New Poll - Laptops in the bathroom?

Thanks to Stacy Squirrel, I have a new poll on my blog. Please feel free to agree/disagree/freak out accordingly. Oh and check out her post labeled "Marked" Jan 30th for the inspiration for the poll.

How fast are you?...

66 words

Touch Typing

Poll Results ... To Pants or not To Pants...

Polls are closed and the votes are in ...

Those smarmy little boys in Junior high that pull down each other's shorts during gym class...

are "pantsing" each other, according to poll results (9 votes, 50%).

"De pantsing" got 6 votes or 33%.

And 3 of you couldn't believe that one person would do that to another person, either that or you had no idea what I was talking about.

I do believe this is the most votes I've had on a poll thus far. If you have any ideas for polls you'd like me to post, please leave a comment and I'll try to accomodate you.

P-PP is the route for me...care to join?...

Today I'm starting with something a little different. A few times a month, I'm going to be posting (along with all the other good stuff I already post) a pay per post 'post' - if that makes any sense...

How did I hear about this? My blogging friend Kerith also does PPP and she explained how easy to was to do. She's right, this, right here, is my first assignment! So far, I love it! I stole a quick look, and the opportunities available are varied and just about everyone can find something they like to blog about. You have the opportunity to tell a little bit about your blog to the sponsors and they gear some of the opportunities towards your natural interests or blog topics.

Right now, my goal is to make enough money each month to pay for my Internet connection. Since I don't have another job right now, it's the perfect opportunity for me! Getting paid to do something I love and learning in the process? It's genius. It will also give me the opportunity to practice my blogging skills, branch out a little bit, and meet some new people. I think it will serve me well in the future, and would be a good opportunity for a SAHM or SAHD to network and make their blog time worthwhile to the family's bills.

Now don't worry, this is not going to become an all-money blog or get too messy with links along the side. I hate that as much as you do. So what do you say? Care to join me? Feel free to leave a comment if you're interested and I'll help you out.

make money

It's all about the blog...

MeMe, about the blog.. I was tagged by Ami Mental, we grew up in similar circumstances. She blogs about some interesting things and writes from the heart.

How long have you been blogging? Since March 2006. I told my hubby when I started that no one would give a damn what I said, I was wrong...
What inspired you to start your blog, and who are your mentors? Kt was my inspiration to start blogging. My mentors are everyone on my blogroll. I take inspiration, ideas, and topics from them and weave them into what I read, watch, experience in real life. What comes out is poetry. Maybe not in the hearts and flowers way, but to me it's poetry of the soul.
Are you trying to make money online, or are you doing it just for fun? I've tried to sign up for pay per post after the first of the year. I'd like to be able to pay for my internet by blogging on a topic of interest once or twice a week.
What 3 things do you love about being online? Finding new people that I can find things in common with; getting my thoughts out on 'paper' instead of rambling around inside my head; hearing back from others and knowing that 'someone gives a damn about what I say'....

Since I've handed out several memes this week, how about if you want to play, you can play, just copy the questions and link back to me!

Shaq Attack'ed'?...Extravagance to the max...

Here's the link to the state of Shaq's finances. His wife is filing for divorce. Me thinks he is going to have to trim a little bit off of his cable bill in order to be able to afford it.
The man makes 1.8 million a month and spends around half of it $875,015 A MONTH in bills, presumably the remaining (works on calculator frantically) $924,985 goes in the bank, to gifts, children's toys, and the other 'little' things in life.
The totals include: $156,116 mortgages (3) plus $31,299 in homeowners insurance; $3,345 phone; $1,610 lawn/pool maintenance; $12,775 groceries; $10,065 electricity, $1,495 cable TV; $5,000 for 3 cars (owns at least 6); $24,300 gas; $6,730 dry cleaning; $17,220 clothing; $2,305 pets and $110,505 vacations. Child care $26,500 for 6 kids 4 theirs, 1 each his and hers. Add to this now he pays $10,000 a month in child support and another 10 for alimony. Property taxes cost him $903,132 presumably a year or $75,261 per month.
Okay, I get that you might want more than one house, but even if you're living in a mansion, you still have 2 homes that shouldnt be drawing anything electric, cable, or otherwise than enough to keep the major appliances plugged in year round, until you arrive there. Presumably these other 2 houses are vacation homes, but at the very least? almost $1500 a month for cable? Good lord. We pay $90 for basic cable AND internet. Even adding sports packages into that, why pay for that much cable in three houses you barely use? Same thing in gasoline? jeez! If you drive to the airport to go to games and back, if your spouse goes about her daily life, how could you spend more than $1000 in gasoline a month, even if you put gas in 6 cars, you can't run 6 cars out of gas that much if you're on the road working all the time. The big thing though, Umm.. really, you are paying almost $30,000 a MONTH for child care? You have a spouse who DOESNT have to work, you could get a live in nanny to help with your kids, and there's no way you'd reach that much. Presumably most of them are in school all day, even if you need after school care if your spouse DOES choose to work (more power to her), how could you NEED that much child care? Besides that, almost $2 grand a month on pets? 3 grand in phone bills? who are they calling the pope? and the grocery bill, what are you feeding those kids? $10,000 would take care of most kids for a VERY long time. So they're getting fed and taken care of presumably in one of the three houses, plus another $20K for child support and alimony.. I am not seeing the downside for the wife and kids here. Except the obvious broken home part. Even then, if daddy is gone for most of the time anyway, how is it going to be much different?
And she wants MORE money? Give me a break. Granted, they both seem to be spendy spendy, wasteful even, that much money going down the drain. Sure, making the economy flow around them, but jeez, I'd love to know some of the other stars' extravagances. Anyone have any ideas about that? Who else spends that much on groceries, or electricity, cable, or phone?
Any of you? Any of you want to line up to be the next Mrs. Shaq, sell a couple of those houses, drop those bills down to nothing for a bit and then file for divorce yourself? You'd be a millionaire!

