And the race is on...

Yep, the contest for the trip to California for the Disneyland adventure for the best family photo just started, literally twenty minutes ago and runs until November 6th, 2011

I am trying to attempt to add a widget here for my webpage. Please vote us. I do also return votes, for any other sweepstaker that needs votes on their contest entry. Please just send me an email or make a comment here...it does come to me and I will get in touch with you, if you leave your email of course. I honestly do love to support others in this hobby. It's a wonderful way to make friends.








That should take you right to the voting and I will also add, that you may have to actually sign up before voting. I know that this can be a drag, and I hope and pray that this does not discourage anyone from voting. It takes a couple of minutes and then that's it..or at least it should be, and then you vote. Viola! Please pass this one to your family, friends, co-workers, anyone you can think of really. I have no shame, and I need a vacation, so that I am not tempted to embarrass my one and only daughter (and my loving husband) into another contest, just so we can get away from everything and get a break, so I don't break. Seriously, I so either wanna win this contest or sleep for a week.

Nothing else much to write about. It's the beginning of the week and I pray that it's a better one than last week. All I kept thinking was is this PMS or Grieving..kind of like is it real or is it Memorex? You remember those commercials for wait for it... cassette tapes? I know them young-ens have no clue what the heck I'm talking about, right? But last week was not one of my better ones and I am praying that I can focus on more important things, like how to up my votes and maybe clean my house..I don't know about that second choice...it's never one I like to choose...so I think I will be focusing on how to get votes for my wonderful, but scary family photo so I can go to Disneyland!

Can I Sink Any Lower?

Is it even possible for a little person to go lower than what they already are? That's kind of a stupid question I know. What could I possibly be talking about? Well I went and entered another voting contest. You would think I would get it through my thick head that I don't do well in voting contest and never enter another one ever again...However, I tend to forget and do it again and again. Short Memory. It comes with the height, so what can I say really..except please vote for me when the contest starts on October 24th maybe?

This time it's for a local TV Station and it's wanting local people to submit family photo's..like group shots. Well, I looked through all my digital photos on Picasa 3 and do you know what? We only have about TWO of all three of us (My husband, daughter and myself) all in one photo. Pretty sad huh? Well, remember that sadness and take pity on me and vote..Please? Pretty Please? With sugar on top and topped with Chocolate sprinkles? (I hate cherries..that's why it's topped with Chocolate sprinkles)

The grand prize (and I believe only prize, but I could be wrong about that) is a family trip to Disneyland in California. Now my daughter and I did get a chance to go there this past summer to Disneyland because of attending the National LPA convention, which was being held in Anaheim, CA and we got to enjoy California Adventure park (I love the fact that it literally is so close from Disneyland, you can walk to it) and Disneyland itself. However, my husband was unable to attend and I would really love for our family to get a chance to have a break from everything that we've been through this past, well...almost a year now. I still can't believe that time keeps ticking on, when I think of it all...but that's how life is, right?

BUT I will say in advance two things. ONE: The photo that I submitted, please keep in mind I really don't have any other "family photo's", so I went with what I had and TWO: I should be the poster child for NOT taking AMBIEN and then entering contests. Because that's what I had done and then totally forgot about entering. When I got the email today that it was accepted and I clicked on the link, well...I kind of freaked out. But in a good way and I did have to fess up to my husband about it. Thank goodness he's a fun guy and doesn't let things like this embarrass him. Now our daughter on the other hand has made me promise not to link it to her friends, which are also my friends on facebook. So I had to create a group called "Youngsters" which includes all of my daughter's friends, in case I want to post something a bit more mature or embarrassing for her. :) i.e this photo.

I will also be posting it to the "TWITTER" when the voting begins. A few other Twitter people/family/split personalities will also be twittering about it too. Here are some of the names of their Twitter accounts, if you should so desire to follow them.

