What if...

I am watching this movie on TV tonight, well I taped it the other day. The movie is called "How to Deal" with Mandy Moore. When I taped it, it just looked like a fun movie to play while I blogged or did my many other multi-tasks. I am surprised to find out that it had a thought provoking story line to it.

In part of the movie and young high school boy dies on the sports field. A few weeks later his girlfriend learns that she is pregnant. For some people when there is an unplanned pregnancy there is no decision to be made, but what would you do if you were this girl? If you take the fact that she is high school age, I think it would be awesome to be able to go to the parents of the boy who passed on and tell them that they were going to have a grandchild from the son they had lost. What an amazing thing that would be to be able to give a piece of someone back to their loved ones in a way.

In other ways it would be sad of course, for the single parent aspect and the fact that the child would never know its father. What would you do?

Gold as a Good Investment

Are you into investing? What do you get in to stocks? bonds? How about gold coins? I was looking around the net and found this site called GoldCoinsGain.com and they have a ton of information on gold and other precious metal investments.

You can go there and check out prices to buy gold coins, or buy gold bullion even. My grandfather often gives us grand kids coins as Christmas gifts. I know he would get a kick out of it if one day a coin he gave us turned out to be a nest egg of some sort. He has collected coins for as long as I can remember.

I guess there are even IRA plans that are backed by gold coins. You can go to this site to learn more about a gold ira transfer. There is also in interesting section about saving for your kids' future. So if you want to buy gold as an investment you might want to check out this site for more information, it seems like a good place to start.

Pressing Flowers

My hubby made the coolest thing for our daughters and me today, he made us a flower press. He always amazes me when just buys a pile of wood and a few bolts and voila he makes something. It is really nice have a hubby that is handy. After he made the press we walked around my mom and dad's property and picked one of every type of wild flower we could find.

I will have to take a pic of the press when I get the chance, and the finished product of our first pressing. Right now it can hold four layers of flowers, but he said that he can add more layers if I want him to. I can not decide if I would want a higher one, or two separate ones. I imagine if you make them too big that eventually they would not press as well, but I don't know for sure.

I pressed a clump of leaves from a ginkgo tree that I found while on a walk last year. I did this in a big book and actually forgot it on the shelf for several months. It came out really nice though, now I want to frame it. I might buy nice piece of paper to put behind it in the frame. Well will see what other lovely crafts we come up with in the future.

THANK YOU HUBBY!!

Lockers For More Than Gym Class

I think we are all familiar with Gym Lockers or the School locker we had. I noticed the other day while I was watching one of those home make over shows, that they had used lockers to organize the mud room of this house that they were working on. I couldn't help but think that this was a great organizational idea.

I got on the net and took a look around, one site I found was MoreLockers.com. They have a very wide variety of Lockers for Sale. They have just about ever color you can imagine, and designs that I have never seen before. Lockers are traditionally thought of for industrial or commercial use, but why not use them in a home? If you have kids like I do, it might be just the thing to organize your life.

They have one type of locker on MoreLockers.com that I really like called a basket locker, it is the coolest thing. To me it seems like a great blend of sleek commercial styling and home organization. Check them out, you just might get inspired to get organized!


Lockers
Wood Lockers
Lockers for sale

Mike Tyson's Daughter

I was so sad to hear of the tragic accident that took the life of Mike Tyson's 4 year old daughter this week. I guess she was playing around a treadmill and got tangled up in a strap of some kind. She did not die right away she was found by her older sibling, who then told their mother.

What parent among us has not had their kids do something when our head is turned for a second? If we are lucky we see it soon enough and can react before anything major goes wrong. This poor little girl probably played on or around this treadmill before, or maybe she got into a room she was not suppose to be in, either way it is a sad accident.

I hope this family can hold it together for they other child(ren), but I really do not know how any parent survives the loss of a child. God bless the family!

New Tactical Gear For Hubby

SALE! SALE! SALE! I love a great sale!
And right now is the right time for me to get hubby his new Maxpedition Doppel Duffle Package.
It is on clearance sale at an unbeatable price.
This bag has like a gazillion compartment to carry just about everything you can imagine and you can use it with a hand carry strap or use it as a back pack style carrier.
You can't imagine all the "stuff" my hubby has to pack when the guys do their out door runs.
The other bonus for ordering his equipment and supplies is that you can get free shipping and bonus item for some orders.
So this time there a jacket that is available for a $200 order, but now here is the problem...the bag I am ordering is on sale and I will save like $80 and that takes my purchase below the minimum order for the free jacket.
OK so what I will just have to do is find something else to order too...ha ha...big surprise!
This will be the easiest decision I have ever made as they have a great array of items that hubby can use and wants really bad.
So off to go shopping again...gosh this is fun.

Wigs and Cancer

My Aunt stopped over today and I was amazed that she looked 20 years younger.
She had been through chemo and radiation treatments recently and she had lost most of her hair.
It was slowly growing back but she still looked a bit tired.
But man when she came in today she was wearing a wig that her friends bought her for her birthday.
I think it may be true that blonds do have more fun.
I can't begin to explain how it lifted her spirits and mad her have a smile on her face I have not seen for years.
She had talked about getting one before but was hesitant about it, as she was not sure how it would feel on her.
Today she feels and looks great.
So if you have similar hair problems as she did, please at least go try one on for style and size...who knows it may make you a whole new person inside and out.

