I’m using another one of those “forwarded emails” for Smiley Saturday this week. The part of the message that really stood out to me was this:

And remember that children laugh an average of 146 times a day; adults laugh an average of 4 times a day.

What a sobering thought. Somewhere between childhood and adulthood we “forget” to laugh an average of 142 times a day!!!

So my challenge to all of us today/this weekend, is to find 142 things that make us laugh. To start you all off, here is the rest of the email I was sent:

The following is excerpted from a children’s book, Captain Underpants And the Perilous Plot Professor Poopypants, by Dave Pilkey, in which the evil Professor forces everyone to assume new names…

So:

1. Use the third letter of your first name to determine your New first name:

a = snickle
b = doombah
c = goober
d = cheesey
e = crusty
f = greasy
g = dumbo
h = farcus
I = dorky
j = doofus
k = funky
l = boobie
m = sleezy
n = sloopy
o = fluffy
p = stinky
q = slimy
r = dorfus
s = snooty
t = tootsie
u = dipsy
v = sneezy
w = liver
x = skippy
y = dinky
z = zippy

2. Use the second letter of your last name to determine the first half of your new last name:

a = dippin
b = feather
c = batty
d = burger
e = chicken
f = barffy
g = lizard
h = waffle
i = farkle
j = monkey
k = flippin
l = fricken

m = bubble
n = rhino
o = potty
p = hamster
q = buckle
r = gizzard
s = lickin
t = snickle
u = chuckle
v = pickle
w = lickin
x = dingle
y = gorilla
z = girdle

3. Use the third letter of your last name to determine the second half of your new last name:

a = butt
b = boob
c = face
d = nose
e = hump
f = breath
g = pants
h = shorts
i = lips
j = honker
k = head
l = tush
m = chunks
n = dunkin
o = brains
p = biscuits
q = toes
r = doodle
s = fanny
t = sniffer
u = sprinkles
v = frack
w = squirt
x = humperdinck
y = hiney
z = juice

Thus, for example, George W. Bush’s new name is: Fluffy Chucklefanny.

Mine doesn’t actually turn out as funny as some but anyway, here it is:

cheesey dippindunkin

I still doubt I could introduce myself many times without cracking a smile!!!!

If I use “Lightening” in place of my first name I get

dumbo dippindunkin

Make sure you share your new name in the comments section so we can all have a giggle. And share what you’re going to do today to add some extra laughs to your life.

If you’ve not participated in Smiley Saturday before, you can find more details on the Smiley Saturday page.

Happy Smiley Saturday everyone!!!

I was just thinking about looking for a funny clip on YouTube when the following email came into my inbox from my SIL. It fitted my plans for Smiley Saturday this week perfectly.

MEN ARE JUST HAPPIER PEOPLE………

NICKNAMES

What better reason to smile this week than to celebrate a birthday. I had a lovely quiet day. It began with some pressies before the kids went to school, continued on with a couple of nice emails and a loonnngg soak in the tub reading one of the magazines Farmboy bought for me. Some computer time in the afternoon followed by birthday cake when the kids got home from school and then out for tea with another family.

Plus of course there was the win at the netball carnival.

If you’d like to make me smile this week, please consider joining in our Smiley Saturday.

While in part this blog was supposed to be about my journey toward a more simpler life, I will admit that I still LOVE shopping. Not that I think Simple Living and a love of shopping need to be mutually exclusive (hee, hee, I just used something I learnt in MATHS on my blog - shock, horror!!! ). I think the point with Simple Living is to shop MINDFULLY. Some would also say it’s to shop for NEEDS more than WANTS. So perhaps I’ll never be as “good” at Simple Living as some. But that’s okay, I’ll happily carve my own path in life.

Where am I going with all this dribble on such a fine Saturday morning? Just self-justifying a little here, that’s all. Cos I want to show you a couple of purchases that made me smile this week.

First up - we bought a new television:

It wasn’t quite within our original budget or plan but that had changed before we went shopping. We talked the whole “digital” vs “analogue” issue over and in the end decided on a budget of $1000 instead of $500. We received some extra money from Centrelink after our last tax return was done (part of the old baby bonus that was spread over 5 years) and I suggested that we could use $1000 of that toward the television.