Angelspice25
Mommybird1998
HandHuggies
LittleSweeper
Mini_Mynx
jsmanning
ShortShopper
Wombatbear

Yes we have quite a few of us on the Twitter, don't we? The main one I've been posting for this blog is LittleSweeper, but I've also been known to post a lot under Mommybird1998. If you have any difficulties finding me/us/them with those names, please let me know your twitter name and we can follow one another and be BFF's! I promise I will be your best friend..HONEST!

So here's the link. I also want to say that I am not responsible if you have a drink in your mouth at the time of viewing and thus spewing your liquid/spit all over your computer/laptop monitor. You might not find it amusing at all. But compare it to the other people's entries and give me your honest opinion about it. I'm bored and I know I don't really update this blog a lot..but we wants more friends and someone out there's reading, right? btw..HI DAD!

Click HERE

Thank you again in advance for any and all votes. Please feel free to share that link on facebook/twitter/blogs/snail mail/ESP and of course the ever popular word of mouth. BUT no verbal Diarrhea. That would stink. No pun intended...well, maybe a little. What can I say, that's how I roll. Seriously..I roll..on a scooter..everyday.

Voting doesn't actually begin until October 24th and runs until Nov 6, 2011. I will also be trying my hardest to start posting more here, since I am now on some better medication and I don't feel like sleeping my life away, like I had been doing. Even though I will admit sleep is my crack and I do have a strong case of the sticky mattress.

In other news, which I will give more details later..but it seems like my husband is in the lead for wins this year in our family. Also is it bad that when my daughter turned 13 a short while ago, I was so happy...because it meant I could enter more sweeps in her name? I even bought her own address labels for the snail mail entries. I was so happy, I almost cried. I think I did actually cry. My baby is growing up. (And it also means that her entering Radio Disney contest/sweeps will soon be a thing of the past) HEY! What can you expect from me on this blog anyways? It's a Sweepstakes blog remember?

But please don't think I am criticizing you or anything like that and you suddenly think "WTF?" and not vote for us...I will totally kiss butt...I can be very good at it, and I think it may have something to do with the fact that I was born to be the right height to kiss your butt.

Back in the saddle again!

Sounds like it could be song, couldn't it? Oh wait..I think it already is. Oh well! LOL.

Basically that's what today has felt like to me. My child started school today and is now in middle school. Soon to be a teenager (Lord help me) While we've all enjoyed the break from getting up early every morning to take our child to school, it's now been long enough to where we were all ready for school to start back. :) Our child wanting to see her friends and she also somewhat enjoys learning. Especially if it involves reading, which makes me so proud, as I was a BIG reader when I was her age as well.

For my husband, I think he's hoping that his pain levels can be sorted out or something, so that he can feel better again. If anyone who reads this blog believes in prayers, please keep my husband in your prayers, that his health can and will improve. He so wants to get back to cooking dinners for us again and he has told me that he feels totally useless, which is totally untrue. However, I do also understand that when you are suffering from pain and nothing you do or take seems to help, it's hard on your mentally. Stevie's been under a lot of stress as well and to be honest, I miss my fun loving, playful husband.

Now as for me, today meant that I am now trying to get back in the saddle of entering my sweepstakes on a more regular basis than what I have done recently. Not that I quit entirely, because I haven't. But I remember a couple of years ago, I used to enter 2-3 hours online sweepstakes each and everyday (including Sunday's) for over a year. I got plenty of small/med and even one or two large prizes during that time, but since I've slacked off entering, so have the prizes coming to my door. I haven't had that sense of excitement when the doorbell rings between certain times ( the times when I know UPS and FedEx delivers in our area) or when I check my mail or e-mail. I would love for that hopefully feeling to once again return in my life, so that it brights up our day, even if it's a T-shirt that we think is cute or make-up that I have to fight over with my daughter.

