I’ve been monkeying around with SwagBucks lately. Basically you earn points for doing searches, answering simple polls (a recent one asked about auto insurance), or taking surveys on things like video games or life insurance. There are a lot of ways to earn Swagbucks and most of them are pretty effortless.

It seems like there are a lot of people who devote a great deal of time to searching for SwagCodes which are codes found on websites, blog posts, etc. And, they could be on just about any kind of website from a health insurance site to a jewelry site. Usually you are tipped off through the Swagbucks blog. But, a friend introduced me to SwagCodez, a group page on Facebook that sends out alerts on new swag codes posted. They also announce on Twitter as well.

Basically you find a code then copy and paste it (before it expires) into the Swagbucks website and you earn Swagbucksl. I keep an eye out for those when I can but, I’m not obsessively chasing Swagcodes all day. Even without chasing swag codes I’ve already amassed a respectable amount of swagbucks in just a couple of weeks.

Swagbucks are then exchanged for everything from credits for games on Facebook to Amazon (and other stores) gift cards. It’s free and the points rack up quickly so I’m thinking this might help put a dent in Christmas!

I know everyone groans at the first mention of Christmas when the temps are still so freakin’ hot outside still you can’t deny it’s right around the corner!

This weekend was warm, but only in the mid-90′s which is what we call “nice” around here in July. I can’t remember another weekend this summer that has gone by so quickly. The house was relatively quiet (if you don’t count the constant hum and and drone of fans) we didn’t have loads of errands to run and we managed to get in a little fun as well.

Saturday we took Maggie out to Insect Lore in Shafter. It’s a really cute place with lots of great bug displays including lots of live insects. They also have a lot of great educational toys and gifts. Maggie went home with an ant farm and a “bug vacuum” for sucking up bugs so you can study them and hopefully release them before you fall asleep so your mother doesn’t have to. Ahem. ANYway…

I love summer and having the kids home but I am also eagerly awaiting the return of fall and winter. I prefer the cooler temps and the cozy holidays to the sweltering heat of summer, bugs, and the loud, noisy holidays. I prefer the cozy socializing in winter as opposed to the swatting of flies and talking over the fans socializing of summer.

Although, I have to admit I do like that summer is the best time to find all the great Christmas decorations (read: cheap) on Ebay. And, I think this Christmas I might actually try to make a Christmas Pudding so I’m on the lookout for an authentic Christmas Pudding tin and maybe a recipe for a chocolate version of Christmas Pudding. Last Christmas when I got the brilliant idea to try it out I found that the prices jumped up dramatically around November and December. I’m going to start snooping around far earlier than that this year!

Every once in a while we decide to change up our holiday menu. There are just some traditional recipes that we can’t do without, home made cranberry sauce, cornbread dressing, and my Christmas Ham. But, beyond that we like to vary things from time to time. One year it was a leg of lamb, another year it was a prime rib. This year Mike and I are considering duck or a goose for Christmas. So if you have any good goose (or duck) recipes, please pass them along!

I always knew there were websites with top promo codes and special coupons and discounts, but most of the sites I’ve come across have usually been for cell phone service or cable television. Usually, nothing that I use on a daily basis or actually need. I’ve always found that the best codes come in the emails from the actual sites.

My favorite promotion codes are in the emails from Bath and Bodyworks. Thanks to their clever summer sales and some very nice discount codes I have almost all of my non-food stocking gifts bought for Christmas already! Gap would be a close second I’ve lost count of how much I’ve saved on kids clothing over the years. I really have gotten to the point where if I purchase through a website I usually sign up for their newsletter and I don’t check the box asking if I want stuff from their “partners”.

I usually put all of those newsletters and promotion emails into a folder and any time I am getting ready to make a purchase I check my folder to see if I have any current discounts. Every couple of weeks I go through the folder and delete anything that has expired. That system actually saved me 15% and got me free shipping on a new vacuum last year!

Where are your favorite online places with discounts?

I’ve been snooping around Etsy quite a bit because I like the thought of spending my money on smaller businesses rather than giant chains. Yeah, I know sometimes I can find it cheaper in price (and quality!) somewhere else but there is something unique and special about handmade items.

Take rustic decor at Scenic Furniture. A family owned business making handmade furniture. Sure, some of it might not suit all tastes but I found quite a few things that I absolutely love.

I love this one because I’ve been looking for something really unique to go on my front porch. Everyone around my neighborhood either has the standard park bench or the little bistro set and I’m really looking to make my front porch look really different.

This one is really cool because it’s unfinished which gives you lots and lots of options in terms of colors and stains. Kind of makes for an easy way to get a unique look when you can customize it with whatever color suits your fancy.

Unfortunately, their prices aren’t for the faint of heart, but there is a wide selection and some of the things aren’t too unreasonable. Of course, that always depends on your taste and budget.

