Branson Missouri Vacation

Now that it is getting colder outside and as the holidays approach the more mind seems to wander to what it might be like to convince my kids to forgo Christmas gifts this year in lieu of something like a Branson Missouri vacation that would create years worth of memories versus the hours worth of mindless waste that perhaps video games or some other gift might bring. Rather than gifts that are "in" today, a family vacation over the holidays would give a lifetime of memories. Not to mention perhaps the creation of a family tradition of travel over the holidays every other year.

Should Google Page Rank Matter?

There is a movement afoot by a group of bloggers who feel they have been wronged by the giant internet gods at Google, who have not updated their page ranker apparently since April, and thus caused counntless blogs to either lose an existing PR due to moving a blog or whose PR had remained stagnant regardless of the number of posts, incoming or outgoing links. The end result seems to be a lack of opportunity from companies and public relations firms for the blogger. As one blogger put it, there should be a less archaic way of measuring blog worth. I tend to agree. You can read the article at Why are you Reviewing Me?

Blue Sky Scrubs

My daughter is a CNA. She has to wear nursing uniform scrubs or nursing uniforms scrubs when she works. She does complain however that scrubs are possibly the most unflattering uniform she's ever had to wear. I disagreed and asked if she had ever seen the uniform the Astros used to wear (unflattering at best) or the old fashioned fast food uniforms made of polyester? ICK.

While she and I both agree that medical scrubs are at least comfortable and easy to work in, they do leave much to be desired as far as looking fashionable or even different from the people one works with. What I appreciate is that there appears to be some variation between scrubs, from neutral colors to designs that are not all for the entertainment of small children.

I have seen a few stores in our town that are dedicated to the sale of scrubs, and even some of our local department stores have started carrying a small selection, I recently found scrub stores online so my daughter's shopping selection is larger than it was before. And since scrub sizes don't really vary, I can get her uniforms and she doesn't have to be there to try them on. When you wear a uniform five days a week, variety is your friend. Now, uniforms can be a surprise from me.

The Fresh Air Fund

The Fresh Air Fund is having its annual holiday drive. If you are unaware of the Fund, please allow me to introduce you. The Fresh Air Fund is a a not-for-profit agency and depends on tax-deductible donations from people like us to keep their programs running.

Summer may seem far away, but NYC children are currently participating in Fresh Air programs, from weekly tutoring sessions to job shadowings to weekend retreats at Fund camps in upstate New York! Our Career Awareness Program serves more than 300 youngsters in middle and high school. We also have new leadership programs for young women to develop their “can-do” attitudes!

No matter the season, Fresh Air children remain involved, excited and forward-thinking. We need loyal friends like you to continue serving thousands of New York City children throughout the year. Thank you!

To make a donation, please click here.

Every year, The Fresh Air Fund gives thousands of inner-city children the priceless gift of fun – and opens the door to a lifetime of opportunities.

Whether it's a two-week trip to the country to visit a volunteer host family, or a fun-filled and educational stay at one of our fund camps, our programs make for unforgettable memories – and open a world of new friendships and fresh possibilities.

Skin Issues and Solutions

Speaking of long time readers, I have talked before about acne solutions and finding one that works best. My kids were born with genes that make them prone to terrible skin problems. Their dad had to go to the dermatologist weekly for injections his skin was so bad. I only hope they do not have the same problems. So far, so good. But because I have daughters, who are physically active, and refuse to put their hair up or pull it back, they are currently having something of a forehead breakout problem. I will bee looking into options this weekend before the problem gets bigger.

toning up and losing weight

So as you know if you’ve read here for any length of time, I have been losing weight steadily for the past year. I am down about 50 pounds now. I must admit, I look damn good. The problem I have is that my stomach is not as, well, tight as I would like it to be. Don’t get me wrong, where I have love handles (and small ones at that) – I used to have an entire side of beef. I called them love buckets. It wasn’t pretty at all. I understand the difficulty in getting rid of stomach fat I just didn’t realize how hard it would be to get toned up again. I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again, having babies ruined my body – but I wouldn’t trade them for anything in the whole wide world!

do something nice today

Any time that I want to do something nice for someone in my life, if it is my daughters or parents or even my husband I always do the same thing. I send them some really nice flowers and yes, boys like flowers too. Well, maybe not teenage boys, but grown up boys, they like them. After my first date with my husband all those 16 plus years ago, he was working as a tire recapper. I sent him a dozen red roses. At work. He got lots of ribbing from his coworkers but as he so rightly said, I don’t see any of you with flowers

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday Beautiful Neighbor! Have a great day!
















(Image from retrobettie.com)

Christmas Gift

I have been looking for a gift I can give my husband for Christmas that would really be special. Something he does not already have. Something he will cherish and treasure. Something he will spruce himself up with on date night. Then I saw the most exquisite, beautiful thing ever. It was a Momentum Supernova Watch by St. Moritz and the great thing is that it is casual yet dressy at the same time. He could wear it and not feel like he was too dressed up. That is important for him. And me. Because when he feels uncomfortable, so do the rest of us.

