After reading through some recommendations on lotions and products that make your skin really soft (I have rather dry skin, just needs more moisturizing), I clipped these pages from a couple of magazines I read and respect and headed to the store.

Yep, I splurged for a change -- on 3 hand & body lotions, as well as 1 bath & shower wash.

Up til now, there have been 2 big bottles of  Aveeno Daily Moisturizong Lotion and Jergens Ultra Healing lotion perched at my desk and near my bed. But I've still been having dry skin. Neither has the "wow" factor that I'm looking for in a lotion.

Perhaps their formulations are old? Perhaps lotion itself ages? (These bottles are over a year old.)

Either way, I was determined to try some of the newer lotions that are supposed to make your skin silky smooth.

By George, I think I've found it! During this trial, I actually found 2 lotions that I liked. One that I didn't. And a new bath & body wash that I am now using daily.

One of the craziest things we ever did... (also one of the best things we ever did!) was to purchase 2 sets of down pillows from Hilton Hotels.

Yep, they're the same pillows they use in their hotels... plush, and huge, and over-stuffed. Ahhhh!

Here's how it all happened...

With our latest purchase of a mega sized duffel bag on wheels for Jim's travels, I have come to the realization that Jim has more bags than the average human being should have a right to own.

I guess that's because he's got more electronics and gear than the average human being. That, and he needs to have a compact, lightweight, and portable means of getting all of his gear from one place to another.

And when you put 2 gadget-friendly people in the same household... watch out! We have fun (and practical) bags coming out of our ears... and we use them all on a daily basis, too.

I was recently given a Kill A Watt electricity usage monitor, so this weekend I decided to try it out.

I've always wondered how much energy we're wasting in our home. And if there's a way to save money on electric bills, then I'm all for it!

Plus, we've been trying to be more 'green' these days. Maybe this fun-looking little gadget will help.

Woah!

It's not often that I talk about a new site or idea without having a lot of experience with it.

But this one doesn't require a lot of experience & know-how in order to wow and amaze you.

Check out Retrevo.com.

It's a site that contains reviews, ratings, details, and specs for virtually every product under the sun. Think: online shopping site... on steroids!

I like it best for the reviews & ratings.

For example, have a look at the prices, reviews & ratings for the Nikon D80 digital camera.

If you're anything like me, once you see Retrevo in action, you'll never go back to standard online shopping & review sites!

Have you ever used a Little Giant ladder before?

We did once.

We borrowed a friend's Little Giant in order to do our exterior Spring cleaning around the house last year.

I've gotta say... it was the best thing we ever did in terms of getting the outside of our house up to par for the summer.

Who knew, that I'd first hear about Mr. Clean Magic Erasers at a conference about blogging?

It's true. When Glenn Reynolds (a.k.a. "The Instapundit" and godfather of the blogging world) mentioned in passing how much he liked this handy household gadget, I knew they must be great. And when he commented on their ability to work on a wide variety of surfaces, rather than just those stated on the box, I knew this product would be right up my alley.

I'm not kidding when I say these Magic Erasers truly work miracles... and they're only about a buck apiece!

• These foam-like pads are extremely lightweight and resemble pieces of styrofoam.
• They are made of a porous melamine material that gets into hard-to-clean surfaces and tiny grooves... like magic!
• All it takes is a dab of water to moisten the eraser. No other cleaning chemicals needed (...and no elbow grease).

My Favorite Uses For Mr. Clean Magic Erasers

After a few minutes of wiping down appliances, light switches, and cupboards (also lightly textured), I was compelled to go all around the house LOOKING for stuff to clean... These things are great at getting into the tiny cracks & crevices of virtually any surface!

My other faves:

Removing scuff marks from floors, doors, and baseboards (...not only scuff marks, but also years of black grime & built-up hairspray on white baseboards in the bathrooms & door panels of cabinets/doors)

Making tennis shoes look like new again

Cleaning white grout effortlessly

Removing set-in tea stains in the Mr. Coffee Instant Tea Maker (pitcher & tea holder)

Cleaning the textured plastic parts of the computer monitor, keyboard & mouse

Removing set-in stains from drink coasters (...even those ceramic ones)

Cleaning in the tiny nooks & crannies of the electric can opener

...but wait, there's more!

