PayPerPost Sponsored Wedding

Yes, PPP is now going to sponsor a Postie wedding in Vegas. This is a little crazy if you ask me but I guess it fits this company ;o). So if you want you to get married and have a your wedding paid for you can submit your story and see if PPP will choose you. Oh, but you do need your own man or women to marry. PPP will not provide a man or women for you to marry.
If this payperpost wedding sounds interesting to you just please be sure you are ready to get married. I have been married for 15 years and I love my husband even more now than I did when I married him. Don't let all this excitement make you choose to do something you normally wouldn't. I had to include that little bit of advice because marriage is an important decision.
Check out the site and submit your story.

My New Disclosure Policy

This policy is valid from 30 October 2006


This blog is a personal blog written and edited by me. For questions about this blog, please contact jrweathers At Mailaka Dot Net.


This blog accepts forms of cash advertising, sponsorship, paid insertions or other forms of compensation.

The compensation received may influence the advertising content, topics or posts made in this blog. That content, advertising space or post may not always be identified as paid or sponsored content.

The owner(s) of this blog is compensated to provide opinion on products, services, websites and various other topics. Even though the owner(s) of this blog receives compensation for our posts or advertisements, we always give our honest opinions, findings, beliefs, or experiences on those topics or products. The views and opinions expressed on this blog are purely the bloggers' own. Any product claim, statistic, quote or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer, provider or party in question.

The owner(s) of this blog would like to disclose the following existing relationships. These are companies, organizations or individuals that may have a significant impact on the content of this blog. We are employed by or consult with: PayPerPost.


To get your own policy, go to http://www.disclosurepolicy.org

Disclosure Policy

I feel that I have already been posting disclosure of payment on my blog as a whole. If you happen to be a reader of this blog you will know that I have no problem with disclosing that I am a paid blogger. I have mentioned that I do not want to post on each paid blog as being paid because I feel that makes the post less valued. I post about product and services I have an interest in only.
PayPerPost is now offering bloggers a Disclosure Policy Generator that will allow each blogger the ability to create a disclosure policy that fit their blog. I will be posting this disclosure in a post that will be link to the sidebar of my blog.
This is yet another reason I love PayPerPost. I truly care about the blogosphere and are creating a way for all bloggers to earn money. I am completely comfortable with my disclosure policy and will continue to post about things that interest me whether paid or not.

We went to Santa Barbara

We went to Santa Barbara this weekend and it was a blast. My 10 year old son and his Nanotechnology class was invited to a Nano Quest fieldtrip at UC Santa Barbara. They were given a tour of the Nanotech facilities at UCSB and were also able to do some very educational fun activites related to nanotechnology.
While my son was at the fieldtrip my husband, two daughters and I went to the Beach Park right by the school. This was my baby daughters first time at the beach so it was really fun to watch her. At first she loved the water, then it scared her and then she loved it again (with caution). When the waves would come she would say "here it comes!". It was so cute.
I also got some great first beach photos. My favoirte is of course this naked bumms photo. I will be framing this one soon. Because of our limited finances our family has not be able to take a vacation this year. So this was sort of a mini vacation.

That extra hour of sleep

The extra hour of sleep I got last night was really nice. Now all I have to do is adjust to the new hours. Sometimes I like that the time changes but other times I wish it wouldn't. I don't want it to get darker sooner :o). I guess it's ok. I know the day light will shorten anyway. I think my baby daughter is having a hard time adjusting. I think her grouchiness has something to do with the time change.
Tomorrow is the big "TRICK or TREAT" day for my kids. They are going to a birthday party and then trick or treating. I can tell this will be a very hipper night for them.

Collectors

I am not much of a collector of souvenirs or collectible's. I started my daughter on a Boyds Bear collection and my son on a Marvel action figure collections but I don't really collect anything. I have met some people that enjoy collecting just about anything. I knew this on lady that collected Thomas Kinkade paintings and figurines. She also collected dolls and other things. I think she would like this site that I was introduced to. It's carries Crystal Landmarks for all over the world. Landmarks like the Eiffel Tower and Big Ben. They are a crystal miniature version of the real thing. What would be great is if you could visit each of these places and then buy a miniature crystal landmark to display at your home.
My mother-in law decided to collect dirt from all the places she visited. The idea of the dirt was actually kind of neat but she displayed them in McDonald sundae cups. She first had to find a McDonalds where ever she went. After she finished the sundae she used the cup to collect her dirt. She got dirt from all 50 US states and some countries like Mexico and Canada. My father-in-law built a display case for the collection :o).
So what ever you decided to collect just be sure it's something that brings you happiness. Whether it is dirt or crystal landmarks be sure to enjoy it. But if you are looking for elegant gifts and collectibles you might want to check out the CrystalPalaceLandmarks.com.

Halloween's a comin

My kids are excited about dressing up and going trick or treating. My son is going to be a hobo, my oldest daughter a 80's girl and my baby daughter is going to be a lady bug. I am not going to be dressing up and am kind of dreading having to walk outside in the cold. I think I might bring the car along and just hang my head out the window. I don't know. We will see. I will take pictures and post them in a few days.

Home Repairs

It seems every time we think we might just get ahead a little something else happens. We have lived in our house for about 4 years now and we still haven't finished it. We have this really nice wood burning stove but guess were it has been for the last 4 years. In our garage! Just sitting in our garage never used. We could really use it in the winter months but my husband just hasn't had enough time to put it in. Not to mention there are some basic home repairs that need to be taken care of as well.
So I could really use an Extreme Home Makeover. I tried to entered to win a $50,000 dollar Extreme Home Makeover contest but for some reason my address wasn't working for them. Nothing is going right :o(.
Even though I won't be able enter the contest I can still get some very useful tips of off this site. This is one of those DIY (Do it Yourself) sites that guides you through some common handyman work. It may be that since my husband can't find the time I might have to put on my handyman gloves and do some of it myself. Some of the best advice I read was: How to clean your kitchen ( I really need to take this advice in) and How to make your home more secure. This site has a number of topics that can help in my DIM (Do it Myself) projects :o). Or should I say DIABM (Do it All BY MYSElF). Either way it's a useful site that I will be bookmarking.

Last Halloween

Last Halloween my son was one of the characters from Fat Albert. Till this day we can't remember what the guy's name is and everyone we talked to said the same thing. They'd say to my son "hey your the kid from Fat Albert". So someone please help me and tell me the name of this guy! I guess I could do a google search, huh? Or maybe I can go to Cha Cha :o)
I crocheted the hat, cool huh?

Healthy Free Stuff

If you are like me and like to take advantage of free offers you might want to check out this site I just joined. They specialize in offering healthy free stuff. I like this idea. When I signed up I answered a few basic household health questions. I filled out "yes" to the question about anyone in our household having asthma. Though I didn't realize till I got to the next question that it asked for children with asthma under the age of 5. So I don't think I can get the free sample of Asthma meds that they offered. But I did fill out another questionaire and they will be sending me some information on another product they offer. My hope is that I will be able to find some useful products both relating to the treatment of asthma and other health conditions. I am always up for new things. I don't mean taking new things but researching new things does interest me.



Not only can you get free product samples from this site but you can also find out some great health related articles. They have detailed description of what asthma is. You can also take an online stress test. Here are the results of my test.



I have moderate stress level! Yipes! I better relax. These results are kind of stressing me out. See it's just a never ending cycle :o(.

Found out I have a moderate stress level and it's freakin me out.

I don't want to have a moderate stress level. I don't feel that stressed but maybe I am. The stress test is not supposed to make you more stressed is it? Take a deap breath Mona... ahh, much better. My neck hurts is that caused by stress? No that is probably just me sitting at this computer typing all day. Well I better stop typing and relax a bit.

The UK

When I was a child I visited London England with my father and sister. I really loved seeing the castles and old buildings. You don't see a lot of that in the US. I really enjoyed my visit and hope to be able to return with my own family someday. I know I have said this before but I really want my kids to experience other cultures. We do live in a melting pot but still would like them to see the countries that started all of the diversity in the United States.
Though I loved visiting London I would also love to visit some of the other cities in Great Britain.
I have seen some of photos of Britain's heritage cities like Brighton , Bath, Oxford, Stratford, Chester and York. The castles! I love the castles!
Here is a picture of what I am talking about.

