Get Free Books

Do you like books? Do you like Free stuff? Me too!

I signed up a while back for Paperbackswap.com. This site is free to join and is really fun. You list books you have that you want to swap, then when someone requests a book you have you pay the postage to mail it to them. When you find a book on the site that you want, that person pays to mail it to you.

You get "credits" on the site when you first sign up and list some books ( 9 I think), and then you get more credits for other actions, like sending someone a book, or referring someone else to the site etc. I had out a link in the signature line of my email before, but I did not realize that they have buttons and banners that you can put on your blog or website. So if you are thinking of checking it out please click on the button in this post or at the side of this blog. It won't cost you a thing, and it will help me get more books.....Thank you in advance :o)

You can also get hardbacks, CDs, and audiobooks on this site as well. It is really a fun site and Ilove getting books in the mail. You can even make a wish list that they will fill automatically if you have credits in your account. It is fun to get an email once in awhile that says "That book you were wanting is on its way". It actually says the title of the book, but you know what I mean LOL!

More On Web Hosting Geeks

I think I talked to you before about a cool site called WebHostingGeeks.com. This useful site breaks down the features and user ratings of a variety of different website hosting companies. I like to go there when I am going to set up a new blog or site to see what they best deal out there is, and I find their articles and other information informative. You can go there and see how your current host rates compared to other companies and see if you are paying too much or missing out on any features that you could be getting with another company.

The thing I found interesting when I went there this last time is their list of 2008 award winners. There were 12 different categories that were awarded. You can click here to see which web host won the 2008 award for BEST BLOG HOST....is it the one YOU use? If it isn't, maybe it should be. I am thinking of switching to a new host, but I have not decided which one yet.

Whether you are a blogger or have a regular website you can find some good information on that site!

Snowy Day Fun

There are some many good treats that you can bake at home. I love to bake anyway, but now that I have kids I like to bake for them too. I try and balance it out and not bake too often or too much at one time. My husband and I have been pretty lucky with our kids eating habits. Even though they will devour sugar at any given chance, they also like fruit and most vegetables too.

Today I we had a snow storm so it was a perfect day for a baking and crafts. Earlier today we made some window clings from a kit that grandma and grandpa got from the dollar store. We will have to wait until tomorrow to see if they turned out ok, since you have to wait 12 hours for them to dry all the way.

I decided to try and make the cupcakes in ice cream cones today and some chocolate chip cookies for good measure. I played with the cookie recipe a little ala Alton Brown. I got a few tips from his show the other day that I wanted to try. For instance he says if you put more brown than white sugar you will get a chewier cookie. He was right of course and they came out a chewier, cakier cookie. They were very good.

The ice cream cone cakes worked, but I think I would put more batter in the cones next time. The recipe on the box said to fill the cone half full, but I think I will do 3/4 next time. We are going to ice and sprinkle them up later, they should be rather cute when we are done.

Looking For Someone Special in Charlotte?

If you type Great Expectations Charlotte in a search engine, you will find the Great Expectations website of course. Did you know that they have locations all over the place, such as Kansas City, St.Louis, Richmond, and Houston too?

I think I told you before that I was trying to get my best girlfriend to sign up. I am still working on her, but I have high hopes that this could be the place for her to finally meet someone she truly clicks with. I was doing some more research on it and I did not know that on top of the online opportunities to meet people, that they have events for the local singles to meet in real life. That is pretty cool that you have the option of using the site only online, or you can go to one of there singles parties and meet other singles that are part of the service.

The only thing better than that would be if the would just deliver a date right to your front door, but I guess you have to do some of the work yourself LOL! What are your favorite ways to meet new people. Even if it is just new friends and not dates. I need some other ideas for my friend. I am so married I really don't know what else to tell her to try. I will pass on any great ideas to her.

Ooh, wouldn't she just shoot me if I were to make a blog post about her complete with picture, stats, and a biography. I might just have to do that, she will still love me in the end... I think.

Another Scam Attacks

I think I got on my soap box the other day about telemarketers and junk mail. Well my mom and I were talking about another area where people are vulnerable to scams, and that is work at home opportunities. I myself have fallen victim before to a seemingly legit business that just wanted to rip me off.

Just this morning my mom read in that paper about a woman in our state that was bitten by a work at home scam. She was supposedly doing survey and marketing work for a company called Appleton, out of Appleton, Wisconsin. They sent her a check for 4000.00 and she was supposed to keep 1000.00 of it and then wire 3000.00 to someone she trusted. Wiring this money cost her 100.00 and then she found out the check was bad....BIG SURPRISE! All of this would have seemed weird to me right off the bat, but some people are more trusting I guess. Of course she can no longer reach the contact she had with the company either. Hopefully things will work out for her.

I found a great website called WAHM.COM, it stands for Work At Home Mom, but I have seen guys on there too. It is a really nice community of people that all seem to be in the same boat. We are all looking for something we can do from home to make some extra money for our families etc. It is a good place to go to ask about an opportunity before you take it, or to find some real work at home jobs that people have already tested out.

You still have to be careful because this site does not guarantee that all jobs that you read about on the site are real, but they do there best to try and weed out the junk for you. I have met a lot of nice people through the site too, and I highly recommend it.

Fast Help For Your Computer

One thing I always tell family and friends whenever we talk about computers or Computer Repair is to back up your files often! I learned my lesson the hard way once and almost lost over 2000 family pictures that were on my hard drive. Some of them were backed up, but I was not sure which ones, or where I had put the CD's.

Well I was diligent with my photos from that point on, but not as good with my documents. I have since had another crash and had to have my documents salvaged from the hard drive. Luckily it was possible for them to be saved. I need to listen to my own advice, but I have been better over all at preventative computer maintenance like backups and disk cleaning.

I read about a company called FasTek.com that will actually send a Tech out to your home or business if you want them to. They can also help you with preventative maintenance, or give you computer training. They even offer a call-in remote diagnostic service, now that is great. I love having more than one option when it comes to service.

Getting Through To The Kids

How do you get through to your young children about throwing fits? My two oldest kids are almost 4 and 5 and I still do not have them figured out. For instance, two or three times in the last week or two one daughter or the other has missed out on a fun family time because they were throwing fits.

It might have been about not wanting to wear a particular item of clothing, or they did not agree with the exact activity of the day, whatever, but the outcome is the same. They have to miss the outing all together because they threw a fit. I feel bad when they have to miss out on something, but I think I would be doing them a disservice as a parent if I let them act anyway they want and still get to do the fun things of the day.

Things that seems small can lead to bigger problems down the road if I do not teach them now right? The other day my middle child almost jerked her hand from me when we were crossing the street because she was starting a fit. I can not have her doing that at time like that for sure, so I feel it is super important to get it through to them.

What are your favorite tips for getting a kid to not throw a fit, or to stop the fit sooner?

Cash 4 Gold Anyone?

What do you all think about Cash 4 Gold? I have seen the commercials and they sound interesting. I like the idea that something I have sitting around the house collecting dust might help me makes ends meet that's for sure, but I was wondering if it was safe.

I read that the refinery company behind Cash4Gold has been in business since 2001 and that they have been well reviewed in magazines like Money and Entrepreneur. They have even been listed as one of the top companies to watch in 2008 by Forbes Magazine. The fact that they have been validated by well known names such as these makes me feel a lot better about the idea.

Would you send your old gold through the mail somewhere? I don't think I have many things that are real gold, but it might be worth a look. Oh, their site says that you can send in silver and platinum too. I would not want to get rid of anything sentimental of course, but if I find things that have no special meaning, that I have not worn in years then why not turn them into some cash to use? I like most people these days could use as much cash as I can get together to pay bills and things.

Seeing Sarah Palin

Now I am not a devoted CSPAN viewer or anything, but I will stop and watch for a few minutes here and there when I am flipping channels. I like to try and see if I can understand the mumbo jumbo and learn a bit about what our legislators are doing for us...if anything.

Well I may not watch for huge stretches of time, but I do stop by quite often. I had never seen Governor Sarah Palin on there at all before ( I am sure I could have missed her). This time I go by and she was on for at least 10 minutes before I turned the channel. I think it is hypocritical that she is getting more face time in the media now after they attacked her so unfairly during the election.

I guess it will be a good thing for her and her constituents if her voice is heard by more people, but I do not think it it fair for any media outlet to get any good benefits from her appearance on their channel. Except maybe FOX News or any other channel that was fair to her, but that is the only channel that I saw being fair to her before.

