My daughter has been playing several of the games that came bundles with the system when we bought it, including some of her favorites, Mario Kart. She has been having so much fun with it, we even have one of the steering wheels for her to feel like she’s really driving. It’s neat to not have to mash buttons, instead just steer and the car goes where you’re steering it.

One of the games they play together is Legos - Star Wars; The Complete Saga. It’s so funny because the characters are from Star Wars, but they’re made out of Legos. There are a lot of battle scenes and the characters are wearing Tactical Assault Gear and carrying light sabers. My husband is not a big gamer, so it’s funny to see him playing. I think he really enjoys the time he’s spending with our daughter more than anything.

I’m hoping that over this long weekend I’ll have more time to play. Although, I’ve got an awful lot of sewing to get done in the next week!

What’s your favorite game?

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Having Fun with Wii

On with the Wii. Since purchasing it, I feel like there is always one more thing that we need. First, of course, we had to go buy a second controller and a second nunchuck. Now, I know, we didn’t HAVE to buy those, but it doesn’t make playing the games more fun when you can play at the same time. Then, of course, we’ve had to buy more games for the system. My daughter has chipped in some of her own money too, so it does make it a little less painful.

I’ve all ready put the Wii Fit on my Christmas list and I’m pretty sure I’ll get it since my daughter wants it too. The other craze we’ll probably find ourselves getting into is the Guitar Hero. I see them at the store whenever we’re checking out gaming supplies, so I will probably pick one up and put it away for Christmas. While I’m at it, I might just have to get some guitar hero ii skins to make our guitar controllers unique. We can actually design our own which would be fun.

Anyway, while I haven’t had much time to play, my daughter certainly has and I’m really happy that we got it for her. It only took me a year and a half to get my hands on one!

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Guitar Hero

I’ve been planning the trip to Tennessee for quite some time and have been earning money online to pay for the trip. I’ve all ready paid up front for my share of the cabin rental where we will be staying and so just need money for gas, food and entertainment. I’m hoping to earn more money while we’re there by selling some of my fabric creations. My daughter has also been busy making beaded bracelets and I’m hoping she’s also successful in selling those.

Our trip at the end of July was planned last month. I wanted to take advantage of the hot summer Texas weather and take my husband someplace nice to celebrate his birthday. I’m unable to say where we’re going because the destination is a surprise for my husband. He knows we’re going, I had to tell him in order for him to plan the days off from work. I’ll be anxious to write about it once we’ve been, I’m certainly looking forward to it.

With all of my financial planning for these trips though, the one thing that had definitely been out of my control is the price of gasoline. Gas prices here in Texas are some of the lowest in the country, but by the time we leave in July, they will more than likely be above $4.00 a gallon. So that I don’t have to take out Fast Payday Loans to cover our fuel costs, I’ve shortened the length of our trip and eliminated a couple of destinations. This makes me very sad, but it had to be done.

Do you have any vacation(s) planned for this summer?

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Vacation vs. PayDay Loan

Beware, if you’re like me, you will need a tissue or two when you watch this!

Post from: It's My Imagination

Showing True Character

We received four different types of facial sunscreen samples. The first, Man Screen was tried by my husband. He’s typically very skepticle when it comes to needing sunscreen, he is a man after all. He typically will put sunscreen on his shoulders and neck, but only after I’ve insisted or after he’s started to burn. But, because we had yard work to do, he used the man screen sample with an SPF of 16 and was pleasantly surprised. He liked the non-greasy formula and the lack of fragrance.

The second sample was Chic Screen. I personally used this one this morning. I don’t like using anything with fragrance on my face, or anything that feels greasy and so I was definitely pleasantly surprised to find that not only did this creamy formula not feel greasy, but it also had no fragrance. It really was perfect for me. I mowed our entire 1/2 acre and jumped in the pool twice. I felt that it protected and did not wash away while I was sweating or swimming.

The last two samples, Teen Screen and Tweeny Screen were both used by my 12 year old daughter. Again, both of these formulas were found to be non-greasy and went on smooth. The Teen Screen is designed for acne-prone teen skin and is non-irritating. The Tweeny Screen is our favorite. It has all of the features of the other 3, but also has a wonderful tropical fruit fragrance. I could really smell pineapple in it. My daughter used both of these on several different occasions, including swimming and softball practice.

We have been experiencing very hot temperatures here in North Texas and the sun has been beating down on a daily basis. It’s difficult to go outside without sunscreen on our skin for protection, even if it’s just to go to the park. We also drive around in a convertible, so it’s even more important that we always wear our sunscreen.

We all found that all 4 types of sunscreen from Screen, Inc. are very effective and easy to use. Because they are a creamy formula, they are very easy to spread on your skin. They do not feel at all greasy and so I didn’t feel the need to wash my hands after applying the lotion to my skin. All four have an SPF of 16+ and all have been approved and are recommended by the Skin Cancer Foundation.

