Farmville Game Tips

I came across this article written all about the Game Farmville. Sharing with you the bits I found most important or helpful out of the entire article.

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...If you think you're not going to be able to check on your farm for a while, you may want to consider

planting crops like artichokes. These will take 4 days to mature, but you'll have an additional 4 days to

harvest them. This is a good way to keep your farm active if you're going to be away for a while. It's

also a good thing to keep in mind so that you know what kind of window you have to get back to your

farm before you first crop will start to wither.

Building Up

Once you start to get a handle on your planting and harvesting cycles, you can begin exploring all of

the other options FarmVille has to offer. As you advance in levels and build up your coin stash, you'll

be able to buy more and more items for decorating and enhancing the value of your farm. Some of

these are worthwhile investments, although many are just fun to play with.

That's what makes this game so great, really. It allows you to play at your own pace and turn your

farm into exactly what you want it to be. You can add structures, fences, animals, trees, vehicles, and

many other types of decorations to your farm to give it your own personal touch. That way, when

you're friends come to visit, they'll be able to see what a magnificent farmer you are.

SURVEYS

Paying cash for FarmVille dollars isn't the only way to get them though. At the bottom of the Add

Farm Coins and Cash page, you'll see multiple options for surveys and other offers that pay out

FarmVille cash. Some of them cost a small amount of money, but many of them are free. This is really

the best option for getting extra FarmVille cash. It's easy and you don't have to invest any real money

to keep playing the game.

There are a couple of drawbacks to the surveys of course, but these are relatively easy to deal with.

Any survey you fill out will cause you to start getting a bunch of promotional emails. This is certainly a

nuisance, but you can minimize it by simply setting up a new email account and using that one for all

your surveys. That way you can keep the unwanted emails from cluttering up the inbox you actually

use.

There can also be a delay in the FarmVille cash being posted to your account. Sometimes you'll get it

right away, but usually it'll take at least a day to show up. There's not much you can do about this, but

if you plan ahead it really shouldn't be a problem. Just start filling out those surveys early and you'll

have plenty of cash when you're ready to spend it.

There are other, more practical reasons to want to have a lot of neighbors as well. When you're short

on cash, it's great to have the option to go and help out on your neighbors' farms to earn some money

fast. You can help out each of your neighbors once a day. For the first 20 neighbors you help in a day,

you'll earn 20 coins and 5 experience points each. Once you get up over 20, you'll only be earning 5

coins and 1 experience point each, but that can still add up to a lot of cash if you make a habit out of

it.

Expanding before you're ready can make it hard to maintain a positive cash flow. You want to make

sure you'll have at least 10,000 coins in the bank after you purchase your land expansion in order to

be sure you're up to the task of managing a larger farm.

Once you decide you're ready to expand though, you'll need to be able to pay for the extra land.

There are actually two ways you can do this, but neither of them is particularly cheap. If you have

enough neighbors, you can pay in coins. If you don't have as many neighbors as is required for the

plot of land you want to buy, you'll have to pay in FarmVille cash.

For example, the 14 X 14 Homestead can be bought for 10,000 coins as long as you have at least 8

neighbors to help you with construction. If you don't have that many neighbors, you can also buy the

Homestead for $20 in FarmVille cash. Since the coins are so much easier to come by than the cash,

you'll be wise to try and recruit those few extra neighbors so you can pay in coins.

You may think that $20 FarmVille cash isn't that much in the grand scheme of things. You'll need $20

more each time you want to expand though. So if you want to expand fast, you either have to have a

lot of FarmVille dollars on hand or you'll have to seek out some new neighbors. Even the largest plot

of land currently available only requires that you have 16 neighbors.

This isn't a particularly large number when you think about it, and it will save you a lot of money in the

long run if you just go out and recruit some friends to help you. It really isn't as hard as it might seem

to get people to be your neighbors either because they don't actually have to do anything to help you.

All they have to do is open the application and set up their character. After that, they never have to

come back to their farm again. Once your friends know this, they may be more inclined to help you

out.

