Shana's blog

How many discount cards do you carry in your wallet and where are they from? 
Submitted by danatmedog.

Five. I have a Wal-Mart employee's spouse discount card, and then other discount cards from Food Lion, Books-a-Million, Belk's, and American Eagle Outfitters.

Who are the last five people you called on your cell phone?

My husband, my parents, my in-laws, my grandma, and the photographer that took my author photos. These all took place between three weeks ago and two days ago. I really don't make a lot of calls, people usually call me instead.

What kind of camera(s) do you own?

I have a Kodak EasyShare Z650. I'm pretty happy with it. 6.1 megapixels, 10x optical zoom, the capability to take black and white and sepia tone pictures, and takes video. I bought it after my Sony Cybershot completely died only three years after I got it.

I also have a Canon Rebel X 35mm SLR camera. I don't use it as often as I used to since I have the digital camera, but it does take great photos. I usually use it when I want to play around with completely manual settings.

And I have a Polaroid I-Zone camera that I've used only one pack of film through.

Video: Show us your favorite TV show or movie with puppets.

Favorite Movie: Labyrinth

How well does your name Google? Who are you up against? (Celebrities, etc.)
Submitted by Matt Blank.

Well, if you Google my first and last name together, out of the first 10 results, 9 are really me--my author site, some work related sites, two sites where I'm mentioned, and a directory of people that lists me and my work email. The other one is someone in Nebraska.

I'm in the mood to sew again. I haven't done anything crafty other than scrapbooking in awhile. My desire to sew and knit comes in cycles. There are times when I want to do it all the time and then the rest of the year, I don't want to look at yarn or fabric at all.

I bought these patterns:

Those are both from HotPatterns.com. I also got these two from VoguePatterns.com

What is your home decorating style, and how has it changed over time? Do you have plans to redecorate? 
Submitted by enSue.

I have a casual style with some fun accents thrown in. Or at least, that's what I'm currently working toward. When I first got my own house I had to settle for things other people had picked out and gave to me, which were not my style. Especially since a lot of the things were chosen by my grandmother, who is much more frilly and traditional than I am. I'm currently working on redoing some things and doing the 8 Week Cure outlined in the book Apartment Therapy. I just started so I'm still on the first room, the kitchen. I've cleared out a lot of clutter and decor items that I had never really liked too much, but had just ended up with thanks to other people. I've finally decided that the older adults in my family don't have to like my house. I'm young, so I don't want my house to look old and stuffy, I want it to be fun and be a reflection of things I enjoy and love.

Don't let other people tell you what colors or furniture you should use in your house. You'll end up spending less money if you ignore them and take the time to figure out what style and colors you love.

Have you ever purchased something from an infomercial? 
Submitted by Colleen.

Yep, I bought ProActiv. I've heard other people say how it worked so well for them, but it did not work for me. It made my skin even worse. I do not recommend it.

I also have some other things that were originally sold through an infomercial, but I bought them when they became available in stores. I bought the Nad's hair wax stuff. It works, but it is very painful. Don't believe the infomercial that acts like it's so easy and painless. Also we have one of those Scunzi steamers. It worked pretty well, until the nozzle became clogged up (we're guessing with mineral deposits from our water?) and now it doesn't do anything.

What's the infamous story people tell about you? 
Submitted by Cherney.

My mom likes to tell the story of how when I was two or three years old, we were at a store and my mom was ten cents short at the register. I had a little purse I carried around with some change that I had collected. My mom asked if she could borrow the money from me and said she'd pay me back when we got home. But I would not part with any of my money and threw a tantrum.

My husband likes to tell about how I have problems identifying goats. We drove by a pasture filled with cows and there was a smaller animal standing near a cow and I said, "Oh, look at the baby cow with its mom!" It turned out to be a goat, not a baby cow. Then another time we were coming home and I saw a black animal running across the grass inside a fence and I said, "Look at that big dog!" Once again, it was a goat.

The most recent incident was a couple weeks ago, we saw these three people walking toward an animal laying on the ground and I said, "What are they going to do to that...Um, was that a sheep or a goat?" In my defense, I didn't get a good look at it and I couldn't remember if that yard had sheep or goats. We have some people near our house that have sheep and others that have goats. In the other cases, I also didn't get a good look at the animal before I spoke. I do know the difference between a goat and various other animals.