Well this is a little hard to get back into the groove. Mainly because my biggest fan/most loyal reader passed away and that person was my Dad. He always checked every day to see if I would add anything. When he died, I was just getting over the passing of my Mom. Then bam! Now I get to learn how to do this thing called life without my parents! To be honest, it was easier this time around, but still very hard at times.
I was in Las Vegas with my sister when we got the news! Thank God for my husband who took care of me and all of the details. Four months after my Dad passed, so did my favorite cousin, Lana! She had suffered with several strokes for the past 18 months. Losing all these people in my family took me into a deep depression again, that I wasn't sure if I ever could crawl out of. When my Mother passed away I stopped entering sweepstakes slowly until eventually it became stopped completely, I stopped going out, stopped bing social. Basically I just wanted to stop life, so that I wouldn't and couldn't be hurt anymore. That doesn't mean I was suicidal, since I love my daughter, husband and my family and friends which are in my life, but I couldn't comprehend the impact of my Mom not being in my life any more on a day to day basis. I did try to keep up with my friends, that I had gotten to know through entering sweepstakes by attending conventions and keeping in touch via facebook and other places where sweepers hang out at. However when my Dad passed I basically quit everything regarding sweepstakes. I just wasn't winning anything via the efforts that I had tried (which wasn't much to be honest).
Thankfully I am here to say that I did crawl out of the pit of depression (knock on wood). Now that's not to say that I never get some kind of sadness or down in the dumps kind of mood. Everyone in life will have that experience, if they live long enough. Thankfully, I am in a happier place in my life right this moment and I thank God for it!
So here I am back on this blog and also trying to get back into the swing of sweepstaking and other hobbies (which I might share at another time on this blog) I have plans on promoting this blog and learning more things...so many things that are in my mind at the moment, of what I want to do and accomplish. I'm actually excited about and look forward to living life once again. I pray I get that chance.
Anyway, if you are reading this then I am thankful for you as well. I hope I will not disappoint anyone that starts reading this blog!
Until Next Time
~Cheers~
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Well, long time no writing! Shame Shame, you know my name, right?
The last time I wrote, I believe was towards the first of June. I haven't had much time or inclination for entering sweeps, however I did have the wonderful pleasure of attending the National Sweepstaker's convention in late August, right before school started.
I got to take my daughter with me, and while she's attended one other sweepstaker's convention back in New Hampshire four years ago, this year was her first year in participating! Now my daughter isn't into this hobby quite like her little momma. However by the end of it all, while walking back to our hotel room after the night of the banquet, which is the BIG night at these things, her comment to me made me smile...
"Momma, I think I wanna be a sweeper now!" :)
I just smiled real big and told her that was basically the whole point in taking her with me. While she isn't particularly interested in stamps or postcards like myself, she was a big winner during the whole convention, especially during the banquet. In fact, she put her momma to shame, but that's ok. It was worth every penny spent, just to see my beautiful daughter smile when her name was called with a win.
We actually sat in the back with several lovely people and had to yell really loud, because my daughter is kind of on the shy side. (I have no clue who she got that from, because it sure isn't her Momma or her Daddy) So this little sweeper/momma had to get a really big mouth, just so she wouldn't lose out.
I won't bore you with what her or I won during that week-end, but the best win in my daughter's opinion was the $500 in cash. And if it wasn't for the help of two of the nicest people in the sweeping world I've ever had the pleasure of meeting, none of it would have happen.
To make a long story short, if it hadn't been for the help of both Todd and Robyn, I wouldn't have gotten to seen my daughter's beautiful smile on the night of the banquet. The reason being is my back went out on Saturday morning and we actually ended up missing the morning session, as I literally couldn't move out of bed. I was fine 30 minuets prior when I went to have potty break, but afterwards, it was as if I was frozen stiff and to be honest it scared me. With my baby's help, she helped me get dressed and we went as quickly as we could to the vendor room, so we could sign up for the raffles for that night's banquet. I couldn't hardly move, I was in tears, and we lost our labels to put on our cards. Well, Todd ran around getting all the stuff for me, as I gave him our money for the raffles, and Robyn and (I hate to admit to my short memory, but hey it goes with the height right?) , another lady who sat next to her, put my new labels freshly printed off, on the cards and then Todd went and ran and put them in the boxes. I almost felt like it was a game show, trying to get it all sorted out. But not in the good and fun kind of way. More like the, I think my heart's going to stop and everything looks to be going ninty miles an hour kind of way and where the heck is my prize kind of way!
So if it hadn't been for their caring and helpful nature, it would have ended up on a low note for my daughter. Robyn and Todd are wonderful people, who I used to also see once a month at our local sweepers club. The two of them are hosting next year's Sweepers convention in Salt Lake City, Utah which happens to be where Robyn used to live.
I am about to go and sign up now for next year's convention. I've only driven through Salt Lake once or maybe twice in my life, but it's a beautiful area and I look forward to seeing (Lord willingly) in June of 2013! Hopefully my husband will be with us, if not I am sure it won't take too much to convince my daughter in tagging along with me! I encourage anyone and everyone to try and make it to a National convention at least once in their lifetime. Even if you are a shy person by nature, like my daughter is, I honestly don't believe you will leave without wonderful memories and several names of new friends! If you do attend next year's convention, and see a beautiful petite redhead, with a shorty of a momma on a scooter, flying by everyone, parting sea's of people like it was the red sea, then you will see us, so please say hello! :) And remind me to write on my blog....because Lord knows I need all the help in remembering I can get.
Take care and win big and often! Because I can attest that if you don't enter, you sure as heck can't win squat!
The last time I wrote, I believe was towards the first of June. I haven't had much time or inclination for entering sweeps, however I did have the wonderful pleasure of attending the National Sweepstaker's convention in late August, right before school started.
I got to take my daughter with me, and while she's attended one other sweepstaker's convention back in New Hampshire four years ago, this year was her first year in participating! Now my daughter isn't into this hobby quite like her little momma. However by the end of it all, while walking back to our hotel room after the night of the banquet, which is the BIG night at these things, her comment to me made me smile...
"Momma, I think I wanna be a sweeper now!" :)
I just smiled real big and told her that was basically the whole point in taking her with me. While she isn't particularly interested in stamps or postcards like myself, she was a big winner during the whole convention, especially during the banquet. In fact, she put her momma to shame, but that's ok. It was worth every penny spent, just to see my beautiful daughter smile when her name was called with a win.
We actually sat in the back with several lovely people and had to yell really loud, because my daughter is kind of on the shy side. (I have no clue who she got that from, because it sure isn't her Momma or her Daddy) So this little sweeper/momma had to get a really big mouth, just so she wouldn't lose out.
I won't bore you with what her or I won during that week-end, but the best win in my daughter's opinion was the $500 in cash. And if it wasn't for the help of two of the nicest people in the sweeping world I've ever had the pleasure of meeting, none of it would have happen.
To make a long story short, if it hadn't been for the help of both Todd and Robyn, I wouldn't have gotten to seen my daughter's beautiful smile on the night of the banquet. The reason being is my back went out on Saturday morning and we actually ended up missing the morning session, as I literally couldn't move out of bed. I was fine 30 minuets prior when I went to have potty break, but afterwards, it was as if I was frozen stiff and to be honest it scared me. With my baby's help, she helped me get dressed and we went as quickly as we could to the vendor room, so we could sign up for the raffles for that night's banquet. I couldn't hardly move, I was in tears, and we lost our labels to put on our cards. Well, Todd ran around getting all the stuff for me, as I gave him our money for the raffles, and Robyn and (I hate to admit to my short memory, but hey it goes with the height right?) , another lady who sat next to her, put my new labels freshly printed off, on the cards and then Todd went and ran and put them in the boxes. I almost felt like it was a game show, trying to get it all sorted out. But not in the good and fun kind of way. More like the, I think my heart's going to stop and everything looks to be going ninty miles an hour kind of way and where the heck is my prize kind of way!
So if it hadn't been for their caring and helpful nature, it would have ended up on a low note for my daughter. Robyn and Todd are wonderful people, who I used to also see once a month at our local sweepers club. The two of them are hosting next year's Sweepers convention in Salt Lake City, Utah which happens to be where Robyn used to live.
