Fun At The Job With Gourmet Gift Baskets! {Review}

 I had so much fun at work today!  Gourmet Gift Baskets sent me their Snack Classic Gift Basket to Review!  I decided to share the wealth and get the opinions of those I work with.  The thing is, I work in a self-contained classroom at a high school with 7 at-risk boys and their teacher, a man.  Believe me, they will tell me straight up what is what if I ask them, and they won't try to smooth it over or make it look pretty if it isn't.  We have a class called 'Social Skills', which I am in charge of.  I figure that sending gift baskets to people is a good Social Skill and one that is very much appreciated in a variety of situations.  First of all, I asked them when might be a good time to give someone a gift basket.  I got some great answers.  One said, "When your Grandma has a birthday, you could send her a gift basket."  Some other answers were anniversaries, weddings, congratulating someone and funerals.  I next had them sample each one of the snacks in the basket and rate them.  I had a very favorable rating with all of them.  I had most of the snacks receive Excellent, Good, or OK ratings.  But one thing didn't rate well at all.  That item was the Dipping Pretzels with Dip.  The dip was  a sweet (raspberry) and sour (honey mustard) dip that I think was a bit too sophisticated for their palates--but I really liked it! My absolute favorite snacks were the Almond Pecan Crunch and the Buttered Pecan Crunch!  They are -or were- sublime for snacking (they're all gone now)!
   Other baskets that have definitely caught my eye are the Something Naughty and Something Nice Gift Basket, full of nuts and fruits along with delectable chocolate bon bons.

  I have been wanting the Sweet Decadence Chocolate Premium Gift Basket for awhile now.  It's a true chocolate lover's delight, I'm sure!

When you want to give something special to someone for any occasion, I definitely recommend Gourmet Gift Baskets.  They will be appreciated each and every time, I promise! 

To Announce Upcoming Giveaways and Stuff!

It has been awhile since my last giveaway and I must say, "My bad"! I've been rather swamped with work and home stuff lately, yadda yadda!  But I just wanted to give you the heads up for some great giveaways that will be coming up shortly!  I've got one for Gourmet Gift Baskets, another $15 gift card or PayPal giveaway and a TheraBreath toothpaste/mouthwash giveaway among others!  So please don't give me the boot and unfollow me just yet (although if you do, just give me some time and I'll get over you! heh heh!) 
   It's so hard to come home from work, settle down and start blogging in a sensible, calm and understandable fashion.  I just don't have it in me.  I need about an hour of transition time.  By the time I do that, it's time for dinner, supervision of homework for the boy, some time for hubs, etc. etc.  Yikes, how do you full-time workers/bloggers do it?  Seriously, I can't seem to fit it all in.  If you are doing the blogging and taking care of a family and holding down a job, Wow!  I am doing the worship posture at your feet!  Plus, I have to enter a few giveaways myself!  Laws!  And tweet a bit!  I know, I know, I've got it so hard.  How can I stand it?   
   Actually, I've got so much to be grateful for and I am!  For one thing, I'm glad that I can walk and not be in too much pain today!  I had a rough weekend!  See my last post if you want the details!  
   Just know that my giveaways will be up in full force soon (and I mean soon!) 

My Dabble Into Long Boarding!

 

My son, Joseph, invited me to go on an outing with him on the local river trail.  It was about 50 degrees outside, which to us was tropical weather after the cold winter we've had.  So he got on his trusty longboard and I on my bike and off we went.  He says he would be considered average on a longboard, certainly not a "skater" type.  But I think he's really good! 

   I enjoyed watching him glide along the fairly smooth trail, his hands casually shoved into his jean pockets and when there was an occasional bump, he would jump slightly with the board to get over, with as little impact on the board as possible.  We went for about a mile and a half, with me just kind of coasting on the bike and not working up much of a sweat.  In contrast, as we were coming back, I noticed that Joseph was definitely working up a sweat.  I realized that pushing off and gaining momentum on a long board can be quite the anaerobic exercise!  
   Somehow I found myself on the long board and Joseph on the bike.  He was a great instructor,  telling me how to push off and how to line up my feet.  I found out that indeed, it takes a lot of work to push off and obtain a workable speed.  Having some sense of balance is certainly key.  I longed to be as good as my son and be able to glide gracefully along, looking so nonchalant, as if it were effortless.  Unfortunately, my movements were rather choppy and spastic, more akin to an old-time silent picture movie, where all the actors look robotic.  I would obtain a glide for all of  2 feet and find that I needed to once again push for momentum.  I hadn't been doing it for even 10 minutes, and I was sweating like a pig.  And darn those bumps where roots from the trees along the path extend out under the trail and break up the asphalt.  Somehow you need to clear those!  Joseph did so effortlessly, and when he told me to just go over them instead of getting off the board and walk across, I obediently attempted to do just that.  Unfortunately, I was not as successful as Joseph.  My board seemed to catch on the jagged lip of the bump and just stalled out.  I, on the other hand, lurched awkwardly forward, landing in an incredibly awkward and painful position, my left leg twisted under me going one direction and my right leg going in the opposite direction.  Crap!  Not my bad knee, the one I have been babying along for 2 or 3 years now, after a previous, equally awkward fall on the ski slopes.  It has never healed back to its original, healthy state.  Now, here I was, with a re-injury and in my mind, probably more serious.  I lay there on the pavement yelping and crying in misery and Joseph standing there in dismay and concern.  I had the luxury of laying there to collect myself without any passers by.  I would have gotten up quickly just because of embarrassment if anyone had come by!  After a few minutes I got up and dusted myself off, hopped on the bike and off we went. 
    We stopped on the way home to say hello to some horses and when I got off the bike, my leg wouldn't support me and kept buckling under my weight.  Not a good sign!  
    It is the day after the event and I haven't been out of my pj's all day.  I didn't walk the dog and I lounged around in bed reading, after I was served breakfast in bed, which was definitely a perk of the whole unfortunate episode.  Thankfully, I have one more day to recover before the work week begins.  Hopefully nothing got torn and I will be back to full throttle soon!
   But what this is telling me is that my days of reckless abandonment with trying new things may be almost over.  I want to keep the mobility I have and not wreck the great quality of life I enjoy.  I have to think of the consequences more than the immediate gratification I might have when trying fun and exciting physical challenges.  It's rather sad to come to that point and a far cry from when I got on the ski slope for the first time.  (Wow, another story for another time!)  I'm glad that it was with Joseph when the realization arrived.  But never say never!  Even now, I feel the need to prove myself.  I like the board I found above!  Ironically, they are called 'Old Lady Skate Boards'.  I can tell you one thing, I'd rather be the old lady riding the board than the old lady ruining other people's fun, like this lady!    Stay safe!  Live life to the fullest but be wise!