Farmboy did well and spent only $850 of it. While it was the “baby” of the television screens in the store, this one fits our cabinet perfectly and has created lots of smiles from the whole family. One thing I do enjoy about being frugal is that when we do “splurge”, the gratification is quite high.

I bought myself a netball:

Singstar Princess wanted to take it to netball training this week instead of her own netball. Farmboy and I allocate $40 each per month as personal spending money. I usually spend mine on magazines, chocolate and craft supplies. Oh, and sometimes clothes. Due to my lack of organisation so far this year, we got 4 months of spending money all at once. $160!!!! What a windfall! I felt very decadent and rich. One of the things I really like about having our own money is that I can say “no, it’s mine. I bought it with MY pocket money”.

She can hardly complain. I bought her netball for her - she didn’t even have to spend her OWN money on it. Of course, I am going to need someone to do some passing with me!!!

While I’m on the subject of netball. Some of you have probably picked up that my netball coach is a regular reader and commenter here. Next time she makes a comment along the lines of “it’s not boot camp” - DON’T BELIEVE HER!!!! We ended up training for 2 HOURS this week. 2 HOURS!!!! I certainly slept well Thursday night!!! Fingers crossed I actually play better this week as a result.

My new shoes:

Ever since boots started making their appearance in stores this season, I’ve been hankering after a pair. These weren’t actually my first choice. My first choice were more than twice the price. Unfortunately, when I got to the check-out, I realised they were damaged and they didn’t have any others in my size. So I bought this pair instead. I REALLY liked those with a much narrower heel but my knees didn’t like the unsteadiness. *sigh* Must be getting old. I have to settle for low boots cos my legs are too fat!

So, there you have it. Lots of new toys to make me smile this week.

Sticker Swap

How are the Sticker Swappers going? I’m sitting here looking at mine waiting to be posted off (sorry Trish ). Has everyone been able to at least make contact with their swap partners? Please let me know if you’ve hit a snag there.

Why Not Join Us?

Anyone can join in Smiley Saturday. If you’ve not done so before, please read the Smiley Saturday page before posting your link into the Mr Linky below. I have added the regular particpants list to that page also. If you’re blog doesn’t appear there and you fit the criteria mentioned, please let me know and I’ll add you.

Wishing you all a wonderful Smiley Saturday everyone.

I have to admit that I’m really thankful for my plans to focus on nurturing myself this month. This past week my body has been busy fighting a virus (a cold) and it’s been a good opportunity for me to put my nurturing into practise.

In spite of not being well, there has been plenty to smile about this week.

Farmboy began the groundwork for putting down the pavers in our patio. He is planning to do the whole job himself.

The younger two had a great time playing backyard gladiators with the punching bag Farmboy had dismantled to move out of his way:

Leighton the “princess tennis star” is always making me laugh with his antics:

I took some time out to appreciate a sunset from our front verandah (porch):

These new bedsocks have been a GREAT way to pamper myself. Sometimes it’s the little things that can make a big difference to rejuvenating our spirit. These feel like the softest little hug on my feet. It’s such a special way to end the day - snuggling in my bedsocks. They ALWAYS make me smile.

What things have you done this week to nurture yourself?

I look forward to reading your contributions to Smiley Saturday this week. Please remember to link directly to your Smiley Saturday post and link back here as well.

Paying more attention to my own needs has been great timing this week as my body continues to struggle with withdrawing from my meds. It’s bearable though. In some ways it’s been quite a BIG week.

Monday my brother and his girls visited the farm.

Tuesday I had a life coaching session (I’m still to finish writing the post about that)

Wednesday was my day to head into town and my GYM BUDDY was back (yahhh!!!!)

Thursday was a nice quiet ME day with sleep-in followed by a 2 hour soak in the bath-tub and then out to netball training.

Friday I took Trailer Boy for a drive to a nearby town where we had a casual day of browsing shops and a brief visit to a friends place.

In keeping with my theme for June of self-nurturing, I wanted to share with you this simple chair yoga video (that I think Carole tweeted the link for during the week?). It’s simple, you can do it right in front of your computer and it takes less than 10 minutes per day. But it will leave you feeling GREAT!