More Education Is The Key

As I have mentioned before my husband has been going to college to continue his education. When you are an adult and go back to school, they call you a non-traditional student. Being a non-traditional student comes with extra challenges that is for sure, but I think he and I both agree that it will be worth it in the long run.

Especially in these hard economic times it is hard to get a good job. If you are one of the many people that have lost their jobs lately, going back to school might help you get a better job. There is a website called Train4VocationalCareer.com that is a good resource for information about vocational training. Often vocational training take a lot less time to complete than "regular" college so you can increase your knowledge and your earning potential.

If what you are doing now is not working, maybe more training can help you change your path. It is at least worth looking in to right? I have read many stories lately about people who lost their jobs and ended up doing something that they always wanted to do like go back to school, open a business of their own, etc. Maybe you always wanted to go to nursing school? Education is always a good idea no matter what your situation.

Painting Pains

I have heard of writer's cramp, but I think I currently have painter's cramp. We have been painting the house most of the day and I am sore from head to toe, literally.

It was a beautiful day outside though, and we had some family come over to help with the work. Why is it always more fun to do things like painting in a group. it really does make the time fly by much faster.

We are hoping to get at least the back half of the house and the driveway side done before the wedding rehearsal dinner we are having for my cousin. Now we are having the bridal shower at the house too, and the is happening a lot sooner than the wedding so we really have to step up the pace.

I can't wait until the house is painted and we finish adding plant and flowers around the house. It is going to be so pretty!

Photo from photobucket.com

Great Garden Planters

I have been making the rounds to the local garden centers lately. I love this time of year, there is so much to plan and do and dream about doing to the yard. I got so many ideas and inspirations from the visits that I had to go home and regroup.

I love all the different plants and flowers and there are so many lovely planter options that I can hardly decide what style to go with. I want to get one of each of course in my head, but that is not practical is it? LOL Like I normally do I went home and got on the internet to see what all I could find online and see how the prices stacked up. Sometimes local is cheaper and sometimes the internet holds the key to saving.

I found this awesome site called Planterixchange.com, they have such a wonderful variety of Indoor Planters, Window Box Planters and more. The terrariums are to die for, they are so elegant. This site has every kind of planter you can imagine, from the simple household planter to large commercial items. You definitely have to check this site out if you are looking for any kind of planter.

My visit to the site got cut short because of mommy duties, but I intend to go back and look around some more for sure! I want to see if they have a rain barrel planter that I saw at one of the garden centers.

Speaking of Cake

It just dawned on me that I never posted a pic of the castle cake I was telling you about. I did end up making it but it was not easy. Remember how I said I like Wilton products? Well, not as much since the castle cake, but they are still awesome LOL.

I did not realize that they castle kit was not all you needed to make the castle as it appeared on the box. I have to go buy dowel rods and other odds and ends that were not in the set, so if you get a cake set read the directions way ahead of time so that you can get all of your supplies together in time to do the cake.

I baked the cake the night before so that it would cool thoroughly before icing it. The party was to start at 4:30 and we did not get done icing, decoration and engineering the sucker until about 3pm. Just barely enough time to get the birthday girls ready to go to their own party. I say "we" because dear hubby stepped in and helped me to get it together and done in time.

When it was all done I told the girls "Now take a good look at that cake, like it? OK, just know that mommy and daddy cared enough to take the time to make this because there is a good chance it might fall apart on the way to the party, but it will still taste good right?" The were so excited that they were having a party at a location other than out house, that they were too happy to care...yea team!

We did not make it just like the picture, but it was still pretty darn cool if I do say so myself! Only one turret fell off on the way to the party. Hubby crammed the sucker into the cake and we were good to go.

Insurance Quotes to Weigh Your Options

I mentioned before that hubby and I were reviewing our term life insurance and other financial matters lately. I have been searching the net to get some life insurance quotes together. I want to get a good variety of quotes from many companies so hubby and I can sit down and decide which one is best for us.

One of the sites I found is called Financialone.com and they have a pretty good variety of insurance companies on their site. They also have other types of insurance on their site like health insurance, and something called no-medical life insurance. I don't necessarily want cheap life insurance per say, but I do want affordable insurance.

This site also offers quotes on things like mortgage insurance too. I have been thinking about adding that to our portfolio. I wonder if you can half life and mortgage insurance or if one would cancel the other out? I guess they are totally separate thing so why could you not have both? I am going to have to go back to that site and do some more reading.

Happy Birthday Hubby

I usually try and make birthday cakes for my family when the days roll around each year. While I am no "Chef Duff", I do like to try and make unique cakes when I have the time and inspiration. This year for my hubby's birthday I was going to make him a cake shaped like a book and write the name of his least favorite college class on it so that he could then cut it into pieces LOL.

I also decided to make a carrot cake for the first time. Note to self..don't try a design you have never done before, and a pan you have never used before, and a recipe you have never made before all at the same time. To all of you bakers out there, you probably know better, but learn from my mistake and don't do what I did.

My mom had bought a Wilton book shaped cake pan at a yard sale and I had been waiting for an occasion to put it to use. It did look a little larger than the average 9 x 13 cake pan, but I was not sure, so I got on Wilton.com and looked up the pan information. I love Wilton stuff, their pans, kits, their website,,all cool. If you get a pan second hand or you lose your original instructions you can go to their site and get all the instructions for it, such as how many cake mixes or cups of batter or icing you would need for a particular pan.

