The Sewing Mom

I want to first apologize to all of you loyal EC (Entrecard) droppers who have continued to drop by over the last few days.  I want to tell you where I’ve been and why you have not been receiving reciprocal drops.

When I drop EC, I drop from my inbox.  For about 4 days last week, there were 2-3 sites that, as they were loading, my McAfee virus protection would notify me that a Trojan virus had been blocked.  I figured out which specific sites these were and began to avoid them.  Unfortunately, Sunday evening, as I was dropping EC using my laptop, I received the same warning and then BAM!  My laptop was infected.

To say I am disgusted would be putting it mildly.  Just 2 months ago I spent over $500 getting both my desktop and laptop professionally cleaned and repaired due to virus attacks that occurred while I was dropping EC.  I have virus protection on ALL of my computers and have never, in the 15 years or more I’ve been using the internet, had viruses attack my computers the way they have since I joined EC over a year ago.  The virus protection has always worked.

It seems that there are a few EC users who are utilizing EC as a means to attack and I am fed up with it.  While I truly appreciate the traffic that EC has brought me, I can no longer afford to utilize their site in the same way I have been, it’s costing me time and dollars, not to mention my frustration.  Let’s just say, I said a few choice words out loud that I normally would never say, slammed the lid shut on my laptop and it has been sitting coldly on the floor of my family room since Sunday.  I’m afraid that if I even begin to try to fix it, I will end up throwing it through the window.

I am tempted to leave EC all together, but I have found many wonderful blogs through EC that I not only prefer to drop on, but I enjoy reading.  I will continue to visit those sites, but to all others, I’m sorry, I cannot keep doing this.

Over the course of the next few days I will be creating my own drop list, which will probably be rather small, nowhere near the 300 that I have been dropping on.  I realize I will no longer be on the front page at EC, but have decided it is simply not worth it.  Last week alone I had 3 different blogs ask to advertise on my site and none of them had even bothered to update their sites in over 30 days.  That tells me they are spam and only looking for traffic, not interested.  I declined them all.

EC needs to be more diligent in monitoring the sites they are allowing into the program.  A few bad apples are ruining a very good thing.

I get asked many times “where did you get you sewing skills?” Well, I really believe I inherited many of my skills from my mom! You see, we grew up watching her sew, whether she was making our clothes, clothes for our dolls, or piecing quilts.

As we all got married and went our own way, we have always remained close and we discovered several years ago that we all have a love for fabric and for creating things with it. We have even been know to head of to parts unknown, just to track down a new quilt shop or attend a quilt show!

Here is a shot of my mom, the leader of this quilting group, my sisters Karen and Grace. This was one get together I didn’t make it too, but they are showing off the tabletoppers/wallhangings they made.

So you see, I really do think the sewing gene ran in the family!

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of 2000 Flushes. All opinions are 100% mine.

Well, it’s Saturday, time for our weekly housecleaning. Now mind you, our house isn’t that old, but I certainly have to question the architect that designed the houseplan. What was he thinking? Yes, it has to be a he because the bathrooms in this house seem to have been poorly thought out and no woman would’ve ever designed them this way.

For example, the masterbath is HUGE! That’s great, except that everything surrounds the walls, so there is the HUGE empty space right in the middle, nothing but tile floor to collect and gather dust and sticky hairspray residue. What’s the point? Just that much more floor I have to get down on my knees and scrub. Then there is my daughter’s bathroom. At it’s widest point it’s about 3 feet and that includes the counter space. It’s like a tube. Walk in and hope no one follows you because you won’t be able to turn around and walk back out! It does have 2 sinks. This is questionable as to why there are two sinks since the sinks are literally side by side with about 3 inches of counter space separating them. There is no other counter space, so my daughter has no place to set her things. You know, like a box of tissues, a hair dryer, etc. You know, the basics? The room isn’t wide enough to put shelves in so that isn’t an option. I’d love to close off the one sink and have it become a counter, it would certainly be more useful.

This leads me to the “Is Your Bowl Ready for the Big Game?” Sweepstakes sponsored by 2000 Flushes. The contest is tied in with the Super Bowl and here is a very interesting fact. Did you know that 90 million toilets will be flushed during halftime, yep, that is JUST during halftime! That’s an incredible number of flushes if you sit back and think about it!

Anyway, it’s super simple to Enter to Win the Sweepstakes by filling out an online entry. In addition to the Grand Prize which is a $10,000 bathroom makeover (which I would give anything to have!), there are also weekly prizes of coupons for free 2000 Flushes antibacterial product. You can also download a $1 off coupon for the contest site, so even if you don’t win, you can still have a nice clean bowl, and 2000 Flushes cleans and deodorizes for up to 4 months! That alone would save me time.

I’ve all ready submitted my entry because I would love to give my daughter’s bathroom a makeover and wouldn’t mind doing a couple renovations in my own bathroom! $10,000 would sure go a long way toward making those renovations happen.

Sweepstakes winner will be announced on or before March 15, 2010.

I realize Val did this meme at Christmas, but I’m so far behind and hate that I’ve been missing Four Foods on Friday.  So, here are the questions posted by Val and my answers.

1. What did you eat yesterday? (Christmas for some of you.) Yesterday, I had Special K for breakfast, leftover pizza for lunch and a turkey noodle casserole for dinner.