I am about to go and sign up now for next year's convention. I've only driven through Salt Lake once or maybe twice in my life, but it's a beautiful area and I look forward to seeing (Lord willingly) in June of 2013! Hopefully my husband will be with us, if not I am sure it won't take too much to convince my daughter in tagging along with me! I encourage anyone and everyone to try and make it to a National convention at least once in their lifetime. Even if you are a shy person by nature, like my daughter is, I honestly don't believe you will leave without wonderful memories and several names of new friends! If you do attend next year's convention, and see a beautiful petite redhead, with a shorty of a momma on a scooter, flying by everyone, parting sea's of people like it was the red sea, then you will see us, so please say hello! :) And remind me to write on my blog....because Lord knows I need all the help in remembering I can get.
Take care and win big and often! Because I can attest that if you don't enter, you sure as heck can't win squat!
Okay this is new for me. I can tell it's been too long since I've
updated my Blog, because Google has changed how you post. So this may
end up looking like crap (just an FYI).
I did think that I would go ahead and give a little update on what's going on. Basically the title says it all as far as winning or rather not winning with entering Sweepstakes. If I won anything in May, then I've already totally forgotten about it, which is pretty sad. Now I will also admit that I just haven't entered that much lately either. I've lost my spark for it to be honest and that makes me a little sad. I've been doing this for about 8 or possibly even 9 years, so it's not really too surprising to think that I might have a bad case of burnout!
But in other news, we have a new addition to our family. We are now proud parents to a beautiful little kitten, which we have named Smudge! Actually my husband found this kitten off of Facebook, as my cousin's cat had a litter and they were giving them away. He saw the photo of this kitten and instantly knew it was meant to be ours and even the name of Smudge came right to him! This is all really a big surprise to me, for a couple of reasons. 1st, my husband wasn't really all that thrilled to get a pet, until we got into a new house. (I will go into more detail about that eventually) and I did mention to him that it could possibly be a good idea to have a new pet in this home instead of a brand newly built home, so that we could already be done with the house training and litter box training, etc. Another reason this is a big surprise to me is that my husband has never been a lover of cats. He's always had dogs growing up and never a cat. He always regarded them as scratchy/bitty nasty things. But boy oh boy has he changed his mind!
Even though Smudge is a little bit of a bitter and a claw-er (she is a baby ya know and it's probably (or at least I'm hoping and praying) that it's just her teething. :) She's been a joy to have. Even though my husband agreed to having a pet, and a cat to boot, I just knew that my husband would never agree to letting our sweet new fur-baby be allowed in our room or ever get a chance to sleep with us. Well that has since changed and Smudge now sleeps with us almost every night. Sometimes she does become the attack kitty early in the mornings, etc and boy does that wake you up. (and not in the good/fun way either)
But we got Smudge from my cousins when she was basically either 4-5 weeks old. I do realize it was too young to take away from it's mother and I still feel bad about it. However, my cousin's family couldn't keep them for much longer and we already knew we were in love! And it's so surprising how well Smudge has adapted to us. The only fear we really have is that she tends to be a fast little sucker and I'm scared to death that I am going to run over her with my scooter. I've gotten her little tail or paw twice in the time that we had her, one time being tonight. You have no idea how bad I feel. Makes me want to spoil her and giver her anything she wants just so she knows I love her and didn't mean it.
She must not hold grudges or is only mad at the scooter, because as I am writing this post Smudge is asleep next to me on my left, sitting on my box of snail mail sweepstakes to send off. I'm not sure why she likes to sleep there, as well as my office depot box of envelopes, but she does and I'm not going to change it. I love to have her near me, so I can stroke her and whisper sweet baby talk in her ears. Another great thing about having Smudge as a part of our family is that I honestly believe it's helped me with my panic/anxiety attacks. Now they are not completely gone for good, I'm sure. But they have been reduced by a great deal and that I am so grateful to God for that!
So even though I haven't won anything in May of 2012 that I can recall, I think I've gotten a wonderful win by how the good Lord has allowed us to find one another. :) In fact I am going to try and add a couple of photo's of Smudge so you can see the newest addition to our family.
Also of course, if I do win anything in June, I will try my hardest to update on this site. I love to blog, yet my arthritis has been terrible this month and even now at after 10pm, my left shoulder is about to kill me it feels like. For some reason this past month, my arthritis in both my arms have been horrible and even my arthritis medication isn't helping me much, nor is my pain medication. Of course Doctors never really do give out anything that can really help, unless your rich and famous of course. Lord willing this flare up will go down soon and I will feel better. I hate it when I hurt physically and even when I hurt mentally, because depression sucks. It is slowly getting better, Thank God! I have a doctor's appointment next week and sometime this week I have to go and give blood. I'm scared to death (seriously) about doing this and even when I was on Facebook and saw photo's of a fellow Little Person and their hands/wrist and how they looked after giving blood, I had a full blown panic attack. Not nice or pretty AT ALL! So if you believe in prayer, please say a prayer that the person that does the job of sticking me with the needle gets it in one go and that it doesn't hurt!
Anyway, I am going to save this and hopefully add a couple of photo's of Smudge and then beg my husband to rub Tiger Balm on my shoulder and Lord willing it will easy some of the pain. Because God knows I can't take anything else for it, which stinks.
I hope everyone out there is doing well and if your ever bored or even want to brag on your own fur-baby, please feel free to drop me an email or make a comment on here! I would love to read them!
Until next time!
~Cheers~
I did think that I would go ahead and give a little update on what's going on. Basically the title says it all as far as winning or rather not winning with entering Sweepstakes. If I won anything in May, then I've already totally forgotten about it, which is pretty sad. Now I will also admit that I just haven't entered that much lately either. I've lost my spark for it to be honest and that makes me a little sad. I've been doing this for about 8 or possibly even 9 years, so it's not really too surprising to think that I might have a bad case of burnout!
But in other news, we have a new addition to our family. We are now proud parents to a beautiful little kitten, which we have named Smudge! Actually my husband found this kitten off of Facebook, as my cousin's cat had a litter and they were giving them away. He saw the photo of this kitten and instantly knew it was meant to be ours and even the name of Smudge came right to him! This is all really a big surprise to me, for a couple of reasons. 1st, my husband wasn't really all that thrilled to get a pet, until we got into a new house. (I will go into more detail about that eventually) and I did mention to him that it could possibly be a good idea to have a new pet in this home instead of a brand newly built home, so that we could already be done with the house training and litter box training, etc. Another reason this is a big surprise to me is that my husband has never been a lover of cats. He's always had dogs growing up and never a cat. He always regarded them as scratchy/bitty nasty things. But boy oh boy has he changed his mind!
Even though Smudge is a little bit of a bitter and a claw-er (she is a baby ya know and it's probably (or at least I'm hoping and praying) that it's just her teething. :) She's been a joy to have. Even though my husband agreed to having a pet, and a cat to boot, I just knew that my husband would never agree to letting our sweet new fur-baby be allowed in our room or ever get a chance to sleep with us. Well that has since changed and Smudge now sleeps with us almost every night. Sometimes she does become the attack kitty early in the mornings, etc and boy does that wake you up. (and not in the good/fun way either)
But we got Smudge from my cousins when she was basically either 4-5 weeks old. I do realize it was too young to take away from it's mother and I still feel bad about it. However, my cousin's family couldn't keep them for much longer and we already knew we were in love! And it's so surprising how well Smudge has adapted to us. The only fear we really have is that she tends to be a fast little sucker and I'm scared to death that I am going to run over her with my scooter. I've gotten her little tail or paw twice in the time that we had her, one time being tonight. You have no idea how bad I feel. Makes me want to spoil her and giver her anything she wants just so she knows I love her and didn't mean it.
She must not hold grudges or is only mad at the scooter, because as I am writing this post Smudge is asleep next to me on my left, sitting on my box of snail mail sweepstakes to send off. I'm not sure why she likes to sleep there, as well as my office depot box of envelopes, but she does and I'm not going to change it. I love to have her near me, so I can stroke her and whisper sweet baby talk in her ears. Another great thing about having Smudge as a part of our family is that I honestly believe it's helped me with my panic/anxiety attacks. Now they are not completely gone for good, I'm sure. But they have been reduced by a great deal and that I am so grateful to God for that!
