Idea Queen Tips & News

No, I’m not talking about the stuff you put on your wall in the house. I’m talking about “desktop wallpaper” - that picture that appears in the background on your computer.

Much to my surprise, searching for free desktop wallpaper is quite a hot search topic. Maybe I’m just so afraid of spyware and other icky things getting attached to my computer that I completely dismiss the idea there could actually be cool desktop wallpaper out there without a threat to my poor old ‘puter.

Although I did go out on a limb for the purpose of this post to see if maybe some of these sites weren’t bad - unfortunately my anti-virus program prevented me from even viewing the page. Hmmm, that’s not good.

So for those who are just as nervous and over-protective as I am, do you change your wallpaper often? Do you download it from a safe site, or do you use your own? I have no idea where my current wallpaper came from, but I do remember it was originally on my Windows 98 IBM. (Yes I’ve had the same background THAT LONG - sad, isn’t it?).

VERY interested in hearing replies!

If you haven’t already filled out our survey, there are still gift certificates available if you do!

Just fill out the survey, and you’ll automatically get a $5 gift certificate to use on any of our ebooks (which are all $5 and under, which means you get one or two ebooks FREE).

I will warn you though - the site may still look a little “messy” because we are still updating page. So go easy on the “design” question.

Looking forward to reading all the suggestions and thoughts!

Today isn’t technically a snow day (not yet anyway), but they are going two hours late. Of course in these two hours, they have the ability to upset my morning routine. This drives me nuts. Not that I’m a real organized person, but my motivation is at it’s highest in the morning. If I don’t get right down to business, the day tends to be lost.

I purposely take Saturday and Sunday as “days off” to spend the day with the kids and give them my full attention. No working and very little housework. What housework and cooking is done on the weekends usually involves them in some way. Hey it’s a family activity, right?

So I know the “working” part may mean different things depending on your current situation. Your main job may be a house wife (and YES that is a REAL job - do NOT let anyone EVER tell you differently!), or you may be like me, working at home on the computer. Regardless, I’m sure snow days can really mess up your day.

When you simply can’t afford to “take the day off”,  how do you handle them?  Do you have certain toys or activities you save for the snow day so you can continue your normal day? Or do you spend the day pulling your hair out?

I’m VERY curious to read some replies!

We’re looking to expand the site very soon, and to do this we need feedback from you. I know your time is valuable and you probably don’t want to do some boring survey. That’s why you’ll be getting a $5 gift certificate to spend on any ebook you see on the site. This includes both recipe ebooks and other home/family ebooks.

Since they are all $5 or less, this means you can get one or two completely FREE. All you have to do is complete the survey when we get it up. Sound like a pretty good deal? Not only will you get something for your time, but you’ll be helping to make Idea Queen a better site overall.

Keep watching the blog for the announcement when the survey goes live!

If you happen to notice some weird looking pages at Idea Queen over the next few days, I apologize. I’m in the process of changing the format slightly, which I have to do one page at a time. Currently kicking myself for not doing the code in this fashion in the first place, but ah well. Changes made down the road will be MUCH easier and way faster too.

While I’m doing updates, feel free to send in suggestions of ideas to add to the site. I’d be more than happy to add them while I’m already there!

I’m pretty big on checking stats. You could say I’m a bit of a data-freak. Checking visitor counts and other information on the site is almost a daily routine.

So I was a bit surprised when I looked at yesterday’s stats just for the blog. Since the update went out via email to those of you subscribed to receive them, I expected a jump. Nothing out of the ordinary there. But what is odd is the fact there were zero “real” comments waiting for me today. Just your normal spam bots attempting to post their ads on my comments (sorry, not happening here!).

I don’t expect everyone to comment. Heck I don’t do that on other blogs, so why would I expect it on mine? If it’s a really good post or have something to share, I’ll leave a comment. But I don’t leave comments on every post of every blog I read. That would just be silly and way too time consuming.

But it makes me wonder - is there nothing worth commenting on here? The blog is getting read on a regular basis, so there must be a general interest to visit for. Maybe there’s just nothing to share on any of the related posts, or no time to do it. I mean we are all busy moms, right?

I don’t know, I may be out of line here. But I am questioning if I’m posting good enough content for you. After all, we all want to do the best job we can do with whatever it is we are doing, right?

Ok so technically it’s still fall. Not winter. But it’s starting to get colder, and the holiday season is sneaking up on us. So I decided it was time for a change. While I absolutely LOVED the last theme, the falling leaves just weren’t working anymore.

There’s a few layout differences between the new theme and the old, so forgive me if things look a bit “weird”. Hopefully it won’t be too much of a pain, and you won’t notice much. It really is just what I wanted though, and only took 2 hours to find. Can we say picky?

Let me know what you think of the new winter theme!

We all have our own ways of celebrating certain holidays. They all mean something different to each of us. It may remind you of family, friends, or other happy memories. No matter what, it’s important to celebrate special days in your own way.

That said, today I’m taking the day to appreciate the holiday. I’ll be working most of the day - but I love my job, so it’s not a big deal. It’s also a choice. I’ll be working on Thanksgiving pages, so be looking for the announcement of that tomorrow.

Before I started my day, I just wanted to make sure I wished everyone a Happy Halloween (or whatever you name the day)!

Again this is one of those promotions I just can’t ignore. You all NEEDED to know about it. This site is already pretty sweet, since you can get gift certificates to local restaurants for a serious discount. I mean that’s like free money right there - buy a gift certificate for $10, yet get $25 worth of food. How cool is that?

Ah but this deal right here is even better. From now until October 31st, gift certificates are 70% Off!

Just be sure to use the code TREATS at checkout to get the discount. Seriously how can you not pass up the chance to get a $25 gift certificate for only $3? Yeah, that’s major! So go see if there’s any of your local favorites offered. You might end up with a very sweet deal!

Have you ever visited a site for recipes or other ideas, but then forgot what you had read by the time you got to the store? Sure we could print it out or make sure we had a list, but sometimes we forget to do that as well.

Idea Queen has made it a bit easier to decide what’s for supper at the store, or make sure you don’t miss something when picking up birthday supplies or crafts. We’ve gone mobile! You can now access our brand new website straight from your mobile phone to see quick checklists and ideas on our three top categories - recipes, crafts, and birthdays.

Now I’ll admit when it comes to websites or email on mobile phones, I’m rather clueless. I have yet to make that leap and still have not gotten internet access on my phone. Although just because I’m behind in the times, Idea Queen doesn’t have to be! So for those of you with phones that can access it, be sure to hop on over to www.IdeaQuen.mobi to check it out. (Note for those on home PCs - the website can be seen, but it may look a little funny. Remember it’s built to be seen on a cell phone!).

Comments or suggestions are welcome!