If you read this blog at all you know I tout the wonderfulness that is the dollar store. Most cheap stores are just that, cheap. They are usually dirty, filled with annoyed mothers, screaming children and messy shelves. Our dollar store is different. They have a ton of refrigerated items, fresh produce, school supplies and other seasonal stuff. All of it is in a well maintained, clean store. Since I do have 4 kids and one income, this store is a great source for us. On my last trip, I got bacon, brie cheese, huge jars of pickles and 1 lb bags of oscar meyer chicken lunch meat (the good kind) all for $1 each. Score! But I digress…

So the other day I took two of my kids and we were browsing as usual when the lights when out. All the power. Gone. I could hear an audible gasp through the store followed by lots of whispering. My oldest daughter was like “woohoo, shopping in the dark” but my son’s response surprised me. He turns to me with frightened eyes and asks me “what are we going to do?” I asked him what he meant. He said well the lights are out, so what are we going to do. I told him I was going to continue shopping and then hope they had backup power on by the time I was done. What really struck me was how nervous he sounded. He is 13 but sounded visibly shaken while my 10 year old daughter was hopping and bopping around the aisles in delight. Meanwhile back at my house my 14 year old was busy trying to convince my panicked 8 year old daughter that this was not a catastrophe and that Mom would in fact come home safe and sound shortly.

I guess the most interesting part was each individual reaction to the same situation. It reminded me how wonderfully diverse we all are. Needless to say, despite a few tears, everyone managed to live through the day the dollar store went dark. My oldest daughter is waiting for it to happen again… 

Today a lot of people, internet sites, companies and corporations are fighting back. New bills called Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and Protect Internet Protocol Act (PIPA) have become a threat to the freedom of the internet. Have no idea what I am talking about? Read here for SOPA.  Read here for PIPA. Those are the “official” bills. Reddit and Mashable have outlined the bill in “normal” language. Take a moment to check them out.

So what does it all mean? It means in an effort to stop online piracy they want to censor the web… and possibly you. A whole new set of rules meant to stop online piracy that potentially infringes on personal freedoms. There is a massive uprising both online and offline to vote this down. Internet mega-giants like Google, Wikipedia, Mozilla , Reddit , Flickr and many more are blacking out or altering their sites today in protest of this. Of course there are all of us “little people” blogging our hearts out too as well as those protesting in person. Curious about who else is supporting this? There is a huge listing on Sopastrike at the bottom of the page.

So what can you do? Call your local representative. Tell them you want SOPA and PIPA stopped. Don’t want to call? You can go to many of these sites that are protesting and sign online petitions. Please take a few minutes to read up on this bill and just a moment to sign or call.

Online petitions: Google Petition , Mozilla Petition , Sopastrike , Reddit , American Censorship

In the USA, we have a democracy. Let’s not forget what an important part of that you are!

de·moc·ra·cy
[dih-mok-ruh-see]
noun
1. government by the people; a form of government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised directly by them or by their elected agents under a free electoral system.

So the new year came and went uneventfully for me. Usually on new year’s day we make a giant breakfast and watch the Rose Parade. Well not this year. The Rose Parade doesn’t air on Sundays. Everyone in the universe knew this but me. They instead held it on Monday the 2nd. I guess that is what happens when you have a national tradition that is 123 years old, literally. It is interesting how old fashioned rules still effect us today. Kind of charming actually.

In other news….

Until January 9 at midnight, Zoya is having a promotion on their site to get two free polishes if you pay shipping (mine was $6.95). They have amazing polish in gorgeous colors so I figured it was worth mentioning. You can find their official post here . Want to try Zoya but have no idea where to start? Here are some links to polish swatches so you can see some of them in action.

Scrangie

Polish Addict

Happy shopping and happy new year! *tosses confetti*

Disclaimer: I have no affiliation with Zoya, I just thought it was a great offer.

Merry Christmas! Feliz Navidad! Joyeax Noel! Froehliche Weihnachten! Mele Kalikimaka! Buone Feste Natalizie!

….ok I can’t think of anymore lol

We are buried under the wrapping, baking and general madness of it here.  While I am swamped, I am secretly enjoying it. I hope you all have a wonderful time with friends and family.

Yesterday as I was reading my evening email two emails came through one right after the other with two charges on my paypal card that I had not made. After I got over my first mini heart attack I went looking at the charges online.  A few weeks ago I purchased an online membership for my daughter and these two new charges were from the same company (actually a bazillion dollar corporation). My first thought was that she bought something on her account that I didn’t know about. So I checked her account… nothing. I asked her and all the other kids…. nothing. So I had them all login and we checked their purchase histories. Nothing. Then I had another mini heart attack, you know, the kind you have when you realize someone has your personal financial information.

So I called this company’s help line and they were closed.  So I called Paypal and explained my mess. They walked me through the process with patience. They removed my charges, cancelled my card and set everything back up fresh. I am so used to bad customer service when you call helplines. You know what I mean… when you can’t understand the person speaking and they transfer you from person to person with no answer in sight. Well this was the opposite. I have to give kudos to Paypal for being so responsive and professional about confronting fraud issues.

In other news, we had a wonderful Thanksgiving.  We went up to my parents house and stuffed ourselves with copious amounts of food. My mom made a turkey with lots of herbs, while my sister and I brought along the sides and desserts. I must confess, I have a crack-like addiction to cranberry fluff. There is a reason I only make it a couple of times a year. I would devour eat it for every meal lol.

Happy belated Thanksgiving to any and all of my fellow Americans. I hope everyone got to spend good time with family and friends.