This castles is called the Bodium Castle in Brighton UK

The history of these castles and homes really interests me. I hope to visit them one day. I better start saving my pennies :o)

Flowers can't always fix it.

It is very hard to know what to say to someone who has just lost a loved one. Any words you think of just sound wrong. Losing someone close to you can be very difficult and at the point when the pain is really deep you either hang on every word others are saying or are not listen at all. I know this from experience. What can you do to help others get through the pain? Maybe nothing. Maybe everything. Since every one deals with death differently there is no "right way" to say or do anything.
There are a few things you can do, like send flowers. There are some very nice arrangements of funeral flowers available. But flowers are only one way of expression so it's best to just be there for the person.
After I lost my Dad I realized the pain others hand been going through after a death. I wanted someone to tell me it was ok, but then I also didn't want to talk to anyone. The middle of the night was probably the most difficult time for me. So now when I am talking to someone that has lost a loved one I always say, "Call me any time you need to, even in the middle of the night". I guess the best thing to do for a mourning person is to be there for them. Having an open earn and a soft shoulder maybe all you can do.

The English Language

It has been said that the English language is one of the hardest languages to learn. I suppose this is because of all the different languages that make up this language. It can be difficult to follow the rules when some of the rules don't make a bit of sense. Some rules do make sense but since there are so many rules it is very hard to remember even those.
I spoke German when I was a child. I learned it fairly quickly as most children learn new languages quickly. But I now realize that there was more order to the language. I was fluent in the language about a year after we moved there. I was even so familiar with the language that I my thoughts where in German as well.
Mostly like the reason I learned this language so fast was because I was immersed in the culture. I went to German schools, watched German TV, and played with German speaking friends. The best way to learn a new language is to be immersed into the language and culture. So if the best way to learn German is to live in Germany than the best way to learn English would be to live in England or America.
There is the English School London that could provide help to those living in or near the UK. I check out this site and and found it to be a very useful website. They offer a English level test online which I thought was interesting. They also have a blog you can check out.
I would love to return to the country of my second language again. I hope I will be able to do this in the near future.

A sad story

I posted about the PayPerPost's Flaming Tamale on my reviews blog a while back and now I am going to talk about her latest video confessional. I wonder if she ever made those Bacon Tamales for the PayPerPost staff? Well, Flaming Tamale tells all in her video confessional. Actually she give us a glimpse of some of the stresses of working with a startup company. After watching the video I felt badly that I emailed a few complaints.
I must say though, I think in spite of all the PPP stress she is able to keep a sense of humor. Ms.Tamale is a riot. She has a very cute sense of humor and I can see that the PayPerPost office has a fun atmosphere. I am sure it's fun to work at PPP headquarters but I wouldn't trade getting paid to blog in my pajamas for anything.
Thanks Tamale (I can't spell your real name) for all your hard work! We Posties really do appreciate you.

Smallville

Ok I know I am about a decade behind everyone else on the Smallville espisodes. I don't have cable so a friend is letting us borrow her season DVD. We are now on season 5. I really like this show. I don't know if I should be considered a nerd for liking it. My whole family likes to watcht he show. The only thing I wish they would do is tone down on the sexual stuff. I have to screen those episodes.
I have talked about this already because as I am writing it's sound very familiar. Anyway, I can't believe Lex and Luana kissed!!!

Down Bedding

This winter is going to be cold, I can tell. I have always wanted to have down blankets and pillows. I love the heavy blankets. My husband would love it if I bought him a down comforter for Christmas. I know that sounds a little strange that a man would want for Christmas but it would be a great gift for my husband.
A parently not all down is the same and it is best to get advice before purchasing any down bedding. If you are like me and want to know how to buy down bedding you can visit the WhyBuyDown.com site. They have some great info on the subject.

The puzzle has been solved and the winner is...

The winner of the PayPerPost blue monster puzzle contest is Justin! Yeah for you! Now give me some money :o)..... Oh well, I didn't think that was really going to work.

home loans

I have never been a victim of mortgage fraud but I have heard a few stories. One story in particular was from my second cousins experience with a horrible mortgage company. From what I understand she was stuck with a very high interest rate and for some reason couldn't get out of the loan. I hated to hear this because she is a very nice and caring person. At the time she was carrying for an elderly man. Those scumballs that deceived her make me so angry. They look for people who have to much trust.
It is always wise to follow some guidelines when dealing a mortgage company. I have found that if you do your research you can save yourself from a lot of grief. I hope my cousin has learned to never go into a mortgage without a good understanding of what she is getting into.
There is a website that has some very useful information regarding mortgages. You can find out everything you need. They offer an extensive mortgage directory and forums for discussion.

Highspeed internet, I need you!

I am so excited about finally being able to afford highspeed internet. I can't wait! Every time I use my dial-up I want to scream and through my phone out the window. I say phone because it is related to dial-up and it would be silly for me to throw my computer out the window. My phone is about 100 years old so I don't really care if I throw it out the window. I need a new phone anyway.
So I am thinking beginning November will be a good time to for us. I don't even know what I will do with myself when I get it. I might go crazy with excitement. Ok, I think that may be a exaggeration but I will be really happy :o).

Beautiful Weddings

Hawaii is so beautiful. I don't know if I have mentioned this before but I was born on the island of Oahu. My husband and I also went their for our honeymoon. I love the islands and hope to be able to visit again soon. A few people I know have had Hawaiian Weddings. I would have loved to be able to have my wedding in Hawaii but I will settle for having a family vacation on our 20th anniversay, which is in 5 years.
Whether it is five or 10 years from now one of these days I am going to visit Hawaii again. I would love to see Maui and Kawai. So here's hoping :o)

Learning Spanish

I have decided to try and learn spanish. I recently bought my daughter a computer program that teaches Spanish. The program is really cool and I think it will be fun. It's amazing what computer software is available these days. I bought this program at Costco for only $30. I was so happy because we really needed it.
It's kind of a long story why I had to buy a Spanish computer program for my daughter so I will have to post that at a different time. The program is called Instant Immersion Spanish Deluxe v2.0.
So far my daughter loves it and when as soon as we get a micro phone it will even be better. You can talk into the micro phone on some lessons and it will evaluate your pronouciation.

Landscaping

We are in need of some landscaping ideas. We had our home built about 4 years ago and we still don't have any landscaping. Well, I wouldn't say no landscaping but it is very minimal. My husband and I chose the position of our house because we thought it would be the best for good landscaping. Four years later and not much has been done. I wanted to have a home with curb appeal. Something that people driving by would say "hey, that's a nice house".
I am not going to give up on my dream and after seeing the pictures on this site I am excited about landscaping again. I love looking at pictures of ideas and just imagining what my front yard could look like.

Gold Rush

I find the history of early America very interesting. Especially that of the gold rush in California. In 1849 gold was plenty but the basic necessities of life was not so plentiful. It must have been very strange for the 49ers to find out that the $1 meals they paid at home now costs $25. This was a painful lesson in supply and demand.
Gold is often seen as the symbol of wealth and prosperity. Many people still think investing in gold is a smart choice. People now invest in gold coins, jewelry and ingots. The Bible even describes heaven with "streets of gold". It's no wonder people see this precious metal as a symbol of wealth.

Still Makin Money with PayPerPost

Counting this paid post I have made almost $1350 dollars from payperpost. $680 of it has been deposited into my paypal account. I started blogging for PayPerPost on July 31st and I can't tell you how much this has helped our family. I found out about PayPerPost through a message board post. I don't even remember what the post said or how I found it. The money I have been making from payperpost has relieved some financial stress. I am a wahm of 2 homeschooled children and a toddler. Working outside the home was not an obtion or a desire. I want to be home with my kids and PayPerPost has made that possible.
I am so thankful for what PayPerPost has done for this family. All the controversy surrounding this company doesn't take into account the real people it is affecting. This real mom has been able to contribute to the household income. This real mom does not intend to take offers that she doesn't find value in. This real mom can now help pay the bills and stay home with her kids.
Thank you PayPerPost!

