Private Selection Helped My Thanksgiving Dinner

As I mentioned in my last blog post I received some great full sized Private Selection products from BzzAgent.com  The coffee was a big hit with my guests and myself since I love coffee. The citrus stuffed olives were better than any of us thought they would be. We all tried something new today. We started the day off with Buffalo Monterey Jack cheese and crackers along with the olives and a some black olives. 

While I didn't use the pasta sauce today I will be using it with a spaghetti dish I'm making tomorrow with left over turkey. 

As you can see from my picture I was sent quite a few full sized Private Selection products and so far all of them were a big hit. 

Disclosure: I received points for this blog post as well as free samples but all thoughts, ideas and remarks remain my own.

Happy Thanksgiving

I wanted to send a heartfelt "Google Gobble" to all my readers.

Hope you all fill up on Turkey and Pumpkin pie, I know I will.

Freebie Friday!

People have asked me how I get all the free samples and free full sized products that I get. So each week I post a picture of all the free stuff I got that week with links to where I got them. This week I received a big haul as you can see from the picture. Here's what I got: 

3 Poise Pads- I found the link for this freebie on Hey It's Free. 

Clear Shampoo and Conditioner- I found the link for this freebie on Hey It's Free.

Open Nature Granola sample- I got this sample by ordering my groceries at Vons.com. 

Then I received a bunch of free products from Bzzzagent. All you have to do in order to receive free products from Bzzagent is sign up for an account and tell them what you think of the products they send you. This time they sent me:

Coupons for: a free jar of Private Selection Olives, Pasta Sauce and cheese. They also sent me a full size bag of Private Selection Costa Rican Tarrazu Ground coffee and a box of Classic Water Crisps. 

Happy Freebie Hunting!

I have 4 new babies!

That's right I have 4 new rats. Here's one checking out his new hammock. 

This one is a half hairless. One of his parents was a hairless rat and his hair is very sparse. 

Cute baby. 

They are all about a year old. 

Just a little nose sticking out from behind the fleece cube. 

The little one. He's so soft. 

The cage. 

The boys playing with their new wood toy. 

Having fun. 

And the little half hairless one hiding under the hammock. 

Things You Might Not Know About Me

Things you might not know about me.

You might think that with all the articles I've written, all the blogs posts I've done and as much as I'm on fb, email and twitter yapping...that I would touch type really fast. But the truth is, I sight touch type. Meaning I have to look at the keys as I type, but I type pretty darn fast that way.

It irritates me to no end to have things on top of other things in my refrigerator. We have more than enough room in the fridge to have things in a single layer on the shelves. I don't want to have to remove the butter, bologna and salami just to get to the cheese on the bottom of all that. But having two other people in this apartment, it never fails that things get put on top of other things. grrr

I like watching others dance, but I can't dance to save my life. *So no, I can't teach you how to Dougie* But one of my favorite videos to watch it Bumpy Ride by Mohombi. The guys in this video do all sorts of booty shaking.

I can repeat word for word the original Fright Night.

I am lovingly called a space cadet because I can be sitting on the couch, watching tv and be asked what just happened on the tv...and have absolutely no idea because while I might have been staring at it, I wasn't watching it, I was actually thinking about other things. lol I do that all the time.

I hate wearing shoes. When I have to, I wear slip on sandals.

Because of all the different avatars I use on the different sites, you might not know what I look like, so this is me...

My Daughter's Baby Shower

My daughter had her baby shower this past weekend, so I wanted to share some of the pictures with you. One person took a picture of the ultrasound and put it in a frame. Cool gift, right?

The diaper cake. It was so cute. 

My daughter wearing the shirt her aunt Karen made for her. Is that the cutest thing you've ever seen, or what?

One of the baby shower cakes. This one was chocolate strawberry. Omg it was so good. 

This was another of the baby shower cakes, it was vanilla. It's so cute. 

My beautiful daughter. 

My daughter's boyfriend.

Aww how cute. 

The women that hosted my daughter's baby shower. They are holding one of the babies that came with his mother to the shower. There were two babies there and both slept through most of the party. How cute though, right. 

Thank you Tia and Marissa for hosting the baby shower.

My Top Favorite Pets Themed Zazzle.com Products

Have you all heard of Zazzle.com before now? I actually have a store on Zazzle with a few things for sale. My favorite being this cute Christmas Ornament I made from a picture of one of my rats which you can find here.

But I thought I would show you some of my favorite pets themed products from Zazzle.com, so here goes.


Sussex Spaniel Key Chain
See another sussex spaniel at Zazzle

I Love (Heart) My Bakharwal Dog Paw Print Custom Stationery
Browse another bakharwal dog

BRAQUE FRANCAIS KEY CHAINS
Browse other braque francais

We're All Mad Here Round Sticker
View other caterpillar stickers

A fun mug design by David Moore
Shop for other africanis

Augie & Ti Golden Retriever Calendar 2013
Find more dog calendars

GULL TERR KEY CHAIN
View another gull terr at Zazzle

Japanese Bobtail Bumper Stickers
View another japanese bobtail cat

Two pug dogs on leashes mousepad
Shop for another toy bulldog

Oh, Snap Skeleton Stickers
Check out more dog bone stickers

Catholics Vs Convicts T-shirts & Shirts
Browse other catholics vs convicts

Disclosure:
I was given a gift code for a gift certificate for this post but all thoughts are my own. 