Anyone like to join me in my challenge to do this yoga every day for the next week?

The following Linky is for anyone participating in Smiley Saturday. Please link directly to your Smiley Saturday post to make navigation for visitors easier and remember to link back here so your readers can find other Smiley Saturday participants.

As a thank you to those who participate in Smiley Saturday on a regular basis (which is totally optional - you can participate as little or as often as you would like), I’m going to start a list of regular participants on my Smiley Saturday page. If you have participated in 3 or more Smiley Saturdays and plan to continue to do so, could you please leave me a comment below so that I can add you to the list.

I want to dedicate this week’s Smiley Saturday post to the idea that we need to care for ourselves more.

As someone who is still recovering from a Nervous Breakdown (it’s now over 2 years since this occurred), I KNOW I need to find ways to care for myself.

Carole from The Healthy Living Lounge has issued a challenge to her readers to put themselves first for a month. She has some great suggestions for how you can do that.

I have decided to take her up on her challenge and really focus on caring for myself and putting myself first this month.

A couple of ways in which I intend to do this are:

• Cutting back my time spent on the computer (don’t worry, I’ll still be blogging but could spend less hours a day on here and still do that).
• Focusing on slow and controlled breathing. And in general just being more self-aware.
• Spending more time outdoors (a challenge in winter but one I’m prepared to tackle).

There are plenty more ideas I’d like to do but better to keep it simple I think.

What about you? Anyone else prepared to put their hand up for this challenge? I’d love to hear from you at least one thing you’re prepared to focus on this month that puts YOU first.

Make sure you read Carole’s article for the whole story and you might like to consider following her on Twitter. She puts out some very inspirational tweets that remind you to do small things to rejuvenate yourself.

It’s important to remember that if we’re run down, we’re of less use to those around us. What better way to bring a smile to our faces than to look after ourselves?

For those who are participating in Smiley Saturday this week, feel free to post your link below (it doesn’t have to be on looking after yourself - your Smiley Saturday topic is entirely up to you). If you’re new to Smiley Saturday, please read my Smiley Saturday page BEFORE submitting your link.

Happy Smiley Saturday everyone and hope you have a wonderful weekend.

We have an announcement Smiley Saturday post this week.

Firstly, the Smiley Saturday Sticker Swap Partners are:

Widdle Shamrock and Leigh

Mariposa and Kate

Lightening and Trish

Sarah and Lynda

Details for the swap and your partners contact information can be found on the original post here.

If you have any trouble getting in contact with your partner, please let me know and I’ll help you get in touch.

I’m not going to set a DEADLINE for this swap. Just stay in touch with your swap partner and get your stickers in the mail when you can.

Above all, have FUN!!!!

Winner of the Madame Rouge Giveaway:

Thank you to everyone who entered my Madame Rouge Giveaway and visited the Madame Rouge site.

I used a more “traditional” method for choosing a winner this time. Pieces of paper folded and shaken up in my Madame Rouge pink box. I did make sure ALL pieces of paper were identical - okay, maybe not “computer cut” identical but pretty darn close.

And the winner is……

**** Lil****

Congratulations Lil.

I hope you enjoy your massage therapy kit from Madame Rouge.

I will email you soon to get your contact details from you.

And here’s something from LOLcats which I hope makes you all smile:

Cat’s are such funny creatures. They bring a lot of joy to a lot of lives. Can’t say that I’ve ever seen one cleaning their teeth though.

If you’re new here, welcome. Anyone is free to join in Smiley Saturday if they wish to. More details can be found on the Smiley Saturday page.

This is an automated message: Sorry, Lightening’s not here right now. She’s off playing NETBALL!!!! She will be back later and be sure to respond to all your lovely messages.

Yes, the big day is finally here. It’s kind of strange for me to be writing about it in advance but then, I usually write my Smiley Saturday posts on a Friday (shhh…..don’t tell anyone ). The price we pay for Saturday sport.

So say a pray for me today (or cross your fingers, send positive vibes and what not) that I won’t make a total fool of myself. But mostly that I’ll relax and enjoy myself rather than getting all tense and freaked out like.

