Jacqueline has been published again!

This one is a good article! Very personal and near & dear to my heart...

Moving Your Family from the City to the Country

She only gives small glimpses into how personal the article is, but it really does tell how her family moved from place to place in the city and eventually landed here with me in the middle of nowhere! Yes, we're only 20 minutes from the nearest stores, and we could get a lot more *out there*, but we're pretty darn isolated out here...

Playing with my Gaia Avie...

Total Value: 247,380 Gold
Item Information

Item List:
Mimzy
Black Net Top
Grunny
Rainbow Stripes Speedies Top
Stealth UltraViolet Boots
Purple Nurse Skirt
Hermes' Moon 8th gen
Hermes' Moon 5th gen
Oculus Magica
Drop Dead Gorgeous Stone Skull Hairpin
Easter Bunny Ears


Total Value: 174,868 Gold
Item Information

Item List:
KoNfUzEd rAiNbOw ToE SoX
Cloud
Purple Workjeans
Easter Bunny Shirt
Bunny Luv - I already have these! ^_^
Hermes' Moon 3rd gen

Random Humor from Game Night

Q: What kind of chair did Edwin Shoemaker invent in 1928 and then died while lounging in 70 years later?

JoAnn's immediate answer: Electric!

We all just about died laughing...

Of course, the correct answer was a La-Z-Boy...

How we spent Earth Hour 2008...

Earth Hour was so much fun that we made it Earth Hour and a half! LOL!

We lit a bunch of candles and played Trivial Pursuit 90s Edition with teams: Emma & Esme, me & JoAnn, Jacqueline & Lia, and Ant refused to have a teammate. First we read the rules in the dark, because it's ever so slightly different from the Genus Editions, and hashed out some details, then got to playing! Emma & Esme dominated the game to begin, and we were worried no one else would get to play! However, they did eventually get a question wrong and we all got to play.

A little after 9 we decided to turn the lights on so we could read better, but we kept playing a bit longer. Eventually though, we all got tired so we ended it as a 3 way tie with everyone but Esme & Emma having one piece. They did the best though really, getting more questions right in a row every turn than anyone else did, just never on a "Category Headquarters" spot... LOL!

I really think we need to make game night, with Emma too, a regular event...

Still no help...

I've been having trouble posting to both my LJ & Blogger for a while now, and have gone through several days worth of troubleshooting with Semagic to find out the problem is with Blogger. But have you ever tried to report a problem or get some help from these people? Their links are circular! They go around and around until you end up at the Google Group for Blogger Help. Supposedly there are a few actual Blogger employees reading who can help, but anyone can answer your questions. Well, I've posted the same question in 3 different places and not one person has answered.

Here's what I've posted:

When I first started using Semagic, I did so as a way to publish to both my LiveJournal and my Blogger at the same time, and it worked beautifully! Then earlier this month, anything I tried to publish to Blogger from Semagic started posting as a draft.

I have gone through a bunch of troubleshooting with the people at Semagic (you should be able to see those here: http://community.livejournal.com/ljwin32_sema/17152.html?thread=25515...) and they are now telling me I need to report this problem to Blogger.

I've tried to find a place to report a bug, but keep getting directed here instead of to someone directly working for Blogger; so I hope someone can point me in the right direction...

It's so frustrating to read the same FAQs, Help Files, and answers at the Help Group over & over and not find the answers, and be redirected back to the beginning to start looking again...

Nevermind having to do a word verification with every single post and edit... I'm tempted to leave Blogger and find a more customer oriented place to blog...

Earth Hour

Bye everyone! See you all in an hour! Maybe more... we're gonna do game night in the dark! ^_^ How fun!

Earth Hour US - Earth Hour 2008

(This was posted at 7:59pm - I have no idea why Blogger is screwing up my times now...)

I am Gaia...

Which Greek Goddess are YOU?! (great pictures) created with QuizFarm.com

You scored as Gaia Gaia created everything. Gaia 100% Pasiphae 84% Demeter 83% Aphrodite 83% Hestia 75% Hera 75% Athena 67% Hekate 58% Circe 50% Medusa 42% Persephone 42% Leto 42% Rhea 34% Artimis 34%

Complaint

Well. I am offended.

Apparently, this is a spam blog. PayPerPost won't approve it for me to write for them because it's not got enough personal posts of 3 sentences or more. And even Blogger itself is making me do those word verification things with every post I make, which is *very* annoying when I am editing posts and have to do it over & over & over again.

Yes, I have put advertising on this blog. We need more income and this is an easy way to do it. But I did *not* create this blog for the sole purpose of advertising. I created it so my friends who don't have LJs can read little bits of my life, so I can share my crafty things with them, and memes, and yes, when I try something new I like to write about it, I'm not getting money for it, or free product, but if you know how I can, please tell me!