All the channels and papers that were ready to carve her up before are loving whatever ratings she brings to them now....hypocrites.

A Soothing Safer Tub

My husband and I were talking about the future and "one day" when we get to build our next house. We want to think about the investment aspect when we build it, in case we ever sell it. We are thinking of putting a walkin tub in one of the bathrooms. We think this would be a beneficial move in several ways.

They market these tubs to people with mobility issues primarily, but I think anyone would enjoy a soak in one. It would be like having a mini spa in your bathroom, who would not enjoy that? So we could enjoy the tub ourselves for many years and then if we stay in this next house until retirement we will already have an easily accessible tub in place. If any of our older relatives come for a visit, it would also be a nice luxury for them. You can go to remainactive.com to learn more about this type of tub.

So if you are going to remodel or put more than one bathroom in a house anyway, why not have this type of tub in at least one of them? They would be nice to use, and I imagine they would be great in terms of resale value down the road! A long soak sounds really good right now as a matter of fact.

Pineapple Oopside Down Cake

I tried to make a Pineapple upside down cake while we were at my in-laws over the holidays. It is always a little more of a challenge to cook or bake in someone else's kitchen. The pots and pans are different, you have to find everything, and the stove is way different than you are use to no matter what.

I thought I was doing good, I was trying to move fast while the baby was sleeping. I had gotten it all baked and it was sitting cooling on the counter. Then my mother-in-law asked how I glazed the cake. In that split second after she asked I realized why she was asking. I had forgotten the butter and brown sugar mixture that you are suppose to put on the bottom of the pan before you put the batter in the pan.

I laughed and told her what I had done. Then she laughed too. She thought that maybe I had some different way of making it. I thought about going back and making a glaze for it, but we just ate it like it was. It was not bad, a lot lighter than a regular pineapple upside down cake. The taste reminded me more of a pineapple lifesaver. So if you are looking for a lighter version of the traditional cake, give it a try. Otherwise...slow down and don't get ahead of yourself like I did. LOL!

A Better Shopping Experience

One of the reasons that online shopping has become so popular is that it is often less of a hassle than shopping in person. There are no lines, no waiting, often more selection, and usually checking out is super easy. Have you ever been to a shopping site that was great in every other way, but when you went to make your purchases it was a pain? I know that if it is hard to check out from a site, that I am much less likely to shop there again even if I liked the rest of the site.

Do you have a site that you wish the check out was more smooth? If you have a site in mind that could benefit from a shopping cart over haul, maybe you should tell them about the ecommerce software from Interspire.com. I saw their site the other day and they have a lot of interesting looking software. Besides the shopping cart solutions, they have other software that could help you really make your make your websites run like a well oiled machine. Applications for everything from website publishing to email marketing. Even some people have things that they sell on their blogs so they might benefit from well made applications too.

Tell your web developer friends, blogger buddies, and business owners about interspire.com.

Isla Fisher - Shopaholic

I often talk about how much I like shopping on here. I just saw a trailer and interview for the movie "Confessions of a Shopaholic". It looks like a fun, feel good movie. I mean I shopping and movies are two of my favorite forms of therapy so why not combine the two loves?!

In the interview I learned that the main star, Isla Fisher, is engaged to Sacha Baron Cohen A.K.A. "Borat". She seems to be as funny and quirky as her fiance. Maybe they are married now, but I missed part of the interview so I am not sure.

Isla's biography reads like a world map. She is of Scottish decent, but she was born in Muscat, Oman, and raised in Australia. WOW, I have not even lived in more than one state in my lifetime! She has a really interesting accent as a result of all these influences I am sure. I still do not know how people do an "American accent".

I also could not remember why she looked familiar. She was in "Definitely, Maybe" with Ryan Reynolds and "Wedding Crashers". Those are two totally different movies, but both were good in their category.

Touch and Enter

What do you think about the type of keyless lock that lets you open something with just your finger print? I go back and forth with my feelings on the idea. On one hand, speaking as a person that has locked myself out of my own house at least three times and out of a vehicle twice, I think it would be awesome to never have to worry about forgetting or losing a key again. On the other hand I still have some irrational fears after watching to many action movies.

Do you think if this type of keyless lock becomes the norm that people will really try and steal someone's fingerprints in one way or the other? I seriously doubt that would happen, but I think of things like that. My more rational side also likes the idea that when my kids are old enough to be coming and going from the house on their own, that they would not need a key either. How often do kids lose their house keys? I mean this is probably more likely to cause a problem than any scenario that is made up by Hollywood.

Another use for the keyless lock that I never even thought of is to permit temporary access to a place. For instance, if you have a repairman coming to your home or business but you can't be there you can program it to let them in. I bet it would be even more suited to reoccurring visitors thought such as a maid that comes at the same time every week. You could program it to only let the person in on a set day and at a particular time frame. I think that is really cool, so you could let them have access but not all the time or just anytime they wanted. There are more uses for this invention than I realized.

Ding Darling

One of our favorite place to go when we visit Florida is the J.N. "Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge on Sanibel Island, Florida.

Sanibel is a beautiful place to visit in and of itself, and I think it is rated as number one for people that like to collect sea shells. The beaches are magnificent. Another thing I like about the island is that it has zoning ordinances to control the look of building, bill boards, traffic lights, just about everything I think and it really preserves a special look on the island.

If you go to Sanibel and you like to view wildlife, I would stop by the "Ding" Darling refuge. It only costs like 5 dollars I think it was for a car load to drive through the preserve. You can pull of and take photographs of the birds and other wildlife and I see a lot of people fishing in there too.

I just stopped by their website and saw this banner for "Ding Darling Days". A celebration that is coming up in October 2009. I just thought you might want to check it out. My family really enjoys this park and the surrounding island. I wish we could get back there in October .

Prada, Fendi, Marc Jacobs....

If the names I used as the title of this post caught your eye, then I bet the hottest new designer handbag really gets your attention! These designers are amazing and I found a site to get great deals on purses by them and many other top notch designers. DesignerOutletBoutique.com is a place you definitely want to check out if you are into hot accessories.

Of course there are gorgeous handbags, wallets, even sunglasses on this site, but my newest "got- to-haves" are the Prada backpacks and the Prada Messenger Laptop bags. I would really like a messenger bag in the Corda Brown color scheme. What better way to tote your laptop to your favorite WiFi hot spot to do some blogging?

The back packs are totally awesome too. I love it when I can combine luxury with practicality. I may be a mom and have ten tons of stuff to lug with me, but who says I can't haul it in style? It is the best of both worlds. I heard if you use the coupon code "loyal" that they give you a nice discount at checkout, but I have not tried it yet. They already have really decent prices on their items. Sometimes I get a little nervous when I find a good deal on a designer item, but it says that each bag comes with it's original packaging and certificate of authenticity. Sounds good to me!

Spam Spam, Everywhere Spam

Is there no way to escape unwanted solicitations, telephone calls, or emails?

I do all the things I am suppose to do, I put myself on the "Do Not Call List", I try and be careful about the things I sign up for online etc. Still I get unwanted solicitations. I am even getting SPAM comments on my blog and junk calls on my cell phone.

How can they get away with using up minutes I pay for to try and sell me something that I did not ask for? In this day and age I am pretty sure everyone knows how to find information on anything they want to do or purchase. I think they should outlaw telemarketing all together and maybe junk mail too. I wonder how many trees would be saved each year if junk mail was outlawed?

How many times have you gotten something in the mail or gotten a sales call and thought "I AM SO GLAD THEY GOT A HOLD OF ME?" I have maybe had the experience once in my life. I can not think of one at the moment, but I am giving it the benefit of the doubt and saying once. More often what I hear about is some trusting senior citizen falling victim to some phone or mail scam. Getting rid of these types of activities would protect the elderly population if nothing else.



And just for the record. Any company that would leave spam blog comments does not seem like a company I want to do business with, so you are hurting yourself more than helping by leaving your spam on people's blogs....That is just my opinion.

Cleaning Up The Computer

My mom and dad have an older desktop computer. We have been talking about the fact that it it slower than it used to be when it was new. There is a big debate in our family over how much of a computer's slow down has to with age, with changes in other technology, or with things like registry errors.