Crop List

Seeds Cost Maturity Experience Sell For Profit / Hour

Strawberry 10 coins 4 hours 1 Experience 35 coins 6.3

Eggplant 25 coins 2 days 2 Experience 88 coins 1.3

Wheat 35 coins 3 days 2 Experience 115 coins 1.1

Soybeans 15 coins 1 day 2 Experience 63 coins 2.0

Squash 40 coins 2 days 2 Experience 121 coins 1.7

Pumpkins 30 coins 8 hours 1 Experience 68 coins 4.8

Artichokes 70 coins 4 days 2 Experience 119 coins 0.5

Rice 45 coins 12 hours 1 Experience 96 coins 4.3

Raspberries 20 coins 2 hours 0 Experience 46 coins 13.0

Cotton 75 coins 3 days 2 Experience 117 coins 0.6

Bell Peppers 75 coins 2 days 2 Experience 108 coins 0.7

Peppers 70 coins 1 day 2 Experience 162 coins 3.8

Aloe Vera 50 coins 6 hours 1 Experience 85 coins 5.8

Pineapple 95 coins 2 days 2 Experience 242 coins 3.1

Blueberries 50 coins 4 hours 1 Experience 91 coins 10.3

Watermelon 130 coins 4 days 2 Experience 348 coins 2.3

Grapes 85 coins 1 day 2 Experience 270 coins 7.7

Tomato 100 coins 8 hours 1 Experience 173 coins 9.1

Potatoes 135 coins 3 days 2 Experience 345 coins 2.9

Carrots 110 coins 12 hours 1 Experience 200 coins 7.5

Coffee 120 coins 16 hours 1 Experience 243 coins 7.7

Corn 150 coins 3 days 2 Experience 380 coins 3.2

Sunflowers 135 coins 1 day 2 Experience 315 coins 7.5

Cabbage 140 coins 2 days 2 Experience 388 coins 5.2

Blackberries 75 coins 4 hours 1 Experience 117 coins 10.5

Green Tea 105 coins 10 hours 1 Experience 191 coins 8.6

Red Wheat 180 coins 3 days 2 Experience 449 coins 3.7

Sugar Cane 165 coins 8 hours 1 Experience 239 coins 9.3

Peas 190 coins 1 day 3 Experience 381 coins 8.0

Yellow Melon 205 coins 4 days 2 Experience 528 coins 3.4

Onions 170 coins 12 hours 1 Experience 268 coins 8.2

Broccoli 200 coins 2 days 4 Experience 473 coins 5.7

Asparagus 220 coins 16 hours 2 Experience 357 coins 8.6

ultimately, peas will be the best crop to plant, but it’ll

take you a while to reach a high enough level to be able to plant them.

Best Seeds in Earnings Per Week Assuming Crops are Harvested At

Maximum Efficiency

These earnings take into account the cost of ploughing (15coins), this is very important since crops

with shorter harvesting times must be ploughed more times giving many players an “invisible” cost.

Also remember that every time you plough you also gain more experience, so do not be mislead with

crops such as raspberry which give no exp, because they end up giving you the same exp as 4 hr crops

when the experience gained from ploughing is also taken into consideration.

1. Tomato 1218 coins/week

2. Sunflowers 1155 coins/week

3. Blueberries 1092 coins/week

4. Coffee 1080 coins/week

5. Carrot 1050 coins/week

6. Raspberry 924 coins/week

7. Broccoli 903 coins/week

8. Red Wheat 592 coins/week

9. Yellow Melon 539 coins/week

10. Red Bell Peppers 539 coins/week

11. Rice 504 coins/week

12. Corn 501.7 coins/week

13. Pineapple 462 coins/week

14. Potatoes 455 coins/week

15. Strawberries 420 coins/week

16. Watermelon 355.25 coins/week

17. Yellow Bell Peppers 324 coins/week

18. Cotton 273 coins/week

19. Soy Beans 231 coins/week

20. Squash 231 coins/week

21. Artichokes 208.25 coins/week

22. Eggplant 168 coins/week

23. 
    
    
    
    Wheat 151.67 coins/week

Trees

Tree Cost Experience Maturity Profit Resale

Acai $27 FarmVille 0 Experience 2 days 158 coins 47 coins

Cherry 225 coins 5 Experience 2 days 18 coins 11 coins

Apple 325 coins 5 Experience 3 days 28 coins 16 coins

Orange 425 coins 5 Experience 4 days 40 coins 21 coins

Plum 350 coins 5 Experience 3 days 30 coins 17 coins

Peach 500 coins 5 Experience 4 days 47 coins 25 coins

Lemon 475 coins 5 Experience 3 days 41 coins 23 coins

Lime 750 coins 7 Experience 5 days 75 coins 37 coins

Fig Gift 0 Experience 3 days 33 coins 18 coins

Avocado Gift 0 Experience 3 days 37 coins 21 coins

Apricot Gift 0 Experience 4 days 56 coins 30 coins

Grapefruit Gift 0 Experience 3 days 50 coins 23 coins

Banana Gift 0 Experience 3 days 56 coins 32 coins

Passion Fruit Gift 0 Experience 5 days 93 coins 46 coins

Pomegranate Gift 0 Experience 5 days 108 coins 53 coins

Date Gift 0 Experience 3 days 69 coins 40 coins

Olive Gift 0 Experience 4 days 112 coins N/A

Leveling Light Speed

Here is a trick only a few people know about Farmville but can help your farm grow immensely. Before

I reveal the secret you must understand a few things about why leveling fast is good:

1. The faster you level, the more access you get to higher end crops, you will notice if you scroll

up to earnings per week of each crop (page 35), many of the crops with the highest earnings

are only obtainable at the highest levels.

