Win pounds of chocolate...

It's the moment you have all been waiting for... it's time to announce the Ultimate Chocolate Contest of 2009.

Because it's a contest, not a giveaway, it requires you to do a little work. Yes, you must work for your chocolate!

*cue mad scientist laughter*

So what hoops will you have to jump through, what secret potion will you have to come up with, what monstrosity will you have to create?!?

*wrings hands together*

There are Five things to remember before you can officially enter the contest...

1. You must be a human. Please no aliens, I can't ship to other worlds. Countries yes, worlds, I don't think they accept US Postal mail. Any human can enter... only one will win.
2. You must like chocolate, or else know someone who likes chocolate, because this is a WHOLE BUNCH of chocolate. And if I send it to you and you don't even like it... where is the fun in that?!
3. You must send me your address. Unfortunately, I am not physic and you will have to give a stranger your address. So if you aren't okay with sending me your address then you might not want to play. My rap sheet is clean... :) So when you win, you will have to step out of your comfort zone and send it over. I can send it to work addresses as well, just include the c/o.
4. Your entry must be original and each human may only enter once. Please do not use the four pseudonyms you have created for your net presence. Just the one... please? 
5. You must have a blast while completing your contest entry. Or else! I am not sure what else... but I can think of something. *evil eyes*

So now that you have the rules down, time to get the wheels turning... here is what you must:

First: Blog, tweet, send out smoke signals, call on your pigeons... get the word out about the contest. If you tweet about it, be sure to include @EisleyJacobs so that I can see the word. If you blog about it, tell me in your comment include your blog address. If you send out smoke signals, your coordinates will do. If you get out the birds, warm me first so I can put on a hat. Please?

Second: You need to write a true or fictional short story, note, prose, words in a legible order, something readable and answer this question:

What have you learned in 2009 that will make you better in 2010?

Include how you learned it and why it's important. It doesn't have to be about writing. It can be about life, love, the pursuit of happiness, giving, caring, blogging, laughing...

Be creative but please don't make it novel length ;) A few hundred words or less will suffice.  For this contest, the comments will be moderated. So as I read them, I will post them.

Your entries must be received by Wednesday, December 16, 2009 and I will read through all of them and choose a winner by Thursday and announce the winner on my blog. If they are all too good, I will pick a random number and that one will win.

Also as an added bonus for the twitter people... my 500th follower will get themselves some chocolate, as does the 600th... the 700th... the 800th... the 900th... and if we make it to 1000... I will give away another $40 brick of chocolate ;) No following and re-following either, I can see that ;)

And if we make it to 100 blog followers... well I will *faint*... after I awake. Chocolate... I will give away Chocolate.

I think my next giveaway will be coffee... cuzz I *heart* coffee too...

Well what are you waiting for? Hop to it! And may the best words win! :)

The Chocolate Prize

Ghirardelli Peppermint Bark from California World Market Triple Berry Dark Chocolate from California Swiss Army Energy Bar Chocolate with Guarana From Switzerland Carffarel Puro Cioccolato Latte from Italy Milk Chocolate Euros.. Yah from Germany Milk Chocolate Pencils (cuzz who has those?!) from Spain Tabasco Branch Spicy Chocolate from Louisana Milka Marzipan - Creme from Germany Raspberries in Dark Chocolate from Good Ole Colorado Tolberone from Switzerland Cadbury Dairy Milk with Caramel from South Africa Turkish Delight covered in Chocolate

Tomorrow is the Monday...

May you never look at Monday the same again!

Tomorrow, I am going to give you the chance to win ‘pounds o chocolate’... Yummy chocolate from around the globe. Approximately $40 in chocolate to be exact.

The question is, what will you have to do to enter? That is my problem at the moment. I have some wonderful ideas... well, one's *I* think are wonderful, but will I get enough participants?

My dream when I was a younger, crazier adolescent was to change the world.

CHANGE THE WORLD... *echo echo echo*

Pretty lofty dream for a kid, eh?

I couldn’t help it, I wanted a better world. Not just for me but for my friends, family, and the homeless individual downtown who slept in a box.

You know, if you look up when you walk down the street, the mall, visit the library… you can learn a lot about life and people.

One reason this blog is called Eisley's Ellipses is wrapped around this whole concept of looking up when you walk. Using your FEET if you will... being HANDS.

Did you know the word Eisley means “strong”... and Ellipses are the things we "take out" of life... so Eisley Ellipses are the “The hard things we take out of life”. In my world, even the tough stuff needs to be learned from.

I digress, I do that a lot.

So, why would a twelve year old girl want to change the world?

It is who I was raised to be. You can Thank my single parent mom for that, I do :)

I have always tried to never take but to give. I see a need, I try to feel a need. There is so much more to life than keeping up with the Jones’… not that I don’t try at times to do that too. But if we can't help those around us...

What does this have to do with my chocolate contest?

Probably nothing. I actually thought I would run the contest and ask for anyone who entered to, ‘Pay it Forward’ and then come and tell us how it went, what you did and how it made you feel.

But I didn’t want people to not enter because they didn’t have the monetary provisions to accomplish this task. So, instead I will do something EVERYONE can join in, regardless of their status. Tomorrow.

Today, if you like the idea of paying it forward this Christmas Season to make a difference in someone’s life... here are a few ideas to spring off of.

• Buy a $5 gift card to Starbucks and write a small message in the envelope saying Merry Christmas and to have a cup of coffee on you.
• Buy the person behind you in the Starbucks line their coffee.
• Pay the toll for the person behind you on the bridge.
• Buy an extra hot chocolate and hand it to the guy on the corner.
• Get a card stick a $5 gift card to McDonald's in it and write a message to the person who finds it. Address the card: "To the person who finds this.”
• Ask your local church if they are aware of a family in need and buy them a turkey.
• Buy a pack of warm socks and tie each pair up with a bow and put them in your car and when you see a homeless man on the street. Give him a pair.
• You know someone who is struggling this Christmas season because they have no job (or spouse doesn’t have a job) send them an anonymous money order in the mail or drop a box on their door step.
• Know a single parent? Offer to watch her kids for a night so she can have a break.
• You know that same single parent? Buy her kids a Christmas present this year and leave it on the doorstep and run!
• Allow an extra person to cut in line during that long commute.
• Smile and say Good Morning to every person you see this morning.
• Next time you see someone using W.I.C. checks, purchase what they are trying to use their WIC on.
• If you are a believer: Ask your checkout person if there is anything you can pray for them about this Christmas season.
• If you aren't a believer: Ask you checkout person how their day is going. Tell them they look lovely, even if you have to lie ;)
• Buy a Christmas Ornament that means something special to you and wrap it up with a note as to why is means so much to you, then give it to a stranger.
• And the list could go on... and on...

I challenge you to make a difference in ONE life this week. If you do, let me know so I can smile and feel all warm and cozy.

No, this isn’t the contest… this is just my way of trying to change the world, one life at a time.

Chocolate, tomorrow. :)