Jen Austin

Are you planning to shop in the store, or online this weekend? Actually going to Lufkin Mall, grabbing the item you want, and paying for it there without having to wait for UPS to bring it to you seems sort of nostalgic now. Die hard shoppers might argue it's the most fun way to obtain new things, but there is something quick and convenient about electronically adding to cart.

If you shop online, where in the house are you sitting? The toilet? I kid you not. Millions of Americans are participating in online shopping while sitting on the porcelain throne.

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The season of eating continues this week.

We stuffed our faces full of candy at Halloween, and now it’s on to the big Thanksgiving meal. This Thursday we’ll sit around the TV watching the Cowboys’ game and graze all day on turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, and of course that green bean casserole with the crunchy onions on top that seems to find its way to most tables.

Have you ever put down the fork long enough to count the calories? Prepare yourself for the shock!

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Hostess has been making Twinkies and snack cakes since the 1930′s, and the company has announced now they’re going out of business. Twinkies are about to become a thing of the past!

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The stats can be pretty alarming. The unemployment rate in the US is 7.9 percent, but among Veterans that number can be as high as 19 percent!

It’s not easy for military members to wrap up a tour of duty and then find work right away. The transition to civilian life can be tough.

There’s a job fair today that has the goal of connecting Veterans with employers, and placing them in the right work environment. It's at the Pitser Garrison Civic Center.

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Anytime the Powerball jackpot starts to swell, the lines grow longer to buy tickets and the pot of cash grows even bigger. So expect that $185 million jackpot to continue to move today as the day goes on.

Feeling lucky? Today is a good day to pool your money at the office and buy lots of tickets. The drawing is tonight, November 14th. Oh, think of the iPads and flat screen TVs you could put under the Christmas tree with that wad of cash. And pay off debt, buy a new house, donate to charity, buy a new car - you could be rollin’ in George Clooney money.

I’ll post the past few non-winning Powerball numbers in case you want to compare your own string of lucky numerals. Good luck!

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The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade always has impressive floats, interesting performances from pop music and broadway, and it’s a huge tourist draw for New York City.

One East Texas cheerleader is on her way! We’ll watch for her on NBC next Thursday morning.

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Something to keep in mind as the holidays approach: People are selling things everywhere! They’re even trying to sell iPads at gas stations. But it doesn’t always turn out to be legit.

A Texas woman was scammed out of $200 after a man approached her at a gas station and asked if she wanted to buy “an iPad worth $800 for $200.” Apple hasn’t even shipped the highest-priced iPads yet, with retail price ranging from $629 to $829, but if you’re at a gas station pumping gas, you probably have other things on your mind besides retail releases and ship dates. Did the scammer get caught?

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Doctors say it was a freak injury that they don’t usually see in football.

University of Houston cornerback DJ Hayden collided with another player in practice Tuesday, and the force of the hit tore a vein that carries blood from the lower half of the body back to the heart. The injury is considered to be 95 percent fatal.

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What’s your family tradition on Thanksgiving Day?

For many of us, Thanksgiving means getting up early to put the turkey in, smelling the aroma of baking turkey and coffee-brewing while watching parades all morning, then expecting family to arrive promptly at 11am. The rest of the day is all about grazing over piles of turkey and green casserole and putting black olives on our fingertips to make puppets, and then watching the Cowboys on TV. That’s what my family does and I thought perhaps you could relate.

Will you be asked to work on Thanksgiving Day? Heaven forbid! But more and more bosses are expecting it!

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Wives sometimes complain that husbands sink into a terrible funk after a Dallas Cowboys loss. They don’t talk much, they’re grumpy, they snap and get sassy when asked a simple question…. Goodness. The Cowboys lose and it can take a family a day or two to get back to normal. May be a week, until the ‘Boys can get on the field and win again.

Did you hear Cowboys owner Jerry Jones was locked out of the locker room after the loss in Atlanta Sunday night? The word is he didn’t take the loss well. He was seen banging on the door, but he couldn’t get in. Oh dear. Would you have the nerve to lock out the boss?

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1. It’s probably not a good idea to rob a house.

2. If you’re going to rob a house it’s probably not a good idea to help yourself to the Chef Boyardee Ravioli in the cabinet before you leave.

This happened in Lakeport, south of Longview and east of Kilgore recently and the story has made it from local TV all the way to the Huffington Post.

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