I love to look at the pictures of the recipes and imagine how great they would taste. I wish that I had time to fix most of them; but reality is that I’ll probably never have the time or energy to even prepare one tenth of one percent of them. I probably really should stop buying them. But it is so hard to resist!

When that little store closed up shop, it nearly broke my heart. Where was I ever going to experience such a divine taste again? Lo and behold – I found the Cheesecake.com website and they have a recipe for white chocolate cheesecake that sounds like it is something I could actually make from scratch myself. Drizzle a little bit of raspberry sauce over the top – well, okay, a LOT of raspberry sauce over the top, and I’ll bet that I’ll be able to recreate that flavor that I have been missing these many years. Maybe I’ll actually drag out that springform pan that I bought twenty years ago and never used and finally put it to use!

With my prize tucked safely in the car, getting ready to head home, I called Chad and told him that I was on my way home with the Caramel Praline Crunch ice cream that we love so much, and he cheered “awesome!” I asked him to please be ready to help me bring groceries in the house in twenty minutes (I ended up buying some porterhouse steaks on sale and some hamburger and some pork tenderloin too.) He was ready and waiting to hustle the food into the house and dish us out some of the coveted ice cream. Tonight, life was good.

I’ve been researching satellite internet in my area because getting internet at the house is the last thing I haven’t done yet. I moved in about a month ago and I LOVE the place but it needed a lot of work so I basically spent the last few weeks of my life, nights and weekends, doing renovations and fixing the place up, you know? So anyway, I think it’s great so many people tried to buy this place and I won the bidding war but at the end of the day is it okay that I paid so much for it? I don’t know. Only time will tell if I can get out of it what I’ve put in but I really love it here and I can actually see myself living here for a while to come which makes me think it’s worth it regardless. I know it’s all about whether or not you’re comfortable in your house and I can honestly say this place really does feel like home.

I don’t even have any pastry bags, and I’m wondering if I should go out and buy some, or if there is a quick and easy way to make one ourselves from parchment paper or coffee filters. I’ll have to spend some time online to research that. Have you done anything like that before? How did you do it?

What I think is so awesome about this website is that it encompasses almost anything you could think of. There is a huge variety – it is almost as if you don’t have to go to any other website to find what you need.

You can start out looking at pool sweeper reviews so that you can make an informed suggestion to the sister that is putting in a new swimming pool, you can order an automotive ammeter for that hot-rod builder husband (why exactly why that is an important thing to have in a car I’m really not sure. I know it measures electricity. Hmmm… maybe it helps you figure out if there is a drain on the battery so you know you need to get to a repair shop right away because your car is about to die!)

And you can research baby walkers for girls to see which one would be the safest and most user-friendly one to give to that pregnant niece that you need to buy a baby-shower gift for. That site truly is a one-stop shopping tool, and I’m really glad to see that the Internet is becoming a more useful instrument in helping us to live our lives to the fullest by getting the best value for our dollars!

Don’t you think that these $6.95 prescription eyeglasses from zennioptical.com are gorgeous? My sister is always telling me that her grandson is constantly losing his glasses and at least once a month she is buying him a new pair. Every time she tells me about it I remind her about the great purchase price on prescription eyeglasses from zennioptical.

Zenni sells eyeglasses for children and adults, safety glasses, sports glasses, and sunglasses, all for incredibly cheap prices. You may think that because the prices are so cheap that you are only getting the frames, but the low price includes the lenses – even progressive or bifocal. Buying the glasses are really easy to do; when you go to the eye doctor and he (or she) writes the prescription for you, ask the eye doctor to include the pupillary distance on the prescription. Ask the doctor if you need to have prism or not. If you do not need prism in the prescription, then you just need to pick out the pair you like, send in the order with the prescription and before you know it you will have a brand new fashion-forward pair of prescription eyeglasses. The prices are so low that you would be really smart to buy a spare pair or two to keep in case you lose or break a pair.

One year my parents decided to go on a week’s vacation without the kids and they farmed me out to a cousin’s horse farm for the week. I was in horse heaven that week! My parents bought me a pair of used horse riding boots and dropped me off at Cousin Betty’s house and I was totally emerged in horse farm life for the week. One of the things that Cousin Betty had me do was to help straighten up and clean the saddlery that was in the tack room. She showed me how to use saddle soap to clean the saddles and halters and reins. She had me muck some stalls, which was hard work, but I didn’t mind at all. I was with horses on a horse farm! She showed me how to groom a horse, and she gave me a few riding lessons. I wished that week would never end!

The jewelery store told me that it would take one week to get the ring resized, but they called me the next day, telling me it was ready to pick up! The ring fits my finger perfectly now, and it looks great on my hand. I don’t know if I got a true bargain or not, but I’m happy with it, and that’s what matters, right?

I’m sure that I don’t have to tell you that the world’s economy is changing in leaps and bounds, and the Internet has a lot to do with those changes. No longer is the consumer stuck with only the merchandise in his corner Mom & Pop variety store or ordering from the now extinct Sears & Roebuck mail order catalog. (Did you realize that the Sears & Roebuck mail order catalog used to sell complete house kits?)

Using the Internet to bargain shop is becoming more commonplace than going downtown on a Saturday afternoon to shop. Is that a good thing, or a bad thing? Well I think that question is moot because good or bad, it is in all likelihood here to stay. Many of today’s consumers don’t have the time on their hands to go into town to shop, and don’t want to have to find a baby sitter to watch their children when they go out to shop. And most parents don’t want to take their kids shopping with them because the children become bored and cranky pretty easily.

Not long ago townsfolk were alarmed at the thought that Wal-Mart, the Super Giant Retailer was going to destroy the commercial centers of their towns. In many cases, that is exactly what happened. Now it is the Internet’s turn to destroy Wal-Mart. More consumers would rather just sit down at their computer and order something to be delivered to their homes (in many cases delivery is free) than drag their families down to the crowded Wal-Mart on a weekend. I know that is what I would rather do! Because the Internet commerce is growing and giving Wal-Mart (and Target, and all of the other big discount stores) a run for their money, the commercial center of town just might enjoy a revival of small, locally owned service-based stores. After all, once the customer buys the product at a bargain rate, there will often be a need to service, clean, or repair the item. Yes, there will be the opportunity to ship the item needing repair to someplace “out there” but for the most I think that people would prefer to get their items repaired locally. What do you think? Is Internet bargain shopping better for the economy, or worse?