The site did say that the pan only needed one cake mix so I did what they said, but it did not come out right. It only filled the pan about half full ( yes I will use to mixes next time), and it stuck to the pan something awful. It came out of the pan in at least 8 different pieces and various crumbs. This was at 10:00pm last night and I had already had a rather trying day. It always seems that your baking efforts go worse when you are tired or stressed, are cake mixes affected by stress like plants are? LOL

So I just left it too cool until morning so that I could tackle it with a fresh perspective. I ended up being up most of the night with revolving children and sicknesses. The fresh perspective I was hoping to gain was lost somewhere in the wee hours of the morning, but I still wanted to make some sort of something out of this pile of cake. I was at least happy that the cake tasted good so that was a start. I looked at the pile when I would pass through the kitchen doing morning things, then inspiration finally struck...

My one daughter had made daddy a card shaped like a gun because daddy is a shooting and hunting enthusiast. So since I had only a few pieces of cake that were bigger than a deck of cards I made a small "box of bullets" to go with the gun card. If I had more time and practice I think it would have been even more cool, but for from the seat of my pants and too much humidity it was not half bad.

I am not that great at piping yet, but it is the thought that counts right?! LOL Who knows what we will come up with for him next year.

Learn More About SEO

Remember that I talked about that web hosting site called WebHostingGeeks.com? I told you that they are a useful resource for information regarding web hosting. I do go there to keep an eye on what offers are out there when it comes to hosting prices, but they have great articles too.

If you are like me and are still trying to learn all you can about web sites and platforms, you might like this article that compares Joomla versus Wordpress. I do not quite grasp all the differences, so I am going to keep this article for reference and make sure I read the whole thing a couple times. My one friend swears by Wordpress, but I do not really have a hard fast opinion yet.

I also like this group of articles on picking domain names. I am trying to learn more about SEO and domain names. These articles explain why it might be better to get a more generic domain name as opposed to one that fits your niche. Thank you webhostinggeeks, for teaching this geek a few more things about web site ownership. LOL

Drew Peterson, Is His Luck Up?

I know they recently arrested Drew Peterson, although I do not know why they were finally able to do so. I just heard though, that there was a body found in water somewhere in Illinois. Authorities there are not even saying whether the body is male or female, but there is speculation flying around.

Some are wondering if the reason that they are not saying anything is that maybe it is one of Drew's missing wives. I hope that is it, and I hope that the body will hold undeniable proof of this sicko's guilt. Whoever the body is or was, I hope that it brings some justice or closure to someone out there.

My prayers go out to all those who have missing loved ones. I can hardly imagine their pain.

Keep Your Loved Ones Safe

I think we have all seen those commercials for Life Alert monitoring services. They kind of became a running joke because of the whole "I have fallen and can't get up" line, but it really is a useful service. What I did not realize is that these companies offer many other services that would be great for anyone living alone.

My parents aren't at the age where they might need this yet, but I am definitely going to keep it in mind for the future. I looked on BrickHouseAlert.com and was amazed at the variety of services they offer on top of the traditional Life Alert service we are most familiar with. You can get smoke detector monitoring, inactivity monitors, intruder alerts, and several other services.

There is one service that I would get for my dad if my mom was not around to take care of him, and that is the personal reminders. They offer this service to help people remember important things like medication times, doctors appointments etc. This service would be great for anyone with a busy life or a not so great memory. I guess there is more to Life Alert than we all thought.

You Want to Be My Friend?

...< But I don't even know you? I know I am not in my teens or even 20's anymore, but I am not exactly "old". I still can not seem to get some aspects of all the new social networking platforms. I think social networking is a cool invention for sure. Anything that lets you keep in touch with family or locate a long lost friend has to be a good thing right?

What I do not get is why random strangers want to be my friend all of the sudden. Friend request? why? I mean if you make a new friend in real life or even in chat room you don't just walk up and say "hey, wanna be friends?". I know I am weird, but all these friends and followers kind of baffle me.

I do love how you can link up with like minded groups such as people who work in the same field, or share the same hobby. I really like the idea of the genealogy groups that are on all the different platforms. Networking with people really helps with things like genealogy, or job hunting.

I just had to ramble about that,, I feel better now. Still want to be my friend? :o)

Want A Job In A New York Minute?

Yes anyone can get a job in a New York minute and in New York.
Just about in any city or burrough of New York you can go online to a web area about
New York jobs and sign up and sign on for info on these multitude of job availabilities.
Some are already listed and some you enter what you are searching for and it can tell you what is open to you.
You can request jobs from just about any career field possible from accounting to veterinary.
You can also search for areas within miles of where you want.
There are so many opportunities to be filled you would not believe it in today's economy.
So if you are thinking of a career move or even just moving to a different area, New York is the place to be.
You can also include in your search if you are looking for full, part time, commission or per diem openings.
The majority of them also offer benefits like health insurance and 401k.
These are top of the line openings not just jobs people do not want.
How easy is that? You can apply right online in your own home and get hired for maybe the job of your dreams.

Summertime and Cooking Out

I love the summertime because we do more out door cooking on the grill.
I like the flavor of grilled foods but I do not like to smell like charcoal.
Strange but true.
Tonight we decided to have grilled pork chops and sweet potatoes and corn on the cob.
Does that sound so yummy?
I can hardly wait til it is done as I can smell it cooking and my mouth is watering so much actually my mouth is drooling.
Ooops gotta go ...dinner bell just rang!