But PPP claims my blog hasn't got enough original content, too much reposted from other sources, and implies I am only keeping it for advertising. But I checked; I went through all of my previous 87 posts: There are only 5 unpaid but lengthy product reviews written by me because I *like* to write that stuff, there are 16 posts that were copied and pasted from other sources that had less than 3 sentences of comments from myself, and there were 25 posts with less than 3 sentences no matter what they were. The rest were all posts with more than 3 sentences of original writing by me. Oh, and one poem written by me, which also apprently doesn't count either.

So, if we count this post, 41 of 88 posts are original content of more than 3 sentences. Of course, if the 5 unpaid reviews counted, it would be over half. But I guess this blog is more than half spam and you all should just stop reading it...

Happy Holiday!

Happy Something on a Stick Day!

Yes, that's right!  Today is National Something on a Stick Day!  Everybody celebrate!

Something on a Stick commercial by Feel Good Anyway...!
Then go get some scratch-it from the Oregon Lottery... LOL!

Think of all the fun things you can put on a stick...


Jurassic Dog? *raises eyebrow* Not what it looks like to me...


Jalapeño... on a stick...

What else can you think of...???

Updating Blog

I've been making some changes to my blog today, and think I have it like I want it. I am going to add one more section on the side bar with links to my friends' blogs though. If anyone is interested in having a link there, let me know and I'll be happy to add you! ^_^

Jacqueline's Writing

She's been published again on AC!

This one may be TMI for some of you gents, but it's good reading!

Five Reasons to Choose Cloth Menstrual Pads Over Disposable

Interesting Photo

Bunny with Rabbit Ears

...as opposed to what???? ...bunnies without rabbit ears? ...with cat ears? ...some other ears?

Review: Vertigo

Interesting name for a kind of candy, Vertigo, and an interesting concept: a hard-candy lollipop with a big fat milk chocolate side. They only had Chocolate/Strawberry available where I purchased it, but I saw later at another store Chocolate/Caramel and Chocolate/Cookies & Cream as well. Perhaps doing taste tests when I'm sick and can't taste much of anything is a bad idea, but I did it anyway. The chocolate had no flavor, but I expected that, since I couldn't taste a damn thing anyway. However, the hard candy side was very flavorful! I could smell and taste the strawberry and it was so soothing on my sore throat. It was 80 calories, 3 grams of fat, 14 grams of carbs, and no protein, but because of the excellent flavor, despite my handicap, I give this:
2 ears up!

Review: Pringles Honey Mustard

Well, much like other Pringles these come in a can and are just the right size and shape to saddle your tongue, allowing the flavor to hit you right where you want it. The flavor is very similar to Snyder's Honey Mustard and Onion Pretzel Bits, but of course, not so onion-y. A nice mix of sweet & salt & spice on that crunchy chip we all love to eat. While the Snyder's pretzel bits tend to be hard and slow to eat, I can see a can of these going down in one sitting. Like they say, once you pop, you really *can't* stop! One ounce (about 15 chips) is a serving and has 150 calories, 10 grams of fat, 14 grams of carbs, and 1 gram of protein. Serve with a few more grams of protein, a serving of these chips would be an ok snack, but something with whole grains (Dorito's, anyone?) would be a better choice.

I rate Pringles Honey Mustard Potato Chips...

One ear up, one ear down...

Hehehe....

Get Your Monster Name

Isn't it cute? ^_^

Horse Lovers Site

Click once a day to help save horses!

I will be adding this to my daily page very soon!

The Great Egg Drop

Jacqueline & I dropped eggs around Syracuse yesterday! ^_^

The Great Egg Drop

What? Creating "Ostara" eggs and placing them within your community
Where? Wherever you are!
When? Any day before or on March 21, 2008

What you will need: Bright-colored plastic eggs; the Ostara info page, printed out

Ostara and Easter both share the symbol of the egg. Easter, being a more mainstream holiday, is recognized easily and celebrated by many, however not many people know about Ostara - what it is or why people celebrate it. This is where you come in!

Place the information page (cut in half) into a plastic egg (available at most stores this time of year). Fill as many as you wish to. Then, keeping in mind littering laws, environmental conservancy and private property, leave these eggs where they may be easily found by the public.

Sound like fun? A few ideas of where to place the eggs include:

- the library
- the grocery store
- the mall
- coffee shops
- brochure stands
- health food/spirituality stores
- sporting events
- theater events
- public restrooms

The possibilities are endless! If you are uncertain if you are allowed to leave an egg, simply ask the proprietor of the establishment.

Again, please keep in mind that we do not promote any acts of littering or violations of private property. Also, please do not place the eggs where they will not be found. The key here is education - we want the community to find the eggs, read their contents and come to a better understanding of Ostara - and, perhaps through that, Paganism.

Find more information at Spiria...

Quick Review

Last night while paying for my gas, I happened across the new* Twix Java, and of course, had to try it! ^_^

This was so good! A nice crisp chocolate cookie and a soft coffee-flavored caramel, made with real ground espresso coffee, covered in a creamy milk chocolate... such a delicious combination! I definitely would enjoy picking this up again, but with 280 cals, 15 grams of fat, and a whopping 36 grams of carbs, and only 3 grams of protein, this one is not very healthy for me.