In a recent survey of computer users, people are happier with their Dell computers than other brands, such as Hewlitt-Packard, Compaq, Gateway, and Sony.

Specifically, owners like the quality of Dell computers more than the others did, and only 12% of Dell desktop owners reported having a system with a failed core component (CPU, graphics board, hard drive, motherboard, power supply, or RAM), compared with a mean of 15% in this product category.

With two dogs in the house 24/7, we NEED a powerful carpet cleaner more often than we'd like to admit!

I can't tell you just how many times I've used our Bissell Pro Heat steam cleaner to clean up even the toughest of pet stains.

If you're wondering how it works, and whether or not it's worth the money, consider this...

Of course, it rained on our little spontaneous trip to South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia, and East Tennessee a couple weekends ago...

So we didn't camp (as planned). We stayed at a Holiday Inn Express instead.

What's So Great About Holiday Inn Express?
One of the first things we noticed was the VERY modern bathroom & shower! No joke. You could practically LIVE in that bathroom -- it was so spacious, and clean, and there were so many efficiencies.

Two of the most obvious:

The hip and cool shower area.

Jim noticed the arched shower rod and hookless shower curtain liner first. I noticed the powerful water pressure and multi-setting shower head!

Neither of us noticed the "proprietary cinnamon roll-inspired scent". (see below)

So, What's With Those Showers?
We enjoyed our night at the Holiday Inn Express (exit 27 off I-65 in South Carolina) very much. We especially enjoyed the free high-speed Internet, and we even found several tasty treats on the FREE breakfast bar the next morning which we enjoyed.

But once we hit the road, what's the first billboard we saw?

One like this:

--- > Here's the ad from the front page of USAToday.

I had to laugh... A high-dollar billboard to tout the praises of a SHOWER HEAD?!

While I enjoyed the experience myself, I had no idea that it warranted something as bold as THIS.

So, you know me... I had to research it and find out why the showerhead at the Holiday Inn Express -- not just the one WE stayed at, but ALL of them -- is so highly rated.

Here's what I found...

Our Review of the World's Longest Yard Sale...
The World's Longest Yard Sale took place this past weekend (August 4-7, 2005) along U.S. Highway 127 from Gadsden, Alabama... through the state of Tennessee... and up to Covington, Kentucky, just shy of Ohio. They get upwards of 100,000 yard sale shoppers each year.

Of course, we had to blog this!

And of course, you can expect to find the real "inside scoop" here when it comes to...

...what it's REALLY like.
...whether it's worth making the drive.
...whether it's all that's it's cracked up to be.
...the high points (and low points).
...what you should know if you go.
...if we'd go again.

The products we've tried:

• Colgate Simply White Whitening Gel
• Crest Whitestrips
• Colgate Simply White Toothpaste
• Listerine Whitening Rinse

Following is a brief review of each teeth whitening product, and the results we obtained from each...

We purchased a new Camcorder.

I know... it sounds too "family-with-kids-ish" for us, but thanks to video blogging (otherwise known as vlogging or vblogging), now EVERYone with a web site is wanting one of these things!

And yes, this should be our final "big purchase" for the year... (see also our recent XM Satellite Radio purchase).
Next on our list: a new house with more property. So we've got some saving to do.

What To Look For In a Video Camera
Also known as digital video recorders... video cameras... and movie cameras... camcorders are the hottest new electronic gadget out there! Fortunately, thanks to major advancements in technology, the camcorders of today put to shame the old video cameras of yesterday.

If you are (or will be soon) in the market for a video camera for the purpose of recording home movies or sharing videos online, then perhaps some of the information that WE learned will help you in your own search for the right camcorder.

The well-respected consumer product authority, Consumer Reports, has started reviewing medications as well.

Their free Web site compares medications in terms of price, effectiveness, and safety.