So even though I haven't won anything in May of 2012 that I can recall, I think I've gotten a wonderful win by how the good Lord has allowed us to find one another. :) In fact I am going to try and add a couple of photo's of Smudge so you can see the newest addition to our family.
This is Smudge when we first got her!
A photo that my husband took and didn't even have to Photoshop. I think it's just such an interesting expression and man look at that tongue! LOL
Also of course, if I do win anything in June, I will try my hardest to update on this site. I love to blog, yet my arthritis has been terrible this month and even now at after 10pm, my left shoulder is about to kill me it feels like. For some reason this past month, my arthritis in both my arms have been horrible and even my arthritis medication isn't helping me much, nor is my pain medication. Of course Doctors never really do give out anything that can really help, unless your rich and famous of course. Lord willing this flare up will go down soon and I will feel better. I hate it when I hurt physically and even when I hurt mentally, because depression sucks. It is slowly getting better, Thank God! I have a doctor's appointment next week and sometime this week I have to go and give blood. I'm scared to death (seriously) about doing this and even when I was on Facebook and saw photo's of a fellow Little Person and their hands/wrist and how they looked after giving blood, I had a full blown panic attack. Not nice or pretty AT ALL! So if you believe in prayer, please say a prayer that the person that does the job of sticking me with the needle gets it in one go and that it doesn't hurt!
Anyway, I am going to save this and hopefully add a couple of photo's of Smudge and then beg my husband to rub Tiger Balm on my shoulder and Lord willing it will easy some of the pain. Because God knows I can't take anything else for it, which stinks.
I hope everyone out there is doing well and if your ever bored or even want to brag on your own fur-baby, please feel free to drop me an email or make a comment on here! I would love to read them!
Until next time!
~Cheers~
This post has absolutely nothing to do with my hobby - entering Sweepstakes. It actually has to do with being a dwarf and certain comments which were made by Rosie O'Donnell and Chelsea Handler on Rosie's Talk Show, on Feb 8, 2012, which has angered and hurt many people of the dwarfism community. I tried to answer a question which was posed on the MSN.com website. The question was how could the two women apologize? My response was long and drawn out, but it helped me to express my feelings of deep hurt and anger against what was said and by who said it and how they've been dealing with this situation. Since it won't ever be seen by viewers of MSN.com, I felt the need to put it here. Feel free to pass it along. I honestly want this spread around, far and near.
Question: How could the women apologize?
Answer:
It's clear that anyone who thinks that people with dwarfism shouldn't make a big deal of this and should just forgive and forget, more than likely has never been bullied all through their school years, as well as being avoided in the dating world, discriminated against while seeking employment, finding a doctor that knows about your condition for decent health care, had botched surgeries because of this example, been in constant physical pains each day of their lives because the world was not and never will be made for Little People, been picked up and thrown through the air, because they saw it on TV or in Florida where dwarf tossing is legal, and continue to be a stereo type in movies and television, and so much more.
How could the women apologize? How about an actual public apology on the show where all this transpired? Yet Rosie and her minions keep deleting the negative comments about herself and Chelsea Handler off of their website where people are complaining, and stop sending out a handful of "twitter" half ass apologies to only a select number of people. Rosie asked or expects us to "spread the word" that she apologizes? Why should we? Why should we be the one to try and clean up a mess that the two of them started? Because OMG we have nothing better to do with our time, than to clean the crap that they dished out?
Rosie and Chelsea hurt a community of dwarfs and their family members, most who are average height. We are treated like children, ignored, aborted because we are different, shunned in schools, discriminated in work places and even if we are hired we are often times overlooked (no pun intended) for advancements. People like Rosie and Chelsea want to keep us in a box because they are cowards and are hurtful people. They have no empathy for what LP's go through. They have NO remorse for what they've done and don't feel that they should be held accountable. These two people..they are not ladies to me, are ignorant cowards.
People with dwarfism just want a proper apology like any other minority that shouts out when they are insulted. This happens because of the pressure that comes from so called "normal" people, because they've been hurt. Dwarfs are still being made fun of because we are the last minority to be used by a large group of average height people who think because they were born with longer limbs that they are superior to us.
What gets me the most is the Pandora's box that they've allowed open, can now be used against the children in schools who have dwarfism or are a family member who loves someone that is a dwarf. That pisses me off the most, because unlike Chelsae's comment that dating or being in a relationship with an LP is child abuse, what they've done is set our community back by so much and won't be held accountable for their actions. Too many children are bullied enough at school as it is, adding this to the pot doesn't help. So in my eyes, those two women are the true child abusers.
I seriously doubt this is a phobia at all with Rosie, but more of an attention grabber for her poorly viewed showed. If anyone claimed to have a phobia towards African American's, Hispanics, people with down syndrome, the crap would hit the fan. Yet they can get away with it with dwarfs.
One of the definition of phobia is : A persistent, abnormal, and irrational fear of a specific thing or situation that compels one to avoid it, despite the awareness and reassurance that it is not dangerous.
1) We are not a thing...we are human beings. Treat us like one. We want what everyone wants, needs and desires and that's just simple acceptance and to find love.
2) Maybe Rosie is afraid of being in a situation with another Little Person. Probably it's because of the way TV/Hollywood is continually showing us in a consistent manor stereo types. Elves, gnomes, mythical beings, or just angry small people who will open a can of Whoop Ass if you dare say the word "shrimp" for whatever reason.
3) We're dangerous? Yeah right. We are so dangerous, that's why a man in England picked up another dwarf and tossed him in the air, causing him severe pain and suffering. There are many of us that are unable to protect ourselves against drunken idiots such as the man that did it to that person with dwarfism.
You may have noticed I use "person with dwarfism" a lot in this comment area. The reason for that is that being a dwarf doesn't define who I am as a person. It adds to it, but it's not everything about me. It's a medical condition that's brought about because of DNA/Genes from our parents, or grandparents, etc. It's something that couldn't not be helped, unless you think abortion would help...but it would only help the person that has a problem with it, not the person with dwarfism.
For if I was aborted, I would never have meet my husband, who's short stature actually came about from a drug called Thalidomide that his mother took in the late 1950's. I would never have gotten pregnant and had the most beautiful child I could ever imagine and I give all the glory to God that I worship and praise. My daughter is a joy and loves me. Love begets love and hate begets hate. Rosie and Chelsea is showing only hatred in a lot of people's eyes. Yes she is flawed, but we all are.
So Rosie and Chelsea, I will pray for you. Pray that you prosper, and that you continually have love in your life and are never faced with the same hatred that we've been shown in our communities and in our own lives, our whole lives. For if I only prayed for wonderful things to people that "like" me, what do I actually gain? It says in the bible to pray for your enemy's. They are not my enemies, but are also not my friends.
Last but not least the words "Midget" was actually made up by P.T.Barnum from the word "midge" which meant biting midges (insects). There really is no such thing as Midget's and if anyone had enough intelligence to look this information up for themselves, they would already know that. They would also know that it's used in a hostile manner towards people with dwarfism. It's the same as a Caucasian person would call an African American the famous and hated word by them that starts with the letter N.
I know how long this is, but as you may can tell. Their words and actions hurt me. They hurt children, they hurt others, and they even hurt themselves for not giving them a chance to get to know about us in a better manner than which they have done already and it's just wrong. They also show that they would never consider dwarfs for any type of respectable career for them and would clearly discriminate against us. Yet they can get away with. Shame on both of them.
But all they have to do is publicly apologies and they both chose not to!
Question: How could the women apologize?
Answer:
It's clear that anyone who thinks that people with dwarfism shouldn't make a big deal of this and should just forgive and forget, more than likely has never been bullied all through their school years, as well as being avoided in the dating world, discriminated against while seeking employment, finding a doctor that knows about your condition for decent health care, had botched surgeries because of this example, been in constant physical pains each day of their lives because the world was not and never will be made for Little People, been picked up and thrown through the air, because they saw it on TV or in Florida where dwarf tossing is legal, and continue to be a stereo type in movies and television, and so much more.
How could the women apologize? How about an actual public apology on the show where all this transpired? Yet Rosie and her minions keep deleting the negative comments about herself and Chelsea Handler off of their website where people are complaining, and stop sending out a handful of "twitter" half ass apologies to only a select number of people. Rosie asked or expects us to "spread the word" that she apologizes? Why should we? Why should we be the one to try and clean up a mess that the two of them started? Because OMG we have nothing better to do with our time, than to clean the crap that they dished out?
Rosie and Chelsea hurt a community of dwarfs and their family members, most who are average height. We are treated like children, ignored, aborted because we are different, shunned in schools, discriminated in work places and even if we are hired we are often times overlooked (no pun intended) for advancements. People like Rosie and Chelsea want to keep us in a box because they are cowards and are hurtful people. They have no empathy for what LP's go through. They have NO remorse for what they've done and don't feel that they should be held accountable. These two people..they are not ladies to me, are ignorant cowards.
People with dwarfism just want a proper apology like any other minority that shouts out when they are insulted. This happens because of the pressure that comes from so called "normal" people, because they've been hurt. Dwarfs are still being made fun of because we are the last minority to be used by a large group of average height people who think because they were born with longer limbs that they are superior to us.
What gets me the most is the Pandora's box that they've allowed open, can now be used against the children in schools who have dwarfism or are a family member who loves someone that is a dwarf. That pisses me off the most, because unlike Chelsae's comment that dating or being in a relationship with an LP is child abuse, what they've done is set our community back by so much and won't be held accountable for their actions. Too many children are bullied enough at school as it is, adding this to the pot doesn't help. So in my eyes, those two women are the true child abusers.
I seriously doubt this is a phobia at all with Rosie, but more of an attention grabber for her poorly viewed showed. If anyone claimed to have a phobia towards African American's, Hispanics, people with down syndrome, the crap would hit the fan. Yet they can get away with it with dwarfs.
One of the definition of phobia is : A persistent, abnormal, and irrational fear of a specific thing or situation that compels one to avoid it, despite the awareness and reassurance that it is not dangerous.
1) We are not a thing...we are human beings. Treat us like one. We want what everyone wants, needs and desires and that's just simple acceptance and to find love.
2) Maybe Rosie is afraid of being in a situation with another Little Person. Probably it's because of the way TV/Hollywood is continually showing us in a consistent manor stereo types. Elves, gnomes, mythical beings, or just angry small people who will open a can of Whoop Ass if you dare say the word "shrimp" for whatever reason.
3) We're dangerous? Yeah right. We are so dangerous, that's why a man in England picked up another dwarf and tossed him in the air, causing him severe pain and suffering. There are many of us that are unable to protect ourselves against drunken idiots such as the man that did it to that person with dwarfism.
You may have noticed I use "person with dwarfism" a lot in this comment area. The reason for that is that being a dwarf doesn't define who I am as a person. It adds to it, but it's not everything about me. It's a medical condition that's brought about because of DNA/Genes from our parents, or grandparents, etc. It's something that couldn't not be helped, unless you think abortion would help...but it would only help the person that has a problem with it, not the person with dwarfism.
For if I was aborted, I would never have meet my husband, who's short stature actually came about from a drug called Thalidomide that his mother took in the late 1950's. I would never have gotten pregnant and had the most beautiful child I could ever imagine and I give all the glory to God that I worship and praise. My daughter is a joy and loves me. Love begets love and hate begets hate. Rosie and Chelsea is showing only hatred in a lot of people's eyes. Yes she is flawed, but we all are.
So Rosie and Chelsea, I will pray for you. Pray that you prosper, and that you continually have love in your life and are never faced with the same hatred that we've been shown in our communities and in our own lives, our whole lives. For if I only prayed for wonderful things to people that "like" me, what do I actually gain? It says in the bible to pray for your enemy's. They are not my enemies, but are also not my friends.
Last but not least the words "Midget" was actually made up by P.T.Barnum from the word "midge" which meant biting midges (insects). There really is no such thing as Midget's and if anyone had enough intelligence to look this information up for themselves, they would already know that. They would also know that it's used in a hostile manner towards people with dwarfism. It's the same as a Caucasian person would call an African American the famous and hated word by them that starts with the letter N.
I know how long this is, but as you may can tell. Their words and actions hurt me. They hurt children, they hurt others, and they even hurt themselves for not giving them a chance to get to know about us in a better manner than which they have done already and it's just wrong. They also show that they would never consider dwarfs for any type of respectable career for them and would clearly discriminate against us. Yet they can get away with. Shame on both of them.
But all they have to do is publicly apologies and they both chose not to!
this way comes. Or least I think it's evil and it only comes if you fall for it. Whatever could I be talking about? Magazine Sweepstakes! That's right, you maybe sitting there thinking I'm a few bricks shy of a full load, but let me go into more detail and maybe you will get a better understanding of why I think Magazine Sweepstakes are evil.
One of the main reasons why I personally think Magazine Sweepstakes are evil is because most of the time, especially for a new comer to this hobby, it's very hard or tricky to see that they offer the signup page for the sweepstakes, and it's also a signup to order their magazine! Duping poor innocent people who only want to feel like a winner, into made to feel like a loser when the bill comes in. What? I don't remember ordering Redbook? (Or Martha Stewart, Allure, Lucky, Good Housekeeping, Better Homes and Gardens, etc, etc, etc)
But wait! Oh crap I did, did I? Sometimes when I get in a funk and I really want to get the prize train coming to my house faster, I like to enter sweepstakes that have a lot of prizes being offered. Well, unfortunately Magazines are one of the best ways to get that train started, in my opinion. However, you do need to be very careful when reading the entry page, to make sure that you are not agreeing to order a year (or two) of magazines from that particular company.
Why Magazine companies feel the need to do this, is beyond my true understanding. However, I have had one person explain what their personal thoughts were and I am incline to agree with them. As many of you are aware, print items are slowly going away like the dinosaurs. Newspapers, Magazines, etc. Well, one of the main ways a magazine makes money is not by the subscriptions that they sell, but rather by the revenues made by selling ad spaces in that magazines. That's the bread and butter of the whole thing. BUT they can't get top dollar for magazine ads, unless their subscription rate is high enough. So, one way to make it appear higher is to offer these sweepstakes and end up kind of tricking people into subscriptions. A lot of times people never even get in touch with them and let them know, because screw them because they screwed me. Or, they will either call the company and let them know an error was made, or they will write CANCEL on the first bill that shows up at their house. Regardless of what action you may take, it makes their subscription numbers look higher than what they really are.
I personally dislike this type of sweepstakes trickery. It's rude and crude and horrible on my pocketbook. So I thought I would take a few moments and let you guys (even if it is just my Dad) know that whenever you are entering a sweepstakes that is being hosted by a magazine subscription, please read the fine print very carefully. Redbook is my main gripe. BUT once you train your eyes to look for the link that they offer for you to enter without a purchase (Because by law, there is a No Purchase Necessary way to enter) it does get easier to enter.
I thought I would try and show you a screen shot (From Redbook of course) and also letting you know about a particular sweep that they are hosting right now, in case you may be interested in entering it. This particular promotion, Redbook is giving away (15) $100 Gas Cards.
This is the link for the 1st option, which if you don't look for the link to click to the "No Purchase Necessary" option, you will receive a Redbook magazine subscription.
Also, please note that you can not enter this promotion from this website. I am only using these as an example. If you are interested please feel free to go to their website, via the link I provided above and look for the link to take you to the No Purchase necessary form.
Example A:
As you can see there are two paragraphs above the entry form, along with a cover photo of the current month's Redbook magazine. Well on the second paragraph there is a link to take you to the No Purchase Necessary form. THAT's what you need to look for and learn to train your eyes and your brain, to go for whenever entering a magazine promotion, just to be on the safe side. The link actually says CLICK HERE. I tried entering the website link, that could directly take you to that form, but you have to click on the main page first, and then click it yourself. Once you do, you should see a photo looks similar if not exactly like this...
I hope this has been somewhat helpful. You just would not believe how many times I've ordered magazines by mistake and regretted it. In fact, I quit entering most magazine sweepstakes/promotions because of this. However, every now and then I find something that appeals to me, prize wise and I go back to it.
There is something that I've decided to do with all those magazines that's been delivered (I've been keeping them in a box) and that is to help me find photos to create a dream board. This is something of a craft project that sweepers sometimes do, and it's to help you visualize the prizes that you really want to win. Cars, Cash, Computers, Vacations, Jewelry, whatever.