2. It is also important to notice, that many of the highest earning crops also have very generous

harvesting times, take sunflowers for instance, which only need to be harvested and ploughed

once per day and compare them with raspberries, which need to be harvested and replanted

every 2 hours. Not only do the sunflowers give you more coins per hour, you are also doing

only 1/12 of the work compared with raspberries. This is very important since it will make your

schedule much more flexible, and save you huge chunks of time. This is why I advocate leveling

as fast as possible till you can reach a crop that earns good exp/week but at the same time has

a long harvesting time so you can relax.

3. Cosmetic Purposes – If you’re playing Farmville to impress your friends and make your farm

grand and beautiful, you want to make sure you have access to all the things Farmville has to

offer. You wouldn’t want to be stuck with tons of coins but unable to buy that villa just because

you’re level is low.

4. Higher Level = More land = More Crops = Faster Leveling = More Coins/More Free time

As you progress throughout Farmville the plot of land available to you also increases. This

means you can plant more crops, earn more coins, earn more experience, and save you time!

What a game breaker!

Page 50

The Secret to Leveling Faster

If you have played Farmville for quite some time you have probably come into a situation where your

farm really isn’t leveling as fast as you would like, and are slowly stockpiling thousands and thousands

of coins. Whenever I check through my friends Farmville’s and see this happening I will always take the

time to give them some friendly advice. Basically, if there is a huge stockpile of gold that isn’t being

spent there should only be one reason. This is only done when a player is saving for something

expensive such as the million dollar villa.

To be put simply, if you have loads of money in the bank, and you’re not saving for something, it’s

being wasted! If this is you, the following trick will really bring your farm to new heights:

1. Calculate the amount of coins needed to plant and plough your desired crops. This amount

should be kept with you at all times in case your current crops wilt and you receive no income

from harvesting them. If you are VERY SURE (EXTRA STRESS ON THIS POINT) that you will be

able to harvest your crops in time.

2. To Calculate the amount of coins you will need, first find out the size of your farm (eg 14x14),

next choose what crop you will be planting next (eg Tomatoes). The formula for calculating

how much will need is:

(Price of crop + 15 Plough Fee) X Total Area of Farm

Using a 14x14 Farm with tomatoes as an example:

(100+15) X (14X14) = 115X196 = 22540

3. Spend all your remaining coins on buying Hay Bale (located under the decorations tab in the

market), at 100 coins per piece they will give you 5 experience points and can be sold for 5

coins, therefore giving you 5 experience for 95 coins.

Use this list on special occasions when you know you only have a very small window of time

where you can plough and harvest.

Best Crops by Harvesting time

Best 2 hour crop: Raspberries

Best 4 hour crop: Blueberries

Best 8 hour crop: Tomato

Best 12 hour crop: Carrot

Best 1 day crop (24 hour) crop: Sunflowers

Best 2 day crop (48 hour) crop: Broccoli

Best 3 day crop (72 hour) crop: Red Wheat

Best 4 day crop (96 hour) crop: Yellow Melon

Higher Levels (20+)

Lots of Time: At this point planting tomatoes is the most efficient crop for you to plant even though it

only needs to be harvested every 8 hours.

Little Time: Tomatoes might be an option for you, if not plant coffee/carrots/sunflowers.

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Pretty neat! I am glad I came across this article on Farmville tips, and was able to share with other "farmers".

Percentiles Schmentiles...

Our daughter is 15 months old now and after her checkup today, she weighs in at the 7 percentile! Eek!? is that too little? Not so much, my family is on the smaller side growing up to begin with, so it is genetics. But still, there is that concern of feeding Kara (our daughter) enough and having her grow at the right "percentile" Andrew and I are new parents... never raised a child before and had someone depend on us to feed them or help them grow.

It was much easier having a dog. With our dog we feed him twice a day a dish of dog food, and keep his water bowl filled. Piece of cake. The vet doesn't worry about percentiles or growth spurts in a dog. Now we are raising a little person and feeding her to grow. This is a hard part in being a parent. This past year has been sort of easier sticking to portions and when she was eating bottles of baby formula, it was an 8 oz bottle at a time.

Now Kara has finger foods, cheese, milk, some baby jar foods and all sorts of food options to choose from when it comes to feeding her. It is getting overwhelming, just a bit. Who knows, maybe you (the readers of this blog) have a baby/child that you are wanting some good eating tips and health information on what to feed little kids? I thought I would share with you what I found in an article that Andrew came across.