Bloggers A-Z

Rule #1: Copy all the links below and replace the link that starts with the same letter as your blog. If your domain name, or title of your blog, starts with an “A,” you’d replace the link under that letter and put the replaced link at the bottom. Link to the person that tagged you so they get more hits as well!
A. acowboyswife.com
B. bloggingcents.com
C. caffeine-overload.com
D. DadThing.com
E. Everydayrandomness.net
F. forumfinder.net
G. gothic-peach.net
H. happykeg.com
I. ipentimento.com
J. justsimplyholly.com
K. kabalyero.com
L. lil-mousehouse.blogspot.com
M. michaelpark.net
N. notjustmama.net
O. originalmx5.net
P. peapodsquadstuff.com
Q. qweddings.com
R. rowdigrl.com
S. shirleysdelight.com
T. thesocalledme.net
U. utada-online.net
V. valmg.com
W. wildrose.rpgraphics.net
X. xaviermedia.com
Y. yimto.com
Z. zbudapest.com

Replaced link: http://ladylike4.com
Tagged by: http://gothic-peach.net

Rule #2: “tag” 5 people.

Barnmouse
Crazy Hectic Life
Momisodes
Rites of Passage
Spirited Strider

Fun Monday: Naughty bits

Angela wants to know: So continuing in the spirit of "being interested in people", I would like to know, or see, what's on, in or under your bedside table! So open those drawers and bare your soul to us! Is there anything special there that has a story or a memory that you can tell us about? Books that you keep there to delve into from time to time? Trinkets that you don't know where else to put? Let's see! Note, this is NOT for those under 18, k?

Okay, here's the deal, I did peek at other people's blogs, and I know there's no way I'm the most 'out there' or 'naughty' -- no way. So where do YOU keep this stuff?!? When we lived in other places, this stuff lived with other movies or was in the dresser. We had sheets or clothes in the nightstand beforehand. We had to, we had no space. So, the bottom drawer has nighties in it (now, I had no clue this was empty until this morning, I put my jeans which were squished into one drawer in the dresser, into two and moved these to the nightstand before I took the pic).

The top drawer has movies, cards and other things for bedroom activities. Oh and a flashlight. Why does the power ALWAYS go out at night? Now you've seen my naughty bits!

Oh and just for something of minor interest, here's the decorations of the nightstand and of the dresser. The nightstands were scratch and dent, so we got them at least half price if not more, and they were a good enough match (forgive the lighting they really ARE the same color) for them to 'go together'. They are solid oak.

ROTFLMAO...

I especially love the Bill Clinton one. For whatever reason, that just tickled my funny bone. See, it's giggling all over the place.

Superbowl Commercials... Blast from the Past...

SC Dems Vote.. Pundits ignore America's issues...

Once again I'm thoroughly disgusted by the so-called "know it alls" that front the CNN tv coverage for the primary results. Coverage is slated to last from 6-9 p.m. The countdown from (when I turned it over at 6 pm) 25 seconds down to zero, and then, they declare the winner. What? Why would you do that when coverage JUST started? All the votes aren't in, not by a long shot. It's not that I doubt their numbers either...

I personally don't care who wins SC. I just don't. I don't live there so I'm not as invested in it as I was in Iowa. I'm invested because I care about my country and the direction it is going to hopefully turn (more peaceful, better health care, better for mothers and those caring for elderly family members, and of course, education) . So it's not JUST that they announced it first thing.

It's the superficiality of it all: 'who won the black's vote' and ' who won the women's vote', this is NOT acceptable to me. Sure, it might be a minor point of interest, but to spend valuable time that could be focused on the issues, hey how about an exit poll discussion that has to do with WHAT ISSUES are important? Wouldn't it be nice to know WHY people are voting for their designated candidate?

To be fair, after 10 minutes of this ridiculous superficial crap, I turned the station. It was clear that the discussion was just going to continue. I'd had enough.

Pundits, you suck. How about getting real with American issues and quit trying to 'artifically' pit these candidates against each other in the American people's eyes. How about using 5 minutes of your 3 hours to comment on the things the candidates are doing right?

Oh what a tangled web we weave...

...when at first we practice to deceive...

I wrote some time ago about some craziness with a former employer I had in another lifetime. Search for it, go ahead, I'll wait. Yeah, right, okay anyway, the point is that this person didn't listen to a thing I said, and THEN attempted to say that a former co-worker had just gotten me all steamed, that my 'behavior' -- read "the true, trustworthy, honest stuff" I emailed the boss, about you know, like "not being a micromanager-because you are" in an email, was all this co-worker's fault, and gave her a negative WORK evaluation, with this and nothing else being the basis..umm. wha?

All I will say is that this is being taken care of. I giggle at the thought. The evaluation is going to have to be re-done. There is some justice in the world.

This should be a warning to all: don't lie, cheat, or treat your subordinates like shit. Somehow, some way, they will make you pay.

Hello?!?

Thanks to everyone who is leaving comments, but I'm starting to feel like a broken record... If you don't leave your email address, I can't reply to you.. so.. Eve... and whomever else is wanting to get in touch with me, umm leave your addy with your comment, k?

7 Things about me.. Me Me....

Karina has recently divulged some interesting facts about her and wants to know about me. Here goes! The Rules: 1. List 7 random things about yourself. 2. Tag 7 people and ... 3. leave a comment on his/her blog letting the recipient know of the tag.


1. I was born with brown eyes, not blue like most babies. I had blond hair until about 1st grade and then it began to darken. I've only had color put in it once, last year a few highlights. I really liked it.


2. I'm growing my hair out, I'm not sure how commited I am to it, but hey, for now, it's shaggy.


3. I have always tried to improve myself. I went out for a beauty pageant (not a beauty) to try and take away some of my shyness. I quit wearing a watch because I thought I was too 'type A' and it was rude to keep looking at my watch, but I couldnt quit!