Highspeed Internet! I'm gonna get it!

Ok, I have decided that next month I am going to get high speed internet. I have been dealing with dial-up now for much to long. Part of the reason was because where I live they don't provide cable or dsl so I am left with the more expensive options. Satellite and wireless internet is all I can get out here where I live. There is usually a few hundred dollar set up fee and a higher monthly payment. Not until I started making money online was upgrading even an option. I have decided to use some of my PayPerPost earnings to get wireless internet. With the money I am making on PayPerPost, web design and Affiliate marketing I will now be able to step into the 21st century. I am so excited! Yippy!
I will finally be able to listen to podcasts, watch youtube and load web pages faster.

Spain

One of the most beautiful places on earth is the country of Spain. I can't say this from personal experience but my sister did live there for a few years and has told me that is was very beautiful. My hope is that one day we will be financially free to travel to other countries like Spain. I would love for my children to experience different cultures like I was able to do as a child. My ultimate dream would be able to buy a vaction home in another country.
I don't know if I have mentioned this before but I love Spanish horses. My favorite breed, the Andalusian, is a beautiful Spanish horse that I would love to own and breed one day. The Spanish people have been know in the horse community as very dedicated horseman. They take the art of riding much more seriously than most countries. They also treat their horse with a respect is not see in many countries. The Andalusian breed has been around for centuries and the Spainish pride themselves on keeping the bloodlines pure. I would love to visit Vienna's Spanish Riding School. If buying a property in Spain was a true possiblity for this family I would be living right next door to the Spanish Riding School. I know this is a dream but you never know what my future might hold.

My baby girl is 2 today

I can't believe that my baby daughter is already two. Time goes by so fast. I know that is a common saying but it's especially true when you have kids. They grow up so fast. My oldest daughter is almost 14 and it's was just yesterday that she was running around like my 2 year old. I know understand why people feel the need to say things like "just yesterday" and "time goes by so fast". It really does.
I love this age but miss her being a baby sometimes. She is such a sweet baby.
Happy Birthday Maddy!

2nd Annual Home Office From Hell

I felt this contest was interesting and worth announcing. If you feel you have the home office from hell you could enter the The Home Office From Hell contest. Do I have the home office from hell? I don't know. I can't really consider my computer desk 2 feet away from the television in our family room and office space. I have a corner of the house somewhat dedicated to my work. I have to share my computer with my teenage daughter. She uses it for school and her MySpace. So even though I don't consider my corner an "office space", I still don't think it is one from hell.
I am sure there are situations a lot worse. If you think you have the worst, enter in Office2Share.com's contest. The prizes are great. The Grand Prize winner will receive 12 months of rent (up to $12,000) at any location posted on Office2Share.com. You will also get a paid trip to New York City lunch with Donald Trump's right-hand man -George Ross.
All you need to do to enter this contest is fill out the form on this site and provide 10 reasons why you need to move out of your home office from hell. You can also upload photos of your office as proof. The contest begins today!!!

My dogs

We have 3 dogs and they keep getting loose from their cage. I am getting sick and tired of it. My littlest dog is the one that starts it all. He digs out and then the others usally follow. I hope this does not become a huge problem. I think all we really need to do is to hook the electric fence to where they are digging. We did this once and they didn't do it for a long time. So I guess that may be the solution.

Puzzle Piece # 109

I am dreaming of blue monsters and puzzle pieces just about every night. I am not sure what I will do when this is all over. I may sigh with relief or cry because my $5 puzzle piece are no more. I hope the winner will give me some money. Why? I don't know, because I am a nice person. It's that enough? LOL!
It is possible that these puzzle pieces are making me a little loopy. I must find help! I must refuse the tempation of taking another piece!
Will I risk my sanity to blog ads? YES!

Here are the words >>> payperpostbluemonster

Here is the piece


Don't forget if you win to give me some money because I am a nice person :o).

The families favorite meal

The most common meal in this household is roast beef (pork or chicken) tacos. Everyone here loves my tacos. I also love to make it because it's easy. All I do is put the a roast in a crock pot for 8 hrs and then make the taco shells and everything that goes in them. It's one of the easiest meals to make. The only problem is that I have very few easy meals that they family love. So I make this a lot. Haven't gotten any complaints yet.

Puzzle Piece # 122

This is the last piece. I will not be taking anymore puzzle pieces because they are all gone. I think I may have to check myself in to a rehab center for my "blue monster addiction". I think it's going to be a rough night. Tossing and turning, drooling and foaming at the mouth are all withdrawl symptoms. Please remember me in your prayers tonight. I will continue to blog ads as long as they let me. I may have to pass on the next contest though. I don't know if my mind can handle it.

Ok, enough of the fun. All the pieces have been given out now we just wait for the winner.

Here are the words >>> payperpostbluemonster

Here is the piece

We had a little party for my daughter

It's ok that we didn't have a big party for my daughters 2nd birthday right? I tried to have some relatives over but no one could make it so we ended up just having a small birthday celebration with our family. I don't think she cared. I feel kind of bably though. Both of my other kids had birthday parties at 2 years. She is kind of getting gypted and I know I am going to hear all about it when she gets older and says "how come I didn't get to have a party"? Oh well, I guess I will have to deal with that when it happens.
We bought her a potty which she doesn't know how to use yet. I am not pressuring her. I did that with my first one and it's didn't go well. It took her a year to be potty trained and it was mostly because we pressured her. When they are not ready they are just not ready.
So anyway, my baby is almost 2 and I think I am going to cry :o(.

They want me to sing

Ted from Payperpost has been under the weather the last few days and I mentioned on the message forum that if he was a 2 year old I would sing him a lullaby. Well, now everyone is trying to get me to sing a lullaby on video and post it on my blog. I don't think anyone really want to hear me sing. My kids are the only ones that can tolerate my singing voice.

Puzzle Piece # 156

I think the news of what these puzzle pieces will be revealing soon is going to be exciting. It seems that despite all the controversy people are seen great potentianl in this company. It may take some time but I think even the people against blog marketing will change their views.

Here are the words >>>> payperpostbluemonster

Here's the pic

Puzzle Piece # 152

I don't really know how many puzzle pieces I have been taken but I am sure it is starting to get annoying to all of you who have to look at them. I can't seem to stop taking them. It's such easy money. I love these opps. I will be kind of releaved when this contest is over. I still love blog marketing. Become a PPP blogger and get paid.

Here are the words >>>>payperpostbluemonster

Here is the pic

LiveOps

I found a new online money making opportunity. It's called LiveOps and I guess you talk phone calls for companies that need customer service. You can set your own hours and they say you can make up to $15 an hour. You are required to have highspeed internet which is not really a surprise. I am still looking into this so I will keep you posted.

Puzzle Piece # 138

The game is still on. I think the posties are getting anxious. PayPerPost announced a new opp that is getting everyone talking. If you decide to paint yourself green and parade around in public with a PPP sign they will pay you $200. I don't think I have it in me to do this. Plus, what if I do this and then I go to take the opp and it's gone. All that humiliation for nothing. Maybe some won't see it as humiliation but I deffinetly would. So I think I will just stick to posting these types of blog ads.

Here are the words >>> payperpostbluemonster

Here is the pic.


Enjoy!!!

myLot

I am still trying to figure out what is the best way to make money on myLot. I don't know if it has more to do with posting your own topics or responding to topics. One of my referrals is taking off. She is has already posted 700 posts and it's only been like a week and a half. I am not sure how she does it. I have a total of $6. It's not much but I didn't post that much either. Half the money was made from my referrals. So I guess I will have to see how this all turns out. My user name is jrkcmw if anyone want to find me on myLot.

PPP Puzzle Piece # 178

Here we go. I am trying this again. Hopefully someone will win this game soon so I can stop the puzzle piece addiction. I want to win :o(

Oh well, maybe next time. Here ya are >>> payperpostbluemoster

I REALLY love blog marketing!

