This iPod Touch has Mikela's Name on It

OK, so I've been sweeping like crazy since Christmas - not meaning that I have been cleaning my house, but that I've been entering sweepstakes. It began when I googled to see if there were any iPod Touch sweeps online so that I could win one for my granddaughter Mikela, who had her heart set on getting one for Christmas, but didn't (see earliest blog below). I'm happy to announce that on April Fool's Day, I became the proud winner of an iPod Touch during the Oberto's Ultimate Alpha Zone Sweepstakes. When I told Mikela, she hit an operatic whoop for a solid 30 seconds. No foolin'!






The question of this hour is: Will I keep sweeping now that I've reached my original goal - or will I move on to the next round? Easy enough: My Ford Taurus is 10 years old. I can't decide if I'd rather have the All-American Rejects' Honda, the Pink Panther's Smart Car coupe or one of the three Priuses being given away right now. Gander Mountain's Dodge Ram truck looks great, but I've never driven a truck before, so I might have to barter that one. Oh, well, beggars can't be choosers. But sweepers can be winners!



HEY, LITTLE GECKO GUY!

What's funny is that I won a second prize on April Fool's Day: the Geico Gecko Pack given away by Gena M at http://themorrisbunchblog.com/. This one's for me - at least, the little Gecko bobblehead! I love that little guy - I hope that's not the only reason I have Geico insurance. Gena's blog contest was really fun - it went "live" and set an end time at 200 comments with no limits on how many comments you could post, only that each one had to be relevant to the contest. My competition included some fast-and-furious dueling mommas, but I had random pick on my side that day and took home the prize.







MIKELA'S VIDEO ON THE MONK THEME
HAS BEEN VIEWED NEARLY 900 TIMES
ON YOUTUBE!!!

In deference to Monk's OCD, I posted 900 so that this would be a nice even number. He would also be pleased to know that this video is exactly 1:00 long (although it sometimes comes up as 1:01 - but don't tell him).

ONE CALL ALLOWED FOR ROYAL CARIBBEAN'S CLUES TO THE CRUISE SWEEPSTAKES

Two days ago, I came across the new sweep by Royal Caribbean that ordinarily would not draw me in because it takes more than 20 seconds to enter. I've never taken a cruise, and really have no desire to take one, but the contest starts out with really fine animation of a big ship that looks like the Love Boat. Posted on its stern (or bow?) are 25 squares, and out of curiosity I clicked on one. A word game similar to Wheel of Fortune popped up. Curiously, there were no letters to scramble and when I clicked, no real help.

Well, the shortened version is I became addicted to figuring it all out. Some clues took me to a youtube video, some to the advertising posted on the game site. The one that really impressed me was a clue that popped up in the advertising to the right of my yahoo mail center. I never look at the stupid ad videos that slow down my mail, but this had the image and the letters I was trying to unscramble. Great scot, I thought, do they have so much control of our computers now that they know which clue I'm working on and send it to yahoo when I check my messages. No, I reasoned, it's a big contest and they know I play games, so it's a coincidence. Whatever, I was glad for the letters.

Again, cutting to the chase, I worked quite a few hours (doesn't the time fly when you're playing games?) and got down to several games of skill I just couldn't beat. One was a maze with a bunch of Hs, and you have to collect all of them. Another was a bunch of flags you have to puzzle back together. The third was several rows of deliciously looking smoothies that need to be sipped down before they spill over. Dang, I couldn't get any of them. So, like the Slumdog Millionaire, I made my one call. Naturally, it was to my 12-year-old granddaughter.

"Mikela, are you on your computer?" Yes. "Go to cluesforthecruise.com and click on No. XX." My daughter interrupted and said it was nearly time to leave for their dinner invite. "Well, just try it once and see if you think it's beatable." She called me back in three minutes and said it was done. OMG! She solved the Coke puzzle while she was telling me about the Hs. I told her to take a look at the flags. "Gotta go, Grandma. Mom insists." All right. Do it when you get back.

While she was out dining with the millionaires from Wyoming, I figured out how to beat the glasses. I stopped reasoning on which one to click on to empty and clicked my mouse like a maniac without a brain.

I got a call at 9. It was from my son. He was trading in one boat for a bigger one with beds and a cabin I could sit in to get away from the sprays of water. It was big enough now he could go cobia fishing in the gulf with it. Did the sweeps time this call, too, so that I would be lured into an adventure in the sea? As the contest states, "Why not?"

At midnight, I got a call from my granddaughter. She solved the last square! Wow. I had tried to beat that puzzle all evening without success. "So, Grandma," she asked, "what can we win?" "I'm not too sure," I said, but mostly cruises to the Caribbean and Mexico. There's also one to Alaska, but if we win that one, I'm not going. I can't imagine being around glaciers." "Me either," she said, even though she lives in the heart of Colorado ski country. Goodnight, and great job.

Confessions of a Sweepaholic

My name is Ann and I'm a Sweepaholic. I wasn't always like this. I used to play Yahoo games. I was able to limit myself to mainly Bejeweled and Tiptop. I could stop after two hours. Then people started laughing at me for playing games, told me what a waste of my good brain that was. Sure, I said, but it might keep Alzheimer's at bay (but not RSI at my keyboard). I got so good. Sometimes the game would take so long, I'd have to take a nap and continue later. I could play for money, I reasoned, but I wasn't that good. I needed to direct my energy into something that could yield a buck or two while wearing pajama bottoms and a long-sleeved shirt.

That's when the neuron telling me to make money and the neuron wanting money to yield to my granddaughter's wish for an iPod Touch collided, and I googled. I've written about how I found Walmart's "11 Moms" each giving away an iTouch. It was like a free sample of crack cocaine, introducing me to the seriously Type A world of Mom bloggers. I was a mom like them 30 years ago. I qualified.

Then I won something. It wasn't one of the iPods, but it was a Flip camcorder, and I know my granddaughter would love it. She was elated. I was hooked. Then I won $14 in Kraft coupons, one of which was for Triscuits, my all time favorite cracker. My favorites bar became peppered with daily entries: iPod 1-5, Prius 1-3, a year's supply of Annie's, Olive Garden's trip to Italy. My next win was a $700 gift card to Dick's Sporting Goods. Hurray - a bike for both Teresa and Mikela and some boating items for my son. This is cool. Next I want to win a designer handbag for Jodi, who's on a limited budget, and maybe a watch for myself (my Timex keeps ticking but it's falling apart). Jodi also wants me to win a trip to NYC, and I would enjoy that, too.

I've never been into fashion or makeup or designer this or that, but I just had to watch the Confessions of Shopaholic movie. I see how similar we are - she maxes out her credit card and I max out my entries to win the same things. The difference is she wants all this stuff for herself. I just want to pass these items on to my friends and family members who actually love this stuff. In other words, I enter giveaways to give away. I love it! But I'll have to stop discussing this for now. Madberries and March Madness sweeps are calling me.