HEY LOOK.... A NEW HOBBY!

With things not being very busy at work lately I thought I would turn my time away from crossword puzzle books and take on something new. Yep that's right I am now crocheting blankets and I finished my first one last night! I would have to say that it turned out pretty good for only crocheting for 3 weeks! Trinity has claimed this one and Jay has put in an order for one for his room. Brown, Green and Beige to go with his army camouflage room so I am off to the store before work to get more yarn. Sounds like I will be busy tonight at work after all! LOL

I Need A Real Bath Tub

The one thing that we have not liked about our home since we moved in was the bathroom situation. We do have 2 bathrooms but I don't find either one is very nice. The one on the main floor, which is also closest to our bedroom only has a small stall type shower in it. The bathroom upstairs only has a tub, which is a nice porcelin footed antique bath tub but I find it a cold tub. I am intending to have this situation fixed, and maybe it won't be both bathrooms right away I do want to make changes to the main floor bathroom. This change entails moving the toilet and then installing a tub/shower in it's place. I tend to lean on my husband for almost all the renovation projects in our home but when it comes to water he is hesitant to tackle the job. We will be consulting with Carrollton Plumber in the near future to find out an accurate price estimate and scope of work to get the bathroom changes that we want. Sometimes you just need to know when to contact the experts and let them do the job. When it comes to water what might be a small imperfection or error in the work could cost thousands to have repaired down the road.

Dating In NON-traditional Ways

In a society that is becoming increasingly more open and excepting of non-traditional relationships it is very encouraging to see more and more avenues for people of all genders and races to be able to come together. If you know much about history even 20 - 30 years ago it was very much frowned upon in many areas of the country for people of different races to be in a relationship. Today it is becoming more and more common place to see white women with black men or vice versa. There are even websites completely dedicated to the concept of black men white women chat. This site encourages people to sign up via a completely free process. Once they have their profile built they are able to browse the other users and contact the ones they wish via chat or web-cam. 130 It is completely up to the users how far these relationships go, you can simply be friendly over the Internet or arrange for face to face meetings and possibly a more meaningful relationship. This type of service is really great because it takes a lot of the pressure off meeting someone face to face right away. You can take your time and get to know them over the chat and when the time is right make the move to a connection.

Emergency in Need

My husbands friend recently called us in a panic, it had been raining steady for a couple of days and his roof began to leak. He was planning to replace it this summer and was hoping to just get through until the nice weather hit. They were in a bad spot with water flowing in and wrecking their belongings. They made inquiries to find someone that could help them out in a hurry, an emergency Roof Repair 22031. It's amazing how fast water can damage your home and household items, not to mention how dangerous water is when there is electrictiy involved. 100 Finding a reliable repair contractor is easier than you think, you can check out the yellow pages or go online to look for repair specialists in your area. Most roofing contractors also provide many other exterior services like replacing siding, windows and gutter systems. If you are looking for Roof Repair in Haymarket, VA you can set that up in your search engine and find out who can help you in your area. For our friends after he got his emergency repair job completed it was time to schedule his Roof Replacement in Gainesville, VA with the contractor to get the job done right before any further damage done.

It's time to cool off

Finally the sun is shining and it is HOT outside, it feels like I have been waiting for a year to get a nice day. We were in town this morning and I had to kick on the Air Conditioner to cool off. The kids have a movie screen and for them to hear it the wind makes too much noise. I was talking to my dad this afternoon and he's having a bad day, the AC Compressor in his Van isn't working so he is sweating it out in the heat. I had to take the chance to brag up my a/c compressor and it's efficiency to him as he was sweating. I told him about a great website www.1airconditioning.com for him to contact to get the parts he needs. They offer free shipping and the largest selection of AC parts avaailble to get you cooled off fast. They also offer a hotline for any support you may need, via phone or Internet. Take the time to check your AC Compressor out now before all the hot summer weather hits.

Camera Critter

A boy and his dog is a special bond, I caught Jay and Breigh cuddling on the couch watching a movie when I got home from Dance with the kids this week. Luckily I had my camera in hand from taking a picture of the new door and got this shot before the dog attacked me for being home.


