The Glitter Chronicles

New Year

2012-01-05T13:03:00.000-07:00

Happy New Year! My resolution this year is to read 12 books - in their entirety. I have a habit of starting books then forgetting about them.

On my list so far:
The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
The Help by Kathryn Stockett
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Steig Larsson (possibly the 2 sequels if I like it)
The Master and the Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov (I've heard Daniel Radcliffe rave about this one enough)
The Sookie Stackhouse series by Charlaine Harris (at least the 1st one, maybe more)
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (I've never read any Austen, so I figure I'll give it a go)

Some things I read last year that I highly recommend:
The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins (I love dystopian future novels)
Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn
The Greatest Generation by Tom Brokaw (okay I only read half of it, but I really enjoyed what I read, I plan to check it out from the library and finish it)

So I'm taking recommendations! Is there anything you've read that you'd recommend? Classics, popular fiction, non-fiction, anything?

My preferences lean towards young adult novels, mysteries, and dystopian future stories.

Some of my all time favorite books are:
The Harry Potter series
The Little House on Prairie Series
1984
Lord of the Flies
The Wizard of Oz Series
The Anne of Green Gables series
The Stephanie Plum Numbers books by Janet Evanovich

A song that has made me cry

2011-07-03T18:06:00.000-07:00

I'm not much of a crier, this one from Disney's Dumbo always chokes me up a little, but I remember being 8-years-old and my mom telling me the story behind Eric Clapton's Tears in Heaven and then hearing it later, listening to the lyrics, and trying to hide the fact that I was crying.

Song I can't stand

2011-06-30T22:13:00.000-07:00

I skipped the 3rd song in the list - something reminding you of your first crush I think? I couldn't think of anything right off the bat and then I forgot about it.

For this one, I had a few excellent options. Should I choose something by Nickelback or Creed (too obvious), U2 (too hard to pin it down to a specifically irritating song), wait a minute...Nirvana! Yes. Perfect.

Prepare to rage at me for my inability to understand the complexity and depth of the music of my generation.

I love 80's music and I love 1997-present music. There is a bleak, depressing period in between filled with Pearl Jam, Bush, Dave Matthews, and other "alternative" artists that all my friends and classmates were/are so obsessed with. The seminal artists of that time, Nirvana, are supposed to be musical geniuses who revolutionized the industry, destroyed the hedonistic excesses of 80's rock and made music more "real."

Thanks, Kurt Cobain!<\sarcasm>

Nirvana's "Smells like Teen Spirit" is a crappy, annoying song and I can't stand listening to it.

You may commence burning me at the stake.

Song of Summertime

2011-05-16T12:48:00.000-07:00

Woo hoo! Daphne and Anali have posted their summertime songs, so I guess it is my turn!

They both chose songs that represent a specific summer for them. I could do that and it would be 1997, Hanson's MMMBop, which has had more impact on my life than any other song period. I'm saving that one in case I need to use it in a later post. :)

As it happens, I have an affinity for summer-themed songs. My sister, Jess, and I had a cassette tape with a bunch of summer songs that we listened to frequently as kids. I made an ultimate summer playlist a few years ago that has all of my favorite summertime songs on it:

School's Out - Alice Cooper
Summer in the City - Lovin' Spoonful
Hot Child in the City - Nick Gilder
Summer of '69 - Bryan Adams
Boys of Summer - Don Henley
Summergirls - LFO
Summer Breeze - Seals and Crofts
Summertime- Billie Holiday; Louis Armstrong
Summer Nights - Grease Soundtrack
In the Summertime - Mungo Jerry
Cruel Summer - Bananarama
Margaritaville - Jimmy Buffet
Put the Lime in the Coconut - Harry Nilsson
Summertime - DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince
Hot Fun in the Summertime - Sly and the Family Stone
Holiday - Madonna
Vacation - The Go-Go's
Summertime Blues - Eddie Cochran
Walking on Sunshine - Katrina and the Waves

Choosing one is difficult, but I'm going to go with Katrina and the Waves' 1985 hit, Walking on Sunshine. That song always reminds me of summertime and the wonderfully worry-free simplicity of childhood summers.

I had never seen this video before and I'm a bit depressed by how cold and depressing it is! Where's the freaking sunshine?

Songs of my life

2011-05-05T12:56:00.000-07:00

Jumping on the bandwagon with Daphne and Anali, I will be posting about songs that have impacted my life. The first is a song from my childhood. I come from a very musical family; the radio or MTV were often playing in the background in many of my early memories. My mom sang along with radio continuously whenever we were in the car. In fact, I didn't know there were grown-ups who didn't do that until we joined the neighborhood carpool and a neighbor boy asked why my mom was always singing.

The record that had the most impact on my childhood was Michael Jackson's Bad. Released just after my 4th birthday in 1987, this was one of the first albums my family purchased on CD (though we probably bought it sometime in 1988). Without a lot of choices to show off the amazing sound quality of this new-fangled technology, this got played often and loudly. My younger sister, who was still learning to speak, called him "Uncle" Jackson. My favorite song was the title track, Bad. We loved to jump around the living room listening to it. We loved "Uncle" Jackson so much that we rented Michael Jackson Moonwalker repeatedly from the video store rather than getting animated kids movies.

Without further ado, I give you Michael Jackson's Bad.

New Year Goals

2011-01-03T20:00:00.001-07:00

I normally do not make New Year's resolutions for the same reason I do not make Lenten promises or go on diets...I inevitably fail and can't handle the guilt. However, I have a few small goals that I have been meaning to work towards and hopefully putting them into writing will bring about some measure of accountability.

1. Improve time-management at work.

Step 1 - Use MS Outlook calendar to plot my time commitments.
Step 2 - Schedule time for the tasks I normally allocate to the mythical "when I get around to it" hour.
Step 3 - Write down EVERYTHING!

2. Read to Erik and Kyle every night / establish bed-time routine

Step 1 - Establish a concrete bed-time.
Step 2 - Figure out how long it takes to get teeth brushed, jammies on, etc. so we can start getting ready for bed with enough time left to read.
Step 3 - Read a book or two then lights out.
Step 4 - Move Erik's bed out of our room and into his room.

3. Establish 529 College Savings Plans for the boys

Step 1 - Research the best plans and perks they offer.
Step 2 - Move the kids' money from savings accounts into the 529 account.
Step 3 - Connect account with my Upromise account to directly deposit those savings into 529.
Step 4 - Make contributions to the accounts and get tax deductions.

I have already started on Goal 1 and have got my outlook calendar looking mighty spiffy for this week. I will have to confer with my husband before doing much with Goals 2 and 3.

So what are your New Year's goals/resolutions? Do you make them?

Arizona and/or Southwest Coupon Blogs

2010-12-15T18:19:00.001-07:00

It is important to browse deal sites and blogs specific to your region. There may be specific stores in your area that only have stores in one state or region. In Arizona these include Fry's, Basha's, Food City, AJ's, Sunflower, and Fresh and Easy. In addition, even the large chain grocery stores can have very different sales in different regions. Safeway, Albertson's, and Kroger (the parent company of Fry's) may have different prices and sales in various markets.

If you make your list based on prices found on a site out of your area, you may end up not saving the amount you thought you would.

Here is a list of the Arizona and Southwest (Arizona, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico) blogs I subscribe to in my Google Reader.

My favorite ones are printed in Pink. I subscribe to the facebook pages of these as well, so I get the most up-to-the-minute deals.

Arizona Families

http://arizonafamilies.blogspot.com/

Arizona Grocery Guru

http://www.azgroceryguru.com/

Arizona Savings

http://arizonasavings.blogspot.com/

Arizona Shopping Secrets

http://arizonashoppingsecrets.blogspot.com/

Arizona Thrifty Mom

http://www.arizonathriftymom.com/

AZ Money Savin' Mama

http://azmoneysavinmama.blogspot.com/

Azcentral.com Deals

http://www.azcentral.com/members/Blog/realdealsblog/

Bargain Believer

http://www.bargainbeliever.com/

Bargain Moms

http://bargainmoms.blogspot.com/

Born 2 Save!

http://born2save.blogspot.com/

Cents'Able Shoppin!

http://www.centsableshoppin.com/

CG Couponista

http://cg-couponista.blogspot.com/

Clever And Crafty

http://cleverandcrafty.blogspot.com/

Coupon Sense

http://couponsenseblog.com/

Coupons In Overdrive

http://couponsinoverdrive.blogspot.com/

Crazy Cheap!

http://itscrazycheap.blogspot.com/

Desert Deals Diva

http://desertdealsdiva.com/

Janie Girl

http://janiegirlfreebies.blogspot.com/

Lanaye

http://lanaye.com/

Living The Domestic Life

http://livingthedomesticlife.com/

Michelle's Bargains and Freebies

http://michellesbargainsandfreebies.blogspot.com/

Moms Essential

http://momsessential.blogspot.com/

Saving Cents with Sense

http://www.savingcentswithsense.net/

The Coupon Don

http://coupondon.blogspot.com/

The Grocery Queen

http://groceryqueen.blogspot.com/

There are probably many more AZ coupon blogs out there, but these are the ones I've found and liked enough to keep on my list so far.

