Lasagna Anyone? How About 3 Gift Cards Just for You & the Super Bowl Too!

Last night was a special night out with the family and our neighbor Dan, who just got laid off from his job too.  Horrible Corporate politics in play here and unfortunate for him and his family.  So, we invited Dan and his son, Alex (our son, Matthew's best friend) to join us for dinner.  Unfortunately, Jan, Dan's wife and my friend, was not feeling very well and so she stayed home and rested.  But, we made sure to take her a goody box - and it was a goody too.

We heard that there was a new item on the menu - Lasagna, and we wanted to give it a try.  Actually, it isn't on the menu yet, but will be shortly.  (I have a little bluebird that visits me on occasion and tells me these things).  So, we thought that since the weather was nice and we hadn't been to Pizza Hut in a long, long time, we would scurry on down to the one at 2111 Roosevelt Blvd. in Monroe, NC.  We had never been there and had heard that it is one of the nicest Pizza Huts in the area.  I had never seen a PH Italian Bistro before, so being able to fly the coop for an evening out with my family was exciting.  I really need to get out more.

I was pleasantly surprised.  This was a really nice family restaurant.  And clean.  Very clean.  Impressively clean.  If you want to know just how nice this restaurant is to take your family, know that everything including the mall parking lot where this PH is located was empty except for the Pizza Hut parking lot.  There must have been 5 sheriff's car's in the parking lot as well as lots of cars and trucks (we live in the south, folks, there are gonna be trucks).  Fortunately, as we discovered when we went in, the cops were there to eat - and not arresting anyone or beating off the local yocals with a stick.  (That was a relief).

What I found amazing was that this Pizza Hut was 23 years old.  It looked brand new to me!

 

Hmmm, let's see, what to order.  We were definitely going to try the new Lasagna, but I could tell that Big Bear had his eye on the wings.  Wow, do they have a selection of wings on the menu or what? 

Did I mention this restaurant was very clean?  It is.  Very.  Clean.

 

We're hungry.  We're happy.  We're hungry.  We're happy.  I need blinders now that Sarah has had her braces removed.  Yep, they came off yesterday, so I guess you could say that this was a celebratory dinner for Sarah's sparkling, straight, white smile.

 

I need blinders.  Two-and-a-half years and $5000 dollars later, Sarah will be smiling even when she doesn't feel like it.  "Can I stop smiling now Mom?  Take the dang picture already!"  "Okay, but you have to hold that smile the rest of the night."

 

This is Tiffany.  She wears braces.  She has worked at this Pizza Hut for over 4 years and is working her way through college.  I thought she was cute.  We all did.

 

We took turns at the salad bar, and I should tell you that it was delicious.  Small, but good.  I am always weary of salad bars, especially since all kinds of nasty things can grow if it is not kept at a certain temperature and kept clean.  Assistant Manager, Kristine Daniels, who has worked at this Pizza Hut for 18 years, assured me that they monitor the temperature several times a day and keep the salad bar fresh and clean.  They're on top of it and it was a good feeling.  Good salad by the way.

I was impressed - especially since they had no idea this camera toting lady and her family were going to be dining there last night. 

By the way, I learned that the manager, Mike LanVardt, has been manager of this Pizza Hut for 21 years.  Does this tell you something about this organization?  When everyone else is losing their job, Pizza Hut is holding onto their employees like glue.  Can I send Big Bear over for a job application? 

 

Ahhh, dinner.  I was starving.  The new family size Lasagna dinner comes with 5 hot, soft, and tasty breadsticks.  No, this is not a commercial for Pizza Hut. Yes, this was our dinner last night - Out & About town.  And it was definitely worth writing about.  The Lasagna, this new Lasagna, wasn't heavy.  The sauce was sweet and tasty too.

 

My favorite - Pan Cheese Pizza.  I've had so many pizza's (I think we all have) from Dominos to Mario's, and I still think Pizza Hut makes the best.