Allergic To Raw Shrimp But Not Cooked Shrimp?

When I was a kid we used to have fresh shrimp for dinner at least once a week. I grew up in Redondo Beach, California and we would go to the Pier and get fresh seafood all the time. Living near the ocean the seafood is fresh and you can find it pretty easily and my parents loved seafood, so we had it all the time.

When I was old enough my mom would have me helping to peel the shrimp and that's when we discovered that I can't touch raw shrimp. If I do, I break out in red bumps and blisters all over my hands, but after the shrimp is cooked, I can eat it, touch it...hell I could bathe in it and not have a problem...except of course the cats might follow me home. O.o

So My mom asked my doctor about it and he said that it probably meant I was going to develop a shellfish allergy so I should stop eating, or touching any shellfish. Well, that didn't sit well with me or my parents...because frankly I love my shellfish. So I stopped peeling or handling raw shrimp but still ate it all the time with no problems. My allergy never got any worse.

A few years ago I decided to peel some raw shrimp with my bare hands, I figured one of two things would happen. I would either break out...or I wouldn't and then I would know if I still had the allergy.

Well I got about 4 shrimp in when my hands started itching, getting red and small blisters started covering the skin around my finger nails. So now I know, I still have a strange shellfish allergy.

I still eat cooked shrimp, but now I wear rubber gloves to peel them. I've never developed a worsening shellfish allergy and I seriously doubt I will. I even got tested for allergies and they did a shellfish allergy test..the weird thing is it came back negative for an allergic reaction. Now how in the heck can that happen?

The doctor said our bodies are strange sometimes. Some people are allergic to the fuzz on peaches but can eat the peach itself just fine. Others are allergic to the tomato vines but can eat tomatoes with no problems. And yet others have allergic reactions to raw foods but once they are cooked, they can eat them just fine.

So to anyone out there with an odd reaction to raw foods, maybe you can eat the cooked version of the same food? I can.

Freebie Friday

Welcome to another edition of Freebie Friday. This week I received the Target Beauty Bag filled with samples of shampoo, lotion and coupons. 

I found the link for this great freebie on Hey it's Free. 

Does Your Hamster Chew The Bars Of His Cage?

So you adopted a cute hamster, bought the cage, the wheel, the food and some toys and set the cage up and that night when you go to bed...you hear this gnawing noise that starts to drive you completely crazy. You get up to find out what it is only to see little bubbles chewing like crazy on the bars on her cage. 

That's pretty much what happened to me.

So why do hamsters chew on the bars of their cage? That's a really good question. The first answer is they are bored. If they don't have something to do at night while they are up, they will chew. Hamsters are nocturnal, meaning they sleep most of the day and are up all night. You have to give them something to do at night while they are awake. 

Make sure there is a wheel in their cage, some toys for them to chew on, at least 2 different houses to sleep, hide or rest in, plenty of treats and a full food bowl. 

I always bought chew sticks, honey sticks that are food glued together with honey that are in a stick form so they have that to chew on instead of the bars. If you have a wheel in their cage they will run for a really long time, tire out, take a nap and run some more. 

If you'd like to know more about why hamsters chew on their cage bars please read my article. 

TV Shows

What TV shows do you watch on a regular basis? I have a few shows that I watch all the time and look forward to seeing each week. I thought I would share a few of them with you. 

Once Upon A Time has a fairy tale or Grimm fairy Tales feel to it and while at first I wasn't sure about this show, I have really come to love it. I have to say my favorite character on the show is Rumpelstiltskin. I've always liked this actor, his Scottish accent might have a little to do with that but I'm not at all ashamed to admit that. lol 

Fringe. I am sad that this is their last season and with people being killed off this past month that I really didn't think would be killed off on the show, I don't know how they are going to finish this show to the fans enjoyment. I can only hope they fit all of the things into this last season that will make for a good ending that we fans will like when the series has ended. 

The Vampire Diaries...Damon...Need I say more? I think not. 

Grimm, now I realize that Nick is actually the star of this show...but my favorite character is Monroe. I wasn't sure about this show when it first started but I love Monroe. He's sexy and timid at times but can really step up when needed. 

Supernatural is one of those shows that sometimes I like the episodes and sometimes I don't. I really liked the series up until last season when they were fighting the Leviathan. It seems like every time they get rid of one monster and think they have saved the world...another monster even worst just pops up to make their lives hell. I'm waiting to see if this storyline they are on right now gets any better. I love this show and hope they can pull out another great season. 

Some of the other great shows I really like are Criminal Minds, Law and Order SVU, Haven and Being Human. 

As you can see, I really like supernatural or Sci-fi type shows for the most part with a few shows like Criminal Minds thrown in. I mean if there's ever a Zombie Apocalypse I need to know how to kill them as well as dispose of the evidence. lol 

Do You Like Series?

