No wonder I have frown lines

Last night on his way home from work, which is 40 miles away, my husband’s car stopped working. As in, he was on the highway and his car STOPPED. It’s a miracle he wasn’t rear-ended, as heavy as the traffic is where he works. He had it towed to a nearby Chevy dealership and the kids and I went and picked him up. Today, he heard from the dealership’s service department- it needs a new fuel pump, for which they want to charge us $800.00. $400 of which is the price they pay for the fuel pump, a part you can buy yourself at an auto parts store for around $220. Nice markup.

He called around and found a relatively new fuel pump at a junkyard for $70, but now we have to pay to get the car from the dealership (they charge EIGHTY DOLLARS for their “diagnostic exam” which takes two minutes), pay to have it towed to another repair place, pay for the used fuel pump, and pay someone to install it. GAH.

So is it any wonder that when I looked in the bathroom mirror a few minutes ago, I saw two deep frown lines on my forehead right between my eyebrows? Seriously, they are like train tracks. I’m going to need to order some nu skin wrinkle cream or something. All this scowling I’m doing is sure not doing my skin any favors.

Can You Help Me With a Monetary Emergency?

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*deep breath*

I need $100 by Thursday.  I had been counting on my monthly payout from Linkworth for the text ads I run on Table for Five, but they don’t payout unless you earn $100, and I only earned $95.00. The money will get added to my payout for next month, but I leave for BlogHer on Thursday morning.

The money will be spent on gas for the car I’m driving there and back (I’m taking 2 other people down and 3 people back, but once the tank of gas the car is delivered with is gone, we’ll have to chip in to refill it),  lunch on the way there and back, tips for the doorman and any necessary cab rides, and if I have enough, a souvenir BlogHer t-shirt which they’ve never had before.

$100 might not even be enough but I feel bad enough asking for help as it is. I’d also like to point out that while I do have five sites listed under “Sponsor Sites”, those were one-time payments made at the beginning of the ad term and unfortunately that money was already spent.

So, my dear readers, I’m asking for your help. I know money is tight for everyone, anything you can donate is greatly appreciated. It used to be commonplace for blogs to have “Tip Jars” but that practice fell out of favor a few years ago. Since I have a PayPal account and a debit card I can use to access the money, I’ve created a PayPal donate button.  You can transfer money from your PayPal account to mine, or pay with a credit card.


When I say any amount is greatly appreciated, I really mean it. If everyone who reads this blog donates $1.00, it would take less than a day for me to have what I need.

OR…you can ask me to DO STUFF FOR MONEY! That’s right, thanks to PayPal, you can send me money BUT I have to agree to do something in exchange.  Click the link, type in your name, my name and the dollar amount,  then fill in your PayPal address and my PayPal address, which is elizabeth(at)table4five(dot)net.

What am I willing to do for your money?  Write posts, review sites, post text link ads or button ads (length of ad would depend on amount paid),  whatever you can come up with that’s appropriate for a family-friendly blog :)

I’ll answer potentially embarrassing questions, help you with WordPress problems,  just name it.

I really hope those of you who are regular readers know how hard it was for me to write this and how grateful I will be for any donations.  BlogHer is the most important conference I go to all year, every year I come back having learned something that adds value to my blog and having made new friends and contacts that often turn into long-term relationships. The vendors I meet at this conference could be the giveaway sponsors of next month!

I’ll close this by saying thank you in advance for anything you can do to help.

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On a personal note

Dear MomReviews Readers,

I feel I should apologize for the unplanned-for seven day break I took from updating this blog. I didn’t have posts pre-written and waiting to publish, I didn’t arrange for guest bloggers to fill in. I just…took a break.

Okay, I’ll be honest- I took what I suppose would best be described as a BIG OLE’ MENTAL HEALTH BREAK.

Basically, a week ago I pulled my head out of the clouds and took a look around and realized that my life needed a whole lot more of ME living in it.

I can’t say that taking a week off solved all my problems, but it sure did wonders for my stress level.

So now I am refreshed and ready to dive back in to the world of reviewing products and giving products away and lots of summer surprises!

Thanks for still being here :)