I have heard the term registry error before, but I did not really know what it was or why it would slow down a computer. You know me, I jump at any chance to do research so I started looking it up on the net. I found a site called ComputerFileExtensions.com, that helped me understand registry errors. For instance computer programs have endings or extensions such as the file extension TMP, the file extension DLL, or the file extension PPS etc.

I learned that every delete a program from your computer the associations for the program don't always get reassigned properly. For example, if you deleted your word processing program and then tried to open a file with the ending .DOC then your computer might not automatically know how to open this type of file. That is how I understood it anyway, and then this slows down your computer because it has to try and figure it out.

You can go to that website and get a free scan of your computer to see if registry errors might be one of the things slowing down your computer.

Trying Out The GPS

For our trip to Florida we borrowed my brother-in-laws GPS unit. He had just gotten it a few weeks before so we thought it would be fun to try it out. My husband had driven to Florida several times before, but he thought it would be interesting to see what way the GPS would take us.

On the way back it took us a particularly scenic route that we enjoyed. My hubby grew up in Florida and he said that this route we were on ( I think it was route 301), is how old Florida use to be. Little peanut shops, citrus stands, etc, it was really cute.


Next time you are going somewhere and you are using a GPS, let it take you how it thinks is best. You may find a cool route that you would never have found before. It really came in handy when we wanted to find a store too.

FTD Delivers More Than Flowers

If you are searching for great Valentine's Day Gifts you should stop by FTD.com. We all know they have beautiful flowers and a great reputation for making customers happy, but I did not realize all the other awesome gifts you can order through their site.

They have a whole array of gifts like lavender wreaths, bath and body kits, a chocolate and gourmet treat section and one gift the I could not resist... A SPA GIFT CERTIFICATE! For only 75.00 you can send your special person a gift certificate to a spa near them. How cool is that?

Now I am not saying that you can not splurge on your honey and get them flowers, sweets, AND a massage. Can you imagine how pampered someone would feel to get all of those things? And to be able to go to one website to order all the gifts in one place is just my style. The only problem I have when sites have so many nice things to choose from is narrowing down to a final decision. While I am there I think might order some flowers for my cousin's birthday next week too!

Ooh, maybe I should get two spa certificates and do the double massage thing for hubby and I to get one together. I have always wanted to do that where you go as a couple and get massages at the same time. Maybe I will see if these certificates work at that spa near here that is in a hotel. That way we would not have to drive after we are all relaxed...yummy!

Double Inaugeration?

What do you think about the fact that President Obama had to give the oath of office twice? I guess they did the oath again later because of verbal stumbles made at the inaugeration. There weren't enough firsts associated with the 44th president, now there is one more.

Do you think any group would have complained if they had not done the oath again? If so, I wonder which extreme group it would have been. Of course since the media has a Democratic slant it is not like you would have heard about anything that might be anti-Obama in the news, so what were they worried about LOL.

I am sure there will be even more history made before President Obama's 4 years are over.

Finding My Drivers

Do you ever get frustrated trying to find the latest drivers for your computer? You think you have everything working with your computer, or your printer, scanner, etc and then something acts up.

Often what you need to fix the problem is a new updated driver, but they aren't always easy to find. I found a website called DriversSoftware.com that has stockpiled a huge collection of drivers for many of the popular companies and platforms. Whether you are looking for HP drivers, Sony Drivers, etc this is the place to check first.

Their collection includes over 300,000 drivers from over 3000 companies. You can find drivers for peripherals such as printers, Laptops, Gaming Controllers, and just about anything else you can imagine. I like having one place I can go to update all of my drivers when I need to instead of searching all around the net. Check it out if you are having a problem with your computer or other device, it may help you out!

Still In Style

Have you ever noticed that some toys just never go out of style ?
Christmas time is when I made this discovery...to myself.
I was looking around at the different stores and toys and you still will find...remember the Light Bright, or the Sit-N-Spin or the Etch-a Sketch ?
Monopoly, Candyland, Clue.
I wonder just what makes these so great that they are still around after all these years.
What was your childhood favorite ?
Oh, yes and Lincoln Logs and Tinker Toys.

Flower Power What ?

Remember the days of Flower Power ? That is what this reminds me of...how cool man !

baby clothes have come a long way from when I was a kid and when my kids were kids, but the clothing is like forever.

Some fashions either never go out of style or they are so iconic that they keep making a come back, like this little romper.
Just try and tell me it doesn't scream Flower Power !
Now a days we have Elmo, Cookie monster, Barney and Hannah Montana. Back then it was Charlie Brown, The Hulk and Winnie the Pooh.
It waas so nce to find these online si I can get these for my grand babies. Then I can take pictures of them wearing these cute clothes and it will be like they were taken back in time. It is a memory maker for sure.

Grandpa, kids and TV

Why can't people agree on TV programs just once in a while ?
All day long the TV runs and half the time no one is paying attention to it, until Grandpa comes in and puts GOLF ...UUUGGHHH ! on the tele.
It must be a sound thing because the kids can be clear in the basement and as soon as that channel changes their little heads do a 360 and they run upstairs to the TV room...WHO CHANGED THAT CHANNEL.
The kids can be waaaay on the other side of the moon but let someone change the cartoon channel their little heads do a 360 and come running to find out who changed the channel !
How dare they!
And what does it matter what is on now, no one can hear it cause everyone is yelling and screaming ?
Has everyone turned into a TV Zombie ?

Birds of a Feather

We live in the Northeastern part of the state and we really have a wide variety of birds in our area.
We love nature and we try to teach our children to respect it and keep our earth green and clean.
As a family, we often take nature hikes in the local Metro Parks and The Nature Realm is one of our favorites.
At the Nature Realm there is a room inside that has a huge window that you can watch the birds, squirrels and chipmunks and what ever other of nature's little creatures decides to stop by to grab a quick bite to eat.
The children love to watch this sight.
So when we get back home the kids are always wanting to find new feeders and houses for the birds.
We have made the usual gourd feeders and the peanut butter and seed Dixie cups and the pine cone, lard and seed feeders.
We have built a Martin house, a regular tenement house, a couple of singles and lord only knows what else. We had run out of ideas so we surfed the internet for Unique birdhouses for sale .
We ran across this site that had some very cute bird houses and structures. It gave us some new ideas for building our own and some we bought from them.
We liked the ones like and old shoe style and camper's tent style bird house. There was some nautical style and other whimsical ones but the kids each got to pick one each.
In our area we get everything from crows and sparrows to falcons and humming birds and an occasional wood pecker.
When the bird houses arrived we made a morning of it, hung the bird houses, set out a picnic lunch for us and watched to see what birds would occupy the new housing.
It is so nice to do this type of venture as family.

Whatever, Martha

Have you seen this TV show called "Whatever, Martha? I had seen it advertised but had never watched it until the other night. The premise of the show is that Martha Stewart's daughter and her daughter's friend watch an episode of The Martha Stewart Show, and comment on it. I really can not believe some of the things they make a show out of these days.



I have to admit that it made me laugh though. The episode I watched shows Martha explaining how to make a yo-yo quilt I think they are called. That is the kind of quilt that is made up of small circular pieces of fabric that are gathered into a circle and then sewn together to make a quilt. Martha was going on about how "she" was going to make one, but wanted just the right color palette so she was going to hand cut, and dye 6000 ,,,,,yes 6000 circles of fabric.



Martha's daughter and her friend are flabbergasted to say the least, and are laughing because they know it would more than likely be Martha's herd of workers that did the cutting and dying not Martha. Then Martha says, oh yes, you need to dye matching spools of thread as well.....ARE YOU KIDDING!?



Well , actually she was! Martha finally says April Fool's and the people on the Martha show and on Whatever,Martha are totally relieved to say the least. It was pretty funny that Martha used her own "Marthaness" to trick people.

Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow

Anyone that has a full head of hair has no idea what a balding person is going through.
In their daily lives, working, emotions, family, stress, it is all involved.
Men and women both are affected by baldness.
There is pattern baldness that is most familiar with men and alopecia is most prevalent in women, but men get this also...even children suffer from this.
There are many ways to deal with this problem but you have to figure out which is right for your situation.
There is an online forum that discusses baldness and one of the topic is hair transplant, another is women, men, alopecia, wigs, toupees and new treatments.
Some even share their stories and some want to hear yours.
There is so much to learn about this condition as far as medical treatments, but there is also the emotional aspect that is brought to light in this forum.
If you do not feel good about yourself and your appearance, it is very hard to get through each day and give your best to your family, work and other important thing you do each day.
You can not give 100% so it limits you to what you can do or you feel you can do.
if you try to check into relief for your baldness, it is imperative that you consult the right professional for your situation.
In this hair transplant forum it can give you guidance and you can talk with people that have your condition and know exactly how you feel.
They won't just blow you off and say stupid things like, oh, men are not noticed if they are bald, it's an everyday thing...so not true for all. Some people do not want to be bald and find they do not have to be.
if you are a woman, the last thing you would want to hear is...oh, just get a wig or two.
NO WAY ! If there is a solution to the problem this web site has all the latest and professional updates in this area.

My Dad's TV Has Only 3 Channels

My Dad's TV only needs 3 channels.
The Poker Tournaments, Barrett's Car Auctions and Golf !
Now you have to understand we have cable TV, so it is not like we are limited on what we can watch.
The kids of course like their cartoon channels, some of like home make over shows and movies on HBO, Mom kinda settles for what ever, but she does get bored with dad's selections.
He walks on the house and we know that it is going to be one of those channels that he picks to watch.
He complains about us watching reruns, but he can rewatch a golf thing that has been reran like ten times. We don't get it !
So we do try to banish him to another room, in which we do have another TV to watch.
Do all men walk into the house and automatically grab the remote?
Do they know how rude this is?
How about a ...hey honey, are you watching this show ? That would be sooooo nice.
Is this normal ?

Coupons Do Add Up

Do you ever wonder when you are in a long line at the store and you think it is your turn next, all of the sudden the person being checked out pulls out...THE DREADED COUPONS...WHY ?
Why do people go through all the trouble of clipping coupons, when all it does for you is take up your precious time ?

Or how about those rebate boards in the stores or online, print this coupon, or use this code, ever see those? They can save a bundle that is why !
You can do the same thing online...print and use coupons, rebates, special code merchandise and even special web sites that have mega sales going on NOW!
I found a site that I could pick up a pair of Giorgio Armani Sun Glasses for my boss for his upcoming birthday at almost 50% off ! Now that is not an item I would run out and buy for myself, but this is a definite gotta have for my boss.

There are a bunch of weekly special offers and overstock merchandise deals available all the time online. You can even find good deals on the latest Disney movies like Kung Fu Panda, or Horton Hears a Who. I think my kids would love both of those movies and I found a coupon that will get me three free movies if I sign up for this movie deal. I wonder what third movie I will pick.

And everyone is familiar with L L Bean...I found my new swimsuit there in fuchsia for my trip in March. You know how hard it is to find swimwear just before you go on vacation and here it is at 37% off. What a deal. There are so many discount codes and percent off coupons online, I can't believe I did not know about them before.
Now I too am saving a bundle and ONLINE.

I Feel Like a Spy

It is not everyday that an "ordinary housewife" gets to feel like and international spy, but I get to today.

I am helping to put together a surprise reception for some friends this weekend, and I am mostly in charge of the decorations and extras. I found these pretty fake diamonds on eBay the other day. They are to sprinkle on tables and such.

Well with my short time table to get this party done I was lucky enough to find a local person who was selling these so that I could pick them up instead of having them mailed to me. I got an email a few minutes ago with the subject line " Location for Diamond Pickup". How exotic does that sound? LOL

Maybe the guy will look like James Bond, what do you think?

Shopping for Musical Instruments

I have been looking ahead to education opportunities for my kids. I am trying to plan ahead so that I can start them early on things like music and learning an instrument. I wanted to see what instruments cost these days so I headed over to ShopWiki.com as I often do when I was to compare prices on things.


I was not disappointed when I searched for musical instruments on Shopwiki. I can not decide which instruments I will let the kids try first. In a perfect world I would like them to try every type of instrument and see which one they are best at or enjoy the most, but I doubt that will happen. I think my oldest daughter might do well with a wood wind type instrument like a flute or a saxophone. My youngest seems to be more percussion so maybe drums for her?

My parents already have a piano in their living room. They like to let the kid play on it so that they get us to the idea of making music even if they don't know exactly how to do it perfectly yet. We think it is good to let kids encounter as many new things as possible. At least if they get to see many types of instruments maybe they will not be intimidated about trying to learn a new instrument later in life.

I think learning to try new things is an important lesson that applies to so many areas of life. Keep trying, if something does not work, try again or try something else, but don't give up! Today I will take this lesson to mean KEEP SHOPPING! LOL! It's a tought job, but someone has to do it.

Free Accu-Chek

My mom was online the other day and found a web site to order a free glucometer for my dad.
It was from Accu-chek company.
The meter arrived very fast by fedex. The only thing that concerns us is that when the packages are left out in the cold like that it could affect the accuracy of the test strips and if it has a control solution in the box it could freeze and would be spoiled.
Another nice thing to mention is that this particular kit came with "50" test strips !
Do you realize that those strips cost about $40 -$60...what a savings.
This was a wonderful promotion for this company to do.

Love Is in The Air

Yes it is almost that time of year again, Valentines Day.
I just love it when hubby remembers just a little early that it is approaching and a couple of times he started by getting me a gift a day for the oncoming holiday.
For example the one year he started 4 days before and bought me a very nice scented candle and some bath salts, day 3 I got a nice tea pot with my favorite tea and a really good book, day 2 he brought me home flowers and a bottle of wine and then on Valentines Day we went out for a most romantic candle lit dinner and dancing.
After all that we came back home, I lit the candle, opened the wine and let me tell you we did not read a book.
While the lights were dimmed and the candle was glowing, we could enjoy the soft scent of the roses he had bought for me the day before.
What a wonderful way to celebrate Valentines day.
Then we turned on the TV later and opened the box of chocolates that he had some how managed to get by me with out me noticing it...can't imagine that, I can usually sniff chocolate out at 50 yards like one of those dogs they use in drug busts.
If it is in the house, I can find it !
Oh, maybe the scent of the beautiful roses covered it up.
There must have been a method to his madness.
Any how, the flowers are always welcome on Valentines Day here.

Richardo Montalban 1920 - 2009

The man that portrayed the beloved Mr. Roarke on TV's Fantasy Island has passed away. While Richardo Montalban, 88, was best known for his role on Fantasy Island, he has been acting in one form or another since the 1940's in America and even before that in Mexico.

He was said to have paved the way for future Latino Actors. In 1970, he founded the nonprofit Nosotros Foundation to improve the image and increase employment of Latinos in Hollywood. Many thought that his outspokenness might have hurt his own career. I hope that is not the case. He always seemed like a caring person by the look in his eyes.

I am sure he will be missed by his colleagues and his loved ones.

Retro Baby Clothes

Remember how I was talking about one of the best parts of being a parent was getting to play with toys from your own youth? Well I found a site today that has clothing for kids and babies that feature printed items featuring characters that I grew up with. The site is called TheRetroBaby.com. You have to check it out if you like your kids to have things that remind you of your childhood.

They have the cutest outfits that they call Kids Ink Rompers, and many other cool items. I think my favorite is the little dresses that they have. I want to get my girls the Smurfette dress they have on that site. It is just too cute. My girls would rather watch older cartoons like the Smurfs and Tom and Jerry than they would some of the more current cartoons. I am so glad of that. If I have to watch cartoons repeatedly, at least they are cartoons that I like. LOL

Aww, there is a shirt with Cookie Monster on it that says "One Smart Cookie". Decisions, decisions.

SIGN ME UP!

Would you apply for this job...

Help Wanted!.... Scenic, tropical location seeks motivated individual to walk on white sand, snorkel in some of the most beautiful beaches on Earth, live rent-free in an oceanfront home and then brag to the world on just how much fun you're having using weekly blogs, photo diaries and video updates. Key Qualifications: Must love the sea, sun and the outdoors.

Where do I sign up?!! I imagine they are looking for some bikini worthy hottie, which I am not, but it sure sounds like a great job.

According to CNN and the like, it is the real deal. The Australian tourism board is trying to drum up attention. This must have worked because the site to get the application has had so much traffic that it keeps crashing. Gee, did they think they would have a hard time getting applicants? I mean on top of the above description, the lucky applicant that gets the job will get a free flight to Australia, and get paid 105,000 for only 6 months of "work".

I think they screwed up, I bet they could have kept the 105,000 and still have gotten plenty of applicants. You can read the full story and see some awesome pictures of Australia here.