Singstar Princess is also playing her first game today. Hers is just a practise game because our opponents don’t have a team at that level. So the girls on their “practise year” are helping to make up a second team so they all get a game. She’s not so sure she wants to play so we’ll see what the day brings.

In other smiley news this week, Farmboy has finally been able to start putting our seed in the ground. May is optimum timing for planting seed so we’re glad to be able to get going.

I also came across a great website this week. It’s called Found Shit but don’t let the title put you off. There are some fabulously funny photographs posted there. If you need a bit of a laugh, it’s a great place to visit.

For those who haven’t already, don’t forget to enter my Madame Rouge massage oil giveaway.

Plus of course, it’s still not too late to sign up for the Sticker Swap. If you’re the type of person who enjoys something special in the mail, here’s a low cost, fun way to receive a little bit of joy in the post.

I look forward to reading all your Smiley Saturday posts while I’m recovering from my day today. If you’re new here, you can find more information about joining in on my Smiley Saturday page.

Wishing you all a WONDERFUL weekend full of joy and laughter!!!! 

Who’s up for another “Smiley Saturday” Swap????

I’ve been thinking about a “theme” for another swap since we had our last “pink” themed one. I chose pink because “Lightening Loves Pink”. So it made sense to me to choose something else that I love.

If we have enough of these swaps then you’ll all get to know me quite well through them.

What I’ve chosen this time around is something that is nice and cheap to post. I’m hoping that we can get a good mix of international participants as this is something that would be doubly fun if you’re sending to someone overseas.

The only restriction I’m putting on this swap is that the contents of your swap MUST fit inside a standard sized envelope. In Australia a Standard Sized Envelope is 110×220mm. I’m not sure if this is the same in overseas countries but it’s basically an A4 folded into 3. There is also a restriction on how thick and heavy these can be so if you’re not sure, you might need to check that out.

So, I guess you want to know what we’re going to swap then????

Well, Lightening LOVES…..

STICKERS!!!!!

Please tell me I’m not the only way who is a sticker fanatic?

One of the things I LOVE about the Scrapbooking craze has been the increase in the variety of interesting stickers available in stores.

So much fun and so many reasons to smile. Then you can use your stickers to make others smile (or use them in your Scrapbooking or craft if you like).

How many packets you send your partner is entirely up to you (as long as they fit a standard envelope). The kind, colour, shape and so on. Totally up to YOU.

So, anyone interested in a “Smiley Saturday Sticker Swap”? C’mon, you’re NEVER too old for stickers!!!!

I’m going to keep the Swap sign-up open for 2 weeks. If you’d like to mention it on your own blog, that would be wonderful. The more people we get involved, the more fun we can have.

To participate in the swap, simply leave a comment on this post with your email address in text format (for example mine is lightening at lighteningonline dot com). If you could include the country you live in as well, that would be wonderful as I’d like to pair people up to partners in different countries as much as possible. If you don’t want to leave your email address in the comments, sending it to me privately is fine.

For those who are new to Smiley Saturday, the Mr Linky box below is not related to this swap but is available to anyone who would like to participate by writing their own Smiley Saturday post. You can find more information by clicking on the Smiley Saturday page.

I hope you’re all having a wonderfully Smiley Saturday.

I have a LOT to smile about this week because I am feeling better than I have in about 5 years!!!! One good thing about struggling with depression is that you REALLY appreciate feeling good.

Other Smiley moments this week:

• My Lovely Day
• I got to feel my niece/nephew (in utero) kick!!!!
• Leighton came home from school camp in one piece (AND didn’t lose his brand new Crows jacket)
• Leighton played a fabulous game of football last week and ended up being voted best player. I’m happy just to see him improve his skills and confidence but getting best player sure did make him smile.

Now For The Moment You’ve All Been Waiting For……….

What? You don’t know what I’m talking about????

Haven’t you been hanging out to see who won the Ecofriendly Shopping Bag Giveaway????

Alright, here’s the big announcement.

The WINNER is……….

***CIARA***

Congratulations Ciara. I have your email so I will contact you to get a mailing address from you.