I rate this:

One ear up, one ear down...

*Apparently this product was released in December 2007 and is just now getting to Oswego... {{{sigh}}}

Member Appreciation Reviews

We got up early this morning and went to Curves - because I've been sick, we missed Wednesday AND Friday - and for our efforts we were rewarded with a Member Appreciation Gift Bag with free samples! Included were the following:

• a 10 oz. bottle of Diet Ocean Spray Cranberry Grape Spray - It's not too bad! 10 calories, no fat (duh), only 2 carbs, and I think the fruit taste is strong enough to cover any weird fake sugar taste that the Splenda might give it. I give it:
  2 ears up!


• Quaker Rice Snacks, Cheddar Cheese - mini rice cakes coated in boxed mac & cheese powder! 50 calories per 11 grams, 2 grams of fat (no trans), 8 grams of carbs and 1 gram of protein make them a not to bad snack. I probably won't choose to buy them though.
  1 ear up, 1 ear down...


• Quaker Mini Delights, Chocolatey Drizzle - teeny tiny *multigrain* cakes drizzled in something chocolatey! These are about the size of a quarter, way smaller than the advertising leads you to believe. 90 calories in 20 grams, 3.5 grams of fat (no trans), 14 grams of crabs, and 1 gram of protein. They kind of remind me of Cookie Crisp cereal with frosting. Not *bad* but not really good either and I really won't buy them on my own. Not chocolatey enough if I am craving chocolate, and not *enough* if I want a crispy snack.
  2 ears down...


• Curves Chocolate Peanut Chewy Granola Bar - It's small. Most *breakfast bars* are about 35 grams; these are only 25, which is of course why there is only 100 calories. There is also 3.5 grams of fat (no trans), 17 grams of carbs, and 2 grams of protein. Interestingly, it's first ingredient is chicory root extract. It looks a lot like a fancy rice crispy treat: puffed rice, oats, peanuts, mini chocolate chips... And that's just what it tastes like, only there is a weird after taste, possibly the chicory? Definitely will not buy.
  2 ears down...


• a tiny box of Curves Honey Crunch - Just like the box I had before, that I didn't review formally, this one doesn't say how much is in it, but says it's less than 1 cup, which is how much a serving is. In one serving there is 190 calories, 1 gram of fat, 45 grams of carbs, and 4 grams of protein. They are flakes, similar to Special K, with a light sweetened coating. They have a little bit of a cinnamon flavor which is good, and they really aren't a bad cereal, but for the price (in money and in nutrition), I'd rather choose something else.
  1 ear up, 1 ear down...


• a sample packet of Blue Diamond Oven Roasted Almonds, Cinnamon Brown Sugar - Yum! About 24 nuts is a serving (not that many in this package) for 160 calories, 14 grams of fat, 7 grams of carbs, and 6 grams of protein. Sure you can find snacks for less calories and fat, but with so few carbs and high on protein (compared to other snacks) I think 24 of these would make a great treat!
  2 ears up!


• 2 packets of Splenda Flavor Blends for coffee, Hazelnut - well, generally I like my coffee with lots of milk & sugar, flavors are good too. I've tried non-nutrative sweeteners and I *don't* like them. But, my dear readers, you will have to wait until tomorrow for my review, because it is far to late in the afternoon for me to have any coffee!


• a recipe booklet for the Quaker Rice Snacks, including a 40¢ off coupon - mostly just different ways to top your rice cakes, but interesting...


• $1 off coupon on Frigo Cheese Heads cheese snacks - string cheese, yum... I wonder if we can get this around here, and would it be worth it...???


• $1 off coupon on Quaker Weight Control Instant Oatmeal - I think we compared this to other oatmeals and found it had more carbs which made it bad for me, and the calories are actually more than regular instant oatmeal for the same portion, so how's that gonna help your weight control???


• Recipe cards for Curves cereal, including $1 off coupon for the cereal and 50¢ off the granola bars - nothing you couldn't do with another, better-for-you cereal...


• $1 off coupon on Blue Diamond Oven Roasted Almonds - this one will probably get used; they have sea salt, no salt, and vanilla bean, in addition to the cinnamon brown sugar. ^_^


• $1 off coupon on any 5 Weight Watchers Smart Ones frozen entrees or desserts - I used to get these back when they were cheaper and I had more money, but the portions for me always felt too small. They have new Fruit Inspirations though, and they look very yummy. Perhaps, I have learned more what is proper portion control and one will be enough? Maybe I will try them again...


• $1 off coupon on 8th Continent Soymilk - I've never tried this brand, only Silk, perhaps I'll try it... There's a recipe for a soy smoothie too.


• a Just My Size mini catalog - some nice things... wonder if they're in my price range... Ooo! Free shipping with a $50 order! Comment if you want the promo code!

And of course, we *both* lost monumental weight this week! ^_^ *I* now weigh less than I did back in 1997! I was at 214 this morning. And *Jacqueline* made it under 300! She's down to 298!
YAY FOR US!!!