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Teenage Memories

My son is approching his teen years and it made me think back to the issues I had when I was his age. The biggest issue everyone had when I was going to High School was the battle with Acne it was an agonizing battle when you would get up in the morning with eruptions on your face. Now I wasn't too bad off I would have the occasional problems but it was a couple of my friends that had significant and everyday problems that I felt really bad for. The constant ridicule "Pizza Face" was the favorite term at my school. It was always believed acne was somehow caused by what you ate and that if you had it all you at was junk. Anolther great myth was that you were a "dirt bag" if you had acne because you would get it if you weren't clean. Some of the harsh treatments they used to try and get control of their problem were very hard on them. On the market these days, thanks to years of reserch are Natural Acne Treatments that according to the reports show real improvement in 9 out of 10 people in as little as 14 days and improvement in 100% within 30 days, yes I said 100%! The change in philosohy in acne treatments is incredible, you don't have to use the harsh ingredients like Benzoyl Peroxide or some of the other ingredient found in traditional treatments. The one thing that is important before trying any treatment program is to consult a dermatologist to find out what your best course of action is. There are so many Acne Products available on the market today it is hard to sort through them all and find the best choice for you and your particular condition

OH, OH, THAT LOOKS LIKE YOUR KEY

I can remember one of the most embarassing days of my life I had a busy day and was rushing to get back to pick up the kids at school. I had been rushing to a couple of appoinments in the morning that took me into the city and I had to make the rush drive to get back in time to get the kids. I might have been going a little bit too fast and got the red/blue's in my back window. Great I thought already behind and now this. Luckily I wasn't too much over and got away with just a warning. I finally got to school and as I was a couple of minutes late for Kohl, he had gone back in to wait for his sister to get out at 2. I had to go into the school and get the kids and in my rush I left the keys in the truck but still managed to lock the doors somehow. After getting the kids we went back out to the truck and after searching through my pockets and purse began to panick, where were my keys. Kohl being his helpful self said "Mommy I think your key is on your seat." Now I have a great idea for everyone, have a number of a Arlington Locksmith in your cell phone or in your purse for just these occasions because it's hard to find a phone book sometimes. The Locksmith can be contacted online or by phone, we managed to get the local locksmith out to help us get into the truck. Luckily he remembered me because we just had him out to the house the week before to change our entry system to the house. I even got a great deal on the emergency trip because I was such a great customer.

Unlimited Access Chat Room

I think a really cool thing has happened with the creation of Internet Chat Rooms, there has been the introduction of specific websites that are dedicated to different lifestyles and circumstances to allow people with similar characteristics and life styles to come together in a friendly environment to discuss there lives without the fear of prejudice. A recent one that I came accross is a wheelchair chat site that brings people together from all over the World bringing wheel chair users together to discuss their life experiences. Users simply sign up for their completely free account and create a profile to share with other users. Once they have completed their sign up they can begin to browse the different users and make connections with the ones that they choose to contact. They can instantly chat with the different users from all corners of the World or even Web Cam if both participants have the ability to do that. It is a great way for people that sometimes find themselves limited to their abilitity to get out and meet other people, to get access to people they would otherwise never be able to meet. It's fast and easy and remember the best part is 100% free to sign up and use.

Getting out to enjoy the Great outdoors

With Spring finally arriving it's time to get out and enjoy the great outdoors. We live in a beautiful part of the World that has all the best characteristics to enjoy the outdoors. We are right on the Atlantic Ocean so we have access to beautiful beaches but we also have some fantastic wilderness areas that allow us to soak in all sorts of nature's beauty. There are many scenic trails to walk and go climbing and we are planning on getting out as many Sundays as possible when no one has school or work. In order to enjoy the beauty we first need to update our Mountain Climbing Gear we bought some gear a couple of years back and have been replacing parts of it every year as we get more interested. This year it's new helmets for us as ours are starting to show some wear and distress. We really enjoy spending time hiking through the trails and taking advantage of the rock surfaces that are open to climbing. While we were shopping for helmets my husband also came accross a new full harness from Petzl, a well known quality supplier of climbing gear. I can hardly wait to get up on the warm days and get that feeling like you are hanging out over the edge of the World. I only wish we could find more time to get out and enjoy the beautiful views. I think this year I might also get a new pair of climbing shoes, I found a great pair from La Sportiva that will fit into our budget. If you are interested in getting into climbing check with your local climbers to find a qualified trainer and take lessons before venturing out on your own. It can be an exciting sport but it is also dangerous if you are not trained on the proper techniques.