4. I often see things from other people's points of view and am very empathetic.


5. I'm very opinionated, but only on certain issues, and I don't often share because most people I know are also very opinionated, but they aren't open to other opinions (read: assholes). The people I know that aren't the same way are either far away or have blogs, not that I have met them. Except my husband, he listens to my opinions. He doesnt have a choice :-)


6. If I could do anything in the world, I'd really like to help people with their résumés.


7. I bless myself if no one is there to bless me when I sneeze.


Time to tag:

Megnificent (because she's new and I don't know much about her)

Give It A Try (because she's back from a hiatus)

That Chick over There (because she'll need a heavy break after the story she's telling)

Rotten Correspondent (because I know they'll be good!)

Am.I.Mental (because I want to know more)

KTJRDN (because I probably know a lot about her, but not enough)

Media Addiction (because she's another young blogger)

Yoga in the Classroom?...

Straight from the Today show...

Our precious educational dollars are now being taken up by giving kids 'yoga' time to allow them to 'relax' because they're so 'anxious'... bite me. Seriously. Even 3 year olds are supposedly overtly anxious and in a high stress world when they leave the Pre-K classroom. If you've overscheduled your own kid, cut down on their activities. That's easy. You got them into it, you get them out. Why waste educational dollars on teaching them to 'relax' -- that's what a parent is supposed to do. That's like teaching them self esteem in the classroom--usually for doing a crappy job at something. Way to draw a circle! (really it looks like a square, but no big deal you did a great job)...That's BS. As a parent, you should teach your kid relaxation techniques -- go out and play, you can do your homework later. see? easy. Or, to teach them responsibility, as soon as you do your homework and I've checked to make sure it's done right, then you may go play. You're teaching them responsibility and relaxation at the same time.

Yes, if your kid is overscheduled, I think you should cut out an activity. Chess club and FAA and Junior achievers and Basketball and Honors and Choir and all that is not necessary. Pick one or two that they really enjoy and allow them to excel in THOSE. That means school and extracurricular. Pick one or two. THEN if they are asking to do more, their grades are good, THEN add something else on. This is a parent's responsibility, not the responsibility of taxpayers to pay for yoga when a parent should be doing this at HOME!

Organ Donation for All

I was just inspired to write this little number down for all bloggers to read. The inspiration was from February's 'Love' edition of the Oprah Magazine. The story is of 2 mothers, waiting for hearts for their little boys. A poignant story of one woman who flew halfway across the world and another who lived 40 miles away, their boys sharing a hospital room, the mothers, ignoring language barriers and supporting each other though the long wait, one parent's joy, and the other's grief. I feel lucky to be connected with Blog365 and I'm sure there is at least one of you for whom organ donation is a personal and perhaps private topic. I'm here to make it public.

Since the age of 16, I've been an organ donor. For the most part, I'm healthy. Nothing cutting down a bit on red meat or cheese, or a little more exercise wouldn't cure. I'm sure most of you can relate. My husband feels the same way, if we were to die, and have no use of our organs, why SHOULDN'T someone else get to use them if they can? Why can't our spouse know that if we were to die, their lives would live on, perhaps his or my heart beat in someone else, perhaps his liver clean someone else's blood or my corneas give (albeit blurry) vision to someone else?

But this topic is a bit tougher to talk about. It involves children. We all know that parents should not outlive their children. That little children should not die, and that they should live to have happy, healthy productive lives. Sometimes, due to car accidents, falls, or other tragedies, life does not always grant a ticket to graceful and grateful old age to the young around us. It is even a worse tragedy when a child is born or reaches perhaps only toddlerhood and his heart fails, or his kidneys shut down. With the rise in prenatal care, almost any child can survive what 1o years ago would have been fatal. Sometimes, at the cost of an organ. This brings to mind the question: are you willing to donate your children's organs should something above and beyond the pale of terror strike them down in their youth to save another child's life?

The parents have final say over whether anyone under the age of 18 can donate an organ in their final moments. Let's face it, there aren't that many AVAILABLE organs that will fit into a child's body. It has to be another child that donates, adult organs don't 'fit' into a little child. What's worse, with any type of donation program, the amount of non-Caucasions receiving help is slim, because not all the factors between the races are the same. That means that type-matching is tougher on people of color. This makes it vastly more important for blacks and hispanics in the US to donate when they can. When all hope is gone, new hope and faith can be restored. New life granted to another family, another child, as precious as yours, waits, dying in a hospital bed. Can you find it in your heart to save another child, when yours has been lost? Please give this some thought, talk it over with your spouse. Have a plan, for each other, for your children. Who knows? Someday it might be YOUR child waiting for a heart, a liver, a kidney... someday, it might be you praying for that parent across the country to donate their organs to save your child...

http://www.marrow.org/

http://www.organdonor.gov/

http://www.redcross.org/donate/give/

Free at Last...to Dream...

I wish you'd had a few more years, a few more decades, a few more speeches to give, to serve, to live. I wish your words would move this generation, to give, to serve, to live an honorable life. May you rest in peace, inspiring those who come across these words. Thank you for serving others.

"Everybody can be great. Because anybody can serve.You don't have to have a college degree to serve.You don't have to make your subject and verb agree to serve.You don't have to know about Aristotle and Plato to serve ...You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love." -- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Fun Monday - Front Door Views

Vicky at Catch the Light hosted the first fun Monday and asked to see the player's front doors. Now we're doing it again. Don't forget to check out the other players. Here's the assignment. For those of you who did NOT post a picture of your view from your front door, then your assignment is to post a view from your front door. To do this you stand in your doorway looking outside and take a picture. That simple. We (I) want to see what you see when you look out your front door. For those of you who DID post your view, link back to that post you posted a year ago, and then re-list your very first post ever. We want to see how far you've come baby! Also, if you can, post the comments you received on that post.

Here's a pic of the front of our four-plex apt. That mound of snow looks tiny now compared to when all the snow has been plowed out of all the drives and is now stacked up AT LEAST as high as that giant snowball there in front of my little legs. There's another one just like it at the street. We're to get 3-5 more inches of snow tonight and Monday. Did I mention it's cold here? Brrr!

