Obsessions over the years.

1. Cows. Don’t ask me why, I have no idea. Thankfully this one is over.
2. Key chains. I used to collect them as a kid. I had no keys but I certainly had key chains.
3. Monet. Waterlilies everywhere.
4. Chat. When I first discovered the Internet, I found chat. Loved it so much that I would go to school even when I didn’t have class to get online.
5. Madonna, New Kids on the Block. I kept scrapbooks. I think I still have the Madonna one.
6. Phil Collins. A very unhealthy obsession
7. Shopping. My lifelong obsession
8. Chococat/Hello Kitty
9. Chocolate. ‘Nuff said.
10. Twilight/Sookie Stackhouse … Edward Cullen
11. Daisies, owls, the word believe
12. Blogging
13. Coupons

What about you? What are your obsessions?

*****

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Instead, I watched the five episodes of Grey’s Anatomy (and it would have been more if I didn’t have to wait for the next one to arrive from Netflix), did laundry, cleaned my room a bit, worked on a friend’s site and did some crosswords.

Jimbo worked on the shed most of the weekend. We did go out for coffee and then saw the Invention of Laughter and while it was good, I wouldn’t say it was great.

Saturday night we headed to my cousin’s house for a family poker game and did pretty well for someone who doesn’t know if 3-of-a-kind beats two pair.

It’s funny, since I’ve been couponing I haven’t’ done a lot of regular shopping. I think that’s good for my wallet. But it’s October and now’s the time to start shopping for that joyful holiday that is about 12 weeks away. And to work on my 2009 holiday wish list.

Random things that just popped in my head.

1. I’ve been pondering this for a while. When Starbucks adds whipped cream to my drink, what am I supposed to do with it? Am I supposed to do the adult thing and let it sink into the drink, or the kid thing (what I really want to do) and open the top and lick it all off?
2. Weight. Screw it.
3. Thinking about maybe, someday I might think about the prospect of procreating.
4. I have a lovely husband.
5. I’ve been thinking about taking on less projects. Maybe I can actually get something done that way.
6. I leave work early for an appointment today. No, not that kind.
7. I haven’t been keeping up on my blog reading. See #5.
8. My posable Kermit the Frog has been showing up in all kinds of funny places in funny positions. Maybe I’ll show you someday. See #5.
9. I haven’t made an actual dinner in quite a while. What should I make?
10. I’ve been into Geneology lately (See #5) and have discovered so far that I’m mostly English and Irish. So far. I can’t find much about Dad’s side.
11. I’m wearing $5 shoes.
12. I’m already thinking about Christmas shopping. Must make a list. See #5.
13. I still like my job. I’m really lucky. Thank you.

What about you? Do you love your Firefox? What are your favorite add-ons.
Still an Internet Explorer lover? Make the switch now!

*****

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The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others’ comments. It’s easy, and fun!

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And…here we go!

1. That’s In the hole is a bad place to be.
2. While you figure out where you’re going ; I’m over here!
3. The possibilities include: Jimmy Page, The Edge and Jack White. Who’s the best guitarist?
4. Macaroni and cheese is one of my favorite cool day recipes.
5. How will you know if you’ve found true love? When you don’t even question it.
6. Janet’s perfect day at the beach includes wolf, her camera, clams and a stormy sky.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to couponing, cleaning, vegging out on the couch watching tv, tomorrow my plans include more cleaning and book club and Sunday, I want to hit all the drugstores before everyone else; hike, maybe; buy a wireless printer, ipod nano and some cork boards perhaps; and spend some quality time with the love of my life!

We’ve been upgrading people at work from Internet Explorer to Firefox and darnit if people don’t like change. I’m all about change – I find it fun and exciting. I’ve been using Firefox for years – it offers safer web-browsing, easy navigation from page-to-page with tabs and the ability to add-on and extend it’s capabilities.