Getting Ready for Spring

When it comes to going comfortable to work my friend that works at the hospital tells me that there is nothing more comfortable than Scrubs. She has a collection of scrubs that can fill an entire closet and not only does she wear these to work but also around the house as casual wear and for PJ's. She finally convinced me to try a pair for around the house and sold me on a beautiful pair of cotton scrubs. It took me a bit to pick from all the fantastic styles and colors that were available but I finally picked a Cherokee top that you see above, I loved the colors and pattern and could see wearing this just about anywhere. To finish off the look I of course had to find a pair of co-ordinating Cherokee pants to complete the outfit. I was surprised by the pricing for the quality of the products that were offered on the website. There was even free shipping offered on all orders over $50 so it definetly made it well worth it to shop for a complete outfit.
If you are looking to add some excitement and flair to your work wear for Spring you should checkout the colorful new lines of cherokee workwear scrubs that are now available. There is such a great assortment you don't have to worry about looking cookie cutter at work. With such great colors and patterns you can definetly show off your individuality while still portraying a professional image.

Renovation Planning

I have often talked about all the wonderful plans that we have for remodeling our home. We had to make a plan as to what was our priority projects and what projects could wait for a while. After we made up our list of projects we had to take a real look at them and decide what ones we could tackle ourselves and which projects we would have to consider getting a contractor in to do the work for us. We have a 2 year remodeling plan for the house and although we will be planning a lot of the jobs ourselves the bigger projects will involve getting contractors to do the work for us. We are currently planning on completing a kitchen update this fall, a face lift with new doors and a lighter color. I would also like to replace the sink and counter top which will require a contractor. Next summer we are considering moving our driveway to the other side of the house and building a big deck off the side with the addition of a patio door off the dining room. Des Moines Remodeling Contractors are able to help you with all your needs and have over 25 years of experience working with people just like us on remodeling projects. They specialize on porches, windows, kitchens, bath, decks and siding. There professional attitude and attention to detail can make your project go smoothly and guarantee great results and added value to your home.

Emergency Money

Times are tough, there is no way around it these days, with jobs disappearing everyday and everyones bills going up it is hard for the average person to keep everything a float. There are time in everyones life that an emergency comes up that takes money. There are ways to take advantage of the value of your property to get the funds you need for whatever reason in as little as 1 hour. If you own your vehical and it has a value of over $5000 you can apply online for Car Title Loans. It is extreamly easy to apply online with just a few simple questions you could pick up your money the same day and you don't even need to go to the lenders office to apply as long as you have the proper documentation. These type of loans can also be called Pink Slip Loans basically you turn over the pink slip to your vehical along with some other required documents and get your cash the same day. Even with bad credit you can still take advantage of this type of loan at excellant rates and take as much as 36 months to repay. Once your repayments are complete you get your pink slip back. Taking out
Collateral Loans are another option as well, you are basically borrowing against the value of your property and agree to repayment terms. The collateral loan is great because you get to keep and drive your vehical while getting the cash you need to pay up the bills you need. Whatever your situation may be remember these types of loans can be very useful to getting through tough times if used properly.

Where's the Leak?

Living in an older house sometimes means there are unexpected repairs that come up without notice. Recently we had one of these circumstances that we were not expecting at all. My husband was working on another one of my "happy hubby" projects that I cooked up for him. He went down into our basement to get some tools, now our basement is about 6" shorter than he is and the light is on a pull chain so you have to feel your way in a bit before you can turn the light on. So as he went in he heard a hissing sound, he wondered what it was and as he got to the light he got a surprise...water spraying in his face. Now as I mentioned our basement is a little short so you have to walk in a bit hunched over to not hit the beams and pipes, well when he got the surprise water hit he kind of jumped a bit and cracked his head off the beam, splitting his head open. Funny, but not funny depending on who's opinion you ask. Anyway we had to call a plumber to come and fix the pipe, he put some plumbers tape over the spray to slow it down for a while until our plumber could get over. Getting the right plumber was important for us so we asked around to find a good one and he really takes the time and care. For my Handy husband he knows when he should try to fix things and when he should call the Plumber for help. If you are in the Atlanta area and looking for an Atlanta Plumbing Specialist you can talk to the team at AtlantaPlumber, they are a husband and wife team that specialize in all aspects of plumbing from new installations to replacement and repair and they pay attention to every part of your plumbing job from the initial consultation to the quality of work on their repair. Plumbing is an important part of your home so to keep it working the best you need the best tradespeople to look after your needs.