I've never made one and I think I am going to finally do one very soon. Hopefully before the end of next week, so that I can look at it all year long. I am trying to be more positive in regards to entering sweepstakes and I think having a visual will help me stay on track and more motivated to keep entering.
One of the main reasons why I personally think Magazine Sweepstakes are evil is because most of the time, especially for a new comer to this hobby, it's very hard or tricky to see that they offer the signup page for the sweepstakes, and it's also a signup to order their magazine! Duping poor innocent people who only want to feel like a winner, into made to feel like a loser when the bill comes in. What? I don't remember ordering Redbook? (Or Martha Stewart, Allure, Lucky, Good Housekeeping, Better Homes and Gardens, etc, etc, etc)
But wait! Oh crap I did, did I? Sometimes when I get in a funk and I really want to get the prize train coming to my house faster, I like to enter sweepstakes that have a lot of prizes being offered. Well, unfortunately Magazines are one of the best ways to get that train started, in my opinion. However, you do need to be very careful when reading the entry page, to make sure that you are not agreeing to order a year (or two) of magazines from that particular company.
Why Magazine companies feel the need to do this, is beyond my true understanding. However, I have had one person explain what their personal thoughts were and I am incline to agree with them. As many of you are aware, print items are slowly going away like the dinosaurs. Newspapers, Magazines, etc. Well, one of the main ways a magazine makes money is not by the subscriptions that they sell, but rather by the revenues made by selling ad spaces in that magazines. That's the bread and butter of the whole thing. BUT they can't get top dollar for magazine ads, unless their subscription rate is high enough. So, one way to make it appear higher is to offer these sweepstakes and end up kind of tricking people into subscriptions. A lot of times people never even get in touch with them and let them know, because screw them because they screwed me. Or, they will either call the company and let them know an error was made, or they will write CANCEL on the first bill that shows up at their house. Regardless of what action you may take, it makes their subscription numbers look higher than what they really are.
I personally dislike this type of sweepstakes trickery. It's rude and crude and horrible on my pocketbook. So I thought I would take a few moments and let you guys (even if it is just my Dad) know that whenever you are entering a sweepstakes that is being hosted by a magazine subscription, please read the fine print very carefully. Redbook is my main gripe. BUT once you train your eyes to look for the link that they offer for you to enter without a purchase (Because by law, there is a No Purchase Necessary way to enter) it does get easier to enter.
I thought I would try and show you a screen shot (From Redbook of course) and also letting you know about a particular sweep that they are hosting right now, in case you may be interested in entering it. This particular promotion, Redbook is giving away (15) $100 Gas Cards.
This is the link for the 1st option, which if you don't look for the link to click to the "No Purchase Necessary" option, you will receive a Redbook magazine subscription.
Also, please note that you can not enter this promotion from this website. I am only using these as an example. If you are interested please feel free to go to their website, via the link I provided above and look for the link to take you to the No Purchase necessary form.
Example A:
As you can see there are two paragraphs above the entry form, along with a cover photo of the current month's Redbook magazine. Well on the second paragraph there is a link to take you to the No Purchase Necessary form. THAT's what you need to look for and learn to train your eyes and your brain, to go for whenever entering a magazine promotion, just to be on the safe side. The link actually says CLICK HERE. I tried entering the website link, that could directly take you to that form, but you have to click on the main page first, and then click it yourself. Once you do, you should see a photo looks similar if not exactly like this...
I hope this has been somewhat helpful. You just would not believe how many times I've ordered magazines by mistake and regretted it. In fact, I quit entering most magazine sweepstakes/promotions because of this. However, every now and then I find something that appeals to me, prize wise and I go back to it.
There is something that I've decided to do with all those magazines that's been delivered (I've been keeping them in a box) and that is to help me find photos to create a dream board. This is something of a craft project that sweepers sometimes do, and it's to help you visualize the prizes that you really want to win. Cars, Cash, Computers, Vacations, Jewelry, whatever.
I've never made one and I think I am going to finally do one very soon. Hopefully before the end of next week, so that I can look at it all year long. I am trying to be more positive in regards to entering sweepstakes and I think having a visual will help me stay on track and more motivated to keep entering.
of doing things in regards to entering sweepstakes of course. :)
Note: This is a REALLY long post, so I warn you in advance. You can read the first two paragraphs and then skip down to the last six paragraphs to save you some time. I basically just go into more details about the various ways to enter sweepstakes. But if you are already a seasons sweeper, you probably already know most if not all of what I wrote.
I've been entering Sweepstakes for right at nine years. I've won some nice things and had some wonderful experiences and had several opportunities to travel. However, one thing you learn if you stay in this hobby long enough is that sometimes the game changes and you need to be flexible to change with it, otherwise you will be left a loser and wondering why you are no longer winning like you used to. Thus becoming depressed and thinking that once again all sweepstakes are rigged, even when that's not the case.
After my last post, which was all of yesterday (I know I can't believe I've made two post so close together either..back to back basically...will wonders never cease?) I've been thinking of how I should or rather *need* to change my method of entering sweepstakes. Especially if I want to continue to win and maybe win something Big for 2012.
Right now there are so many ways to enter sweepstakes and be a winner. A few of those methods and an explanation of what and how to enter them are:
Snail Mail - (My all time favorite..I know I am a little crazy and alone in feeling that way. But I've always been drawn towards repetitive things, like Data Entry). Snail mail entries is usually your NAZ and maybe other requested information written down on a piece of paper or card, usually a 3x5..sometimes they like to throw in odd sizes like 3 1/2 x 5 1/2 cards/papers..thinking that people won't use them and thus being disqualified. So it's always important to read the rules people! Then you place your card or paper into an envelopes (you will never go wrong when using a plain white #10 envelopes also known as a business envelope) and put a first class stamp on it, and hopefully, Lord willing it will go to the right address and be added to the collection of all the other entries.
Online entries - a fairly cheap way to enter, as long as you have a computer/laptop and an internet connection, which does cost money, but you could also go to a library and enter from there. However, I doubt anyone going that route would get a ton of entries in daily, unless they seriously loved going to their local library!
Contest - This usually involves more participation and it also usually means a lot less competition. This can be anything from recipe contest, video/you tube, essays, talent (singing/dancing) and more. (This is my least favorite..because I feel so totally UN-creative and boring).
Facebook - This is a very popular way for sponsors to advertise their products/services and Facebook has millions of users, so it only makes sense that sponsors are going the route of using Facebook to attract new customers. This is a social type way of entering sweepstakes along with ...
Twitter - This is what is also known as micro blogging. I am sure most people have heard of twitter, even if they haven't posted a tweet. I will be the first one here to admit that I am not very keen on twitter contest. I've been told that it's a good way to win, because a lot of people feel the same way about it as I do, thus meaning the competition is low. I have won one or two twitter promotions, and I have decided to give it another shot for 2012. It still confuses me, especially when there are "Twitter Parties". I will hopefully go into more detail at a later time about what a twitter party really is and what it involves so that you can have a better understanding of it.
Texting - I don't know of anyone, unless they are under the age of 5-6 years old and possibly over the age of 80, who doesn't know what Texting is. Now the older generation probably doesn't use this method of entering promotions all too much, so it can be a great way to enter and win prizes. I've found that beer companies use this method a lot and I've won several nice prizes from texting. One of those prizes was a Cruise! It does involve using a cell phone and if you choose to enter this way a lot, please also remember that texting cost money and to look at unlimited texting plan from your cell phone provider. But if you have a teenager with a cell phone under your roof, you might want to invest in unlimited texting just for that reason alone.
Drop Boxes - You usually see these at grocery stores, but you can also see them at Malls and other places of businesses. Now the ones at the mall, I personally never enter. Those usually end up being given to Time Share places and they call you, trying to get you to come and view/listen to their pitches to sell you a time share property.
Now some people can use this to their advantage, if they have the will power not to buy into the spill they give to you. I've thought about seeing if my husband might want to try this, as we know someone personally who does this and they've received airfare and sometimes even hotels, just to listen to a sales man try to hock their properties. I'm just not sure I would be very good at it. I think once I saw the properties being offered and hearing only the good points of it from the sales person, my eyes would glaze over faster than a hot Krispy Kreme doughnut and I would sign something before my good sense came back.
