what REALLY satisfies?

Ok, if I asked you to tell me what you think is the most popular candy bar, what would you say? Would everyone agree with me that Snickers is probably the most popular candy bar? That is my opinion. Their motto says it all - Snickers really satisfies.

Well, last week, I went upstairs to get a Snickers from our snack machine. Now, whenever I crave a candy bar, it is ALWAYS a Snickers. I am pretty sure I don't ever crave anything else in the candy bar genre. So anyway, I went upstairs, stood in front of the snack machine, and studied the selections. Reese's pieces (mmm...but not today), Reese's Fast Break (nah), Caramello (I mean, really?), Payday (hello - no chocolate?!), Reese's Fast Break (again?? who eats these?), Hershey's Kissables (again, good, but not today)...OMGAH, where are the SNICKERS?! Surely there are Snickers bars in here somewhere. So I studied my options some more. Can it be? Are there really no Snickers in this blasted snack machine?? My greatest fear (at least at the time, anyway) had come true. Not a single Snickers bar in sight. Now, what kind of snack machine company would omit the Snickers selection from the machine? What company is this, and who do I write a letter to??

So I got a stupid Reese's Fast Break (since they were obviously really pushing them, having them in two different slots) and went back downstairs. Stupid Reese's. It wasn't even good. Has anyone had the Reese's Fast Break? Maybe it was just this particular bar, but I thought it was gross. I was disappointed. Anyway, so a couple of days later one of my co-workers tells me that the snack machine company ("Fresh to You") was here reloading the machines, if I wanted to ask them about the Snickers bars. So I went upstairs to find two college-aged kids reloading. "Great," I thought, "these guys have nothing to do with the candy bar choices. They have been hired purely for their muscle." I asked anyway. Do you know what the guy told me? He said that they had a run-in with the Hershey's/M&Ms company because they raised their prices. He said they raised their prices so high that it wouldn't be worth it to put the products in the machines anymore. Apparently, it would have cost the consumers more to purchase the bar at the machine than it would at the check-out line at Winn-Dixie. (Of course, at this point I am thinking, "Aren't ALL of these products priced more than at the check-out line at Winn-Dixie?")

So I guess Fresh to You was only looking out for me. Protecting me from The Man. I suppose if there had been a Snickers bar in the machine, even if it was priced $2, I probably would have wasted my money on it. So thank you, Mr. Fresh to You snack machine loader, for saving me a buck.

(Update: I have now purchased a Snickers bar from my local Winn-Dixie, and I plan to enjoy it this very afternoon.)

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Today I want to talk about a few of the little luxuries that make my life easier. These are a few of the simple things I enjoy in life. You will notice that most of these are products to make housework easier, and that is because my least favorite thing to do is housework.

1. Downy Wrinkle Releaser. I HATE doing laundry. In our house, we very rarely iron our clothes. If they look really bad, we will iron them, but that is definitely a last resort. Because I hate this task so much, our clothes usually end up sitting in the dryer for several days, only to be removed to allow us to dry another load of clothes. Even after the dry clothes are removed, they will sit in the laundry basket for another day or two, and when we finally fold them, they will sit on the couch for a few more days. We usually wear all of the clean clothes before they even make it to the drawers/closet. Sad, sad...Enter Downy Wrinkle Releaser. It works GREAT on those post-dryer wrinkles. You just spray it on, give the garment a little tug, and voila! The wrinkles are released. Hence the name. Works great for bedding also. Thank you, Downy.

2. Lysol Toilet Clings. Ok, I know these things look stupid because I have little blue hangy-down things in my toilet bowls, but I don't care. Lysol promises on the package that their toilet clings help disinfect and deodorize your toilet, and they were right. I recently tried using Glade, because I like the smell better, and my toilet didn't stay clean as long as it does with Lysol. It's true - you really don't have to clean the toilet as often when you use them. And they smell good too. Ya know...for all of those times you stick your nose in the toilet. Thank you, Lysol.

3. Swiffer Dusters and Endust Multi-Surface Wipes. Of all the household chores, dusting is my least favorite by far. I would rather scrub a toilet than dust. It's so annoying to have to move everything off the furniture in order to clean everything. At any given moment, you could probably stop by our house and find a thin layer of dust on our furniture & knick-knacks. (Along with the folded laundry on the couch.) Anyway, Swiffer Dusters are really great for the anti-duster. When you look at them, you think, "nah, it won't work that well." Wrong, my friend. They are great. And for your wood furniture and electronics, Endust multi-surface wipes are convenient & effective for giving it that slight sheen and protecting it from dust. And I love the way Endust smells. Thank you, Swiffer and Endust.