Do Not Despair

You can purchase your own bag (or 2 or 10) here.

PLUS……. There are LOTS more opportunities for fun coming up on Lightening Online.

NEXT WEEK

I will be announcing the next “Lightening Loves…..” Smiley Saturday swap. Make sure you check in next Saturday to find out more about that.

ALSO COMING SOON

Another great giveaway

AND

Something a little bit different

So stay tuned peoples. There’s more fun to be had yet.

JOIN IN

If you’d like to join in with our Smiley Saturday meme, feel free to borrow the image above, link back here and leave a link in the Mr Linky to your Smiley Saturday post. Remember, funny photo’s and video’s make great Smiley Saturday posts too! You can post whatever you like as long as there are smiles involved.

Have a GREAT weekend everyone and a wonderful MOTHER’S DAY for all mother’s out there celebrating Mother’s Day on Sunday.

I found the most awesome blog this week called Time For a Smile. It publishes photographs of people from all walks of life smiling. If you need a little lift in your day, it is certainly worth visiting.

Things that Made Me Smile This Week:

• My 10 year old came and asked me for a cuddle. I sat in an armchair with him in my lap and we just talked. It was a really lovely time. He then spent the next half an hour trying out some number tricks on me.
• Boxing with my personal trainer.
• Visiting the gym with a wonderful friend (my first time in the gym without my personal trainer - discovered I have NO CLUE how to use half the machines there without her pressing all the buttons for me).
• Played a practise game (well, partial game) of netball again at training this week. Don’t think I “looked like death” at the end as much as I did last week. It is such a BUZZ getting back out on the court again.
• I had an interesting search term this week : “how fit do you need to be to play netball”? My answer: fitter than I am!!!! It made me smile though!

Inspired by “Time For a Smile”, I wanted to share this photo with you of Princess Singstar in her latest outfit:

Doesn’t that gorgeous face just make you want to smile????

Don’t Forget

If you’ve not yet entered my latest giveaway, it’s not too late!!!! It will be soon though! Entries close on Wednesday 7th May 2008 and the winner will be announced next Saturday as part of my Smiley Saturday post.

Why Not Join Us?

Each week we have a great line up of “Smiley Saturday” posts listed in the Mr Linky below. If you’d like to join in, simply write your own Smiley Saturday post with a link back here and add a link to that post in the Mr Linky below. It doesn’t have to be published on a Saturday either. As long as you link directly to your post (rather than the home page) and it makes people smile, I really don’t mind what day it was published.

P.S. Don’t forget to check out my weekly wrap-up post on Lightening’s Blogworld each week.

Nothing to panic about. I just want to let you know that I’m planning NOT to publish a Sunday post. This may not be something I can stick to EVERY week but in order to ensure international participants in Smiley Saturday get some exposure I’d like to leave the Smiley Saturday post at the top of my page for as long as possible. This will also give you time to read all the wonderful Smiley Saturday posts written by others. At a minimum, Sunday posts will be posted Sunday evenings (my time). Please don’t forget to come back and check those who’ve added to the Smiley Saturday linky and give them some support.

Now, onto my own post for the week. A few things to smile about:

* Grabbed a few bargains at our church buy, swap and sell day. Princess Singstar had fun going through the clothing from other girls. I even picked up a few things for myself.

* Played my first “game” of netball in MANY, MANY years at training.

* Farmboy lit a bonfire last night and we had some DELICIOUS damper for supper!

* Announced my latest GIVEAWAY. Thanks for your comments with your entries. They’ve made me smile. If you haven’t entered yet, it’s not too late!!!

* Smiley Saturday swap update:

You can view Lis’s swap parcel from Lizzie at her post Swapping.  I don’t think I’ve linked to this post yet.  Lizzie, if you’ve posted about your swap from Lis can you please let me know so I can link to it.  Also, if anyone else has posted about the Smiley Saturday swap and I’ve yet to link to it, please let me know.

Another swap is going to be announced soon.  After the giveaway has finished.  It’s going to be a very easy (and reasonably lost cost in purchase AND postage) one.  So keep your eyes peeled for that announcement.

Here’s a fun image that I’m sure will bring a smile to your face. Children can sure get themselves into scrapes can’t they?

