Birthday Fun Continues!

Hello!  I'm finding it hard to keep up with the blog lately.  Since the holidays are approaching, I find that life seems to get busier.  I've been continuing with birthday fun, and wanted to share a few tips for others to get free stuff for their birthdays as well.  I have received freebies from Chili's, Texas Roadhouse, Auntie Ann's, Speedway (I know, a bit weird), and Dairy Queen.  How, you ask?  Well, I'll tell you!

Chili's: Go to their website and sign up for their e-mail club.  You receive coupons on a regular basis for specials that they run at the restaurants for appetizers, desserts, drinks and more.  On your birthday, you receive a coupon for a free dessert (mine was a brownie sundae, but I don't know if it changes).

Texas Roadhouse: My favorite restaurant, by the way!  Join their e-mail club (used to be called VIP club) by clicking on the link for a free appetizer on the bottom of the page.  Fill out the info and you'll receive a free appetizer on your birthday, and a free appetizer for your anniversary (if you're married) and also for your "anniversary" of the date of signing up for the e-mail club.

Auntie Ann's: Sign up for Pretzel Perks.  Again, it's an e-mail thing.  You receive monthly coupons for free pretzels or drinks, and for your birthday you also get a free pretzel (this time, I had to buy a pretzel to get one for free.  Oh well.).  These are sent out all year.

Speedway Gas Stations: If you are a member of the Speedy Rewards points club, you know that you receive points for anything and everything you buy from the gas station/convenience store.  On your birthday, you are sent a coupon for 200 free points--just go in with the coupon and your rewards card and have the cashier scan it, and boom!  Free points.  You can earn a lot of great things with your points, from free candy bars to money off your gas purchase.

Dairy Queen: Join the Blizzard Fan Club and you receive occasional coupons for Blizzards.  On your birthday, you receive a BOGO for Blizzards.  One is never really enough anyway, right?

I'm sure that there are others out there too; if you have some ideas, leave a comment at the bottom of the post!

I'm a bit sad about being a year older.  When you start to realize that you are getting to the age in life that you never thought you'd be when you were young, it sobers you a bit.  Sometimes being a grown-up is hard and not fun.  But when you have great family around you, and someone to love and spend all of your birthdays with, it is worth it.

We spent this weekend with family--my mother and stepfather on Saturday, and my in-laws on Sunday.  We all had a good time together.  Now I'm wondering, "where did the weekend go??"!  Here are a few photos of our fun on Saturday at the Toledo Zoo.  They are setting up for the annual Lights Before Christmas display, which can be seen in some of the photos:

White Lion--he looks fierce, but he's actually just yawning.

Mr. Hippo gives us the stink-eye.  He has tiny eyes.

Lizard!?! "I seeeeee yoooooouuuu!"

One more lizard.  I loved his colors!

The elusive mallard.  "Quack quack quack".  Translation: Quack quack quack.

What a great day to work on your tan...

Owl Corner: Long-Eared Owls

Photo from Wikipedia

Long-eared owls are kind of funny looking, in my opinion.  Kind of like they are constantly surprised.  These owls are medium in size, averaging around 14" tall, with females being slightly larger.  They have a brown and buff colored plumage, and the females tend to be a little lighter in color.  Their habitats encompass most of the United States, and they are also widely found across Europe and into parts of Asia, including Russia and China.  They tend to be found in forests, woodlands, and river areas, with nests typically found in very dense forests.  The females typically lay 4-5 eggs, but can be as few as three and as many as eight eggs at a time.  They prey mostly on other mammals, such as voles, mice, squirrels, bats, and even small rabbits.  They are also known to hunt other birds, and their enemies include Great Horned and Barred owls, and raccoons are known to steal eggs.

Information taken from The Owl Pages and All About Birds.