Last chance to buy discounted OPI nail polish?

2010-05-18T13:35:00.001-07:00

OPI, one of the biggest names in nail polish, has requested that online retailers (e-tailers) stop selling their polishes at deep discount rates. The company does not sell their polishes on their website or allow the salons who have permission to carry the brand to sell it online either. They are suing the companies that don't comply.

OPI polishes normally retail for about $8.50 in the U.S. Abroad they cost significantly more. Several polish e-tailers (8ty8 Beauty, Head 2 Toe Beauty, and Victorias Nail Supply ) have stopped carrying OPI...no word on what they did with their current stock.

The only e-tailer, that I know of, still carrying OPI, and the one named in the lawsuit, is TransDesign. They are liquidating their stock, so if you want to get some OPI's for between $4.50 and $5.25 each (more for Designer Series), this may be your last chance.

Here is what OPI's website says on the matter:

Stop Diversion Now!

OPI takes the safety and well-being of our trade and consumer customers very seriously, and has dedicated itself to providing them with the finest Professional Beauty products available today.

That is why OPI is so passionate about fighting diversion. Diversion is the sale of Professional products outside of Professional beauty channels. OPI has spent tens of millions of dollars in the fight against diversion, to ensure that our OPI brand professional-use products are used only under the supervision of trained professionals.

OPI brand products are intended for sale in professional beauty (salon) channels. We sell them to distributors or wholesalers who sell exclusively in those channels. Those distributors, in turn, sell exclusively to salons. OPI brand products sold outside these channels are improperly obtained and in violation of our agreements and commitments to distributors and salons. Unfortunately, those diverted products may not be current, or may be improperly and illegally labeled or of inferior quality, or may even be fake or counterfeit. OPI only guarantees or stands behind products sold through authorized channels. For OPI brand products, these do not include mass retail channels, the Internet, drug stores, or grocery stores.

Diversion ultimately hurts both salon professionals and salon clients. In addition, it deprives consumers of the professional care and advice that are necessary to enjoy these professional-use products.

OPI’s efforts to fight diversion include:

Agreements with distributors that prohibit the sale of OPI brand products outside professional channels

Coding systems to help trace diverted product

Pursuing leads that we receive about the unauthorized sale of OPI products

Supporting industry-wide anti-diversion efforts

A program to track down and take legal and other action against divertors, including the use of private investigators and lawyers

A dedicated staff with a toll-free number and email address to record and follow- up on diversion reports

You can help. Should you become aware of what you believe to be diverted OPI brand product, please contact OPI at 800-341.9999 or at diversion@opi.com. Please provide your name, the name of the store in which you saw what you believe to be diverted product, the address of the store, and the products.

I think this is ridiculous and is angering a lot of their loyal customers and polish lovers. Here are a couple of nice posts by polish bloggers with their response to this situation.
The Swatchaholic - Anti-OPI opinion
Carina L'etoile - Pro OPI opinion

In my opinion, this is a total douche-move on OPI's part. I don't believe their claim that this is about quality control...it is about purchase price control. They want to force consumers to pay full retail price for their polishes. If they want us to pay MSRP, they should lower their price because their polishes aren't worth $9.00.

40% off at GAP Outlet this weekend!

2010-05-18T12:27:00.001-07:00

Oh Gap, how do I love thee...let me count the ways.

I don't need to be spending any money right now, but I really want to hit up this sale. Last time I had a 40% off coupon for Gap Outlet I got probably $200 worth of clothes for about $50. This time it looks like you don't need a coupon, it is just a store-wide sale. Unfortunately, that means the stock will be picked over faster.

That's 40% off Men's and Women's plus 20% off of that total when you open a GapCard (I have one, it has no annual fees. I don't think it has a great interest rate, but I don't carry a balance on it. Plus GapCard holders occasionally get special sales and coupons.)

Gap Outlet has really low prices and great clearance racks. Combined with this sale, you could get great clothes for pennies on the dollar!

Couponing and other ways to save money

2010-05-06T19:59:00.008-07:00

Before you say, "I can't do that because..."

Everyone likes saving money...but using coupons seems time consuming and not worth the effort to most people. It takes some time to learn it, but it can definitely be worth it. I started couponing in October 2008 and have saved between 50% and 80% on every grocery purchase. The amount of time I spend preparing my trips is roughly 1 to 1 1/2 hours. If I save $100, that hour of deal matching and preparation is worth it to me.

There are various degrees of couponing/deal shopping. You can use an e-coupon here and there, or keep up with a blog or two, or you can make it into a full-time job. I tend to think of it as a hobby and a bit of a game.

Another excuse people give for not couponing is health. If you shop mostly fresh foods and organic foods, you are always going to spend more than people who buy a lot of highly processed foods. But there are coupons and sales for EVERYTHING! Sometimes you have to sign up for company newsletters or do more research to find coupons for organic items, but they exist. And the newspaper frequently contains coupons for items like whole-grain pastas and bread, canned beans, soy milk, and cage-free eggs. If you want to save money with coupons, you can do so no matter how strict your diet is.

One of the most anxiety causing aspects of couponing is dealing with cashiers and other shoppers. Before couponing, I worried that cashiers would be suspicious of me and other shoppers would be annoyed at me for taking so much time in line. I have had a few unpleasant experiences with cashiers who don’t understand how coupons work, but overwhelmingly they are happy that I am saving so much money. And other people in line have eyes bugging and jaws dropping when they see how much I’ve saved – they may be annoyed at the extra 1-2 minute wait, but they can’t fault me for doing it. I have had a college guy who was just buying beer ask me where to get coupons and a CVS employee ask me how I work the Extra Bucks deals because she wanted to learn.

Bottom line: you won’t know if your reservations have merit until you test them. You can’t know if it’s not your thing until you try it.

Getting Started – Knowing the Lingo, where to find coupons, etc.

These two ladies have done series of posts on getting started with coupons…very informative and they will explain better than I can. They also talk about coupon organization methods – I am firmly in the no-clip camp (I save the whole inserts and only clip the coupons I am using for the day).
Couponing 101 – Getting Started
Bargain Briana – 15 Days of Couponing

Printing coupons and loading electronic coupons onto your shopping cards

One of the easiest ways to coupon is to add electronic coupons to your store loyalty cards. There are also many printable coupons online. These sites below are some of the most popular coupon sites plus the two grocery store site I use. Check the website of your local stores to see what coupons they offer.

Coupons.com (THE printable coupon site...you have to download their coupon printer software the 1st time)
Shortcuts (e-coupons & printables)
Proctor & Gamble E-saver (e-coupons)
Cellfire (e-coupons for your shopping card or your cellphone)
Upromise (e-coupons that save for college)

Safeway (e-coupons and printables)
Fry's (e-coupons)
Check your local stores websites

Matching coupons with sales - 3 methods to try

Option 1 - pay sites

I subscribe to The Grocery Game and get most of my shopping deals from there. I subscribe to 3 stores which costs $20 every 8 weeks. I could put lists together from the different blogs, but this is much faster and more convenient. If you sign up for the (FREE) four-week trial, please put my name and e-mail (sydni.abrahamsen@gmail.com) in as the referrer. Referrers get free weeks, but I highly recommend it even if I didn't get that perk. I have saved between 55-80% every shopping trip since starting to use their lists.

Another similar pay service is called Coupon Sense. They have free local classes available to help you get started. They are a regional service, but may be a better deal depending on your shopping habits and/or local stores.