Phew! What a week!!!! I’ve made it to the mid-point of the school holidays. THAT is certainly something to smile about!

I had a rough day yesterday but for the most part I have coped very well with the week and have felt GOOD for most of the week!!!! That’s actually quite AMAZING for my body of late.

Our time away with the kids was FANTASTIC!!!!! We all had HEAPS of fun and the kids were pronouncing it the “best holiday ever” which isn’t bad for 2 nights away in a camper trailer.

I managed to find some varied and interesting ways to exercise this week. I did some “aqua aerobics” (my own version) at the Leisure Centre we took the kids to. Plus the jumping pillow.

Thursday night I went to netball training again and this time stayed for the skills part of training. What a BUZZ after all these years. And I don’t think I embarrassed myself *too* much. I did manage to catch the ball *most* of the time. I did struggle with some of the long passes but the rest was okay.

We even stayed for tea afterwards (which wasn’t exactly planned). $2.50 for a half schnitzel with chips and salad!!! Unbelievable!!!!

The boys have their first footy games today so there is plenty of excitement in the house. Singstar Princess could have played today but I said I would prefer her not to given she’s only had a couple of trainings and doesn’t really understand the game fully yet. I don’t want her first game to put her off playing. She’s kind of a back-up reserve if they REALLY need her but I think it would be better if she didn’t have to play.

I hope you can all find something to smile about this week. If not, don’t forget, you can post something funny (an image, joke or whatever) to make your readers smile.

Update: I forgot to mention that there’s going to be a GIVEAWAY announcement in the coming week.  I hope you all find that something to smile about!!!!  Be sure to check back often so you don’t miss out!!!!!

This week I am flogging some material from Suzie at The Abundance Highway. I hope she doesn’t mind. Suzie has some FABULOUS material on her website so if you haven’t already visited, I would highly recommend you do.

I LOVE this quote she included in a recent post on Gratitude.

“Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.” –Melody Beattie

Cultivating an attitude of gratitude is something I think we’re often lacking in our Western culture. How often do we think “if I just had X, THEN I would be happy”? When in reality, we already HAVE an abundance.

So this week for Smiley Saturday, I’m challenging each and every one of you to:

1. Write down what you are grateful for (this can be a private thing - it doesn’t have to BE what your Smiley Saturday post is about - just a general challenge to all of my readers to try this)

2. Play the following video clip

3. Join in the Gratitude Dance

Just watching this video full of happy people is SURE to make you smile. But don’t just WATCH. Get involved!!!!

Wishing you all the BEST Smiley Saturday you’ve had yet!

I have already shared most of my Smiley moments for this week with you. But I’ll recap a few.

• My first work-out with my personal trainer on Monday.
• Some awesome parcels in the post.
• Watching Singstar Princess at netball.

We also had an interview with Leighton’s teacher this week (after having to postpone on her TWICE - I felt terrible about that!). She had some wonderful things to say about not only his work but his character. It seems he is great at helping other students with their math and very positive and encouraging during sport. It’s nice as a parent to hear those kinds of reports on your child. He also received a reading award at assembly on Thursday.

As promised last week, here is a photo of my wonderful Swap Parcel from Kate.

LOOK at all that PINK!!!! A lovely pink bag (did you make that Kate?), some fabulous cards so I can pass on the smiles (did you make those Kate?) and a FAIRY cookie cutter attached to pink sprinkles. Singstar Princess and I are going to have FUN making those in the school holidays. Thank you so much Kate. It’s lovely.

In other swap news, you might like to visit these posts:

Jeanie’s swap gift to Trish

Tracey’s Gift from Sarah (scroll down to see the photo)

I have heard from some of you that your parcels have been delayed. That’s fine. Those who haven’t been in touch with me yet, could you please do so. If I haven’t heard from you by the end of the week, I’ll be getting in contact just to make sure everyone received something and no-one has missed out.

I hope you’ve all had something to smile about this week. Don’t forget that you can also post a funny video, picture, joke or anything you think might make your readers smile. As long as it somehow relates to smiling, it fits into “Smiley Saturday”.

