the problem with

free samples

I recently came into the good graces of a bunch of free beauty samples. One such product was an eyeshadow primer. I've been waning an eyeshadow primer for quite a while because I find that by the end of the day, my eyeshadow has all but crept its way either off my eyelid, or into one long globby line at the crease of my eyelid. Attractive, I know. So when Sephora offered me a free sample, I jumped on it, because it's a little spendy, and I wasn't sure if I would really like it or not. Well, I love it. And now I'm hooked. I can't imagine a day without eyeshadow primer. But yet, a month ago, I sang a different tune. I've read online that Monostat Chafing Gel works just as well as any primer, and for a fraction of the cost. Problem is, I'm not sure I can bring myself to put anything produced by Monostat on my face, let alone on my eyes.

Another incident I had with free samples is with a medication. I had been having some pretty unbearable heartburn, and when I saw my doctor at the beginning of the Summer of KJ, she gave me a month's worth of heartburn meds and then left me high and dry. Well, here I am months and months later shelling out $20 a month for this medication. What while it really is a miracle drug, and my quality of life is so much better, I just think, if it wasn't for that free sample, I wouldn't be down this rabbit hole.

the buy 2 get the 3rd free table

I was recently in my favorite bookseller, legitimately buying a new book (I say legitimately because I'm often in there buying things I don't really need. Such is the life of a bibliophile). I needed this book for the school's book club, and it just so happened to be on the Buy 2 Get the 3rd Free table, aka Satan's table. Because there will inevitably be TWO books you want and have been thinking about buying, and then nothing else appeals to you. And if you're anything like me, you're forced to choose something that you're not really interested in, and then will never read. In fact, in the case of this last selection, I only really wanted the one book, which was thirteen bucks. But I saw another book that I was kinda sorta interested, and picked that one up too. And then I thought, well hell, if I'm buying these two, I might as well get another one for free. But as it turns out, the other two books that I picked up were the more expensive books, and I ended up getting the one that I needed for free. I'm no math genius, but something tells me that buying $30 worth of books I kinda sorta didn't need and/or want doesn't equate to just buying the $13 book that I did need. Financial advisers are dropping dead as we speak.

book clubs

I am currently involved in 2 book clubs, one with some coworkers and one at school with the kids. I love to read, but the problem with book clubs, for some one who has very limited reading time anyway, is that you're forced to read things that you might not want to read. Sometimes this has it's payoffs, and sometimes I'm angry that I spent all of this time reading a book because I felt guilty if I didn't ... and I didn't really like it anyway. I feel like my reading time is so precious anyway, that I should be spending it reading something I want to read, not something I feel obligated to read.

[Side Note: It's the first day of swim practice and I have neither made my self sick, nor have I cried. I'd say this is a success. I think not having to ride the bus largely contributes to this. And that one particularly horrific swimmer graduated. One douche down, one to go!]