Football, fiction and fun...

Awaiting the end of the Giants/Packers game to see who will be facing the Patriots in the Superbowl.

Finished the 6th Women's Murder Club book in as many days. Good lord, I've been reading a lot.

I've also been having a lot of fun. My husband likes to look at you know, like computer stuff and truck auctions when he gets home at night, and when I've got a book to stick my nose in, I don't mind that his is in the computer. It's kind of fun. Better than sitting and staring at him...

We did have a great time Friday night at the holiday party for his work. We don't ever have a situation where we have to talk to people we don't know, let alone go out all dressed up. Either situation could be uncomfortable, but really, I thought we both did very well. I handled the 'work' question with probably less tact than normal, and I'm sure the lady felt like she was put off (which she was), but hey, whatever. I also handled the 'kids' question with delicacy and politeness. Not snarkiness. Yeah me :-) We were at a table where we were probably either the oldest or tied oldest, with another 2 obviously younger couples. One of the girls looked about 15 and like she was going to her junior prom, but was drinking like a champ so I assume she was 21.

The magician was lame, but I think it's just because neither of us has ever been wowed by magicians. Too much like circus performers. I had no idea we had that in common. Hey, I learned something about my spouse. Neat. Anyway, a band, a deejay, just about anything would have been better than a magician. Oh well. I tried not to look bored and clapped when everyone else did. I just don't give a flying leap how the ball gets under the cup or the never ending streamer comes out of your mouth. I want you to sit down and shut up. Is that mean? Oh well, tough!

We've had late nights all weekend. I don't see this as an exception. My husband has been glued to the computer and football since early this afternoon. I don't see that changing until the game is over and he's exhausted enough to quit looking at truck stuff. Could be a long night...

Book you must read before the end of 2008

Garbage Land: On the Secret Trail of Trash -Elizabeth Royte ISBN 0-316-73826-3 (copyright 2005)

I nominated this for a University's mandatory freshmen reading. Blurb written by me follows:

"Garbage Land" challenges one to a day-to-day thought process regarding his/her own individual waste. Through extensive research, including following her personal garbage, recycling, and, yes, even sewage through the environment to their final resting places, Royte explores the ecological challenges that have existed in the past and the impact on the global economy and environment today. The author delves just deeply enough into each subject to provide for unlimited discussion topics on multiple societal levels. It begs the question, where does YOUR garbage go? Touching on areas such as economics, sociology, global issues, politics, and practically every science, this book brings 'Environmental Sustainability' to a much deeper, more personal level.

We are... Marshall... We are...

We are Marshall is a great film (released in the US in 2006) similar to Remember the Titans (2000). Anthony Mackie truly is the star of this film and does a great job portraying the injured player who doesn't take the plane ride that killed his teammates, coaches and many others. He feels compelled to build the team back up again, and elicits a response from the student body at Marshall, resurrecting from the ashes of a tragedy, a legend in their own right. Injured, he continues to play, remembering his teammates and forming a team with the spirit of all his fallen comrades. For anyone who likes football, this is a great movie.


The movie was inspired by actual events: Southern Airways Flight 932 was a chartered Southern Airways DC-9 commercial jet flying from Kinston, NC (ISO) to the Huntington-Tri-State/Milton Airport (HTS) in Ceredo, West Virginia. At 7:35 PM on November 14, 1970, the aircraft crashed into a hill just short of the Tri-State Airport, killing all seventy-five on board. The plane was carrying the thirty-seven members of team, eight members of the coaching staff, twenty-five boosters, four flight crew members, and one employee of the charter company.

Because it was the team's only chartered flight of the season, many boosters and prominent citizens were on the plane, including a city councilman, a state legislator, and four of the city's six physicians. Seventy children lost one parent in the crash, and an additional 18 were orphaned. Taken from IMDB trivia.

Here it is.. the dress, the hair, the cleavage...

Hey the pictures add about 10 lbs... give or take 10.. but hey, with the heels on, I looked good! I could tell that I was getting jealous looks from a lot of the women, and my husband said that a coworker spent most of the time looking at my cleavage... giggle. oh well! I felt great and felt like I looked great. I had to lose the garter belt and stockings because they wouldnt stay connected and where they were supposed to be. So I peeled them off in the truck before heading in. My hubby approved and I put them on later for a little show and tell. He appreciated it. A lot more than the magician hired for 'entertainment' (yawn). Thanks for the good words about the hair. I just added a bit of curl to the front. Well, it's about time to retire to bed for the evening. It's -2 "feels like" -20" outside. Brr!

Jericho Returns...

What are you doing Feb. 12th at 9pm (central)? How about catching up on a great series. For backstory check out CBS.com. NUTS! beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep...

What makes up you?

The Recipe For Jill

3 parts Kindness 2 parts Shrewdness 1 part Aspiration Splash of Slyness Serve over ice

What's" the Recipe for Your Personality?

How do the British feel about this?...

Okay, so here goes, I'm tuning into trash tv because it's a guilty pleasure and the writer's strike has levelled the playing field (by that I mean nothing else is on tv), as well as Michigan's Presidential primary being a wipe due to the loss of democratic candidates on their ballot (predisposed by their insistence on being moved up in the grand scheme of things, chronologically, and losing their delegate count)... onto the question...

Simon Cowell (yes I'm watching the American version of Pop Idol which originated in Britain), pops off with another 'I don't get Americans' and this time he backhandedly compliments Americans! Wow...

He says, and I'm paraphrasing... 'I don't get how when one of your friends does something good, you celebrate with them...' In this statement and follow ups, he indicates that he could not imagine celebrating with a friend who did something good. I want to know how the rest of the British folks out there feel about that...

Is he misrepreseting your country?

The Band Meme

Here's how it goes. You are about to have your own band's CD cover. Follow these directions to the letter.

Go to......

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:RandomThe first article title on the page is the name of your band.

2. http://www.quotationspage.com/random.php3The last four words of the very last quote is the title of your album.

