Two sites for people who LOVE free stuff!

This blog is about love of ALL types and one thing I love is getting a good deal.... either by special offers or sales or prizes!

So for those of you who also are into good deals, let me tell you about two sites that often have some great stuff offered:

Living Social
You can sign up for major cities to get a Daily Deal. I, of course, sign up for the Denver area, and every day I find out about half-price deals. Some of these are really great deals. I've gotten white-water rafting and a mobile massage, both for half-price and I just purchased a deal for 3 hours of maid service for only $50! Better yet, if you pass on the deal to friends and get 3 to sign up for the deal in 72 hours, you get the service for free! Social networker that I am, I often can think of many people who might be interested.

In fact, if you live in the Denver area and want to get your house cleaned for $50 (or possibly for free) click here to find out more! (Offer expires tomorrow, though..)

Free Things to Do in Denver

This site is great for people in the Denver area. If you don't live in the area, just google "Free Things in [city of your choice]" and you may find a similar site. I think it's awesome!

From their Website:

FREE DENVER — Free Things to Do in Denver is dedicated to providing all the latest free and low-cost things to do in Denver. Free Things to do in Denver provides information on free family events, free museums, free events, free attractions, free concerts, free kid’s events, free comedy, free festivals, free music, free stuff, free drinks, free food, and more. We want people (and families especially) to be able to have fun without money in Denver.

You can sign up for a daily newsletter with upcoming free events. Check out what was in the newsletter yesterday:

• Reminder: Free Denver American Girl Events in Nov/Dec
• Great Model Train Expo – Nov 6-7 and Kids are Free!
• Free Days at the Denver Zoo – November 7 and 13
• Free Days at Denver Museum of Science and Nature – Nov 14 and Dec 6
• Free Day at Denver Botanic Gardens at Chatfield – Nov 5
• Free Tie Day – Nov 6 in Denver
• Reminder: Free Art Walks in Golden Triangle Art District – Nov 5
• Free Kid’s Workshop: Spice Rack Project at Home Depot – November 6
• Free Concert: Opera Rocks the Rockies – Nov 5

Contests

Of course the most exciting kind of freebie is a prize. My friend Lis won an iPad for a student with Cerebral Palsy by spreading the word about her gym.

And I even won an iPad for myself! Yes, by pestering all my friends to sign on to Jazzed, a new eHarmony spin-off, I got entries in their sweepstakes, and won that iPad! Believe me, a geek like me LOVES an iPad! (I almost added "love of technology" to my "Eight Kinds of Love" post, but I knew only geeks would truly get it...)

I also won entry into the Muddy Buddy at the Boulder Res last summer when I was laid off by entering a FaceBook contest! This was such an excellent prize since I got to do it with my son at a time when I was so worried about money. (Entry fee to the Muddy Buddy is really expensive.)

You definitely don't want to get the reputation of being a spammer, but if you truly believe in a cause or a "deal" then social media is the perfect outlet for spreading the word. I have to say, I am so grateful to my friends that put up with my emails, tweets, blog posts, and facebook status updates and support me in these various contests!

The Denver Rock'n'Roll Marathon - What a great time

Well it may not have been my fastest marathon, but I certainly had a great time! Yesterday, I ran in the Denver Rock'n'Roll and it was incredible.

First of all, the weather was absolutely perfect! It was the kind of fall day I could just drink in. In the 60's... not too hot, not too cold, filled with brisk air and morning sunshine. Taking in deep breaths as we ran through the streets and parks of downtown Denver, my body was filled with energy, I marveled at how great I could feel... especially since most of my training runs had been downright depressing.

There had been many times during the training season when I'd thought about quitting. In fact, the week my Dad died, I actually had decided to quit. My heart just was not in it. I kept thinking, "Why am I doing this? Who cares?" I just wanted to hide somewhere and feel sorry for myself.

I told my running partner, Bonnie, that I was going to give up on the marathon, but that I'd try to keep her company for part of the long runs when she was in town. The next time we ran together felt really good. It turns out running was much more therapeutic than laying in bed crying. Go figure! So I decided to stick with it, after all.

Yesterday, as I was hearing all those wonderful people on the sidelines, ringing their cowbells, cheering, yelling out "Go Spartans" (yes...that was me..I'd worn my Spartan Cheerleader costume), I was so happy. For the first time since my Dad died, that weight of grief was totally lifted from my heart and I felt "normal" again... better than normal. Really, really happy. And so incredibly grateful to be alive and healthy... running this race... accomplishing this goal...

But what I'm most grateful for are my family and friends. I think I'll have to write a separate post about that... Right now, I just can't do justice to how deeply moved I am by the wonderful emails, text messages and phone calls I got wishing me luck and sending prayers for the people in my life who need support.

And then there were the people who actually ran with me.

If it weren't for Bonnie, I never would have done this. She is the perfect running partner (and friend/therapist!) We'd been talking about running a marathon together for over 5 years and we finally did it! There were others who trained with me when Bonnie was out of town - John, Michael A., Julie, Doug, and Rene. And then there were even people that came to the race! Michael B. surprised me by coming with his two younger boys. They roller-bladed at my side through miles 18-20 and were there cheering me on at the end. There was Doug who found me at mile 25 and ran that VERY difficult last mile with me. If it hadn't been for him, I would have walked it.

All these people kept me going. The virtual running buddies. The real running buddies. My Dad, Craig, my family. They mean SO much to me.

It occurred to me (getting all philosophical here) that life can be like a marathon. There are the ups and downs...times that are exciting and times that are painful. But what keeps us going are those people who love and support us. Those beautiful people who don't mind whether we're fast or slow or sweaty...they just are willing to be there for us and tell us to 'keep going.'

I just checked my time and it was 4:46:28. The time was better than the 4:56 I did on my first marathon, but not as fast as the 4:29 time I did on my second. But I would have to say that, regardless of speed, I had one of the best times of my life.

A Most Unusual Garden in Denver

Today, I went to Denver to take a trolley ride. Well, being extremely navigationally challenged, I could not find the trolley station, but instead found this chain link fence at Union Station decorated by the Ladies Fancywork Society. They had "crocheted" the whole chain link fence with yarn, making it like a garden. (Maybe they used the "chain-link" stitch!) It's reasons like this that I take my camera with me everywhere! I love finding these serendipitous works of art in odd places. It's like coming across a treasure!

This is just one of many fun pieces of art I found unexpectedly this month. I tried to post the others, but I'm running into blogger issues, so it will have to wait. For now, I will just tell you to visit Union Station at the end of the 16th Street Mall to see this unusual garden!