Farkle on Facebook

It is quite interesting to me how completely addicted one can get to playing silly little online games. I have written about this a few times regarding my "addiction" to the Mah Jong Medley game I have been trying to win for, oh I don't know now, 3--maybe 4 years! I am still trying to get past that one blasted puzzle. Now that I have discovered Facebook, a whole new group of games has become available to me. Right now the only one I have been playing is "Farkle." This particular dice game is one I have played many times with my kids using real dice. The Facebook game is played much the same way as the real game, but it is highly addictive, unlike the real game where usually someone drops out because it can take a long time to get a winner. I have noticed that many of my Facebook friends play Farmville, Yoville, Scramble, just to name a few. I wonder if anyone has done any study on how much time people waste on playing these games. I always tell myself, "Well, just one more time." I just can't seem to stop at that "one more time!" Oh well, what the Farkle, I have nothing else to do really.

New Online Support Group for Dark Circles!

Okay, thanks to the most recent blog reader who suggested we start a support group for people with dark circles under their eyes, I have started a new blog devoted solely to dark under eye circles. The blog will serve as a support group and a place to share ways to lighten the circles and to review products that claim to cure the dark circles. Hopefully, even if we don't find anything that helps the problem, we can feel like we are not alone. Raccoon-people unite! Maybe together we can find a cure! Please visit "Lighten Up!" at http://enddarkcircles.blogspot.com

I Love Marshall's

In my last post, I was complaining about the awful shopping experience I had at Kohl's department store. Today I would like to report that I LOVE Marshall's. I have always liked shopping at Marshall's, and TJMaxx as well. But yesterday I hit the jackpot at Marshall's. I kept finding really good stuff at really good prices. I wasn't intending to purchase anything for myself, but I ended up getting two pairs of jeans and one pair of Dockers, but the real bargain was a shirt I got for my sixteen year old daughter. She likes the Juicy Couture brand of clothing and accessories. I think the prices are outrageous--even at the outlet we used to live near in Virginia. Anyway, yesterday I found a Juicy tee shirt that had originally been $68.00 (can you believe that????) and it was on the rack at Marshall's for $7.00. I was going to keep it back and give it to her for her birthday in December, but I just couldn't wait. I also found a cute Juicy Couture canvas bag at Marshall's a few weeks ago that I got for her--that will definitely be a birthday gift. It was originally $75.00 and I got it for $30.00. I just love having a great shopping expericence. It makes me feel so much better about buying brand name items if I don't pay full price for them. I think today I will make a trip to TJMaxx to see what kind of things they have.

Kohl's Shopping Trip to Hell

I like to shop. I like to shop especially if I don't have all my kids with me. I decided to go to Kohl's Department store because I hadn't been there for awhile. I even remembered to bring my 20% off coupon with me. I was looking forward to a pleasant couple of hours browsing around the store. Pleasant was not what my experience was , however. The first place I stopped was the Junior department since I have three girls who are in that age/size range. I was terribly disappointed in the clothing that was there to choose from. Skinny jeans, sleazy tops, hole laden jeans of all washes, but not a single thing that any of my girls could or would wear. I personally don't mind the holey jeans but the dress codes at my kids schools don't allow them, so I'm not inclined to purchase something that they are only going to be able to wear on the weekends. I decided to check things out in the Misses department because I can always use something new to wear. The problem with my size clothes is that they are so old lady looking, or they simply fit me poorly. I don't know who they use for fitting the Sonoma (too tight in my thighs) brand, the Gloria Vanderbilt (too long in the crotch) brand, or the freaking Lee "Perfect Fit" brand (they don't fit me anywhere!). None of those clothes fit me. I felt like such a failure! It seems like Kohl's prices have gone up too.
Not only was I feeling like a fat slob at the store, it must have been "bring your whiny, need-to-have-a-nap toddler day" too! Every time I turned around, there was a mom dragging around a whiny, unhappy kid! One mother even walked away from her two toddlers who were wrestling around on the floor in the underwear department. She was busy talking about a Spiderman vs. Hulk costume or something on the phone and simply walked away from the brats rolling around among the underpants. At that point, I called it quits on my shopping trip. As a matter of fact, I don't think I will return to Kohl's anytime soon. It was too much like walking through the gates of hell.

