Knock Knock Helps Us Do Over

Winner time! First, your entries were so inspiring I re-read that thread (ha! do-over!) several times yesterday.

Thanks to the random integer generator, the winner is:

#26: Michelle Harlan!

Michelle, please send your mailing address to me at sarahATsmartbitchestrashybooksDOROTHYcom. 

Thank you to everyone who entered, and I hope your weekend is free of any need for a do-over! 

 


I received an email from Knock Knock about doing a giveaway, and it made me so giddy, I bounced on the sofa. I love Knock Knock – I use their “All Out Of” grocery list pad every week, and it's a lifesaver in so many ways. Saves me money, too. I love a LOT of their stuff, so I was really excited that they wanted to give some away here.

Since it's nearly Valentine's Day, they want to send one lucky winner a sampler of their products, including a Personal Library Kit, complete with datestamp, self adhesive pockets and checkout cards for your books, 'Sweet Nothing' post-it notes, and a set of sticky 'Guilty Pleasure' bookmarks. They sent me a set of the products to play with, and they are so adorable. Releasing my inner librarian is terrible fun.

And since it's Groundhog Day, today's contest theme is Do Overs! One thing I like about Knock Knock products is that they help me stay a little bit better organized – and less likely to need a do-over.

To enter to win the Knock Knock reader sampler, just tell me about a day when you got a do-over, and changed things for the better. Did you reorganize? Fix something? Tell us about it!

Standard disclaimers apply: I am not being compensated for this giveaway (except for my own sampler set, mentioned above). No fee for insertion (SNRK). Void where prohibited. Open to anyone worldwide 18 years of age and older wearing flippers on their feet. Use caution when walking while wearing flippers. Park at your own risk.

Comments will be open for 24 hours – so let's celebrate the do-over!

Comments are Closed

  1. JordanMichelle says:

    In my teens, I was performing a piano piece during a Christmas Recital. All of my recital pieces had to be memorized, but I usually memorized them by rote rather than by actually committing the notes to memory. During this particular piece, I tripped up a little and suddenly had no idea where I was. I had to start the whole thing over again so I could make it through the piece. It was a very embarrassing do-over.

  2. Karin says:

    Great story!

  3. I can think of several days I’d like to do over, but the only actual do-over I remember having was a paper I handed in which got a 99, only because I wrote it in pencil. So, I rewrote it in pen and got the extra point.

    Of course, I like pencils because most have a built in do-over, the eraser. 🙂

  4. jivediva says:

    A couple years ago I had a dance audition for a dream contract, and I was super excited about it. On the day of, however, I felt incredibly ill. That, combined with being nervous didn’t make for a very good audition. I thought I had totally screwed up my chances. By some miracle, I got a call about two weeks later that I was part of the call-back group. I had been given a second chance to make a good impression… I was so glad I got a do-over for the botched first one!

  5. Dominique tol says:

    I am a single mother of an amazing boy named Caleb…he was born with Hydranencephaly, which among other things, means that he does not walk or talk, etc. It gets to be a struggle sometimes, and I love every minute with him, but sometimes, I just get stressed out.
    We were having one of those days where I was just counting down the minutes until the end of the day. Everything was going wrong: my son was crying, my car didn’t want to start, I had a headache that was pounding, and I had to get up early the next day for classes.
    In the morning, I decided to skip class and have a do-over to make up the previous day to my son. We went to the zoo, had ice cream, and I let him skip his strenuous exercises for the day. We also cuddled 🙂 lol
    I felt it was worth it to miss a day of class to share a good, happy day with the person who means the most to me! It was definitely a necessary do-over day!

  6. cyclops8 says:

    One time that I got a do over was in junior high and I wasn’t prepared to deliver my book report, but luckily I didn’t get called on that day.  I was so lucky to get another day to finish my project.

  7. KT says:

    I made a couple fun summer dresses which required “do over” alterations.  I received many compliments when wearing the dresses!

  8. Marian says:

    A couple of years ago I was preparing to play cello in a duet concert and I felt really nervous and jittery the night of the performance.  Turns out that it snowed that night… so much that nobody came to the recital so it was postponed.  I felt relieved and went home to practice more before the snow date!

  9. Stelly says:

    Like any good student, the best time to clean things is when I should be studying for exams or writing a paper.  I was having trouble focusing enough to study for finals last semester.  I ended up cleaning and organizing my room and desk instead.  Strangely enough, I felt a lot more motivated to study afterwards.  : P

  10. Susan says:

    I’m kinda ashamed (actually, a lot ashamed) of this, but I was on the phone w/ someone I love the other day and got stressed out and upset and essentially hung up on them.  “OK, gotta-go-call-you-later-bye.”  Click.  I was mortified by my behavior so after I settled down—a few hours later—I did call back, all set to apologize profusely.  But before I started to grovel, I realized that the other person had no idea why I had disconnected so quickly.  Knowing about all the other stuff going on in my life, they just assumed I was dealing with an emergency at home and cut me slack—didn’t think anything of it, in fact.  So I said a prayer of thanks that I hadn’t hurt someone in a moment of stress and carelessness.