Do You Love Valentine's Day?

I was looking around the net for gift ideas for my recently wed friends. They eloped, but we are throwing them a surprise reception. I can across a site called RedEnvelope.com. They have so many unique gifts that would be great for couples, but for many other people too.


I got side tracked from shopping for my friends when it dawned on me that Valentine's day was approaching. We have been so busy with the holidays and birthdays that I almost forgot. My hubby and I do not treat Valentine's Day as a "have to" holiday. It is more fun because it is one of those days that make you want to celebrate romance and your relationship. There are so many lovely things on this RedEnvelope site I can hardly decide what my favorite would be.




I think if I were going to choose my favorite though it would be something that celebrated the family that we have made together. What is more a symbol of love than your children? I can not decide between this accordion locket and a mother's necklace. Maybe I will show dear hubby both of them and let him choose, that way my present will be kind of a surprise LOL.

Of course if I could dream big, I wish we could go on a mini vacation by ourselves. I love our babies with all my heart, but I am still exhausted from our family vacation. I would love to get a hotel near the beach so that we could hear it while we fall asleep. I do not want to have a schedule of any kind. I don't even think I want to leave the immediate area of the hotel or the beach. Wouldn't it be wonderful to be able to walk to anywhere you wanted to go to eat or shop? A vacation to do nothing in particular but be together, THAT sounds wonderful!

Ok, back to more shopping fun. I love shopping for others even more than shopping for myself.

Sick Kids and Doctor

Why is it when you take a sick child to the doctor because you know the child is hurting, you feel sad because they inevitably end up getting a shot ?
And this makes them get better, but its a hurt to make the hurt go away ?
Is this a vicious circle or what ?
I had to take my BABY today to get a check up and he is teething and runny nosed on top of everything else...soooo sad.
And I know in my heart I am doing the good mommy thing taking him to get a shot, but still it hurts...every time.
AWWWWW, poor baby.
Sniffle, sniffle.
OK, he cried, I cried all will be better tomorrow.

Finally ZZZZZZZs

My cousin who works as a nurse is always working very long and or extremely odd split shifts.
She is the most sleep deprived person I know of.
And you would think as a nurse she would know better ! Lack of sleep can really take a toll on one's health for goodness sakes.
She moved out of her parents' home recently and between work and trying to set up her own place, she is getting really worn out.
She actually remembered to call me the other day on my birthday and we had a great chat.
We were talking about all the after Christmas sales going on and she was excited because in the UK where she lives, January is the biggest sale month for beds over there, and she saw this one that had what is called a memory mattress.
It had individual coiling in the box springs and this luxurious memory foam mattress that made her back feel so great, she almost fell asleep in the store when she was shopping for it.
You would think buying a bed would be an easy thing, but shopping for and selecting the proper one can be hard when you think of all the beds you will look at before you find the right one.
Too hard, too soft and finally, Ahh, just right !
My cousin found a traditional style, king size bed she picked out and it will be delivered to her tomorrow, so she will have to take the day off work...gee she might get to use her new Rest Assure bed and get some rest !
Now I don't know if she called to wish me happy birthday or brag about her new bed !
Oh, well it was still nice to hear from her.

Man Who Tried To Fake His Death May Really Die

When I first heard the story of Marcus Schrenker trying to fake his death, I wondered if he was a family man at the end of his rope. I thought maybe the economy had gotten bad enough that he was hoping his family would collect insurance or something if he died. I felt kind of bad for him at first, because I figured he had to be pretty desperate to do something so drastic.

Well it was drastic, but as it turns out, he was not a desperate family man but rather a miserable crook. The 38 year old investment manager was trying to fake his death so that he could avoid going to jail after bilking several people out of their money. The scum bucket even took the saving of his own parents.

When authorities closed in on the man today, I guess he slit his wrists. When the EMTs were tending to him he muttered the word DIE, like let him die. Maybe they should have. I know that is harsh, but I am so tired of people taking advantage of others.

I guess we will see how the rest of this sage unfolds.

What Kind of TV Service Do You Have?

What kind of service do you use for your Television? Cable? Satellite? etc. We have been reviewing packages from different companies and DirecTV seems to have some pretty good packages going right now.

You can go to their site by clicking on DirecTV deals, and get a personalized quote in only 15 seconds. You can review the different packages they have. DirectTV offers packages ranging from the 45 channel Family package to the Premiere Package that has over 265 channels. They also have a special going right now where you can get HBO, Showtime, and Starz free for 3 months. That's not a bad deal!

What is your favorite type of TV service and why. You can also get a DVR with the DirecTV. I love recording shows on a DVR. I like several television shows, but I can rarely get the time to watch them at their original air time. I like being able to watch them when I have the time. If that is at 3:00 am while I am feeding the baby, then so be it!

TeaPot Cake

A person that commented on my cake post the other day and left me a link to the pretty cake pictured here. It is not the teapot I originally saw, but isn't it cool?

Someday when I grow up I hope to make such beautiful cakes. I still want to find the blog I saw before with the other teapot on it,, you can never have too much inspiration.

If you click on the pic, it will take you to the blog the picture came from and you can check out all the other cool stuff there too.

A New Year, A New Man?

My best friend ever on the planet is always looking for " the right guy". I feel so bad for her, because she always ends up finding some big bozo. I know it is hard to randomly find someone you click with, believe me, I used to be single too. She has gone the other routes like, the guy at work, the guy in a chat room, etc. All of these things CAN work , but your chances are actually slim that you will hit it off with these people.

I keep telling her to try a dating service like Great Expectations. Great Expectations - Los Angeles, CA, and many other locations, have been matching people up for over 30 years so they must know what they are doing. They have several offices around the country in places like Summit,NJ Portland, OR and more, but if you do not live near an office you can also use there service online. I told her that means there is no excuse, like "There isn't one near me"

A service like this can save a lot of time and increase your chances of meeting someone you will like since they are matching up people with similar likes and interests. Maybe I can talk her into trying something new for the New Year, like Great Expectations. They have to be better at it that she it at finding a suitable match! No offense sweety.

OK, I Didn't Make The Cake

Ok, so life got in the way and I did not get the time to make the cake myself. I guess I can make a ball cake another day.

I ended up going to our local grocery store bakery and buying a cake for my son to smash, and a 1/4 sheet cake for the rest of the guests. This was a bit of a shock since I usually do make cakes, I have not bought a store made one in ages. The prices have gone up quite a bit. The baker seemed a little offended when I bought this cute little cookies and cream torte to be used as the smash cake. She was like, if you just need a smash cake, why don't you get some of those cupcakes over there. She seemed to feel better when I explained that I wanted something special since I usually make my own and I felt bad for not doing so this time. It was a really cute little cake with mini oreos on top. I figured my son would really like that. Once she knew I wanted something extra special I don't think she was as offended LOL.

I will add a picture of the cake to this post when I get the photos downloaded.

Learning About Online Trading

I have always wanted to learn about online trading. There are many things that I hope to do this coming year and stock trading is one of them. Have you ever thought about it?

How did you find an online broker? I have been looking around the net and one of the places that I found that looks interesting is FirstTrade.com. Their sites says they got good reviews from Kiplinger's and Smart Money, and they are also celebrating their 20th anniversary so they must be doing something right.

I do not have a trading account yet, but if you have one somewhere else it says they will refund you any transfer fee charged to you by another broker up to 100.00. That is nice to know if you are thinking of trying a new online trading company this year. For new people like me, 6.95 per trade with no hidden fees sounds like a pretty good deal. I think I am going to do some reading in their Knowledge Center section and educate myself more on the topic.

This seems like a good site to start with though. There are sign up bonuses for larger acounts, but I do not have that much to start out with. I figure I have to start somewhere though right? How else would I get that big amount in the future? Money has not spontaneously appeared in my life in large amounts so far, so I want to learn how to grow my money myself right?

Freaking Out About The Cake

Ok, I am freaking out a little bit about making this ball cake. I don't know why, but I am. I have had this ball shaped pan for probably 15 years now and have never used it. You are suppose to use it to make any sort of ball, like a golf ball, tennis ball, etc. I don't think I am going to be that adventurous for my first try. I am just planning on making a simple one color ball, so why am I so nervous? I have made a decent Elmo, a treasure chest, a heart shape cake, but this gets me stuck.

