Me a Grandmother? Hard to believe!

Me a Grandmother? Hard to believe!

Ok, I know this probably won’t mean much to anyone but me but this blog is mainly for me to rant anyway, right?

I’m going to be a grandmother in about  5 weeks! Hard to believe. I don’t feel like a grandmother. Grandmothers are old, with white hair and sit in rocking chairs. Grandmothers are full wisdom and maturity. They are great cooks and housekeepers. Ummm, I don’t feel like I’m any of those. Ok, well maybe the old part but let me have my delusions. I still feel like I’m 25.

Anyway, here’s some pctures of my daughter April’s baby shower. It was held at the bar/restaraunt that my oldest daughter Shannon works at. The New Moon Cafe in Virginia Beach. She and her friend Tara put on a great party!

She had a great turn out of about 30 people. And April thought no one would come.

Here’s my sister Barbie, April me (hiding behind my mom’s hair) and my mother.

Here’s pics of the gifts and food at the shower:

And here are my two babies. Shannon is to the left supervising April opening presents.

It was a fun time and I’m sure April will never forget it.

I’m going to be a grandma!

Today’s Quote: "I wanted a perfect ending. Now I’ve learned, the hard way, that some poems don’t rhyme, and some stories don’t have a clear beginning, middle, and end. Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it, without knowing what’s going to happen next." Gilda Radner

Today’s Tip: Keep your pets inside this 4th of July. You want have to worry about them being frightened by the loud boom of fireworks and running away. If you must keep them outdoors, make sure they have ID tags on their collars.

Am I crazy? Three more little mouths to feed!

                       I must be a lunatic!

Am I crazy? My 18 year old son, who is as big as a sucker as I am when it comes to animals has talked me into  adding 3 new members to our family. Or as I sometimes think of it, 3 new mouths to feed.

A week or so ago Ryan asked if we could get something to fill the empty aquarium in the living room. I was hoping for a turtle or a frog. We went to our local pet store and picked out 2 Asian fire belly frogs. We chose them for several reasons. They were beautiful. They look like those plastic Dollar Store toy frogs. They are easy to take care of. They live 10 to 15 years. I’m tired of getting attached to a hamster that only lives a few years! They make the cutest little sound, kind of like a soft barking sound. And they were cheap!

We named these guys Fred and Ethel. Here’s a picture of them but they are much more striking in person:

The other member of our animal family is this tiny little kitten:

He came to us one stormy night when we found him wondering in the road in a torrential rain storm. He looks to be about 5-6 weeks. Our SPCA won’t take him because they are overrun with cats. So looks like he’s ours. Our dogs all love him. Ryan loves him too.

So yes I am crazy for adding more animals to this zoo. But hey, what’s one more? Or two? Or three?

Today’s Quote:"The real art of conversation is not only to say the right thing in the right place, but also to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the tempting moment."

Today’s Work Tip: Did you know you can change any document to a pdf  versy easily by going to google docs? It’s free. Here’s the link:  http://docs.google.com/

Guest Post: New Ways To Improve Your Bottom Line From Home

Today we have a guest post by Jack Edmund from PriorityElectronics.com

New Ways To Improve Your Bottom Line From Home

Finding innovative ways to cut cost for your home-based business can be as lucrative as landing a new client. From taking advantage of the open-source revolution to DIY computer fixes, there are numerous inexpensive (and sometimes free) alternatives available to those in the know.

 Get to Know OpenOffice.org

Running an old version of Microsoft Office on your laptop? Don’t want to pay extra for licenses of the same software across multiple computers? Then embrace the open-source alternative that is Open Office.

Open Office provides is word processing, spreadsheet, presentation software and more. Files can be saved to be compatible with Microsoft products. Its developed by Sun Microsystems and extremely easy for anyone with word processing experience to pick up. And best of all it’s free!

DIY Laptop Battery Replacement

Anyone who’s logged serious hours on their laptop understands battery life drains over time. Fortunately, these batteries can be replaced cheaply and easily. For example, you can replace your HP Pavilions standard battery (pb995a) for just over $50. This provides considerable cost savings compared to buying a new system.

During tough economic times like these finding the cost-effective ways to save money is a requirement. What new ways to save money have you come up with?

About The Author

Jack Edmund is a blogger for the laptop battery and accessories retailer PriorityElectronics.com. His interests include kayaking, bird watching, and technology.

Today’s Quote: "Even if you are on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there." Will Rogers

Today’s Tip: Use a kitchen or online timer to focus on nothing but work. Set it 45 minutes and work as hard as you can without being distracted on your task. When the timer goes off, take a 15 minute break.

I’m Legal! But it’s not all it’s cracked up to be!

I know what you are thinking. You are thinking "She’s legal? Heck I bet she was ‘legal eons ago."

Well, yes I was drinking age legal almost 30 years ago. I’m not talking about that kind of legal. I’m talking about my business being legal in my city.

Now you are probably thinking I should have been legal many years ago when I first started my business but, well, things just kept me from doing it. Did I ever tell you I was a procrastinator?

When I started my craft business in 1992, it just never occured to me to get a business license ….or a sales tax ID. We crafters are ARTISTS. We don’t think about such mundane things. At least we didn’t in 1992.

About 1994, someone told me I needed to get a State sales tax ID and a business license to be legal so I did get my sales tax ID.  When I called my city though, they told me I didn’t need a business license if I was just a crafter and didn’t have people buying out of my home.