So, are you all ready for the Super Bowl this Sunday?  Well, how would you like to have something delicious from Pizza Hut to share with family and friends? 

To celebrate my daughter's beautiful new smile, I am offering not 1, not 2, but 3 $20 e-gift cards to Pizza Hut to 3 lucky readers who answer this question in the comments:

What do you like best about spending time with your family?

And maybe, this Sunday, you can gather with your family and your friends, enjoy the Super Bowl, and share some Lasagna and pizza with a smile and a hug.

Because it took me forever to get this post finished (I was watching a Hallmark Hall of Fame movie with my family and my computer kept locking up on me) - This contest will end at 7pm EST, Saturday evening (January 31st), and I will announce the 3 winners 2 hours later, at 9pm Saturday evening - just in time for you to add some great Lasagna to your Sunday Super Bowl Plans.  Deal? 

Now, tell me all about what you like best about spending time with your family and enjoy the Super Bowl!

CONGRATULATIONS! WE HAVE OUR WINNERS! 3 Lucky Readers will have the opportunity to enjoy some time with family at their local Pizza Hut with three $20 gift cards and some delicious new Lasagna on the menu! 

I asked you all to tell me what you like best about spending time with family and I have thoroughly enjoyed reading your answers.  Hopefully tomorrow (Sunday) you will be able to spend quality time with your family and maybe even some friends cheering for your favorite football team.  It is Super Bowl Sunday after all.  

I printed off the comment list, trimmed it up by the individual comments, and put them in a bowl.  Here are the winning selections:

And the winners are:

Paul. 

Paul wrote:

"I think the best times spent with family members are the ones that are not expected, like Thanksgiving or Christmas, but the ones when they call and tell you they've got the night off from work and can they come over for dinner and to hang out. Then we know for sure that they really want to be there! It's questionable sometimes when they reach a certain age how much they want to be at your house when they could be doing something waaay more important - like hang with their friends... So, those are good moments for me, unforced, relaxed, non-holiday, just wanting to be together."

I really liked your answer, Paul.  I agree with you that the best times with family - just enjoying the everyday moments.  As you say: "unforced, relaxed, non-holiday, just wanting to be together." 

and, the second winner is:

Karen.

Karen wrote:

"The thing I like best about spending time with my family is that we all get along! Really! :) There are no arguments, and no fights. We laugh a lot, too about anything and everything and we always have inside jokes that last for years and years.

We have a very nice Pizza Hut here in Havre and because there aren't too many restaurants, I'd have to say it's one of my favorites. They have a great lunchtime buffet with salads, pizza and pasta.

Sarah looks beautiful with her nice, straight teeth!

Thanks for the giveaway, Susan!"

Sounds like you and your family all have a fun time together, Karen.  And I completely understand the "inside jokes" remark.  Sometimes I wonder if our friends "get" our wacky sense of humor.  When I and my brothers are together, we tear up the room with comic relief and I often wonder if we're the only ones who get the joke.  That's a laugh in and of itself. 

Oh, and "You're welcome Karen - for the giveaway.  Hee hee.

and, the third winner is:

Marcela.

Marcela wrote:

"I might be colombian but I like my pizza, especially at Pizza Hut, and after reading this blog, I can't wait to visit this neat place with a few of my friends this Super Bowl weekend. Thanks for the info."

Well, Marcela, it looks as though you and your family will have the chance to enjoy some delicious Pizza Hut Lasagna, Pizza, or other favorite from the menu this weekend! 

CONGRATULATIONS!  By the way, I spoke to my sponsor and it looks as though I might be able to have another contest just like this one again soon.  I want my readers to have every opportunity to enjoy these great sponsored prizes.  It sure does make me happy knowing that I have made you happy in some way.

TO OUR WINNERS: Email me at Susan@raisin-toast.com to claim your prize.  All I need is your email address and my sponsor will do the rest. 