I am tired

I had to get my sons school work together last night because I had to meet with our resource teacher today. I of course waited till the last possible minute. So at 1:OO am I was searching around for all the papers I needed. I know I am crazy. I wish I could just get more organized. I am in desperate need of organization. Flylady where are you?????? I need help!

piece # 101

ok, this game is getting crazy. They released a bunch of pieces all at once and I don't think it was on purpose. I was only able to snag one. There are a lot of Posites really getting into this game. I don't have the engery to keep up with all the pieces. I love blog marketing!
Here are the words >>> payperpostbluemoster

Here is the puzzle piece



Have fun!!!

Dave Ramsey calls it being a gazelle

I am trying to be the gazelle. The kind of gazelle that runs as fast as they can away from the chetah. No, I am not crazy. Well, maybe a little but what I am taking about is the way we should be reacting towards debt. We should try to pay our debts as quickly as possible and never get ourselves into debt again. I believe this will all my heart and mind. This is why I have been working so hard. I don't want to be a slave to debt for the rest of my life. I want to change my family tree and teach my kids that you can survive without going into debt.

Wine

It may be no surprise to some but I personally never thought of Australia as wine country. According to the Australian Wine Spot website the history of Australian Wine started back in the 18th century.
I love learning new things. Some might call this trivia but I find it very interesting. The only probably with learning new facts like, Australian wine exports have grown over 700% in the last 15 years, I tend to not remember all the details so I would repeat this information like this " Australian exports a lot of wine, a lot more than they did 15 years ago. I am not sure why I can't remember details. Maybe it's because my children are suck up all my memory or maybe it's because I am more of a visual person. What ever it is I guess I will just how to live with.
Getting back to the Australia wine country. If you feel the need to learn more about wines produced in Australian then I suggest you visit AustralianWinespot.com. You can find out about the history and current wineries in Australia. Wouldn't it be nice if I could one day take me husband to an Australian Winery? I would even settle for an Australian liquor store :o)

Flower arrangements

I have always admired people are natural at decorating their homes. Right now my home is a disaster and decorating is last on my list. Hopefully if I can ever find time and money to actually concentrate on decorating maybe I could also be good at it. My goal is to one day have free flower arrangements on the my dining room table and in my kitchen. I of course will be picking these flowers from my very own garden.
I read about a really neat way to use sunflowers in arrangements. Here are the instructions:

Take 5 to 10 sunflowers cut them at different heights and place them in a high vase (at least about 16 inches in height). Make sure you use a rather robust and heavy vase, otherwise it will tip over because of the weight of the sunflowers’ heads. A table cloth in an earthy tone works well with sunflowers and enhances their fresh yellow tone. You do not even need any further filler flowers our greenery. However, if you still have some black-eyed susans in your back yard, add them to the sunflowers to create a wonderful wild flower arrangement.

Sunflowers would be really easy for me to grow and I would just love to be able to set out an arrangement like that. Maybe one day I can get myself of this computer and start a garden.

Puzzle Piece # 135

They keep giving these puzzle pieces out so I keep taking them. I have already decided not even to try and win. My internet service is too slow and I don't have the patience or know how to find all the piece. So I will just continue to take the opps as they come. What so special about blog marketing?

So here you are >>> payperpostbluemonster

Trying to find out more about Cha Cha

I have been asking around on the myLot discussion board about Cha Cha human search engine but I am not getting much info. Some people say it's to hard to use but I have read posts on some message boards that say it's pretty easy. I am still trying to find out more about it because I would love to be able work and set my own hours. We will see. I will keep you posted.

Puzzle Piece # 124

I love to blog ads like these. It's easy and it's fun. They are paying me $5 to put this puzzle piece here. I just love PayPerPost! I could even win $500 if I tried to find all the pieces but I have given up the search. Maybe next time :o(.

If you want a chance to get paid to do easy work then check out PayPerPost

Here are the words >>> payperpostbluemonster

Here is the puzzle piece

A house almost to myself tonight

My oldest daughter is going to see the Tempest play with her school tonight. My son will be at his friends house for most of the night so Yippy, I get some almost alone time. I say almost because I still have my baby daughter here. She will go to bed about 9:00. I am hoping my husband will be able to pick the kids up. I really don't want to have to wake the baby to go get them.
Unfortunetly I do have some work to do tonight so it won't all be fun and games. But at least I won't get as many interuptions :o).

Elmo is everyone's favorite.

One of my baby daughters first words was Elmo. I didn't even know when she learn the word Elmo. One day we were in the grocery store and she saw a balloon with the picture of Elmo on it. She yelled "Elmo, Elmo". That was the first time I heard her say that word. I think Elmo is one of my favorite Sesame Street characters too.
There is a good chance we might get her aTMX Elmo for Christmas. I think she would just love this.

I have made almost 5 bucks!

Not really a large amount of money but I think it is fun. myLot is one of those addicting things. You can't help but answer questions and respond to comments. And they pay you for it. I have a total of 3 referrals. I thought I could find them and post on their topics but I don't know how to do this. I am still trying to figure this out. I could be making more money with more referrals. If you want to know what I am talking about click this link >> myLot. Have fun posting!

Bridal Showers

I haven't been invited to a bridal shower in a while. I guess most of my friends are already married. I would like to got to one. It's kind of like a girls day out. I don't get those very often anymore. I love finding unique gifts to give a bridal showers. The toaster and nighties are to common. I like to give gifts that no one has thought of.
I have also seen some very nice bridal shower invitations. I think the ones I sent out were not all that nice. I really don't remember, it was 15 years ago. If I could do it all over again, I will still marry the same man but I would have given more attention to the planning of the wedding and invitations. I especially would have had a better reception location. I don't really want to talk about where we had our reception. I still get a little embarrassed thinking about it.
See this invitation is cute. Since I don't remember what mine looked like I can't say it wasn't' cute but I am sure it wasn't as nice as this one.

Oh well, I still married the man of my dreams and I guess that is the most important thing.

My new blog

I finally felt ready enough to publish my new blog. I decided to do one about budgeting money. Since this is my goal for my family everyday I thought it would be a good topic to blog about. I have learned a lot in this past year and want to share it with others. I plan to provide as much useful information I can find on the net. It seems everyday I find some product or service on the net that I find useful. So please visit my new blog - Budget Your Money and leave a comment. I hope you like it!

I want one!

Ever since I saw the Ultimate Chopper on TV a few months ago I have been wanting one. I don't know if it was the great acting on the infomercial that convinced me or if it's because it is actually a useful product. I was so close to picking up that phone and dialing the 800 number. But for some reason I didn't and now I still want it. I would just love to make salsa with the chopping feature. I have never made salsa before but I think I would try if I had this appliance. At least I hope I would. I would hate for me to buy this and it just end up collection dust in the cupboard.
No, I think I would use this one. My two favorite things in my kitchen are my baking stone and my cast iron pan. If I had an ultimate chopper I think that would be my third favorite thing. I want one!

Local Trade Shows

Have you ever been to a trade show? I think the best part about the trade show booths are the free things they give out. I almost feel like I should be carrying a bag and say "trick or treat" every time a reach a new display. I have gotten free t-shirts, key rings, pens, and bags. They sure do like to give things away. I haven't been to one in a while but I will be sure to bring bring a large back and my witch costume :o).

Addicted to painkillers

I have a relative that I believe is addicted to painkillers. Of course if you talked to him about it he would probably not agree. But, he doesn't seem to be able to function without them. The problem is he does have pain that does need to be treated. His physician is one of those doctor that gives pain medicine and antibiotics for everything. And my relative keeps going back to he because he gives him what he wants.
I honestly think he could benefit from a drug detox program. I am not sure I can convince him that he needs a detox though. Though I have never been addicted to anything I do know how it can affect your life. My childhood story is evidence of that. I think what my relative needs is a complete detox. Not only because he over uses painkillers but also because of alcohol use and bad diet. Not a pretty picture.

