I have been so busy this week!  I did substitute teaching Monday through Friday plus my private tutoring that I do at home on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  And then on Wednesday evenings, I teach a toddler class.  I kept thinking that I really need to dust, but I didn’t want to take the time to do it.

Thanks to MS&L, I received the Swiffer 360 Duster to use in my home.  I used it last night, and it made dusting go so much faster.  And I was able to dust those “hard to dust” places easily, places like electronic equipment, window blinds, decorative ridges on furniture, around cords and wires, etc.

Another great thing about the Swiffer 360 Duster is that it reduces up to 90% of common household allergens from dogs, cats, and dust mites.  The fluffy dust-locking fibers lock up to two times more dust and allergens than a feather duster.

Below is a link to a video of the Swiffer Allergen Reducing Blogger Roundtable at Appleseeds NYC:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pu6UfKnvndY

WATCH FOR A SWIFFER 360 DUSTER GIVE-AWAY THIS NEXT WEEK!!

If the avocados weren’t in the picture, would you know the name of this utensil?  If I didn’t already have one, I wouldn’t know.  My daughter and son-in-law gave this to me last year, and it has been so handy.  My first attempts to use it ended up with smashed looking avocado slices, but then I finally figured out the correct way to use it.  It’s so quick and easy to make nice looking avocado slices now.

I received a coupon for a free box of Honey Kix Cereal for kids (or for kids of any age).  I expected it to be the sugar-loaded, fiberless cereal that is typical of most kid’s cereals.   Honey Kix, however, is not like the typical cereal and actually has 3 grams of fiber per serving, 16 grams of whole grain, and only 6 grams of sugar instead of 10 or 12.  Plus, there are no artificial flavors or preservatives.

Our teenage son  likes it, and I must admit that I think it tastes good, too.  I even like a handful of  it for a snack without milk.  Like they say, it’s kid-tested, mother-approved!

A lot of people have hobbies of various sorts.   For some, it might be cooking or baking, sewing or crafting, gardening, a sport such as tennis or jogging, reading, and the list can go on and on.  Some might even like to put together Carrera slot cars from a kit.  There are all kinds of hobby materials available from hobby shops.  Whatever the hobby, it is a good way to relax from the tensions of the day, to reduce stress, and maybe even make other people happy.

Macaroni Grill’s Chicken Marsala is my very favorite entree from their restaurant.  So when I saw this box on the shelf as I was going down the aisle at Wal-Mart, I was excited.  However, it turns out it’s not near as good as the actual restaurant entree, and I actually like the Chicken Alfredo boxed meal better.  Don’t get me wrong, though, the Marsala is good, but not as good as the Chicken Alfredo.  Another thing, with the Alfredo, I can easily substitute the fresh chicken with canned chicken breast if I’m in a hurry and it turns out great.   I don’t know if canned chicken would work with the Marsala – I had fresh chicken in the fridge that I used, and I doubt I buy it again to give it a try.  So if you try the Marsala with canned chicken, let me know how it turns out.

See what I received this week?  It’s my new Swiffer Sweeper, 2 in 1 Starter Kit.  I have been sick this week, and so I was thrilled to be able to sweep and mop my kitchen floor in five minutes!  It looks so shiny and smells so good.

I have an old Swiffer, but I must admit this  new one works much better.   After I put the new Swiffer together (which is a “snap”…all you have to do is literally snap the pieces together which takes half a minute), then our cute little dog checked out what I was getting ready to do.  I put her outside, then I proceded to use the dry sweeping cloth which surprised me by picking up all sorts of dust, crumbs, pet hair, etc., and it held on to them.  Then I used the wet mopping cloth and was able to reach deep into corners under the overhang on our cabinets.

What I like about the new Swiffer is that it is stronger.  That’s one thing I didn’t like about the old one.  I felt like the old one wasn’t strong enough to scrub on tough spots.   But the new Swiffer is definitely stronger and easier to use!

Today, I got a surprise from CVS in the mail.  At first, I thought it was just a thick packet of advertisements or maybe even coupons.  Since I like to shop at CVS from time to time and get their good deals on certain things, I opened the envelope to see what was inside.  Much to my surprise, a folded-up shopping bag was inside.  In their efforts to support the “Green” cause, they mailed us a reuseable shopping bag that even has a tiny little slot on the outside in which they thoughtfully put a copy of our current CVS card.  I don’t have to hunt for my CVS card now…they can just scan it through the clear pocket on the outside of my bag.  There’s even a pocket to hold coupons.  How cool is that!!

Below is a video that Heather made with her dad using Dragon Naturally Speaking to preserve family stories, memories, life experiences and history.  I wish I had had something like this when my parents and grandparents were still alive.   One neat thing about the program is that it will Type at $150 Words Per Minute for $99! Watch the video and read below to find out more information!