I haven't done much online entering today, but I did mail my 11+ entries (my # of entries that I decided to try and enter every day during this year, if possible) but I've also been concentrating on entering more Text Sweepstakes. I really enjoy winning those for some reason. But one of the reason's why I haven't entered a lot of online sweepstakes today is because this being our child's 1st day of school, plus we had Merry Maid's coming over to help clean our messy house. I can honestly say even though I hate paying the amount that we do, to have someone clean our house. It sure is a very nice feeling to look around and feel like we live in a nice/clean area and it takes stress that you didn't realize was on your shoulders, off. And in my opinion, that's really important for my husband to feel that right now.

BUT back to sweepstaking. Has anyone watched the TLC High Stakes Sweepstakers show that started on August 14th, 2011? If so, what is your opinion of it? I would love to know what other people think. So please feel free to leave me a comment. I love getting comments on this blog, even though they are few and far between. I am not your typical blogger I suppose. I don't advertise this blog, as some blogs are a dime a dozen and I don't want to be lost in the crowd or try to be something I'm not.

This blog was mainly created to share my love of this hobby. And boy do I love this hobby. It's helped not only us but people close to us, enjoy things that they might not otherwise enjoy or had at all. Especially during the Holiday season. I am also hoping and praying that My lucky sister will win another trip and take me with her.

She called me yesterday to give me some news. The first things she said is "I'm starting to get a little scared" of course, this made my heart skip a beat, as I have no clue what the heck she's referring to, but then the little snit said it was her third day in a row of winning instant wins. The 1st win was a $25 Gift Card to Sports Authority, the 2nd win was a $25 Gift Card to Macy's (I love Macy's and then the 3rd win on that day of her phone call, she won a $100 Gift Card to Sports Authority! That little snot!

Just kidding Sissy! :) I am actually truly happy for my sister, as she had stepped away from entering since our Mom passed away and she told me last week that she finally felt like she wanted to start back with entering. She only enters online sweepstakes and I think she's made a fabulous start and I can only hope and pray that she continues with her winning and maybe will even win a trip and will take me her TB (Travel Buddy)

I think in this week's mail brought a coupon for free skittles to my husband, even though it's our child that will claim it, as she has a big thing for skittles. I don't know if she really thinks she can taste the rainbow or if it's just a big sugar high, but we all have our vices and at least ones that involve sugar, I can handle. I just pray that while she is in her new school God continues to protect her and keep her away from any and all that might lead her down a bad road that she can't come back from. But I know that God does watch over all of us. I just have to continue to remind myself and to keep up my relationship with him, as it's so important.

Well it is now officially past my bed time..or rather my new bed time, and I am so very tired. I keep having acid reflux and I can honestly say..this crud is getting old! I go to my doctor on Wednesday, so if you could also pray that everything goes well for me on that day too, in regards to my health I would be most appreciative

Until next time, which hopefully will be sometime this week!
~Cheers~

Getting back into the swing of things

Well, it's taken me sometime to come back to this blog, but here I am. I thought I would post an update on what's been going on in my life, as well as Sweepstaking news and information to share with those who might be interested.

The last time I posted on here was back on May 11, 2011. Since that time, my child is no longer in school and has been enjoying her summer off from homework, teachers, etc. The only negative thing is she's been bored on more than one occassion and has to suffer with watching Netflix, reading books, surfing the internet, playing World of Warcraft, facebooking, etc etc, etc..such a horrible summer, right?

Actually she really hasn't complained (much) and we even took time, just the two of us to take a trip to California for the National LPA convention. This year it was in Anaheim, CA and we drove out there. Yep! Just the two of us. Thank God my van didn't break down (it did give me a scare when the check engine light came on though) but my scooter charger did break and that caused some problems on the way back through Las Vegas, NV but all of it ended up well..except for a lost beanie hat that I refused to go back for at the 7-11, where my daughter dropped it, trying to pump petrol into the van. (but I plan on buying some love this week-end, when we go shopping for back to school stuff.

The LPA convention was wonderful and I did enjoy myself. I would have loved to have visited more with my many Diastrophic friend's which I've made recently on our facebook group, but when you have a preteen and your have no one else to watch your child, you have to make sacrifices like going to Disneyland and California adventure!

