Lather, Rinse, Repeat

The husband had to go into work early today, so I got the shower second. And it's throwing off my whole day. Being off schedule already, I decided to throw caution to the wind and try a different shampoo and conditioner. I received samples in the mail yesterday called Naked Naturals. The samples are for color treated hair and are lavender scented, it’s like they knew me when they sent it. I love lavender and I have gray roots.

I used this natural shampoo and I have to say I smell pretty good, it’s a shame no one is here to enjoy being around me and my hair. And I don’t think the dog has noticed or she’s just not saying anything. Besides the pleasant scent, Naked Naturals is free of harsh chemicals and is suppose to make your hair stronger.

I have struggled with my hair forever. Flat, straight, thin, dry and now gray hair. I would love to see an improvement with this hair of mine. After using this shampoo and conditioner, I think my hair feels a little fuller, maybe a little more bounce. It’s definitely worth a try, because the more you use it, the better it is for your hair and I have a coupon.

Under Surveillance

I'm looking for votes! My T-Shirt is in a contest at www.t-shirtcountdown.com. The T-Shirt pictured in this post is the one you will see with this direct link ----> Under Surveillance (just act normal)
One vote will move it to page one, so I will fix the link if necessary.
I've had a CafePress Shop for years now and there are several T-Shirts available and different sayings on the back of them. They look like someone has pinned a note to the back of a T-Shirt. Like a joke! The front of the T-Shirt is plain. Voting is easy, there are 3 blue buttons at the right, the one in the middle is where you go to vote and I'd appreciate it. Thanks!

Have You Looked at an Oyster?

When asked to be creative and make up my own joke my mind seals up tighter than a steel drum. Here is my feeble attempt:

What did the psychiatrist say to his new patient the oyster?

I can’t help you if you won’t open up to me.

See, I told you.

One has to wonder who was the first person to ever eat an oyster. Because really, have you looked at an oyster? Who was the brave pioneer that brought us to the delicacy of gulf oysters? I’ve been feeding the husband more seafood since the diabetes diagnosis. I found out on a website called www.BeOysterAware.com that diabetics should avoid raw oysters. He’ll be crushed. This site has loads of information on the nutritional value of oysters and avoiding them due to certain health conditions. Now that I’ve established the fact that the diabetic can’t have raw oysters I have to find out what beer does to him. Something tells me he isn’t going to like what I find.

Boredom Overtook Me

Boredom overtook me last night. I had to work. But you know how when a snow storm blows through your area and people decide to stay home? Well that has a rippling effect which trickled down to me causing extreme boredom. I sat contemplating banging my head against the wall just to pass the time. I think I looked at my cell phone clock 857 times. I even tried spelling out swear words on the calculator, some people are good at that. I can only spell out BOOB. Before now I really never had the time to experiment with a calculator, dear God now I do.

A Concentrated Effort to be Social

I made a concentrated effort to be more social this past weekend. I got called in to work Friday evening and had to smile at people for 5 hours. It was tough because I was bitchier than usual Friday. The rest of the weekend I decided I needed to get out of the house and away from the computer. I'm having conversations with my computer, that can't be right. I'm afraid the family will find me one day locked in my office, talking to the computer that is sporting a new blood, red hand print on the screen. I haven't named the computer yet, but was thinking of Dell. Yeah, I needed to get out.
Saturday the husband and I spent more time together than usual. We took an hour trip to visit his older sister, then back to visit his mom that lives with his younger sister. Sunday we went to the Cleveland Cavs Basketball game.
We were in the car a lot this weekend and when stuck together without TV, we get into in depth conversations. Politics, history, life after death, religion, the boys, my broken windshield wiper, the leaky faucet and how cute our dog is. I think we covered it all this past weekend.
This post is coming to conclusion now, because Dell is telling me we need to check our emails and the dog is telling me we just check them. I have to go settle this argument.