Everyone have a great weekend with your family.  Reflect on the simple pleasures, the precious memories, the joy of just being together. Life is fleeting.  Time with family is a gift - the greatest gift of all.  As always, thank you for sharing your stories with me.  It is your stories that bring me the greatest pleasure here on Raisin Toast.  Thank you for being a part of my life and for sharing in my journey. 

*************************

Note: I don't know anyone at PIzza Hut.  I just love their pizza.  This contest, however, was sponsored by Pizza Hut - well sorta.  You see, while I was there, I finagled these giftcards for my readers. So, I suppose that I, aka SusieQ, sponsored this giveaway - and Pizza hut too.

Fool Me Three Times

If you would like to add more suggestions for living a greener life and what you are doing to help the environment, please share in the comments below! 

Nothing is more frustrating than having to rebuild your life all over again once you get your computer back with a new harddrive.  Such is the case with me today - rebuilding everything from scratch.  All of my programs had to be reinstalled from scratch, then I had to update everything, then I had to make sure that I was able to find the emails with the action downloads that I use in Photoshop (thank God I didn't delete the emails!). Goodness, have I got a sore bottom from sitting all day and working on rebuilding my life.

 

I don't even want to think about all the documents and pictures I lost, much less all the passwords and license information in my password vault.  And to think that the entire time I had access to iDisk and could have saved myself a lot of grief.  Dang.  I also had an external harddrive to clone my MacBook to, and although I thought I had done this several months ago, when we looked at the drive it was empty.  Figures. 

As a result I have had to rebuild everything - my address book, my iTunes library, my password and license information, my calendar, my sanity.  Trust me when I say this is NOT fun.  If you don't have to go through this, don't.  And I am sure that in a matter of weeks or months I will need something or remember something that was on my old harddrive that crashed and I'll go hide under my covers and cry and beat my head against the wall.

Fool me once, shame on you.

Slowly but surely, my life on my computer is being rebuilt.  BUT this time I'm going to be smart.  You know what they say "Fool me once, shame on me.  Fool me twice, shame on you.  But, fool me three times, and you will reap a reward."  I know - huh?  Put it this way, I didn't back up my computer the first time around when it crashed 5 years ago.  Then I swore I would never let that happen again and I would back up regularly.  Well, that didn't last and then last week "Crash" "Bang!" "Sparks!" "Fire!" Then everything went dark.  Nothin'.  Nada.  Dead as a doornail.  Crap.

Fool me twice, shame on me. 

I scurried my lifeless MacBook to the Genius Bar at the Apple Store and as he put his stethoscope up to the heart of the laptop he announced that it had died.  No recovery.  No jolts to bring it back to life would work.  "Hand it over, lady - and we'll perform heart transplant surgery (oh, I mean harddrive replacement) on your computer."  "Waaaaaaaah!!!!  But ... but ... but.

Fool me three times - 

Answer this question and your comment will be your entry into this great contest.  Only one entry per person please.  Winner will be chosen at 5pm on Thursday. 

Question for you:  What steps are you taking to live a "greener" life this year?

You know, like lightbulbs and recycling.  That kinda thing.

And what can you win?  Something great.  How about a $50.00 gift certificate to the Apple Store ...

And this.  iLife will iWork if iYou backup your iMac iMonthly.  Got it.  Good.  Now do the Green thing and make a difference in our environment ...

This contest is only good for those who have Macs - and sponsored by Mwaaah. 

Note: I do not know anyone at Apple.  I love my MacBook (even when it breaks) and wouldn't go back to PC for anything.  So, if you have a Mac, this is your lucky day.  SusieQ sponsored this giveaway.

10 Great Resolutions & 50 for you ...

So did you have enough time to reflect on those things you want to do in 2009 that will improve the quality of your life?  Did you take the time to maybe read some of the comments and be inspired?  I know I did!  I absolutely love anything - contest or not - that makes me think, reflect, improve.  Mental aerobics is what I call it.

