Affordable Eyeglasses in Uncertain Economic Times

I come from a family of four-eyes! I say that lovingly of course and while there's no shame in wearing glasses, they can be a financial burden to a strapped family. While my husband and I primarily wear contacts, we carry eyeglasses as backup and our son wears corrective eyeglasses every waking hour. We're constantly reminding him how expensive his little frames are and how careful we need him to be! Replacing them before the insurance company is ready to soften the expense has created a lot of anxiety around our house... well... that is until now!

If your budgetary allowance isn't what you'd like it to be and affording eyeglasses seems like a stretch, you need to visit ZenniOptical.com. They sell prescription glasses starting at just $8 which sounds like a joke right? No, it's actually true! They sell their own manufactured frames direct to you, skipping the middlemen in order to bring you the best possible price.

They offer single vision lenses, sunsensor, tinted sunglasses, bifocals and progressive lenses too!

If you want to read an account of a families experience with Zenni Optical, check out this humorous eyeglasses story about a couple who went eyeglass shopping for their 9 year old daughter and bought a pair of Costco eyeglasses and a backup pair from Zenni. Can you guess which pair she liked better?

My favorite $8 frames from Zenni are the purple framed #4103, full-rim. Very stylish! They also offer other price ranges, but all are steals compared to what you'll pay retail.

Work as an Online Tutor with Brainfuse

Job Title: Online Tutor

Brainfuse is currently seeking online math, reading, and science tutors for grades 3 through 12. If you are a certified teacher with at least one year teaching experience and a Bachelor's Degree visit Brainfuse to learn more!

This telecommuting position offers part-time, flexible work schedules working from home. Pay starts at $10+ an hour.

So, if you're a teacher wishing to leave the classroom to stay home with your children, you may have just found your new employer! Good luck and happy instructing!

We found this job lead through the Rat Race Rebellion!

Season Premier of "Legend of the Seeker"

There's a new television series coming to ABC in just a matter of days called "Legend of the Seeker", which is based on "The Sword of Truth" novels by Terry Goodking. This new epic is dramatic, suspenseful, full of energy and mystery. I just caught the trailer at legendoftheseeker.com and all I can say is wow! Mark your calendars for November first, for the premiere! Trust me, this television series has the look and feel of a major motion picture.

If your family loves adventure and fantasy, you won't want to miss this. I found a lot of information about this new television series at legendoftheseeker.com and on Wikipedia.

I found a cool trailer to "Legend of the Seeker" at www.craveonline.com




Here's the official Press Release:
—The highly-anticipated, epic fantasy series “Legend of the Seeker,” based on the bestselling works of author Terry Goodkind, will premiere as a two-hour special event the weekend of November 1st (check www.LegendoftheSeeker.com for times and channel). The weekly program from filmmakers Sam Raimi and his partner Rob Tapert, combines elements of fantasy, adventure, magic, mystery and romance with exotic New Zealand as its backdrop. In addition to Raimi and Tapert, the talented creators of the long-running, successful series “Hercules: The Legendary Journeys” and “Xena: Warrior Princess,” “Legend of The Seeker” is from ABC Studios, the studio behind such network hits as “Lost” and “Grey’s Anatomy.”

Win a Custom Blog Design!

That's right! Retro Momma just announced their first giveaway, a random drawing for a free custom blog design.

All you have to do to be in the running is drop by their blog and leave a comment. Any comment at all, will give you a drop in the hat. Wonderful! Just remember, don't drop your comment here, because while I'd love to hear from you, it won't do a thing to get you in the running. ; )

For an extra entry, simply blog about their giveaway, linking to their post. You can also earn extra entries by adding their button on your blog or website and by subscribing to their blog! So... if you're really really wanting to win an awesome, custom blog visit their link now and jump through all the simple to follow hoops.

Good luck to you! Good luck to me too! lol

Why Did the Chicken Cross the Road?

Why did the chicken cross the road?

SARAH PALIN: Before it got to the other side, I shot the chicken, cleaned and dressed it, and had chicken burgers for lunch.

BARACK OBAMA: The chicken crossed the road because it was time for a change! The chicken wanted change!

JOHN MC CAIN: My friends, that chicken crossed the road because he recognized the need to engage in cooperation and dialogue with all the chickens on the other side of the road.

HILLARY CLINTON: When I was First Lady, I personally helped that little Chicken to cross the road. This experience makes me uniquely qualified to Ensure right from Day One that every chicken in this country gets the chance it deserves to cross the road. But then, this really isn't about me.

GEORGE W. BUSH: We don't really care why the chicken crossed the road. We just want to know if the chicken is on our side of the road, or not the chicken is either against us, or for us. There is no middle ground here.

DICK CHENEY: Where's my gun?

COLIN POWELL: Now to the left of the screen, you can clearly see the satellite image of the chicken crossing the road.

BILL CLINTON: I did not cross the road with that chicken. What is your definition of chicken?
AL GORE: I invented the chicken.

JOHN KERRY: Although I voted to let the chicken cross the road, I am now against it! It was the wrong road to cross, and I was misled about the chicken's' intentions. I am not for it now, and will remain against it.

AL SHARPTON: Why are all the chickens white? We need some black chickens!

DR. PHIL: The problem we have here is that this chicken won't realize that he must first deal with the problem on this side of the road before it goes after the problem on the other side of the r oad. What we need to do is help him realize how stupid he's acting by not taking on his current problems before adding new problems.