Here are some helpful tips for feeding kids: I took the following bits of information out of the article, http://www.askdrsears.com/html/3/T030800.asp

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After a year of rapid growth (the average one-year-old has tripled her birth weight), toddlers gain weight more slowly. So, of course, they need less food. The fact that these little ones are always on the go also affects their eating patterns. They don't sit still for anything, even food…

Since erratic eating habits are as normal as toddler mood swings, expect your child to eat well one day and eat practically nothing the next. Toddlers from one to three years need between 1,000 and 1,300 calories a day, yet they may not eat this amount every day. Aim for a nutritionally-balanced week, not a balanced day…

Use a compartmentalized dish, and put bite-size portions of colorful and nutritious foods in each section. Call these finger foods playful names that a two-year-old can appreciate, such as:

• apple moons (thinly sliced)
• avocado boats (a quarter of an avocado)
• banana wheels
• broccoli trees (steamed broccoli florets)
• carrot swords (cooked and thinly sliced)
• cheese building blocks
• egg canoes (hard- boiled egg wedges)
• little O's (o-shaped cereal)

Place the food on an easy-to-reach table. As your toddler makes his rounds through the house, he can stop, sit down, nibble a bit, and, when he's done, continue on his way. These foods have a table-life of an hour or two.

...6. Cut it up. How much a child will eat often depends on how you cut it. Cut sandwiches, pancakes, waffles, and pizza into various shapes using cookie cutters.

...10. Respect tiny tummies. Keep food servings small. Wondering how much to offer? Here's a rule of thumb – or, rather, of hand. A young child's stomach is approximately the size of his fist. So dole out small portions at first and refill the plate when your child asks for more. This less-is-more meal plan is not only more successful with picky eaters, it also has the added benefit of stabilizing blood-sugar levels, which in turn minimizes mood swings. As most parents know, a hungry kid is generally not a happy kid.

11. Make it accessible. Give your toddler shelf space. Reserve a low shelf in the refrigerator for a variety of your toddler's favorite (nutritious) foods and drinks. Whenever she wants a snack, open the door for her and let her choose one. This tactic also enables children to eat when they are hungry, an important step in acquiring a healthy attitude about food.

12. Use sit-still strategies. One reason why toddlers don't like to sit still at the family table is that their feet dangle. Try sitting on a stool while eating. You naturally begin to squirm and want to get up and move around. Children are likely to sit and eat longer at a child-size table and chair where their feet touch the ground.

...15. Make every calorie count. Offer your child foods that pack lots of nutrition into small doses. This is particularly important for toddlers who are often as active as rabbits, but who seem to eat like mice.

Nutrient-dense foods that most children are willing to eat include:

• Avocados
• Pasta
• Broccoli
• Peanut butter
• Brown rice and other grains
• Potatoes
• Cheese
• Poultry
• Eggs
• Squash
• Fish
• Sweet potatoes
• Kidney beans
• Tofu
• Yogurt

FACEINHOLE .com

This web site Faceinhole.com is so hillarious. I edited Andrew's face into a "Body builder video"

It looks real and so funny! I also have made a variety of photos using the site and editing photos to the pictures.

http://www.faceinhole.com/show.asp?id=e2b937da6eb392b19b

Click on link and click the play button, to watch Andrew as a "body builder!"

Taken Out of Context Could Be Really Naughty

I was at a place talking to a guy...

Guy: I need to get up under there but don't have the proper tools

Me: Can I come back another time to have you get the job done?

Guy: You would have to go somewhere else...because this model is older and doesn't have easy access to the filter.

Me: my body is built differently and too old to get access to it?

Guy: other models have easy access to it and I can get under there and be done in 30 seconds.

Me: You can't get any access to my body? and get the job done?

Guy: I don't have the proper tool to use on your body type...

I was at Jiffy Lube getting an oil change and also planning on getting a Fuel Filter replacement. With my car being a 2000 Mazda its model has the filter in a spot where it needs a tool of some kind to be taken out and replaced. other models have the filter in a spot to easily remove the filter or whatever. my car of course is built to where he can't get to the filter. Darn it! I will have to go to an Auto shop to get the job done...wish I knew more about fixing cars and could just crawl up under there and replace the filter myself! ARRRRG!

Some times when life gives you lemons you just have to make lemonade to make better. It is a bittersweet moment. I have been off and on wanting to transfer out of my current job location and move on to a another job. I want to eventually become a supervisor and at my current job after 3 and a half years of trying to succeed I cant seem to get anywhere and move up in the company. I also work where it is a long commute from my home. It is a half hour drive both ways. Ideally I would like to work at a hotel closer by about 15 or less miles away. Finally I have had the courage to quit my current job and try applying to other hotels. Make this a clean slate and start fresh. I will miss the regular guests that I have come to know by name and they stay each week at our hotel. They will be the people I miss the most, as well as SOME of my coworkers. Some coworkers I have made a friend ship out side of work to hopefully keep hanging out together once I leave. I called my manager today to see how to officially quit and if there was any paper work needed to fill out. I do need to turn in my two sets of ugly, ill fitted, uncomfortable uniforms. I will gladly hand those over.