But we are now back at home, still trying to recover from the long drive. School will start very soon and now it seems like our lives are starting to pick up speed in regards of so much going on in our lives. I wish I could share some of that information here, but at the moment I'm not able to. But all in due time.

As far as my hobby of entering Sweepstaking, it's starting to get more press than usual. TLC is starting a series that is beginning on August 14th, 2011. Please check your local listing to see when it comes on in your area, if you are interested in seeing how us "crazy" sweepers are and how far some of us will go to enter to win a sweepstakes. In fact, 20/20 had ran a show last night (08/05/2011) and I believe also tonight and talked to about 4-5 different sweepers. I knew of three personally and the others I've only heard about or saw their post on the sweepstake sites that I read each day.

In case you missed it, I am including the link to see the segment that was aired last night. Click HERE You will see an area beside the video, on the right to scroll down and find "When entering Sweepstakes is a job". I believe the video is just short of 8 minutes. How long it will be posted on there, I am unable to answer. You may be able to do a search for it, in their search box, which is located towards the top of the page.

There is also another segment from 20/20 with tips on entering sweepstakes, that people new to this hobby might find interesting. The title is "Sweepstakes Club Pros Share Their Insider Tips to Winning Big"
I just now watched it myself and found all the information that they shared to be correct and I agreed with all of it. The only thing not mentioned is that you do have to pay taxes on ALL your winnings.

Now as far as my winnings, I've been trying to keep better records, but I have also slacked off this summer. My husband seems to be pulling in more wins than anyone else in this household. I plan on adding a bit more details on this blog regarding our wins hopefully in the very near future, like sometime next week.

Sorry to end this so suddenly, but I've been entering sweeps, while catching up on my favorite soap opera (and I still can't believe that AMC and OLTL got canceled) and it's now after 6 am. Tomorrow is suppose to be a day shopping for school items and my child isn't going to be too happy if I sleep the whole day away. Hopefully a few hours will be enough.

Until next time..keep sweeping...or you won't win nuthin! ;)

FireFox 4.0 Sucks!

Well, I wasn't sure if I was ever going to come back and update this blog.  Mainly because of the difficulty in finding the joy that used to be in my heart in regards to entering sweepstakes and posting here since my Mom passed away last year.  Today in fact would have been my Mom and Dad's 47th wedding anniversary, so my Mom (as always) has been strongly on my mind to say the least.

I've wondered what my future holds and to be honest, I don't know.  I know who holds it, and that God and I have to trust in him to take care of myself and my family.  I tend to worry too much and over analysis a lot of things and I think that's one of the reasons why I suffer with my eating (acid reflux) and with my anxiety of late.  It's been really, really bad! And in one way, they are both effecting each other.  Mainly since I am having a lot of anxiety, especially lately, I take a Xynax that has been prescribed by my doctor.  Then later on at night, I've been having acid reflux come up or at least a horrible, nasty taste, that now that I think about it, taste very similar to the Xynax when it dissolves in my mouth just a little bit.  A very bitter taste that's way in the back of my throat and makes me go running ( or as close to running as this LP can go anyways) to somewhere where I can get rid of it quick!  Water, Pepto, Gum..anything!  I absolutely hate this!  I've been having trouble enjoying even eating my "safe" foods and I am tired of them as well.  So I know I should probably cut back on the Xynax, but each and every-time I do, something happens that makes me pop one of those puppies and try to get rid of the horrible throw up feeling/heart racing/yuckiness that I feel when I get one of my attacks.  (Like today for instance.) I am concerned that tonight will be another night where I am miserable.

But this blog isn't for posting my problems.  So I wondered if I would ever come back and figure that I might as well pop in from time to time.  I finally got Firefox back to working like I used to like it (The new version 4.0...sucks!) and now my form fillers are working again with me in regards to entering online sweepstakes!  Yeah! 

