That makes me sneeze? This is totally annoying. I blame it on allergies like everything else. I really need some sort of drug treatment to take from March until June.

I know by the time I find something to take for it, it will simply go away. I’m trying to wait it out but I’m impatient as it is a very pleasant day and I have a lot to do. Since it’s actually cool enough to do the stuff on my to do list, I don’t want to have my allergies get in the way.

I have tried several shampoos but I guess I will have to see if there are any non-scented ones. I would really hate to have to use it, though, since I really like how my shampoo smells.

Well, at least May is almost here. Maybe there will be less pollen in the air, and I won’t have to give up my shampoo after all.

Our next trip out of town will be the family reunion, which is in Alabama. It is held at the family cemetery. Yes, I typed cemetery. I guess they want to make sure that all relatives can attend. We usually go for just the day but have been asked to come Saturday to spend more time with family. So, we are going Saturday.

It’s a small town so I’m sure our accommodation won’t be as nice as St. John villa rentals, but I’m looking forward to it. It’s a town built on a square that I just think is really neat. There is also a building that carries my maiden name that is located downtown. Apparently some distant cousins had some money. I’m really looking to taking some photos of the town and of various landmarks.

That will be the first weekend in May. I’m kind of looking forward to it.

Our big trip this year will be to Dragon Con. Dragon Con is an RPG/Sci-fi convention held in Atlanta each Labor Day weekend. The geek in me can’t wait to play new games and to see some of my favorite stars. Kevin Sorbo is scheduled to be there as well as many others I’m looking forward to seeing.

It will take some planning for us to do it financially. The hotel rate is $145 a night. The last time I spent that much money was for some Pigeon Forge cabin rentals and that was our honeymoon, so we wanted to splurge. Of course, that was also 13 years ago, and I know that the price of everything has increased greatly since then.

So, with the hotel, food, and other expenses, we will need roughly around $1200. That’s why I opened up a savings account through SmartyPig.com. It’s basically a savings account but you can attach a goal to it. SmartyPig will then show you how much you need to save each month to make that goal. You can set it up to automatically take it each month from a funding source like a checking account.

I feel it will be good for us to do this because it will be done automatically. Our hardest hurdle with savings is taking time to transfer the money to the savings account. Now I will have to remember the day I chose to have it withdrawn and to funnel all the extra money I can into our checking to cover it.

Today is Good People Day. Never heard of it? Well, if I’m following all the Twitter chatter lately, it was dreamed up this past week, inspired by a video blog by Gary Vaynerchuck. Gary was very humble(and inspiring) this week and thanked anyone who had ever come to his site, read one word her wrote, or watched a single second of his videos. He then challenged everyone to take a moment to recognize the good people in their lives.

This week I was very touched by the story of Lisa, a two-time ovarian cancer survivor who has recently been diagnosed with cancer again. She’s a blogger and a mommy who wants nothing more than to spend some quality time with her two daughters by taking them to Disney World. I feel she is good people as well as Miss Ann thrope and all the other wonderful people who are trying to make sure she has the money for a trip.

Miss Ann is sponsoring a raffle that already has a ton of great prizes. Make a donation to get tickets. All the details are on her website and since she has been regularly updating it, I don’t want to post too much as fact in case something changes.

I just wanted to draw a little more attention to it and explain a little bit of who Lisa was. It also seemed fitting to talk about this on Good People Day. I love stories like this where bloggers help out fellow bloggers. It warms the soul.

I’m so excited to be going on a road trip this weekend. We are going to my college alma mater mainly to take pictures since I blog about the school, Mississippi State, for 451 Press.

It’s close enough that we can just take the car and not have to fly and worry about luggage or tsa locks. I loved taking road trips in college. It’s been a long time since we have just went somewhere without a real agenda. It should be relaxing and fun.

The reason for the trip is to get some photos for use with the blog because it’s really hard to find pictures that are free to use. Besides if they are my photos then I can do whatever I want with them without having to worry about copyright.

Tomorrow I have lots to do to get ready. Oh it’s going to be loads of fun!

We’re watching Stardust. It just started but I’m looking forward to it since I’ve heard it compared to the Princess Bride, not necessarily the same subject but the same spirit.

Apparently what looks to be the hero of the movie has just been transported to another world. If he lived in our time and reported a different world, he might be put in a drug rehabilitation program in a blink of an eye. He met a woman and now he has a child. Now we’re into the plot. It’s time to watch and blog later.

Well, at least today I am as is everyone who wants to be for St. Patrick’s Day. I was looking for an Irish blessing but the Irish saying I was thinking about was really a toast. So here is my favorite Irish toast followed by an Irish blessing:

May you live as long as you want, and never want as long as you live.

Irish Blessing

May you always have walls for the winds,
a roof for the rain, tea beside the fire,
laughter to cheer you, those you love near you,
and all your heart might desire.

There is no sports figure is more popular with nephew than Kobe Bryant. He absolutely loves the guy. My nephew plays basketball, so Kobe is definitely his role model. My nephew will graduate this year as well as turn 18, two big milestones. I had thought that getting him some special for his birthday.

Then I learned about this sports collectibles program through Hyped Up Sports. They’ve partnered with Upper Deck to offer people a way to get their items signed by one of their sports superstars. Besides Kobe Bryant, there is: Tiger Woods, Michael Jordan, Lebron James, and Kevin Durant. Having an authentic signature of his sports hero might be the perfect gift for the occasion.

Here’s how it works. First, you have to send them a picture of the item you would like autographed. They will have to verify that the superstar will be signing that kind of item on signing day. Next you will have to purchase the program. Then you will have to send the item to Hyped Up Sports. Pricing is listed on the website. I have to admit that the pricing is a little expensive but it is a chance to have a one-of-a-kind signature sports collectible.

