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It’s The Little Things: Amazon Prime Membership

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I know. I know it is not technically a little thing. But it makes me happy. Unbelievably, weirdly, wonderfully happy.

Amazon Prime is a yearly membership in which you pay a set fee (as of this writing, it is $79, but that might change soon according to this CNN article) and get free two day shipping on most of their products on their site. Since I usually purchase all of our books from Amazon, this has been beyond wonderful. I will say this will probably not be worth the cost to you if you do not shop at Amazon a lot. Unfortunately, I spend a pretty good amount of funds there. I buy all of my beauty products, excluding make-up, (this is tricky, because I thought one of my products was covered under Prime, but I ended up paying $8 to ship one item. Make sure you check) from Amazon. I also tend to buy everyone’s toys through Amazon.

In addition to the two day shipping, I also receive unlimited streaming of many movies and television shows. The kids utilize this feature the most. Plus I have free access to their Kindle library. I do not use that feature though. You cannot hoard a paperless book.

On Life Hacker, there is a breakdown of the question, “Would I benefit from Amazon Prime?” It gives a better answer than I could, because they actually use math to make their decision. Imagine that!

I did write a post I have not published (and I am not sure I am going to, because one company earned an F) of the internet companies I used during Christmastime for gifts and Amazon was one of the few companies who earned an A+ from me. I think they do things right.

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In the last five days, I have purchased three books. It is kind of like magic how quickly they have come. I have to stop myself from buying more just to see how fast they will get here. You mean you have to actually pay for the books? This isn’t really magic?

And now, Amazon has Sunday delivery! Yes, Sunday delivery! I am sure there are many differing opinions about this, but I love it. I have not taken advantage of this option (I guess I never shop on a Friday), but I might in the future. There are many articles stating this is a fantastic revenue venture for the U.S. Postal Service. Here is one of them from USA Today.

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I bought “Fan Girl” on Saturday. I received it on Monday. I finished it on Tuesday. Now, that’s a beautiful thing! The situation of my house is, um, not so pretty.

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I ordered “The Magician’s Elephant” and “Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore” on Monday and I received them on Wednesday. Unfortunately, housework did end up dominating and I have not started those books yet. But I know they are there. Cheering for me from the wings when others might not.

I am not gonna lie. It has been a tough couple of months in terms of health and some other things going on behind the scenes here. A new book just makes me happy. It takes me away. Being able to get a little bit of another world in the dreary mail, is real-life magic.

It’s the little things: an upgrade on Amazon that upgraded my life.

Have you upgraded to Amazon Prime? Do you think it is worth the extra money? I was a skeptic for so long, but I am now reformed.

I love it!

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* This is just my review of Amazon Prime. I am not being compensated for this post. And, as with all of my reviews, your experience might differ from mine.

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Alpaca

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On September 28th, my children and I went to a local alpaca farm that was open to the public to commemorate National Alpaca Day. I was not sure what to expect, but it was nearby. It was free. And it sounded like fun.

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My kids had a blast. They loved feeding the alpacas ($1 a bag).

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The alpacas only have lower teeth, so they cannot bite the kids when they feed them. I think they look like cartoon characters. Each one was so cute.

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Here I am in the pen. Please excuse my scant makeup. It was the weekend. It was hot. And I got one shot at a photo.

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But I did get a pic in our house of what one wears to an alpaca farm. This is Anthropologie’s Cuoco Henley from the spring and the star necklace that was recently on sale for $10.

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If you ever have a chance to visit an Alpaca Farm, I highly recommend it. The animals are so clean. I know when I am in a petting zoo, it kind of grosses me out with all of the goat droppings. However, all of the alpacas use a communal bathroom. Which means all of the waste is in one area. What clean animals! I know this particular alpaca farm is open to the public again for one day at Christmastime.

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As we were leaving, an older gentleman was trailing behind an older woman with a little girl of about six. He stopped me and said, “Do you see my wife and granddaughter? We are going to see the alpacas. Are the alpacas this way?”

I stopped to chat with him and told him to just proceed up the hill and they will open the gate for him and his family.

He said, “I am from Peru. That is where the alpaca is from. I miss them.”

I asked him how long it had been since he had visited his country. He told me a few years.

I also told him that of all of the countries in the world, Peru is number one on my must visit list.

He smiled and said, “Aaahhhhh. Machu Pichu. The most beautiful place in the world.”

I said, “Yes! I want to go there so badly!”

He smiled fondly at me and his eyes got a faraway look as he remembered his homeland.

We wished each other a good day and we parted ways. But it was really an interesting conversation for my kids to hear. And I hope him and his family had a beautiful day!

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Have you been to an alpaca farm? What did you think?