I went to one of my favorite websites that I use for cake inspiration, CharmCityCakes.com. Charm City Cakes is the company owned by Duff Goldman and featured on The Food Network's Ace of Cakes. They do some crazy, cool stuff on the show. I could not copy a pic from their site to put here, but you can go to their site and view pics of many of the cakes they have done.

They do all those outrageous and beautiful cakes and I am intimidated by a ball. One of my girlfriends showed be a cake blog that I thought I saved in my favorites, but I can't find it now. That lady had done this awesome teapot cake that I thought my girls would love. Some day I would love to have time to practice and be able to any kind of cake I want. I want to get an airbrush kit, and maybe one of those edible image printers. How awesome would that be?

Ok enough dreaming, I have to get back to figuring out the logistics of tomorrow.

Interesting Law Blog

Are you a fan of reality TV, or Law TV shows whether they are real or fiction? I am a big fan of that type of thing, so I thought I would let you know about a law blog I came across today. It is is really interesting to read. The Los Angeles Criminal Law Blog is a blog that has been put together by a firm that is ranked in the top 5 percent of law firms in the country.

I found stories ranging for the amusing to the heartbreaking and everything in between. My latest favorite has to do with parole violations. I guess in California, it is a law that a parolee has to tell authorities if they own any pets. The idea behind the law is to protect any law enforcement or parole officer that may have to go to the parolee's residence. They do not want to be surprised by a big dog or something. I can understand them wanting to know what they might be walking into for sure. But this story is about a possible parole violation because someone did not report owning a gold fish....yes a gold fish! LOL

I am not one for giving criminals breaks, but that seems a little absurd to me. Maybe they were trying to use it as a loophole to get the guy back in jail. I think sometimes authorities have to bend the law to make justice happen. I go back and forth on my feelings on this. This is the same justice systems that lets criminals use loopholes to get out of trouble though too. Should it not work in the favor of the "good guys" once in awhile too?

Anyway, check this blog out. It is interesting, and a source for information or assistance in the legal field.

Have A Ball

This is my youngest's first birthday.
I am going to attempt to make a ball for this cake.
That was the first word so that is how I determined what the cake and theme of the party would be.
I sure am glad the first words weren't cow, can you imagine how big that cake would be ? lol
So now all I can hope is that the pan I am going to use will cook the cake all the way through...anyone else ever use one of those molded ball type cake pans? How was your luck with it ?
I will take pics and share later.
See You soon and WISH ME LUCK !

A Source For Sounds

I love playing around with photos and little video projects. I even have a few photos I have taken uploaded to a stock photo site. I often use stock photos to add interest to my blog posts if I do not have one that fits my topic. Well now there is a stock audio site where you can get free sound effects. I never thought about getting sound clips like you would photos, how cool!

If you are putting together a power point slide show for work, or sending a video greeting to grandma and grandpa, now you can make them come to life with sound. The site is called AudioMicro, and it looks really neat. It says you can either pay per download, or you can buy different subscriptions like one month, three months, or yearly. I love it when sites are flexible in their options. If I only need one item right now I can just pay for that one item, but if I get a big project going I can buy a bigger package.

I think I can also sign up with them like I have with the stock photo site I upload to and make money from sounds I collect, that sounds so fun! I will have to look more into that part of it to see what kind of recorder or mic I might need to capture quality sounds and clips. But if you are like me and get into projects, it is definitely worth checking out.

No Matter How Much You Try To Protect Your Kids

No matter how much you try to protect yours kids, the inevitable happens.

The minute you turn your head...KABOOOM ! CRASH ! OUCHIE !

My youngest has learned to walk, crawl, climb all those new learning experiences children go through that you just have to let them test their wings and hope they don't get too many bumps and bruises along the way.

We try to keep the tripping things off the floor, hurting things out of the room and in general "Baby Proof" the whole house.

Let me tell you it does not always work.

This morning my youngest got hold of a sippy cup. Somehow he managed to trip and fall on the carpet with it and got his itty, bitty nose banged with it.

He cried and I cried and oh, my, it's a never end of heart break no matter how the children get hurt.

I put the ice pack on it, patted his little nose, hugged and cuddled him as I am wondering to myself...a sippy cup, how the heck did he do this with a sippy cup.

Did I mention they are banned from the front room from now on ?

I just wonder now what other adventures are in store.

Where are those guardian angels when you need them ?

I should Not Have Peek-a-booed

Now I've done it !
I knew I should not have peek-a-booed into this web site on baby clothes and accessories.
I am soooo in love with all this soft, fluffy baby stuff, it just absolutely makes me want to snuggle and cuddle.
I just fell head over heels in love with the moby wrap . It is so like holding the baby with your own gentle nurturing arms and yet it is a wrap made of luxurious cloth that I can wear from my shoulders or my back depending on which is the most comfortable at the time or the positioning I may need.
I may want to recline with the baby for a quick rest or breast feeding, sitting, standing, it will adapt to just about any position I need to be in. Hey ! How about taking the baby for a walk in the park ? Would this be great and comfy for that ?
I really like that there are no straps involved. Sometimes the straps tend not to be one size fits all.
Oh, my goodness, giggle, giggle ! These baby slings snuggle the baby so close to me. Awww, it's just too cute.
I am sooo in a pickle ! These accessories are too little for my year old and the mothering hormones are jingling again...I should NEVER HAVE PEEK-A-BOOED in this web site.

To Sleep Perchance to ....

What is that line from a famous poem...To sleep perchance to dream, or something like that? Forget dreaming, I would just like to sleep so that I might not feel like a zombie all day long.

I do not know if I really believe it or not, but sometimes I think I am jinxed in the sleep department. Like maybe I did something bad in a past life and this is how I get paid back. Somethings ALWAYS gets in the way of me getting any decent stretch of sleep. Last night I went to bed at 8:30pm, which is waay early for me, but I was not feeling good on top of being tired.

I got woke up twice soon after that,, and then I got woke up again at 10:30 because my daughter was not feeling well. I am not sorry I was there for her at all...not by a long shot. It is just so ironic to me that it is always something. When it is something with my kids I am grateful that I got any sleep at all so that I could take care of them that night or whatever.


I have also been grateful that they seem to wake up on alternating schedules, so that I can tend to one completely before the next little one needs me. I still wish I could get a little more regular sleep so that I could feel better during the day. I could do more with the kids and not feel like I was dragging through the day.

I have been trying to cut back on caffeine, but it is really hard to give up that little helper. I am working on eating better though so I can get more energy that way. I still dream of getting a full nights sleep though LOL.

Wholesale Clothing

Do you ever sell stuff on online auction sites? I just came across this wholesale clothing site called ApparelShowroom.com. I usually sell stuff we have around the house already like old movies or video games, but I was thinking of trying to buy some clothing wholesale and reselling it.

There is this awesome section called the 3.00 sale. You have to buy a couple of the same item, but if you are reselling that works out fine. You could even buy what you want to wear and sell the rest to cover what you keep or maybe even make a profit. I find that the online auctions won't make you a millionaire over night, but you usually get a better price out of your items than you would at a yard sale.

The clothes on this site are really cute too. There are things for men and women and accessories as well. The items in the intimates section I bet would resell quite well. I figure it is worth giving it a shot. I can at least get a few cute things to jazz up my closet!

Free Glucometer online

My dad has diabetes. The cost of the meter, the strips, etc etc can get overwhelming. We were looking around the net and came across this offer.

This is a free glucometer link for online order...just fill in info and pick a color. Shipped to you Free !
.....it is free to get and easy, or it seems to be anyway. We have not done it yet, but I thought I would pass the find along. I know many of us are not made of money, so freebies can really come in handy.

What is the best freebie you ever found?

Ride The Wake

While we were on vacation I got to talking to my husband's nephew about water sports. I said that I always wanted to learn how to water ski. He said he had the most fun the time he went wake boarding with a friend. Wake Boarding? I said. He explained that it is like a combination of surfing and water skiing.

He pointed me towards a site called WakeNSkate.com. I was amazed at all the different gear they had. I needed my nephew to guide me through all the names, Wakeskates, Hyperlite wake boards, Liquid Force Wakeboards, CWB wake boards. I did not know where to begin. He showed me around the site and gave me a few suggestions. After we got through the stuff I would need to wake board, I headed to another section on the site...clothing. I love shopping for accessories. They have the cutest shirts, sandals, and all sorts of awesome stuff to help me at least look like I belonged on the beach, even if I did not know what I was doing at first LOL.