Wonderful Vacation Destinations

Ever since the family truckster broke down on our way home from Atlantic City several years ago and the man that offered to help us had the word KILL tattooed on his knuckles, we’ve been a little hesitant to travel by car. Hopping on a plane isn’t as difficult as it seems. Sure we can’t jump on Air Force One like the President, I’m pretty sure he didn’t have to book his flights to South Africa on the internet. But DialAFlight makes it easy. You talk to a real person after checking out their site. I didn’t realize after watching the President on his latest trip to South Africa what a beautiful county it is and a wonderful vacation destination.

Dedicated to Boy #1

You know how kids are, demanding attention and all. The boys are becoming regular readers of my blogs. Boy #1 pointed out to me that there aren't many posts featuring him. I can write about the loads of laundry he brings me every Sunday or about the time he found out his younger brother was named after a famous baseball player and got mad because he wasn't. Talk to your father kid, the husband picked the boy names. This is what I decided to post about today and will make a concentrated effort to include him in more posts.
My baby Boy #1 is getting married in August. Times like these having you looking back on their childhood. I remember getting him ready for his first days in Kindergarten. We had a list of supplies needed. I remember discussing his crayons, pencils, erasers and I said, "Oh we need to get a pair of shoes for Gym."
To which that sweet little face looked up to me and asked, "Why do we need to get shoes for him?"

Really, What Was I Thinking?

I left the house for the first time in 3 days yesterday. You know because of my major head cold. I can say head cold now because I searched bubonic plague and I'm sure I don't have that. I was out of tissues and we needed food in the house. I don't know if it was the snot that my brain is swimming in or the Nyquil coursing through my veins but while putting away my groceries I had to stop and ask myself, "What were you thinking?"
I was putting a "After the Rain" scented Renuzit Air Freshener in my little office. I don't know why. I can't smell.

Bringin' Sexy Back

Let me paint you a mental picture of Valentine’s Day at my house last night. I’m clutching a Nyquil shot glass in one hand, a fist full if tissues in the other, red nose, and I’m in my bathrobe and slippers by 7:00 pm. If that ain’t bringin sexy back, I don’t know what is. The husband was doing the taxes and if we didn’t have children, we’d have enough to go to Las Vegas. No discussion necessary, when it comes to vacation ideas, Las Vegas is on the top of our list.

There are plenty of things to do in Las Vegas besides gamble, so much so that the last time we went, we vowed to get to the seafood restaurant we kept passing up the time before last that we were there. We knew nothing about it, but we were intrigued. We didn’t know we were stepping into the most expensive restaurant we’ve ever been in. There were couples there that just got married in one of those Las Vegas Chapels, couples celebrating anniversary’s, we had stumbled into romance. The husband ordered an entire lobster and I had humongous crab legs. Black Jack had been very good to the husband that day! While dining like royalty, we discussed what was next for the evening. We have been to Las Vegas quite a few times but never gone downtown, we’ve always stayed on The Strip. When our waiter brought our check we asked him what was the easiest way to get downtown. He excused himself for a minute. When he came back guess what he said?

“Our limo will take you.”

So as I sit struggling to breath out of my nose I scour my Trusted Tours & Attractions newsletter looking for a way to justify taking a vacation while staring in the face of the upcoming summer of a graduation, a wedding, parties, bridal showers and a new teenage driver in the house.

Where is My Nyquil?

Since poking my head out into the outside world last week for my new job, I've managed to contract either the bubonic plague or a head cold, not sure which. I knew once I started to mingle with the public, germs would find me, along with Jesus lectures, hugs from strangers and extensive weather conversations. Let's face it, I'm just not a people person.
I have a long weekend to recover and plan on taking plenty of Nyquil by the time I have to go back to the new job. My goal is to be able to breath out of both nasal passages at the same time. As it stands now there is no air go in or out of either, that has to be serious.
While at work last night, the dog hid one of my slippers. Today I walk through the house with one warm foot and one cold foot, I'm not sure if this situation will hinder my recover, one can only hope the slipper will show up soon.