4. Glade's Clean Linen scent. Ahh...air fresheners. I love for my house to smell good. It may have dust all over, but it's gonna smell good. And what better smell than clean linen? I can trick people into thinking I actually do laundry. :-) Freshly washed laundry, despite the fact that I hate doing it, is my absolute favorite smell ever. When Glade came out with the Clean Linen scent, I bought everything I could find in that scent. I have the carpet freshener, the scented oil plug-ins, the regular plug-ins, the glass scents (for my desk at work), and the spray air freshener. I am holding my breath for the car scented oil to come in Clean Linen scent. Thank you, Glade.

5. Jergens Shave Minimizing Lotion. I have hairy legs. Sorry if that grosses you out, but it's true. I could probably grow a 5 o'clock shadow on my legs if I wanted to. That is, of course, if I didn't use this lotion. The claim on the bottle says that it helps you shave less often. This isn't exactly true for me, because the hair on my legs grows so fast, but for a normal person it would probably do just that. Anyway, since it's summertime and I'm wearing skirts, capris, and shorts, this works great to keep my legs feeling smooth & freshly shaven all day long. (Ok Jergens, where's my endorsement check??) I definitely make sure I use this lotion during the summer months when there is a good chance people will see my legs. Thank you, Jergens. (Update: I am now freaking out because in searching for the link, I discovered that this lotion is being discontinued! Agh!!!)

So those are a few products I endorse that help to make my life a little easier. Of course the list could go on & on, but these are just some I thought I would share. If you have not already, I encourage you to try a few. Unless you are a guy, in which case you probably don't need the Jergens. Well, not for your legs, anyway...

a real vacation

Ok, so you know how sometimes you go on vacation, only to come back more tired than you were before you left because you tried to cram so many activities into your trip? Well, our family vacation at Vogel State Park each summer is NOT one of those vacations. This is the kind of break everyone needs at least once a year. Actually, I'd like to have one at least once a month. It's so relaxing...there's no TV, no telephone...just a cabin, the family, LOTS of food, playing games, and spending time admiring God's wonderful creation. I have two favorite places I've ever been, and this is one of them. Here are a few pics from our trip...

r-rated job

Ok, first of all, if you haven't read my post from yesterday, please scroll down & read it. I am disappointed at the number of comments I got in response to the most exciting news I have ever posted about on my blog. I mean, really - I got more comments about the stupid anorak than I did about my brother getting engaged?! Anyway, YEA MARK & LINDSAY!!!

But I digress...what I really wanted to talk about is my R-rated job. We are always talking about how we shouldn't watch certain movies because of the violence, the sexual content, and, probably most commonly, the language. We are exposed to so much foul language these days!! When Baron & I were at Jubilee, I could not believe how many times I heard the f-word coming from the mouths of kids! Call me naive, but it's just shocking. After today, I am starting to realize the place where I hear the most bad language. The office. Now, most of the time it is in the form of "mild" curse words (if there are "mild" curse words?). But today, my ears have been exposed to numerous cases of the f-word. I have one co-worker in particular who does not hesitate to drop the f-bomb. This morning, she said "f-ing" but she didn't actually say the curse word. She actually said "f-ing". What?! That was probably the dorkiest thing I've ever heard. Anyway, following that comment, I immediately heard a string of other curse words come from her mouth. All day long, I have heard nothing but complaining & cursing from her. She claims she is having a bad day because it's 06/06/06. It was kind of a "ha, ha, yeah that's funny" comment, but I honestly think she actually believes it. It's just starting to become really exhausting to hear someone complain ALL the time, EVERY day, and most of the complaining is occupied by a string of curse words. I just don't think I should have to listen to it. I generally think of myself as a pretty positive person, but I can feel the effects of being around such negative people for 8 hours a day, 5 days a week. I pray that my attitude is not reflective of theirs. I pray that I can be positively influential enough to overcome their negative attitudes. And I also pray that I don't go crazy sitting here listening to them every day. :-)

And yes, I do realize that I am now complaining about people complaining.

I have to go now. I just heard the f-word again so I am going to go cut my ears off.

the newest addition to our family!

Yep, that's right! We have big news in our family. In a few months, we'll have a new family member. Mark & Lindsay got engaged this weekend! We were on vacation at Vogel State Park in North Georgia when he popped the question. I'd like to put it on the record that I called it. No, I didn't know he was going to do it (he kept a pretty good secret), but I guessed it might happen while we were there. It is, after all, his favorite place to be. Anyway, he did it right after the bluegrass concert at the pavillion, which ended with an exciting rendition of "Y'all Come". Oh, and Lindsay did say yes. As you can imagine, we were all shocked & thrilled to hear the news! [Of course I wasn't quite as shocked since I predicted it...nevermind the crying I exhibited :-)] Here is a picture of the ring, the happy couple at the spot of their engagement, and a pic of the location in the daytime so you can see it.

I will also have some more pics from our vacation once this blogger thing quits trippin' and I can get my slide show to work.