3. http://www.flickr.com/explore/interesting/7daysThe third picture, no matter what it is, will be your album cover.

4. Use your graphics program of choice to throw them together, and post the result as a comment in this post.

(Don't forget to follow the Terms of Use at Flickr and provide a link back to the page at Flickr

Wet dogs... can you smell me... NOW?

I mentioned earlier this week that the dogs played in the pond. Here they are, smelling good and doggified, wet with pond water, Willie on the left, Cole on the right...

More dog pics

Can you guess what we're looking for?
Ooh it's in here!
I know it's in here, I can smell it! I wanna get it and roll on it!
Dead mouse! Don't you just LOVE dogs!

Playing ball and eating.. side by side...

All together now.. awwwww!

Fun Monday and Blog 365

Don't forget to join Blog365's fun Monday group and chat with all of us fun mondayer's there.. this week's Fun Monday post is below...

Fun Monday - What a Wonderful World Wide Website - Neopets!

Ann over at For the Long Run says: I want to hear about a web site and not just about any old web site. I want to hear about a web site that's changed your life. A web site that you can't live without. A web site whose inventor you'd like to see win a McArthur Genius Grant.

I LOVE Neopets! It's KIND of like those Webkinz things that kids go crazy over, but you DON'T have to buy the multitude of stuffed animals to mess up your kids rooms BEFORE you can play. This is great for young kids AND it doesn't cost a thing!**

Here's how it works: you use your name and email address to sign up, you have to create a user name and password. That's really it. The pets look like cats, pterodactyls, frogs, cows, etc. and you can name them whatever you want -- there are a lot of users so you may have to be creative to find one that hasn't been taken yet. You can create as many pets as you like, but remember you have to take care of each of them, feed them, and play with them.

Feeding and playing with your pet: You play games to earn points (neopoints) and with those points you feed your pet, buy books for them to read, toys, you can even buy clothes, etc. Sometimes you win food from games (Fruit Machine, Dice-A-Roo) or other items. Besides the main shops, you can own your own shop to sell items, there are also auctions, and a simple shop comparison wizard that allows you to find the cheapest price on the items you wish to purchase. You have a neopoints balance and also can open a bank account that draws interest -- but YOU have to login and collect the interest daily. Pets can battle each other and even get a job! You can send messages to your neopian friends as well through a simple intraprogram email system.

Vacation: THAT makes it easier than the little key chain thingys as well, because your pets will never die. Not that I advocate abandoning your pet (they have an adoption agency, if you MUST abandon them), but I have gotten busy and forgotten and like a month later, they were still going, just hungry! You do have the chance as I said to put the pets on vacation (like a hotel) and they are fed and looked after for however many days (up to a month) and then you get the email to let you know they are off of vacation and need to be looked after again.

Free Food: There are also ways to get free food or points such as the money tree if you have only certain number of points--good for when you first sign up, or if you explore Neopia (the world) you can go to the plateau of Tyrannia and see the giant egg that breaks open and spills omelet everywhere, you can get a free slice once a day, which has 3 bites to it, and will take your pet from hungry to full!

Games: The games are awesome and a lot are similar to games you already know, they are colorful and many are very very simple to play. There are sponsored games such as ones by cereals you are familiar with, and you can earn a lot of points through them, due to having to look a Toucan Sam or whatever. Games are as varied as word games, kids style poker, hide and seek, action and adventure, you name it, they've got it.

All in all, Neopets is an awesome website for kids of all ages, it teaches responsibility, game skills and in some small ways, balancing money.

**note: if you're so inclined, there are ways now to spend money doing this, but you don't EVER have to, you just have to not make your kids aware, OR, not allow them to do so! They have ways to spend 'neocash' now but you can 'buy' clothes for your neopet to wear, but they're perfectly happy naked, OR you can buy them clothes with neopoints, which you earn from games.

Let it snow...

about the time we got back into Iowa it had started to snow.. it's still snowing and there was already about 2 inches on the ground...

My hubby just threw some corn out on the ground and the little rabbit who went away disappointed about 10 minutes ago is back and goin' to town eating on the ear. That makes me happy as what WAS on the ground is all covered in snow and they'd have to dig to get to it otherwise... rabbit paws aren't meant to dig too much! Not as far as I'm concerned anyway!

I'll post some extended weekend pics in the coming week. We had a good time but were ready to be back home.

Just keep swimming...

Once we've got the data off my hubby's phone we'll get the video of Cole swimming across the NEW POND on here. Willie had splashed across the outer edge pond at my folks' house and kind of 'neener neenered' at the edge and then sat down with us to see what Cole would do. We had already thrown some sticks out for a 'chase'... finally he dove in and paddled through deep water, grabbed the stick at the same time and about half way across on the video you can hear him whimper... swimming is hard! He made it TWICE, though and brought the stick up to shore... sure is fun to have water dogs around!

300th Post, A geography lesson...

I think that as all of us stretch ourselves in this wide world of ours, that we should be grateful for a geography lesson.. maybe you'll learn something. Please forgive any countries that may have dissolved or been formed since this was produced. Turn up your sound and sing along!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDtdQ8bTvRc

Sigh...it's snowing... again

Finally we could see the grass, and here comes the snow! I imagine before we blink much more, the grass will be gone again... oh well.

De Lurk, De Lurk, De Lurk...

Lurkers read blogs and never leave a comment. De-lurking is exactly what it sounds like - come out come out wherever you are! Thanks to Sarah and the Goon Squad, I stole your button!

Sigh.. turn the page...

Did I mention my husband was awesome! Is awesome! Totally awesome!

The other day I was feeling kind of blah (trying to find a bra to fit the 'girls' in Vicky's Secret with a bunch of 13 year olds sporting B cups with plenty of items available to them kind of pissed me off), and my husband drove me to the library and got me a library card. Then he waited patiently while I picked out a stack of books as big as my head...and carried them for me...

