Help! I've Farmvilled and I can't give up!

Farmville Hmmm. I first got onto Farmville to see what all the fuss was about. I am a computer gamer, as my computer will attest. I like playing a game to while away the time, to help de-stress, to just enjoy myself. So have purchased a game or two or many over the years.
So, Farmville, hmmm.
I got onto Farmville because all these Facebook people were playing it and I thought it must be fun. I made my little person, I plowed some ground, planted some seeds and...... well huh, what now? It takes FOREVER for the seeds to grow, so what is there to do? Well like most story strategy games it is a little slow at first. Of course me with my amazing powers of patience, gave up on it shortly after I started.
Liking to help people, though, I generously accepted the gifts I was sent, thinking that accepting them was helping my friends...why? I don't know. I never checked the game out closely enough to understand how it worked. One time I accepted a gift and got a notice that my giftbox was full. Well, guess I need to do something about that, I thought, so I went onto my little farm and used as many of the gifts as I could...made my farm a little more interesting. Of course I had to buy a house and a barn in order to use some of the items, but oh well. While I was puttering around with these gifts, I thought maybe I should make a bigger planting area, plant some more crops. Somewhere in there I realized that when you send a gift, you are hoping to receive a gift back! Some gifts are just to send gifts, to help your "neighbor" out (another important part of Farmville, neighbors), but also if you need something, you can send that item as a gift in the hopes you'll get that item back as a gift...hmmm!
Another important part of Farmville is helping your neighbor! Well you can't do a whole lot, but you can fertilize their crops and feed their chickens. This not only helps them out, it helps you! What an idea :) I'd get a notice that someone fertilized my crops and wonder why they would care to help me LOL NOW I KNOW!!! I've fertilized once a day since I got hooked....yes, Farmville has dragged me in.
Now there are a couple ways to get what you need to complete tasks/items you might want. You can buy them with the coins or dollars you earn, you can receive them as gifts, or you can request they be sent to you. I had decided not to add to the many posts I see every day, so have tried to make a go of it without posting...at all! We'll see how far I get. It has taken my quite a while to get to a double digits level. I have been tempted to make up a fake person to send me exactly what I want...sad thought, but if you see a suspicious name come up as my neighbor, you'll know!
One feature that made me snort with derision at first is the fact that you can pay for dollars and coins....why would I pay money for that, was my initial thought. Well, now that I have been hooked, I see why! And being a computer gamer, I can see the reason of spending a little money on a game you enjoy. I have determined I won't spend money on this game...and plan to stick to that plan. I'll make up 10 fake friends before I do that...just a matter of my stubbornness I think :)
So to any Farmville fans...help! To any who do not like it...good for you, don't even start to look at it because if you spend too much time there...you'll be hooked too!