Today I’m going to talk about my thirteen favorite add-ons for Firefox

1. ForecastFox - Get international weather forecasts from AccuWeather.com and display them in any toolbar or statusbar with this highly customizable and unobtrusive extension.
2. Google Toolbar – Access to all of your Google goodness.
3. Yoono
4. IE Tab – View a page in Internet Explorer within Firefox,
5. Multi-row bookmarks – Not enough room for bookmarks on your toolbar? That’s OK, have another!
6. Quick Restart – Need to restart Firefox? Save time and do it in one-click.
7. FireFTP - Good for web-geeks like me. Who needs a separate ftp application when you can transfer files in your browser. Sweeeet!
8. Autopager – Hate to click next and wait for the next page of search results to load? AutoPager automatically loads next pages when you reach the end of a page – and extends your current page with the new page. No clicking required!
9. Autocopy - Select text and it’s automatically copied to the clipboard.
10. Xmarks – Xmarks is the #1 bookmarking add-on. Install it on all your computers to keep your bookmarks and (optionally) passwords backed up and synchronized.
11. Fireshot – Creates screenshots of web pages.
12. ColorZilla – Customizing html somewhere and need a color code. This cool eyedropper (a la photoshop) picks up any color on your screen and spits out the code. Excellente!
13. Better Gmail 2 – Add useful extra features to Gmail, like hierarchical labels, an unread message icon on your browser tab, file attachment icons, and more.

What about you? Do you love your Firefox? What are your favorite add-ons.
Still an Internet Explorer lover? Make the switch now!

*****

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The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others’ comments. It’s easy, and fun!

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I had to get my Thursday Thirteen up this week, so I’m burning the midnight oil. I’m uber tired, though so a picture of all my goodies will have to wait until tomorrow. Here are the 13 best deals I got this week.

1. Bic Pencil 5 pk – Price = 2/$3
   - $1 coupon
   - $2 Single Check Rebate (SCR)
   = FREE
   
2. Renuzit Crystals Elements Starter Kit – Price =  $4.99
   - $2 coupon
   - $3 SCR
   = +$0.01
   
3. Glade 2oz. Fragrance Collection Candle – Price = $3.29
   - Get one free coupon
   = FREE
   
4. Softsoap Body Wash – Price = $3.99
   - $2.00 coupon
   - $3.99 Register Rewards
   = +$2.00 (that’s right – I made $2 buying this item!)
   
5. Starbucks Ice Cream – $4
   - Get one free coupon
   = FREE
   
6. (2) Paper Mate Pens – Price = $1.98
   - $1.98 Extra Care Bucks
   = FREE
   
7. (2) Bic Triumph two-pack – Price= $5.98
   - $4.00 coupons (2) $2 coupons
   = $1.98 ($0.99 each)

8. (2) Ponds cleansing cloths 30ct. – Price = $7.98 ($3.99 each)
   - $3.00 coupon
   = $4.98 ($ 2.49 each)
9. (2) Venus Embrace – Price = $15.98 ($7.99 each)
   - $4.00 coupon (2 – $2 coupons)
   - $5.00 Target Gift Card
   = $6.98 ($3.50 ea)
10. (6) Nature Valley Granola bars – Sale Price = $15 ($2.50 each)
    - $4.80 coupons
    - $5 coupon for my next order (Box Tops for Edu Deal)
    - $3.50 (General Mills Deal)
    - $1.70 ($0.28 each)
11. (8) Boxes General Mill Cereal – Sale Price = $16 ($2 each)
    - $4 coupons
    - $5 coupon for my next order (General Mills Deal)
    = $7 ($0.88 each)
12. (2) Hefty onezip bags – Sale Price = $3.00 ($1.50 each)
    - $2 coupons
    = $1 ($0.50 each)
13. Arm & Hammer Total 2-in-1 Dryer Cloths – Sale Price = $1.99
    - $1 coupon
    - $1.99 Mail-in-Rebate
    = +$1 (I earned $1! for purchasing this item!)

When was the last time you clipped coupons?

*****

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The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others’ comments. It’s easy, and fun!

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A month or two ago, I met the lovely Susan of Transient Travels at a BlogHer get-together and we instantly hit it off. We’ve been keeping in touch via email and I recently received an invitation to attend a Girlfriends Guide to Gaming party in Boston to check out the new Nintendo DSi, the newest high-powered version of  Nintendo’s handheld video game system.

We had a fabulous time! Not only did we enjoy free-flowing champagne, snacks, amazing chocolate chip cookies and excellent company, but we each left with our very own DSi handheld game.

Here is a list of 13 of my favorite things about DSi.