Aging is an inevitable part of life.  From the moment we are born, we being to age, and yes, die.  No one is immune from this, regardless of all of the silly vampire movies that say otherwise.  The Bible has several passages about growing old and still being Christ-like: "So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen.  For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal" (2 Cor. 4:16-18).  "Older men are to be sober-minded, dignified, self-controlled, sound in faith, in love, and in steadfastness. Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled" (Titus 2:2-5).  And finally, "The glory of young men is their strength, and the honor of old men is their gray hair" (Proverbs 20:29).  (That last one was for the hubs, when he someday loses his auburn locks to the distinguished look of white.)  While our bodies will always age, it's what we do with them that makes all of the difference to the Lord.  He has given us directions of how to "age gracefully", so to speak.  It's what I strive for--but I am rarely graceful.  Still...if I have to get old, I might as well do it Biblically!

Birthday goodies!

Non-News 

Well, what's new?  I am a pretty boring person, I guess, because not a whole lot has happened lately.  I am enjoying that, though.  We have yet to carve our pumpkins, and so there probably won't be any pumpkin carving to come.  There will still be seeds, though, and some fresh pumpkin puree to freeze, so all is not lost.  

We just came back from a family visit in Michigan.  I got to meet my dog-niece, Ninja!  What a sweet doggie.  It was a short, but good, time while we were there.  We attended a benefit Halloween party for my sister's work, where we ate delicious food and saw all sorts of funny costumes.  I have to say, the most impressive costume was a group of three people all dressed like the cast of Dog the Bounty Hunter.  It was classic!  Poor hubby has been sick with a cold, or sinus problems, for a few weeks now, and I haven't been feeling 100%, and we were both party poopers.  We were so tired that we left around 11 that night, before the prize drawings ended and the costume contest winners were announced.  Too much excitement for this old bird! 

Jobs are still going well.  Thanks for asking.


It's That Time of Year Again
Well, another year has almost come to a close for me.  My birthday is a few days away, and my husband always dubs the week of my birthday as "Birthday Weekapalooza".  It's always an enjoyable time, even though I don't feel like celebrating is necessary.  I am old enough that I have to stop and remember my age!  Yikes!  Oh well.  I have to tell you about all of the birthday freebies that I get though!  There are so many restaurants that send you e-mail certificates for free birthday goodies that you must sign up for:

Texas Roadhouse is a great one (and my favorite restaurant!).  Sign up as a "VIP Roadie" and you will not only receive free appetizers for your birthday, but you will also receive freebies for your wedding anniversary, sign-up anniversary, and other events.

Cold Stone Creamery will e-mail you a certificate for a free Like-It size with one mix in for free if you sign up on their website.  Yummy!

Auntie Anne's Pretzels will send you a buy one, get one free certificate for signing up for their e-mails.  Great if you are near a franchise!

Dairy Queen will send you a buy one, get one free Blizzard coupon through e-mail if you sign up on their website.

Baskin-Robbins, if you are fortunate enough to still have one in your neighborhood, offers free ice cream on your birthday, just click on the name link and sign up for it.

El Chico, a Tex-Mex restaurant, will give you a free dessert on your special day, just ask.

Famous Dave's Barbecue offers a special birthday treat (rumor has it that it's a free meal) for signing up to be a PIG club member.  Check it out if you have one nearby!

Outback Steakhouse will give you a free dessert (I think a piece of cake) and embarrass you with a song, but you don't have to sign up for anything to get it--just go in and tell them it's your birthday!

Red Lobster will also honor your special day with cake and a tune.  Just mention it's your day.

Click here for a list of other places that might offer birthday treats.

Granted, not every restaurant will have these birthday surprises, so you should always check first before going.  Well worth it!  There are many more than this short list, it just depends on what restaurants you have nearby.  You won't go hungry around your birthday if you just do a little checking around.  Others celebrating with you will sometimes get to enjoy the benefits of your special day, too!

Celebrating birthdays is something that tends to lose appeal as we get older.  Maybe we look at aging the wrong way--we could be celebrating the fact that God Himself created us, and allowed each of us to be born on this day to serve His purpose.  Psalm 139:13-14 reminds us of God's hand in our earliest existence: "13For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb.  14I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well." Perhaps instead of grumbling about getting older, and complaining about the new parts of our bodies that don't seem to work the way they used to, we should give thanks to the Lord for creating us and loving us every day of every year!