I just saw some of the cutest things for little dogs at Small Dog Stuff. We have a medium sized Dachshund, and our daughter and s-i-l have an even smaller one. I don’t dress our dog, but our daughter will dress “Josie” from time to time. I have to admit that Josie looks absolutely adorable when she’s dressed up, and I think she knows it, too. lol

I remember when we bought our house years ago. It was a ten year old house at the time, but it was new to us. We were excited to fix it up just like we wanted. Advantages of moving into an older home were that the grass and flower beds were already growing well and the blinds were already in the windows. Those were things we didn’t have to think about. There were other things to consider such as mortgage life insurance, homeowner’s insurance, and even flood insurance. But the most fun part was decorating and making it a home with our family pictures and mementos.

(I sent this to a friend and thought maybe it might help someone else, too.)

• I would tell your mom to have a hormone test done that tells the exact levels of her hormones. (She may have to hunt to find a doctor who does that. I go to an awesome lady doctor, a D.O. She’s a true blessing!) I have a hormone test done every year. My first test, done over a year and a half ago, showed that I was low in progesterone, and my estrogen/progesterone ratio was off. It’s important to have a certain ratio of hormones, so my doctor put me on natural, compounded progesterone that the pharmacist makes especially for me.
  
• I also take CoQ10, enzymes, acidophilus, lots of high quality vitamins, MSM, kelp, lecithin, magnesium malate , calcium, fish oil and other supplements.
  
• I try to eat more fresh, raw foods and limit processed foods as much as I can, although that’s hard. I especially try to eat raw foods high in enzymes and also lots of fresh fruit. I need to work on doing that more, though.
  
• I take supplemental enzymes to help with my absorption of nutrients.
  
• I make sure I get plenty of lean, quality protein every day for my muscles.
  
• I try to stay away from sugar (that’s also hard) and especially any kind of sugar substitute. One doctor told me that sugar itself is better than any of the sugar substitutes, so that tells you how bad sugar substitutes are. I use “Stevia” for sweetening tea, etc., and I only use KAL brand Pure Stevia Extract that I get at a health food store.
• I try to stay away from things made with white flour as much as possible. I look for whole grains or bread made from sprouted grains.
  

Hope this helps!
Charla

Kettering University has been ranked by US News and World Report as “the #1 University in the nation for Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering” in its “America’s Best Colleges Guide for 2008.” The university is unique because they place students in companies their freshman year and rotate them between the school and their co-op job. They alternate every three months so they can gain valuable hands-on experience, starting with their first year at Kettering.
As an educator, I see the value in that type of education. They offer engineering co-op programs industrial engineering, but they also have a whole list of degree program majors with various concentrations of study, the highest degree being a bachelor’s or master’s degree. As soon as they graduage, 98 percent of Kettering graduates have job offers, and these offers are often where they’ve had their co-op educational experience. That’s an excellent track record! that provide engineering work with an integrated learning experience. This allows students to experience the best undergraduate engineering programs in the country. Each year, there are 2,300 Kettering undergraduates placed as professional co-op students at places like the CIA, General Motors, Sandia Research Labs, TRW, UPS, and Walt Disney World.

Heroes come in all shapes and sizes…and ages. A certain 92 year old lady is a hero in my opinion. She got held up in the Wal-Mart parking lot in Tennessee, but the story has a happy ending. The Today Show shared her story on national television, and she was even invited to be on the Today Show in person, but declined. Click here to see the news story on YouTube.

A few years ago, we took my mother-in-law with our family to visit and do some sightseeing in downtown Chicago. My m-i-l had a new car, and she wanted us to go in it. We gladly agreed. There were so many things to do in Chicago. My husband parked the car on a downtown street, put lots of change in the parking meter, and even asked a policeman if it was OK to park there. The policeman said “Yes” and didn’t offer any other information. Well, to make a long story short, when we were through with our sight seeing (and shopping), my husband went to get the car….only it was gone. “Oh, no!” we thought, “Mom’s brand new car has been stolen, plus it has our laptop and the garage door opener in it.” We felt sick. After talking to a policeman, we found out that for two hours during rush hour, the street where we had parked turned into a “No Parking” zone. They had impounded our car! We walked all over downtown trying to find the place where it was impounded, but to no avail. We were exhausted but finally were able to get a taxi. The driver knew where to take us, but it was really a strange way to get there. We had to go down a couple of levels to a lower area that was creepy. (I felt like I was in the “Adventures in Babysitting” movie when they went to downtown Chicago.) Finally, we got the car back after paying over one hundred dollars. That was definitely a crazy vacation!
Trusted Tours & Attractions would be a great way to avoid something like that from happening on a vacation. You can sign up for the Trusted Travels eNewsletter and enter to win an IPOD Nano! Offer ends Monday, March 31st, 2008. The newsletter will give you family vacation ideas, whether it’s Key West Snorkeling or wherever you would like to vacation.

Lori over at A Cowboy’s Wife is having a contest. The contest is a $25 Giveaway to Sudz N Bubbles where “soap is a form of art.”  It’s interesting to read the story about how this mom, Cindy, started making this soap because her son had eczema. 

The contest ends tomorrow on Friday, March 21. Sorry this is such late notice! I meant to post this days ago and completely forgot. But there’s still time!