Bringing Home Buckeye

So often the husband and I will be sitting in our recliners watching TV and the dog is laying in front of the fireplace, and we will both say we are so lucky we found her. Just a year ago we went to the local animal shelter to get the husband his “birthday present”. Together with Boy #3 we entered the “puppy room” cage after cage of jumping, barking puppies. Except one puppy pushed herself into the mesh cage and looked at us. It was as if she was saying, “Pet me and take me home, I like you guys.” The three of us just stood in front of the cage and stared back at her. Then she sat down and waited for us to make the first move. More people walked into the puppy room, Boy #3 and I looked at the husband with panic in our eyes. Sensing our fear the husband ran to claim her. I run into a pet blog every now and then and it makes me think of when we brought Buckeye home, never knowing back then how much this dog would mean to me.

Things to do While Dropping EntreCards

You only need one hand and an eye or two to drop EntreCards. While you're blog hopping I've come up with a list of things to do in case you haven't thought of them yet. Feel free to leave me your suggestions, I like to multi-task!

1. Eat breakfast
2. Scratch the dogs neck.
3. Separate your M&M's by color, eat brown ones first, then yellow, green, orange, blue and finally the red ones.
4. Stare out window planning your next post about the weather while waiting for a widget laden blog to open.
5. Eat lunch
6. Sort socks
7. Sharpen pencils
8. Try to eat the candy coating off an M&M before chocolate inside melts. (This is a tricky one!)
9. Look up big words in the dictionary that other bloggers use and vow to use at least one big word a week. Three syllables minimum.

I tried to make a list of 10, but I'm exhausted from trying it all. I'm on the orange M&M's already.

It Can Happen to You

I have to have my driver’s license and social security card copied at my new job tonight. How many copies of my personal information are floating around the world now? Hell, I lost track a long time ago. That is a little unsettling don’t you think? Identity theft makes the news almost every day. Lifelock can protect your entire family, you, your spouse and even the kids. There are people out there that make a living by making your life headache. Protect yourself and your family and take a look at lifelock. See the thing is, it can happen to you.

It's Called a Thermometer

According to the superintendent of our school system, we live in an Arctic Tundra. I've never been that North before, but I hear it's really cold. I'm sure inhabitants of very cold climates have adapted to the frigid weather and dress accordingly. In this day of modern technology we have what is called a thermometer and a weatherman. If you can't read that new fangled gizmo called a thermometer, the weatherman will do it for you. Once the weatherman's findings are presented we can plan to dress our children for school. It's really quite simple, if it's cold outside dress warm. Please don't treat parents like morons and cancel school because it's under 10 degrees.

I'm not a bitter mom, pissed off because my kids are home to bother me. They are teenagers and don't get up until noon, they also keep the dog occupied for me. We are suppose to be teaching the future of the world self sufficiency, but what we are teaching them is to all want to grow up to be teachers. Not that there's anything wrong with that, I just think we might want a little variety. And in the dead of winter, when are little darlings have just entered the workforce, do we really want them waking to their alarm saying, "Dude, do I have to go to work this morning, it's really cold and I don't know what to wear."

I am Content to Blog

Some days I just count my blessing that I work at home. Somewhat insulated from the fast paced world of finance, I don’t have to worry about a commercial mortgage or the latest credit crunch that is affecting so many lenders and borrowers. Blogging doesn’t take up much space. Although it isn’t all doom and gloom for borrowers, it’s not as easy to get a loan as it use to be. But I am content to blog away in my little office and won’t complain about having to climb onto a section of our couch that’s being stored in here to turn on the light.