Option 2 - blogs

I read several blogs that give me info on good deals and coupons. I use Google Reader to subscribe to them all so I only have to check one place to see any new posts. Once you have a Google reader account, you click “add new subscription” and put in the web address of the blog.
A few to check out:
Baby Cheapskate (baby & kids deals)
"Deal"icious Mom
Bargain Briana
Be Centsable
Freebies 4 Mom (and non-moms too)
Couponing 101 (perfect for beginners)

Arizona specific deal blogs (for non-AZ readers, just do a Google search for "coupon blog" or "deal blog" and your city or state):
Saving Cents with Sense (My favorite!)
Arizona Grocery Guru

Desert Deals Diva

Living the Domestic Life

Arizona Savings

Cents'Able Shoppin!

AZCentral.com Deals (a good heads-up on event deals too)
Arizona Local Coupons (printable coupons for AZ services)

Option 3 - forums

You can check some multi-use websites and forums for help matching coupons and deals. There are forums for specific states or cities where people post their match-ups. These sites also have coupon databases where you can search to see if there are any coupons available for a specific product you plan to buy.
A few to check out:
Pinching your Pennies
A Full Cup
CouponMom.com
Hot Coupon World
The Coupon Cupboard
Grocio

Finding deals and coupon codes for online shopping

These sites can help you find free shipping and coupon codes to thousands of websites. You can also sometimes get great discount codes e-mailed to you for signing up for company newsletters of places you frequently shop.

FreeShipping.org
Retail Me Not (awesome site!)

Getting rebates and cash back for purchases

A good deal can be made great when you get cash back or receive rebates. If you plan to shop online, start at one of these sites to automatically receive money! Each of these sites works differently, so take a look at them to see which makes the most sense for the purchase you are planning.

Upromise (saves money for college for you or your child)
Ebates (cash back in the form of a check mailed to you)
Cashbaq (cash back by check or paypal)
Big Crumbs (cash back by check)
Mr. Rebates (cash back by check)
Swagbucks (a search engine that earns you points used to buy giftcards & more)
S & H Greenpoints (like the old green stamps saved and redeemed for merchandise, but online)

In conclusion

This is a lot of information and a lot of links...it's a bit of an info. dump. Sorry about that. I will try to answer any and all questions or point you in the direction of someone who can.

If you love that feeling of finding a great deal or getting that perfect outfit on the clearance rack...you will probably enjoy couponing. Give it a try!

Time for a long overdue update!

2010-05-05T17:10:00.008-07:00

I realize I haven't posted anything here in nearly a year, so I thought I'd spam you all with multiple posts in one day! Aren't you excited?

Interesting fact #1: We bought a house! It is a 1500 sq. ft. townhouse with 3 beds 2 baths. It is near McClintock and Baseline and we will be getting the keys on May 25th! It needs some cosmetic updates since it has been occupied by the same owner since the 1970's. We have a lot of "interesting" wallpaper to remove and carpets to rip up. We also have avocado counter tops and a genuine "wood" paneled refrigerator!
Interesting fact #2: We are expecting baby #2 on July 18th...hence the need for a larger living space! We aren't finding out the gender on this one either and we don't have names picked...not that I'd tell anyone what they are if we did. I don't like fetuses being referred to by name...it weirds me out!

Interesting fact #3: My hair has gotten very very long. It is almost reaching the small of my back. I don't have any emotional attachment to it, and I was going to donate it until I looked up how much money hair is worth. I have no qualms about donating worthless junk to charity, but if I have a commodity worth a thousand dollars or more I'm selling it! I plan to list my hair for sale sometime later in May or early June. www.thehairtrader.com

Interesting fact #4: We sold one of our cars to a family member. We are now a one vehicle family.

Interesting fact #5: I have had several people express interest in coupon shopping recently, so I thought post a blog entry with the information I usually e-mail to friends who express interest. Look for that shortly. :)

Max Factor Review

2009-05-20T10:57:00.015-07:00

As part of being a BzzAgent, which I told you about here, I was sent some new Max Factor make-up to try out. I would encourage anyone who likes to recieve free products and recommend them to their friends to become a BzzAgent. I received two shades of the new Vivid Impact Lipcolor and the new 2000 Calorie Extreme Lash Plumper Mascara.

With both lipsticks, I loved that the bottom of the tube has product visible. If you are at a store trying to choose a color, the stickers are not always accurate, but with these lipsticks, you can see exactly what the lipstick looks like, even if you can't open the package. They are also highly pigmented, yay! Vegas, Baby (72) is a creamy pinkish beige that is almost a perfect duplicate of my favorite Clinique Long Last Soft Shine lipstick, Creamy Nude. The Max Factor lipsticks have a retail price of around $9, less than the Clinique which costs $14, but pretty expensive for a drugstore brand. The nice thing about drugstore cosmetics though, is that you can combine sales and coupons to get them significantly cheaper. Vegas, Baby is a great color that I have worn often since receiving it, but I really wish the formula was longer wearing. It is nice and moisturizing, but disappears after a couple of hours.

The other color I tried was Ms. Right (44). This color is a true red. It is certainly the reddest lipstick I own. It is not a daytime lipstick...and honestly I wouldn't wear it in the evening either. I can see wearing it if I was going for a 1950's pin-up look or as part of a Halloween costume, but it is just too garish for normal wear. I know some people can rock a bright red lipstick, but I am just not that brave. Again the formula is very soft and smooth, highly pigmented (seriously huge color pay off), but not terribly long lasting.

The 2000 Calorie Extreme Lash Plumping mascara was fantastic. The size of the wand was a little intimidating, but it is really very easy to use. The only drawback is that the end of the wand is very large and flat, so if you are used to applying mascara in the corners of your lashes with the tip of the wand you'll need to use a different brush. That said, I had no trouble reaching all my lashes with the brush. It is one of the newer rubbery bristle brushes, instead of the wiry bristles. The color I received was Extreme Blackout (401), but the mascara also comes in Black Velvet (402) and Blackest Brown (403). I'm not sure why they have two blacks, but Extreme Blackout was nice and dark. The formula was great. I have long lashes that are very straight, so I always curl them before applying mascara. I need my mascara to hold the curl and the Max Factor did a fine job of that without being overly stiff. I didn't notice extreme volume, but there was an increase in volume and definition. I didn't have trouble with running and only very minor flaking by the end of the day. If I were to purchase this, I'd probably get the waterproof formula, just because I think those tend to do a bit less flaking and hold the curl better. All in all, the 2000 Calorie Extreme Plumper was a great mascara, but like the lipsticks, a little expensive for a drugstore brand. It sells for about $11, though with coupons and sales it would be cheaper.

On a related note. When I received the mascara, the tube design looked all too familiar. That was because I had purchased a Cover Girl Lash Blast Luxe mascara the week before. Both Max Factor and Cover Girl are Procter & Gamble products so I guess they had their package design for Lash Blast (which has sold incredibly well) and just re-used it for Max Factor. I'd like it if the design was more original, but it doesn't affect the performance of the mascara.

In a quick rant about all mascara packaging...why do they sell it in such large amounts? After opening, mascara should only be used for about 3 months. Then we're supposed to throw it out since after that time the bacteria will have multiplied to a level that can cause infections in the eye. Even with daily use of two-three coats, no-one will use an entire tube of mascara in three months! Most people don't want to toss it and waste all that product, so they use it for much longer. If companies sold smaller tubes in packages of two or three it would make so much more sense and I think they would sell more. Okay, rant over.

So in summary, I liked the Vivid Impact lipstick in Vegas, Baby a lot and it has become a staple in my make-up arsenal. The red lippie, Ms. Right, was all wrong for my coloring...or just too much color. The 2000 Calorie Extreme Plumping mascara gave plenty of volume and held up well throughout the day. It isn't as good as some of the designer mascaras (Dior Diorshow & Givenchy Phenomen'eyes, eg.), but is far superior to many drugstore mascaras (Mabelline Great Lash). I have some decent high-value coupons for these Max Factor products that I can give to anyone who want to give either of these products a try.

I'm a Winner!

2009-05-04T16:07:00.003-07:00

I just won a bunch of cosmetics and facial care products from Kiss My Face in a contest on Eco Child's Play! This giveaway included the Potent & Pure Facial Care, and the Sheer Organic Shimmers & Shines mineral lip care products. Kiss My Face makes products that are natural and organic and you know how much I love make-up, especially if it sparkles! I subscribe to Eco Child's Play's RSS feed and always find insightful and thought provoking articles about parenting and sustainable living as well as great product recommendations and contests like this one! I have recently enjoyed their articles about home birth after watching The Business of Being Born.
This post is link-tastic!