I was looking online today and see that there are allot of possibilities for me to apply for. I hope to find a new job soon. Some would say that I should have held onto my current job while I look for another. I tried that though. Back in January and February I was looking for jobs and couldn't find much. My motivation to continue looking was fizzled out because I was at the comfort of having my current job. I eventually stopped looking for a different job opportunity and settled back to my job at the hotel of not moving up. I was settling for front desk agent and not getting any chance to grow. So I think if I quit and move on completely, then the job market will look better for me, and I will be more motivated to stick with it on finding a new and improved job in Hospitality. I want to move forward and not get stuck on settling any longer.

Teen Sails the World!

Jessica Watson's Website/fan info

An amazing teen, Jessica Watson sails around the world in 7 months. She sailed solo with no assistance. I am flabergasted by her story. It amazes me what people can do when the set a goal and put there heart and soul into it.
Here is her blog:

Jessica Watson's Blog

Here is a note I wrote to her:

Dear Jessica,

I have a feeling I will be watching your story on either Oprah or Ellen show here in the states. I am very impressed and glad you are safe and almost back home. Congrats to you, even if the recorders stopped recognizing the "youngest" category. Controversy my a*s. I think you should at least get a couple of ribbons and a huge trophy then. I heard of your story of sailing around the world via the Yahoo posting. I will have to keep up with reading your blog. I only wish I knew of it 200+ days ago. :)

You've knocked them out of the water! Way to go Jessica! I am very proud of you, and I don't even know you. Just last night, I was talking to my husband, that our next trip out of country should be to Australia and go to Melbourne...and now I read this story of you sailing around solo, a very inspiring story. We most defiantly will have to take a trip over to Australia now...only we will fly or cruise over.

;) Martiel Hay

Our Easter Weekend!

We flew out to California for the Easter weekend, to visit with friends and family. I was nervous to see Andrews grandpa; he has since moved into a nursing home since we last saw him. He remembered us and was "with it" on the day we visit with him. He has been in and out of current time frame and been living mostly in the past, by reliving the memories as a current incident. I am just glad Kara was able to visit with her great grandpa again. The visit was lovely. When we got there we sat in the common area at a table with 4 chairs and other chairs along the walls and hall. At first it was just us in the sitting area, then little by little people started to gather. The elderly people were all admiring baby, Kara. She was in such a cheerful mood, waving to everyone, clapping her little hands, and babbling her baby talk. In a matter of minutes we had an audience.

The rest of the weekend we visited our folks. My parents came down and stayed in Westlake to visit with us. Saturday night we went out for sushi with our friends, Kara, and my mom and dad. Kara sat at the head of the table, and we would feed her bits of our sushi, like the avocado or cucumber bits. She had a fun time and behaved very well.

On Easter Sunday we went to a family friends house for Easter celebration. This was Kara's 2nd Easter (officially)... this year really counts more than last year to be able to enjoy it. There were other kids around her baby age so there was a separate baby egg hunt set up on the side grass/yard aside from the bigger kids looking for eggs. I got her some bunny ears for her to wear, as a headband...and left it back in Missouri. Drat, I didn't get any pics of her with the bunny ears on, but I did get plenty of other pics to post on here.

She loved the plastic Easter eggs, they fit perfectly in her little baby hands. The eggs all rattled with candy inside, and Kara would sit on the grass rattling her two eggs; one in each hand. We had to encourage her to go find some more eggs! "There are more eggs, right there Kara!" Then she got the hang of it and crawled all around the grass, scooping up eggs into a pile in front of her...We had a blast watching her find the eggs (in plane sight).

Later we were all sitting down for lunch and kids are still running around playing in the yard. I was eating egg salad and I thought one of the kids came up behind me jolting my chair, and when I looked back no one was there. About the same time I was questioning what was moving my chair, other people felt it too. Turns out we felt the Earthquake that happened in Mexico, a 6.2 on the rector scale at the time that we had all felt it. We were all the way up north in Camarillo, CA, to have felt part of that Earthquake. The funny thing was Kara didn't even wake up from it, she was napping in her car seat in a chair next to me. She slept through the big jolt. While she was sleeping, she held onto her two Easter eggs that she had been rattling earlier.

We had a fun filled weekend, with so much to do in the few days that we were in town. On our flight Monday going home, back to Missouri, Kara slept the whole flight.

Road Trippin to Nowhereville!

My heart is set on finding a reasonably priced sofa. Ideally I would like to get a sectional, leather sofa with chase. So far this past week I have been to 4 stores in search of THE sofa. I found a good candidate near my house about 15 minutes away at a furniture store for $798... THAT IS UNDER one thousand bucks, for Leather, Sectional, with Chase!

I want to call it a week and buy the thing. Andrew's coworker tells him about this furniture store up north in a town called Vandalia, MO, about an hour and a half away. Waters Furniture. I check out the website; This looks like a good idea to go ahead an go up to see for ourselves what great deal we can find on a leather sofa. Andrew is set on checking the store out first, before buying any sofa. According to his coworker, the store sells competitors sofas, etc. for way cheaper deals and it is worth checking it out. FINE.

Of course, Andrew is away in training this week... so who not to do the trip out to the store than me. I was planning on Google maps and a diaper bag, toss Kara in the car and driving up myself on my off day, Saturday. SO LUCKY I didn't go alone. This place is in the Boonies, middle of no where and in a small town that is one street long. There is nothing interesting about Vandalia, but its name. I like to say the word Vandalia.

My friend, Carissa and her two kids come with me and Kara and we make it a road trip. We have the directions printed out and Tom-tom for back up. As we are driving along, heading north it is nothing but: a long stretch of road and flat land, abandoned barns, grain silos, dead grass, a house here and there, some Pepsi factory or building of some sort and nothing else. Just totally desalinate. We are both thinking, "Where the heck are we going and this better be one awesome store once we get there." In my mind, I am picturing this store to be like a Home Depot style, with a warehouse of great sofas and chairs! When I had called the store on Friday for information, the sales gal told me there are 10 show rooms to select from. I am thinking, COOL! This is going to be great, Vandalia, here we come!

After an hour and a half of driving we are to make a right on Main Street and be blown away by this really great store that Andrew's coworker suggested we check out. BULL SHIT!

We drive into "town" and it is snowing! Turned right onto Main street, go up to the store... a guy from across the street pokes his head out and asks if we are here to buy a mattress? No? a Sofa sir, He tells us the sofas are here across the street in this building. Come on out of the snow!... Little flakes of snow rest upon Carissa's curls as she shook her head and wiped her feet on the welcome mat. The kids and I follow her in the store and have a good first impression to begin with. It is quaint, and well set up with all the furniture nicely displayed. I am glancing at the price tags, it is all priced at $1200 or more and a leather chair is priced at $900, and so on... WHERE are the cheap deals, and excellent prices we drove all the way up here to see. The "sales man" says look around and we have more sofas in three other buildings (shacks more like it) out back through this back door. There is the silver bldg, brick bldg, and the tan bldg all with sofas in em to check out...

What? this is a weird set up... having to go out side to other buildings and tromp around in the puddles and muddy gravel going from building to building. It was snowing out and we have to go back and forth? And with three kids in toe. This was getting to be ridiculous!

We go to check out the other buildings, which I think is what the sales lady on the phone had referred to as "showrooms"... Oh my God! Say it isn't so! Carissa and I are looking at each other and I am telling her, "sorry I dragged you all the way out here for nothing." She says, it is ok, and the road trip part is fun, don't worry...I guess I had to make this trip out here to give it a shot and consider it for a good deal.

So not worth the trip out north. The furniture was regular priced or more expensive than I had found locally. I had found much better deals in my own back yard, just 15 minutes away.

So we are heading out and it is about time to get the kids lunch somewhere. Driving around we have a Dairy Queen and a local diner to choose from in this town they call Vandalia. We had seen a McDonald's in the next town over so we decide to go there instead. Kara's first McDonald's experience. She ate some of the apple slices, and I peeled off the fried part of the chicken nuggets for her to eat also. I bought her a little kid size milk, but she didn't know how to use a straw. HAHA. I saved it for later.

In the end, Carissa and I basically took the kids for a 2 hour drive out to lunch at McDonald's. We got out groove on, listening to a Bob Marley CD. Her kids knew the words and sang along to, "Baby don't worry, about a thing" song. It was so cute when they sang along. Kara chimed in a couple of coos to! Fun times and ridiculous times.

Teeth

I was just thinking about the cycle of Teeth we go through. I am looking at Kara with her baby teeth growing in and how cute it is to watch her smile grow. She will be a year old this month on the 23rd, so far she has 3 1/2 teeth on her smile. Two on the bottom grew in first and one front tooth, now the other front tooth is growing in, and is half way poking through her gum. When she smiles it is a small collection of teeth and bare gums for her grin.

She has a whole mouth full of teeth to still grow. Then when she is in first grade or so, she will start to loose those baby teeth, after all that hard work and minor pain she went through. It doesn't seem fair. She then has to grow more teeth after loosing the baby teeth and get stuck with a school photo or two with a broken smile. The smile will show her missing tooth/teeth, stuck captured in a photograph for ever. I think it is amazing how teeth come and go.

Then, around high school age, the wisdom teeth decide to grow in and smoosh over the other teeth taking up too much room.. and the dentist says you have to get the wisdom teeth removed...Well then why are they even there in the first place? Our mouth can only hold so many teeth and it grows more than it can hold. I had all 4 of my wisdom teeth pulled out in one day. It was a piece of cake, and I don't remember any of it, in the end I had to eat jello and apple sauce for a while till my gums healed enough to chew again. I don't really know why our mouths havewisdom teeth in the first place? We go on living the first 20 years with out these teeth and only yank the teeth out when they do come in? So what is the point?!