My Computer Guru Is A Genius By Remote

I have a very dear friend that just happens to be a bit of a geek, but I could not survive without her.
It's really ironic because we first met during one of our computer break downs at home.
We were beside ourselves trying to get the darn thing to work and called I think every computer tech in town until we hit her phone number.
As it happened she was working right down the street from us and said she could come over and take a look at our problem like within 15 minutes.
How cool is that?
So she arrived and did some voodoo on our key board and fixed it in 20 minutes or less.
We were amazed.
So then a few months later I IM'd her and said, "HELP", it happened again.
Our computer is totally doing strange things and not bringing up programs and not finding stuff and she said, "Not to worry, I can fix it from home where I am now".
Fix it from your house? How can you do that, I asked.
She told me she had purchased Proxy Pro6 remote desktop software and what a great deal she had gotten on it.
It does 256-bit encryption which is the highest class some thing or other and rattle off a couple more technical things that I had no idea what she was talking about.
She could access my data and files by remote, that part I understood and she could troubleshoot my disaster from her computer.
We exchanged a few more words and she said for me to go get a cup of coffee and she would check out my computer.
So I did what she said to do and in that short time while I was gone she had my problem solved already.
What a genius she is, even by remote control.
She says it is the best programming she has ever worked with and how easy it was to navigate it.
I told her I was happy for her because she could so easily help me with my problem.
Wow! What will software people come up with next?
This is so neat because I can feel free to call her even if we have lots of snow in the winter I won't have to bother her to come out in bad weather.
This is sure some modern technology.
I don't have to understand it all as I have my computer guru to do that for me.

Lavender Festival

Every year we try to go to the lavender festival that is held nearby our town.
I just recently found out that my Mom's favorite scent is lavender.
And my girls love it too.
So this year we are going to surprise Mom and bring her some fresh lavender home from the festival.
She and the girls will love it.
We took the girls last year and they had a really nice time and it was educational as well, for all of us I might add.

Photo from Photobucket.com

It is so pretty to look at too.

The aroma is relaxing.

Safe and Secure In Your Own Home

We have different hours in our home of coming and going.
At any given time it is hard to tell if anyone or no one will be in the house.
This is a slight problem when us girls come home in the dark from being out and away from the house.
We do have out door lighting, but that is not as efficient as if we had a burglar alarm system.
We currently comparing prices for home security and of three main companies there is one that is much more inexpensive and we figured it out that the monies that we would save on our yearly home owners insurance policy, it would pay for the monthly costs for an alarm system with the best company.
They have entry alarms, window alarms, remote operation and in house settings and they have a free warranty on their system. The other companies charge you a fee for warranty on parts.
And if you call the number they provide, which is 877-470-2751 they will give you for free 2 key chain remote controls for your alarm system.
It is not enough just to get to your drive way or garage, you need to be safe in the house too.
There is even a voice control built into their system.
The company offers various packages so there is no reason why should not be able to afford one.
I know when we finally get our unit installed, I can calm down and not be so nervous all the time.
It is a joy to think I can be safe almost all of the time now.
I can't wait until it is installed.

Chicken Soup Still A Winner Here

All the years that I was growing up, my Mom's answer to most upset tummies or colds was home made chicken soup.
I realize it is still a cure all in our house.
The other day my Mom's back went out again and she gets in excruciating pain with it.
Therefore she has to take some heavy duty medicines to alleviate the pain and spasms.
These seem to upset her tummy and she needs to keep whatever food she can down to counter balance the meds.
Well as luck would have it my hubby, who by the way is a great cook, made some home made chicken soup the same day as Mom's incident.
It was so fortunate that he made the soup because it was the only thing she could keep down.
And it was a GREAT batch of soup he made.
Mom got up this morning and ate a regular eggs and croissant breakfast and it did not stay down long.
So once her tummy got settled, she ate more chicken soup and it is agreeing with her.
So keep that chicken soup cookin'!

An Attachment For Any Job

It is that time of year again, time to get the garden in. Every year about this time we start doing the same thing, trying to get the garden in before it is too late into the season. And just the same as last year we do not have our own rototiller. So we are left trying to decide whether to borrow, rent, or finally buy our own.

Dear hubby is in the construction trade and is always either doing something for work, school or a friend so we have been thinking about getting a piece of equipment that can multitask. I found this site called Everythingattachments.com, and boy do they mean what their name says! They have everything from skid steer attachments to zero turn mowers and just about any other kind of attachment you could think of.

Want to put a fence around your property this year, you can get a post hole digger attachment that can cut your work load a lot. I figure if we are going to spend the money to get a big piece of garden equipment we might as well get something that can do more than till up a garden right? You should check out this site if you are thinking the same thing as I am, because this site probably has an attachment for your task!

Human Pin Cushion

Have you ever felt like a human pin cushion? If you have ever had to get blood work done, you know what I am talking about. I had to go to the doctor today to see if they could figure out why my hair is STILL falling out.

My hubby and I had three kids in a four year span and it has taken a toll on my body. Most apparently on my hair. My hair is only about a third as thick as it use to be, and it was starting to worry me that it might not stop falling out. Some hair loss is normal after pregnancy, but I wanted to make sure it was not more than that, and see what I could do to help make it better.