  11. Dee says:

    I saw a post about do-overs in gardening – haha – EVERY spring is a garden do-over at our place as neither my DH nor I have green thumbs, but we like to pretend. we usually plant several different things and only get a fairly good crop from one. last year it was beans, which I turned into spicy bean garnishes for Caesars.

  12. Bella says:

    I got a chance to do over all of my college application essays when my computer died my senior year of high school. It turned out that the second batch was much, much better, and it helped me get into the school I attend now!

  13. FreeReverie says:

    Recently, my sister and my new baby nephew were in town and I had to miss most of their visit due to work and all the chores I had let build up.  But amazingly, on their last full day in town, work was canceled due to snow.  So I got to have a do-over on my weekend, and I spent the whole day playing with the baby and spending time with my sister.

    Best do-over ever.

  14. Sarah W says:

    I had a do-over in careers:  I used to teach 7th-grade English to students who didn’t give a damn.  Now I select the best romances for library patrons who do give a damn.  And a pretty determined damn at that.

  15. Alexis says:

    I dated a guy for a few months when I was 17. He had just started college and I’d just started my senior year off HS. Our schedules got in the way so we broke up. I ended up asking him to my prom at the end of senior year (well, my friend asked for me – through AIM!), he said yes, and now it’s almost 11 years later and we’re still together.

  16. Caschoe says:

    I got a re-do when my roommate moved out. I rearranged everything and it was so much better!

  17. Jen says:

    I would have bought the Knock Knock Go to Hell pad when I saw it in the store a couple of months ago. I could have used it today!

  18. kate gomberg says:

    When my little sister had her first child, I worked for months on a really big Winnie the Pooh needlepoint for her, with Kirsten’s name and birthday on it. Then my sister got pregnant again and Kaia was born 11 months later. I kept wanting to do a needlepoint for Kaia too but never did for various reasons (limited time, having a flare of my RA meant no handwork, etc). I’ve always felt bad that Kirsten had this big elaborate picture and Kaia had…nothing. Then I realized that I could just add Kaia’s name & birthday to Kirsten’s needlepoint so that they were both included. And so I did. 🙂

  19. LaLa H. says:

    I’ve had a lot of “do-over” moments lately.  I’m unhappy with my job and sometimes bring that anger or frustration home to my hubby.  I’ve started to call out my Inner Diva Fifi to “shut the front door” and readjust my attitude when I walk into my house.  It makes me laugh at myself.

  20. daffiney says:

    Two years ago, I made the Thanksgiving turkey from hell. I don’t know if it was my unreliable oven or a bad thermometer placement, but when my husband went to carve the turkey, it was an absolute bloodbath. (I still shudder thinking about it!) This year, however, my family trusted me to try it out again. I must have read 20 recipes and triple checked everything. Perfection! Everyone said it was the best turkey they’d ever eaten. SUCH a relief!

  21. Jbriggs60 says:

    Your first line kind of reminds me of the first line of Silent in the Grave. You know where the heroine says she and the hero met, sorta over her husbands dead body, only he was still twitching. 

    And I cannot think of a better 2nd chance. For either of you.

  22. Cialina says:

    Well there’s always the day I decided to reorganize my personal library. I only have two bookshelves, but I didn’t think it would take six hours to rearrange it by color and within the color, alphebatize. Time consuming, but it did feed my inner librarian!

  23. Lisa says:

    I just moved into a new (much smaller) place and I had to get rid of stuff. That was my big do-over, letting go of things I’d had for way too long.

  24. ashley says:

    I dont think ive ever had a do over, but I do wish sometimes id had a couple do overs in high school.  wish I couldve redone chemistry class and gone into something else in college, something with more stable job possibilities.

  25. CassandraEve says:

    I wasted the social aspect of my time at university. I was a homebody and way too shy to really enjoy clubs and social gatherings with strangers. I had my boyfriend and a few close friends, but didn’t meet many new people. Once I graduated I really felt the loss of those experiences. I decided that I had to force myself to meet new people, so I joined and was a founding member of the roller derby league in my city. I’ve become friends with dozens of new people, sat on a board of directors, been interviewed by the media, photographed and video recorded more times in the last two years than the entirety of my life before that. It feels amazing. I am glad that I gave myself a do-over.

  26. Maytoo says:

    My Grandfather was a prisoner in the first world war and he told stories of how they would get knitted scarves from the Red Cross, but never any jerseys. They would unravel the scarves and reknit them into vests. He said they would get most upset with the tidy knitters who used to knot the end of each row. Your comment immediately made me think of him telling this story.

  27. Suex says:

    I was just learning to knit gloves and was knitting a pair of fingerless gloves, but without realizing it, I only knitted four openings for four fingers.  The great thing about yarn and knitting is that I can just unravel the mistake and start over, a great built in do-over.

  28. Jen says:

    This is hard – I’ve gotta think back!

    Here’s one: I came home in a bitchy mood one night and got on my roommate’s case about never doing the dishes. We’re good friends, and it was awkward afterward… crickets… silence.  So an hour later I went and knocked on her door and said, “let me try that again…” and we had a totally reasonable and friendly conversation about keeping the apartment clean. Way better!