I love books, I just hardly ever give myself a chance to get lost in a book, because I can get on a roll and read until my head aches and still want more. I always used to read as a youngster, I'd read things that were too old for me, things that had foreign words, odd phrases, but I'll be golly if I didnt have a better sense of spelling and vocabulary than almost anyone else my age!

Now I imagine that most people have caught up to me, but I still have quite a foreign words vocabulary, and a knack for understanding not only in context, but also the latin roots of words lead me to understand or catch on to ideas a lot faster than other people in the room. I also get a lot more jokes on tv than other people.. it sure gives me a giggle...

but hey, my husband is awesome... he got me a library card!

Book Review - 1st to Die by James Patterson

1st to Die is the inaugural book in a series that inspired the Women's Murder Club which airs on ABC. After having seen the show, I can't picture the kick-ass Inspector Lindsey Boxer as anyone other than Angie Harmon.

All that aside, this is a great first book in the series, it makes you want to keep reading. Taking place in San Francisco, Lindsey and her friends, all women in high positions in fields such as law enforcement set out to try and catch a killer who has been murdering and defiling newly wed couples --- an unthinkable and unforgiveable crime. They meet after hours and pore over clues related to the crime, racing the clock and trying to keep more couples from the same tragic fate. In some ways, they even best their male counterparts, something any woman can appreciate!

This is not without intrigue, sexual chemistry, or girl talks, so if you like any of the above, you will love this book! I can't wait to read the 2nd in the series! 2nd Chance!

They said we wouldnt see it again til spring...

Look! Grass!

Bloggy Love

Hey, visit my hubby over at The Life of a Software Engineer.
He needs some bloggy love. He was a VERY slim poster until he decided to sign up for Blog365.
Now he's actually writing about something other than computers!

Woohoo!

Okay so not all the time, but give him a hit anyway, alright!

Blog Links Updated

For all my new Blog365 buddies, I've linked to you on the sidebar of my blog. For all the meeces, including the ones I've been regularly visiting but haven't given you props: Thanks for making your blog such an interesting place to visit. You've become a meece. Aren't you lucky!?!

Big girls don't cry...because they're penalized for even looking like they cry.. big boys cry and get votes...

I have to agree with Megan on this one. What is it with the double standard in this crazy friggin place? A man cries and it's good strategy. A woman is passionate and choked up with love for her country and expresses her true desire to make a better life for the people of her country... but doesn't cry... and she's too emotional and that jeopardizes her candidacy? GET A LIFE PEOPLE!!!!

Make up your mind! Is she too hard or too soft? Or is it just patriarchy doing all that it can to demean a female candidate because they're so hung up on their penises that they're afraid if a woman gets any power that all men will be emasculated? Come on folks. It's much simpler than that.

India, Palestine, Great Britain, Pakistan, Dominican Republic, Norway, Nicaragua, Ireland, New Zealand, Finland, Sri Lanka, Central African Republic, Yugoslavia, Bangladesh, Poland, Turkey, Senegal, South Korea, Argentina, Iceland, Malta, The Philippines, Guyana, Switzerland, Latvia, Panama and Indonesia.

All these countries have benefited from female leaders -- and at last check, they are all still producing babies..so the men haven't lost their penises yet.

Fun Monday and Blog 365

Hey if you post nearly every day anyway, join Blog 365 (click the link in the sidebar) and also the Fun Monday group! Each week I'll be posting the topic on the fun monday group site on blog 365. Feel free to check it out! It's not too late to sign up! So far over 1000 bloggers have signed up. And if you're already on Blog 365 and want a meme to get you through the weekend blahs to Tuesday, Fun Monday is a great way to do that!

Fun Monday - Pets Pets Pets

Our Hostess Lisa's Chaos says: Let’s meet your pets. I think most of us have at least one pet and I would like to see your fluffy or scaly pal. If you don’t have a camera you can tell us about him/her/them. If you don’t have a pet tell us about a pet you had or a pet you want. If for some weird reason you hate all animals we want to know why gosh-dang-it.

I will tell you about 2 former pets and 2 pets my parents have now. The closet thing we have to a pet right now is 'plant' who is a mix of different philadendron type plants and lives with us. 'Plant' seems very happy right now, and he/she does not potty on the rug, so we're happy with that!

The first pets I will tell you about are my parents 2 black labs, Willie and Cole. They joined the family May '06 as squirmy little 25 lb lumps. They had been living in a grass-free yard with their 9 brothes and sisters. My parents wanted me to go with them to help pick out a dog (no idea why-except that I trained the other 2 dogs that we had so)... anyway, they wanted male dogs as to no puppies later on. My hubby went along as well, and there was a female that danced around my husband a lot, but that was a no go. There was also a skinny little thing that kept putting his paws all over us, loving up to us, etc. My parents were looking for a bigger pup though. So dad told my hubby to pick up the one that was pestering us, and he went up and selected a large headed pup who was snoozing on the porch and ignoring us. They took two! I thought they were nuts, but whatever. I think my mom agreed. Until they got home for a while. We talked about naming them all the way home, mutt and jeff, batman and robin, silly stuff. I personally still call them arf and barf. Not that they barf in particular, it's just something kind of funny. Hey you want me to let arf and barf out?... Anyway, Willie and Waylon is what they were going to be called (after country musicians.. ) but Dad decided he didnt like Waylon after all, so Cole became the big guy's moniker. We had to dump Cole out of the transport finally because he was hiding in there. Kerflump, and he landed. Willie had gotten out and was already exploring his new home, and GRASS for the first time in his life. Willie still climbs all over you and tries to lick you, and Cole is still more reserved. Willie likes to curl up on rugs and stays in the kitchen with mom, Cole lies to hide in his plastic 'carrier' (who can carry an 80ish pound dog anyway)-- or in between the doorways so he can see what's going on, but not be 'in' on the action. They have fairly good manners, and as they are nearing their second birthday, it's even better. They have settled down quite a bit. Here's a pic of the 2 of them 'sharing' a present from my hubby and I - that lasted about a week before it was in pieces and chewed up. Willie's on the left, Cole on the right. More in following posts...