My Handy Man

Well we finally got frustrated waiting for over a month for the Home Depot to come for our front door. They were completely crazy wanting $1700 + tax to put in one door. The other day we went and bought a door and all the parts and Hubby set to work. With my supervision ( I think he likes it when I watch him work and offer him smart alternatives to the way he is doing things) we managed to get the door done before night fall. I think it turned out great, no more rotton doors that don't close right. This will be great for the power bills next fall. Now for doing such a great job I had to find some way to reward him (not like that...he wishes). So he got to go buy another door and a screen door for the other entrance for me for Mothers Day. The great thing when all is said in done we did all three doors for $700 less than the home depot wanted for just 1 door. Yeah us....Booo! Home Depot

The old rotton door in it's last moments...





















Newness in progress...





















All done.

Party Planner

There is so much to consider when planning a party, with summer comming it means one thing , it's BBQ season. We are hoping to build a new deck out the side of our home this year and with that comes lots of new plans on how we can enjoy our new space. The first thing of course will be buying a new BBQ to replace our rust bucket, after that it will be to make a real entertainment destination. We are planning on building benches all around the perimeter of the deck so we can have seating for everyone to come over. Now once we get outside in the sun we don't want to have to be going in and out for beverages so we though ti would be cool to have some decorative Ice Buckets. To match our home we decided to look for a Red Champagne Bucket. We were able to find some at the Champagne Bucket website. We found a great assortment of buckets at very reasonable prices with guaranteed fast shipping you can order and be ready for your next event. So once the wheather starts to co-operate we will be getting out to start our yard make over. Summer is coming what will you do to enjoy your hot days.

WEDDING RING

My husband has been having trouble with his wedding ring pretty much since we got married (I hope this isn't a bad sign). He had picked out a tricolor wedding ring but unfortunately it isn't able to be re sized due to the detail and twisting of the bands and after loosing a lot of weight his ring kept falling off. We had enough of that and didn't want him to lose it so I bought him a new one which was very similar but now he keeps having trouble with one of the wire twist in the ring. It keep letting go, having a piece of metal sticking out. We had the ring fixed once and now it happened again. With our anniversary coming up in August I am thinking of getting him a new better quality Wedding Ring! Right now I have come across some really nice titanium grades
which are sure to last and also what I think he will like are the black tungsten rings . He tends to stay away from the tradition wedding rings and is always looking for something a bit different. I'm not sure at this point what I will get but I do know for sure that these rings will be great quality.

BREAKING THE LAW

Here were we live it is against the law to talk on your cell phone while driving. I think this law was passed just a year ago. Well in the last little while the cops are getting harder with this law. Well, I am not a big user of the cell phone but the other day on my way to work my phone rang and I answered it, how stupid was that??? Anyway I was just turning into the parking lot at work when I saw the flashing lights behind me, yep I got pulled over for talking on the cell phone and was given a warning. The fine would have been $164.00. I guess I will have to consider myself lucky and make sure I pull off the road before I answer the phone.

Roofing Contractor

The weather is finally getting warmer so we have been getting a few much needed renovation projects done on the exterior of the house. Last summer we replace quite a few windows and closed in our garage door with a window to extended the living space in our house. Our plans this year is to have both the front and side exterior doors replaced, which we now have one done and will be replacing the other today or tomorrow. From there we do have more work to be done including some exterior painting, possibly replacing part of our fence and then comes the roof, but I think we will be putting that one off as long as possible. Apparently in this area it is hard to find a good company that does roof work right. If you happen to live in the Kansas area and are looking to have your roof replaced by a company that puts customers first then get in touch with a Kansas City Roofer to have the job done right.
We have a list of things to get done but we are hoping that by fall we have the list crossed off and new one started for the winter months on the inside renovations once again. Will there ever be an end to the projects?

Saving Time...Shopping Hard

Now I would be what most people would consider a time starved women. I have a husband and 4 kids which raising 5 would be considered enough for anyone person. On top of this I work a full time job around my husbands work schedule. I work the night shift so I am on the go all day with the kids and than we swap off duties and hubby takes the kids for the night and I go to work until 1am. It is hard and doesn't leave much time to get out and shop for things, especially the busy times like Christmas. We find ourselves shopping online a lot and when Hubby or I find something we like we leave the link for the other to look at so we can decide together.
With Mother's day coming up we had to make some choices for our respective Mom's so we considered a lot of things during our search we found a website called shopwiki that does comparison shopping for you and shows you all the items available around the web for your search criteria. One thing we considered for Mom was something to pamper themselves with so we searched for Beauty Products and in an instant had a comparable list of items from all over the net the matched our criteria. We got some great ideas here but didn't want to stop short so we looked around a bit more and did a search for something Mom's could use to relax at the end of a hard day so we searched for Bath Products to see if we could find something they would like from that assortment.
Now once we had all this searching done we were thinking about how Mom always wants to save the Earth with Earth Day just behind us we thought it would be good to narrow our search a bit by looking for natural items in the Organic Search . Using Shopwiki seemed like a great idea as it allowed us to find and compare items without having to search all over the Internet. What a time saver for time starved people like us.

