Thinking ahead to Halloween and other things...

Besides, it takes my mind off all the negative mess that is going on and gives me a much needed break to dwell on something much more fun and fang-tastic...even if it's just for a little while.
I've even something special for anyone that loves Halloween as much as I do. If you've never heard of Dover Publishing, you're in for a treat. I have often wished to go a little spending happy when I get their catalogs. But I resist most of the time, especially with money so tight.

Their books are great, the prices are too...but I just can't do it right now. But here's the treat I can get from Dover and they put it right into my email box...free samples from some of their books. Check out these spirited samples I just got the other day...

Dover Book Sampler - Get Ready for Halloween!

Remember paper dolls and paper clothes...or am I just showing my age? I recall showing my eldest paper dolls, but I don't think my younger daughters ever got a chance to play with them. Well, believe it or not - Dover has them! If my financial situation wasn't so thin, I'd try and get one of their books just to show my teenager what I played with as a young girl. Oddly enough, I have a very curious daughter that likes to know about that sort of thing. She is very much an independent and caring young miss, who still gives me hugs and likes to spend time going for walks with mom.

I don't get anything for anyone going to this site, they don't have an affiliate program. I just wanted to share something I have knowledge about and enjoy. I have other resources for Halloween if you would like to check them out...just know that I will use anything as a teaching or learning experience... Holidays are no exception... As my son's been known to say about my kind of teaching. "You're sneaky..."

Halloween Safety Tips
It may be from Los Angeles, CA - but I think it is a very nicely put together listing.

The Teacher's Corner
There are worksheets and other links here. I'm not sure if this site is updated frequently, but there are some good material resources here.

TeacherVision
It's true that you can only view a few items before they want you to subscribe - but for teachers and home schoolers this resource is just too good to leave out. I love this booklet - it's a lot of fun!

Salvation Army
Now this would apply to your own location, but thrift shops, second hand stores are a treasure trove of wondrous Halloween delight. With a little imagination, perhaps a little glue, glitter or a sewing kit - a vast number of costumes can be created for everyone. With pirates, princesses and the like being so popular - these places would offer a wealth of materials... nurses, superheroes, vampires and witches are all waiting to be discovered among the cast offs and recycled items.

If you have just have to have a store bought costume - don't forget to check for coupons or discount codes to save you a little on the cost - maybe enough for a mini pizza party after trick-or-treating...

Party Time
If you aren't the type to want to go hiking through the neighborhoods looking for the mega score for treats...maybe you like to be the life of the party... Well, this is a great place I found for getting great items for all kinds of parties.

Pretty Party Place
I'm hoping to be able to order up some Wall-E items for my son's birthday in November...the prices are really good, especially if it's only a small gathering. I have had a lot of trouble finding places that would let me get items for a party of under 10 - most of the packages were for 25 or more! That is way too many kids in one place that isn't a park or CiCi's Pizza!

Game Time
Too old to be trick-or-treating? No kids to take out and don't want to have a party or pass out candy? Well, even if you aren't into gaming too much, you can still have some fun online. A bunch of games celebrate the Spooks are loose night in a grand way.

Guild Wars  - purchase and then play for free after...
They celebrate the pumpkin king in a grand way in this online rpg - check out last years event!

World of Warcraft  - purchase and monthly membership fee after 30 days. Offers a limited time trial so you can try it out
This Hallow's End check out what is happening in WoW - at least for those that can afford it.  If not the free trial is available to a at least look around for the spookfest...check out the event happenings here.

Now for those that don't want to buy a game to play, with no fees to worry about...then take a look at this mmo free game list and see if there isn't anything that you might find to have fun with. A little virtual chaos is great stress relief for those that need it and who know who you might meet up with while you're leveling...

MMO Free Game list 

Plus some of the cute games are great rewards for good grades and completed chores. Also some of the keyboard controls help to improve eye and hand coordination. Plus if they want to play and chat to friends they'll have to learn the keys fast, so they can talk while playing...sneaky way to improve their typing skills.

Well, that's all for this post. I'm going to go enjoy a little stress relief myself. Believe it or not, my kids got me hooked on the Disney online game Pirates of the Caribbean - it's just a basic membership, which is free - but as long as Capt. Sparrow is lurking about - I'm game to play. It's actually rather challenging, with ship to ship battles and timed sword play abilities. Has a bit of realism and plenty of familiar faces from the PotC movie. So if you happen to see the White Witch sailing by, call out an ahoy and perhaps we can hoist the colors together...

Till next time mate,  may the wind fill your sails...

Dropping into Reality

I'm working on a very large project - It's called "Operation Clean Sweep" as in I'm getting rid of as much stuff as I can that will help me in reducing the amount of stuff in my house.
See I want to move, but if I don't want to hire a fleet of trucks, I'm going to have to reduce the amount that I'm taking with me. At the same time, I'm hoping to make a small amount of money off of this that will be going into the "Going Home" fund.

I have tried to make a go of it here in GA, but of the friends I made - they've either been deployed or died. I do know some people here, but most can't be called real friends since they are so busy that they can't even seem to find the time to call me up just to say "hi". In the 17 yrs I've been here there is no one that I can call up to go out with, or anyone to hang out with or even to just talk to.

I miss the blue ridge. I miss having four seasons. I miss being in the country, breathing fresh air; not air scented with cookies, soap or the paper mill stench depending upon which direction the wind is blowing.
I just want to find some land and put a dw on it or find a small farm that I can settle down on. I tried that here and wound up in a subdivision, with bills and repairs that eat up what income I have each month.