Glade Sense & Spray - Bzz Agent

2009-04-11T11:49:00.003-07:00

I recently signed up to be a Bzz Agent. This is a word-0f-mouth promotion company that sends you products to try, then you tell people what you thought of them. There is no monetary compensation, but you get to keep the products. The first thing they sent me to try was the new motion-activated Glade Sense & Spray.

I like Glade products in general and have quite a few of them in my home because I combine coupons and drugstore sales to get them for free. I actually "purchased" a Sense & Spray for free this way before receiving one from the Bzz campaign.

I like the Automatic spraying air fresheners and plug-in types because they continually release scent, but they are very wasteful. When no one is home for most of the day, it doesn't make sense to have an air freshener spraying every 15 or 30 minutes. The Sense & Spray only sprays when the motion sensor detects movement.

I was afraid that this would mean it would spray over and over while you were in the bathroom, but after it sprays, it goes into lock-down for 30 minutes and won't spray unless you push the manual-spray button. I really like this feature and think the Glade Sense & Spray is great for Bathrooms because of it.

My only complaint with the Sense & Spray is that the starter kit only comes in two scents, Clean Linen and Apple Cinnamon. The one I received from the Bzz Campaign and the only one in the store when I bought one was the Clean Linen. It smells like sticking your nose into a case of cheap dryer sheets...not pleasant. I find that when it goes off, I need to close the bathroom door to keep the smell from permeating the rest of the house. The strength of the scent would be awesome if I had the Apple Cinnamon, a scent I love, but the Clean Linen is just gross.

So would I recommend the Sense & Spray, absolutely...as long as you know you like the smell before you buy it. I have some $4.00 off coupons that I will happily give to any of my real-life friends who want them, just let me know!

I will be receiving some Max Factor make-up and a family DVD game system to review soon. If you'd like to become a BzzAgent (it's free!), you can sign up HERE.

Gah! I love him! Check out Taylor's new band.

2009-02-23T12:36:00.001-07:00

Former Smashing Pumpkins guitarist James Iha, Cheap Trick drummer Bun E. Carlos, Hanson's Taylor Hanson and Fountains Of Wayne bassist Adam Schlesinger have formed a new band, Tinted Windows.

Tinted Windows - "Rock After Dark" Promo

Something Like You

2009-02-19T18:28:00.002-07:00

As a preface, this is from my work iTunes, so it only has like 10 CD's worth of stuff on there.

RULES:
1. Put your iTunes, Windows Media Player, etc. on shuffle.
2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.
3. YOU MUST WRITE THAT SONG NAME DOWN NO MATTER HOW SILLY IT SOUNDS.
4. Tag 20 friends (make me #21 so I can see your results).
5. Everyone tagged has to do the same thing.
6. Have Fun!

IF SOMEONE SAYS 'ARE YOU OKAY' YOU SAY?
"Get Up and Go" - Hanson

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOURSELF?
"Christmas Bells" - RENT cast

WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GIRL?
"On the Street" - RENT cast

HOW DO YOU FEEL TODAY?
"Weird" - Hanson (nice.)

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE'S PURPOSE?
"Javert at the Barricade/Little People" - Les Miserables cast

WHAT'S YOUR MOTTO?
"Turn Around" - Jonny Lang

WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?
"March of the Witch Hunters" - Wicked cast

WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?
"Summer Nights" - Grease cast

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VERY OFTEN?
"Drink with Me" - Les Miserables cast

WHAT IS 2 + 2?
"Wish I Was There" - Hanson

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND?
"Cry Me a River" - Justin Timberlake

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?
"Castle on a Cloud" - Les Miserables cast

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?
"It Makes Me Ill" - *N Sync

WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
"On My Feet Again" - Jonny Lang

WHAT WILL YOU DANCE TO AT YOUR WEDDING?
"Vacation" - The Go-Go's

WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?
"Right for Me" - Justin Timberlake featuring Bubba Sparxxx

WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST?
"Schadenfreude" - Avenue Q cast

WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST FEAR?
"Up Against the Wall" - *N Sync

WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST SECRET?
"(And She Said) Take Me Now" - Justin Timberlake featuring Janet Jackson

WHAT DO YOU WANT RIGHT NOW?
"Madeline" - Hanson

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS?
"No Good Deed" - Wicked cast

WHAT WILL YOU POST THIS AS?
"Something Like You" - *N Sync

Funny Name Game

2009-02-11T12:23:00.003-07:00

I haven't done this quiz since I changed my name, so I thought it would be fun to see if the names are better now.

1 .YOUR REAL NAME
Sydni Lang Abrahamsen

2.WITNESS PROTECTION NAME:(mother and fathers middle name)
Jan Scott

3.NASCAR NAME:(first name of your mother's dad, father's dad)
Jim Jack

4.STAR WARS NAME:(the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first name)
Abrsy

5.DETECTIVE NAME:(favorite color, favorite animal)
Pink Dolphin

6.SOAP OPERA NAME:(middle name, town where you were born)
Lang Chicago

7.SUPERHERO NAME: (2nd fav color, fav drink, add "THE" to the beginning)
The Blue Dew

8.FLY NAME:(first 2 letters of 1st name, last 2 letters of your last name)
Syen

9.STREET NAME:(fav ice cream flavor, fav cookie)
Moose Tracks Chocolate Chip

10.ROCK STAR NAME:(current pets name, current street name)
Pockets First (awesome)

11. PORN NAME: (1st pet, street you grew up on)
Punky Knoll

12.YOUR GANGSTA NAME:(first 3 letters of real name plus izzle)
Sydizzle

13.YOUR GOTH NAME:(black, and the name of one of your pets)
Black Benji

14. STRIPPER NAME: (name of your fav perfume/cologne, fav candy)
Eternity Snickers

25 Things About Me

2009-02-02T17:01:00.002-07:00

1. I like TV and books much more than I like movies. I can only think of a few movies I really loved.

2. I am currently applying to the School of Information Resources and Library Science at University of Arizona for a master's of library science.

3. I am a perfectionist about organization, so I would rather live with piles of stuff everywhere than do a half-assed job of sorting, labeling, and storing things. I usually know where everything is even when it looks like total chaos as long as I put it there in the first place.

4. I love nail polish and have tons of it, but I'm a slob at putting it on. I have never been able to go slowly enough or hold the brush steady enough for perfect application. I just wait til it dries then rub off all the polish that got on my skin.

5. I took classical ballet, tap, and jazz dance lessons from age 7 to 18. I loved it but was never very good.

6. I love Hanson. Yes the band that sang MMMBop. I have no shame about this. I am a fan club member and a member of the official street team. I have spent hundreds of dollars and driven hundreds of miles to see their shows. I have never met them, but Taylor did sign my copy of one of their CD's after a concert once. I was behind some other girls and had one of them hand it to him.

7. I am just beginning to get into using coupons and being a super-frugal deal shopper. It is so much fun! I used to hate grocery shopping, but when I go with a detailed plan and coupons it becomes fun.

8. I have really bad joints. My knees crackle and crunch like a seventy-year-old. It is a hereditary arthritis thing from my dad's side of the family.

9. In high school I made the top ten of South Dakota every year on the National French Test. Not as impressive as it sounds when you consider how few schools actually offered French class and that the test was completely optional. Still though, I think I was one of the first to place all four years from my school.

10. Mountain Dew = Perfection. I have mostly switched to diet, but it isn't even close to the same.

11. Growing up in South Dakota was not as dreadful as it seemed at the time.

12. I have Bipolar II disorder, Seasonal Affective Disorder, Social Anxiety Disorder, General Anxiety Disorder, and probably some other disorders too. I have been medicated since I was 14 and it has COMPLETELY changed my life for the better. I will take pills for the rest of my life and do it happily. I am not ashamed to talk about it, mental illness is a disease like any other.

13. I took piano lessons from age 8-18 and played flute from age 12-18. I haven't played either in about 7 years.

14. My husband plays a game called Settlers of Catan with friends every week. In this game you exchange resources with other players. One of these resources is Sheep, another is Wood. As you can imagine, there are many jokes to be made here. Because he hears everyone talking about sheep so much, my son thinks handing something to another person is called "sheep." He hands us things one by one saying, "sheep" "sheep" "sheep." It's really funny.