But not all drop boxes are like that. I especially like the ones that are found at the grocery stores. Or department stores. Even though I just mentioned above about not entering drop boxes at the mall, I don't mean the ones inside a department store. I've found most of them in the ladies department or the teens/kids department, like at Dillards, Macy's, J.C.Penneys, etc.
Blogs - Well, as you know by reading this website (which happens to be a blog) you know a little bit. A blog promotion is usually held by the person who writes/creates the blog. The blogger normally writes a review about a product that was given to them from a sponsor and they are told to either keep it and give away another exact product to one of their readers or just give away the product that they've reviewed.
The biggest blog sweepstakes/promotions are from what is typically called "Mommy blogs" This area has become highly saturated in my opinion and they usually want you to jump through a LOT of hoops to get your entries in. And the prizes are not usually for anything spectacular. Small amounts in Gift Cards like $10, DVD's, Cd's, books, etc. I don't mind entering these occasionally, but I don't spend a lot of time on them, because like I just wrote, they usually want the person entering, to do several different things, to make the entry complete.
Things that range from posting a comment, following their blog, making a tweet and then coming back and posting that status link to that tweet, to prove that you really did tweet about their promotions, and many other things. Sometimes they will give you 5+ entries for each action taken, but then I get really confused about how in the world they could possibly keep up with all the entries for it to be truly legit. Some people have also expressed their skepticism towards mommy blog promotions and think that they either don't send the prizes out, which are normally provided by the sponsor or they give them to their friends/family members, instead of their readers. I am sure some of their fears are correct, but there are honest bloggers out there and it is another way to enter and win stuff. It's just not for everybody. Personally I think it's you either hate them or you don't.
Snap Tags - This is probably the newest on the scene of entering sweepstakes/promotions. You may have seen some odd little black and white photo with a lot of pixels/dots. There are also colored ones too. Well, if you have something on your "smart" phone, called a "Tag Reader", you use that application and take a photo of that picture and it then normally takes you to a special web page on your *smart* phone so you can enter. I can't say that I've been impressed with this method of entering, but it's still in it's growing stages I suppose and I am going to try and be more aware of snap tap promotions around me, and enter. But it's towards the bottom of my list when thinking about entering sweepstakes. Basically, I'm not going to be losing any sleep over it, if I don't enter one of them.
Radio Call Ins - I know you know about Radio call in...The DJ's will announce at a certain time to call to either win something or be put in a drawing for an even bigger prize. These are hard to win in my honest opinion. Basically because you tend to get a busy signal all the time. But some people really really love them. I guess if you spend a lot of time listening to the radio, perhaps either at work or maybe being a stay at home or work at home parent, you can enter these more frequently than other people. I also think that if you listen and enter on the week-ends, you might have a better chance of getting through, since most people like to do things with their families and thus making the competition lower. Or at least, that's my opinion. So far I've only gotten through once to be put in a drawing, which I didn't win. It made me feel the same way inside like I do when I only have one more number left when playing Bingo! It's not a happy feeling either. It's more like I'm on the verge of having a panic attack...so not fun to me!
Radio Remotes - This is where a radio station is at a certain location and they mention where they are and for how long and encourage their listeners to come and visit them and try to win various prizes or get entries in for something great, like trips or a car.
Game Shows - These are harder and probably not a lot of people do these. But some of the Games shows that come to my mind are Jeopardy (which I despise), Price is Right, Wheel of Fortune, Deal or No Deal, etc. There is usually a cattle call and long waiting periods and then you get interview basically. They are usually looking for people that are exciting or at least project excitement and that makes for good TV, even if it does embarrass yourself and your children for years to come.
I am sure there are few more ways to enter promotions and if you can think of anything that I might have missed please comment on this blog post or send me an email. I would love to hear from you.
So in answer to what I wrote at the beginning of this blog post, I am thinking about changing my way of entering. Last year I spent most time on snail mail entries and it really didn't pay off for me in the long run, which is most disappointing. My husband was the biggest winner and I think (although I am not certain) that most of his entries was from entering online.
The biggest change I think I am going to do is continue to enter my husband with online sweepstakes (possibly only, unless it's a local/restricted one) and just enter myself through the mail. I also now get to enter our child, since the birthday that was celebrated last year, makes her more open to more sweepstakes and contest! Whoo Hoo.
A couple of years ago it wasn't unusual for me to start my day entering online sweepstakes. I would normally take about 2-3 hours each and everyday (and yes I do mean every day) and enter online. I would later make time during the evening hours to do my entries for snail mail entries. Last year I tried really hard to enter 11 snail mail entries each day, but I didn't keep to it as well as I wanted to. What can I say? Life got in the way and I just wasn't going to make myself feel bad for not making my goal.
I guess I could make a goal of trying to enter 12 snail mail entries each day if I gave it some thought. I know I have a batch ready for tomorrow's mail and there are only 11 in it. My mind was still thinking 2011. So I guess I will end this post now and enter some more sweepstakes. Who knows..you might even get another post from me tomorrow. I don't want to say that's one of my new year's resolutions, which is to post each and everyday. I will say that I am hopeful that I will write more consistently on here. I mean that was the purpose of creating this blog space in the first place, right?
So bye for now and good luck to everyone that chooses to enter sweepstakes...because you will never be a winner if you don't enter!
~Cheers~
.
Note: This is a REALLY long post, so I warn you in advance. You can read the first two paragraphs and then skip down to the last six paragraphs to save you some time. I basically just go into more details about the various ways to enter sweepstakes. But if you are already a seasons sweeper, you probably already know most if not all of what I wrote.
I've been entering Sweepstakes for right at nine years. I've won some nice things and had some wonderful experiences and had several opportunities to travel. However, one thing you learn if you stay in this hobby long enough is that sometimes the game changes and you need to be flexible to change with it, otherwise you will be left a loser and wondering why you are no longer winning like you used to. Thus becoming depressed and thinking that once again all sweepstakes are rigged, even when that's not the case.
After my last post, which was all of yesterday (I know I can't believe I've made two post so close together either..back to back basically...will wonders never cease?) I've been thinking of how I should or rather *need* to change my method of entering sweepstakes. Especially if I want to continue to win and maybe win something Big for 2012.
Right now there are so many ways to enter sweepstakes and be a winner. A few of those methods and an explanation of what and how to enter them are:
Snail Mail - (My all time favorite..I know I am a little crazy and alone in feeling that way. But I've always been drawn towards repetitive things, like Data Entry). Snail mail entries is usually your NAZ and maybe other requested information written down on a piece of paper or card, usually a 3x5..sometimes they like to throw in odd sizes like 3 1/2 x 5 1/2 cards/papers..thinking that people won't use them and thus being disqualified. So it's always important to read the rules people! Then you place your card or paper into an envelopes (you will never go wrong when using a plain white #10 envelopes also known as a business envelope) and put a first class stamp on it, and hopefully, Lord willing it will go to the right address and be added to the collection of all the other entries.
Online entries - a fairly cheap way to enter, as long as you have a computer/laptop and an internet connection, which does cost money, but you could also go to a library and enter from there. However, I doubt anyone going that route would get a ton of entries in daily, unless they seriously loved going to their local library!
Contest - This usually involves more participation and it also usually means a lot less competition. This can be anything from recipe contest, video/you tube, essays, talent (singing/dancing) and more. (This is my least favorite..because I feel so totally UN-creative and boring).
Facebook - This is a very popular way for sponsors to advertise their products/services and Facebook has millions of users, so it only makes sense that sponsors are going the route of using Facebook to attract new customers. This is a social type way of entering sweepstakes along with ...
Twitter - This is what is also known as micro blogging. I am sure most people have heard of twitter, even if they haven't posted a tweet. I will be the first one here to admit that I am not very keen on twitter contest. I've been told that it's a good way to win, because a lot of people feel the same way about it as I do, thus meaning the competition is low. I have won one or two twitter promotions, and I have decided to give it another shot for 2012. It still confuses me, especially when there are "Twitter Parties". I will hopefully go into more detail at a later time about what a twitter party really is and what it involves so that you can have a better understanding of it.
