Monthly Archives: August 2008

How Healthy Are You Financially?

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For_opportunities

How healthy are you when it comes to the area of financial health?  Not sure?  Then take “Bills IQ” and check out your overall financial health. Even if you are sure, it’s still good to check out your BillsIQ. They have a lot of good ways to improve your financial score.

There are a lot of reasons people get in a financial bind.  Losing jobs, changing jobs, illness, high medical bills, buying a home on the high end of the amount they qualified for, being self-employeed and having more business expenses than they expected, and the list goes on and on.   We owned our own business for three years and can relate to being self-employeed and having a large amount of expenses such as rent on our business location going up, high utility bills, insurance going up, etc.  We used Debt consolidation when we closed our business after three years so that we wouldn’t have to go bankrupt. We were able to pay off our business debt in several years. It was such a wonderful feeling when we did that!

If you or someone you know needs Debt relief, consider Bills.com as a source of Debt help.  They have much help to offer in these areas:

Four Foods On Friday 44

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Here are this week’s four questions. They’re about potatoes.

#1. Potato Chips. What kind of chips are your favorite?

I rarely eat potato chips anymore.  My favorite kind, though, would be kettle chips.

#2. What’s your favorite thing to dip chips in?

For potato chips it would be French Onion Dip.
#3. What’s your favorite way to eat a baked potato?

My favorite way in a restaurant would be with everything on it.  At home, I usually have it with extra-virgin olive oil, sea salt, and pepper.  That’s really good, too.
#4. How do you make mashed potatoes?

I don’t make them the traditional way.  I used to microwave the potatoes first, but now that my doctor says not to microwave foods, I’m thinking about steaming them first and, if I’m using organic potatoes, then use the skins too.  There was a restaurant that had delicious mashed potatoes that included the potato skins.  So that’s how I’m planning on making them.  (The reason that I don’t want to boil them is that most of the vitamins end up in the water that is poured off.)

It’s So Cold in Here!

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Cabin_cuddler
How many times have you been somewhere and thought or maybe even said, “It’s so cold in here!”   Maybe you wished you had a blanket because you felt like you were in a deep freezer. I know I’ve been in that situation many times.  I don’t understand why businesses, restaurants, and even churches keep their buildings so cold, but they do!  Well, I guess I do understand the fact that men wear suits and get hot, but the poor women who are in summer dresses, shorts and sleeveless tops, or even capri pants freeze in 65-70 degree temperatures.
I haven’t flown in a long time, but on all the many flights I’ve been on before, I would always ask for a blanket because it would get absolutely freezing in the cabin of the airplane.  I’ve heard that now most airlines don’t supply a travel blanket or a pillow, and people have to do without these unless they just happen to bring along their Cabin Cuddler.

If you’re not familiar with a Cabin Cuddler, let me explain:

  • It is a contour-cut blanket that covers your whole body.
  • It comes in a reversible tote bag that hangs easily on any standard luggage.
  • It also comes with an inflatable pillow that blows up easily.
  • It has a patented pocket for feet so they always stay warm.
  • It is hygenic. (Most airline pillows haven’t been cleaned in a very long time.)
  • It comes in two colors, black or cranberry red.

Another great thing about traveling with your Cabin Cuddler is that if your airline flight is delayed and you are stuck at the airport overnight, you have your own hygenic blanket and pillow.  You don’t have to try to stay warm by covering up with Ladies Home Journals or whatever magazines and newspapers they have.  I have to admit that I have covered my arms and legs with magazines, newspapers, even napkins in an effort not to freeze in various public places.  That’s when I need to have a Cabin Cuddler with me!


Baby J is Walking!!

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Our precious little grandson Baby J, who just recently turned one year old, is walking.  He’s been taking a few steps here and there, and when we were there for his birthday party, he would take a few steps and then plop down and start crawling.  Well, our daughter made a video of him this week walking from one side of the kitchen to the other without crawling at all.  She said it’s hard to get used to seeing their baby walking around the house.  We’re planning on visiting soon and are looking forward to seeing this in person!  🙂

How to Find a Prescreened, Certified Small Business Expert

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If someone needed to find a certain type business, wouldn’t it be great to find a prescreened, certified small business, whether it be a contractor, florist, or real estate agent?  Clicksmart provides just that kind of service for people by prescreening and certifying small businesses who are experts in their line of work.  If someone wanted an atlanta realtor, all they would have to do on the Clicksmart site is to select the category “Real Estate Agents,” and then they would type in Atlanta, Georgia.  They would be given a list from which they could choose a realtor in Atlanta.  It’s that simple to find a certified expert.

Another Tip From My Mother-In-Law

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I told my mother-in-law a long time ago how I use the 2 pound Velveeta boxes (the brown bottom part) for various uses around the house.  They are clean, very sturdy boxes which are great organizers.  And being the recycler and reuser that I am, I use these boxes for several things such as organizing my make-up drawer or desk drawer.