I definitely think I will pick out something from the life jacket section as well. Even if you are a strong swimmer, which I am not, it never hurts to be safe. I do not know how people get up from some of those spills they take on surfboards or whatever. I want some extra protection while I am having fun and learning. It is a cool site, and I am glad I had my nephew as a tour guide!

Diet Pill Fillers

I read an article that said some of the diet pills use fillers that are natural herbs and spices and they do not have to disclose what they are. But I thought anything you ate was supposed to be overseen by FDA .

OK some of the fillers are not drugs, but they do go in your mouth so it must be considered a food product Yes? ... No ? On one hand I think that the Food and Drug Administration should look into natural products, and on the other hand if they did more in that area, then natural products would cost more probably.

Most drug are derived from "natural" things to begin with. Like isn't aspirin from the bark of a tree or something? I do not know why people think if something is all natural that it is automatically safe? I always research supplements or vitamins before I take them, but I guess that is just me.

What do you think about labels not having to disclose ingredients?

Talk About A Long Distance Call !

Everyone likes to save a buck when ever they can, so why not save on long distance phone calling too ?
You can make Cheap International Calls to Poland or India, UK, China, Mexico just to name a few of the 23 countries you can call really cheap.
How does a call to China for $.019/min sound, pretty cheap huh ?
There is a company promoting a 50% off special if you would sign up before January 18, 2009.
They also have specials on holidays and other promotions through out the year.
The way it works is that you give your friend or relative's phone number in the other country and then the phone service gives you a local number to call them on.
You enter that specific number in your home phone or mobile phone and use that same number to call your friend any time from then on.
You can do this on your home phone no matter what carrier you have and on your cell phone it can be any carrier they can connect you with for this service.
It doesn't get any easier and I don't think any cheaper.
But check it out for yourself and if you happen to find anything cheaper would you contact me back and let me know ?
Every little bit helps in this economy !

What is Wrong With People?

First that 4 year old I blogged about shoots his babysitter, now I read a report that says a couple never reported that there adopted son disappeared 10 years ago...yes 10 years ago!

Gee, do you think that the adopted parents had anything to do with the boys disappearance? I like to give people the benefit of the doubt, but that is just a little to suspicious to me. The boy was 11 then so he would be 21 now if he is alive, but the authorities doubt he is still alive. I do not understand people. I mean why adopt if you do not care about kids, well I guess for the money or something. Where was the case worker for this poor boy?

I hope they figure out what happened and that the adoptive "parents" get the long awaited justice that is deserved!

Buying Eyeglasses Online?

My mom and dad were telling me the other day that they are getting ready to buy new eyeglasses for themselves. I think they are planning on going to a local chain store to buy them. Even when there is a sale on prescription eye glasses you can easily spend 100.00 dollars are more.

I thought I would search the net and see which local chain was the cheapest or who was running sales and I came across Optical4Less.com. I never thought about buying glasses over the internet before. I new there were places that would mail you contacts, but cheap eyeglasses? I was curious so I looked around the site.

They have many cool looking frames to choose from including all the latest lens technology too. You can still get things like bifocals, tinted sunglasses and many other types of lenses and you get anti-reflective coating for free. That is awesome. I mean what is the point of saving money if you have to give up the features you want or need. Few things are as important as your eyes, so cost can not be the only factor. You have to get a quality product at a cheaper price to be a real value. There seems to be plenty of happy customers if you read the testimonials section.

The last thing I was not sure about was fitting. I did not know how they could send you glasses that would fit your face if they never met you. There is this cool feature on the site called a virtual fitting. You upload a picture of your face and it walks you through steps to try on frames to see how they would look on your face. That is so great!

I am going to have to show this site to my mom. You can get the same frames and lenses as other stores for a LOT less, you get them sent right to you...win win!

Babysitting Can Be Dangerous

I just heard on the news today that a 4 year old, a boy I think, shot his babysitter after she stepped on his foot. What the heck!? Now I am not the type to blame video games, or TV, or guns for the bad things that people do, but I do wonder what kind of household this was.

My kids watch Tom and Jerry and Bugs Bunny all the time, but they don't go around dropping anvils on each other. Where does a 4 year old get the idea to go to another room, grab a shot gun, and shoot someone jsut because they are mad?! I just don't get it. I am not even the best parent in the world, but I hope I have taught my kids some general safety guidelines.

I think maybe where some people go wrong is by avoiding certains topics with their kids, like sex, drugs, guns, etc. It always seems to me that it is the kids that don't get talked to about these things that have blunders in these areas of life. My husband likes to hunt and do other outdoorsy things so there are guns and knives in the house. We have talked to our kids about what to do if they come across a gun or knife, even if they think it is a toy or something. They know to come and get us. I am pretty sure we are getting through because just the other day we were at a relatives house and my daughter saw a pocket knife that was left sitting out and immediately let me know about it.

I think it is important to talk to kids about things they might encounter even if they are not in your home, because you never know what they might come across while at a friends house either. I know that is not necessarily what happened in this case, but that is where the story made my mind go.

Ok I am off my soap box....for now.

Clocks Clocks and More Clocks

I am once again shopping for grandfather clocks. My mom and dad liked the wall clock we got them for Christmas so much, they want to buy a clock for my grandfather. Is buying grandfather clocks for your grandparents ironic? Maybe that's just me.

Anyway, I showed my mom the site I had gotten their clock from and she is still looking around trying to decide which one to get for grandpa. That site, 1-800-4clocks.com has so many to choose from, now mom knows how hard it was to decide which one to get for her and dad.

I think she is leaning towards one of these world clocks, like the Hermle clocks. They are so beautiful. I know grandpa likes classic looking things as suppose to contemporary styling. That's another thing that is so great about this site, the wide range of styles.

I don't know, but to me grandparents are harder to buy a present for than other people are. They usually have everything they need for a house since they have been working on their household for decades. They also tend to be more practical, so a clock makes a great gift. Clocks are not only decorative but they are highly functional and practical. The perfect combination to makes most grandparents happy!

Baby Ink

I seem to watch a lot of Learning Channel shows, I have another one. My hubby got me watching Miami Ink from time to time. I do not really get into many reality shows,,,no I guess that is not accurate, but I hardly ever watch EVERY episode.

This show is cool if you like watching different types of people, or if you like art. The other day they showed a line of kids clothes they were making called Ruthless and Toothless. That is SO funny! We are thinking of getting a onsie for our son, or one of the cute little sun dresses they have on their for our girls. I did not realize how many different products they are working on until I went to their site. Things like actual wallpapers, Ipod covers, even pacifiers.


WE love stuff that is out of the ordinary. I can not wait until one of our friends that has tattoos has a baby, then we can get them a present from this site. They also have cool clothes for adults. Maybe when I lose a little weight I will get a hot little T to get my hubby's attention!

Fitting In More PhytoNutrients

Phyto what? I hear you saying in your head. Phytonutrients are the good nutrients we get when we eat plant based foods.

While I am trying to not declare a "New Year's Resolution". I am hoping to make some changes to my lifestyle and my health this year. I want to focus on eating to nourish my body instead of just "dieting". Of course I want and or need to lose weight, but I really want to feel better not just look better. I want to learn as much as I can about healthy habits and good foods to eat. I want to treat my body better.

I have been hearing about phytonutrients, but I wanted to learn more. I found a cool website called Phytolife.com. You can go there and not only learn more about them, but there are many more interesting things on the site as well.

There are some delicious sounding recipes on there that I want to try. I know when I use to east more salads I felt better. Not just a chunk of iceberg lettuce with dressing on it, but a colorful leafy feast. Dark greens, reds, purples, with some good additions like seeds or nuts. Salads and vegetables in general do not have to be boring. I know when I eat right I feel better, but it gets hard to stick too when you get busy. I do not know why. It is not really much more difficult to throw together a salad than pop a dinner in the microwave, and it tastes so much better.

One article I really liked talks about how to replace my bad habit of too much sugar and caffeine for real energy boosters. I want to feel what it is like to have real energy instead of a fake sugar high. Oh my, this recipe for wedding soup sounds awesome...and it is good for you..how great is that?

Giving Praise Instead of Complaints

People often take the time to contact companies, or write letters to the editor or something if there is a problem, but how often do they take that same amount of time to give praise? While on our trip we stayed at two different hotels. The first one was nice and clean, very adequate. The other hotel was exceptional.

