In addition to zooming through my regular work, I was able to take a few minutes to brainstorm on other business events. It�s nice to have ideas and finally put the pen to some paper and see what materializes. So far I�ve got one sales event scheduled for next week and two others in the works for some organizations needing donations.

So here�s my pitch to you: If you�re looking for some extra cash or shiny stuff -- be it for yourself for the holidays or for a charitable group -- email me. I�ve got some super-easy ways for you to bring yourself or your org some fundage.

Free money! Free money!

All right. Onto the normal entry now. But by not stopping and emailing me RIGHT NOW, you�re losing out on your FREE MONEY.

Ha. Go me with the high-pressure approach. But really, just friggin� email me if you want some cash.

This weekend was a good one.

On Friday Happy and I hung around my house. We used my grill for the first time. The garlic-stuffed portabellas were lacking (that�s the last time I let the grocery store handle the spices!), but the other sides were fabulous. Slighty soy-sauced pineapple chunks, cayenne-spiced tofu, lime and dill zucchini, and Cajun tofu too. The Miller Lite didn�t seem quite right, so Happy got us a $5 bottle of wine from 7-11 for the bargain price for $11.

After dinner and playing with makeup, she left early. I gave myself a pedicure, masked up my face, and read a book on snakes.

Bentio picked me up the next morning (gasp! -- yes, actually in the morning!) to head north of town to Six Flags. My company rented out the park and gave out tickets, so there were hardly any lines at all. We rode every rollercoaster, got dizzy on this spinning thing, and had a great time.

There was this moment on the spinning thing where I could hear him laugh. I glanced over, and his face at that moment will forever be a snapshot in my brain.

[Am I the only one who does that? I have snapshots from about the seventh grade in my head that I can recall quite clearly. They aren�t necessarily defining moments, but they�ve somehow just stayed with me. Kinda weird, huh? I�ve just never thought about it until now.]

After working up an appetite and knowing that the food there would be severely overpriced and low on the quality scale, we left the park and headed to the McDonald�s of Italian food, a.k.a. Olive Garden. Two never ending pasta bowls later, we rolled ourselves to the Gurnee outlet mall.

Pretty much everything on my shopping list was there, and I really didn�t spend much at all.

I stocked up on $7.50 bras and cheap undies, got a winter coat (which I'll need immediately since the season's first freeze is tonight!!), found the stackable wooden wine racks I've been admiring for only $10 each, and got three pair of shoes from Payless for $30.

I loaded Benito up like a pack mule so much that we had to stop at the car before heading to the second part of the mall. No other purchases were made, but we were at least able to walk instead of hobble with my twelve bags in-tow.

At his home that night, we played a whole bunch of Donkey Konga. Donkey Konga is a new Nintendo game that gives instructions similar to DDR. However, instead of a dance pad to track your moves, you play the bongo drums and clap. The songs are mostly recognizable, definitely fun, and are easy enough to follow along with until you figure out how to play.

Damn, if Nintendo made a dance game like DDR with a pad, I�d totally buy a Game Cube for Mario Party, Donkey Konga, and �Mario Dance� (or whatever their DDR-like game would be called). Alas, I take advantage of my boyfriend having all of the gaming systems and rent all of the cool stuff without regard to what platform it�s on. That works for me. So note to Nintendo: If you want to make $150 off hardware and $50 off software from me, make a dancing game!

Oh yeah. And make something like Pikman too. I like that one, even if I accidentally drowned my army mostly up because I didn�t know that the regular Pikmans can�t swim.

Sunday was exactly as Sundays should be. We watched both episodes of Lost on Tivo, got some food delivered, and I took a long -- and I do mean long -- nap as he watched football. I headed home before the 7 o�clock game started, made yummy dinner with enough leftovers for work today, shaved my legs, and unpacked my outlet mall goodies. I read more of my snake book and easily went back to sleep.

As for today, I already told you about it. So far, so good. And now it�s time for me to pack up, dress out, run on the treadmill, and then get on with my evening.

Hope your Monday was also a good one.