15. I love crafting. I currently do mostly scrapbooking, but I've also dabbled in polymer clay, jewelry making, decoupage, and random glue-gunning of sparkly things. Majoring in interior design for a couple years killed my creativity and desire to create anything for about 4 years, but it's back!

16. I have thicker hair than anyone I've ever known (except for my mom and sisters). If I braid it extremely tightly, the braid is probably still 2-3 inches in diameter.

17. I loooove desserts. Chocolate cake and cupcakes are my favorites, but I can't think of a single dessert that I dislike.

18. I am really bad at keeping in touch with people. If not for myspace and facebook, I would probably not be in contact with anyone from my past.

19. A big part of the reason for #18 is my aversion to calling people on the phone. I have serious anxiety when it comes to calling people, even friends. I am better at it than I used to be, but still prefer to chat in person or online.

20. I don't like violence. This includes playful hitting and videogame violence. I do very poorly in games that require shooting because I would rather run and hide than fight the bad guys.

21. I do love crime dramas like CSI and Law and Order: SVU, though. I think the difference is that most of the killing/violence has already happened and the drama comes from the suspense of figuring it out, not the action.

22. I like watching shopping channels when I have trouble falling asleep or am really bored. Jewelry television is the best one. Listening to people with slight southern accents and watching sparkly gems going around on turntable is very soothing.

23. I love musicals. However, I've never seen anything by Steven Sondheim. I have listened to some of the songs and haven't liked any of them. I feel like a fraud as a musical lover because of it.

24. I love my job and the people I work with at the science and engineering library.

25. I had a really hard time writing this list of 25 things. I probably did too much explaining of each point for anyone to read the whole thing too.

Sea Kitten High School

2009-01-08T16:53:00.000-07:00

Check out this article! PETA wants my high school to change its name to Sea Kitten High School.

Rapid City Journal Article - Sea Kitten High

That is awesome. I know PETA isn't serious and is just trying to provoke people, but it makes them seem like even bigger morons than we could have ever thought. A few weeks ago they suggested that Ben & Jerry's ice cream change from cows' milk to human breastmilk as an ingredient in their ice creams. These promotional stunts are, I think, supposed to be satire similar to Jonathan Swifts' "A Modest Proposal."

Sea Kitteh High Skool Football rulez!1!

New interesting website

2008-12-09T15:00:00.004-07:00

I just signed up with a new service called Second Brain that is supposed to help you organize and update all of your internet content. You can add all your bookmarking sites, your twitter feed, and a bunch of other stuff. I can't say whether it's helpful or not yet, but if you sign up through my link, I might win a prize...possibly a Wii! There are hardly any people in the running for the prizes, so if all my friends join, I could have a chance. It is totally free to sign up and you can change your settings so they don't send you any e-mails after you create an account.

Thanks guys and gals!

Syd

2008-12-09T13:33:00.001-07:00

Staring at my computer screen isn't providing me with anything interesting to post as my "status."

2008-11-12T18:46:00.001-07:00

Loves three-day weekends! Ready to head home and relax.

2008-11-10T17:39:00.001-07:00

finally got ping.fm to add my Myspace account. Now I can change all my social networking status' at once. Yay!

Walgreens shopping plans

2008-10-23T17:41:00.009-07:00

I have come up with some scenarios to use the Double Dipping Days this weekend and the $5.00 off $20.00 coupon that came out to make the most money I can figure out. I need to give a big thanks to My Precious Pennies and i heart wags for their scenarios, prices, coupon match-ups, and recent shopping trip summaries! I do not want to take credit for their bargain finds. Another good place for Walgreens deals is From Wags to Riches.

Transaction 1:

Buy 3 Benefiber Sticks 16ct: ($7.99 each): $23.97 (website pricing)
Buy 1 St. Ives Elements Cleanser: $4.99
Buy 1 Gillette Fusion: $8.99
Buy 1 Oral B cross-action manual toothbrush: $4.49

Buy 1 Alka Seltzer plus cold: $4.99
Subtotal: $47.43

Use 3 $2/1 Benefiber mfg coupon (-$6.00)
Use 3 $5/1 Benefiber Oct. EasySaverRebate coupon pg. 22 (-$15.00)
Use 1 $1/1 St. Ives Product mfg coupon (-$1.00)
Use 1 $4/1 Gillette Fusion Razor mfg coupon (-$4.00)
Use 1 $.75/1 Oral-B Toothbrush mfg coupon ($0.75)
Total after coupons: $20.68

Use $5/$25 Walgreens coupon (-$5.00)

GRAND TOTAL: $15.68
Register Rewards: $26.50 : $8.00 (Benefiber ad pg 16), $4.00 (Fusion Power Razor), $4.50 (Oral-B), $5.00 (St. Ives), $5.00 (Alka Seltzer)
Rebates Total: $0

Transaction 2:

Buy 1 Lysol neutra air freshmatic starter kit: $5.99 (sale on pg. 7)
Buy 1 LypSyl Moisturizer: $1.99
Buy 1 Nivea for Men: $4.99
Buy 1 Chemistry Hair Care 1.3 - 12oz: $7.99
Buy 1 L'Oreal RevitalLift Anti-Wrinkle Concentrate: $16.49
Buy 1 L'Oreal Advanced RevitaLift OR Night Cream: $16.49 (ad pg. 14)
Buy 2 Pert Plus: ($3.49 each) : $6.98

Buy 1 pencil $0.20
Buy 1 pencil $0.20

Buy 1 pencil $0.20

Buy 1 pencil $0.20
Subtotal: $71.20

Store promotion B1G1 L'Oreal (-$16.49)
Use 1 $5/1 Lysol mfg coupon (-$5.00)

Use 1 $1/1 Nivea mfg coupon (-$1.00)
Use 1 $2/1 L'Oreal moisturizer coupon (-$2.00)

Use 1 $1/1 L'Oreal moisturizer coupon (-$1.00)

Use 2 $2/1 Pert Plus (-4.00)

Use 2 $2.50/1 Pert Plus Oct. ESR coupon pg. 10 (-$5.00)

Total after coupons: $36.71

Use $5/$25 Walgreens coupon (-$5.00)

GRAND TOTAL: $31.71 (use register rewards from 1^st transaction $8.00 (Benefiber ad pg 16), $4.00 (Fusion Power Razor), $4.50 (Oral-B), $5.00 (St. Ives), $5.00 (Alka Seltzer) )

TOTAL OOP: $5.21
Register Rewards: $0
Rebates Total: $34.46
October Easy Saver Catalog: $4.99 (#45 Nivea) + $1.99 (#46 LypSyl) + $16.49 (#47 L'Oreal) + $7.99 (#48 Chemistry) = $31.46
November Easy Saver Catalog: $3.00 (#37 Lysol) = $3.00

Total Out-of-Pocket: $20.89 Total Rebates expected: $34.46

So, theoretically, I will make $13.57 in profit and get $118.63 worth of free products. Now the hard part will be finding all of these things in stock!

Store promotion B1G1 L'Oreal (-$16.49)
Use 1 $5/1 Lysol mfg coupon (-$5.00)

Use 1 $1/1 Nivea mfg coupon (-$1.00)
Use 1 $2/1 L'Oreal moisturizer coupon (-$2.00)

Use 1 $1/1 L'Oreal moisturizer coupon (-$1.00)

Use 2 $2/1 Pert Plus (-4.00)

Use 2 $2.50/1 Pert Plus Oct. ESR coupon pg. 10 (-$5.00)

Total after coupons: $36.71

Use $5/$25 Walgreens coupon (-$5.00)

GRAND TOTAL: $31.71 (use register rewards from 1^st transaction $8.00 (Benefiber ad pg 16), $4.00 (Fusion Power Razor), $4.50 (Oral-B), $5.00 (St. Ives), $5.00 (Alka Seltzer) )

Total Out-of-Pocket: $20.89 Total Rebates expected: $34.46

So, theoretically, I will make $13.57 in profit and get $118.63 worth of free products. Now the hard part will be finding all of these things in stock!