Press Release:

The above video is not the typical Dragon NaturallySpeaking video. It was created by a blogger named Heather from British Columbia. She writes a blog called Boating in Beautiful British Columbia.

In the video that she has created, she talks about Dragon NaturallySpeaking. She talks about using Dragon NaturallySpeaking. In fact in the video, she is using Dragon NaturallySpeaking while she’s talking about it but you don’t quite realize that until the video is about halfway done.

The thing that’s REALLY interesting about this video, is not the fact that Heather is using the software and it’s not the fact the software works for her so much as HOW she chooses to use it. She took Dragon NaturallySpeaking and sat down with her father who is 95 years old. She spent a few minutes with him getting the software tuned to his voice so that the computer recognizes his sentences and words. Then she’s lets her father tell some of his great stories to the computer which transcribes everything that he says.

You can tell just by watching the video and listening to her father that he really does have some interesting stories to tell. I have a feeling that I could probably listen to the stories myself quite a bit, enjoying them immensely. And that too is not really the cool thing about this video. Although I’d love to hear her father tells more stories, the COOL THING is that she’s using Dragon NaturallySpeaking to capture a piece of her family’s oral tradition.

I can think of hundreds of different stories that my family has shared with me over the years that have not been documented. Our family is slowly losing some of those great stories and unfortunately, as we are losing some of our family members. We survivors don’t know all of the stories ourselves that our parents or grandparents or our great grandparents knew. But this video shows that you can use Dragon NaturallySpeaking to help capture some of those great stories that your parents and grandparents and great grandparents have probably told you dozens of times.

It’s something that we don’t always think about, but in a lot of ways those stories are some of the most cherished memories that we will walk away with from our family. And the sad thing is that our family cannot Be with us forever, but their memories can live on and this is where Dragon NaturallySpeaking really shows us its value. It’s true for $99 you can use Dragon NaturallySpeaking and you can type 150 words a minute. That’s a pretty good value for the software. It’s not too expensive and the benefit is tangible.

Now, you can get a useful tool at any computer store or Home Depot or Lowes, and if you don’t know how to use it well, then it really doesn’t matter what you pay for it. It is a waste of money.

Heather shows us a great way to use Dragon NaturallySpeaking to capture some of the most valuable information and stories from her father that she might ever be able to record not only for herself but for her daughter and her grandchildren someday and great-grandchildren and many other branches of the family even.

So that’s just another great reason why they Dragon NaturallySpeaking is a pretty cool piece of software. $99 could help you capture your family history easily and even make it indexable too, so that you can search it from your computer. That’s just amazing.

My name Brett Bumeter, and I write about Dragon NaturallySpeaking. I’ve been writing reviews about it for almost 2 years now. You could say that I’m sold on the software, and I hope that this article and this video helps show you the value of using it as well.

Sincerely,
Brett Bumeter
Softduit Media
www.softduit.com

PS this article is about 630 words long and it took me five minutes to write and another minute or two to edit with Dragon Naturally Speaking 10. Even with editing time that’s close to 100 words per minute!

There are a lot of households that own at least some type of game system.  One system that is very poplular is the xbox 360. In fact, our son-in-law and daughter own an Xbox.   They are young professionals with a 14 month old baby and another one on the way, and they still enjoy playing a game on their Xbox from time to time.

If someone in your family is wanting an Xbox Pro System, keep in mind that Buy.com has an Xbox Pro System Holiday Bundle which includes Kung Fu Panda and LEGO Indiana Jones: The Original Adventure!

I wear reading glasses right now, but soon I need to get some neweyeglasses. My doctor has suggested progressives which is what I’m seriously considering. But when I saw the price they would be, over $500, I decided that I would wear my reading glasses a little longer. The doctor also said that I would definitely need to start wearing progressives all the time by next year, so I know I can’t put off buying new glasses forever.
I was excited when I read about Zenni Optical and the positive reports from Fox News TV. Clark Howard, popular U.S. talk radio host, and his staff have gotten eyeglasses from Zenni Optical and recommend them.   Eyeglasses start at $8 and progressives start at $37.  How can Zenni Optical sell them for such a low price?  By selling directly to the consumer and skipping the middleman is how they’re able to offer unbelievably low prices.  Now that is really exciting to know that I don’t have to spend over $500 on new eyeglasses.

New frames are in, and they have a huge selection of frames to choose from. I have a sensitivity to metal, so I have been looking at the stainless steel and titanium frames. And I really like the rimless frames, but someone told me that the half-rim frames are sturdier. So I’m thinking I might get some frames similar to what are pictured here and add the premium anti reflective coating.

If you’re looking for new eyeglasses, check them out.