They are doing the blood work to rule out anything more serious, and told me to take a multivitamin a topical cream they prescribed and 2.5mg of biotin once a day. The doctor said that it would be hard to find 2.5 mg of biotin and that I could use 3 or 5 if I had to, but never really explained why 2.5 was preferred. I was too nervous to think to ask her at the time. I ended up with 5mg capsules, but the pharmacist said that it is water soluble and that my body would get rid of what I did not need. That sounded good to me, that was in case my body really needs 2.7mg I will be ok LOL.

Some people think that worrying about your hair is vanity, but I don't think so. I am not the type to spend an hour fixing my hair in the morning, but I would like to have enough there to at least throw into a pony tail you know? Men can pull of the bald head thing and often still look sexy, but I can only think of a few women who can do the same and I do not think that I am one of them.

WoW Game Cards

Do you play WoW? If you don't know what those initials stand for, you probably don't. It stands for World of Warcraft, and most people that play it are way into it. I know my hubby can get really wrapped up into different role playing games and such.

I found this site called BuyMMOAccounts.com, where you can buy a world of warcraft game card that will give you 60 minutes of play time for only 29.99. What's even better is that they deliver your codes directly through email once payment is confirmed. You never have to fuss around at a regular store again, or miss valuable gaming time!

Who Has More Energy The Kids Or ME?

You know when I think back about how I want to make sure the kids get out to get enough sunshine and exercise and all that healthy stuff, I also get more exercise than I realized.

I take the children out doors to play and I chase this one this way and that one that way and the other up a tree.

I actually intended for THEM to get the exercise so that they could grow coordinated and strong and all that good environmental stuff moms are supposed to do.

So we run and play and romp and come in and get a good meal or snack depending on the time of day and then maybe it is bath and bed time.

So I get the kids all tucked into bed and look at their smiling faces and wow! It just strikes me that I just got 3 times as much exercise as they did because I had to chase all 3 of them.

No wonder I too am ready for bed...Whew!

Good night all.

YAAAWNNNNN

Shuffle Up and Deal

Do you like to play online poker? I like playing online games of all kinds euchre, words games, etc. My parents and I enjoy online poker a lot though. We got interested in it at the same time when a family friend showed us how to play online.

There are many sites these days where you can play online poker. There are almost as many sites dedicated to poker fans or to teaching folks how to play. One good site for this is FlopturnRiver.com. You can go there and find all sorts of codes to use on card sites to get you extra sign up bonuses or whatever. For instance you can get a PokerStars Marketing Code if you want to sign up on that site.

This PokerStars Marketing Code gets you a 100% on your deposit up to 50.00 I think. Doubling your money is not a bad way to start out! I think there is another Poker Stars Bonus Code that gives you a different bonus, I forget which one does what. The best thing to do is to check out FlopTurnRiver.com before you sign up with an online poker site and see what kind of goodies they have for you! Good Luck!

Did The Airline Lose Your Bag?

I bet the folks on this flight would not even care. An entire baggage container got sucked into the jet engine of a plane yesterday at a California airport. There are several pics with the article I read. It is amazing!

I can not imagine seeing something like that happen while you are sitting on a plane. I guess anything that happens while you are on the ground is much better than anything that could happen after take off eh? I saw the pictures and they looked like a photo shopped joke that you would see going around in an email.

An airline lost my husband's luggage once, and they did not even give us a reason at all, let alone something this creative. I wonder if any of the luggage in the container was even hurt. Those metal cargo holders are pretty stout. I bet the engine got the worst of it. I am just glad no body was hurt.

Drat Those Bugs!

I decided to put my foot down and demand hubby buy me a mosquito magnet this year for our yard.
I am not spending another summer with those pesky varmints ruining my evening of fun out in our yard.
And I am not going to watch the children suffer those nasty bites and me and them loose sleep over the itching and sores the bites can create on their baby skin!
I am just not going to do it.
Buy me a mosquito trap or else!
I can go online and order the trap and get it delivered right to my door!
I watched the video and how it works online and it is the best invention I have seen since peanut butter and jelly.
I can let the children play in a yard that we won't have to worry about them getting bitten and catching maybe say...West Nile Virus!
I won't be slapping them to get the bugs all the time and I can enjoy just sitting down relaxing with a cup of tea or a cold drink and not get drowned by trying to hold my drink and swat at the mosquitos.
The machine has a set parameter and I will know just where to place it in the wind and out of my way.
It does not get any better than that!
I want! I want it now! And I want it delivered!

To Plant or Not To Plant

OK I am trying my best to figure out this frost pattern.
Most of my seeds say plant indoors...blah blah blah and out doors if this is the weather or time.
But how am I supposed to know when Mother Nature is going to give off her last Frost for the season?
The kids want a garden really bad and we are trying our best to get one done for them, but time does not always work in our favor.
You knwo how you say things like ...when we get up in the morning we will do ...and thenn tomorrow comes and the phone rings and all the plans go out the window.
Well, that is where we are at right now.
But is there an actual time that frost is no longer a threat to planting?

Students and Credit

When you were in school, did you ever have a student card? I remember filling out my first credit application during my first semester in college. It was my only semester in college as it would turn out, but that card ended up being a saving grace down the road. It is a long story, but my point is that it is important to teach young people about credit.

You are not born knowing how to manage credit or how to use it wisely, but is seems we are hardly ever taught anything about it at all. I found this site that I am going to have too bookmark until my kids are older. It is called StudentCreditCardsCenter.com, and they have a ton of information on the site. All about what kinds of cards are out there, how to take care of your credit rating, etc. Check it out, it is good information even if you are not a student.