The first two months of school (at least) means tons and tons of paperwork coming home. After the first couple of weeks most of the paperwork is in regards to fundraising. There is the cookie dough fundraising, candle fundraising, and thank goodness they are no longer doing the seminars that take away from class time to teach the fundamentals of fundraising. I can’t count the number of teachers through the years that I’ve heard complain about those.

I didn’t realize how intense high school fundraisers could be until recently. Around here the different schools usually set up fireworks stands that support cheerleaders, the marching bands, etc. This year there was a bit of drama at the local fireworks stand. We support the stand for the school our kids attend, which always sets up in the parking lot of the grocery store down the street.

This year a competing high school opened up a stand just across the street from the grocery store and the stuff really hit the fan. Unfortunately, it even crossed into the family since my kids go to one high school and one of their cousins goes to the other high school, then two more cousins are in the marching band for my kids’ high school and everyone has friends from both schools. There was a lot of sh*t talking flying around through text messages.

The other school brought out their marching band. This irritated the kids from our school so out came our school’s marching band. They worked in shifts and played for hours on end. I won’t swear to it, but I’m pretty sure some threats were thrown around as well.

I don’t blame them, whoever decided to put up the opposing school’s fireworks stand was really crossing into the other school’s territory and I’m pretty sure they did it on purpose. Anyway, it made for an exciting 4th of July weekend.

Last year was my first year using FlyLady’s holiday planner like with most things there was a bit of a learning curve but I totally feel up to the task this year. I feel organized enough that I’m considering creating a Christmas fund as my next step to holiday planning to make the difference (as Bob in White Christmas says) “between ouch and BOING!”

Given the new plan and my love of all things online I’ve been doing some light research into online savings, online banking, and money market accounts, etc. Not that I don’t already bank online (I do) but I was looking for something with a bit more separation from my usual activities.

Although, I’m not going too in-depth simply because, hello! It’s summer and I have three kids (nearly four, counting my darling Ashton, Ethan’s girlfriend) and all sorts of projects, plus that all important family time type of stuff. I don’t know how serious I’ll get about the aspect of a Christmas fund account the truth is right now it’s just an idea I’m toying with.

Still, I know that we are half-way through the year and whether I like it or not the holidays are going to land in my lap and I’m going to be off and running like my ass is on fire in no time at all. At the very least I’d like to have a game plan in mind rather then get down to, you know, November and start wondering what I’m going to do for which person and how. If I have even a light plan sketched out then I have a direction to go in. I don’t like to be direction-less.

I know a lot of people groan about the mere mention of Christmas when we haven’t even hit the 4th of July yet… have you started planning at all for the holidays yet? Any tips, ideas or advice?

I’m fortunate that my husband is very picky where jewelry is concerned and while I might not have a large collection what I do have is good quality, pretty, and holds a great deal of sentimental value, which is always the most important part, right? Okay, almost always.

Anyway, that got me wondering. Am I strange? I don’t even have much of a collection of costume or cheap jewelry. Now, anyway. Different story in the late 80′s early 90′s though… don’t judge! But, yeah, I had every sort of plastic, dangly thing hanging out of my ears at that time. Then I had kids and I just didn’t have a lot of earrings around because there was always someone drooling and yanking on them.

So, my collection of jewelry is pretty small and certainly has nothing I’d be willing to part with. I don’t even really have a jewelry box and I just can’t remember any time that I wanted this ring or that bracelet. I love jewelry as a romantic or thoughtful gift for special occasions because there is something nice about picking up a pair of earrings and remembering that your husband bought them for you when you had a baby or for your first anniversary.

In fact, every time I see those commercials I usually get that Christmas song, “Silver and Gold” stuck in my head. That one from the animated story of Rudolph with Burl Ives?

SILVER AND GOLD

Silver and gold, silver and gold
Ev’ryone wishes for silver and gold
How do you measure it’s worth?
Just by the pleasure it gives here on earth.

Silver and gold, silver and gold
Mean so much more when I see
Silver and gold decorations
On ev’ry Christmas tree.

What about you? Have you used one of those companies? Have a bunch of French gold, Gold Swiss, earrings, bracelets? Are you a big collector? Just don’t tell me I’m a freak, please. I’m already not a huge shoe horse (not my fault, I blame the bum ankle!) which makes me way different from a lot of other women (and some men!) running around.

Happy Easter!

Re-Post of Sheila’s original post below:

An old friend of mine emailed me for help. I’m trying to get the word out. I apoligize if you’ve been accidentally attacked by me with this message, but I feel its worth the effort. Please pass along this information as you choose:

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A month ago, I took a new job with Marine Parents, a non-profit, organization that supports families before, during, and after their Marine’s time of service. If you can imagine, I was pretty relieved to not have to roll burritos anymore, and be doing something more geared towards my writing background; however, as soon as I walked in the door, I became responsible for a $250,000 Pepsi Refresh Grant. Eek!

Pepsi is currently using the money it would have used to pay for commercials during the Super Bowl to fund ideas that help our neighbors, communities, and environment through grants. Only one thousand applicants for the grants are allowed in each month, and once they are accepted byPepsi they are widdled down even further by the votes of the public. In total, 32 ideas of the orginal 1,000 receive funding per month. Of those 32, only 2 receive the $250,000 grant.