Scratch and Dent Appliance Center...

Cruising down the road this evening, I see a sign I've never seen before: Scratch and Dent Appliance Center, I read out loud to my hubby who is driving.. with awe and reverence in our voices, we both say "cool" at the same time..
and then laugh our asses off.. see, all gone! No more ass to laugh off! Who would think that was cool besides us? We've gotten scratch and dent furniture before, you can't tell, and once you move at least once there's a scratch on something anyway, so yeah, we both think scratch and dent is a good deal (usually the place will give you major discounts for minor imperfections)...

We got an ottoman to match our rocking chair (green fabric on both) because someone didnt buy the ottoman with theirs, the ottoman fabric is a half a shade darker than the chair, if we didnt know it, we'd think that it matched.. we also got a bookcase scratch and dent, again, you can't tell. Both items were multiple tens if not a hundred dollars off. We also got a pair of bedside tables scratch and dent for at least half price, heavy heavy oak furniture type. The one had a small scratch on the bottom side that goes by the bed anyway, and the other had some minor discoloration (covered by a lamp).. umm score!

This is a good thing for anyone looking to invest in a new freezer, fridge, washer and dryer, etc. There are always scratch and dent, discontinued, "open box" models at a large discount place such as Sears. I've looked several times you can save from $50-several hundred dollars because something had been opened before or it has a minor imperfection in the finish. Crazy stuff.

Cool stuff. Cool.

Dress, updated...

My husband is going out of his mind (okay I'm making that up).. but he can't wait..

thigh high lace topped stockings, garter belt, itty bitty black lace underthings, and a bra that cost twice as much as the dress (to be fair, the dress was 75% off).. not off of me, dammit, off of the price. Jeez. What were you thinking..

My man is going to know that's under that little dress, but no one else will! ;-)

I got a silver bracelet and I'll probably raid my jewelry box and use what I already have for earrings and necklace, I have a small variety so I should be alright there... It won't be wild from the outside, but underneath... there's the kitty on the prowl... kind of like me :-) At least I'll feel sexy!

Dress Found!

Hey guys, a follow up to my post from yesterday, I did find a dress! I left my husband at home (which he thanked me profusely for when I returned, dress and new clutch in hand), and it only took 3 hours, 4 stores, and about 50 dresses, but I did it!

I finally OWN a little black dress!

Now I just have to figure out the details. The knee length dress has spaghetti straps, a plunging sweetheart neckline and a black and white ribbon sash just below the bust. Time to go bra shopping! Then, accessories. I bought the clutch yesterday, which is a soft black to match the dress, I'm not sure if i'll try and embellish that or just leave it plain and let my jewelry do the talking. I'll need a necklace of some sort. I do have a couple of pairs of earrings that might work, depending on the look I want to try and pull off.

Any ideas?

Oh and the fabric flows away from the body, which hides the little belly I'm still trying to work off. I'm so excited! I have some fairly plain black heels with a faux croc detail on the toe and a small non-shiny grey metal buckle, which I may just wear bare legged/footed.

I don't think I could be more excited, well, if my belly was all gone and it was actually going to be WARM instead of like, negative zero (I know that's not a real number) and I could wear some new strappy sandals, that would be even better... maybe on our vacation later this winter...

Sample googles from me for a day... and my current struggle

Yesterday, I looked up Animaniacs and Pinky and the Brain on Utube, and googled Donna Morgan dresses. I saw this cool one in an Oprah magazine, and thought I'd look and see if they were sold anywhere in our area. It turns out, that the dresses are sold in various department stores such as Macy's, Dillard's and Nordstrom. But I couldn't find the one in the magazine online anywhere.

Why am I looking up dresses? I have to go to a 'formal' party for my husband's company -- their holiday party, January 18th. Friday night, so he'll come home and we'll have to scurry out to get there for socializing or what have you. Then dinner and some sort of entertainment. Me.. I'm great with people I know. With people I don't know, I'm awkward. In particular, I always feel stupid. I'm very smart, but I don't have a job right now and even if I did, it would be one I would be ashamed of. Sorry for ending that sentence in a preposition. Everyone always asks me what I do. It doesnt seem like they ask anyone else. Other people.. they won't let it go, if I say, oh I worked for X company for a while, they'll want to know WHAT SPECIFICALLY I did. I dont know why, when other people are around, I always feel very... pathetic. I have a college degree and despite my attempts, I've been thwarted every step of the way. In general, I put my husband's education and career in front of my own, and I shouldn't have done that. Because as it turns out, he would have followed me instead of the other way around, but I didnt know that then. And now, since I'm married, the doors have been all shut to me. Because of the type of program I want to get into. It's like if you're single you're fine but they feel like married people are less committed. So they count you out. Granted, our life together is great. I wouldn't trade him for anything in the world. He's thrilled with his job and it's a real income-booster, so it's fine. It still makes me absolutely dread going to these types of parties...

So I'm hoping to find a kick ass outfit and pretend to be kind of vapid, in hopes that I'll be admired from afar, but ignored and not spoken to... I'd rather that than having to say what's really going on in my working life... Pathetic, isn't it?

Caucus Update...

So by now everyone knows who won, I just want to say that I was VERY disappointed at how the newscasters in our area handled the coverage. They were trying SO HARD to make it different every time, that by 10 pm, they were complaining how some of the candidates had left already...

Seriously... dude? The one person who you didn't' go negative on (gee, are you showing YOUR political preference here?) gave a speech at 9:55 pm... the rest had already given their little speeches an hour beforehand... and you guessed it -- headed for New Hampshire.. no big surprise there, but there was a LOT of negative overtone, what, like the rest of them are going to stick around and 'party' -- why 'party' ?!? They either won or 'lost' if you can call it that, and are moving on to the next state. The only person we heard that had actually LOST was Chris Dodd, he dropped out of the race totally according to our news station, but according to them as well, taking third place on one side of the race is pathetic and on the other side, it's 'really good' dude, really? I'm sorry, can you say percentages? I think that they were all hopped up on who they wanted to win that they couldn't for the life of them keep their little mouths shut about their own political opinion... you're a PROFESSIONAL. Do you job and keep your vote to yourself. In all my years (yeah, shut up, but I've seen a lot of political coverage)-- I have never been so disappointed in the news coverage given by a local station. KCRG, you need to straighten up, report the facts (not your opinion - not negative spin) as they stand.