Haulin House

Have you ever seen the television show called Haulin House, it is on the DIY channel. Oh my goodness, I love this show but it gives me a heart attack every time. I know that is why they made a show out of it, but man is it nerve racking.

The house they are moving now, is almost too big for the road they are on and it is suppose to be off the roads already. They had like a 3 hour window to get the house moved so that it would not interfere with school bus traffic in the afternoon. I do not know how these maniacs do this all the time, I would have an ulcer. I guess some people thrive on the adrenaline, and that is a good thing.

Ugh, now it is dark and they are still not to their destination, which is up a big ol' hill of course! So now they can hardly see where they are going, and can hardly keep it on the truck! Oh, I can't take it. I love it though!

Ready To Move?

I am hoping to move somewhere after my husband finishes college so I am always keeping up on all things having to do with relocation. I like to research things like moving companies and budget van lines.

If you are ever planning on relocating and need to hire movers, one site you can check out is Zmoving.com. You can go to their site and get multiple quotes from various budget van lines all at the same time. Instead of running around to several different sites and filling out a form at each one, you can just fill out the one and be done.

When you are moving you have enough to deal with, you might as well keep thing simple whenever possible. Always research the movers you are thinking of hiring, a little extra time might save you a lot of heartache done the road. No pun intended, LOL.

A Message in a Bottle

Have you ever read the book Message in a Bottle, by Nikolas Sparks? Maybe you have seen the movie. I first read the book on my honeymoon when the book first came out. Why was I reading on my honeymoon you may ask? Because dear hubby and I were sick as dogs for most of it, and reading was as much excitement as I could handle at the time.

It was the fir Nikolas Sparks book I had ever read, so I did not have any idea of his style. By the time I was to the end of the book I was in tears. I walked outside where my hubby was talking to his dad ( we had visited family for our honeymoon). I walked right up to him with these huge tears in my eyes, smacked him on the chest and waled,,,, DON'T YOU EVER DIE ON ME!!! lol. He was totally clueless as to why I was so upset. After I calmed down and explained why I was crying he said that I was not allowed to read anymore Sparks books..LOL.

I have read a couple more since then, and they made me cry too. If you are looking for a good story and a good cry I would recommend them. They have been playing "Message" on TV the past couple of days so I have been thinking about that day. Maybe I need to re-read the book?

A Site For Event Tickets

What is you favorite site to buy event tickets on? I found this one called ACheapSeat.com that is pretty interesting. If you are searching for tickets for a specific venue you can search for everything from Beacon Theatre Tickets, to Citi Field Tickets or even Prudential Center Tickets.

I did a search by zip code because I wanted to see what all was going on in my area. My hubby and I really want to start taking our kids to see some different things in person. A musical, or maybe even a children's ballet. We would like to take them to experience as many different types of productions as we can. We both think that the kids would enjoy something like Stomp, or Lord of the Dance. Did they stop the tour of Lord of the Dance? I hope not.

I would also like to go see a few concerts with just the hubby. It will be a rare occurrence I am sure, but I can dream right? LOL.

An Ace of Cakes Episode

I saw a re-run of an Ace of Cakes episode that I had seen before, but I had forgotten about. The Charm City Cakes crew were asked to make a cake for and awards banquet that was honoring Sir Roger Moore. I did not know this about Roger Moore, but I guess he does a lot of work for children's charities around the world.

Duff and the gang made a cool cake that honored Roger Moore's accomplishments and took it to NY to the UN award banquet. They usually make sheet cakes also for the crowd to eat, that accompanies the showpiece cake. Well, when Jeff and one of the gals from Charm City left the hotel room for a few minutes and came back, all the sheet cakes were gone. The housekeeping staff had taken the cakes, cut them up, and ate some of them. They were suppose to have the cakes to the UN in a matter of hours, I would have been flipping out!

Jeff called Duff, Duff told Mary Alice, and Mary Alice ripped the hotel a new one ( as politely as that is possible). The hotel told them of a local bakery that they could get sheet cakes from, and Jeff ( and I cannot remember which Charm City gal was with him, sorry) got the cakes there just in time, and the showpiece was a hit of course. The hotel paid for the sheet cakes, but I would have made them pay for ALL the cakes including the showpiece and a little extra for all the stress and possible effect on Charm City Cake's reputation.

I wonder if the bakery where they bought the back up cakes enjoyed the irony that Jeff was there buying cake from them? ACE OF CAKES ROCKS!!!

A New Acne Solution By Murad

Have you ever heard of Dr. Murad? If you have ever had an Acne problem or what day time TV I am sure you have. He has been famous for his Acne Treatment and other skin care products for years.

Now Dr. Murad has a new Acne Product line. If you want to learn more about it you can visit Acnecomplex.com. This new line only costs 29.95 plus S+H and you can order it right from the website. The price includes three free gifts, a free priority shipping upgrade and the product is backed by 100% money back guarantee. I love free stuff and guarantees, don't you?

I know my skin has changed a lot since having kids. I wonder if this Acne Solution might be solution to my acne problem. When there is a money back guarantee on something, that always makes me feel better about trying the product. It is kind of like, what do I have to lose. Hopefully what I would lose is my bad skin!