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Protect Your Face

Our daughter has reached a point where she wasn’t enjoying pitching and was beginning to question her abilities, particularly as a pitcher.  She cringed whenever I would remind her of her scheduled pitching practice and always looked for excuses to cancel.  Today felt different.  She wasn’t really too happy about having to go, but was somewhat chatty on the drive over.

I sat and watched and the pitching coach was very complimentary and even surprised at how well she was throwing today.  I even saw my daughter smiling while she was working with him.  She seemed to be enjoying herself and she was pitching quite well, doing everything the coach told her to do.  She even threw a few curve balls that went right over the plate, exactly as they should, and the coach had just shown her that pitch minutes before.  He was thrilled, my daughter was happy and I felt everything was right with the world.

As we were leaving to head to the car, my daughter mentioned how she felt that she’d done a really good job today and that she hadn’t felt that way in a long time.  She commented that she never feels like she throws good enough for her dad and since he wasn’t there she felt more relaxed.  Interesting.

So, how to I talk to my husband about this?  I want him to continue to support her, but he can be very critical and, while he’s trying to provide constructive criticism, it can be interpreted as negative.   I think I’d like to see him working with her, but he needs to keep his mouth closed.  She knows what she needs to work on, she hears it from her coaches.  She needs him to just put his glove on and catch for her, not instruct her.  He needs to relax and then she will relax.  Now, how do I tell him this?

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Mom vs. Dad

In San Fransisco, I believe he rode a bicycle, walked or used public transportation to get around. I’m not sure what he did if he went out on a date. There is a great public transportation in Chicago too, but it really depends on if he gets a job working downtown or not. Out in the suburbs it’s definitely more challenging to be without a vehicle.

Even if you don’t own or don’t immediately plan to own a vehicle, I think a obtaining a driver’s license is important. You just never know when the need to drive might arise. There really aren’t too many places in this country that you can live and get around without owning a car. People think they have to buy new cars, which are expensive, but there are a lot of used cars for sale in sd and all over the country that can be great cars for getting to and from work, etc.

I personally would feel such a loss of independence if I didn’t have a car.   How would you feel not having a car?

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A Car - To Have or Not To Have

Our guest bedroom is really quite large and is set off by itself upstairs. I furnished it after we moved here, mostly with inexpensive furniture from the outlet mall nearby. I’m still wanting to find a nightstand and perhaps a chair to add to the room, but for last night, my husband took the rocking chair upstairs that is normally in our family room. The baby likes to be rocked to sleep so I’m glad we had it.

They have a beautiful home themselves out in California, although, they haven’t had it too long and are still trying to fill rooms with furniture, including the guest room. I was telling my daughter-in-law about places she could look, including San Diego bedroom furniture which wouldn’t be too far for them to go. In fact, I know they go to San Diego pretty regularly for various reasons, so they might as well check out the furniture while they’re there!

Anyway, for now, I’m just glad they’re here. That little baby is so darn cute, I can’t wait for her to wake up so I can play with her!

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We Have Company

Camp was every morning for 3 hours this week.  It worked out really nicely because she was done before the temperatures became too unbearable.  One day it rained, so they did camp inside the athletic building which was very nice, and air condiditoned.  Yesteray they were back outside and did a slip and slide at the end of the session. 

 I think she’s having a good time and it helps build her confidence because there are so many girls there who regularly play on higher level teams.  Sometimes she thinks she’s not as good as she really is.

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Softball Camp

The upstairs is now complete, I just finished it. Now I need to carry the vacuum downstairs and clean the floors. After which, I just have to clean my sewing room and I’m done! I’d really rather be out getting a much needed pedicure, but with a baby coming who is still crawling, I want to make sure the floors are clean.

Last week, to conserve my own energy and to allow me time to do other chores, I was able to get my 12 year old daughter to vacuum all the floors for me. That was fantastic, she even edged! She’s busy today though cleaning up her own room which I have to say is looking pretty darn good. She’s also going to give the dog a bath this afternoon and so, I don’t think I have the heart to ask her to vacuum too.

Perhaps, instead of conserving my own energy, I need to look at it as burning calories. That’s it. I’m getting my workout with the cleaning and vacuuming! Maybe that’s why I’ve been feeling more energized the last week. So, I can burn my own energy, which is a good thing, and I can conserve energy, or power, by using the Dirt Devil  AccuCharge Stick Vac or Hand Vac, the first cordless vacuums to receive the Energy Star approval rating. They actually use 70% less energy, that’s a fantastic savings!

So, let the Dirt Devil save the energy and let me go finish burning my calories. Nobody can say I didn’t get my workout today!

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I’m Trying To Avoid Cleaning