You're probably wondering why I've asked you here today:

If you know me in person, or are familiar with my facebook, livejournal, instant messenger, etc, you may be wondering why on earth I decided to set up a brand new blog? And why, in setting up this new blog, did I choose one with ads on it?

Well, I'll tell you: College is ridiculously expensive.

I'm 33 years old, and never finished going to college myself, and I'm only just now paying off my student loans. Husband is even older than I am, and he's got student loans too, and the cost of an education is rising.

I have the usual Roth and savings accounts set up for Moodles, but I'm very worried that they won't be enough to send her to school, and I can only put away so much per month before we have to start telling her that she's going to need to cut back on her formula intake if she wants to be able to go to a good school. I think that's kind of sad, and that's where all of you, this blog, and the advertising come in.

Any and all funds that I receive from the ads on this blog are going to go straight into Moodles' college fund. It would be the coolest thing ever if someday, she is able to say, "the internets paid for me to go to college."

I don't intend to run any more than the one ad at the side of the page, and the relevant links to Amazon.com (This includes the little store widget under WELCOME, because after two days, I've decided that I'm too lazy to keep up this constant linking. I'm doing it all once and putting it where y'all can find it if you're interested.). To keep things from getting obnoxious, I will only ever link to things that I own*, or am saving up my allowance for. Moodles will only make a commission if you actually BUY the thing in the links or the store widget, so there's no point in me linking to a bunch of useless dreck that none of us needs**.

If you share this blog with friends who have kids, or friends who like crafts, or friends who are going to college and wish their parents had had this idea first, I would be much obliged to you. But in the end, I hope you're all just here because I am sometimes funny, or interesting, or creative, or inspiring and make your work day seem that much shorter.


*I have paid for this. Twice. (Once for myself, and once as a review copy for a friend who writes for Smart Bitches, Trashy Books.) To say that I have buyer's remorse would be understating things egregiously; however, if you are the kind of person who enjoys the tantrums and obnoxious behavior in "reality TV", this might be the novel for you. I did write a review of the book on the product page, if you want to know more.

**I don't need this, but that won't stop me from licking it if I ever see it in the store...