I have thoroughly enjoyed reading your "10 Things" for 2009, and some of you even offered up more.  I didn't even think the goals and resolutions were unreasonable either.  I mean, with each one that I read, I thought that you were reasonable in your expectations for reaching those goals and resolutions successfully.  Now, you better be careful, because this time next year we are going to have to revisit this to see how we all did.  Deal?  Good.

I can't believe the year is over.  Unfortunately, my year is ending on a very sad note.  My  former father-in-law, someone who meant a great deal to me and will forever live in my heart, passed away this past Saturday at the tender age of 77.  The last few years have been extremely difficult for him as he has been suffering from one ailment after another.  I do want to tell you about Walter.  He was a great man and will be dearly missed.  This evening (Tuesday night) my Big Bear and I went to his family gathering at the funeral home and just like in this girl's true fashion - my knees went weak, my lips began to quiver as we stood in line for the greeting by the casket, and I had to excuse myself from the line to go have a good hearty cry.  Thank God for waterproof mascara or I would have been a complete mess. I loved this man and his voice and strength of character resonate with me deeply.

Jeneece, his beautiful wife of 55 years, was stoic and strong, despite the fact that she had a stroke the morning of this past Saturday, the same day that her dear husband passed away.  Jeneece is very much a mother to me.  I love them all dearly. 

I will tell you this story sometime soon.  I have a funeral to go to in the morning and I will post the winner by noon.  This isn't how I, or any of us, hoped to end 2008, but I know that Walter is in an entirely new dimension.  He is at peace now and is no longer suffering.  I know that his spirit was there with his family and friends this evening.  He knows we all loved him and respected him.  He was an honorable man, and a man of great integrity.

Thank you for letting me express this to you.  I hope that you will spend quality time with the loved ones in your life more so in 2009 than at any other time before. Cherish them.  Hug them.   Tell them you love them. 

Thank you to everyone who entered this contest.  I know that it will be $50 well spent on home and family in the coming year.

And now for the drumroll please ...

The winner is ...

Someone who had some great goals and resolutions for the new year. 

CONGRATULATIONS TO ERIKA!!!  You are the winner of the $50 giftcard to Target - infamously known as  Tar-jay in my part of town.

Now, I don't want you other readers to be disappointed.  I hear you out there going "Awwww, Darn!"  No disappointment allowed on Raisin Toast, ya hear?  I love making my readers happy.  I love making new friends.  I love writing.  I love - smiling.  I love making you - yeah, you - think and walk away with something good.

Oh, by the way, these were Erika's resolutions and goals for 2009:

Erika wrote:

my resolutions for 2009

1. Learn to cook healthier food for my family
2. organize my home office
3. walk at least 3 times a week
4. work out at least 3 times a week
5. get more involved in my child's activities
6. read 6 books
7. go camping twice this summer with my husband and son
8. donate to a charity
9. learn to play an instrument
10. call my mother daily

Great resolutions Erika!  Maybe you can find some good camping equipment at Target for that summer camping trip you want to take with your husband and son.  Or maybe you can find some solutions for organizing your home office.  I know you can find some good books at Target - I've found some good one's there myself at great deals too.

I believe you will reach all your resolutions and goals - and I believe that all my readers will as well.  And if you don't, then I'm just going to have to come your way and tickle you to you cry.

Now, if only I can get my butt in gear and start moving and exercising more, so that I can lose that 20+ pounds I promised myself I would lose this year.  I had better do something soon because I am running out of pants, skirts, and underwear that fit anymore.

That said - Happy New Year to all my wonderful readers!  Thank you so much for taking the time out of your busy day to give me a read and to comment too.  Thank you for becoming a very important part of my life journey.

Blessings to you all!  Congratulations again to Erika!

Contact me at susan@raisin-toast.com to claim your prize!

Susan

Note: I do not know anyone at Target.  I just shop there on a regular basis and knew that my readers would enjoy a giftcard to one of my favorite places to shop.  So, this giveaway was sponsored by me - mwaah - SusieQ.