Endometriosis

About 2 months after my daughter was born I had to have surgery to remove an ovarian cyst that was the size of a grapefruit. My doctor didn't know until he performed the surgery that I had endometriosis. Endometriosis is when you bleed on the outside of your uterus. Women who have this usually have a lot of pain during their menstral period. Before I got pregnant with my daughter I would have horrible pain. Usually it felt like an deep explosion by my ovaries. The pain would eventually subside and for a day or two after I was very sore. At the time this was happening I didn't know I had endometriosis. So I was really concerned about this pain.
Usually women with this disease have a difficult time getting pregnant so when my doctor performed the surgery to remove the cyst (pocket of old blood) he was a little shocked.
I was talking to my son's teacher today and she just found out her 16 year old daughter has endometriosis. I told her about some the ways I was able to treat my condition. Doctors usually prescribe birth control pills (progestron) to counter act the high levels of estrogen that endo suffers have. I told her that I have been using soy isoflavin capsals as well as tofu shakes and that was one of the reason I think I was able to tolerate this condition as long as I did. When I took a soy supplement my pain almost completely disappeared.
Now that I understand this condition more I am convinced that birth control is not the only way to treat endo. Another thing I told my son's teacher was that I have heard from a few different sources that when plastic is frozen or cooked in it creates a synthetic type of estrogen. I wonder if this may be the cause of the many cases of endometriosis these days. It concerns me that a 16 year old has to deal with this type of condition. It's very painful and I wouldn't wish it on anyone.

Finding the right stroller

I love finding websites that offer useful information. I was introduced the this site that has some great information on strollers (pushchairs). This site is very nicely laid out and clean. This site gives you tips on how to choose a stroller and what types of strollers there are and the most popular models. They call strollers, pushchairs. I am thinking this is the European way to say stroller.
One of the best nicest looking strollers I have seen was from a women from Germany. She brought her stroller all the way over from Germany and I when I say her in line at a store I commented on it. This stroller did not look like the American style strollers. I was much nicer. It looked similar to the one in the picture below. Anyway, if you are in need of a stroller you should visit this sites Pushchair Guide.
If you are in America you many not have seen many of the strollers they feature. In my opinion they are much cuter and stylish.

I am so proud!!!

My daughter did so good at the concert she performed at this last weekend. Every time I see her on stage I just want to bust. She is such a natural at stage performance. It doesn't matter what she is doing, singing or dancing she just lights up the stage. I am a proud MaMa. Here is a picture of her singing and playing the guitar for "I love Rock and Roll".

My Kitchen

Right now my kitchen sink is full of dishes, the countertops are full of dishes and stove is a mess. My busy life has led to a dirty kitchen. I hope to get a handle on things soon because it getting to be the season of baking and cooking. I have this juicer that has been sitting on my countertops for a number of months. My sister sent it to me because I wanted to get into juicing. Well, I am glad she sent it to me and I didn't have to buy one but it really isn't a very good juicer. So I used it a couple of times and then quit. I couldn't juice small things like blueberries. The berries would just get sucked through. I guess it would have been a good idea for me to find out more about the best types of juicer. Even though I get it for free I still wasted a bunch of food using this stupid juicer. There is a kitchen appliance guide that has some great info on juicers.
This site actually offers some great information on all kind of appliances. I think if I ever decide to purchase a juicer for myself that does actually juice I will be visiting this kitchen appliance guide. I am sure it will make my life a lot easier. I found this site to be very easy to navigate. If you know anything about me then you will know I like sites that are easy to navigate. You can also comparison shop which is always a nice feature.

My wedding ring

Someone complimented my ring the other day. I like my ring but am kind of surprised because it's kind of small. When I first got my ring 15 years ago I didn't really care about the size of the diamond. I was young and just loved that I was getting a ring and marrying my dream man. Well, I don't know if time made be more shallow or if it is natural for a woman to want the next step up. There is nothing wrong with woman who want new diamond rings? Is there? Am I being materialistic? I hope not.
My husband and I recently celebrated our 15 year anniversary and our gift to each other was a dinner and movie and a pair of prescription glasses for me. It just so happened that my only pair of glass finally broke and I needed a new pair. Since we are on a tight budget the $400 that went into the new glass was all the extra (we never really have extra) money we had. So no gifts for one another this year.
My hope is that our 20th can be a big one. Maybe we can even have a party and invite all our friends. Our reception 15 years ago was not exactly what I would have chosen but that is a whole different story.

Beach Cruisers

My son would love it so much if I was able to buy him a beacher cruisers.Beach cruisers are pretty cool but I wasn't really sure what the difference between beach crusier and a regular bike. It's seems the main difference is that the seats are lower. I guess for a comfortable "cruise" along the beach. As I have mentioned before he is All boy. He loves bikes, cars, skateboards. He would love it if I could get him anything related to bikes or skateboards for his birthday. He has a birthday coming up next month and I would like to buy him something he really wants. Being on a tight budget is no fun for kids :o(. Now that I think of it, being on a budget is not fun for adults either.

Nanooze

My son is taking a science class right now that is teaching all about what a nano is. The class he is taking is apart of his Lego Robotics team. Lego Roboitics theme this year is nanotechnology. I honestly had no idea what nanotechnology was before he started this class. Nanotechnology is actaully a very exciting area of science. The possiblities are almost endless with what nanotechnology can do. I don't want to try and explain it all because I don't think I would give a very good explaination. My son has been doing some research on this Nanooze website. Check out what the future holds.

Health Savings Accounts

After I read Dave Ramsey's book "Total Money Makeover", I became really interested in the Health Savings Accounts (HSA). An HSA plan that offers for people with high deductibles to save money to cover the medical costs before the high deductible insurances starts paying. One of the best parts about opening an HSA plan is that is can as a form of secondary 401(k). So if you don't get sick you can withdraw the money at retirement age without acquiring any penalties. I think this is why Dave Ramsey recommends HSA plans. No other insurance plan will ever pay you back the money you put into. My hope is that our family will be able to set up this type of insurance plan soon. If you check the Vimo website you can see different types of HSA plans available.

Smallville

Yes, I am a Smallville fan. I actually don't have cable/satellite but a friend of my has been letting us borrow her Smallville DVD's. I think we are about a year behind the current episodes. I still love watching them. The only problem I am having is that they keep showing sexual scenes. My kids like to watch these shows too but I have to screen them before they watch them. I guess that is a good think about having them on DVD. Anyway, I still love the show, I just wich the networks didn't would not feel the need to include those scense. The show is just fine without it in my opinion.

my ebay coupon days

I haven't been into coupons as much as I was about this same time last year. I had actually gotten to the point of buying coupons on ebay. Yes, I bought coupons off of ebay. It actually worked out really good for me because my local supermarket offered double coupons and I would search their sales booklet for the coupons that would give me the best deal. Many times I was getting things for free. Because you purchase the same coupon in lots of 10-20 I could get many items for free.
I am not sure but I may be the reason that they stopped offering double coupons. I guess I over used my coupon power. When they stopped allowing double coupons I got really upset (not really sure why, I was the one over using the coupons) and desided to shop at their competition. The only lasted for a short time because it turned out my store had better deals even without the coupons. So now I am a very light coupon user and I miss the days of coming how with 10 free tubes of toothpaste :o(.
I can still shop online and get really good deals with coupons. Many of the online sales and coupons are better than in store sales. If you have a really good coupon site you can check out what deals you can find at your favorite online store. I have used Target coupons before. Overstock.com deals are really good and there are some really good coupons. I like Overstock because their shipping is so cheap. We purchased a refurbished walkman from them before. We had it for a long time until it was stolen from our car. But that is a whole different story.

