Facebook and Middle-Aged Women

Even though I hate to admit it, I guess I am considered "middle-aged." I hate that. At the urging of my sixteen year old daughter, I have joined Facebook. I was reluctant at first because I had no idea what purpose it could serve. My husband told me that the fastest growing group of people joining Facebook is the middle-aged female, and that younger users are all mad about it because it is their "thing." I ignored what he said. After all, it was my sixteen year old who wanted me to try it. She didn't seem to mind at all, and some of her friends are also on my "friends" list. It is actually a good way for me to check to make sure nothing "untoward" is being exchanged. As a matter of fact, I have now made contact with a couple of high school friends of mine whom I had lost contact with years ago. It is interesting and fun to find out where everyone is and what they are doing with their lives. So who cares if those young whipper-snappers are getting their noses all out of joint. Facebook is cool (do they use that word anymore?) and fun and I like it, so there!

Replacing a Pet

Over the weekend we had tragedy. Someone (who has yet to confess) left the cage door to one of our parakeets open. As curious birds will do, our little blue friend ventured outside his lovely pagoda shaped home and of course our little Jack Russell terrier didn't approve of the escape. You guessed right! The dog caught the bird and poor little Reuben is no more. Luckily, this weekend was also a sale weekend for parakeets at Petco (you know, where the pets go), so we had my daughter pick out another bird. She picked out another one who looks very much like the one we had. Who would have thought parakeets would be so different. We knew they had different personalities, because we have another one that is very docile and like a mother hen to the other one. Anyway, "New Reuben" (my husband wanted to call him Twoben) is super boisterous and spills his water all over. His voice is different and he doesn't play too much yet. I guess I will get accustomed to him, but still, I miss "Old Reuben" and hope he is not too mad at us for not protecting him like we should have.

Burt's Bees Chemical-Free Sunscreen--Two Thumbs Down!

Here is a quick review of a new product from the Burt's Bees line of skincare products. I purchased a 3 oz. tube of Burt's Bees Natural Sun Care sunscreen that is supposed to be chemical free. I usually try to smell products that I am going to put on my body because I am very sensitive to certain odors. This product happens to be safety sealed so I could not sample the fragrance, which was a big mistake. I thought, "It's Burt's Bees, how bad can it smell?" Well, let me tell you, it smells pretty bad. There is nothing pleasant or appealing about the fragrance. It may be chemical free, and infused with hemp seed oil, witch hazel, and other stuff, but the combination is simply odious! Even my daughter couldn't stand the smell and washed it off immediately. The other problem with it is the texture of the stuff. It has a very unpleasant feel to it once it is on your skin. It felt like my skin was as dry as sandpaper. It was awful. This characteristic was also noticed by my sixteen year old who put the stuff on before even talking to me, so I did not influence her opinion in the least. She reported her dislike of the product when she caught up with me at the neighborhood pool. To add insult to injury, the cost of the product is criminal. I hate to admit it, but I paid $13.00 for this awful stuff. I would not recommend this product to anyone. Chemical-free or not, it's just not worth it!

I Got Nuttin'

I really don't have much to blog about this week. The girls are down to their final ten days of school, the weather seems to be marching on toward summer temperatures, and I am still trying to get rid of the dark circles under my eyes. Not much is going on! In the dark circle department, I read that putting zinc oxide on them will help. I am trying that now, but it is awful messy, and certainly the white, thick, zinc oxide cream makes the circles disappear. You just can't go out and be seen in public that way. People would think you are crazy! I have just been doing it at night. I have to say that the stuff does seal the moisture in! Anyway, that is all I have to say for today. Maybe something more interesting will happen later in the week. Happy Tuesday!

Read My Rant

Hey readers, please go to http://www.writebite.com and read my rant about bloggers writing their blogs on a black background. It drives me crazy, and I am sure you all have read blogs that have white words typed onto a black background. I think it is very rude of bloggers to do this. If you really want someone to read what you have written, don't make them go blind by reading it. I once had a blog that I really thought was great. I was writing a story that I thought people would be interested in reading. When I went back to read what I wrote, I realized that no one would read it because the background was black and the white print was too much for my eyes to take so I changed it to make it a more pleasant read. Anyway, please go to Write Bite and vote on my rant. While you are there, maybe you could leave a rant of your own and earn some cash!

Writing Rants for Pay

Okay, now I know really does pay to complain! Last week I wrote a post about a new website I found that pays people to write about stuff that is bugging them. I'm really good at that! Rant, rant, rant! Anyway, one of my rants was ranked 4th this week and yesterday I got paid $5.00. I know it isn't much, but it is money, and these days a little pocket change is a good thing. If you like to complain (rant) then give it a go! http://WriteBite.com

Love To Rant? Why Not Get Paid For It?

I feel like I am a professional ranter. Well, you know, I think my family thinks I am a professional ranter. I can go on and on about something that gets me upset or some if I observe some injustice occurring. Until recently, my only outlet for my ranting was my husband and daughters. They are accustomed to my ranting. Sometimes my rants are funny, so they get a kick out of my tales, but sometimes they just roll their eyes and sit there staring at me. If you like to rant about stuff--anything really, and are met with rolling eyes or blank stares like I am, then please check out WriteBite. It is a website that actually pays you to rant. It is a fairly new site, so I am just getting started. My most recent rant is about how unhappy and humorless this week seems to be turning out. I also have one that is similar to one of my posts on blogger.com about the nosy neighbor who had the gall to inspect our new Invisible Fence installation. Anyway, if your rant happens to have the highest rating (bites) that week, you get paid 25 bucks. Pretty cool, huh? So, if you are a ranter like me, visit www.writebite.com and maybe you can earn a little pocket money!