I got my first website in 1996. I didn’t even own my own domain name then. My webmaster who specialized in craft sites owned it. In 1999, he dissapeared with my money but I was able to get my domain name put in my name.

Even, once I went online, it didn’t occur to me that I should check again to see if I need a business license now. At least for awhile. Once I did think about it, it seemed like something always got it the way. I know over the years, people would tell me horror stories of how they got caught by the city without a business license and had to pay for all the prior years + a bunch of fees. So I was a little scared.

Last month, when I was down at the city treasurer’s office, I saw the Business License sign and decided to man up and see if I needed one. The bad news is I did. The good news, it was only $50 and I didn’t have to pay for any prior years or anything.

I left the office with a sigh of relief and a weight lifted off my shoulders. Why do I procrastinate? If I’d just face these things instead of pushing it to the back of my mind, I’d save myself so much hassle.

Anyway, I forgot all about it until the calls started coming in. Sometimes 3-4 a day. All telemarketers offering me their business banking services for  my new business. Or offering to build me a website for my new business. It goes on and on, but you get the picture. Twice now the same guy has called me 2 days in a row offering the same exact thing, even though I told him the first day I was not a new business and I had already built my own website, thank you very much.

Oh, and I’m getting plenty of junk mail of the same sort of genre but that’s alot easier to deal with.

This is something that never occured to me when I got my business license. So frankly, although I’m glad I’m legal now, it sure isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

Today’s Quote: "Most people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be." Abraham Lincoln

Today’s Tip:To keep your silver from tarnishing, place a piece of chalk in your silver drawer with the silver.

My (Almost) Mini-Retreat

I was so excited last week. My oldest daughter, the only one of my children who is out on her own, wanted me to come house-sit for a few days while she was out of town. She has a roommate, but she was gone for a few weeks and someone needed to be there to take care of the roommate’s dog and 2 cats.

Now, normally  I wouldn’t be so excited about house sitting. I hate to leave my own animals, but my 18 year old and 21 year old were at home to watch them. Shannon, my daughter lives in the cutest little beach cottage among million dollar beach homes. She has the beach on one side of her street and Seashore State Park on the other so it’s a beautiful setting.

I was really looking to some time all by myself too. I need to make some decisions about my business and I figured this would be the perfect time to do some un interupted brain storming.

I got to the house on Monday afternoon, settled in and then decided to take Amy, the sweet mutt, out for a walk. We went  to the park and walked for about a half a mile before I realized what an idiot I am. This part of the park is off the beaten path. There were no real paths, no other people, just huge sand dunes, moss covered trees, and lots of vegetation. I soon realized I was lost.  There was no sight of the neighborhood I just came out of. Yikes! I don’t have the greatest sense of direction. Why didn’t I mark the path somehow or at least take notice of my surroundings.

After a few false starts, I decided to see if the dog could get us back. So I told Amy to take us home. And you know what? She did. She’s one smart pup. She lead us right back home. After that little episode, I didn’t attempt the park again when I took Amy on her walks.

I went out to get a yummy deli sandwich for dinner and came back to find my 18 year old son waiting for me in the driveway. He had ridden his bike the 10 miles to the beach to see me. I shared my sandwich with him and he hung around for about an hour before going home. Nice to know my kids still like to be with me.

I decided I would do alittle work and then spend the evening soaking in a bubble bath and reading a novel I have been trying to get to for a month. While relaxing in the tub and getting into the plot of a psychic running from the law, my cell phone rang and I saw it was my mother. I didn’t want to answer it because I knew I probably wouldn’t want to hear whatever she had to say. Besides she was interupting my "mini retreat".

But guilt won out and I answered the phone to hear my mom crying. Her beloved, elderly Lhaso Apso, Prince was on his last legs. She was afraid he wouldn’t last much longer. I asked if she wanted me to take him to the emergency vet but she wanted to wait until the next morning and take him to their regular vet and she wanted to be there too. So the next morning, instead of communing with nature on the beach, I took my elderly mother and her elderly dog to the vet.The news wasn’t good and my mother made the difficult decision to euthanize her beloved companion. It was very hard on her and me. Fortunately, Prince’s demise was very peaceful.

I spent most of the rest of the day clearing my mother’s house of dog paraphanlia and taking care of her. I got back to the beach house just in time to take Amy for a walk, feed all the animals and head on home. So much for my mini retreat. Sigh. Hopefully  I will get a chance to try it again.

I did have 2 epiphanies during my short time of peace. First, contrary to common thought, rich people are very nice. I can’t tell you how many times, while out walking Amy, the neighbors would wave hello or stop to chat. They sure don’t do that in my neighborhood!

The second is I realize that when I am stress free, I dont eat much. I had no desire to overeat while I was out there. I didn’t eat at all until I actually felt hunger pangs and then I only ate until I was no longer hungry. It wasn’t until my mother called that I had the urge to eat. Not an excuse, just an observation. Now I have to figure out how to handle stress in a different way, huh?

Today’s Quote: “I went to a bookstore and asked the saleswoman, “Where’s the self-help section?” She said if she told me, it would defeat the purpose.”George Carlin

Today’s Hint: White vinegar makes a great pet stain remover. It also cuts the smell which will make it less likely that your pet will mark the same spot.