Then once we reach the ripe old age of 70 or so we begin to loose all our teeth again and some people get the teeth replaced wtih dentures. They come full circle with teeth by that age.

Good luck little Kara with your cycle of teeth. It's an adventure.

It was just a dream

Dreams, what do they mean...?

This is the dream I just had:

Andrew and I were driving in the mountains, looking at such beautiful scenery and I was taking photographs as we passed breathtaking views. Then we are out of the car, walking around admiring the mountains. I see a moose and take pictures of it from far away...only to look up and see that the moose is getting closer. Andrew says, "that moose is walking towards us!" What do we do? I say, "but the moose is so far away in the photo I just took?" Andrew, "Look! The moose is right here, he's gonna get us!" I grab Andrews arm and jump back in the van. Andrew and I hop over the middle seat to the front and drive up the mountain, away from the moose. As we are driving there are tigers and leopards on the side walking around. Andrew is wondering what they are doing here in the mountains, and says, "Those are only suppose to be in Pennsylvania? What are they doing here in the mountains?" I reply, "I don't know, it's not like they know one state from the next, they just wondered over maybe. Keep driving we can't get out here where there are tigers!"

So we end up at the top of this mountain and pull up to a cabin with people in it and ask to come in and wait out the moose till it goes back down the hill so we can finish our hiking. They let us in and offer Andrew a cup of coffee. The coffee was some kind of Indian coffee made straight from the coffee plant leaves, like a tea is made and was 100% potent of pure, natural coffee. Andrew drank it out of politeness, but was having trouble drinking this very strong coffee. The old man who lives there, says he came up with this tea style coffee first and the Indians who also live in this mountains stole the idea from him years ago. Now everyone knows it as Indian Coffee, "Coffe-P-chu." The Indians are marketing it and selling it to the towns people. The old man is miffed that it was his creation and didn't get any credit for it.

This is all a dream and it was so detailed. When we were at the old mans place, I sat on the sofa with an umbrella stroller folded up lying on the floor in the way of my feet. I was also looking across the room at the wall where it looks like there use to be a door and now it was just a wood frame...this was such a weird dream, so detailed. What does this all mean?

Dissecting the dream:

I was watching the kids show yesterday where there was a moose that startled Emily and Little Bear. In the cartoon the Moose ends up being nice and they all play together. That would be the connection to the part of my dream with the Moose.

The part with the old guy making tea/coffee out of the coffee plant, and saying how it is a new idea popping up everywhere, that the Indians call "Cofe-P-Chu" may tie into what Andrew and I were talking about just before bed time. He was telling me more about that Legal version of Pot how it is sold commercially and it's legal to smoke it. It might not be legal for long and if we want to try it we should get it now, while it is still available as a legal substance.

I am hesitant about it, because apparently it is just like pot and "pure"and "natural" and the "high" that you get from smoking it last only a 1/2 hour, etc. I still don't think we should do it, just because it is legal. And we have Kara to be reposable for, I don't want to be high off some pure "legal" pot stuff, while Kara is in the house with us. This would have to smoked outside on the deck, and on an off day to recover from or have any odd side effects. I know I am thinking too much into this. It is just fishy that something similar to Pot is on the market AND it is LEGAL to smoke?

So in my dream Andrew is the one drinking this Pure and Natural Coffee that is 100% potent, stronger than any coffee out there. I am hesitant in my dream to even try the coffee. I think this is all tied together. It is funny how dreams can turn around reality moments and create a whole plot line for an adventurous dream as I sleep soundly.

I don't know what the tigers and leopards have to do with Pensylvania or why we were driving up a mountain in a van. Those parts are just dream fillers to go along for the story line. ;)

I'm Incognito Today.

I've gone incognito today. Here at work I am usually in uniform, working at the front desk of my hotel. I am usually seen by guests as a person who works there.

Today I was in regular, street clothes at work for a training class. Unless the guest was a frequent guest to know me out of uniform, the guests I passed in the halls did not know that I worked there. I almost felt like I was just another guest walking in the hall ways and also as part Undercover Agent. I felt like being out of uniform was a whole new spin on my work environment.

When I went to the ladies restroom, I was washing my hands and the guest at the sink by me made small talk. She was commenting how she liked the counter top and should get something like this put in her house. I mingled and small talked back with her, then as I left, I told her to enjoy the rest of her day. I still had the customer service attitude and chatted with her. I think if I was in uniform, maybe she would not have made small talk, or maybe she would see that I am an associate and ask me a hotel question? Then as I was in the cafe for to buy a cup of coffee, I was there with two of my other coworkers, who were also in their street clothes for the class, and we were all blending in as "guests". It was so weird to be at work out of uniform and secretly there, in a sense. I was incognito, and blended in for a change. Just out of habit though, I still greeted the guests in passing a, "good morning" and realized I didn't have to do so.