To be honest, smiling this morning isn’t coming easy. It hasn’t been the easiest of weeks for me. I think at times I perhaps care too much. It hasn’t been just the funeral that has put a strain on my emotional energy this week.

Nonetheless, I do feel that at times when we’re feeling like this, Smiley Saturday can be even MORE important. It’s okay to feel sad. I’m not saying we HAVE to be happy all of the time. At the same time, even amidst the sadness, there are glimpses of happiness.

Take the funeral for instance. There were a LOT of tears. But amidst the tears were also a lot of smiles. A celebration of the life of a person who really made a difference for having lived. Someone who cared a LOT for people and made those around her feel welcome and cared for constantly.

It was a wonderful time for catching up with people I haven’t seen in a long time and that made me smile. I also noticed that the family had a lot of fun and laughs together, in between the tears.

I came home to a lovely parcel from Kate. Thank you Kate. Right now I seem to have misplaced my camera but I will post photo’s when I locate it. It was just the tonic I needed after a few days away.

Here are some links to posts on the Smiley Saturday Swap. There are several people I’m yet to hear from. If you haven’t been in contact with me about your swap parcel being sent/received (or not received), could you please do so.

Think Pink (Lightening’s Gift to Kate)

Wordless Wednesday of Sorts (Trish’s Gift To Jeanie)

Lightening’s Smiley Saturday Swap (Lightening’s Gift to Ann)

If you have posted about your Smiley Saturday Swap parcel, could you please send me the link to your post so I can include it here. If you don’t have a blog, please send me a picture or a description of what you received so it can also be included.

If you would like to participate in Smiley Saturday this week, please feel free to make use of the Mr Linky below to share your post with others. Sadly, I came home this week to find several people had linked to their blogs but I couldn’t find a Smiley Saturday post anywhere (one of the reasons I do ask that people link directly to their post and not simply to their blog). My apologies to those of you who clicked on links that appeared to be an abuse of the Mr Linky. I do my best to check that all links are valid. If you discover a link that appears not to lead to a Smiley Saturday post, please feel free to let me know.

I hope you’re all having a Smiley Saturday this week.

For those of you reading this over the Easter weekend, I hope you’re having an enjoyable Easter. For those who are reading this AFTER the Easter weekend, I hope you HAD an enjoyable Easter. For those of you not reading this at all, well, it doesn’t really matter.

Things that made me smile this week:

This beautiful e-card sent to me by Jenn along with $15 credit to spend at Amazon (as a winner of a giveaway she recently had).

I’ve ordered The Complete Tightwad Gazette. I’ve looked at copies of it on Amazon for some time now and keep putting it off. I thought this was the ideal opportunity.

I’ve read The Complete Tightwad Gazette before but don’t have my own copy (and the one I read was an interlibrary loan). I think it’ll be a worthwhile investment and a prize that I can share with all of you (through some great tips and ideas).

Oh, and there aren’t many left in the packet anymore!!!!

If you missed out, I’m sorry. All I can suggest is subscribing to Lightening’s Blogworld so that you don’t miss out when I find these deals online.

Would this be taking a blogging addiction just a step too far????

Welcome to this week’s edition of Smiley Saturday.

Hopefully most of the Smiley Saturday swap parcels are now in the post. If not, don’t panic. Just get them sent off as soon as you can (perhaps email your partner to let them know you haven’t forgotten them).

So that I can make sure no one misses out, could you please let me know when you have sent your parcel and also when you have received your parcel. You can use either the comments section of this post or contact me using the “contact” tab above.

I’m hoping to post photo’s of the swap parcels in the coming weeks so don’t forget to send me those photo’s. You can also send a message to your swap partner for me to post with the parcel if you would like.

I’m going to kick off this week with my swap parcel from Ann. I was going to wait until I had posted hers to open it but my will-power let me down at the last minute. I did however, wait until I had finished putting your parcel together before opening it.

Look at that wonderful “handknitted with love” PINK beanie. Tis a tad HOT for it right now but I’m hanging out for the cooler weather so I can give it a try. And how’s this for thinking? The wool label so I have the washing instructions. I would never have thought of that! (including the instructions I mean, not washing the beanie