Flat Tire Phenomenon

Weird things happen to me and my car. So much so that I see a spark of fear in the husband eyes when I leave the house with car keys jingling. On a day like any other day, on my way home from work I encountered what is now known in my household as the flat tire phenomenon.
I innocently drove over a cable stretched across the road that is used to monitor traffic. It broke loose, in my rear view mirror I could see the cable whirling around like an out of control fire hose. 30 seconds from home, I made the split second decision to continue. Safely in my driveway I exited the car to the sound of hissing, my tire went completely flat before my eyes. That is when I started to talk to myself. "No one is going to believe this."
"Should I call the police?"
"City Hall?"
I settled on calling the husband.
"Huh?" He asked.
When he got home he took the flat tire off and found part of the cable wrapped around the wheel. "Ahh haa! Evidence!"
I started making phone calls. The police station, city hall, the county sheriff's office. No one knew who was responsible for the outstretched cable across our little community's road. I even called the local newspaper, who took me as a woman just trying to find someone to pay for her flat tire. "Hey pal, just put some more ads in your paper and forget any news worthy stories. I'll get to the bottom of this myself."
Now it was in the middle of winter. The idea of setting up a lawn chair next to the broken cable crossed my mind, briefly. I wasn't sure if it was worth the $12.95 tire patch. You can say I owe it to society to find the culprits and bring justice to our fine community. But for all I knew I'd be delving into an unknown, secret inter-galactic, organization that is monitoring Earths traffic patterns. And I don't know if I up for that.

Time To Get Off My Butt

February in Northeast Ohio is a period of time when winter seems endless. I sit in my office looking out the window at one gloomy day after another. Thinking to myself, “I should get off my butt.” I long for the summer evenings when I ride around on my bike. I live in a great community for bike riding. We have a lake, channels to the lake, pools, tennis courts and playgrounds. So there are people everywhere out and about in the summer. There are ample opportunities to embarrass my children should I choose to do so. My friends and I could easily do that riding around on a bunch of chopper beach cruisers. I found them while looking around for a new bike. I did find some nice looking bikes at Cruiser Style.com. They have several different styles and a lot of pretty colors. The seats look comfortable too. I’d definitely stand out in the neighborhood on a mint green Beach Cruiser. My birthday is conveniently in May, right at the beginning of bike riding season. A new bike is going on my wish list, my bike is about ten years old and it’s a boring gray color. I want something bright and shiny.

I Won A Super Bowl Thingy

One of those box things, a square, whatever I won. I don't know how I did it, I just picked a square. A guess those football squares are a "guy thing". Keeping up with the fund raising for Martha and Harold, I bought a super bowl promotion football square and got myself some free advertising at The Crabby Host and The Crabby Marketplace. Awesome. It's just the time of year to get the hell out of Northeast Ohio so, I guess I'll be off to Las Vegas now.

It isn't too late to get involved in the Wild and Crazy Auction, also raising money for Harold and Martha. Items keep getting added, it's been fun to watch! Erin is bouncing off the walls with excitement over the response she is getting with her auction at Plunderhere.com

Making Money at Facebook

Hey, wait a minute! I can make money at Facebook? I thought Facebook was a social network. I’ve belonged to Facebook for months but haven’t really participated much. Why? Because I’m trying to make money online. We should investigate. Don’t worry I’m on it. I signed up for CashPoint. I have several places I go to for filling out surveys and getting paid to open emails and I have several social networks I belong to. I’m sure I’m not alone and Facebook figured that out. They’ve combined social networking and online surveys.

Online survey’s can be tedious. Most company’s only give you a certain amount of survey’s that you can fill out per day. So you need a few different accounts. So far I filled out three surveys at CashPoint. One has been approved already and I just signed up 15 minutes ago. I’m up to $2.45 for less than 15 minutes of hardly trying. I took a few lower paying ones, just to see how it worked. I think I’ll be spending some time on Facebook. One word of advice though, if you plan on joining CashPoint get yourself a new email just for the surveys, trust me on this, it will fill up fast. Keep it separate from you personal stuff.

Romney's Out

I listen to talk radio all day while blogging. So you can probably figure out what side of the aisle I stand on. While I don't feel qualified to blog about politics, sometimes I just can't help it. The conservatives are dropping like flies. I can honestly say the last few Presidential elections I've voted in, I've voted for the lesser evil. I voted against someone, not for someone. But the choices that are left have me wanting to run screaming and heading for the hills.
"Save yourselves, get right with God!"