The Pace Quickens

School started yesterday, so now the whole pace of life speeds up. We get up earlier and try to squeeze as much as we can out of the day. It feels like it is just too "early" to start school up. Mid August in Indiana is always hot and humid. We have had a cool and dry summer, but now it is starting to heat up. The high school is in the middle of a huge construction project so the kids don't have air conditioning, nor do they have regular lunches. What a mess! My oldest came home a sweaty mess yesterday. It must be difficult to concentrate when you've had a crappy lunch and sweat is dripping into your eyes!
In addition to the transition into the school year, I had a job interview with another school system that is hiring. The job is part-time, and is in the Special Education department, but I thought it could work for me since the hours are basically during the time all my kids are in school. It would be a big adjustment for the family though. Six hours of the day without me being able to run errands, do laundry, clean, mow, and take kids to appointments will make a big wave in the family ocean! I don't know if I can handle it. I guess if I am offered the job, I will have to figure all that other stuff out and move ahead. Happy changes!

New Dark Circle Product

Here I go again, posting about the same old thing: dark circles under my eyes. I was feeling not too bad about them recently because I have been going to the pool and getting a little sun on my face, so the circles don't seem so dark right now; however, we went to a family reunion and some guy whom I have never liked said "Hey, how did you get two black eyes?" I was so embarrassed! What could I say? I wanted to go and hide under a rock! Today I saw an ad for a product I have not seen before. It is called Kumaara. Of course it is the usual deal of "free trial" and the usual pictures of before and after. Anyway, the stuff is $5.95 for the "free" 60 day trial. If you like it, you keep it and if you don't, they claim you can send it back and won't be billed for the remaining balance. The 60 day supply costs $99.95. Ugh! Once you are on the billing cycle, you all know how that goes. . . Anyway, I thought maybe some brave soul might have tried it. Perhaps it is worth the hundred bucks. Curse these dark circles!

No More Money to "Cash for Clunkers!"

I heard this morning that Congress is considering two options with regard to the wildly successful CARS program: 1) Let the $1 billion run out and end the program, or 2) add another $2 billion. Please, please, please, do not add any more money to the program. Try something different that might help a different group of people. We got rid of our family friendly Chevy Suburban last summer when the gasoline prices were inching up toward $5.00 per gallon. We leased a 2009 Dodge Journey, and it is delivering on it's claim of 20 m.p.g. average. That part, I like, but the thing that is killing us is that there is no room for my husband and I and our four kids to travel comfortably. We can't even go on a weekend trip because there is absolutely no cargo room. Using a rooftop carrier made sense when I made my trip from Northern Virginia to Indiana, but now that we are living back in Indiana all of our relatives are closer so weekend visits are possible--except the rooftop carrier is so cumbersome and my husband hates it. As a result, we have not traveled anywhere that would require an overnight stay. It was quite a trick to get all of us shoved into the Journey with a picnic basket and a container of cookies for a family reunion this past weekend, bags for overnight stays are not possible!
What I would propose to Congress is to tell the struggling, rather lazy and whiny "big three" automakers is this: "The first one of you to develop a family-sized vehicle that is not a mini-van, that has comfortable seating for seven and that has cargo room for a family of six's gear, AND uses an alternative fuel or is a hybrid, that people can actually afford, get the $2 billion! Go! Go use that good old American ingenuity we used to have. Be creative! Do something great! Do something that is actually going to make a difference! That would be my suggestion. Everything so far has just been throwing money everywhere without any vision, without any inspiration or creativity. Come on Congress, do something that is really useful, and radical, and helpful!