For those of you who may also be having trouble with the newest Firefox and wishes they could go back in time and not have added the update?  Well, you can go to this website and download the old version.  BUT you do have to uninstall the previous version first (don't delete profiles, as it will get rid of all your bookmarks, etc) I have an I-Mac and to uninstall something, you click, drag and drop the icon in the trash bin...easy squeezy, lemon peezy!  Here's the link for those that might be interested and also for myself, in case my computer goes kaput like it did two weeks ago, and I lose all my bookmarks, etc.

http://support.mozilla.com/en-US/questions/812572

They also have downloads for windows and Mac's..and possibly Androids?  I can't really answer that last one because I didn't recognize the little icon and don't know what it belongs to..but check it out if you are having problems with Firefox working with your form filler, like I did.

As far as sweeps wins for me goes, I haven't won all that much.  I won $500 from Rumba Meats and a $50 check from somewhere that I can't think of at this particular moment.  Bad Little Lisa!  My memory is shot and it's probably caused due to stress.  I am also not entering like I used to.  I still love to enter sweepstakes, but my desire has decreased.  There is ton more competition, and that's fine.  I do feel that there are enough prizes out there for all of us, so I don't really care who hears about whatever contest or sweepstakes is going on at the moment.  But this year will be the first time in five years, where my husband and I didn't attend the national sweepstaker's convention! :(

I'm really bummed about it I guess.  I am going to miss my friends and the chance to win stuff.  I miss getting to go somewhere and break the hum drum of normal life here at the old homestead.  But I guess I figure there is no way in heck we can beat last year's convention winnings and our baby girl wouldn't be able to stay at my parents during our trip, since my Mom is no longer there.  I am sure my Dad would be more than happy to watch her and let her stay, but since he's at Dyalisis three times a week, in the very early mornings, I know it's not possible.  My husband and I are hoping that next year, which is suppose to be in Atlanta, GA all three of us can attend.

This Saturday, I am hosting our local sweepers meetings and I'm not really into it.  The person that was going to co-host isn't able to be there, which I can understand things come up, but it would have been nice to have hear it from that person, instead of someone else.  I'm getting a vibe from the group, that it's not the same, and I haven't seen certain people in months if not a year.  I am also still nursing a personal grudge against something/someone from last year, and it's not making it any easier for me being there.  So after this month, I may leave and look for somewhere else to share my hobby with, or maybe start a new hobby.  Who knows?

So that's it for now.  I would love to hear comments if anyone actually reads this blog, otherwise I just might delete the whole thing.  Not to be depressing. Blogging is so saturated right now and I know that deep in my heart, this blog doesn't really offer a lot to a lot of people.  But we shall see.

I've been putting this off...

I didn't even know what title to give this post because basically this is something that I've been putting off and dreading, as well as not even having much time to write.  It is also hard to write since my previous post was about how my Mom rocked Thanksgiving. This is because just over a week later, my mother had a massive heart attack and ended up on life support, which was turned off four days later.

My dear, wonderful, lovely, passionate, feisty but hurting in ways I don't think anyone could truly understand, mother has passed away.  My Momma who always listened to me and has been there for me, even if we were "fighting" always said that she would watch my daughter for my husband and I, because she never really trusted anyone else to do the best job that she could do.  Someone that would jump on the bandwagon, when my feelings were hurt or if it looked like I was taken advantage of from someone.  A person that made it all better, when I hurt.  Weather it was with medication or just getting me a wet washrag and putting it on my forehead when I was sick.   Someone that was there at the hospital after giving birth to my own daughter and basically *saved* my life, so I could be a mother today. Someone that I want here with me right now, but can't be.  Someone that I know, is in a much better place, but it still sucks for those that loved her and are left behind.

I can't even begin to express into words on this blog how hard this has been.  Not only on me, but my sweet Dad who loves her so much and doesn't know how to make it without her.  (But you will Daddy, you will.  Momma would want you to, and Theresa and I both want and need you) My sister, who even though they didn't always see eye to eye, it was her Momma too, and my sweet wonderful daughter, who thought the world of her Grandma and who was my daughter's favorite playmate when she was a toddler!  We are all in a world of hurt even still.

