Land o'Lessa

Dude, I ALWAYS wanted to do this. Alas, I’m several years too old to be Stuck at Prom! However, this years contest is gearing up, and starts March 1st! What contest, you say?

The one where you and you’re prom date make your prom outfits entirely from Duck Tape! INORITE?! Here in Alaska the joke is we can fix anything with duct tape and bailing wire, though shockingly the entries from Alaska for Stuck At Prom are few and far between!

Check out the gallery! There are some AMAZING outfits (that’s last year’s winner on the left here)! And it’s not all just for fun and giggles, oh no – they’re giving away 20 Scholarships to celebrate their 10th Anniversary!

It’s really very simple! Here are the rules, and then it’s just four steps, really. Create an outfit, Make the top 10, Earn Votes/Survive each Week/Win Scholarships! This year the first place winners receive a $3000 scholarship, second place will receive $2000, and third $1000. Runner’s up get $500.

If nothing else, if you enter, you KNOW that you’ll have the most unique prom outfit at your school – so there’s nothing to lose! So, what’re you waiting for? break out the Duck Tape and design away!

Wonder if THIS would convince my boy to go to prom this year…

So – we’re knee deep into winter now, and this is right about the time that everyone in my household succumbs to the Sickness to some level. It usually has to do with the temperatures dipping to negative AreYouKiddingMe? degrees, and my teenagers inability to actually WEAR the coats they own. Because, like, that’s SO uncool, mom… (coughhack sneezeshiver fevergroan).

The ever lovely Mary Ann dropped me a line recently (and I’ve been a BADBLOGGER, and kept her waiting while I hibernated! So sorry, Mary!) to let me know that Triamimic totally has our back once again. Worried that it’s not just a cold, and it’s that dreaded flu everyone’s talking about? Wondering just how much danger of contracting said flu you child is in? Absolutely fascinated to know exactly where all these flu germs are coming from in your state?

No problem! You can keep tabs on the spread of flu in your state by clicking around on the little map basted on data from SDI Fan and track the activity levels in your area so that you can prepare, and hopefully get YOUR teenagers to wear their coats! Maybe even a HAT that like, won’t totally mess up the ‘do! Though, if you discover how to make Teenage Boys wash their hands regularly, you may have done the impossible, and I might have to beg for lessons…

Not only that, but if you click on the image above, you can get a coupon for Triamintic, and you can click here to play with the map (those darn Anchoragites are in the red! Maybe I should move to Wyoming!) to check out the Could and Cough guide, get tips on how to fend off the Flu, and even FAQs about Triaminic itself!

See – I TOLD you they had our back! Check it out today!

Now that Christmas is over, many of us are fearing opening our credit card bills as they come due this month – making smart money choices isn’t something many of us grew up with – or if we did, sometimes it’s simply hard to remember when it comes time for the holidays. And when your teenager asks for $10 bucks for this, for that, and it adds up… suddenly the thought of teaching them to make smart money choices might be a good idea!

And you’re not alone. Experts agree that starting early is a major key to later financial successes – and the National Foundation for Credit Counseling has recently announced their 2010 Poster contest to get kids involved and give them a head start toward a smart financial future.

The ever lovely Julie dropped me a note not long ago to make sure I knew about the contest, and now I’m passing that information on to you. This years theme is “$mart Money Choices = A Brighter Future” and in an effort to increase interest in financial literacy in our nation’s youth, they NFCC is sponsoring the Be Money Wi$e National Financial Literacy Poster Contest. Here are some of the details:

The contest is designed to get young students thinking about how to manage money efficiently and offers them a creative outlet to demonstrate their knowledge. It also provides the opportunity for local and national recognition for student artwork. All finalists will receive a commemorative t-shirt, and each national grade category winner will receive an award plaque and a $100 savings bond. In addition, the National Winner will be given an all-expense paid trip to Washington, D.C., with a parent or guardian and will be given official recognition in April as part of the Financial Literacy Month on Capitol Hill!

Who can enter? All school-aged children grades 3-12 are eligible, and there will be local and national winners chosen from three grade categories. The entries will be judged by expression of the theme, artistic style, creativity and need to be submitted through an NFCC Member Agency for judging. The deadlines are all in February 2010, so be sure to check out MoneyWisePOsterContest.org to get more detailed information, rules, entry forms, and find out where to submit!

So what are you waiting for? Get your kiddo creating and learning today!

Wow – lookit that! After I hit publish on this puppy, I will have posted 15 days in a row, one for each day in November! Of course, it’s not always in the morning, and once there was even a “oh crap! here! have a picture of snow!” – but none the less, we’ve made it halfway through the month! Hurray! How are my other NaBloPoMo-mates doing?

(…don’t ask about NaNoWriMo… Shhh.)

So! Today, I wanted to point you to another site, which my lovely Mama pointed me too. She works for the local Women’s Shelter, which councils women who are in domestic violence situations. As we know, this often starts in the teenage years – with the first relationships, so that’s where we need to start, and Start Strong is an initiative that aims to do just that.

Start Strong: Building Healthy Teen Relationships is the largest initiatve ever to be funded to target the 11-14 year olds. It aims to rally entire communities to promote healthy relationships, and uses the Start Strong Mode to:
– educate and engage youth in and out of school settings,
– educate and engage teen influencers such as parents and caregivers, teachers and other mentors,
– change policy and environmental factors, and
– implement effective communications and social marketing strategies.

Start STrong has started in 11 communities, and hopes to expand. If you’re near Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Bridgeport, Bronx, Idaho, Indianapolis, Los Angeles, Oakland, Providence or Wichita, please check them out, and consider getting your teens involved.

Healthy relationships start at home, and every added bit we can do to educate our teens is well worth it – so check them out!

It’s November, and that means our Strong as Steel sweepstakes is winding down soon! Have YOU entered today?

If not – get that clicking finger ready, because have I got a deal for YOU! The ever adorable Deana let all of us bloggers participating know a little secret – They’ve created a page that hosts thumbnails and links to EVERY PARTICIPATING BLOG!

Oh yes they did! That means you can enter once a day every day on any of the participating blogs until November 15th!

So what are you waiting for? Check out some other great blogs – and don’t forget to use the widget right over there —> to enter the sweepstakes before you go!

Happy Saturday, everyone!