This is the next best thing to seeing an athlete sign sports collectibles. The autograph will be authenticated, so there’s no doubt that it’s the real thing. If you can’t make it to see a sports star, this is a nice, safe way to get an authentic autograph.

For those here from the Ultimate Blog Party, welcome!

I’m the Geeky Housewife and hate to do housework! I like to share my household tips that make cleaning and other household chores a little easier and faster to do. I consider myself a geek since I love comic books, video games, working with computers, etc.

I’m blessed to have a great husband and a two-year old daughter, who is the light of my world. We were married 9 years before I got pregnant and was beginning to think that a child just wasn’t meant to be. After years of trying, temperature taking, a myomectomy, a few rounds of Clomid, and then completely giving up, we became pregnant. Go figure!

Thanks for stopping by. I know you have several others to visit during the party. Come back when you have the time or subscribe to my feed to keep in touch.

Ok, so I’ve made it to a few parties and there are hundreds more I need to attend before the week is over. After seeing some parties, I have decided that mine is very dull. That’s what I get for writing it at 7am! I will leave it the way it is but will add a little something each day. Since I’m a gamer, I will share each day one of my favorite party games. Some will be store bought while others will be homebrewed. Hopefully that will keep it lively around here.

Friday
One of my favorite party games is electronic Catch Phrase. You play with two teams. Team members take turns trying to get their teammates to say the word or phrase displayed. If time runs out, the team not holding the player scores a point. The first team to seven points wins. So, you want to be as fast as possible since you don’t want to be the one holding the player when time is up. The player device keeps score, so all you have to do is enjoy the game. We’ve had a blast playing this at parties since there isn’t a limit on how many people can play.

Saturday
A great card game for a party is The Great Dalmuti If you don’t have the cards, you can play a similar version with a couple of regular playing card decks called President. With the Great Dalmuti, the first person to get rid of all of their cards is the Dalmuti, the second person is the lesser dalmuti, then comes the merchants, while the next to the last player is the lesser peon with the last player being the greater peon. Everyone sits in order that they went out in the game. To play cards, you play cards with the same rank. Someone may play four maidens. To play you must lay down four of something. If you can’t play, the you can pass your turn. When everyone has passed a turn, the round is over. The last person to play a set goes first.

Play continues until everyone has played all of their cards. The real fun comes from the power that comes from being dalumti. Basically that player has carte blanch when it comes to extra rules or stipulations during his reign. For example she may allow the merchants to trade one card with each other or she may require the greater peon not to speak during the game!

Our friends love this one, and we always have a blast playing it.

Sunday
Another fun party game is Spoons. Gather up about 3 standard playing card decks and gather enough spoons for all but one player. Shuffle the cards and place the spoons in the middle of the table. The dealer deals four cards to all players. Then she sits the deck to the right of her. Next she draws a card and quickly decides whether to pass it to her left or keep it. If she keeps it then she must pass one of her original four cards. Once her decision is made, she draws another card while the player to her left makes the same decision. This game is fast. The object is the get four cards of the same rank. So, once a person has four of a kind, they grab a spoon. Once a spoon is grabbed, then the rest of the players race to grab the remaining spoons. Each time someone is eliminated, remove a spoon until there is only one person left in the game.

Sometimes we don’t worry with eliminating players and just continue playing with everyone after every round.

Monday

I’m moving a little slowly this Monday since I’m still reeling from the time change. But today’s game is one I was introduced to by the local Mom’s group. It’s called Pokeno. Basically it’s Bingo but with a twist. The playing board is made up of 5 x 5 rows of playing cards. You use a standard 52 card deck to announce each card. When a card is called that is on your board, mark it. First person with 5 in a row wins. You can play variations of Pokeno just like Bingo. The final round cold be coverall for example.

Our group brings two gifts to the party. Everyone gets three turns to be the caller. Each person who wins a round gets to choose a gift. The last round the winners can either choose any gift from another player or mark one of their gifts as “off limits.” So, if someone wins then they can’t steal your gift.

We also bring $2 for the last game which is a coverall. Winner takes all the money. It’s always a fun party night when Pokeno is involved.

Tuesday

Today’s game is a fun one even if you are not a fan of board games. It’s called Wits & Wagers. In a nutshell, it combines trivia with casino betting. It is played in seven rounds with each round consisting of one trivia question. Up to 21 people can play this game in teams of three. One person will need to play host. Each team will write their numerical answer to the trivia question on their playing card. All questions have a number as an answer. The host will then place the answers on the playing mat from highest to lowest. Next players will bet on which answer they think is closest to the right answer. The winner doubles his bet. On the last round, you can bet as many poker chips as you want to try to catch up and win the game.

Thursday

What happened to Wednesday? I’ll share two party games today.

Luck of the Draw is a relatively new game that is described as ‘for the artistically challenged.’ That would certainly be me! Players draw something from a category and then everyone’s drawing is laid out on the table. No one knows who drew what. Then drawings are judged by another set of categories that might include ‘best use of stick figure’ or ‘most likely to be placed on a refrigerator.’ So if you enjoy Pictionary but without the pressure, the Luck of the Draw is one to check out.

Munchkin is a card game that, for role playing fans, will be something that they instantly connect with. It’s fantasy role playing-light with players taking on the role of dwarfs, human, elves, etc. Fight your way through the dungeon and collect treasure. The first to reach level 10 wins. This might be more for RPG geeks but really anyone can enjoy this easy, fun card game.

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