I feel like I am in a walking hell at the moment and I can't find an exit route to take out of it.  Because not only did *I* lose my mother, four weeks later, my own husband lost his Mother.  We have only been back in the country not even a week, and during our time in England, my daughter and I came down with either food poisoning or a nasty bug on the plane.  We were so sick in fact, that my daughter couldn't even get off the floor of the hotel room because of throwing up so much, and we both missed the funeral. Once returning from England, I also promptly came down sick again, this time running fever and now my daughter has it too. I am thankful to God that it wasn't nearly as severe as it was in England.

I just seems like it keeps getting worse.  Once returning from home, I also found out that a game I play online called World of Warcraft got hacked into.  I lost a lot of items in the game and it's not important to me.  It's a game.  BUT it does make me concerned about if I have a virus or a key-logger on my computer and if it can pose a threat to my financial accounts that I do online.  So I had to promptly cancel credit cards as a precaution and money is so tight, it's not even funny.  I am also concerned about all the photos that I have online of my Mom, taken in this last year.  I lost my saved phone messages from Mom about three weeks ago, and it broke me down in tears.  I don't want to lose anything else, especially if it's in regards to my mom/parents.  Then to add salt to all these wounds,  is the fact  of how my MIL left her will, and it's left my husband feeling hurt, confused and wondering if his own mother even cared about him.

Then today in the mail I get a wonderful letter from my child's school about truancy.  YEAH!  What Fun!  NOT!!!  So now I am wondering about the sentence that said , "We could prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law..which I do believe includes a big fine a possible jail time!  Something two disabled parents who both lost their mothers in the space of a month, needs!  So basically when it comes to fund raising at my child's school, they can piss off!

Of course this letter comes the day my child comes home running a fever, that is about .2 points from being at the level of where they state that we are suppose to keep our child home..because Heaven forbid we give it to the rest of the students at her school.  Even though they sure do like to give bicycles away to perfect attendance record holders.  Their favorite sayings is.."when you miss school..you miss out!"  Well I would really hate for any student to miss out on what my child has, and since we are on the edge of being sent to jail, my child will more than likely be hopped up on Tylenol and praying that she doesn't puke on anyone tomorrow! Times like these is when I wished like heck we home-schooled our daughter.

So right now little Lisa is pissed, mad, sad, depressed, angry, and Lord only knows what else right now.  I keep having mini (ha ha) melt downs and I know it gets to my husband.  He's been trying really hard to make me smile and do so much for me. He's hurting and grieving too.  I am so very grateful for all that he's done for me and my family.  Especially for my Mom, when it came right down to it at the end.

I am not sure when I will post again here to be honest.  My heart and my life feels very broken at the moment.  I want to go back to being the person that I used to be, but I am unsure if that will ever happen.  When you say the final goodbyes to one of the most important people that's ever to be in your life (your parents, Your spouse, your children and siblings are included in that), it changes you.  You finally are forced to grow up in ways you didn't realize you needed to.  Or maybe it's just me, who was babied so much by both my Mom and Dad and now realize it's different and a lot harder than I ever thought possible.

I keep thinking about feeling broken and wondering if maybe being broken like this, is God's way of putting me back together in his way and his time, to be the person that he had planned for me all along.

For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. (Jeremiah 29:11-13)

If I thought I could get up off my knees and not be in horrible, horrible pain ( I bad arthritis in my knees) I would be on them right now.  But I will still pour my heart out to him. I will hope and pray that all of this will soon be a distant memory, but still a memory.  Something not to be forgotten and cast aside, but something to be learned from and remembered.  Something to share with others if the need arise.  To somehow become a better person, a better Christian, because I know I am far from it at the moment.  I want to learn how to pray better and praise him in the way he deserves.  I want to murmur less, but it's hard when pressure keeps piling up.  I want to get back into church and be surrounded around other believers.  I want to get the joy back into my heart that came from him and goes back up to him in song. I pray I get that chance.