FUN STUFF YOU MAY NOT WANT TO KNOW & A COOKIE CRAVING

Has anyone seen the commercial from GEICO where the Sloth is drawing a tandem bicycle for game night?  I declare that every time it comes on, I giggle like a little kid because it's just so darn cute, and the people trying to guess the puzzle are really intense.  Aren't you impressed that I stopped watching the Christmas Yule Log from last month, and switched to this? (lol)

TMI
YIKES!  Even though I'm from Baltimore, I haven't been back in years.  According to Orkin, Baltimore City has been named as the #1 city for bed bugs 2 years in a row.  Ugh!  Washington DC, which is right next door, ranked 2nd, followed by Chicago, Los Angeles and Columbus Ohio.

Do you remember Scrabble?  Are you pretty good at it?  There's a Scrabble Players Association that's been around since 2009, and their website is www.scrabbleplayers.org.  What's cool about this site is you can find out about winners, or search for clubs and upcoming tournaments throughout the US and Canada.

I remember taking the SAT when I was in high school, and my cousin and I had a bet on who would score the highest.  According to the US Department of Education, The College Board & National Center of Statistics, the following is true:

Arkansas           2% of students took the SAT during High School
Alabama           5%      "                                                         "
Connecticut     100%
Delaware         100%
Michigan         100%
Mississippi           2%
North Dakota       2%
North Carolina    49%   "                                               "
World Almanac 2018)     

HAPPY HAPPY DAYS
Was Happy Days one of your favorite sitcoms back in the day? It premiered in 1974, and I totally loved Henry Winkler as Fonzie.  He was so popular in fact, that every time he visited the library on an episode of the show, library card registration increased by a whopping 500%!!!! 

BOOKS, BOOKS AND MORE BOOKS
Is there nothing Amazon won't do?  You may be surprised to know that there are currently 13 Amazon Bookstores throughout the country that include California, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Illinois, Washington and Oregon, and many include coffee shops to keep you hanging out even longer.  There are plans in motion right now to open up additional locations in Washington DC, Maryland and Texas.

SAVE ON GROCERIES
If one of your goals in 2018 is to save more money on groceries, be sure to check out Living Rich With Coupons, which is listed over in the sidebar, or www.couponmom.com.  Even if you don't use coupons, or they're not available where you live, try shopping at bargain supermarkets, or waiting until groceries have been marked down.  Here's a few tips:

1 )  Almost every Super Walmart has a cart they place in the back of the store with bread, cookies, cakes and other goodies that have been deeply discounted.  Also, in the front of the store near the deli, lunch meat, cheese, salads,and cooked chicken is unbelievably cheap.But get there early in the morning to catch these deals because they go fast.

2)  Carlie C's(IGA) gives away a FREEBIE every Friday, and they have a cart or shelf filled with lots of merchandise that may be damaged or has something missing from a package.  Get in there for those great bargains.

3)  Are you a Greek yogurt fan? Stay on the lookout for deals on Chobani, who will be changing their packaging.  They want to get rid of all that old merchandise.

USELESS TRIVIA
I took 2 years of French when I was in high school, and only used a little of it while visiting Montreal back in the 90's. Don't ask me to carry on a conversation in French these days though, because I can't remember one dang thing I learned. (lol) By the way, French is spoken by 76.1 million people.

The language in the world spoken by the most people is Chinese and includes Mandarin, with a total of 1,283.9 million people, Spanish comes in at #2 with a total of 437 million, and English is #3 at 372 million people. 

Now it's time for some tasty treats that you can eat while reading a good book or watching a movie on Netflix. Once again, I chose this recipe to spotlight because of its name, but some people actually call these magic bars or seven layer cookies. 

APPLE HELLO DOLLY BARS
INGREDIENTS
2 Cups Graham Cracker Crumbs
1/2 Cup Melted Butter
Vegetable Cooking Spray
12 Oz Pkg Semisweet Chocolate Morsels
12 Oz Pkg  Butterscotch Morsels

1 Cup Sweetened Coconut Flakes
2 Cups Peeled & Finely Chopped  Granny Smith Apples
1 1/2 Cups Coarsely(whatever that means-lol) Chopped Pecans
14 Oz Can Sweetened Condensed Milk

DIRECTIONS
1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Combine graham crumbs and butter in a small bowl, then press onto bottom of a lightly greased (with cooking spray) 13 x 9 pan.  Layer semisweet chocolate morsels and next 4 ingredients in order from the list in the prepared pan, then drizzle with the condensed milk.

2.  Bake for 40-45 minutes, or until deep golden brown.  Cool completely in a pan on wire rack (about 1 hour), then cut into bars.

SILLY STUFF
Some of the laws that were written way back in the day are still around, and pretty funny.

If you live in Georgia, here are two that may have you scratching your head.

Donkeys may not be left in bathtubs.

All sex toys are banned.

Happy Birthday to my son who cannot be named - lol!