Grandparents are precious to have

Thank you to all the Granparents out there. I grew up with just one Grandma and she passed away back in 2000. Then when I married Andrew, his Grandma and Grandpa became my new set of grandparents. Kara is so lucky to have a slew of Grandparents. I want them all to know how very special you each are to her. My in-laws, Bob and Judi are her Grandma and Grandpa and my folks, Gail and Mitch are her Grandma and Grandpa. That is four grandparents! Then we also have Andrews Grandma, Kara wasn't able to meet. She passed away last year in 2009 when Kara was one month old. We visited the Thanksgiving holiday before that while I was pregnant with Kara and visited with Grandma Thelma. We still have Andrew's Grandpa Gordon which is Kara's Great Grandpa. He is 96 years old, so he just recently moved into an assistant living place and out of the big house that he has lived in for decades. He is starting to go and not making much sense these days. He talks about the past as if it were going on today, currently. A scary thing happened last month; he was waiting on the sidewalk of his house for a taxi to take him somewhere...luckily he didn't actually call for a real taxi, he just thought he did. If he were to actually go somewhere in a taxi, we would not have know where he went and he would go missing! It is so scary with situations like that where he was living alone at home. He is better being in the assistant living, but I don't know how much longer he will live? I hope he makes it till April in the Spring. We want to fly out to CA over Easter break and visit him agian (once more). I surely hope it will not be our last time visiting, and that he lives onto turn 100 even. But IF this is our last chance to visit I want it to be memorable for Kara. I just hope she remembers her Great Grandpa when she gets older, and has memories of visiting with him. ( I am getting all teary eyed) I have to think of better thoughts. and not get to caught up in Grandpa Gordon passing away. We don't know really when that sad day will come...could be yrs from now, or months.

On a happier note I started a Skype session with my folks to see Kara live on the Webcam. This is a free site to set up with your web camera and you can call people using the skype who are also on the skype to see each other. If you have Skype, let us know and we can set up a time to hop on there and you can see cute Kara. I'm starting the catch phrase, "Skype you later!" instead of the old school phrase, "See you later!" haha. a Modern twist to it. I coined the phrase, and take all the credit, hope it catches on.

click the link to check out and start a Skype Free account.
http://www.skype.com/download/skype/windows/?c=204

Let's Get the Girl Her DVD!

Door bell rings, the dog barks, I answer the door to a cute little girl holding a clip board and brochure to sell her Girl Scout Cookies. I decided to purchase one box of Thin Mints, $3.50. While I was filling out the cookie form, she tells me, "If I sell 1,000 cookies I get the DVD and ALL the prizes!" Cookie Sales have come a long way since I sold them as a Blue-bird. This was about 20 yrs ago when I sold cookies, door to door. Back then I was making a goal to sell a certain amount for a pink Dino stuffed animal and a Tootsie Roll brand piggy bank, that was filled with Tootsie Rolls. This girl is selling cookies for a DVD player! Sad to say, but, we didn't even know what a DVD player was back in the 1980's. Haha. Sometime at the end of February I will be getting my box of Thin Mints. I hope she makes her goal of 1,000 boxes to get all of the prizes!

I look forward to someday, Kara will be a Blue-bird or Girl Scout. She could go to camp and bond with the other girls. I look forward to so many adventures for Kara to grow up and get involved with.

Dear Kara

Dear Kara,

This is mommy, I want to tell you that I love you and I'm so proud of you learning new things everyday. You are growing up quickly. Currently you are a little over 9 months old and already you are Cruising around the coffee table, crawling all over the house, and eating solid foods. I am forever amazed by you. When you look up at me with your big smile and recognize that I am your mommy, it melts my heart. Thank you for being a happy baby so far, Daddy and I are extra lucky to have you as our daughter and we look forward to the many years to come.

There will be times, baby girl, that you think I am being a "mean Mommy" but rest assured that I am only trying to help you. Currently you have had a runny nose with little buggers and snot. I have to help you clear it all away and use a baby wipe or q-tip. As much as you hate it, I have to help you out. Mommy is not trying to torture you or be mean when wiping your nose. Know that. Because when ever I wipe your little baby nose I have to hold your head and wipe away, and you scream and cry. But you don't seem to understand I am only here to help. I am not trying to be a mean mommy. Please understand Kara.

One day you will look back on this blog, when you are able to read it, and laugh. I just want to document this and say I am sorry for wiping your nose and picking it with a q-tip. Years later there will no doubt be even other situations that you will fuss over and hate me helping you with. I am sorry in advance for those things too.

Love you my little sunshine.

Mommy