Magazine Giveaway

2008-10-16T17:53:00.005-07:00

The Freebie Blogger is giving away a 2 year subscription to All You Magazine. This is a family/women's magazine with recipes, craft ideas, health and wellness information, parenting tips, and...coupons! I don't know of many magazines that regularly include lots of coupons. In fact, I can't think of any. I have heard great things about this magazine and hope to win a subscription because it is only available for purchase at Wal-mart. I don't shop at Wal-mart, so I can't buy it on the newsstand. If you want a chance to win, head over to this post at The Freebie Blogger!

Clipping coupons and saving money

2008-10-08T14:45:00.006-07:00

I have been following some blogs recently that talk about money saving strategies. I used to be one of those people who thought coupons were useless and that I could save more money by purchasing store brands and buying in bulk than by using coupons on name brand items.

I have been learning a lot from these bloggers who make couponing an art.

"Deal"icious Mom
Coupon Cravings
Deal Seeking Mom
Freebies 4 Mom
The Freebie Blogger
Making Life Sweet...one deal at a time!
Baby Cheapskate

I also read in a blog about something called The Grocery Game. This is a site that compares the weekly grocery and drugstore advertisements with coupons from the inserts in the Sunday paper to let you know what the best deals are and how much you can save. They have a $1 trial that lasts four weeks and then it costs $4 a month for each store you want to subscribe to. I just started the $1 trial and have already made that back and then some in savings.

I have got to show off my purchases (because I get excited about finding good deals), so I thought I'd do it here.

CVS/pharmacy

Vitamin Water 32oz. - $2.29

Always Infinity Pads 18 ct. - $4.98 (reg. $5.99)

CVS Moisturizing Beauty Bar 1 ct. - $0.99

Colgate Max Fresh Toothpaste with Mouthwash beads 4.6 oz. - $2.99 (reg. $3.29)

Colgate Cavity Protection Toothpaste 4.6 oz. - $0.99 (reg. $2.29)

Colgate Plus Toothbrush - bought 2 - $0.99 each (reg. $1.99 each)

Coupons used:
$0.75 off Colgate Toothpaste
$0.75 off 2 Colgate Toothbrushes
$1.00 off Colgate Max Fresh Toothpaste

Total: $11.72
+ $1.01 tax
= $12.73

Extra Care Bucks earned (used like cash for future purchases) = $10.29

Total minus extra care bucks = $2.44

I also went to Walgreens and Fry's and will post about my deals there later.

So maybe I'm that annoying person in the store who holds up the line with her two dozen coupons, but the economy keeps getting worse and grocery prices keep getting higher. Clipping coupons and taking advantage of freebies and promotions helps me save a little more money and it's fun too!

I need your help!

2008-09-28T17:43:00.003-07:00

Cupcake wine glasses I painted for a Craft Swap.

"What's in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet." -- William Shakespeare

I don't like the title of my blog. I need a new one.

I am usually very good at titles. My papers have good titles, my made up sorority position has a good title, my theoretical electronica band has a good name. Erik has a good name...although that took close to the whole 9 months to decide on.

So I could call it just Bluemopitz, which is my "web-handle" I guess. It's what I go by in most online places and I made it up when I was 15, so I'm quite used to it. But it isn't descriptive of anything.

I could call it Syd's blog, which was what it was originally...when I never posted anything.

I want something that is clever, or at least semi-clever. Some of my favorite things are (in no particular order): being a mom, the color pink, cupcakes, shoes, make-up, crafting, sugar, books, Hanson, musicals, Mountain dew, chocolate.

So, I'm not leaving the title as is, but what should I call it?

I will listen to any suggestions. It doesn't have to include any specific things that I listed above either, I was just hoping it would provide some inspiration for you...all three of my readers. :)

Please help me find a name for my poor blog!

Political comparisons

2008-09-24T10:02:00.003-07:00

This is something that was shared with me by a friend. I am not sure who the original author was or where it is from. That said, I wholeheartedly agree with it and thought I'd share with my friends.

I'm a little confused. Let me see if I have this straight.....

If you grow up in Hawaii, raised by your grandparents, you're "exotic, different."
Grow up in Alaska eating mooseburgers, a quintessential American story.

If your name is Barack you're a radical, unpatriotic Muslim.
Name your kids Willow, Trig and Track, you're a maverick.

Graduate from Harvard law School and you are unstable.
Attend 5 different small colleges before graduating, you're well grounded.

If you spend 3 years as a brilliant community organizer, become the first black President of the Harvard Law Review, create a voter registration drive that registers 150,000 new voters, spend 12 years as a Constitutional Law professor, spend 8 years as a State Senator representing a district with over 750,000 people, become chairman of the state Senate's Health and Human Services committee, spend 4 years in the United States Senate representing a state of 13 million people while sponsoring 131 bills and serving on the Foreign Affairs, Environment and Public Works and Veteran's Affairs committees, you don't have any real leadership experience
If your total resume is: local weather girl, 4 years on the city council and 6 years as the mayor of a town with less than 7,000 people, 20 months as the governor of a state with only 650,000 people, then you're qualified to become the country's second highest ranking executive.

If you have been married to the same woman for 19 years while raising two beautiful daughters, all within Protestant churches, you're not a real Christian.
If you cheated on your first wife with a rich heiress, and left your disfigured wife and married the heiress the next month, you're a good Christian.

If you teach responsible, age appropriate sex education, including the proper use of birth control, you are eroding the fiber of society.
If , while governor, you staunchly advocate abstinence only, with no other option in sex education in your state's school system while your unwed teen daughter ends up pregnant, you're very responsible... Never mind that you & First Dude eloped because of your own out-of-wedlock pregnancy...

If your wife is a Harvard graduate lawyer who gave up a position in a prestigious law firm to work for the betterment of her inner city community, then gave that up to raise a family, your family's values don't represent America's.
If you're husband is nicknamed "First Dude", with at least one DWI conviction and no college education, who didn't register to vote until age 25 and once was a member of a group that advocated the secession of Alaska from the USA, your family is extremely admirable.

OK, much clearer now.

Omigod Shoes!

2008-08-28T10:43:00.005-07:00

Do you ever see something that almost makes you squeal with delight? It doesn't happen often, but this morning one of my e-mails featured these:

Are they not adorable and gorgeous? They are Chie Mihara's and are available through piperlime. I would have nothing to wear with navy blue shoes, but I just love them. Since I know I wouldn't wear them, I won't buy them. Also, they cost $400. So they won't even go on my wishlist, but they're just so lovely! Maybe Target will make a similar shoe for $19.99. Of course, if they do, it will be massively uncomfortable where as I imagine these pretty pumps are quite comfy. They should be for $400, right?

Le sigh. Why must the pretty things always be so expensive?

Edit - I was at Target the other day and saw these:
They are $22.99 by Xhilaration, and not quite the same shoe, but pretty similar, no? Also, the name of these shoes, Sydney. I don't like the heel as much, but if they go on clearance I'll probably pick up a pair. I mean they have my name attached to them...

Edit #2: They are on sale right now for $19.99, so I bought them. Not in blue, but in brown because I think I'll get more wear out of them.

Vanilla Joy Cricut Giveaway!

2008-08-25T18:34:00.006-07:00

One of my favorite blogs, Vanilla Joy is hosting some awesome giveaways this week. Today she is giving away a Cricut!

I have been coveting one of these for a long time, so I'm quite excited about this. I hope to win, but would also like to let all my friends know so if they win I can use it. This is the same blog that hosted the giveaway I won a few months ago for some cute baby clothes. She has an awesome site with lots of tips on family fun, creative date ideas, and kids face painting. So go check out her page and enter the contest.

Paris Hilton responds to John McCain...

2008-08-06T11:18:00.002-07:00

I'm not a Paris Hilton fan. I didn't like The Simple Life, I don't like her singing, and her attitude towards the general public is appalling. But her response to John McCain's "Celebrity" Ad -http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHXYsw_ZDXg is awesome. Plus, for once she actually looks pretty and not like a transvestite. Good for you, Paris.

Paris Hilton Responds to McCain Adfunny videosFunnyOrDie.com

See more funny videos at Funny or Die

"Learn to sleep in a defensive position." - Brian

2008-08-03T19:41:00.002-07:00

Friday morning Brian, Erik, and I were hanging out in bed and being silly together. Erik likes to climb all over both of us and we often get kicked and punched playfully in these encounters. Brian was mentioning to me how I should learn how to sleep in a defensive way, with my arm blocking my face, to protect myself for the mornings when Erik wakes up before us and decides to attack. Well, shortly after this conversation, Erik gave me the worst bloody nose I've ever had. He jammed his tiny finger way up my nose and I must have lost a pint of blood. It was very unpleasant and I was getting pretty dizzy and light-headed after a bit. It eventually stopped of course, but I will be more vigilant in my anti-Erik defense training.

