Treasure Madness

Because I've enjoyed the treasure-type games, I found Treasure Madness by zSlide through some of my Facebook game-playing friends.

It's also very fun to play but I REALLY like the mini-games that you're offered before accepting treasures. They're not too taxing but they do get more challenging as you progress.

It's also going through changes and iterations so it will be interesting to see how it evolves with time.

I'm not affiliated in any way with zSlide

National Consumer Panel

National Consumer Panel (fomerly HomeScan) is looking for new panelists. This is an AC Nielsen partnership company where you're issued a bar code scanner and you manually scan all the purchases that you make.

You get points for submitting scans weekly and for answering surveys, then you can redeem the points for prizes. Plus there are prize giveaways and I'm planning how I'm going to spend the $20,000 that I will win this year (this the power of positive thinking, right ?) !!

If you join the panel, I'll get a referral bonus, but I highly recommend it anyway. I just redeemed my points for a cookware set, so I'm very excited abouat it.

Treasure Isle

I'm not typically a gaming person, but Zynga's new Treasure Isle game is tons of fun. You actually go on a treasure hunt and dig and search to find buried treasure.

The game was launched on April 1 and Zynga's been adding new islands and maps about once per week to keep up with the demand.

Some of the of treasure maps/islands require Isle cash to unlock which you can earn free. But I've promised myself that if I meet my weight goal, I'm going to reward myself with Isle cash to unlock the rest of the islands !!

I'm not affiliated in any way with Zynga

Swagbucks Daily Polls

Swagbucks has just introduced a new daily poll feature that will allow you and your friends to earn Swag Bucks every day simply by voting! It's a great way to share your opinons with the community and be rewarded for doing it. All the polls are Swaggernaut submitted and those Swaggernauts whose polls are featured on the site earn themselves 100 SB (those can be submitted to: pollideas@swagbucks.com). This is a fun, easy way to rack up your free rewards from Swagbucks.com, the number one destination for fun, online polls.

Yes, this is my referral link and if you join, I can earn SwagBucks

Customer Service (Amazon)

Speaking of excellent customer service, I have to thank Amazon for their consistently high-quality service. I recently redeemed survey points for an Amazon certificate and ordered some books and used the Super Saver shipping. One of the books was on backorder, but Amazon shipped my books anyway while waiting for the last one.

So I'm kinda in a dilemma since Blogger has made it very easy for us to join the Amazon Associates program. I don't want my suggestions or recommendations to be "sponsored", so I haven't joined them. And since I can't get a commission on my own purchases, I'm not sure it makes sense.

So if you have any opinions on the Associates program, please leave me a comment.

Customer Service (NCP)

The name has changed to National Consumer Panel, but the function is still the same. I redeemed points this week to get a new 10 piece Tfal cookware set for my husband (he's the cook in the family).

When I ordered it, the shipment blurb said expect shipment in 6 - 8 weeks, which I thought was reasonable. So imagine my surprise when it arrived within 2 DAYS !! Just in time for my husband's birthday, so it was especially nice timing.

This was my first time redeeming a prize from NCP (formerly HomeScan), so I'm thrilled.

That is my referral link above, but we don't get any incentive for referring people to NCP

S. J. Bolton

The novel "Sacrifice" by S. J. Bolton was unforgettable, and I can't wait to read more of her books if they're in the same vein. It's a very creepy, plausible story with some throwback to ancient northern islandic myths.

I found a really interesting interview with Bolton about her ideas for writing "Sacrifice", and you can read it here.

Spring Break

I apologize - it's been a week since I've posted anything. But this week was Spring Break for us. So even though we didn't have a big vacation, we still had alot of activities.

(I love the picture of the teacher, 'cos some of my friends are teachers, and they needed the break probably more than the kids did).

Iso-Active Toothpastes

I'm trying toothpaste for sensitive teeth since mine are sensitive to cold. The toothpaste has really helped alot, but I'm not fond of the iso-active form.

While I like the foaming action of the iso-active toothpaste, I don't like that it continues to foam AFTER you've stopped dispensing it. Every morning, I've had to scrape off the little glob of hardened foamed toothpaste, and I find it very annoying.

So back to regular non-foaming toothpaste for me !! (But definitely the sensitive teeth formula)

Cookie Dough

My daughter recently had her birthday and wanted to make a cookie cake, but with a twist. She loves raw cookie dough (doesn't everyone?) but knows that you shouldn't eat it for health reasons.

So she put a thin layer of cookie dough in a 13 x 9 pan, cooked it for 10 minutes until the cookie dough was melty, then lathered icing on it.

It was gooey and decadent and delicious. It tasted like cookie dough fudge and was wonderful.

Richard Doetsch

"The 13th Hour" by Richard Doetsch is a wildly original story line that kept me on the edge of my seat until I finished it (the book, not my seat).

I'm not giving away an of the story to tell you that Nick Quinn's wife is murdered and he's offered 12 hours to relive and find and stop her killer. (What I won't tell you is exactly how that works since that's part of the fun).

Hallmark

I just found out that 2 of our local Hallmark stores have closed. This is such a bummer since I love Hallmark. I've been a Keepsake Ornament member for many, many years. And I love the cool gifts that they offer for specials when you buy 3 cards.

The closest one to us (now) is 20 - 25 minutes away, so I probably won't be going that often. I think I'll write the Hallmark people and ask them about the plans to reopen. I don't know if each store is independently owned (franchised?), or if Hallmark corporate makes the decisions on store locations, but I want my Hallmarks back !!

I'm not affiliated with Hallmark in any way