Charlotte's top 5 surprise wins...

I only started entering sweepstakes and requesting freebies in late 2010 with a co-worker of mine. For being an active“Sweepstaker” such a short amount of time, I feel pretty good about what I have to show for it. Don’t get me wrong, I am not one of those people you hear about who don’t work, and sit at the computer all day, managing to win houses and cars and multiple vacations in a matter of months. I have won a good amount of small stuff, enough to keep me motivated to keep on trying.

My favorite part of my day is when I get home from work, and it’s not for the reason many of you may think. Sure, I like to kick off my shoes and relax when I get home from work, but I’m even more excited about checking my mailbox every afternoon. What on earth could be so exciting that I would check my mail box before I go inside to pee when I’ve been holding it for eight hours (our work bathrooms are disgusting).Well I’ll tell you! I enter for all freebies, coupons, sweepstakes, and contests that I can find. This results in packages and envelopes arriving to my doorstep at least once a week.

However, when I am in my “enter anything and everything” mode, I often enter for ridiculous items that are useless to me, items I think I could never win, or I forget what I have entered for altogether. There is nothing better than coming home to an envelope that could be holding one billion dollars in cash, or a box that could contain a year’s worth of Hostess products ; a girl can dream can’t she?

With the arrival of my latest random win, I figured I’d share with you my five favorite “surprise wins” that I have received. For dramatic effect, I’ll count backwards from five, and guide you through my favorite wins.

Happiness is a Pair of Cheap (or Free) Eyeglasses

  

Torrenting Freaks and Geeks, Arcade Fire's performance of Neon Bible in an elevator, The Bed Intruder Song, shopping for doll head tissue box covers on Ebay. Oh yes, then there's the practical stuff like online banking, buying movie tickets, and stalking people from your past. These are just a few of the many gifts that the internet has given us. However, one of my personal favorite achievements of the world wide web is the fact that getting a new pair of prescription eyeglasses no longer means having to sell your soul  and/or firstborn to Lens Crafters and eat Cherrios for a month. The best thing about eyeglasses now being more affordable than ever is the relief of not being subjected to wear the same old pair of precious eyeglasses for years. I think most people of my generation with less than 20/20 vision can relate to this.

eyeglasses + internets = true love

See, I'm 28 and started having to wear heavy duty prescription eyeglasses full time by the time I was 10. I came from a wonderfully hardworking family who owned a restaurant (with some of the best pizza in town. Nomz) but even so, eyeglasses were bloody expensive. Therefore, prior to my twenties I remember only going through about three pairs of glasses. THREE. That means I may have had the same pair of glasses for longer than George H. W. Bush was president. Like childhood best friends, I remember them all in minute detail. It's hard not to considering for years I had the same pair planted on my face just about 24/7. One even started growing weird stuff in the nose tabs, but that's a story for a different day. Bottom line, it was an injustice for the myopically challenged that went on for far too long. Thankfully, the wonderful web has made this a thing of the past and a new pair of eyeglasses that cost about the same as a new hardcover book or a pair of wedges at Target is no longer a dream. To think that my future son or daughter will never have to fill in her scratched eyeglass frames with a brown sharpie (surprisingly tricky to find in the 'burbs), is such a beautiful thought.

On that note, I now share with you some of my favorite websites for cheap eyeglasses: