Prepare yourself for seven minutes and fifteen seconds of mind-blowing cold open, one-liners by David Caruso from CBS's hit drama CSI: Miami...

Distinguishing Personality Traits

Jan34 says, "This is our little weiner dog Naz. We got him in May when I saw him in the pet store window and couldn't resist picking him up. As you can tell by the photo he loves to play ball. He can also be quite the little rascal-- he likes to bark at his own shadow and knock over garbage cans. He absolutely loves to play with slippers and will sometimes chew them up. The kids think he is so cute and adorable, we love him so much."

Want to share photos of your own favorite pet with the Gamesville community?

Send photos to: members@gamesville.com

In addition to your pet's picture, please be sure to include:

• Your Gamesville member name
• Your pet's most distinguishing personality trait

If we publish your pet as a "Best Pet," we'll give you 5,000 GV Rewards. Submit your pet today!

Since it's initial launch in the 1999, Three-Eyed Bingo has come a long way. Today we're exited to announce another big leap forward with some fun, new improvements we've added to one of Gamesville's most played game shows. But first, let's take a look back to see where it all began.

Here's Three-Eyed Bingo, circa summer 2000...

Now here's the most recent 2007 update...

And now get ready for an all new version of Three-Eyed Bingo in 2009...

With a slew of new features, including over 50 new patterns, the latest version of Three-Eyed Bingo is sure to be the most addicting yet! Not only have we tuned up the look and feel, there are now even more ways to gain bonus GV Rewards through a variety of in chat games, including:

Hidden Gems

• In the moments before each game begins, you'll be presented with a selection of different gems. Click a ball to select it. (When you're done selecting things on this screen, be sure to click the "OK" button to submit your choices.) This is your Gem.
• Each gem type is worth a different amount of GV Rewards.
• At the end of each game, Dickie will open the treasure chest and select a gem. This is the Hidden Gem.
• All players who selected the winning gem wins the associated GV Rewards amount.

Slug Bug

• Watch the bingo board for the first double digit to be called (eg, 11, 22, 33, 44 etc).
• All players who type 'Slug Bug' in chat and click send BEFORE the next new number is called win 33 GV Rewards!

3's A Crowd

• In the moments before each game begins, you'll be presented with a selection of numbers, 0-9. Click a number to select it. (When you're done selecting things on this screen, be sure to click the "OK" button to submit your choices.) This is your 3's A Crowd number.
• When you see 3 numbers ending in the number you selected, type "3s a crowd" in the chat and click send
• All players who selected the right number and send the correct message receives 333 GV Rewards.

With all the same gameplay you've come to love about Three-Eyed Bingo, we're immensely excited about the launch of the new chat games and improvements we've made to the game. And as always, we would love to hear your comments about the new features here in the Gamesville Blog.

Good gaming everyone!

Bonus Tip! Don't like being watched by the wandering eye in the middle of your cards? Simply click the eye and it will close.

What was the thrill of the win like for her? What is the secret behind her member name? Find out below...

Gamesville: Congratulations! What was it like when you realized you won?
When I saw the e-mail from Gamesville that I had won the weekly sweepstakes I scared my husband to death from my yelling out loud, "I won!" It was a fantastic feeling.

What will you spend your winnings on?
Most of my winnings will go to pay some bills and I will spend a little on myself.

What do you do for a living?
I am retired but still work part time as a waitress. There isn't anything about my job I don't like, otherwise I would not have been doing it for 40 years.

If you were an animal in the wild, what would you be?
If I had a choice of being any kind of animal I would have to be a cat, because they are so lovable and cuddly.

What is your most treasured possession and why?
My most treasured possessions are my husband, my two children and my grandchildren.

What does your Gamesville member name mean?
My member name is for one of the first pets I had, which was a raccoon named Critter.

Thanks, Critterskea - and congratulations again on your win!

Today is a special moment in US history as we bear witness to the swearing-in of the 44th President of the United States. Watch this historic moment live from the U.S. Capitol today starting at 11 a.m. at: www.pic2009.org/live.

Happy inauguration day, everyone!

Sherry's favorite game, Frantic Fish

Every now and then we hear of Gamesvillers reaching out to each other when they need it most. A couple of months back we heard about a unique gift a Gamesville member Helen (member name: Decemberlovers) wanted to create for her friend Sherry that had recently become ill. Since Sherry's favorite game here at Gamesville is Frantic Fish, Helen asked our permission to create a Frantic Fish quilt for Sherry to use while resting and getting better over the winter. We were touched that she thought of using Frantic Fish as the theme of the quilt and were happy to oblige. Below the finished product:

Sherry's finished Frantic Fish Quilt

We were happy to hear that the quilt has been completed and was delivered to Sherry some time before Christmas, who was "bouncing off the walls" according to Helen when she received it. For more on the quilt's construction and the story behind the gift visit: Sherry's Frantic Fish Quilt

Everyone, please wish Sherry a speedy recovery!

