Well we’re back from Seattle. It was amazing. They were having some kind of crazy heat wave and we got caught right in the middle of it. It was 80-90 degrees every day! We did everything. All the touristy stuff and lots of driving around and shopping. I even went swimming in the fa-reezing Puget Sound. It felt amazing, actually.

I’m sort of sad to be back to depressing ol’ S.F. I totally decided I’m a Seattle girl at heart. Now we really want to live there. I don’t even mind the rain. I love rain, so I think it’s the perfect city for me. And when it’s hot like it was when we were there, it’s just the most beautiful place I’ve ever seen. Plus it’s so close to BC (Jason still wants to go to Vancouver one of these days and I’d like to go back, too.)

San Francisco is a wonderful city, no doubt, but I’ve been in the Bay Area all my life. I need a change!

What else? Oh! I won over $500 at the Casino/Resort we stayed at in Oregon on the way up and again on the way back. Nice, huh? Ahh…vacation. I love it so.

Pics? Hopefully soon.

There’s a new Check My PC program that allows you to scan your computer for all kinds of junk that may be on there. If you have kids and aren’t really sure what they are up to when they’re in their rooms supposedly “researching a paper” for school, you can use this to verify that they’re telling the truth. You don’t always want to be hanging over the shoulder of your teenager, you know? When they’re young, yes, you should always be present. But as they grow and become high-schoolers, it’s not always an option. This way, you can detect inappropriate material should it be contaminating your computer. And you can secretly spy on your son or daughter. Sounds pretty evil, right? I’d do it. It’s not about humiliating them. It’s about finding ways to protect children online and to ensure internet safety.

Summer birthdays are coming up. For cute children’s jewelry, check the super affordable site, Jewels of Denial. I still have some of the jewelry I got when I was a little girl. Yeah, there’s an earring missing here and there, but it’s still precious to save and remember those things. Just a tip.

Today my dad and stepmom came down to spend some time with me and Squido. It’s so cute to hear Squid actually call them by name. And by name I mean, “Goma” and “Copa.”

He’s getting so big.

Sigh.

Anyway, we had a great time. And next week, lots more family. Family everywhere you look. It’s almost time for my brother’s wedding and for our week-long vacay.

Yes…

Anyone who knows me knows that I’m all about making money however I can. Yeah, I have my limits, but for the most part, I like to use any and every resource available to me to make extra cash. Bloggers can now take full advantage of SocialSpark to do just that. Need some new shoes? A handbag? To pay rent? SocialSpark is an online marketplace that can help you monetize your blog, build community and drive traffic. It’s got a great code of ethics, too, so you can feel good about using the service and about the cash it will bring you. For example, Social Spark believes in:

-100% Audit-able In-Post Disclosure
-100% Transparency
-100% Real Opinions

They are search engine-friendly and super easy to use. And before you know it, you’ll have money in your wallet slash purse slash manbag and not even remember how it got there. You’re already online ten (more like twenty) times a day anyway. Might as well get something back for all your blogging efforts. The other awesome thing is that on those days when you’re at a loss for something to say, Social Spark gets you back on the horse with great themes and subjects to comment upon. Not that I ever suffer from writer’s block. (See below, about three or four posts ago.) Long story short: go to the website and find out all about it for yourself. You won’t be sorry. Unless you are and that’s not my problem. But you won’t be.

I kind of hate Scarlett Johansson. That’s pretty harsh, but something about her just bugs me. And I don’t think she’s a good actress. Let’s just say I think she’s totally overrated in every capacity. But The Other Boleyn Girl was actually pretty good. I was surprised. She and Natalie Portman were better than expected. The film actually made me want to read the book to find out more about that whole part of history. It’s all pretty fascinating.