Dark Circles Making Me Ugly!

I have had it! I am so sick of these ugly dark circles under my eyes! I have written posts about them before and one of my posts was about Hydrolize, which none of my readers has actually tried because it is so darn expensive! I have also tried Hylexin, Stri-Vectin SD, vitamin K, Oil of Olay eye treatment, and others that I can't remember right now. I am so discouraged! I am looking uglier by the day. NOTHING HELPS! I know that these circles run in my family. My mother has them, her sisters have them, my grandmother had them, and believe it or not, an old picture from the 1800's reveals that my great-grandmother had them. Ugh! Why did I have to inherit this ugliness! I don't even think there is anything a dermatologist or a plastic surgeon could do to help me, and anyway, I couldn't afford that. I can't even afford the creams that are out there. Please, please, if someone out there knows of a way to get rid of these dark circles--one that really works--please let me know. I am tired of looking like a raccoon!

Does Your Mom Have Everything? Give Her a Water Buffalo for Mother's Day!

Are stumped about what to give your mother for Mother's Day? Every year I have trouble deciding what to get my mother. In addition to her, I also have to figure out something to give my mother-in-law. Both women have everything, so gift giving is very difficult. Last year I gave my mother a reusable shopping bag that was made out of a rice sack. It was very cute, and she uses it, and I felt good about giving something that was, as they say these days, "earth friendly." My mother-in-law is a little more difficult because she really doesn't get the whole recycling, "go green," be good to mother earth stuff, so I ended up getting her two metal pinwheels to put out in her yard. They were very cute; shaped like flowers. I won't go into great details about how frustrating that gift was because she couldn't figure out how to put them together and stick them out in the flower bed, but anyway. . . Those items were purchased online at a really cool store called Uncommon Goods. If you are looking for unique gifts, that is the place to go: www.uncommongoods.com

This year I looked around at Uncommon Goods and found some nice things, but nothing that really spoke to me. After messing around for several hours trying to find something, I remembered Heifer International. When we were kids at my church (my kids still do it today) we were given little arks (like Noah's) to fill with random pennies and other change. Then we would all turn in our arks and the money from the arks would go to Heifer International who would then purchase a farm animal (a heifer years ago) to give to a needy family in a poor country. The idea was that the family could then live off the milk from the heifer, sell any leftover milk to earn an income, and eventually build up a herd of cattle to give to others and to use for sustenance. Heifer International has come a long way since they started out. I believe they have been in existence for sixty years. Now you can give money to buy chicks, ducklings, geese, rabbits, or honeybees, to name a few. All of these animals can provide life giving sustenance, income and then, offspring from these animals can be given to others, so the cycle can continue. There are many animals to choose from or you can donate to a portion of an animal (like a water buffalo) that is more expensive. The animals are given to families who have been trained to take care of the creature and then are expected to pass the gift on once their animals start producing. Heifer International serves the needy in many different countries as well as in the United States. So, what are my mother and mother-in-law getting this year? We are sending them a card that tells them that a gift of honeybees and tree saplings have been given in their honor to a needy family somewhere in the world. That is a gift I know my mother will love, and even if my mother-in-law doesn't "get it," she can't say it isn't a thoughtful gift! If you would like to give a water buffalo to your mother this year, please go to www.heifer.org

Invisible Fence & Controversy

Last week we had an Invisible Fence installed to contain our little Parson Russell Terrier. We recently moved from a 3 acre, rural plot of land to a 0.5 acre hoity-toity neighborhood where above ground fences are strictly regulated. Our lot is a "waterfront" lot where we have access to a large (man made) pond. Fishing is allowed in the pond, and during winter months, ice-skating is also permitted. Our girls have been enjoying the pond and they like to go out with their tackle box and fishing poles and sit out there to fish. They also like to include their little dog in the activity. Our dog is curious about the water and stuff that is in it, but does not seem to be interested in getting into the water. With that in mind, we decided to have our Invisible Fence installed a little ways into the water so the dog could go out (as she has been doing) and sit near the water with her girls while they fish. Well, as things go in a fussy, fancy neighborhoods, somebody didn't like what we did, so he complained. We were told that the fence had to be pulled out of the water so that "people" walking through our access would not be approached by the dog. I am not sure what "people" this fellow was referring to because there has only been one time when a couple of kids walked along our backyard to get to a different position on the pond. Our dog wasn't out there at the time, but the two kids were accompanied by their own Golden Retriever who was not leashed.

The chairperson of the architectural committee came knocking at my door telling me there was a complaint and that we had to have 7 feet clearance for "people" to walk on. She asked me if I had read the Covenants and I had, but didn't read anything about 7 feet or Invisible Fences. I told her we would change the boundaries but, after further review and discussing it with my husband, we have decided to leave things the way they are. We are not impeding any one's access to the pond, nor are we violating any of the covenants.Our dog cannot get any closer than 4 feet of the Invisible Fence line, so she is well out of the way of any "people." Our neighbors who allow their dog to wander around loose, however, are violating the covenant about having your dog on a leash when out of it's yard. Why should their dog have absolutely no boundaries, while ours, because we chose to contain her, be severely restricted within her own property boundaries? It just doesn't make sense. Sometimes people who complain about what others are doing in their backyards need to pay attention to their own backyards and mind their own business. I like living in a neighborhood where there are lots of kids and activities going on, but I don't like all the nit-picking, fussiness that goes along with living in a neighborhood. I just want to quietly live our lives, being good, kind neighbors and not be bullied by people who have too much time on their hands and like to complain about what others are or are not doing. Life is too short for that!