’s a lint tray accessible, clean it out frequently.

I just received a Green Works(tm) starter kit from Clorox, which is a HE (and fantastic smelling) detergent. I can’t wait to run a few more loads with this new detergent, to see if it helps solve the problem.

I’ve got a few more Green Works(tm) free full-size detergent coupons, if you’d like one, drop me a comment and I’ll give one to you the next time I see you!

I’m really looking forward to the Poker Night that Barry and I are hosting, this evening.

It’s perfect timing — We’ve finally got a somewhat working kitchen (YAY!), which includes new granite counters (we’re still battling the previous granite company to get our $2100 back for the crap they tried to pass off as high-end material), and thankfully, we have running water!

While I was away, Barry had our under-mount sink and faucet installed into the new black counters, and our dishwasher and fridge has now been plumbed!

We’re all set…

Just don’t mind the pass-through, which is still a gaping hole, or the walls that still need painting and tiling. At least the kitchen is usable!

Bring on the social fun, sans plastic cups!

I’ve had it.

No, really, I mean it this time.

I’ve now been sick for 5.5 months, except for about a 2 week stint of relative healthiness. That stinks.

And, of course, because my immune system has been so busy dealing with the consistent and obnoxious bronchial infection and associated cough, it had nothing left in the tank to fight off the flu which hit me by storm a couple of weekends ago.

Just in time to go away for work for five days to San Diego. That was hell. I’ve never before had to talk myself down from puking on an aircraft before. I’ve always made fun of the air sickness bags… Well, I just about grabbed one last Wednesday (well after the 7 days of flu, where I kept myself away from everyone else, I assure you).

So, I’m headed to a pulmonary specialist. Because. I’ve. Had. Enough.

You win, stupid bronchial infection… I can’t take anymore of this.

I promise… I’m done my whining now

I find, when I need to “reset”, I go looking for someone to mentor.

Weird, huh? It seems backwards, I know… I seek out someone who’s a little unfocused in their career goals or unclear on their career path, and I help them see the light.

And, as I help someone else through hurdles, I find myself incredibly invigorated and rejuvenated. The excitement from the person I’m mentoring is incredibly inspiring for me. I love seeing that light click on above their head when they realize there are usually some easy solutions to career issues.

Now, I’m no Jennifer Priest — I’m not a personal coach at all… I’ll leave that stuff in her extremely capable hands. I just love to inspire people to meet professional goals, or be an understanding ear through a career change.

What do you do, when you need a reset or inspiration in your life?

Okay, it’s November 3rd, so I’m allowed to start thinking about Christmas. Hell, at work, we’ve been in “Christmas mode” for over a month now.

With the onset of the Christmas season, I’m left wondering…

When does everyone put up their Christmas tree (for those of you who celebrate Christmas, of course)? And, do you celebrate “Christmas” as a Christian, or simply celebrate the season as a time of year to socialize, enjoy your family, and drink too much rum-laced eggnog?

This year is going to be somewhat different for me. I have someone special in my life, and we’re ready to create some new traditions with each other. We’ll find a place for a brand new fake tree (the joys of living in a condo) in our 750 square feet of living space, and we’ll create new “special things” to make our season a special one with each other. But, when is too early to put up the tree?

I’m a freak when it comes to the season — And, I can’t wait to deck the halls! It’s November… Let’s get some celebrating going!

Your turn! What do you think?

This has been a Monday.

I think I need to bring back “Friday Silliness”, only on Mondays.

I have a lot to do in nine days before I leave on a work trip to San Diego for the NAR conference, so I’ll leave you with this:

Got something funny to share? Drop me a comment… I thank you, and I’m sure my readers do, too!

OMG! I can’t believe I’m here…

(more…)

This is especially true when it comes to computer issues.

Late last week and Monday, my computer at work decided it didn’t want to play nicely with others, and crashed badly. I believe the problem might have been the NTFS system, because it wouldn’t even fully boot in safe mode.

So, off I went to Best Buy to purchase a new drive and operating system. Unfortunately, it seemed like everyone else decided to do clean installs of Windows 7 that weekend, and the store was completely out of stock of ANY sata drives.

Insanity.

(more…)