Texting - I don't know of anyone, unless they are under the age of 5-6 years old and possibly over the age of 80, who doesn't know what Texting is. Now the older generation probably doesn't use this method of entering promotions all too much, so it can be a great way to enter and win prizes. I've found that beer companies use this method a lot and I've won several nice prizes from texting. One of those prizes was a Cruise! It does involve using a cell phone and if you choose to enter this way a lot, please also remember that texting cost money and to look at unlimited texting plan from your cell phone provider. But if you have a teenager with a cell phone under your roof, you might want to invest in unlimited texting just for that reason alone.
Drop Boxes - You usually see these at grocery stores, but you can also see them at Malls and other places of businesses. Now the ones at the mall, I personally never enter. Those usually end up being given to Time Share places and they call you, trying to get you to come and view/listen to their pitches to sell you a time share property.
Now some people can use this to their advantage, if they have the will power not to buy into the spill they give to you. I've thought about seeing if my husband might want to try this, as we know someone personally who does this and they've received airfare and sometimes even hotels, just to listen to a sales man try to hock their properties. I'm just not sure I would be very good at it. I think once I saw the properties being offered and hearing only the good points of it from the sales person, my eyes would glaze over faster than a hot Krispy Kreme doughnut and I would sign something before my good sense came back.
But not all drop boxes are like that. I especially like the ones that are found at the grocery stores. Or department stores. Even though I just mentioned above about not entering drop boxes at the mall, I don't mean the ones inside a department store. I've found most of them in the ladies department or the teens/kids department, like at Dillards, Macy's, J.C.Penneys, etc.
Blogs - Well, as you know by reading this website (which happens to be a blog) you know a little bit. A blog promotion is usually held by the person who writes/creates the blog. The blogger normally writes a review about a product that was given to them from a sponsor and they are told to either keep it and give away another exact product to one of their readers or just give away the product that they've reviewed.
The biggest blog sweepstakes/promotions are from what is typically called "Mommy blogs" This area has become highly saturated in my opinion and they usually want you to jump through a LOT of hoops to get your entries in. And the prizes are not usually for anything spectacular. Small amounts in Gift Cards like $10, DVD's, Cd's, books, etc. I don't mind entering these occasionally, but I don't spend a lot of time on them, because like I just wrote, they usually want the person entering, to do several different things, to make the entry complete.
Things that range from posting a comment, following their blog, making a tweet and then coming back and posting that status link to that tweet, to prove that you really did tweet about their promotions, and many other things. Sometimes they will give you 5+ entries for each action taken, but then I get really confused about how in the world they could possibly keep up with all the entries for it to be truly legit. Some people have also expressed their skepticism towards mommy blog promotions and think that they either don't send the prizes out, which are normally provided by the sponsor or they give them to their friends/family members, instead of their readers. I am sure some of their fears are correct, but there are honest bloggers out there and it is another way to enter and win stuff. It's just not for everybody. Personally I think it's you either hate them or you don't.
Snap Tags - This is probably the newest on the scene of entering sweepstakes/promotions. You may have seen some odd little black and white photo with a lot of pixels/dots. There are also colored ones too. Well, if you have something on your "smart" phone, called a "Tag Reader", you use that application and take a photo of that picture and it then normally takes you to a special web page on your *smart* phone so you can enter. I can't say that I've been impressed with this method of entering, but it's still in it's growing stages I suppose and I am going to try and be more aware of snap tap promotions around me, and enter. But it's towards the bottom of my list when thinking about entering sweepstakes. Basically, I'm not going to be losing any sleep over it, if I don't enter one of them.
Radio Call Ins - I know you know about Radio call in...The DJ's will announce at a certain time to call to either win something or be put in a drawing for an even bigger prize. These are hard to win in my honest opinion. Basically because you tend to get a busy signal all the time. But some people really really love them. I guess if you spend a lot of time listening to the radio, perhaps either at work or maybe being a stay at home or work at home parent, you can enter these more frequently than other people. I also think that if you listen and enter on the week-ends, you might have a better chance of getting through, since most people like to do things with their families and thus making the competition lower. Or at least, that's my opinion. So far I've only gotten through once to be put in a drawing, which I didn't win. It made me feel the same way inside like I do when I only have one more number left when playing Bingo! It's not a happy feeling either. It's more like I'm on the verge of having a panic attack...so not fun to me!
Radio Remotes - This is where a radio station is at a certain location and they mention where they are and for how long and encourage their listeners to come and visit them and try to win various prizes or get entries in for something great, like trips or a car.
Game Shows - These are harder and probably not a lot of people do these. But some of the Games shows that come to my mind are Jeopardy (which I despise), Price is Right, Wheel of Fortune, Deal or No Deal, etc. There is usually a cattle call and long waiting periods and then you get interview basically. They are usually looking for people that are exciting or at least project excitement and that makes for good TV, even if it does embarrass yourself and your children for years to come.
I am sure there are few more ways to enter promotions and if you can think of anything that I might have missed please comment on this blog post or send me an email. I would love to hear from you.
So in answer to what I wrote at the beginning of this blog post, I am thinking about changing my way of entering. Last year I spent most time on snail mail entries and it really didn't pay off for me in the long run, which is most disappointing. My husband was the biggest winner and I think (although I am not certain) that most of his entries was from entering online.
The biggest change I think I am going to do is continue to enter my husband with online sweepstakes (possibly only, unless it's a local/restricted one) and just enter myself through the mail. I also now get to enter our child, since the birthday that was celebrated last year, makes her more open to more sweepstakes and contest! Whoo Hoo.
A couple of years ago it wasn't unusual for me to start my day entering online sweepstakes. I would normally take about 2-3 hours each and everyday (and yes I do mean every day) and enter online. I would later make time during the evening hours to do my entries for snail mail entries. Last year I tried really hard to enter 11 snail mail entries each day, but I didn't keep to it as well as I wanted to. What can I say? Life got in the way and I just wasn't going to make myself feel bad for not making my goal.
I guess I could make a goal of trying to enter 12 snail mail entries each day if I gave it some thought. I know I have a batch ready for tomorrow's mail and there are only 11 in it. My mind was still thinking 2011. So I guess I will end this post now and enter some more sweepstakes. Who knows..you might even get another post from me tomorrow. I don't want to say that's one of my new year's resolutions, which is to post each and everyday. I will say that I am hopeful that I will write more consistently on here. I mean that was the purpose of creating this blog space in the first place, right?
So bye for now and good luck to everyone that chooses to enter sweepstakes...because you will never be a winner if you don't enter!
~Cheers~
.
Yeah, that's my crappy motto for this year. I try to come up with a new one each year, and after 2012, I've got nuthin! I mean, what rhymes with 13,14,15,16,17,18,or 19? But if the Mayan calendar is to be believed, I am not going to have an issue with it either...so who cares, right? RIGHT!
I really should have written a blog post before now. I was planning on writing something on the last day of 2011, but eh...I didn't. What can I say? 2011 was the year of the lazy for this blogger. Oh who am I kidding? The last 44 years have been the year of the lazy for me! LOL Yeah, I know it's not really funny, but it's my blog and I'll bitch, moan, groan and make cheesy jokes and bad puns if I want to. I'm sure that could have been a song title, but it would have taken too long to print and sing to..so moving along.
Happy New Year!
and yes, I am actually writing this on day 2 of 2012...but it's still the first day of 2012 in California and probably some of western counties or states, like Hawaii, so it counts and it's all good! Right? RIGHT!
Last year wasn't anything spectacular for this little sweeper. In fact it started off pretty grim as my mother in law passed away on Jan 13. And even though we are still having to go through so many things that was brought on from her death, we are still together as a family of three and have somewhat to moderately good health. I pray daily for all my family to stay healthy, safe and happy. It's really more important than anything else, especially a prize....however! I am going to continue to enter sweepstakes and maybe even a contest here and there. I mean, I won't win squat if I don't enter, right? RIGHT!