Life Insurance

I have trying to get a new life insurance plan for almost a year now. The other day I got a called from the insurance broker. The agent told me that my file is too old now and that we need to start the whole process over again. So now I have to resubmit all the forms and get the medical tests taken all over again.
I can't really say it was the brokers fault. I don't think my health insurance company was being very cooperative. From what I heard Kaiser is not very good about releasing patience records. So here I am almost a year later trying to decide what to do. I will have to get my annual pap smear before I can resubmit the paper work. The problem is my insurance now has a $1500 deductible. So, if I make an appointment I will have to pay the full visit out of pocket. I know that my health is very important but if you don't have the money, you don't have the money.
So I guess this is something I am going to have to work out. By the way, term life insurance is the best type of life insurance there is. Don't bother with any of the other plans they are not work you money. A life insurance plan should never be considered a good "savings plan", therefore don't fall into the Universal or Global life policies. My husband and I where young and chose a life insurance only because his parents had this type of policy. We didn't realize that this type of insurance policy was a waist of our money until we were introduced to Dave Ramsey. He gave us some very sound financial advice which included finding the best life insurance policy. He also recommended getting a 20-30 year guaranteed plan. My husband was able to switch his plan and now we have a much, much better policy.

hot tubs

Oh, do I need a hot tub right now. I have been working on the computer and I am developing a stiff neck. I had a headache a little earlier that I had to sleep off. Ever since we lived in this house my husband has wished for a hot tub. He has a job that can get stressful at time and a nice relaxing dip in the tub would definitely help. Some friends of ours have a very nice tub that is covered by a gazebo. I am hoping one of these days our finances will allow for a hot tub. A hot tub is probably the least important thing for this home right now but it doesn't hurt to dream. My hope is that the day I am able to purchase a hot tub I will be able to search for the best one. This hot tub reviews site gives some very useful information about different types of hot tubs available. So here's to wishing and hoping :o).

myLot addiction

I can't seem to help it. I keep going back to myLot even though it does make me much money and I am not really learning anything or contributing that much. I have actually started a discussion that takes about how additing this myLot is.

Check it out >>> This myLot thing is kinda addicting.

If you want to sign up and become addicted please click my referral link. >>> www.myLot.com?ref=jrkcmw

I need new furniture!

I seriously need new living room furniture. We haven't bought a new couch in years. One of our relatives gave us a couch set that was already very well broken in. Maybe even too much. I am thankful that we have it but I do hope that we will be able to purchase a new set sometime soon. My kids also need some new
bedroom furniture. They also have sets that are old and worn. My hope is that I will be able to earn enough of an extra income to pay for a new set of furniture for my kids. So we will see. I am working hard.

Cha Cha Human Search Engine

I just check out the Cha Cha Human Search Engine site and I have to say it is quite interesting. I wanted to search for an area specific internet service provider so I first used the basic search which came up with some sites that had nothing to do with the town I was looking for. Then I decided to use a guide. I put the information I was looking for in the guided search but it said there was not guide available. I thought that if I put in a basic request like "hair dryer" then maybe I could get a guide. I did get a guide right away for that search. I then told the guide that I wasn't really looking for hair dryers but a satellite provider in my area. She was glad to help me and found 3 specific links related to my request.
I also asked her how she liked being a guide. She said she there are some technical gliches that can get frustrating but thought it was also fun.
From what I understand becoming a guide is fairly simple. You have to get an invitation from an existing guide and go through a train process. There are some requirements one of which is to have highspeed internet.
Overall, I think this human search engine could become very hand. I am not sure what these guide do differently to find the searches. It was really nice to be give 3 specifically related results rather than 3,000 unrelated ones.
I am looking into becoming a guide. I will let you know how that goes.

PPP Puzzle Piece

Well here is another puzzle piece. I am not sure how to find all the puzzle pieces. I guess I have to search the other posties. This game is kinda fun but also a little depressing. I don't think I will win the $500 prize :o(. I could really use the money so I guess I will try. If you want to be apart of this contest and you need to sign up for PPP. Your blog can make you money.

Here are the words>>>> payperpostbluemonster
Here is the puzzle piece

myLot -They pay you to start discussions.

Have you heard of myLot? It's a basically a forum that pays you to start discussions and respond to discussion. It's not a huge money maker but it's kinda fun. I started a few days ago and I have to say it's kind of addicting. I have only earned $1.78 but it's was still easy money. You are basically getting paid to chat with other people. So if you like chatting then the pay is a bonus. One thing I have discovered is that you should post quality content.
You can start by asking a question? The most responses seem to be questions that everyone can relate to. I also think that the majority of the users are 25 or younger. So many of the topics don't exactly have much substance.
They don't tell you how they rate your contribution but many people have said they have earned a lot less then me in one day. All I did was start discussions and respond to discussions. Nothing has to be lengthy or great detail but I think they pay you less for "yah man" type of answers. Also I have noticed that I spell better than 90% of the responses. So it could be that if you can spell correctly you will be paid better (just a thought).
You also get paid more if you have referrals. So click on this link >>> myLot. If you do accept my referral I will do my best to respond to all of your posts. This means more money for you and me. It's free and easy to start.
It's an easy way to earn some money.

Blue Monster Puzzle Piece # 3

Yet another piece. I decided this was easy money so I am posting again. Don't think you wouldn't do it too. PPP is being really sneaky again. I think they like to torture us Posties.

Word of mouth marketing rocks!!

Here are the words >>> payperpostbluemonster

Here is the puzzle piece


I wonder what PPP is up to. We will have to wait and see I guess.

My daughters performance this Sunday

I am really excited for my daughter. She will be performing in a band (not a marching band) this Sunday. Her guitar teacher has set up a number of students to play certain songs together. She and a bass player student have been practicing the same song seperately for a while now. The last two weekends they had practiced the song together and you never would know that it was their first times together. My daughter is going to be play the guitar and singing. They are doing the Joan Jet song " I love Rock and Roll". I am so pround of her but she is really neverous. Though you can't tell when she is on stage. She is a really good performer.

Blue Monster Puzzle Piece # 5

PayPerPost will be announcing something in the near future about a Blue Monster. Well, that is what they are calling it. I am very interested to find out what this is all about. In the mean time I am getting paid $5 to post this. I love these type of opps. Thanks PPP!

Word of mouth marketing will ture everyone into Blue Monsters. Is that it?


Here are the words : payperpostbluemonster

Here is the puzzle piece.


Woohoo! How exciting!

WAHM.com

Just about everything you need to know about working at home can be found on this site. They have a very active forum that has a number of topics of discussion. I would highly recommend any mom that works at home or is looking for work at home to check out this web site >> http://www.wahm.com . Don't forget to visit their forums.

PayPerPost has another contest

As PayPerPost posties we are supposed to find all the puzzle pieces and the first one to assemble all of them wins $500. I hope it's me. But like I said before I don't ever win anything. They will soon be annoucning their new project code named the Blue Monster. Let's see what happens with the power of word of mouth marketing
Here are the words > payperpostbluemonster

Here is the puzzle piece.

A day of rest

I am hoping to find a day of rest here pretty soon. I have been working, and working and working and cooking dinner and driving and working, and schooling and disiplining, and driving. Do you think I have used to many conjunctions? Oh did I mention I have been working?

I found an interesting thing yesterday. It's called myLot and they pay you to post questions. It's really strange but kinda neat at the same time. You don't get paid a whole lot but if you like chatting with other people then it's fun.

Check it out!myLot

Homes not selling

There are about 6 different homes and pieces of property that are for sale and have been that way for some time in my area. I think maybe the selling has reached it's peak and is now on a slow decline. Many of the people selling in this area are sticking up "for sale by owner" signs. This may be part of the reason they have not sold since they are not on the MLS. I don't blame them for wanting to try and sell their homes/properties themselves. The realtor fees can be very painful, especially if you already know what you want before get to the realtor.
AlcanProperties.com is one of those real estate broker companies that is trying to help buyers and sellers save some money. They will reward you for doing some of the legwork, by giving you back a percent of the commision. This particular company is an Austin real estate based company but you can find out a lot of great information about real estate here. If by chance you are moving to Texas they can help you. I really wish there were more companies like this one.
I don't have any plans to move but it would be nice to know that if I did have to sell my home I wouldn't have to pay outragous commissions.

yWriter

Are you a writer? I found this freeware that can help you with your writing process. It's called yWriter and it sounds really cool. Since I am not a writer (other than my blogs) I am don't think I need this but I ran across it and found it interesting. Here are the details:

yWriter is a free novel writing program for authors. It allows you to break your novel into chapters and scenes within chapters. You can reorder scenes using drag and drop, and you can print out a number of reports (summary, synopsis, scene list, work schedule). Gives you a running word count per scene and chapter, and the built-in editor auto-saves your work. Free software from the author of the Hal Spacejock series.

OS Support: Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows ME, Windows XP, Windows NT 4, Windows 2000, Windows 2003

The Women's Marketing Telesummit 2006

Women's Marketing Telesummit 2006 will be October 18-20th. If you don't already know what this is I will give you a quick description. Women's Marketing Telesummit is great opportunity for any women interested in learning effective methods of for marketing your business. You can learn about what the leading experts have to say about marketing techniques such as podcasting, direct mail, creating multiple passive streams of income and much more. The best part about this is that it is all online so you don't have to leave your home. You will be able to listen to these leading experts discuss topics that are essential in marketing a business. Here is a list of a few more topics they will be discussing over this 3 day telesummit:

Dozens of ways to grow your business without spending a fortune

How to find your perfect clients so that your business thrives for years to come

The no-nonsense scoop on exactly what you need to do to get more customers; we'll give it to you step-by-step and cut through the jargon and information overload

Easy ways to increase your productivity (and profits) - how you can get more done in less time, and make more money

Money for nothing - how to create a number of passive income streams that bring you money while you sleep

How you can enjoy plenty of holidays and free time by creating a more-than-comfortable income

How to build your brand and your bottom line by learning how to write, design and put together a high impact business website

Here are few of the longs list of speakers that will be attending:
Krishna De
Annie Meachem
Carolyn K Edwards


These are only some of the topics to be discussed. If you are just starting a business or thinking of starting one this would be good for you to attend as well. The best thing to do is to visit the Women's Marketing Telesummit yourself to find out more information. Don't wait though the telesummit starts in about a week from now.

I won't be able to attend but let me know if you where able to attend. I would love to hear about it.

Country Music

I moved to a mountain country where the best station that comes over the radio is a country music station. I never thought I would say that I listen to country music. Well, my name is Mona and I am a country music listener.
Before I moved here the twangy country singers almost irriated me but now I think the twangier the better (sometimes). I have grown to really like country music and some of my friends think I am a little strange. Of course none of those friends live in the town.
I think my favorite thing about country songs is the artists ability to make me cry within a few seconds of listening the song. Some of these songs are deep! My daughter can't handle the sad songs so as soon as one comes on she changes the station (to static). But if I am in the car alone and one of those sad, sad songs comes on 9 times out of 10 I will turn it up and start balling my eyes out. You know those gooooood cries. The ones most men don't understand. My daughter hasn't embrassed her feminity yet. I have tried to explain to her that she has to learn how to cry every onces in a while so she can out live all the boys her age. So that's my country music story.
Though I listen to country songs all day I still don't really know who's singing what. I guess I am not a die-hard fan. My new favorite is from the sound track of the new Flicka movie. Don't know the names of the song or singer--sorry.

Luggage Dreams

The last time I got a new luggage set was when I became a Mary Kay consultant. I received as a bonus for making a certain amount in sales. The set was just two pieces, a carry on bag and a garmet bag. They are nicely made but I would prefer something other than a lepard print. At least it is not a pink lepard print (no offense to anyone that likes that).
I would love to get a new set. Actually I would love to have a reason to get a new set. Travelling is not quite in our budget at this point in time. But it never hurts to have good luggage in case of an emergency or suprise trip. I would prefer a soft-sided set because I just just like the look better than the hard-sided cases. I would ofcourse have to find a set that was in our budget.
My hope is to visit my sister in Georgia next year with a brand new luggage set. I also want to be able to take my family to Disney World so I guess my who family will need a new set. I guess I better start saving :o).

Costco Trip

I decided I am going to try to do the once a month Costco trip again. I know I can save a lot of money on a few things but sometimes I wonder if I am paying to much for other things. One thing I am so happy about is their peanut butter and honey. For 2 huge jars of peanut butter it was less than $7. At the grocery story it costs $6 for one of those. The honey was really cheap too, $7 of 3 good sized honey jars. I love getting a good deal. Actually sometimes I am obsessed with getting a good deal. So we will see how this once a month Costco trip works out.

Free Cell Phone Ringtones

I am not one of those people that has to have the latest cell phone ringtone but I sure would like to get a new one. Ever since I got my new phone (about a year ago) I have had to use the ringtones that come with the phone. I just haven't had the time or energy to purchase a ringtone. I think it is about time I do. What I really want is the Wonder Woman theme song. I love Wonder Woman. No, I am Wonder Woman :o).
There are many places online that offer free ringtones. You can get free ringtones, games and backgrounds for your cell phone! This site offers these free if you take survey, requesting free information or printing a coupon. The nice thing about this site is there's nothing to buy, no credit card needed and no subscription required to get your free ringtones.

Web design

I finally got together with the person I will be build a web site for. She has sent me all the details and I will be needing to work on it as much as I can. I told her it should be done in a month and a half but I am not sure I should have said that. I really don't know how long it will take me. I like the look I came up with. I think she likes it too. So all I need to do now is finish all the pages. I hope it will go smoothe.

Video Phones

These days seeing people walking around with their phones attached to their faces is a common site. Only a few years ago I would look at people and wonder why they felt the need to talk on the phone in public places. Many people with be standing right in front of you holding their phone at one ear while shopping, driving (no,no), walking, and everything in between. I have to admit I am one of those people. I have become what bothered me only a few years ago. I remember the first encounters with people with headphones. You can't tell they are have the device in their ear so you think they are just walking around talking to themselves. Until of course you notice the headphones.
Now with video phones a whole new way of cell phone use is a common site these days. People, including my self, will walking around with their cell phones ahead of them taking video. I myself have said many times "get my cell phone, I want to video this". So what will the future be for video phones? It's apparent that video phones is a popular item so it is my guess they will only get better. I can't wait for the day when you can actually record high quality video.

Have you heard of Juice Plus?

I am building a website for a woman who is a Juice Plus distributor. I am actually really interested in this product. I don't really know much about it other than it is a whole food put into a capsule. I am all for organic, whole foods but I have always a little leery about products that are trying to be sold to me. Everyone always has good stuff to say about their product.
I have to say that the Juice Plus does make a lot of sense to me. So we will see.

Where have I been?

I found this on another blog and thought it was kinda fun. These are the places I have been in the US. Not really that many states. I got lots of states to visit.



create your own personalized map of the USA

Internet based phone service

Internet based phone service has been around for a while but I think it has improved a lot over the years. If you are thinking about getting a VoIP service you might want to check out this forum. This independent Vonage support site offers some great information. You can decide if VoIP is right for you. I like the idea that they offer a forum to discuss this service is great. How many times have we bought into something but didn't find out till later that it wasn't really want we wanted. This forum give you the opportunity to make the right choice. This site is packed with information on this subject.

Striving for better content

I have mentioned a few time on this blog that my goal for my blogging is to create more interesting content. I want to be able to write things that interest others. Since I started working with PayPerPost I have been writing around 6-8 posts a day. Thankfully 3 of those posts are easy to do because I am given a writing prompt of sorts (not word for word info just a prompt) from the advertisers. But the other 3-4 posts I come up with myself. So my goal is to create content that will be interesting to write and interesting to read. I searched for a few writing prompt sites today that might be helpful. I have another idea in the works that also may be helpful. I will let you know how it turns out.

Colorado

Last summer my family went to Colorado to visit my mom. We had a wonderful vacation. We drove our van that carried our three kids, my husband and I and our black Lab. Colorado is one of the most beautiful states I ever visited. I love the mountain regions especially. We visited Pagosa Springs which was perfect type of town for me. I know there are many other places in Colorado that are worth visiting. I have heard some great things about Colorado Springs and Glenwood Springs. How many "springs" are there in Colorado anyway?
Glenwood Springs looks a lot like Pagosa Springs from the pictures I saw on a web site recently. It's actually a Wiki site which if you have never heard of they are great fun because you can contribute to the site like you can in a blog. Like Pagosa Springs, Glenwood has very nice hot springs, river rafting and shopping. My mom moved away from Pagosa Springs so many the next time we travel we will try Glenwood Springs Colorado. Everything you want to know about Glenwood springs in located on this site. They seem to be still working on a few pages but I expect they will have that completed soon.
I need a vacation :o(.

A new pair of slippers

It starting to get cold around here and I think its time for someone to get me a new pair of cozy slippers. I don't need anything fancy or goofy, just cozy. I like the kind that you can go out in public with and no one would really know they are slippers unless they really look hard. I have a pair I really like but they are getting a little raggedy. These are really cute but a little higher priced than I would like. I found these at OnlySlippers.com. They are $39.99 plus $2.99 shipping.




So if anyone wants to buy them for me my address is.....just kidding.

Breast Cancer Awareness Month

It's Breast Cancer Awareness Month! I was recently introduced to a blog that I find inspirational. This weblog is authored by a women who is actually going through breast cancer. herself. The news of her breast cancer came to Sylvie at the age of 36. She is the mother of 3 teenagers and was planning her wedding when she found out the devastating news. She decided to journal here breast cancer survivor story in a weblog. I read a few of her posts and it is obvious that this women has a strong character. She has decided not to let the horrible statistics of the type of breast cancer she has keep her from living her life. No one really knows how they will handle the news of a terminal diagnosis but I hope that I could display a strength like hers.

Her first round of Chemotherapy will take place in a few days. I am sure she would love for us all to pray for her but just as important to check yourself this month. My heart goes out to you Sylvie. I will be praying for you!

The impossible teenager conversation

I am having the hardest time having a normal conversation with my teenage daughter. We just seem to get no where when we try and have a conversation. This usually happens when she is asking me for help and I am trying to giver her help. Arrrgggg! It's so frustrating. I just want to be able to communicate without have a argument come out of it. Not all our conversations end up like this but I tell you most of them do. She is a very sweet and considerate person when she is talking to anyone else but me. :o( Makes me sad.

A Wiki or a Blog

I am still trying to decide what I should turn MomsOpNet site into. I am leaning towards a blog but I have also seen some really nice wikis. My goal is to make the site very easy to edit and to be able to add contributors to the site. I am actually not exactly sure of the difference between a wiki and a blog. I think maybe it's mostly the design and layout. I know how to create a free wiki because I have found a number of sites like this one. I am going to have to make a discussion soon because I need to start the changes.

My failed eBay idea.

I think it was last year that I attempted what I thought was a great idea. I still think it is but because the idea is kind of time consuming I haven't tried it again. My ideas was to embellish name brand baby clothes with crochet. I came up with a few very cute designs but no one bid on them. I think I had the bid too high the first time I tried it but I still didn't get any offers after I lowered the bid. Maybe if I had marketed it differently. Anyway, I have included a photo of one of my designs. My baby girls was my model. Tell me what you think.

Watched X-Men twice so far.

I mentioned in a previous post that my son is obsessed with X-Men. He bought himself the X-Men trilogy DVD set and so far he has watched #2 once and #3 twice and he just bought it the day before yesterday. I am afraid I am in for a few weeks of non-stop X-Men. What can you do? I love that boy.

I am the Scum of the Earth.

I read a blog post today on the calacanis weblog. According to Jason Calacanis the CEO of Weblogs,Inc. PayPerPost is the "most evil idea to hit the blogosphere to date". He also stated that "the slimebucket advertisers who would use a covert marketing service don't want to be outed".
You know I'm getting the feeling that he doesn't like PayPerPost. Really though, I am baffled at this controversy. Is the goal here to catch a ride on the bandwagon of Disgust and Loathing?
People like this Jason Calacanis seem to be commenting about things they don't understand and just following behind the guy in the lead (Mike Arrington, and others). One thing he obviously does not understand is that most PPP bloggers have no problem disclosing that they are getting paid to post.

you can disclose you're using the platform--no one has that I know of

I may not disclose in each offer I take that I am a getting paid to post but if you look at my blog as a whole you will see that I am not ashamed to be a PayPerPost Postie. With the numerous PPP offers I have taken and the large list of other members that I support in the PPP blogroll I think I have made it full aware to anyone reading my posts that I am a PPP blogger.
If the big issue here is that the bloggers are not required to disclose that they are being paid for a post thus "tainting the blogosphere" then I am sorry to say the blogosphere was tainted long ago with the introduction of affiliate marketing. How many bloggers out there have been using affiliate links and not disclosing they will be paid for a sale?
It has been said before and I will say it again. Do not underestimate the intelligence of the readers. Let the readers decide if blog advertising really changes they way they think about the blogs they read.
If you ask me I think Jason Calacanis may be seeking some SEO himself with his outrageous blog post.

I think I have a great idea

I am not sure if my ideas are good ones until I run them by other people but I think this is a good one. I am going to leave you hanging because I want to work on it a little before I share it with you. So stay tooned and I will reveal my idea within a few days. Am I being sneaking?

Luxury Cars

At this point in my financial state and children's lives my idea of a luxury car is one that does not have milk, candy and soda stains on the seats, has windows that roll down and then back up again, and tires with thread on them. My hope is that one day we will actually be at the point where I can purchase a real luxury car.
Can't say I ever thought of an Audi as a luxury car but after seeing some of their new luxury cars I guess I was mistaken. They actually have some very nice cars. Audi has come a long way in the last few years. I personally really like the Audio TT. This would be my car. No kids allowed and no soda and candy.

My son loves X-Men.

My son is obsessed with X-Men. He is actually just a regular boy that just loves anything with cool effects and lots of action. He earned some money recently by watering a neighbors plants and he decided he wanted to use his money to buy the X-Men trilogy. He actually got a good deal on the set. It was $27.99 for all three movies at K-Mart. Tonight he will be watching the 3rd movie (The Last Stand) in the series and he is very excited about it. He didn't get to see it in the theaters so he has been waiting a long time. I am actually kind of excited about it myself. I am actually a sci-fi freaky mama. I enjoy watching just about anything sci-fi.

Cleaner Air

I often wonder if I could create an completely clean air in my home if it could help my sons asthma. He has been have a difficult time with his asthma lately. I know there are some things I can do to improve the air quality in my home. Air purifiers, quality vacuum cleaners and humidifiers are ways I know can help.
I have heard the Dyson vacuum cleaners are good. They claim that most other vacuums expel the dirty air that is sucked up then blown back into the air. This is what was happening to my vacuum. Not only was it expelling bad air it wasn't even holding the dirt in. The Dyson web site where I got this information also has a visual of how this happens. I found it interesting.
This site also has information on the Dyson Airblade hand drier. According to this site most public hand driers suck the dirty bathroom in, heat it up, and then blow it back on to your hands. Yuck! I never realized that is what was happening. They also have given a visual for this.
So, I am seriously considering buying a Dyson vacuum cleaner and I may decided to pass on using the public bathroom hand driers unless I see the words Dyson on it.

Just added a new thread to the forum

PPP has a great forum but I thought I should include a thread just for PPP women on the momsopnet forum. The thread is called PPP Mamas and as soon as I posted this information on PPP forum someone joined. I think it will be fun to have an all women discussion about PPP. The guys at PPP are really nice but you know women sometimes need their space.
If you want to check it out click here.

Disney World!

I have decided that I am going to try save enough money to take my family to Disney World next year. My kids would just love to be able to go to Disney World. A few years ago we had passes for Disneyland and we where going at least once a month. It was so much fun. I know my kids would just be completely blown away by the size of Disney World. From what I have heard it is huge. So my goal for this year is to earn enough money to fly to Florida. Or maybe we could try and find some other Florida holidays. I have heard of many other great places Florida has for vacationing. Well, wish me luck on my goal! Disney World here we come!!!

School Deadlines

Yesterday, I completely forgot that my daughter needed to turn in her personal development assignment. I hate it when I forget these things. I don't think she will be penialized but I still hate forgetting and turning things in late. So today we are trying to decide what she should do. Rush, rush, rush, hurry, hurry hury. :o(

A great tool for ebay buyers.

Have you ever wondered how to get those great deals on ebay. If you are a savvy eBayer you will search keywords that are misspelled. You can actually get better deals on items that are misspelled by searching the Ebay misspelling search. SpellingSearch.com site will help you find the common misspelled words for a number of different brands. This site allows you to search by name or by category. I actually think this site is really cool. I caint belive hou peopo can spel worts wronk whin seling or ebea. Can you?
I entered the words Harry Potter and the search came up with Arry Hotter, Harry Poter and Harry Porter to name a few. This site is so cool! Check it out!