I don't know if you all are aware but I read a lot. I have stacks and stacks of books on my many bookshelves. While I do love to read all kinds of genres and different books and authors, my favorite thing to read are series. So I thought I would share some of my favorite series with you. Some you may know, some you may not. 

Mater Claimed is the next book in the Shifters Unbound series. If you like shifters, alpha males and sexy stories...this is the series for you. 

This author is fairly new to me. I won the first book in this Amoveo Legend series in a blog contest and liked it so much that I've been buying up the rest of the books in this series. I cannot say enough good things about this series or the author. She is on FB and is a very nice lady. I've read all the books in this series except for this latest one and I can hardly wait to get my hands on it. 

Anita Blake..now if you haven't been reading this series and you like vampire novels...you are seriously missing out, Anita kicks ass...literally. 

I love this author and the Feral Warriors series. Just look at that cover! The men are alpha all the way and you will find shifters in this series, so if you like shifters, this is the series for you. 

The Dark Hunter Series. I have to say that I have been reading this series since the very first book and I thought that Acheron was the very best of all the books so far. Not to say that any of the other books were bad, but this cleared up so much that we didn't know. 

The Breeds series. I've liked all of the books in this series because I really like shifter stories and this is one of the best ones out there. 

This is by far my favorite series...ever. I started reading this series by accident actually. I went to a used book store and thought I was getting a book a friend had told me about, only to find out it wasn't the one she was talking about. But I loved that first book in this "dark" series and have been hooked ever since. The Carpathian males are alpha all the way and want only to take care of their mates, even if that means going against their mates wishes and pissing them off...which they seem to do quite often...but that makes it all the more fun to read. 

So tell me, have you read any of these series?

Why Dark Thoughts?

So I had someone ask me why my blog was named "Dark Thoughts", and I thought that was an excellent question.

Back in 2005 when I first started writing in this blog, I did it as a way to get my feelings out about things that bothered me. My life, the people around me, life in general, people and how I felt about them. If you go back and read some of the things I wrote back then you can kinda get a sense of where my head was at. It was in a bad place. I was depressed, suicidal even and then a few of my online friends made blogs too and we started commenting on each others blogs. I met friends that I still have and we now chat on fb because I'm the only one who kept with the blogging thing.

It saddens me to read some of those entries because one of my friends passed away last year. He was a wonderful person and I still miss chatting with him.

So I named this blog "Dark Thoughts" because that's the kinds of thoughts I had back then. I am a pessimistic, introverted person and it shows. I've changed a little bit and my blog posts aren't all doom and gloom anymore but I liked the name, so I kept it.

Lastly, I'd like to share with you some of the poetry I wrote back when I first started writing in this blog.

Death
It is dark but it is light
claim your breath this unholy night
I seek surrender, but get fight
you and yours will end this night
I am the beast, the terror within
When I come for you, it will be the end.


Becoming
can you see the beast in me?
Can you get the blood off me?
Can we be alone tonight?
I can make your heart take flight.
I can make the walls within.
I can make the light brighten.
Can you see the blood red eyes?
Can you be the blood that lies?
Can we see this evening end?
when I can't make you alive again.

Courage
Been here for many a year, now all she did was feel and fear.
She gave it all and then the grave.
She left with out saying a word,
not even a gasp to be heard.
We often wonder what could have been,
had she made just one friend.
She is now going along,
building her courage and being strong.
Time will heal her broken heart,
but what she had was torn apart.


I don't write poetry anymore but as you might be able to tell from those poems, I was in a bad place and saw nothing but doom and gloom everywhere I looked. Thankfully things have changed a bit for me.

When A Book Goes Too Far

Have a you ever read a book that took a turn that left you feeling sick? I've had that happen to me once or twice and you would think that I would say I was reading an erotic bdsm novel or some such thing at the time, right? Wrong. It was actually a Historical that I was reading that made my heart skip a beat and made me want to reach through the book and slap the heck out of the man.

It takes a lot to turn me off from a book, but some of those historicals have the men treating women badly and that is a real turn off for me. I only want to read about a woman being whipped or sent to the dungeon if she's into that sort of thing..*wink*

I know not all Historicals are like this, I've read a good number of them that were great but I don't like an author taking things to the extreme just because they are setting their book in a time where women really didn't have a lot of say, or rights and were often mistreated.

Is it weird then that I like Erotic BDSM books and stories? I've actually dabbled in writing a few short stories for Literotica and had fun doing it. I think I like them because you're reading about a story of consenting adults trying out things for the sake of pleasure and that makes all the difference.

Have you ever read a book that pushed your buttons or went to far for you?

Freebie Friday

Hi all, it's Freebie Friday again. The day I share with you the free samples and products I received and where you can get them or more like them. 

This week I received a sample of Tricalm I found on Hey It's Free. 

and an always pad from Vocalpoint.

I use Hey It's Free to find links to most of the free samples I find. The guy is really funny and he finds some of the best samples. 

Vocal Point you have to sign up for to become a member but they reward you automatically every so often with samples and coupons just for posting comments on their site.