Construction Jobs

Way back in the day, when I was a youngster, in my early and mid-twenties, I knew for a quick minute that working at a convenience store was not the career I was looking for or could see in my future. In fact, I thought for more than a minute about a job in construction employment of some kind. I applied for a few jobs but let’s face it, if I broke a nail, it wouldn’t be pretty, figuratively and literally. So I became a paralegal instead. The rest they say is history. The construction industry should thank me.

Some people have too much free time. Just sayin

Steam Cleaning

Last Saturday was date night with my husband. We try to have date night at least once a month. It is important to fit date night into our schedule. Our kids are older now so you’d think it was easier to have a date night, but not so much. So, last Saturday, my husband and I came home to a real mess. Our oldest dog had eaten something that did not agree with his tummy at all. Needless to say, there was a cleaning we needed to get done. I decided to check into some carpet cleaning tips.

Turns out a steam cleaner really works for dog odor removal austin as well cleans up other messes like the spilled soda or juice (I’m not sure) that I also found while moving a rug in the living room. One thing I was worried about was the removal of pet stain odor removal austin and surprisingly, my steam cleaner worked for that too. I may have to lose my other floor cleaner and go with the eco-friendly, water only steam cleaner.

Decisions. Decisions.

clueless

Oh. Em. Gee.

Clueless is on. No matter what else is on, I always have to watch this movie. I can only hope my daughters don't act like Cher.

Please Please Please!

Maternity clothes have come a long way baby

I have I have many complaints about having my kids back in the day versus now days. For one, the maternity clothes are way cuter now than they were back then. In fact, I dare say some of the clothes don’t even look like maternity clothes at all. My clothes were all very much styled as maternity clothes. They were big and flowing and not cute and not flattering.

Now days, maternity clothes are flattering and even stylish. They’re not all stretch pants and big oversize shirts. My second complaint would be that baby clothes are cuter now. They’re so simple and colorful. Even baby bedding is better than it was when my kids were born. I like the new baby blue and tan colors with soft patterns and animals on them. My kids had pastel blues and pinks and yellow or really bright colors that made my eyes hurt.

But seriously back to the maternity clothes. In hindsight, it seems that clothes back in my maternity days were intended to hide the pregnancy, not embrace it. There were no such things and “nice” maternity jeans. They looked like maternity jeans. The shirts were huge and did not show a baby bump, let alone a full on pregnant belly.

I have decided: I might be slightly jealous. Not like I want to do it again. No. That’s not it. My kids are grown now, 11, 13 and 19. They’re independent, self sufficient, and most importantly, they don’t wear diapers.

My daughter has a blog

I'm not sure how much involvement I should have in the process.

Do I introduce her to the internets and plug her place?

She's just a child. 13 years old.

Hold me internet, I'm skeered.

Finding my groove

I have been out of school for two weeks.

I have yet to find my groove.

I am bored.

I am distracted.

I feel like I'm forgetting something.

Did I mention that I'm bored?

How long will it take to find my groove?

Speaking of Dusting...

Speaking of dusting, which is my least favorite chore, second only to the dreaded vacuuming; I learned a spiffy new trick a while back while cleaning my keyboard at work using canned air. See, I have a lot of stuff to dust, and by a lot, I mean, TOO MANY TO COUNT TRINKETS AND KNICK-NACKS AND PHOTOGRAPHS IN FRAMES AND STATUETTES AND SILK FLOWER ARRANGMENTS, just to name a few. So in the old days, I would take my silk flowers out of their arrangements, one by one, and shake them in a bag of salt to remove the dust and debris that always lands on them. Can I just tell you, this was not a pleasant chore, and not a chore that ever was completed in one day, unless cleaning and rearranging silk flowers was the ONLY chore I did that day. Some may call my need to be dust free obsessive. Maybe compulsive (since I dusted every week). Maybe even a combination of obsessive AND compulsive. Well, they can say it all they want now. Because I bought some canned air, brought it home and tried it out on my silk flowers. WHAT A DIFFERENCE! Seriously. What used to take hours takes me mere minutes now. I only wish I had thought of it sooner.

Better safe than sorry

Many people in various industries use measures such as gloves and goggles and even masks to stay safe in the workplace. Even home owners use these safety precautions when performing household duties such as sweeping out a shed or basement or even or home improvement projects like painting or sanding. Me? I use gloves when I clean – to protect my delicate hands. I use safety goggles when I clean things that are up high, like my ceiling fans so stuff doesn’t fall in my eyes. But, because of my severe allergies, I may be one of the few people who use a dust mask when I clean my house.

It started years ago when I was cleaning some closets and had what could only be described as a near asthma attack. The emergency room doctor had me follow up with some allergy tests and sure enough, dust, pet dander, and a whole bunch of other things are all allergens to me. Not only do I carry epinephrine, I always wear a mask when I do household chores such as dust, vacuum, sweep, clean out closets, under beds, or even take holiday decorations out of the attic. Because what I never want to feel again is the pain that comes with my airways closing down because my body thinks it is being attacked by a foreign invader.

hmmm

I wonder when the boredom will be replaced by contenment?

I wonder when the feeling that I am forgetting to do something will go away?

I wonder when the idea that I have a Masters degree will sink in?

I wonder when I need to start preparing for my next goal?

I wonder if I will be ready.

I wonder...