Caucus, Caucus, We Wanna Caucus...

Okay I waited all day, and here's the scoop: Caucusing IS cool and easy.
I won't tell you who I voted for, because it's none of your business. But I will
say that everyone was friendly and considerate, and that it was kind of like waiting in line at a very calm grocery store, except you can sit and you don't have to carry your stuff.

Basically, you go in, pick your corner and sit, if you're not sure, you can have people talk to you and help you decide. I got stickered when I first got there and handed it to my husband. I wasn't sure I would vote for that person, so I took it off. No big deal. When it was time, I took a corner and waited. Once everyone was in and accounted for the other groups that didnt have 15% (33 people in the case of our little district) had to realign with a second choice candidate. They had 1/2 hour to figure that out. Then we were counted again. Since no one was undecided and no one was under 33, we could leave. It was a close race, and I'll leave it at that.

They had some other stuff, like asking for money, but the guy that was doing most of the talking just said, I'm not going to keep you here, if you want to donate, here's the envelope.. That was about the nuts and bolts of it...

Overall:
Voting in a primary election in another state is more mechanical, cold... and I'd probably have skipped it. This is the first time I ever voted in a primary (I umm, dont like to declare a particular party affiliation, but I really wanted to vote, so I went ahead this time)... I wanted the experience of caucusing, since we're in Iowa and this is a key year for the Presidential election... this is definitely the place to be. We've had tons and tons of commercials, which should slow down now... but I feel like we're more informed then we've ever been. And I seriously hope that either my husband or I voted for the next President of the U.S.A...

Prize Drawing over at Kerith's Korner

Kerith is giving away a prize so hop on over and visit her and her many blogs!

I'm watching you...

Hey I just found all the free do-hickeys (okay my super smart awesome husband did) so I can track how many people visit and why and such. Wow. I have 18 people that ON PURPOSE subscribe to 'read' me. How awesome is that! THANK YOU! for visiting me! Okay, enough exclamation points...

The temperature outside -- 1 degree, the wind chill, is in the double digits. I have known for my adult life that when I wake up to an alarm or noise and I DON'T want to get out of bed, that there is a direct weather related cause. Seriously. I'm not lazy and usually my bladder pushes me up out of bed anyway... but today, I woke up 10 minutes before the mister's alarm and buried my head. Duh, it's friggin cold outside. I finally decided to go ahead and get up, although I really didn't want to. I had already set out the stuff for his lunch and coffee cup, so I filled the containers so he'd have time to like, brush his teeth before setting out. Since no one was there at work and he had run out of stuff to do, he took Monday 'off ' which means he'll have to get the combined rest of 32 hours in 3 days. yikes. He did get 8 hours of holiday credit, thankfully he didnt have to make that up. I'll have to find something nice and warm to feed him for dinner. He'll probably be shivering all over the place when he gets home. That is, if the weather stays this friggin cold.

Today I need to create a shopping list to stock the larder/fill the pantry. Lately I've been using words that occur to me that my husband doesn't know. It's quite fun to see him go 'what...?' Larder is one of them... crag was another (you know, like a surface of a cliff is craggy) ... I think it comes from reading the semi-romance novels [i'm sure you know the type, beautiful English girl is mistreated when her family disappears and wealthy older bachelor takes her in and falls for her] that type -- and I found a whole new slew of words for my vocabulary all those years ago, I'm just taking advantage of it now. That's why I still get most of what ChrisB is saying, although I must admit, some of it does still come from context...

Other than that I guess I'll be doing my workout, huddling under blankets and checking out all the awesome people on Blog365. There's still time to join, just click the link to Blog365 and come on over to the 'dark side' - just kidding. But if we're not all better writers by the end of this, there will be something desperately wrong. Thanks for visiting, and as always at the mouse house, the cheese is on us...

Auld Lang Syne Embarrassment?

Carrie Underwood and Miley Cyrus : Where are your parents/agents?!? You knew you were going to stand up on the dais with Ryan Seacrest right after the ball dropped on Times Square in NYC and NO ONE downloaded Auld Lang Syne to your diamond crusted ipods you got for Christmas? Come on, really?

Neither girl knew the words. I mean, I know they are young, and I admit that I don't know or can't pronounce a lot of the words, but you are SINGERS! ENTERTAINERS! And you're going to be standing up there with RS knowing what a goofball he is and how he asks unexpected things of the people he interviews, and umm, you don't even look up the chorus to sing along?

For the rest of us: Check out the words here. Then next year, none of us will be embarrassed.

Blog 365

As you can see from the badge on the left, I'm participating in Blog365.
The rules are fairly simple, and looser than NaBloPoMo... which means
you can backdate posts if necessary for your schedule and hectic life.
Good news for most of us...

Come join us at Blog365, and for those of you on Fun Monday, I've created
a group to keep us all connected. Next week's assignment is already linked
for your viewing pleasure!

Disclosure Statement

This blog is a personal blog written and edited by Lil Mouse! This blog accepts paid insertions from Pay Per Post. The compensation received may influence the topics or posts made in this blog. That post content may not be identified as sponsored content. The owner of this blog is compensated to provide opinion on products, services, websites, and various other topics. Even though the owner of this blog receives compensation for such posts, honest opinions, findings, beliefs, or experiences will always be given on those topics. The views and opinions expressed on this blog are mine. As with television, radio, or word of mouth advertisement, any product claim, statistic, quote or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer, provider or party in question, for your own safety. This blog does not contain any content which might present a conflict of interest with any company, advertiser, or third party.