As we've previously posted, cats are extremely sneaky, agile creatures. Watch how this cat demonstrates his ninja skills by climbing these stairs:

Do you have video evidence of a sneaky cat ?

We'd love to see what you've found! Send links to: members@gamesville.com with the headline "Sneaky Cats!"

In addition to a video link, please be sure to include:

• Your Gamesville member name
• Why you thought the video is worth sharing with the Gamesville community

If we publish your video in our weekly Weird Wire™ segment we'll give you 5,000 GV Rewards. Submit your sneeky cats today!

Another BIG win!

45redhead45 is taking home $4,999!

Congratulations to Gamesviller 45redhead45 of Petoskey, MI, who hit the jackpot today playing Magic 21 and took home $4,999 in cold hard cash!

Useless Fact!

45redhead45's hometown of Petoskey is notable for being the setting of several of the Nick Adams Stories, a series of short stories by Ernest Hemingway, who spent his childhood summers on nearby Walloon Lake.

The main character, Nick Adams, is partly inspired by Hemingway’s experiences, from his summers in Northern Michigan to his service in the Red Cross ambulance corps in World War I. Learn more about Petoskey...

Distinguishing Personality Traits

Debigrl says, "This is our dog Lucky, a Jack Russell/Fox Terrier mix that has been the best dog we've ever had. Our son gave him to us after he rescued him from a bad owner. We were in for a huge adventure as Jack Russells are a very hyper breed--when we first got him he ate everything he could and loved toilet paper! He also loves to wrestle with our cat Buddy. We used to say he was "Lucky" we didn't ship him to Okinawa where our son was stationed.  At 7 years old, he's still the best lap dog ever--he love to give kisses and always wants to be picked up. Just rub his tummy and he melts quicker than a stick of butter in the sunshine."

Want to share photos of your own favorite pet with the Gamesville community?

Send photos to: members@gamesville.com

In addition to your pet's picture, please be sure to include:

• Your Gamesville member name
• Your pet's most distinguishing personality trait

If we publish your pet as a "Best Pet," we'll give you 5,000 GV Rewards. Submit your pet today!

This week's recipe comes to us from our friends at We Are Not Martha who are working with the Quaker Oats team to promote their Start With Substance campaign. As part of the initiative they wanted to share their delicious Cinnamon Raisin Oatmeal Bread with Maple Butter with you! Susie of We Are Not Martha added, “I decided to make an alternative to my daily bowl of Quaker Oats goodness and instead crafted a daily loaf of goodness; incorporating not only my oatmeal, but also cinnamon and maple syrup. That's why we decided to share this Cinnamon Raisin Oatmeal Bread with Maple Butter recipe.” Here is the team's creation:

Cinnamon Raisin Oatmeal Bread

• 1 1/2 cups Quaker Oats
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 2 tbsp. cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 1/4 cups skim milk
• 2 tbsp. butter (1/4 stick), softened
• 2 tbsp. vanilla
• 1 tsp. lemon juice
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup raisins

Maple Butter

• 1 stick butter
  
• 1 tbsp. maple syrup
  
• 1 tbsp. honey
  

Preheat oven to 350° F. Mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl (Quaker Oats, flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt). Then mix all the wet ingredients in a separate bowl (milk, butter, vanilla, lemon, eggs). Slowly add the dry mixture to the wet using a tabletop or handheld mixer and stir in raisins. Pour batter into a buttered 9x5 loaf pan and bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes.

While the bread is baking, soften the stick of butter, put it in a bowl and use a spatula to mix it with the maple syrup and honey. Serve the bread warm with a generous amount of butter on top.

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 50 minutes

Help out a great cause with Quaker Oats!

Quaker has assigned 25 blogs each one day this month to see how many readers they can get to participate in their Start With Substance program and today is We Are Not Martha's turn! Here's what you can do to help:

1. Visit Start With Substance to get to the Quaker Facebook fan page and to read the official rules.
2. Become a fan of Quaker on Facebook, then download and print out a picture of the Quaker Oatmeal Man.
3. Take your picture with him and upload the picture to the Facebook fan page. See mine here.
4. Put the link to your uploaded Facebook photo in the comments section We Are Not Martha's post.

The blog that gets the most Facebook photo uploads in 24 hours will be awarded $5,000 by Quaker Oats, which We Are Not Martha has elected to donate to the Greater Boston Food Bank. Please help out this fantastic cause by visiting Start With Substance and participating today!

Want to share your favorite recipe with the Gamesville community?

Send recipes to: members@gamesville.com

In addition to your detailed recipe, please be sure to include:

• Your Gamesville member name
• Why you wanted to share this recipe