Something fun to play with on a Monday

2008-07-21T16:59:00.000-07:00

Fly Guy

Tips for evil overlords

2008-07-17T15:52:00.005-07:00

from http://www.proft.org/tips/evil.html

How to be a Successful Evil Overlord
by Peter Anspach

Being an Evil Overlord seems to be a good career choice. It pays well, there are all sorts of perks and you can set your own hours. However every Evil Overlord I've read about in books or seen in movies invariably gets overthrown and destroyed in the end. I've noticed that no matter whether they are barbarian lords, deranged wizards, mad scientists, or alien invaders, they always seem to make the same basic mistakes every single time. With that in mind, allow me to present...

The Top 100 Things I'd Do If I Ever Became An Evil Overlord

My Legions of Terror will have helmets with clear Plexiglas visors, not face concealing ones.

My ventilation ducts will be too small to crawl through.

My noble half-brother whose throne I usurped will be killed, not kept anonymously imprisoned in a forgotten cell in my dungeon.

Shooting is not too good for my enemies.

The artifact which is the source of my power will not be kept on the Mountain of Despair beyond the River of Fire guarded by the Dragon of Eternity. It will be in my safe-deposit box. The same applies to the object which is my one weakness.

I will not gloat over my enemies predicament before killing them.

When I've captured my adversary and he says, "Look, before you kill me, will you at least tell me what this is all about?" I'll say, "No." and shoot him. No, on second thought, I'll shoot him and then say "No."

After I kidnap the beautiful princess, we will be married immediately in a quiet civil ceremony, not a lavish spectacle in three weeks' time during which the final phase of my plan will be carried out.

I will not include a self-destruct mechanism unless absolutely necessary. If it is necessary, it will not be a large red button labelled, "Danger: Don Not Push". The big red button marked "Do Not Push" will instead trigger a spray of bullets on anyone stupid enough to disregard it. Similarly, the ON/OFF switch will clearly not be labelled as such.

I will not interrogate my enemies in the inner sanctum - a small hotel room well outside my border will work just as well.

I will be secure in my superiority. Therefore, I will feel no need to prove it by leaving clues in the form of riddles or leaving my weaker enemies alive to show they pose no threat.

One of my advisors will be an average five-year-old child. Any flaws in my plan that he is able to spot will be corrected before implementation.

All slain enemies will be cremated, or at least several round of ammunition emptied into them, not left for dead at the bottom of the cliff. The announcement of their deaths, as well as any accompanying celebration, will be deferred until after the aforementioned disposal.

The hero is not entitled to a last kiss, a last cigarette, or any other form of last request.

I will never employ any device with a digital count-down. If I find that such a device is absolutely unavoidable. I will set it to activate when the counter reaches 117 and the hero is just putting his plan into operation.

I will never utter the sentence "But before I kill you, there's just one thing I want to know."

When I employ people as advisors, I will occasionally listen to their advice.

I will not have a son. Although his laughably under-planned attempt to usurp power would easily fail, it would prove a fatal distraction at a crucial point in time.

I will not have a daughter. She would be as beautiful as she was evil, but one look at the hero's rugged countenance and she'd betray her own father.

Despite its proven stress-relieving effect, I will not indulge in maniacal laughter. When so occupied, it's too easy to miss unexpected developments that a more attentive individual could adjust to accordingly.

I will hire a fashion designer to create original uniforms for my Legion of Terror, as opposed to some cheap knock-offs that make them look like Nazi stormtroopers, Roman foot soldiers, or savage Mongol hordes. All were eventually defeated and I want my troops to have a more positive mind-set.

No matter how tempted I am with the prospect of unlimited power, I will not consume any energy field bigger than my head.

I will keep a special cache of low-tech weapons and train my troops in their use. That way -- even if the heroes manage to neutralize my power generator and/or render the standard-issue energy weapons useless -- my troops will not be overrun by a handful of savages armed with spears and rocks.

I will maintain a realistic assessment of my strength and weaknesses. Even though this takes some fun out of the job, at least I will never utter the line "No, this cannot be! I AM INVINCIBLE!!!" (After that, death is usually instantaneous.)

No matter how well it would perform, I will never construct any sort of machinery which is completely indestructible except for one small and virtually inaccessible spot.

No matter how attractive certain members of the rebellion are, there is probably someone just as attractive which is not desperate to kill me. Therefore, I will think twice before ordering a prisoner sent to my bed chamber.

I will never build only one of anything important. All important systems will have redundant control panels and power supplies. For the same reason I will always carry at least two fully loaded weapons at all times.

My pet monster will be kept in a secure cage from which it cannot escape and into which I could not accidentally stumble.

I will dress in bright and cheery colors, and so throw my enemies into confusion.

All bumbling conjurers, clumsy squires, no-talent bards, and cowardly thieves in the land will be preemptively put to death. My foes will surely give up and abandon their quest if they have no source of comic relief.

All naive, busty tavern wenches in my realm will be replaced with surly, world-weary waitresses who will provide no unexpected reinforcements and/or romantic sub-plot for the hero or his side-kick.

I will not fly into a rage and kill a messenger who brings me bad news just to illustrate how evil I really am. Good messengers are hard to come by.

I won't require high-ranking female members of my organization to wear a stainless-steel bustier. Morale is better with a more casual dress-code. Similarly, outfits made entirely from black leather will be reserved for formal occasions.

I will not turn into a snake. It never helps.

I will not grow a goatee. In the old days they made you look diabolic. Now they just make you look like a disaffected member of Generation X.

I will not imprison members of the same party in the same cell block, let alone the same cell. If they are important prisoners, I will keep the only key to the cell door on my person instead of handing copies to every bottom-rung guard in the prison.

If my trusted lieutenant tell me my Legion of Terror is losing a battle, I will believe him.. After all, he's my trusted lieutenant.

If an enemy I have just killed has a younger sibling or offspring anywhere, I will find them and have them killed immediately, instead of waiting for them to grow up harboring feelings of vengeance towards me in my old age.

If I absolutely must ride into battle, I will certainly not ride at the forefront of my Legions of Terror, nor will I seek out my opposite number among his army.

I will be neither chivalrous nor sporting. If I have an unstoppable super-weapon, I will use it early and as often as possible instead of keeping it in reserve.

Once my power is secure, I will destroy all of those pesky time travel devices.

When I capture the hero, I will make sure I also get his dog, monkey, ferret, or whatever sickeningly cute little animal capable of untying ropes and filching keys that happens to follow him around.

I will maintain a healthy amount of skepticism when I capture the beautiful rebel and she claims she is attracted to my power and good looks and will gladly betray her companions if I just let her in on my plans.

I will only employ bounty hunters who work for money. Those who work for the pleasure of the hunt tend to do dumb things like even the odds to give the other guy a sporting chance.

I will make sure I have a clear understanding of who is responsible for what in my organization. For example, if my general screws up I will not draw my weapon, point it at him and say "And here is the price for failure." then suddenly turn and kill some random underling.

If an advisor says to me "My liege, he is but one man. What can one man possibly do?", I will reply "This." and kill the advisor.

If I learn that a callow youth has begun a quest to destroy me, I will slay him while he is still a callow youth instead of waiting for him to mature.

I will treat any beast which I control through magic or technology with respect and kindness. Thus if the control is ever broken, it will not immediately come after me for revenge.

If I learn the whereabouts of the one artifact which can destroy me, I will not send all of my troops out to seize it. Instead I will send them out to seize something else and quietly put a Want-Ad in the local paper.

My main computers will have their own special operating system that will be completely incompatible with standard IBM and Macintosh powerbooks.

If one of my dungeon guards begins expressing concern over the conditions of the beautiful princess' cell, I will immediately transfer him to a less people oriented position.

I will hire a team of board-certified architects and surveyors to examine my castle and inform me of any secret passages and abandoned tunnels that I might not know about.

If the beautiful princess that I capture says "I'll never marry you! Never, do you hear me, NEVER!!!", I will say "Oh well" and kill her.

I will not strike a bargain with a demonic being then attempt to double-cross it simply because I feel like being contrary.

The deformed mutants and odd-ball psychotics will have their place in my Legion of Terror. However before I send them out on important covert missions that require tact and subtlety, I will first see if there is anyone else equally qualified who would attract less attention.

My Legion of Terror will be trained in basic marksmanship. Any who cannot learn to hit a man-sized target at 10 meters will be used for target practice.

Before employing any captured artifacts or machinery, I will carefully read the owners manual.

If it becomes necessary to escape, I will never stop to pose dramatically and toss off a one-liner.

I will never build a sentient computer smarter than I am.

My five-year-old child advisor will also be asked to decipher any code I am thinking of using. If he breaks the code in under 30 seconds, it will not be used. Note: This also applies to passwords.

If my advisors ask "Why are you risking everything on such a mad scheme?" I will not proceed until I have a response that satisfies them.

I will design fortress hallways with no alcoves or protruding structural supports which intruders could use for cover in a firefight.

Bulk trash will be disposed of in incinerators, not compactors. And they will be kept hot, with none of this nonsense about flames going through accessible tunnels at predictable intervals.

I will see a compentant psychiatrist and get cured of all extremely unusual phobias and bizarre compulsive habits which could prove to be disadvantageous.

If I must have a computer system with publicly available terminals, the maps they display will have a room clearly marked as the Main Control Room. That room will be the Execution Chamber. The actual main control room will be marked as Sewage Overflow Containment.

My security keypad will actually be a fingerprint scanner. Anyone who watches someone press a sequence of buttons or dusts the pad for fingerprints and then subsequently tries to enter by repeating that sequence will trigger the alarm system.

No matter how many shorts we have in the system, my guards will be instructed to treat every surveillance camera malfunction as a full-scale emergency.

I will spare someone who saved my life sometime in the past. This is only reasonable as it encourages others to do so. However, the offer is good one time only. If they want me to spare them again, they'd better save my life again.

All midwives will be banned from the realm. All babies will be delivered at state-approved hospitals. Orphans will be placed in foster homes, not abandoned in the woods to be raised by creatures of the wild.

When my guards split up to search for intruders, they will always travel in groups of at least two. They will be trained so that if one of them disappears mysteriously while on patrol, the other will immediately initiate an alert and call for backup, instead of quizzically peering around a corner.

If I decide to test a lieutenant's loyalty and see if he/she should be made a trusted lieutenant, I will have a crack squad of marksmen standing by in case the answer is no.

If all the heroes are standing together around a strange device and begin to taunt me, I will pull out a conventional weapon, instead of using my unstoppable super weapon on them.

I will not agree to let the heroes go free if they win a rigged contest, even though my advisors assure me it is impossible for them to win.

When I create a multimedia presentation of my plan designed so that my five-year-old advisor can easily understand the details, I will not label the disk "Project Overlord" and leave it lying on top of my desk.

I will instruct my Legion of Terror to attack the heroes en masse, instead of standing around waiting while members break off and attack one or two at a time.

If the hero runs up to my roof, I will not run up after him and struggle with him in an attempt to push him over the edge. I will also not engage him at the edge of a cliff. (In the middle of a rope-bridge over a river of molten lava is not even worth considering.)

If I have a fit of temporary insanity and decide to give the hero the chance to reject a job as my trusted lieutenant, I will retain enough sanity to wait until my current trusted lieutenant is out of earshot before making the offer.

I will not tell my Legion of Terror "And he must be taken alive-" the command will be "And try to take him alive if it is reasonable practical."

If my doomsday device happens to come with a reverse switch, as soon as it has been employed it will be melted down and made into limited edition commemorative coins.

If my weakest troops fail to eliminate a hero, I will send out my best troops instead of wasting time with progressively stronger ones as he gets closer and closer to my fortress.

If I am fighting with the hero atop a moving platform, have disarmed him, and am about to finish him off and he glances behind me and drops flat, I too will drop flat instead of quizzically turning around to find out what he saw.

I will not shoot at any of my enemies if they are standing in front of the crucial support beam to a heavy, dangerously unbalanced structure.

If I'm eating dinner with the hero, put poison in his goblet, then have to leave the table for any reason, I will order new drinks for both of us instead of trying to decide whether or not to switch with him.

I will not have captives of one sex guarded by members of the opposite sex.

I will not use any plan in which the final step is horribly complicated, e.g. "Align the 12 stones of power on the sacred altar then activate the medallion at the moment of total eclipse." Instead it will be more alone the lines of "Push the button/"

I will make sure that my doomsday device is up to code and properly grounded.

My vats of hazardous chemicals will be covered when not in use. Also, I will not construct walkways above them.

If a group of henchmen fail miserably at a task, I will not berate them for incompetence then send the same group out to do the task again.

After I capture the hero's super weapon, I will not disband legions and relax my guard because I believe whoever holds the weapon is unstoppable. After all, the hero held the weapon and I took it from him.

I will not design my main control room so that every workstation is facing away from the door.

I will not ignore the messenger that stumbles in exhausted and obviously agitated until my personal grooming or current entertainment is finished. It might actually be important.

If I ever talk to the hero on the phone, I will not taunt him. Instead, I will say that his dogged perseverance has given me new insight on the futility of my evil ways and that if he leaves me alone for a few months of quiet contemplation I will likely return to the path of righteousness. (Heroes are incredibly gullible in this regard.)

If I decide to hold a double execution of the hero and the underling who failed or betrayed me, I will die first.

When arresting prisoners, my guards will not allow them to stop and grab a useless trinket of purely sentimental value.

My dungeon will have its own qualified medical staff complete with bodyguards. That way if a prisoner becomes sick and his cell mate tells the guard it's an emergency, the guard will fetch a trauma team instead of opening the cell for a look.

My door mechanisms will be designed so that blasting the control panel on the outside seals the door and blasting the control panel on the inside opens the door, not vice versa.

My dungeon cells will not be furnished with objects that contain reflective surfaces or anything that can be unraveled.

If an attractive young couple enters my realm, I will carefully monitor their activities. If I find they are happy and affectionate, I will ignore them. However, if circumstances have forced them together against their will and they spend all their time bickering and criticizing each other except during the intermittent occasions when they are saving each other' lives at which point there are hints of sexual tension, I will immediately order their execution.

Any data files of crucial importance will be padded to 1.45Mb.

Finally, to keep my subjects permanently locked in a mindless trance, I will provide each of them with free, unlimited internet access.

I am a winner!

2008-07-10T18:46:00.003-07:00

I have subscribed to a lot of new blogs recently and a few of them have been running contests and giveaways. I am not the type of person who wins a lot of things, but I always enter if it's easy and free. So yesterday I found out I actually won! I find it very exciting. So I get some super cute baby stuff for Erik. The blog hosting the giveaway is Vanilla Joy. She has great product reviews, parenting advice, and fun activities to try. So thanks Vanilla Joy for hosting the giveaway and thanks to Personality Plus Boutique and Fingers & Toes for contributing the prizes.

I'm back!

2008-07-03T14:41:00.005-07:00

OK, so the first time I posted on this blog I said I was going to do the book a month challenge. That totally didn't pan out at all. I tried the first month, but never had the time to read and didn't finish a book. I read a lot more these days, but I'm not following the BAM challenge at all.

What I have done is added a blog roll to my blog, so you can check out some of the blogs I subscribe to. I am also going to try to do a lot more blogging. I don't necessarily think that I have anything worthwhile to say or that anyone would have any interest in it, but I love reading blogs and getting new ideas and inspiration from what people post and share so I thought I'd try to share some of the things I find interesting. I'm not very tech-savvy, so we'll see if I can figure out how to properly link things and show pictures. My html skills are nonexistent, so hopefully I'll learn a few things.

I also added a slide show on the side bar. I'm not sure if I'll keep that there or not. I don't know if I want my pictures available for anyone to see, on the other hand, the little guy is so darn cute I love showing him off. Let me know what you think about that...if anyone is reading.

First Post

2007-12-18T13:43:00.002-07:00

I have had a blogger account since 2004 so I could comment on my sister's blog about her study abroad in Denmark. I use my myspace blog for quizzes, surveys, and random life updates, but since I have a journalism degree now, I have decided to start a more sophisticated blog as well. I have joined the Book a Month challenge and hope to keep up with that since I have more time for leisurely reading now that I am done with school.