Well that hotel was not extra special I guess, but the staff made it exceptional. This was the Hampton Inn on College Street in Ocala, Florida. I still want to contact the corparate office of this chain to let them know how much we liked the staff at this location, but I wanted to write about it here as well.

The hotel had nice amenities, like a heated pool, continental breakfast etc. What I thought was unique was that they had milk and cookies in the evening also. My kids loved this, and honestly so did hubby and I. They had milk, cookies, hot cocoa, hot coffee. They even had my favorite coffee creamer. It was a nice touch to refresh a bunch of weary travelers.

What was more, it seemed every time I came to a door with my hands full and my son on my hip the security guard that was on duty appeared with a helping hand. Later in the evening I went to the lobby for extra towels and the lady at the desk said if I could wait one moment( the phone was ringing off the hook) she would not only get me the towels, but some extra cookies for the road tomorrow. She appeared out of the back with a fresh stack of towels and a wrapped plate of cookies. So nice!

Anyway if you are ever going through Ocala, I highly recommend this place to stay!

Learning More About The Net

I think I mentioned before that I was searching for a good deal on web hosting service. I found another site that not only has the tops hosts ranked, but it also has a nice collection of web hosting articles and web hosting tutorials as well.

The site is called WebHostingRating.com. There was an article that said that the websites for Universities are particularly vulnerable to hackers because of the way they are set up. I did not understand all of it, but it made me more aware of the risk of a university system. I am going to have to have my hubby read it and have him be more careful about what he does while logged into the system at his school. I want him to limit the types of things he does while on the schools internet, like avoiding sites he has to log into to protect his passwords. Or does your computer's protections help with that? I will have to read more.

There was also an interesting article and whether you should have separate sites hosted on separate IP addresses. I never thought about that. I have a couple of blogs that are hosted in the same place,,, and my friends have various sites and blogs. I never thought to ask some of my more experienced blogging friends what they do about this. I think I will as my one friend i particular since she knows blogging and also knows computer stuff in general. Anyway, it is a cool site for Internet related information...check it out.

Catching Up On Blogging

I feel like I have been on a desert island these past few weeks. I mean I have gotten online some while I was traveling, but nothing like when I am at home. I had to get time to use other people's computers since I did not take my laptop. That makes it even harder when time is already at a premium.

I should have taken my laptop, but we were cramped for room as it was and I was afraid there would not be a safe place to put my computer in the van if we did cram it in there. I also did not know if I would get a connection some of the places we were going anyway, so it would have been a waste to lug it with me anyway, but boy did I miss it.

I did not realize how much I used blogging as stress reliever lately. I also did not get to chat with my blogger buddies, THAT was the worst. My hubby makes fun of me, but they have all become really good friends to me I think. We are all wives and or mothers that understand each other and give each other that "ear" or shoulder when needed and it really helps to have someone outside of your family to talk to sometimes. THANK YOU LADIES!

I have so many things I want to blog about, I am sure I will be jumping around a lot, but please bare with me. I made some notes, but now I can not find them of course. They are lost somewhere in that vast mess that is the inside of our minivan at the moment.

Credit Card Shopping

No I do not mean I am out shopping with my credit cards again, LOL. I am shopping for a better card. I want to find a low interest credit card so that at least we will be better off in the debt department.

We are in a time in our life that credit cards are a necessity, it may not be the perfect thing to do, but I want to at least make a good choice in cards. I have been looking at CompareCards.com and it is really a useful site. You can go their to compare credit cards and find the best deal available to you, sort through all the different fees if any, and more. Like I said before I research any decision as much as possible, and this is a great site for credit card research.

They even have cards broken down by category like Business, Airline Rewards, Reward Credit cards, etc. I of course clicked on the low interest cards tab,,,that is my priority right now. We might get a card at some point that helps us build points towards something like a Disney vacation because we would really like to take the kids there. If we could get points towards that for stuff we are charging anyway, why not?

Thank You Mom

I think I have told you before, but my mom is a life saver ( and sanity saver). After being with my beloved children for almost 2 weeks with no break, including many hours trapped in a vehicle, messed up sleeping schedules, etc I needed a break.

Mom was so great, she watched all three for hubby and I so we could go chill out by ourselves for a few hours. The first thing we did was.... TAKE A NAP! We were so exhausted it is ridiculous. Then we actually got to go out to a movie together, and it did not have to be G rated. We ended up seeing the new James Bond movie, it was pretty good. I am still getting use to the new James ( Daniel Craig), but he is growing on me. I kind of think that he is a little to skinny. I mean bond was never a hulk, but Mr. Craig ( no offense) needs some more meat on his bones, especially in the rear view. But all in all he does have the rugged, good looks thing going on.

photo from photobucket.com

But we got to watch the whole movie, no potty breaks, no whining, just us, it was great! I love my kids, we both do, but recharging your batteries once in awhile is important. You get to be a person, or a wife, etc, not just "Mom". I highly recommend it!

Where Was That When I Was Little?

Well we survived Christmas and the "vacation". I think the kids were happy with what they got. We try and teach them to be grateful for what they get no matter what. They are still rather young, but we want them to learn early that Christmas is really about presents, that the presents are like icing on the cake.

When we were deciding what to get them for Christmas, it was hard. There are so many cool toys these days. I mean you can still get some oldies but goodies like Slinkies or Monopoly, but there are cool new versions of old classics to choose from too. For instance, one of the things we were thinking of getting them was a building toy like Tinker Toys. We found this new idea on builds toys called Struxx Building toys, or some are called Magnext. They are magnetic building pieces that really link together and supposedly make a really sturdy structure. I think I might get the starter pack that was on the site I came across and see what they are like.

We couldn't decide on what type of building toy to get them for Christmas, but luckily they have birthdays coming up in February and March, so we get to buy them more fun stuff. I think I might buy them the "old fashioned" tinker toys and some of these new style Magnext toys and see which they like better. I am sure they would like both, but it might be an interesting experiment to try. That is part of the fun of being a parent isn't it? You get to buy all the toys you had or wish you had when you were little and play with them too!

I think adults would be better off if we had play dates too!

My Dad's Website

Oh, boy, do I ever have my work cut out for me when I get back home.
Dad said he has done several vehicles and two motorcycles since I have been on vacation.
I have to download pics from the camera and load to his web site.
I have really been slacking on that and I really need to get it updated for him. He does pinstriping and airbrushing and lettering all that art stuff.
He is a self taught artist and he is very good at what he does.
I also have to update his TruckshowNation profile when I get back too...that is a cool site if you like trucks or 4x4's
He does some pretty cool stuff.
See ya'll when I get home.

He Snores Louder Than A Freight Train !

I do not know about your spouse, but mine snores louder than a freight train !
I have tried nudging him, turning him on his side, nose strips, vaporizers, both cold and hot, nose sprays, you name it...we've tried it !
And then there is the nights I tolerate his snoring but then I get no sleep.
He doesn't even remember me waking him up most of the time to make him stop.
Oh, yes and the nights when he is really sawing logs and he takes a deep breath and I wait for a few seconds while my heart starts pounding because I have to nudge him to get him to breath ! It is really scary.
I worry about his heart and stuff because I have learned that this is a form of sleep apnea.
It is called obstructive sleep apnea.
The tonsils, relaxed throat muscles, long soft palate, the uvula (that thing that dangles in the back of your throat that you can see when the doctor tells you to say AHHHH) and fat deposits are all contributing factors to this syndrome.
Some symptoms are night sweats, nightmares or terrors, choking or gasping for air, chronic fatigue, anxiety, depression, heart problem, elevated blood pressure, bruxism and more.
This is a serious health risk problem for all concerned.
There are several treatments and apparatus/appliances for this problem. You need to check what is best for you.
We found Midtown Dentistry, which is a Houston Texas snoring therapy office.
I have talk with some of their patients while in the office for hubby's exam.
Several told us about the Klearway Appliance that they were fitted with and they were very satisfied.
It is an appliance that is made especially for your mouth, you wear it while you sleep.
It fits in your mouth over your teeth and keeps your mouth and throat aligned to keep your airway open.
Hey, that means no soring !
Well, wish us luck...others seem to swear by it, we will see.
Hubby also has to get a sleep apnea test for this process. Hey I could save them the trouble, but they have to follow all the medical procedures to make absolutely sure what is going on.
They are so professional. They really know what they are going.