madameblogalot

My son has always been a verbal kid. He has always loved to read and converse and express his own ideas. And he is a pretty good writer too.  For the last three years he has been contributing articles to a community newsletter with a pretty wide distribution. So when he asked me for some way to make money I told him he could take a few of the blog ads I had been assigned. He jumped right on that, figuring that writing fifty words for a few bucks was an easy job! You can read his work in the previous post.

We moved into our house about 10 years ago. I still remember what an ardous process it was. It was very difficult and time consuming. I remember thinking that if we just had all the proper supplies, it would have been much easier. Thankfully, there is now a company who tailors to your moving needs. Whether you are making a long haul to your new home and need some recovery straps and load locks for the moving van, or just moving a dresser from one room to another and you need a few furniture pads, they’ve got everything you need.

I found this excerpt in my file and thought it was pretty interesting. I know I am often “deceiving myself”. Usually though, in those cases, I am the only one deceived. How can we so often “see through” others and just can’t see it in ourselves? I think when we deceive ourselves, we are not the only ones hurt by the deception…

By Seth Czarnecki,
QualityHealth News

“Dr. Seuss once said to “be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter, and those who matter don’t mind.” In our favorite childhood fables, from The Ugly Duckling to The Wizard of Oz, there is a prevalent theme: be happy with the person that you are. Even though we’ve been bombarded with this sentiment since we were young, it becomes increasingly difficult to be satisfied with our lives as we age. Life becomes more complicated with heightened stress from work, family, and friends. And inevitably, as stress increases, so does the challenge of being content with the lives we lead.

As sad as it may sound, the truth remains that many relationships—careers, friendships, and marriages alike—are maintained by self-deception. Whether it’s subconscious or purposeful, self-deception works as a mean to an end. As Austin Cline points out in his book Sometimes We Mislead Even Ourselves, the deception of others is often viewed as a moral flaw while self-deception is rarely pointed out. By and large, self-deception, on the surface, has its perks and is rarely revealed as a bad thing.”

As summer winds down and kids go back to school, many people look to this time of late summer/early fall as the perfect vacation time. It seems like this could be an ideal time to travel abroad and take in all the sights and sounds with less of the crowds. While perusing some of the villas to rent I just can’t help but imagine what it would be like to take a stay in Spain, Italy, France or Croatia. I saw that there are over 7,000 last minute villa offers within the next 2 weeks! A European holiday would be a delightful way to end the summer!

I was thinking that it would be a good idea to just rent a text book for a semester and sure enough, there are several sites available that do just that! I found a site that has my son’s books for rent and/or sale cheaper than I expected. There are rentals available from 30-130 days at reasonable rates. I also found that to buy the book was half what it would have cost us locally. Since he will likely need the book for two semesters, I chose to purchase the book, which was only $9 more than renting it for the semester. His other book we rented for $10 for the semester.

When renting, you are allowed minimal highlighting while using the book to study. And the shipping is free as is the return shipping. They are also looking for students to be campus representatives. These kids can then earn certificates for future book rentals/purchases as well as bonuses.

As I have not been able to run for two months now, and am still not 100% pain free following my foot surgery, I have been getting somewhat depressed about it. I am trying to stay focused on what I CAN do (swimming, cycling, short slow walking, arm weights) but I am realizing that I definitely had unrealistic expectations following my surgery. In fact, I thought I was going to be a wedding coordinator the Saturday following my Thursday sugery!

Needless, to say, we found someone else to do it! I am hearing now from different sources that it will likely be a year before I am back where I really want to be. I just thought that getting the surgery done would take care of all pain (and I never factored in pain from the surgery itself!) I thought I would be back on my feet within two months. By this I mean I thought I would be running again.

So I will keep focusing on what I can do and try to remember to take it slow so that I can eventually get to where I want to be with no other problems developing from not being patient!

I’ve been looking for a part time job off and on. I am picky though. I have only a couple of days a week I can work and I want to be here for my kids in the afternoons, evenings and weekends. Which really limits my opportunities. So I’ve been looking at some other options, including work at home jobs. I did see one place that is hiring 15 million people to work as independent sales representatives for their consumer coupon books. You can Apply Here Start Tomorrow if you are interested.

Toy Story 3: We decided as a family to go see the newest edition of the Disney “trilogy”. I was not sure I wanted to see it and sort of “blew it off” when my son’s girlfriend’s mother told me I was going to cry. *Spoiler Warning* When I found out that Andy is 17 and getting ready for college and is figuring out what to do with all his toys, I knew I was going to be a lost cause! I teared up at the trash incinerator scene but cried all out when Andy gives his toys to Bonnie and sits and plays with them one last time on his way to college. In spite of the innuendos between Ken and Barbie, this one was a HIT for me.

Murder on the Orient Express: We watched the PBS Mystery Masterpiece version. While I like the book, I have to say that I was not too impressed with the film. It was a bit hard to follow and I even dozed off for a bit. I had forgotten about the ending, so while still liking the story, I think I have to say this film was a MISS for me.

Inception: WOW! Good movie. Our whole family votes this one as a HIT! Lots to think about and good conversations afterward.

Despicable Me: so-so. While I enjoyed the family time together and had no real complaints about this one (though I probably wouldn’t want to take little kids to see it) I will say it’s neither a HIT nor a MISS. (Just be aware that they are charging more per ticket if you choose to see it in 3D!)

USA Triathlon Life Summer Issue: While I did not read every article, I enjoyed the ones I did read. I learned some running mechanics for when I can get back to the running. I also enjoyed looking at all the upcoming races, wishing I could do one or two of them! This issue was a HIT for me.

I have always been a proponent of educational toys. And I think there are toys that can be educational in many forms and for all ages. I have seen toys that help with math skills, logic and creative thinking skills, reading skills and ones that foster musical talent . Every time I saw a toy that I knew my kids would like and that I also felt had great educational value and benefits, I would consider it an investment. And there were games that we all enjoyed playing together.

We have found board games, word games, musical games and even computer and video games that fall into this category. I love the ones that include interaction with others, like the board games. Some video games can be multiplayer, making them beneficial in that area as well. Anytime a child can play to help concrete something in his/her mind, it is a way to learn lessons without the pain and frustration that can sometimes build up when learning new and difficult concepts. I know that when my kids were young, if they were having a hard time with a new math concept, we would play games that related to that to help embed ideas into their brains. These kinds of educational games and toys can also help them learn and understand abstract concepts.

Have you seen the show Punk’d? I guess it is a sort of 21st Century Candid Camera where (usually well known) folks are set up to have practical jokes played on them. My kids like to watch it sometimes and earlier this year were caught up in all out prank war. So when my son left the country this summer, his sister had the grand idea to “pink” his room. She made a sign for his door that said “You’ve been punk’d pink’d”. Then she proceeded to use pink sheets on his bed and couch. She hung pink streamers and balloons from the ceiling. She decorated with all kinds of pink accessories, from stuffed animals to clothes to wrapping paper. Then she filled the floor with pink balloons. All in time for her brother’s homecoming. He loved the joke! I’ll post pictures on another blog soon.