A Street Cat Named Bob

About a month ago a friend lent me a really heartwarming book.  I blew through it in a weekend.  I’ve never done a book review for the Pets blog before, but this seems appropriate.  The book is called “A Street Cat Named Bob: How One Man and His Cat Found Hope on the Streets,” by James Bowen.  Don’t worry: this isn’t a real tear-jerker of a book.  It’s a sweet, inspirational story of how a very special cat inspired a lost man to take control of his own life. James Bowen was a recovering drug addict in London.  He’d just … Continue reading

Your Child’s Safe Haven

I’m not exactly sure what time the world is supposed to end today.  But my guess is if you are reading this blog, the earth is still intact. It seems we can’t learn our lesson enough, previous predictions that have turned out to be oh-so-not-true.  Although, it seems more people are holding weight in the Mayan calendar running out. As if my teens didn’t have enough to worry about (no, they really didn’t think the world was going to end today), there were other attempts to wreck their last day of school before winter break.  Several threats of violence against … Continue reading

Holiday Travel: Are You Taking Off?

Despite growing economic woes and threats of fiscal cliff diving, it appears that a good deal of Americans will be spending money to travel this holiday season. According to TripAdvisor, 45% of people living in the United States plan to travel away from home between now and the first of the year; that’s an increase of three percent from 2011. TripAdvisor’s survey results also found that 63% of travels will be on the road for Christmas and 31% for New Year’s, with 61% seeing family and 23% visiting friends.  In addition, 48% of survey respondents noted that they plan to … Continue reading

Using Play Doh to Teach Preschool Lessons

Play Doh is one of my favorite preschool activity toys and art mediums. Mashing the dough can creating people, ice cream cones, pizza, and animals, is as much fun for me as the kids.  I am not sure what came first, the lessons I developed using Play Doh or my desire to play and the need to make it count as part of my lesson plan.  Nonetheless, I have come up with a way to play and learn.  Now, when my husband comes home and finds Play Doh mashed in the carpet its all good. In all seriousness, using a … Continue reading

How Breaking Your Budget is Bad for Your Health

Here is another reason to stay on your budget. Breaking it can actually be bad for your health. Agonizing about how you are going to afford a new purchase can stay with you, even after you solve the problem. Researchers now say that our brains don’t like being in debt. Having fears about money affect our health long term. Whether we realize it or not, debt causes stress, and stress causes poor health. Stress and pain seem to register much more strongly than does pleasure. So, the next time you feel ready to break your budget, keep this in mind. … Continue reading

It Will Get Better

With every first time Mom it begins the same. Sleep deprivation. Is the baby eating enough? What was I thinking? Will I ever have a life again? I’m doing everything wrong! Those feelings are natural. Remember not to focus on the mommy guilt. My youngest sister just had her first baby. I’ve been so worried about her because even though my first baby is now 6 years old, the memories of those early days are still etched into my brain. It was not an easy time. Venturing into motherhood is an experience that sometimes is not so easy. But I … Continue reading

Finally Crawling!

My little guy is almost 11 months old, and he just learned how to crawl this week. I actually didn’t think he would do it at all. He had become so efficient at his little army crawl that people frequently commented on how fast he was! Since we have all hardwood floors, scooting on his belly was a very efficient way to get around. He mastered the art by pushing off with one foot, while pulling himself in true army crawling fashion with one of his arms. I always looked at him though as he did this and thought about … Continue reading

How Do You View Your Competitors?

No matter what your home – based business is, it is likely that there are other businesses, whether run by home – based professionals or not, that are competing with you. Your clients or customers have options when it comes to where they will purchase their products and services. You are probably aware that there is competition, but what you may not realize is that you have a choice about how to view competition. It is easy to get caught up in trying to keep up with your competitors, and in feeling anxious about whether your product or service is … Continue reading

Bullies Didn’t Win

With so many tragic stories involving children who have been bullied, it would be nice to hear about positive outcomes. Because the reality is that many people are able to overcome the challenges they faced as a victim of bullying. I felt like this past weekend, I got to experience such a thing. It was the graduation of my 18-year-old son from basic training with the Air Force. What you have to understand is that I witnessed a transformation. Gone was the shy, awkward teenager who always had trouble standing up for himself. Instead, I received my first hug in … Continue reading

What Lessons Did I Teach

What has divorce taught our children about love? I worry about what my divorce has taught Hailey about love and marriage. Unfortunately, most of the people she knows have been divorced, at least once. What does this teach our kids? When I was growing up all of my friends parents were married, my grandparents, aunts and uncles, were all married, to their original spouses. The only divorced person I knew was my mother. It’s the opposite for Hailey, she knows hardly anyone with an intact family. There are a few here and there but it seems they are the exception … Continue reading