London and Maddie Celebrate 10th Anniversary of Upromise: Maddie's Dream

This post brought to you by UPromise. All opinions are 100% mine.

Since my beautiful London turned ten back in January, I was not at all surprised to learn that Upromise is celebrating its 10th Anniversary this year.  www.upromisetodream.com will be giving away $20,000 to users who share a story that tells how a parent has supported a child's dream.  Upromise members have received more than $600 million in college savings through their rewards program, and over the ten years since we joined the program, our family has saved over $10,000 for London and Maddie's education...and it hasn't cost us a thing.  We just take advantage of Upromise savings everywhere we can...we refinanced two mortgages through Upromise and Washington Mutual, we shop online through Upromise, and pick up a few pennies every time we go grocery shopping...it really adds up.

Now Upromise wants to celebrate all of the ways it's program has helped to fuel those sparks that made children into the people they are today and the adults they will become tomorrow.  Members can participate in the sweepstakes by submitting a story, and can vote on their favorite stories by “liking” them. Upromise will give away $1,000 to ten winners and a $10,000 grand prize winner will be selected from the participants. Check out the dream wall official rules, then join the Upromise movement, share your experiences and give a spark to help fuel the flame of your child's future dreams.

I'm going to submit one dream for London, and one dream for Maddie.  I'll talk about London's dream over on my Roxiticus Desperate Housewives blog, but here at Roxy's Bay Head Blog we'll feature her younger sister, Maddie.  Maddie is my beach girl, my tomboy, my softball player. She's always looked up to London and joined her in many activities, including modern dance, gymnastics, musical theatre, and selling painted seashells for 25 cents at our beach house in Bay Head, NJ, but it wasn't until she started playing softball in the 2nd grade that Maddie discovered her own identity and found her passion. This year, as a 3rd grader, Maddie started pitching for our Mendham Minors Mets rec league team, and the rest is history.  In September, Maddie will join the Branchburg Blaze 10U travel softball team to pursue her dream of playing softball year-round...we'll hope it takes her all the way through college.

Click on the link to the dream wall, and comment here on my blog post, to share your dreams.

Jedi Clam Eaters, Sherman Brothers Band and DJ Trish Fans Alert: 16th Annual Clam Bake in Bay Head, NJ on Saturday, August 20th

Since my two girls are Jedi clam eaters, it may surprise you to know that we've never participated in the Annual Clam Bake to benefit the Bay Head Fire Company #1.

There's a first time for everything, they say, and this may be our year...DJ Trish stopped by Roxy's Bay Head Blog to let me know that the 16th annual clam bake is scheduled for Saturday, August 20th, from noon to 5pm, rain or shine (and we're hopin' for lots of shine) at the fire house, 81 Bridge Avenue in Bay Head, New Jersey. The food will include clam chowder, steamers, cherry stones, hot dogs, hamburgers, corn on the cob, hot roast beef and sausage sandwiches, beer and soda. You can get discounted tickets in advance, or pay full price at the gate (last year they were $32).

As or more importantly, there will be live music, including the fabulous Sherman Brothers Band...our plumbers really rock! DJ Trish will also be rockin' the gazebo, so get your tickets, discounted in advance, or pay full price at the gate (last year they were $32 per person).

Hook, Line and Sinker

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Straight Talk for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

I haven't been fishing at the beach in Bay Head for more than ten years...as we were babyproofing our beach house, I gave all my hooks and lures to our next door neighbor the summer after London was born, but something tells me Straight Talk has caught me hook, line and sinker with their no nonsense cell phone plans. Just check out this funny video and you'll see what I mean:

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Every year we use the land line at our beach house a little bit less, and as I get set to turn it back on for the months of August and September I wonder if I could just go all cell phone all the time.  When we're at the beach, we like to get away from it all, with no cable TV and minimal technology, we just use a cell phone when we need to call a friend.  When we're working from our beach house, it's nice to have a phone for business conference calls, and we can use Straight Talk International Long Distance, a flexible prepaid calling service, we can make international calls from home, cell or office phone at low rates. No unfortunate surprises when the international phone bill comes.

What's great about Straight Talk is there are no surprise bills, no credit checks, and no contracts.  Who needs to sign a cell phone contract when you can get everything you need without one? Great nationwide coverage.  Excellent cell reception/connectivity. A choice of phones from trusted manufacturers like LG, Nokia, Kyocera, Motorola and Samsung. Monthly plans include the “All You Need Plan” that meets even the needs of heavy phone users with 1,000 minutes, 1,000 texts and 30 MB of web data. Or get unlimited monthly service for only $45. That's unlimited calls, text, picture messaging and web for a whole year, for only $499 with no activation, reactivation, or termination fees.  Reconditioned phones start at $10 with camera, mp3 player, mobile web access, and blue-tooth capability. Or step up to impressive smart phones, touch screen phones, and app capable phones with features like voice navigation, camera, video recorder, music player, instant messaging, and Bluetooth®.

Feels like we may be kissing our beach house land line goodbye this summer...maybe I'll spend the savings on some new fishing gear and get out there to catch some dinner....I hear the stripers are running.

Music Monday: "Power Windows" by Billy Falcon

This past weekend, we were down at our beach house in Bay Head for the first time in a long time...London and Maddie's softball, a mini-high school reunion at our home in the Roxiticus Valley, and the crazy heatwave kept us away for several weeks in a row, but it sure was great to be back. Even as the rain poured down on Friday night (paving the way for a perfect beach weekend), I was happy to sit out on our porch with Rex and the puppies, drinking my 4 o'clock beer and listening to some classic late 80s/early 90s tunes on my iPod. "Heaven's Highest Hill" (featured this week on Roxiticus Desperate Housewives) came on and I knew it had to be Billy Falcon theme week for my Music Monday posts. "Power Windows" took me back to 1991 and my on-again, off-again long distance relationship with Johnny Moneybags and reminded me it was worth the wait for my happy ending without him.



Charlie drives a brand new Mercedes Benz.
He's got another one just like it, just like all his friends.
His wife is playin' tennis and his kids are off at school.
He drives home to his empty house and sits by his empty swimming pool.

But, he's got power windows. He's got power brakes.
He's got a power bed. Push a button and it shakes.
He's got no one to talk to and tears rolling down his face.
He's ain't got the power of love...

Louis drives a beat up '69 Dart.
Swares it's the statue of Mary that keeps the car from falling apart.
With Gracie right beside him sittin' closer than a smile.
She's got her head on his shoulder.
He loves to drive and hold her.

He got no power windows. Got no power brakes.
He ain't got no power nothin' but he got what it takes.
He's got Gracie's arm around him and a smile on his face.
He's got the power of love.

No air condition'...no cellular telephone.
He goes rumblin' down the highway listenin' to his A.M. radio.
With one arm out the window and a smile on his face
Makes you wonder how he got there 'til you see him look at Grace...

No power windows...got no power brakes..
he ain't got no power nothin' but he got what it takes...
one arm out the window and a smile upon his face...
it makes you wonder how he got there until you see hime look at Grace...
See him look at grace.

He got the power... ain't that the power of love
He's got the power...ain't that the power of love
He's got the power...ain't that the power of love
He's got the poer...ain't that the...he got no
power windows...got no power brakes
He ain't got no power nothing but he got what it takes...
power of love...the power of love...he got the power...the power of love

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