OPRAH: Well, I understand that the chicken is having problems, which is why he wants to cross this road so bad. So instead of having the chicken learn from his mistakes and take falls, which is a part of life, I'm going to give this chicken a car so that he can just drive across the road and not live his life like the rest of the chickens.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN: We have reason to believe there is a chicken, but we have not yet been allowed to have access to the other side of the road.

NANCY GRACE: That chicken crossed the road because he's guilty! You can see it in his eyes and the way he walks.

PAT BUCHANAN: To steal the job of a decent, hardworking American.

MARTHA STEWART: No one called me to warn me which way that chicken was going. I had a standing order at the Farmer's Market to sell my eggs when the price dropped to a certain level. No little bird gave me any insider information.

DR SEUSS: Did the chicken cross the road? Did he cross it with a toad? Yes, the chicken crossed the road, but why it crossed I've not been told.

ERNEST HEMINGWAY: To die in the rain, alone.

GRANDPA: In my day we didn't ask why the chicken crossed the road. Somebody told us the chicken crossed the road, and that was good enough.

BARBARA WALTERS: Isn't that interesting? In a few moments, we will be listening to the chicken tell, for the first time, the heart warming story of how it experienced a serious case of molting, and went on to accomplish its lifelong dream of crossing the road.

ARISTOTLE: It is the nature of chickens to cross the road.

JOHN LENNON: Imagine all the chickens in the world crossing roads together, in peace.

BILL GATES: I have just released "eChicken 2008", which will not only cross roads, but will lay eggs, file your important documents, and balance your checkbook. Internet Explorer is an integral part of "eChicken 2008".This new platform is much more stable and will never crash or need to be rebooted.

ALBERT EINSTEIN: Did the chicken really cross the road, or did the road move beneath the chicken?

COLONEL SANDERS: Did I miss one?

Private Music Lessons at Home

As a homeschooler, I was very interested to learn about Amadeus Home Music School, known for providing music lessons in your very own home! They'll even work around your schedule to find a time that's convenient for you and your family. How cool!

You don't have to be a homeschooler to take advantage of their high quality music lessons from home, I only mention the homeschooling thing because it relates to me personally. If you're like most families, homeschooling or not, your schedule is packed so tight you just can't squeeze anything else in. Especially when you factor in driving time.

Amadeus Home Music School is an excellent solution to your child's music lesson needs. Don't let those music lessons become a burden, when they're so beneficial to your son or daughter's development.

A Big Squidoo Thank You-oo!

I just made nearly $30 (again) with Squidoo, but this time around it wasn't so much sales on my lenses as new lensmasters registering through my referral link. Thank you whoever you are! It's always a great surprise to find that extra cash waiting for me in my PayPal account! When someone registers through your referral link, you make $5 when they make $15. So... that means a few of you are earning money too! Sooo cooool!

I write about Squidoo from time to time as a super easy income generator. Now... I don't get rich on Squidoo and I'm not what they call a Giant Squid with 50+ lenses, but I do make enough to justify the little bit of time I've invested and continue to invest every month. My best month was $40. My worst month was under $10 and just meant I had to wait a few extra weeks to get paid, since I set my payment threshold at the $10 mark. No biggie!

Aside from earning money Squidooing, another lesser known benefit to setting up a lens is that you can boost traffic to your blog or website. If you're looking for new traffic, consider supplementing whatever sites you have with a lens. I get a lot of traffic to my Thomas the Tank Engine cake tutorial through my Thomas lens for example. It's a lot of fun and if you update your lens on a fairly regular basis... even once a month, you'll likely find your ranking in good shape.

Want to read my other Squidoo posts to learn more? I have them all bundled here... under my Squidoo label. ; ) Check it out and consider registering your own lens! Thanks in advance if you click through my referral link!

Free Zip and Encryption Software & Contest!

Decrypt a message and win big!! The makers of .ZIP standard bring you an exciting contest called Decrypt & Drive where you can win a Honda scooter, bicycles, Wii games, gas cards and many other fantabulous prizes! Are you interested in learning more?

Playing is completely free when you download your complimentary SecureZIP Express (non-commercial use only) from securezip.com. SecureZIP, was awarded PC Magazine's Editors Choice award in 2008, and is engineered to compress/decompress and encrypt your computers data for added security and protection. Remember that compressing your files saves you valuable storage space on your pc! This free software additionally comes with a free digital certificate allowing you to exchange files in a secure manner with other Internet users, without the need for passwords. Sound good?

Check it out now at www.DecryptandDrive.com to learn more. Get yourself registered, download your free software (guaranteed free of spyware), and start playing!

Win a Beautiful Personalized Mommy Bracelet!

Make no mistake about it... I want this bracelet for myself! lol However, since I already have one very similar, thought I'd share the news of the giveaway from Does Mommy Love It with my readers. The other thing motivating me to share this giveaway with you all is the fact that I'm not posting as regular as I ought be! My apologies! Life as mom, as homeschooler, as entrepreneur (even small time) makes for very long days that stretch into the wee hours and leave me too tired to blog. I'm working on my time management skills though, convinced that's the real issue here!

In any case... hope on over to Does Mommy Love It before my birthday, which just happens to be the last day to enter to win... October 23rd at midnight. Don't miss it!

This bracelet is sooooo gorgeous! I would like to learn to make these myself! I know they're quite expensive to produce, even more to buy, but have to think they're worth every penny. Good luck to all who enter!