Being disabled, unable to drive - it's left me isolated, alone and solitary. The only way to reach out to the world regularly is through the net. I still need to do erands, that usually means a 5+ mile walk one way. My older son often will try to do the simple tasks to keep me from overdoing it. Often when I return from an all day outing, I can barely walk at all the next day. But I discovered years ago what many had before me, that it is difficult to find help out there.

Oh sure, there are places to get food, so called shuttle transport, but often you have to get to the service or there is never any room or there's a waiting list. Some places have given me the "we've helped you once before, we can only help once in a lifetime." Which is odd since it's the charities that are spouting it.
But I'm not going to go getting on my soap box about the injustice and all right now. I'm too tired, weary in the spirit tonight I would guess...I just don't have the heart to get a outraged roll going. Maybe another time...

Well, need to get some sleep...so I'll catch up with you all another time.
Carpe Diem!

Setting up some sites...

Okay, with things being silent as a tomb when it comes to my online business... I decided to do some setting up of other affiliate type sites to try to get in some money. The hype seems to state that all one has to do is set up an affiliate site and then send visitors to it... Sounds simple... Trouble is nothing is that simple.

Oh setting up the sites are mostly simple. Especially if you know your way around a little HTML and such, but that isn't the problem. Once the site is there, now what? How do you get all the visitors that they tell you to get to even know that the site is there...? Of course the guys making all the money tell you that you can do this in a number of ways...

• Tell your list about the site. (Trouble with this is that you don't even have a list if you're just starting out...)
• Blog about it on your social network sites. (Tell me the truth, does this BS even work anymore...did it ever?)
• Send out emails to your network... (You know, family and friends that don't want anything to do with this stuff...)
• Pass out business cards with the website on them. (Yeah we all know what people do with these cards.)
  
• Post in groups, forums and other online areas like these. (Until the moderator gets ticked at your constant posts.)
• Do Google or some other type keyword pay per click system. (I've never really found the Google experience very satisfying.)

So, what is the answer if this isn't working for you? Heck if I know! I'm stuck in the same boat myself...

I've been trying to put together these affiliate sites - the ones that are "supposed" to be really easy to put together. For the most part, Amazon.com and Zlio.net seem to be the easiest to figure out. Now, I've not generated a dime from either of them as yet... so when it comes to making money with them I'm sort of left hanging... Granted I only just found zlio.net a week ago so I'm still waiting to see how it pans out.
Another one for easy set up is Template monster, since you can customize a storefront to set up on your own domain. You don't really need a domain for the amazon or zlio stores as they set them up for you. Amazon offers a way to put your store right into your website with iFrames which makes it a good choice if you want to keep people at your site.

I have been trying to keep from getting depressed now that the new month has arrived. It isn't easy trying to figure out what bills to pay, but then there are a lot of people dealing with the lack of funds. It isn't about who to pay, but who to pay first with the cash on hand and who will have to wait till you can get your hands on some more money. With the long weekend coming up I'm planning on having a yard sale... having succeeded in getting the stuff out of storage - (yeah...) I'm going to see about reducing the amount of things we have and hopefully get up the needed money for this month.


I have been putting my writing up on Writer's Cafe...may enter a few more contests, sharpen up my skills some. It's good exercise and keeps me from getting too down in the dumps. I like a good writing challenge and try to keep my mind sharp. Just wish that I could find some writing jobs. Guru and Freelance may let you find jobs via their site, but applying for them is nearly impossible, unless you pay for a membership or upgrade. That's like our main employment service in town, you have to pay over a hundred bucks to get a job through them. No guarantee you will get one, but the employer doesn't pay - the job hunter does! If I had a couple hundred dollars on hand, I sure as heck would not be giving it to them... I'd be paying my bills! The reason I need the job in the first place...


Plus the issue of being disabled isn't a problem when finding work online, since I can do my work via the net and get paid via PayPal.  But transportation, special equipment and such are an issue if I try to find work outside of my home and computer. Where I can outsource several tasks and get work done in my own time - be it 4pm or 3am... that is what I can do at home. Even though I've gotten rave reviews on my work and designs, it's not putting cash into my bank acct. which is still recovering for as long as my disability holds out... which should be till I pay my mortgage. Then it will be back on life support... ::sigh:: poor little checking acct. - at least I have it though...

Well, I'm going to end this post and sum it up with the sites I've got up so far... If anything odd happens, like they start to make a few bucks...I'll update this.

• Kittara's Curio Shop  ( this is my daughter's store that she put together hoping to get some sales.)
• Creative Starr Designs  (This was my web design site, now it's a template affiliate site. They do offer some good templates and some free ones too to try out.)
• The Bookworm's Corner (of course I just had to make my own bookshop since I love reading & writing.)
• Game Central eStore  (This one my older boy set up for his game site...)
• Gaming Zone eStore  (Of course, the other one had to set his own store and site up... nothing wrong with some competition...)
• SirBec Health Supplies (This is a site I did for a friend a few years ago.  Unfortunately, he moved on. But I still have the store I made him.)
• Magick's Gift  (Then my sister had to join the party and make her own estore...)

(Since Geocities websites are gone, I'll have to relocate several sites to a new home. I'll be posting about them when they are finished being set up...)

Hope you all enjoy the upcoming long weekend...

Carpe Diem!