Dom DeLuise Passed Away

The entertainment world has lost a few more stars recently. I just heard about Bea Arther a few days ago, but when I read about it just now it says she passed in April. I do not know if I was just that out of the loop or maybe her family did not release the information right away. Her passing was on a list of famous people who have passed this year. I found the list while I was reading this article on the death of Dom DeLuise.

The article says that he passed in his sleep at a hospital, but it did not say why he was in the hospital in the first place. He is one of those celebrities that always seemed like a truly decent guy. One of my favorite roles of his was the goofy doctor in Smokey and the Bandit ( or was it number 2 my memory fails me sometimes lol) He was always entertaining to watch. My best wishes go out to his family and friends, I am sure he will be missed by many.

My same thoughts and prayers go out to Bea Arthur's family and friends, she seemed like a heck of a lady too.

Auto Insurance Quotes

If you are looking for information of automotive insurance rates, you might want to check out AmericanCarQuotes.com. You can fill out a form and get quotes on many different types of auto insurance. If you have kids in college you might want to check out the section on insurance for students.

There is a very interesting article on hoe to save on car insurance. The article covers things that are obvious like that you need to shop around and look for the best deal. It also talks about things you might not have thought about such as how your credit score affects you insurance costs. I think I will tell my cousin about this website, since they have a special section for truck driver insurance too. Complete with a list of information and factors that will affect a truck driver's insurance rate.

All in all , this is an interesting site to check out, if you want a quote or if you just want to learn more about car insurance in general.

A Natural Calm

I have always had a rather hard time sleeping well. Before I had kids I was often up half the night. Since I have had kids, I really want to sleep because I am exhausted but they won't let me sleep LOL.

When a parent does get to lay down ( or some at least), they often can not totally relax or get into a deep sleep because we are afraid we won't hear one of the kids. The only time I get some restful sleep is when I know that my hubby or my mother are watching the kids. On those occasions it feel like I just get to sleep and it is time to get up. I look at the clock and know that time has passed, but I don't really feel rested, because I am so far behind on sleep.

I talked to the pharmacist at the natural health pharmacy the other day and she recommended a product called Calm Forte. It is a blend of natural herbs and things that are suppose to help me get a more restfull night sleep. They said I can even take a partial dose during the day and that it will help take the edge off my nerves. This might come in handy for days when I do not get enough sleep and I am extra crabby.

I am going to give it a shot and see if it helps,, I will let you know what happens. Have you ever tried sleep aids, natural or otherwise? I would love to hear your experiences both good and bad with any of them.

North to Alaska

No, not the movie, but that was a good movie wasn't it? I know I talk a lot about going on vacation to the beach, but there are other places that I would like to visit some day. One of the places i have always wanted to go is Alaska. I would love to take the kids there during their summer and Travel Alaska.

Anytime that I see pictures or shows on the Travel Channel about Alaska it seems so wonderful. I can not imagine seeing those majestic views in person. I looked up Alaska Travel and found a site called AlaskaDenaliTours.com. There are some amazing photos on this site, it makes it worth checking out the website even if you are not planning on going there right now.

I know my hubby would like to hunt in Alaska and I hope he gets to one day, but I would love an old fashioned family vacation to somewhere like Denali Park. I wonder if it people that live in areas like that ever get use to the scenery. Do you think it is really possible to take something so awesome for granted? I guess it is possible, but I can not really imagine it. Of course I did meet a girl in Pennsylvania one time that was on vacation there with her family, and they were from France. I laughed thinking about how most people in the United States dream of going to France on vacation. I never thought about where folks in Europe dream of going to.

Oh well, maybe one day I will get to see Alaska and many other places.

The Vultures Are Circling

In times like these when the economy is making things tight on all of us, it seems to bring out the best in some and the worst in others. Some families are pulling together and joining forces and combining households to survive together. This is some of the good that comes from hard times.

Unfortunately times like these are also bringing out the vultures that like to prey on innocent, hardworking people who are just trying to keep their heads above water. If you are one of the many of us that is looking for a job right now, keep on your toes. There are always scams out their, especially for people looking for work at home opportunities. An article I just read said that there is something like a 56 to 1 ratio of fake to real job offers when they are reviewed.

The article goes on to give examples of what to keep an eye out for when on the job hunt. Most of them are common sense, such as if it is too good to be true it probably is. If the money for the type of work sounds to high, it is probably a scam, etc. It is easy to ignore your common sense when you really need to find a job. A quick review of this article, How To Avoid Job Scams, might help you remember what you already know,, ,BE CAREFUL, IT'S A JUNGLE OUT THERE!

A Great Site For CD Rates

I think I mentioned before that I had a hard time the other day finding out what the current mortgage rates were. I could not believe that it was not an easy search and an easy answer. Well I was researching CD rates the other day and I found a great site if you want to know what the best CD rates are out there.

The site is called SelectCDRates.com, and I like the way they arrange their data. You can find out what bank rates are in a given area by state, or you can look them up by length of time such as a 6 month CD. They have a sidebar right on the home page with handy information such as the current money market rates, or the prime rate.

The site also have several other helpful areas such as tips for investing and a glossary to help you get a handle on investment terminology. If you like tracking trends there is an historical rate section where you can see various rates over the past few months. Everybody seems to have a different approach to investing, but whatever yours is research is always a good idea.