I Got a Job and a New Blogging Source

We are in need of a little debt management so I got a part time job. I’m leaving the husband in charge of the household for two evenings a week. I know, it’s a scary thought. But working in the evenings will free up my days for blogging. The dog would never forgive me if I left her all day either. I quit my day job to raise her.

While I was away last night, the dog ate a stick of butter, nobody did the dishes, Boy #3 “forgot” to take a shower, the garbage wasn’t taken out, but I have a new source of blogging material. So along with that plus the husband remembered to study with Boy #3 for his vocabulary test today and they didn’t let the dog track mud into the house. They’re scared of me. The studying and mud thing are the two things I told them to do, the rest I just cross my fingers and hoped for the best.

This morning while cleaning up the effects of the dog eating a stick of butter, I was planning my day. Wednesdays I usually pay the bills, so I try not to think of them until then, it doesn’t always work, that’s why I got a job. A good debt consolidation program would save me some time. I don’t have payments taken out of our account automatically because I would have problems if I did that, bank problems. So I pay bills the old fashion way. I write checks and mail them. I will only pay online if there is no fee. It would be nice to combine some of these bills.

I get to stay home tonight and off for more training tomorrow. Tuesdays and Thursdays are my nights I will be usually working and coming home to some blogging material I’m sure. The husbands favorite line from one of the old sitcoms is, “If the kids are alive when you get home, I did my job.”

Pop a Squat

Northeast Ohio is experiencing a torrential downpour, according to our dog. She won't pee in the rain. Even when I'm standing in the yard, in my bright blue bathrobe, boots and the big, bright, multi-colored umbrella I'm holding over her. We live on a corner lot, so there's really no place in the yard that won't attract attention. I'm the neighborhoods rainy morning, breakfast floor show.

There Are Charts and Widgets For Everyone

I started this blog almost 2 years ago to promote my online stores. I have evolved Farvel Cargo into humorous look into my life and was on the road to actually making some decent money with it. I had a plan, get Christmas over with and get Farvel Cargo and View of Sue on their own domain. It was all coming together until I got smacked. My page rank, that I just started to move upward, plummeted to zero. Damn. I just started a part-time job last night. Double Damn. I want to work in my little home office while wearing my slippers.

Blog Ranks are important to advertisers, I would advertise on a popular blog too. To me traffic is what an advertiser wants. So I’ve joined IzeaRanks.com. They’ve promised to give us more accurate data on our blog traffic. It’s called RealRank. And I have been getting mine to move. A lower number is better. I have a screen shot here of my RealRank scores. It looks like they are moving up but the chart has zero at the top. So I’m spreading the word around for bloggers to see if you have joined yet and what you think so far. Oh and there’s a widget!

I Fell on My Butt

It was the dogs fault. I had her by the collar to take her out and I slipped on the steps, they were icy. I yelled out for help and my cries went unanswered. The husband was within ear shot but he is deaf to the sound of my voice, has been for years. I clicked the dog to her lead and stormed into the house swearing like a drunkin sailor.
An hour later when the husband felt safe to approach me, he looked at me and I looked at him. Then we both started to laugh,
"I could be dead out there and you wouldn't even know."
"Nah, I would have got hungry eventually and wondered where you were."

Attention Online Sellers and Buyers!

I would like to bring to attention an auction going on at www.plunderhere.com, it's one of those auctions that doesn't come around much these days. All proceeds go to Martha and Harold. Martha was diagnosed with cervical cancer and has no insurance.
This auction keeps growing! It started out as an auction for a Ladies Nascar Hat and stuff keeps getting added, check out this list:

Ladies NasCar Nextel Pink White Mesh Hat

Buyer's Choice on any Awareness Hat from our Store

$15 Starbuck's Gift Card

$50 Gift Certificate for Arcane Sanctuary

$50 Shopping Spree at Globug's Cottage (Shipping Covered by Globug)

$50 Gift Certificate for Gifts Galore & More

The "stuff" that is being added has been donated by a group of generous, caring, online friends. Other "stuff" that has been donated is money, time, love, support and prayers. This thread at The Crabby Host has all the information you need and if you need more just ask in a comment!