    Then, there was also that one day, when I learned to carve ice sculptures and play the piano, made dinner for a homeless man, performed the Heimlich maneuver, and raised ten thousand dollars by selling a date in a charity auction. Oh, and fell in love. Does that count?

  29. PSJ says:

    Every day at afternoon-coffee-time, I think, “I can start fresh after coffee and a cookie. It’ll be a whole new day.” Sometimes it is…

  30. chantalhab says:

    I only got a do-over once but it was the best thing I’ve ever done. I met my current boyfriend 3 years ago at a Halloween party. We clicked instantly, hung out all night and didn’t stop talking until 3AM. I walked him outside and waited for him to make his move…but nothing happened! (I later found out that he was waiting for me to give him “the signal”) One year later, we met again at the same Halloween party and I kissed him about 2 hours into the evening! We’ve been together for 2 1/2 years now.

  31. PamG says:

    I was a teenage underachiever: procrastinating my days away, avoiding homework and generally making my parents and teachers crazy.  With the support and forbearance of my husband and daughters, ~14 years after graduating in the bottom 10% of my hs class, I went back to college and discovered the proverbial best years of my life.  Best. Do-over. Ever.

  32. Pam U says:

    Whenever my husband and I start a day off on the wrong foot by being less than nice to each other we’ll take a breather then regroup and “start over”. It’s an effective do over that works for us.

  33. ekw8790 says:

    I’m a preacher, and I love it when I get to preach at 2 services, same day, same texts. The second service always feels a bit sharper, more focused, a chance to do it over with a live audience. (I don’t get complaints from the early crowd, and they are not even asleep).

  34. Daisy says:

    Once upon a time, I was a stay-at-home, newly single Mother with four children under the age of 10 – including a 6 month old.  I was at my wits end and found myself screeching at my children.  Not talking, not yelling, not gently chiding them to behave – all out screeching like a banshee.  In mid wail, I stopped, announced that I was going to my room and stomped up the stairs, slammed my door and promptly fell face first onto the bed and stayed there for about 20 minutes. 

    Then I got up, went downstairs, apologized to the children and explained that sometimes even Mommy’s need a time out, then treated everyone to ice cream and a movie.

  35. Emily says:

    I don’t have a good do over story. None worth talking about. I wish I could have a do-over with some friendships/possible romances, but sometimes life is… Anyway I am too young for anything cool.

  36. Kaetrin says:

    When I was about 15 my parents split up and I stayed with my dad (mainly because mum moved out).  We had a bit of a rocky time of it over the next few months (teenage angst being what it is) and there was a day where I decided to “leave home”.  My dad, who was very stoic and not emotionally open, came and asked (he ASKED) me to come home and I turned him away.  I’d do that day over if I could.  There are others but that’s enough ripping off the bandaids for the day!

  37. Claudia says:

    When I was in highschool, I was an exceedingly nervous and scared little girl, who, for some silly reason, was convinced her parents wouldn’t love her if she had bad grades. So, during a particularly difficult Maths test, I panicked then blanked (even if I had studied very very hard and I knew the whole thing) and I couldn’t finish half of it.

    I burst into tears in front of the teacher, and I was probably a very pathetic sight, because she took pity on me, and let me retake the test. It would be a different test (given to another class) seeing it wouldn’t be fair I tried again a test I had already done, and it’d imply I’d lose my free afternoon to come to the school and attend the other class, but I was so very relieved to do so that I didn’t care. So I came to the other class, retook the test and I had a good grade.

    And then the lesson came – in my first test? The one I blanked on—it was one of the best of the class. Oh sure, it was still a negative grade, but the teacher could tell I knew, and that I was just nervous and that my positive grade at the end of the term had never been in danger. She, as a teacher, had been a student once too, and she knew too well how, sometimes, nerves can destroy you.

    Regarding my parents, the rest of the lesson was only learned a few years later when I overworked myself into a nervous breakdown while in college, and had my very concerned parents sit me down and tell me they wanted me to take a year off, because they were worried about me, and they loved me too much to watch me burn myself out just to get a degree.

    Now that I’m older, I realize the irony of the whole thing—at first sight, it was a happy and successful do-over, but maybe if I hadn’t gotten that second shot, and, instead, brought a negative mark home and confessed them my failure and how my fears of them not loving me, would have let them realize the fear I was living under and reassure me off my silly notions, before I had to crash and burn to realize that they loved me unconditionally.

  38. A. Sturdivant says:

    I got a do-over this past year when I finally completed my master’s degree! I dropped out right after college mumblemumble years ago, and thought I’d never go back. But thanks to my supportive husband and friends, I did.  And thank goodness I did it then, because I’m doing the ultimate do-over right now; being pregnant after thinking it couldn’t happen again! So surreal.

  39. Rlbayne says:

    Not sure if this counts as a do-over, but I recently renewed a friendship with an old high school friend. After 30 years!

  40. SB Sarah says:

    I’ve picked the winner and updated the entry – our winner is #26, Michelle Harlan. Thank you everyone who entered! Y’all were so inspiring. Thank you.

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