I actually tried to keep track of my wins from 2011 in a spreadsheet like I've been doing for many years. I believe I am now entering my 9th year of being a sweeper. I still can't believe it to be honest. I never really stick with hobbies for very long, unless you count sleeping for longer than 12-14 hours at a time. That hobby I have always excelled in and probably will continue to do so. When you are a stay at home mom and are disabled, sometimes you get a case of what my husband likes to call "the case of the sticky mattress" which basically means, my fat butt doesn't get out of it until after about 12 hours or more. Yes I'm lazy..let's move on.
Even though I don't have the proper spreadsheet to look at or prove to anyone, I would have to state that it was my husband that was the biggest winner in this household over all of us! Even though we didn't win a trip or anything that made me wet my pants, I would still think or at least like to believe that we stayed in the black and not the red, as far as cost goes. I enter a lot of snails mail sweepstkaes and stamps cost money. I may end up switching my entering methods for 2012 and that will probably be the subject of my next post. Yeah! An idea...cool...something to think about and write...sweet!
I have realized something else...Voting contest are for the freaking birds! I know I never came back to give any more updates on the last voting contest I was in, but that's because it became very apparent that the people who entered that same contest, well...I hate to say it..but there were CHEATERS! I mean come on! Some of those photos had well over 12,000 votes (and no that is not a typo) in less than 24 hours. Even though the rules stated that it was unlimited voting..after 1000 votes, it wouldn't let you vote anymore. (I know this, because I clicked that dang vote button over and over and over and over, etc) At first they ( the people hosting the contest, which was a local news station) let the number of votes be seen, but they later changed it, so you couldn't see it. (Probably due to other people who entered, bitching about how a few entries had so many votes, so soon after the contest started. They should have stopped the contest and discounted every vote and started over...but they didn't. Well surprise surprise (NOT) that the photo that won, was also one of the photo's that had thousands of votes right at the very first of the competition!
I don't know what it is, but when you offer up a free trip to Disneyland or World, some of the worst can be seen in people! UGG. I am now just about certain I am done with voting contest, unless it states in the rules about no one using bots (computer programs that help cheaters win contest on the internet) and that it's either judged by a panel of judges and not basically a popularity contest. That's really leaves a bad taste in so many people's mouths and honestly, it makes the company (or local news station) look bad. I personally am very tempted to write a strongly worded letter to let them know, but I'm still shaking off the bad case of the lazies!
Soon after posting this blog post, I will be making my new spreadsheet for the wins for 2012. I have also been giving some thought as to what I want to write about here, in regards to this hobby. It's a wonderful hobby and it's given me and my loved ones a lot of pleasure. In fact, some of the wins (i.e. Gift Cards) came in really handy for Christmas.
I am also hoping that I will write on a more regular basis. I would love to be able to say I would commit to a weekly post..but I'm not so sure about that to be honest. But then you never know, so please continue to check back now and then. If you don't see anything new, shoot me an email and, well I was going to say write and tell me to get off my butt, but to write a blog post, I actually have to sit on my butt, so that wouldn't work. But you could say get on it and write something gosh darn it!...It's not like I have a job or anything to go to, right? RIGHT! Ok now I think I may be depressed...thanks a lot! oh wait..I'm probably just talking to myself again, so oh well...moving on...again.
I'm not really sure why I keep doing that right? RIGHT! thing, but it's working for me today, so just go with it, ok? OK! Oh crap...I think this post needs to stop now.
So that's it for today. Hopefully this post has made my Dad happy. (or just confused by his youngest daughter's mentality or personality disorder) He's basically my only reader, and maybe my sister, since it was her post on her personal blog that lite the fire under my butt to actually write...gotta go..two more minutes until 1-2-2012 in California. Bu-Bye
I really should have written a blog post before now. I was planning on writing something on the last day of 2011, but eh...I didn't. What can I say? 2011 was the year of the lazy for this blogger. Oh who am I kidding? The last 44 years have been the year of the lazy for me! LOL Yeah, I know it's not really funny, but it's my blog and I'll bitch, moan, groan and make cheesy jokes and bad puns if I want to. I'm sure that could have been a song title, but it would have taken too long to print and sing to..so moving along.
Happy New Year!
and yes, I am actually writing this on day 2 of 2012...but it's still the first day of 2012 in California and probably some of western counties or states, like Hawaii, so it counts and it's all good! Right? RIGHT!
Last year wasn't anything spectacular for this little sweeper. In fact it started off pretty grim as my mother in law passed away on Jan 13. And even though we are still having to go through so many things that was brought on from her death, we are still together as a family of three and have somewhat to moderately good health. I pray daily for all my family to stay healthy, safe and happy. It's really more important than anything else, especially a prize....however! I am going to continue to enter sweepstakes and maybe even a contest here and there. I mean, I won't win squat if I don't enter, right? RIGHT!
I actually tried to keep track of my wins from 2011 in a spreadsheet like I've been doing for many years. I believe I am now entering my 9th year of being a sweeper. I still can't believe it to be honest. I never really stick with hobbies for very long, unless you count sleeping for longer than 12-14 hours at a time. That hobby I have always excelled in and probably will continue to do so. When you are a stay at home mom and are disabled, sometimes you get a case of what my husband likes to call "the case of the sticky mattress" which basically means, my fat butt doesn't get out of it until after about 12 hours or more. Yes I'm lazy..let's move on.
Even though I don't have the proper spreadsheet to look at or prove to anyone, I would have to state that it was my husband that was the biggest winner in this household over all of us! Even though we didn't win a trip or anything that made me wet my pants, I would still think or at least like to believe that we stayed in the black and not the red, as far as cost goes. I enter a lot of snails mail sweepstkaes and stamps cost money. I may end up switching my entering methods for 2012 and that will probably be the subject of my next post. Yeah! An idea...cool...something to think about and write...sweet!
I have realized something else...Voting contest are for the freaking birds! I know I never came back to give any more updates on the last voting contest I was in, but that's because it became very apparent that the people who entered that same contest, well...I hate to say it..but there were CHEATERS! I mean come on! Some of those photos had well over 12,000 votes (and no that is not a typo) in less than 24 hours. Even though the rules stated that it was unlimited voting..after 1000 votes, it wouldn't let you vote anymore. (I know this, because I clicked that dang vote button over and over and over and over, etc) At first they ( the people hosting the contest, which was a local news station) let the number of votes be seen, but they later changed it, so you couldn't see it. (Probably due to other people who entered, bitching about how a few entries had so many votes, so soon after the contest started. They should have stopped the contest and discounted every vote and started over...but they didn't. Well surprise surprise (NOT) that the photo that won, was also one of the photo's that had thousands of votes right at the very first of the competition!
I don't know what it is, but when you offer up a free trip to Disneyland or World, some of the worst can be seen in people! UGG. I am now just about certain I am done with voting contest, unless it states in the rules about no one using bots (computer programs that help cheaters win contest on the internet) and that it's either judged by a panel of judges and not basically a popularity contest. That's really leaves a bad taste in so many people's mouths and honestly, it makes the company (or local news station) look bad. I personally am very tempted to write a strongly worded letter to let them know, but I'm still shaking off the bad case of the lazies!
Soon after posting this blog post, I will be making my new spreadsheet for the wins for 2012. I have also been giving some thought as to what I want to write about here, in regards to this hobby. It's a wonderful hobby and it's given me and my loved ones a lot of pleasure. In fact, some of the wins (i.e. Gift Cards) came in really handy for Christmas.
I am also hoping that I will write on a more regular basis. I would love to be able to say I would commit to a weekly post..but I'm not so sure about that to be honest. But then you never know, so please continue to check back now and then. If you don't see anything new, shoot me an email and, well I was going to say write and tell me to get off my butt, but to write a blog post, I actually have to sit on my butt, so that wouldn't work. But you could say get on it and write something gosh darn it!...It's not like I have a job or anything to go to, right? RIGHT! Ok now I think I may be depressed...thanks a lot! oh wait..I'm probably just talking to myself again, so oh well...moving on...again.
I'm not really sure why I keep doing that right? RIGHT! thing, but it's working for me today, so just go with it, ok? OK! Oh crap...I think this post needs to stop now.
So that's it for today. Hopefully this post has made my Dad happy. (or just confused by his youngest daughter's mentality or personality disorder) He's basically my only reader, and maybe my sister, since it was her post on her personal blog that lite the fire under my butt to actually write...gotta go..two more minutes until 1-2-2012 in California. Bu-Bye
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