Grandma and Breakfast

The other day my mom made the kids breakfast.
She is always trying to have something special for them now and then.
She decided to cook up some extra tortilla shells I had left over from when I made chicken quesadillas and she cut up some tomatoes, cheese, lettuce and had sour cream and hamburg she cooked up.
The kids had a riot fixing their own breakfast burritos and they ate like I have never seen them eat before.
Not a peep out of them about what they weren't going to eat or what they did not like.
The orders were, here are your shells put what ever you want on them and eat!
The kids had a wonderful breakfast and we had a great time watching them create their own master pieces.
What a nice way to start the day.

All Dressed Up

I was talking on the phone the other day with my cousin and she was telling me that one of her daughters was going shopping for a prom dress. Wow! What a nightmare flashed before my eyes. I remember the horrible time I had when I went shopping for my prom dress...yes some years ago...but the problems that arise can still be the same. Sometimes you think the color you want is going to be perfect or easy to find...WRONG! Oh, yes and try to find shoes to match the dress.

My mom took me shopping in our area for at least 4 days and then my dad ended up taking me to the malls further away to look for a prom dress. I think I almost made mom and dad, not to mention my self, have a nervous break down over trying to find the right outfit. I am telling you it was a nightmare of a different color! So I told my cousin that I would surf the net to see what I could find to help her in their "Prom Dress adventure" so they could be saved some stress.

I found this site called AmiClubWear.com, that has formal dresses in a ton of styles and colors and lengths and get this...they offer shoes at the same web site to match the dresses. How unreal is that? What a life saver. If you are at that time of year when you have to go search high and low for a prom dress, get busy and start now before all the good ones are picked over or out of stock. Prom is the last fling of school and it should be a memorable one, that is a good memory not a nightmare.

And the color selection this year at this web site are gorgeous. Check out this dress I found there...
I almost wish I could go again to get one of these dresses, oh, did I mention that they are ON SALE ?!
Yes I said ON SALE!!!

Baby Wrapping

My Mom...Memaw...as the kids call her, tells me how things "used" to be done in those days in regard to things you can do to make a baby more comfortable and maybe help babies sleep a little better. Heaven knows I need help there...I can use the extra sleep too.

Mom was telling me about belly binders that moms would wrap around the baby's belly button area to help aid the child as to be less likely to get a rupture there. And when I brought the babies home from the hospital, she would take a receiving blanket and do what she called "Burrito Wrap" the baby. She seemed to think it helped the baby feel more secure when she would put him/her in the crib for nap time.

Although it did seem to work for her, it did not work the same for me. I think baby felt as soon as I got within 3mm from the crib sheet that there would be a separation thing going on and baby said nooooo way! WAAAAAAAAAAAAA! Who knows what makes babies happy at any given time? So long story short, I am looking in a Baby Talk magazine last night and there it was...a thing that is called a tug and snug that looks like a baby is "Burrito Wrapped" just like mom does. And I did not have to pay a high price for the item. So I guess some things never change, just the names.

Looking For a Good Credit Card

You know me and research, if I want to know about something research is my best friend. My hubby and I always like to keep on top of our credit and what kinds of credit card offers are out there. Credit cards providers are in constant competition for our business, as well they should be in my opinion.

If you are like me and like to know what all is out there, check out this site called
CreditCardsClub.com. It is a nicely organized site that has a ton of information on credit card offers and providers. Creditcarsclub.com has all the different cards broken down into categories like low interest rate credit cards, or balance transfer credits cards, etc. There is even a section of cards just for students to help them manage there college costs and finances. That sounds like a great idea for a young person to use as a financial learning tool.

They even have information on cards that are good for people with bad credit or no credit history. That is great that they have cards for people that need help with their credit. It is one of those catch 22 circles, you need credit to get credit. My husband's credit has always been better than mine, so take it from me... take care of your credit so that it can take care of you!

World Biggest Cave?

Explorers think that they might have found the world's largest cave passage. The massive passage, which measures 656 feet high and 492 feet wide, was found by a British-Vietnamese caving team in the country's Nha-Ke Bang National Park, earlier this year.

You have to check out the article so that you can see the amazing pictures of this cave. The pictures look like something out of a movie. I can not imagine being part of finding something so magnificent. I have never even really been in a cave, but I have always wanted to visit a set of caves that are around here in Ohio.

If this cave checks out, it will be almost twice as large as the largest cave on record now. I wonder if they will make a movie of this adventure. I would at least like to see something on PBS, or The Discovery Channel. I wonder if they had an idea that something like this was there, or if they were looking for something else entirely. Often it seems that some of the greatest historical moments happen by accident.

Clueless and Keyless

I think I talked before about the fact that I was looking into getting a keyless lock for our house. I had all the usual apprehensions about going keyless, like what if there was a power outage. I was clueless when it comes to keyless, LOL. I also watch way too many movies so I have the slightly irrational fear about someone stealing my finger to steal my fingerprint. I imagine I am fairly safe thought since I am not locking up a fort knox style fortune or the a top secret file of some sort. Hey, I told you I watch too many movies.

I was talking to a friend of mine about keyless entry the other day and they had some of the same questions I had. I told them to check out Axxisbiometrics.com for more information on keyless locks. They can also check out different lock options, and order from that site when they are ready to buy.

I told them about the feature where you can set a limited time access on a keyless lock. This can come in handy if you have a cleaning person or other service person coming by the house when you are not home. If you give someone a key they can get in anytime you are not home, but with the time frame to specify on a keyless lock they can only come when you say they can. That is a pretty cool feature if you ask me!