1. It was FREE!
2. It came with Rhythm Heaven and 1,000 game credits that I used to download Suduko and Brain Waves.
3. It has two cameras – one on the outside and one on the inside to take pictures of you or those around you.
4. It has 11 different types of camera lenses to take fun and silly pictures.
5. It has WIFI! That’s right kids. You can hook right into any available wifi signal.
6. You can download a browser for free and surf the internet!
7. You can connect to other DSi users close by to chat, exchange drawings and play games together.
8. You can listen to your own music on an SD card inserted into the DSi port.
9. It’s slim and small and has a matte case which resists fingerprints and smudges.
10. It fits in my coach wristlet.
11. The battery last a long, long time and comes with a plug for recharging.
12. Not one, but two stylus pens because your bound to lose at least one.
13. Did I mention it was FREE?

Do you have a Nintendo DSi or another handheld game?
What’s your favorite game?

*****

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When I first read the following “Breaking News Alert” from Boston.com, I knew it was a PR move.

“The Franklin Park Zoo may be forced to close its doors and possibly euthanize some of its animals as a result of the deep budget cuts imposed by Governor Deval Patrick, zoo officials said today.”

I don’t, for a minute, believe that the zoo would be forced to euthanize any of it’s animals. I think it’s a unethical PR tactic aimed to reach out to the general public and appeal to their love of animals and disdain for euthanizing them, to encourage the public to take political action against the budget cuts.

First of all, euthanization is only a possibility and seems to be highly unlikely since many animals can be shipped off to other zoos and PETA has already offered to do everything we could to help place the animals in appropriate sanctuaries and accredited zoos.

Once that’s removed from the argument, there aren’t many logical reasons to keep the zoo open. Times are tough, the economy is suffering and we have to make as many non-essential cuts as possible.

Zoos provide education and entertainment, yes. But are they essential? No.

So when the budget needs to be cut, there are tough choices to be made. Do we cut funding for law enforcement, education, services for the needy, and other essential services or do we cut millions of dollars in public funding for a zoo.

Don’t get me wrong, I like animals. I have been to zoos, but the better part of me thinks it’s a little cruel to cage wild animals for the education and entertainment of humans. If the public cares so much for animals, one would think they’d be against zooing animals – not championing the public funding for this cruely.

Here’s the bottom line. Zoos are a non-essential services and non-essential services should be cut before essential services that fulfill Massachusetts residents’ basic needs, which, as illustrated in Maslow’s heirarchy of needs, include food, water, shelter, clothing, healthcare, and personal and financial security.

Let’s put our effort into saving the humans first, so they can then take care of animals. It’s like they say on an airplane – be sure to secure your own safety mask before attempting to assist your fellow passengers.

My new friend, The Coupon Goddess has been a very good influence. We met up a week or so ago. I taught her a few things about blogging and computers in general and she hooked me up with all sorts of coupon resources. Ever since then, you could probably categorize me as the crazy coupon lady. When I’m not hanging with my peeps or sucked into a Charlaine Harris book, you can find me cutting, printing and sleuthing my way to coupon paradise.

That’s why this week I’m going to list 13 of the best coupon deals I’ve received so far.

1. Dove Shampoo.
   $8
   - $8 rebate
   =FREE
2. Neutrogena lipstick.
   $4 – 40%off
   - $3 coupon
   = $1.00
   
3. Colgate toothpaste
   $1.74
   - $1 coupon
   = $0.74
4. Wet Ones Wipes
   $1.99
   - $1 coupon
   - $1 Rite Aid Single Cash Rebate (SCR)
   = +$0.01
5. Dove Clinical Deodorant
   $6.99
   - $2 coupon
   - $5 SCR
   = +$0.01
6. Oral-B Pulsar Electric Toothbrush
   $5.99
   - $4 SCR
   = $1.99
7. Nivea Lip Care
   $1.99
   - $1 coupon
   - $1 SCR
   = +$0.01
8. Band-Aid Bandages
   $4.99
   - $3 coupon
   = $1.99
9. Colgate Toothpaste
   5 for $10
   = $1 each
10. Listerine
    3 for $9
    - $4 coupon
    - $3 Register Rewards (RR)
    = 3 for $2
11. Crest Toothpaste
    2 for $5
    - $1 coupon
    - $3 RR
    = 2 for $1
12. Dove Body Wash
    2 for $12
    - $4 coupons
    - $5 Extra Care Bucks (ECB)
    = 5 for $3
13. Transferred two prescriptions to Rite Aid
    = (2)  $25 Rite Aid gift cards

What were some of your latest deals?

*****

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others’ comments. It’s easy, and fun!

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