Retailing 101

I can attest for sure listening to my husband every night after he comes home from work and by listening to the news it is hard times for the retailing industry. You can walk into any mall and you will see price slashing like never before. It was great at Christmas because the bargains were great and often. My husbands company is working hard to weather the economic storm and it isn't easy. He feels that the more negative news that gets released makes people panic more and more and hold onto their discretionary spending. Traffic counts and average sales are in constant flux which makes it hard to gage how to react to the trends. Normally the Christmas season is what makes or breaks the retail business as most of the year they operate just to make it to the Christmas Quarter to make a profit. As business try to watch their expenses more closely to protect their profit there is a fine line on what to cut and what to spend, the old saying goes "to make money sometimes you have to spend money." Marketing is a key resource that my husband likes to use during this type of economic swing. Another great resource that can help with creating an economic plan to survive these tough times would be to recruit a retail consultant to help analyse your business and to help make the hard choices on how to better manage your business in these tough economic times.Aspects that should be reviewed as part of a good consultations, one of the most important factors of any successful business is the people working for you, your employees are the base and giving them a great atmosphere to work in will improve employee relations, which will help your employees relationships with your customers. After that the next important factor would be your merchandising skills, do you have the right merchandise at the right time while offering the right price. That is really the key to good retailing, you have to provide your customers with the confidence you will be there for them and offer them a fair price structure. A good retail consulting team can really help you create a plan for your business to grow and thrive even through the tough times

Camera Critters : Shower built for 2

The other day Blake (4) wanted to have shower, I usually let him go in and just leave the bathroom door open so I can hear him better if he needs me for anything. He gets upset if he wants out and no one is there to dry him off. Anyway after a few minutes I heard him and it sounded like he was talking to someone so I figured I better go check on him. To my surprise I see the puppy in the shower covered in soap and looking like she had gotten herself in over her head. Apparently she came up to the shower door and started licking it so he decided to open it up and she crawled in looking for a drink. He took advantage of this and decided she was stinky and needed a bath too. It was a hilarious moment that's for sure and the look in Breigh's eyes said it all...HELP ME!



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Feeding our pets better.

We love our puppy and never really put much thought into her food, we just went to the store and bought what we thought was a reputable brand of food. When we did a little reserch we discovered some horrific details of what we thought was a good food. It was basically made with corn and ground up bone and disposible parts I'd rather not mention. We found a organic alternative from Essential2Pets Life's Abundance Holistic Natural Pet food, it is made from all natural ingredients. This food can actually save you money compared to your store bought brand, if you want to try to improve the life and life expectancy of your pet you can try this food for 30 days and if you don't see any difference in your pet you can get your money back. A Natural Dog Food is a great alternative to the food brands made from leftovers, diseased meets.

Open Relationships

In today's society there are many different types of relationships that are becoming more socially acceptable. I can only imagine a time when things like gay or interracial dating where completely unacceptable to many people. There have been many websites designed that will bring people of similar lifestyles together. Interracial dating websites allow people of any color to come together and browse profiles of potential mates. Deciding which ones to chat with and create a new relationships.

More Renovation Projects

Last summer as part of our renovation projects we turned our attached garage into a new master bedroom. One of the biggest parts of this renovation was taking out the garage door and getting the hole framed in. We didn't mind doing the interior finishing work at all, the insulating and drywall but the framing, windows and siding was definetly something to be left to the experts. Being new to the area it was hard for us to decide who to get to do the work but with renovation projects the best idea is to talk to people around your community to find someone that has a good reputation. 110The internet is also a good resource to find contractors in your area, just do a search on what you want for example if you are in Dallas and looking for siding do a search on Dallas Siding. After narrowing down your search definetly get the contractors to come into your home and talk about the project, your expectations, what you want and find out how long the project will take and cost. Once you have all the information for your project select the contractor you think will do the best job and set a date for your work. Doing your homework first will save you a lot of time and headache in the long run.