Marine Parents has entered its Purple Heart Family Support outreach program which supportsPurple Heart servicemembers and their families into the Pepsi Grant competition with hope to expand the program. Purple Heart Family Support, a volunteer-based initiative, serves meals to Wounded Warriors and their families during the weekends when hospital cafeterias are closed leaving them with limited meal options. Due to current funding, we have only been able to serve two monthly meals at Bethesda Naval Hospital and at the Wounded Warrior Barracks in Balboa, California. With the Pepsi Grant we will be able to turn our 200 meals a year served in 2 hospitals into 20,000 meals served a year in 4 hospitals.

We have been accepted by Pepsi, but now we need your help! Voting begins tonight, March 31st, 11:59 EST/ 10:59 CT/ 8:59 PST, at http://www.refresheverything.com/marineparents and will continue through April 30th. So if you are going to be awake, vote for us then! In the past, ideas that started in the top, ended in the top. So we want to make sure that we are there from the get go so that we can help more Purple Heart service men and women and their families. If you would like more information about Purple Heart Family Support visit www.purpleheartfamilies.com. If you would like more information about how to vote and what we will be doing with the grant visit www.purpleheartfamilies.com/pepsi.

Please forward this on to anyone you know who would be interested in supporting Purple Heart service members and their families! And remember to vote tonight at 11:00 PM central time! A vote a day refreshes Purple Hearts the Pepsi Way!

After Christmas everything became crystal clear. For once I clearly saw the gap between pulling the turkey out of the oven and putting the ham in; it was completely clear, (did I mention it was CLEAR?) I could have saved Christmas by shaving off 8 maybe 15 minutes.

THIS… I realized while staring at pictures of a snow covered Washington D.C. on the news is the true miracle of Christmas. This was that beautiful moment when I truly saw the world as a better place. Where I saw what the magic of Christmas really is.

It is in the 8 to 15 minutes when you take the turkey out and put the ham in.

Okay, that is over simplifying it. I know, I know.

But see, for once, I did not drift through January in an annual holiday season hangover. “Holiday Season Hangover” – That’s the portion of the population that isn’t exactly happy to see Christmas go but they aren’t so excited that they are hitting all the after Christmas sales and already have next Christmas taken care of by January 5th. No, instead my mind floated over the holiday season in much the same way your fat uncle surveys the wreckage that was Thanksgiving dinner, and I had an epiphany.

I saw every mistake, every wasted moment, every opportunity to have made things just that much easier. I saw it in a pristine and perfect snapshot.

Or as Phil and Bob would say, “It’s ideal.”(That’s a White Christmas reference for those wondering who the hell Bob and Phil are)

And, I realized that not only did I need to write down, in detail, every brilliant idea I was having, but I knew that I should also detail this process for your amusement.

Christmas is like child birth, within a few months you nearly forget all the pain and labor. You lament that your wreath is disappearing for another year and that the Christmas tree is still so fresh it’s almost a shame to take it down. But, after all the pine needles are vacuumed up and that last scrap of curling ribbon has been vomited up by the couch, you forget all the work that went into it.

Which is why in that perfect moment of clarity, I knew that I had to write down all the details before they became just rose-colored moments of Christmas past. I’ll be honest, part of what inspired that moment of clarity was sheer paranoia. You know how there are those dreams you have maybe 2 or 3 months after giving birth… you dream you are pregnant again and you think, “Oh my God, no!!!!” Right?

I had a post-Christmas nightmare. In my dream it was Christmas Eve and I had not bought a single present or any groceries at all. There was no Christmas tree and my decorations were still packed away in the garage!

I still shudder just thinking about that dream.

In fact, that dream impacted me so much that within a week I had several stocking stuffers for next Christmas arrive at my house.

I’m closing the gap between the turkey and the ham.

A lovely box was delivered:

My birthday present from Chickie!

Chickie and I have one of those co-dependent relationships. I support and enable her love of tequila and folk art and she has me completely addicted to all things of a bathtub nature!

See that shot glass there? I’m thinking of bringing it to Vegas in March when we meet Kari, Chickie, and Chickie’s Sweety. I’m so beyond stoked!

So let’s see… birthday check list:

Bells and whistles for the perfect birthday bath – check
Wine – check

What’s missing?

Oh, that’s right. Have you signed the reverse HVCC petition yet?

If you love me at all and want me to have a happy birthday – PLEASE sign this petition. When you realize that HVCC was started by an AG with a vested interest in an AMC (Appraisal Management Company – these are the companies who are holding down real estate value by providing less than ethical and accurate real estate appraisals) AND that it has taken LESS time to ENACT HVCC than it has to actually bring any of the jackasses who committed mortgage fraud to trial – then you will see that HVCC benefits few, screws over homeowners and potential homebuyers AND is putting MANY small, ethical businesses OUT of business.

Please do your part… sign the petition today.