Well, my mother-in-law told me this week on the phone about a great way that she uses them and to write about it on my blog.  She uses them to hold boxes of over-the-counter medicine and pills.  All she has to do is reach up in the cabinet and get down the box, and then she can easily access the small box of medicine that she needs.  Great tip!

I just thought of another good use…to hold Jello and Pudding boxes.

Here’s an idea from one of my readers, Christi:  “You could also use them to organize a junk drawer – pens, scissors, etc. or if toy have kids you could let them decorate them to become houses, train cars, etc.”

Anele says, ” Just get some pretty wrapping paper to cover the Velveeta part and no one would ever know! Pretty cool!”

Special Birthday Celebrations!

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When you want to plan a special birthday party, don’t forget the birthday invitations.  When Baby J, our grandson, celebrated his first birthday recently, his parents designed a special invitation just for him.  Our daughter and son-in-law are creative and very artistic so designing a special invitation was easy for them.  But most people either don’t have the time, inclination, or talent to design an invitation.  That’s where The PartyStartsHere!.com can help either by designing a card or you can choose one from their great selection.

Dream Cars

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What is your dream car?  I remember when I was in high school, a friend’s older sister had a convertible.  I thought that was a dream car!  We thought it was the coolest thing to go driving down the boulevard with our friend’s sister in her convertible, usually on a Sunday night.  It was summer time, and it felt great to have the top down.

Some people’s dream car is a corvette.  That is certainly an attention-getter car.  To make it unique and set apart from other corvettes, there are even Corvette body upgrades such as Corvette hoods or spoilers.  Are you surprised that I know what a spoiler is?  Actually, I didn’t.  I had to ask my husband and he showed me a picture of one on a website.  He explained how the spoiler actually helps the car because it’s aerodynamic.  It makes the car look cool, too.  And with a new Corvette exhaust system, there would be a significant gain in horsepower and that would help the car as well.  Now that would be a dream car to many people!

Ideas for Left-over Mashed Potatoes

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Left-over mashed potatoes are good enough just as left-overs, but here are a few ideas for other things:

  • Make potato soup.  Heat mashed potatoes in a saucepan and add milk to make it the right consistency for soup.  Add salt, pepper, and a little olive oil or butter.
  • Make potato patties.  My mother used to make these while I was growing up.  Simply form a pattie out of the mashed potatoes and fry in oil (olive oil) and add salt and pepper.
  • Make potato salad.  Just add your favorites such as mayonaise, mustard, chopped onion, chopped hard-boiled eggs, chopped celery, etc.
  • Make Shepherd’s Pie.  This idea is from Lynne, The Sewing Mom.   Thanks, Lynne!

Luxury Vacations

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If you could go anywhere and have your choice of luxury vacations, where would you go?   I have two favorite places, Colorado and Hawaii.  When I was a child, we vacationed in Colorado, and I have always loved going to the Rocky Mountains.  Nine years ago, we went to Hawaii and had a dream vacation.   So either of those two places would be my choice.

Sewer Gas in Tap Water is OK? I don’t think so!!

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Years ago when I was still drinking tap water, our water had an awful smell to it for two weeks and so I drank bottled water.  Finally after a couple of weeks of this, I called the water department to find out what was going on.  The answer I received was, “It’s OK.  It’s just sewer gas that has backed up into the water lines.  But the water is safe to drink.”  I can’t remember how I replied, but I do remember thinking, “No, it’s NOT OK to have sewer gas in my tap water.  I don’t care what you say.”  We never would have known about it had I not called.  That makes me wonder what all is in our water that we never know about.  Since then, our whole family has been drinking bottled water.  (My husband was already drinking bottled water.)  Now we drink distilled water.  There’s no way sewer gas can get into that!

Four Foods On Friday 43

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Here are this week’s four questions. I’ve got the Olympics on my mind so this week they’re about fitness/physical activity/sports:

#1. What do you drink to rehydrate in the heat or after working out?

Water

#2. What do you eat to help boost or create energy?

Complex carbs such as whole grains, fruit, etc., and tea is usually energizing.

#3. What’s the healthiest snack you eat?

Raw nuts & seeds:  almonds, cashews, pecans, sunflower seeds

Hot air popped organic popcorn with extra virgin olive oil and sea salt

(We can get organic popcorn in the bulk food section at Central Market and, contrary to what some might think, it’s actually less than buying name brand popcorn that isn’t even organic.  If you want to know why we buy organic, read this about Genetically Modified Seeds (especially CORN, soy, and canola)  And note the comments for that post – a doctor left a comment and some really good info.  There are several good comments.
#4. Share a recipe or instructions for your ideal three course meal.

Salad, entree, and dessert.  Salad would need to be really fresh and chilled.  And for the entree it would be fish, chicken, or turkey.  Veggies would be fresh and steamed.  Dessert would be a fresh fruit mix with poppyseed dressing.