2. Do you have any food traditions for Christmas? Cookies, cookies and more cookies!

3. What’s your favorite holiday leftover? Can I still say cookies? It’s really the only time of year I can count on homemade cookies!

4. What food do you always wish you had more of after the holidays? chocolate and cookies!

Be sure to check out Val’s site , she has so much useful information and hosts my favorite meme!

This is a sponsored guest post written by a Press Release on behalf of PBM Products. Post powered by Sponzai.

GORDONSVILLE, VA., December 2 , 2009—PBM Products, LLC, a leading infant formula company that supplies store-brand infant formulas to Walmart, Sam’s Club, Target, Kroger, Walgreens, and other retailers, has received a favorable jury verdict and a $13.5 million damages award in its false advertising lawsuit against Mead Johnson & Co., the operating subsidiary of Mead Johnson Nutrition Company (NYSE: MJN) (“Mead Johnson”), the makers of the national-brand Enfamil® LIPIL® Infant Formula. Mead Johnson is 83 percent-owned by Bristol-Myers Squibb.

PBM’s lawsuit claimed that Mead Johnson engaged in false and misleading campaigns against PBM’s competing store-brand of infant formulas, suggesting they do not provide the same nutrition as Mead Johnson’s brands. PBM’s store-brand infant formulas cost up to 50 percent less than Enfamil® LIPIL®. The $13.5 million in damages awarded by the jury in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia is one of the largest damages awards ever for a false advertising case.

“This decision by a jury of the people confirms that Mead Johnson’s ads have been false in suggesting that there is a nutritional difference between our store-brand formula products and their products, when in fact the only major difference is price,” said PBM CEO Paul B. Manning. “Despite Mead Johnson’s scare tactics, parents are assured that PBM’s formula products are as high quality and nutritious as Mead Johnson’s.”

U.S. District Court Judge James R. Spencer issued his written rulings yesterday following the November 10^th jury verdict. Judge Spencer’s written rulings permanently enjoined Mead Johnson from making any false statements concerning PBM’s infant formula, including the claims Mead Johnson previously made in Enfamil advertising that “It may be tempting to try a less expensive store brand, but only Enfamil LIPIL is clinically proven to improve brain and eye development,” and “there are plenty of other ways to save on baby expenses without cutting back on nutrition.”  The Court also ordered Mead Johnson to retrieve from the public domain all advertising or promotional materials containing these or any other false claims about PBM’s store brand infant formula. 

The details of the decision and the complaint are posted online in full at:

· http://www.pbmproducts.com/docs/Order_Laches.pdf

· http://www.pbmproducts.com/docs/PBM_Complaint_MJ_III_LIPIL.pdf

The nutritional supplements under examination in the case are two fats, DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) and ARA (arachidonic acid), which Mead Johnson calls “LIPIL®” solely for marketing purposes and touts as promoting infant brain and eye development. PBM’s claim focused on Mead Johnson’s direct mailing to more than 1.6 million parents of an alarming blurry picture of a child’s cartoon duck next to a clear picture of the same image which suggested that anything other than the Enfamil LIPIL® blend of ingredients is inferior and will result in poor eye and brain development. Other parts of the false advertising campaign consist of statements that only Enfamil LIPIL has been proven to confer visual and mental benefits on infants, and store-brand formulas are a “cut-back in nutrition” compared to Enfamil.

PBM successfully argued that these advertisements were false and misleading especially since PBM store- brand infant formulas have the same nutrients at the same levels as Enfamil. PBM infant formulas are formulated to contain DHA and ARA, and are sourced from the same supplier in amounts which equal or exceed the DHA and ARA in Mead Johnson’s Enfamil LIPIL®.

This decision marks the third time PBM Products has sued Mead Johnson for false advertising claims. On the prior occasions Mead Johnson admitted that it made false claims about PBM’s products. It is also the first false advertising case to focus on the issue of DHA and ARA nutritional ingredients in formula, which were introduced into the market in 2003 and have become a staple in recent years by many brands as key components for infant development.

“This jury verdict should send a significant and clear message to Mead Johnson about the way it conducts marketing and advertising for its brands,” said Manning. “This lawsuit also demonstrates our complete commitment to defending our products and the valuable brands of our retail partners.”

“As a parent and supporter of children’s medical research, I take a personal responsibility in assuring our customers that the products we produce are healthy and nutritionally equivalent to brand names like Enfamil® LIPIL®. It is important, especially now, for parents to know that there are lower priced yet highly nutritious store-brand formulas that will provide the same benefit to their children as any national brand name formula product,” Manning added.

The U.S. infant formula market is estimated at $3.4 billion and the global market is estimated at $7.9 billion.

All of PBM’s formulas, and for that matter all of U.S. infant formulas, are subject to the exacting standards of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), pursuant to the Infant Formula Act of 1980. This legislation vested FDA with the authority to ensure that all infant formula products sold in the United States provide the necessary levels of identified nutrients required for the growth of healthy babies. For more information, visit this FDA link.

PBM Products was represented by the law firm Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP. Partners from the firm’s advertising practice, Harold P. Weinberger and Jonathan M. Wagner in New York, led the team.

About PBM

PBM is privately owned and based in Gordonsville, VA. PBM companies specialize in manufacturing, distributing, and marketing consumer food, nutritional, and pharmaceutical products. For more information, visit www.pbmproducts.com.

Enfamil® LIPIL® are registered trademarks of Mead Johnson & Co.