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Friday, February 29, 2008
Ethnocentrism in parenting
In America there are certain things that are considered 'wrong', such as breastfeeding beyond 12 months (or even 6 weeks in some parts of the country), letting children sleep in the parent's bed, or insisting that children need 'socialization' in the form of government-structured schooling. We try to look at things from a more open mind. This American mindset that just because it's normal in America, that means it's right, is totally self-centered and ethnocentric. No wonder we have a whole population of people who are also self centered and unable to see that everyone is different and that's okay.
Read more...Thursday, February 28, 2008
In-home AuPair Childcare
Infant Specialized Care
Many women either must go back to work after they have a baby, or they want to. Now over 50% of women go back to work when their child is still an infant. Seeing the need for high quality Infant Specialized Care AuPairCare is stepping up to help out. As a childcare worker, and a mom, I know that sometimes babies don't get the care they need in commercial childcare centers. AuPairCare is a great Infant Specialized Care solution for the task at hand. Infant Specialized Care is hard to find, often the waiting list will be months or even years long. With American maternity leave being only an average of 6-12 weeks, this can place a burden on an already frazzled new mother. Infant Specialized Care is also unique in that infants need more 1 on 1 contact while being fed, talked to, and cuddled than older babies and toddlers who can go play on their own. AuPair Childcare is a great solution for working mothers.
Press Release:
DEMAND FOR QUALITY INFANT CARE FAR OUTSTRIPS AVAILABLE RESOURCES
Despite 55% of U.S. Mothers with Infants In The Workforce, Childcare Providers Offering Specialized Infant Care Services Remain Rare
San Francisco, CA, February 26, 2008 – With over half of U.S. mothers of infants employed outside the home, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, most must arrange for infant care. Experts agree that the first year in a child’s life is the most critical developmentally and requires a consistent, nurturing caretaker. With maternity leaves as short as twelve weeks, mothers are confronted with leaving their newborns in someone else’s hands. Unfortunately, with limited training for childcare providers and overcrowding in day care centers, what is a mother to do?
This month AuPairCare (www.aupaircare.com), a leading au pair agency, will begin offering Infant Specialized Care™, a program that provides families with a trained, live-in au pair who specializes in infant care and development, allowing working parents to provide their babies with consistent care in the comfort and safety of their own homes.
Demand for this service clearly exists: Based on a survey sent to 400 AuPairCare host families, almost 2/3 of families with infants currently employing au pairs said they would be interested in an infant qualified and trained au pair if the service were offered and would be willing to pay for the additional training.
Infant Specialized Care au pairs receive over 40 hours of infant care training, covering topics, such as feeding, bathing, changing, soothing techniques and safety. Additionally, they receive specialized training in infant stimulation and development, infant massage, infant sign language and certification in Infant First Aid and CPR. This training is complemented by significant hands-on experience working with infants, with each of the Infant Specialized au pairs having at least 400 documented hours of childcare experience with children under the age of two.
“Having my au pair specifically trained to care for my baby will help alleviate some of my ‘mommy guilt.’ Just knowing that my baby is being well cared for and challenged developmentally will allow me to stop worrying and focus on my work,” says Kenna Norris, back-to-work mother of a 13-week old baby.
“With so many women with infants in the workforce and a clear lack of quality providers catering to this age group, developing a tailored au pair service that offers specialized infant training and experience was a priority for AuPairCare.” said Heidi Woehl, Vice President of AuPairCare.
AuPairCare’s Infant Specialized Care program launches this month nationwide.
About AuPairCare
AuPairCare is a leading au pair agency in the United States providing affordable, live-in au pair childcare. Designated by the U.S. Department of State since 1989 as an official au pair agency, AuPairCare has successfully placed over 30,000 au pairs from 40 countries with caring American families. To learn more, please visit http://www.aupaircare.com
Contact: Karie Stern
Tel: 415-608-9195
E-mail: kjstern@comcast.net
Cooking for babies
When you're cooking for babies, there are some things to keep in mind. First is keeping it a texture they can digest. Babies don't necessarily need pureed food, but they do need to be able to break it down on their own. Soft chunks of things like bananas or cooked sweet potatoes are great.
For my daughter, starting when she first learned to sit up and was putting things in her mouth on her own, we started giving her beans, cooked squash, and bananas. She loves beans even to this day. When seasoning baby food, be sure to use natural sea salt, which has a natural form of iodine in it, not a synthetic form. Typical iodized table salt is not good for anyone, much less babies.
WebbyPlanet
Everyone I know now is on the boat with internet shopping. It's quick! It's easy! No running around town just to find they are sold out, or never carried the item you're looking for. A quick Google search, and up come thousands of retailers waiting to ship out your item the next day.
I just learned about Webby Planet. They are updated daily and have acoupon code for lots of different online retailers, to make your shopping experience more affordable and better. You can use a coupon for different things such as free shipping, percentage off, and rebates at different stores, from big names like Overstock.com, Eddie Bauer, and Dell! What could be better than that? I know next time I go shop for something online, I'll go look for a coupon at Webbyplanet.com.
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Sewing
I've got a gerzillion Mamacloths to sew today, I'm working on a set of 5 diapers, and an extra either for my shop or for my friend who's havin a baby this summer. And cloth wipes, one side soft flannel, one side silky velour. So soft and nice to use, these are a splurge and a luxary with cloth diapering! Not only limited to cloth diapering, these are great for cleaning up lunchtime messes or hands that have been playing in the dirt. I'm hoping to find some fun fruit and veggie flannel and make some that are more targeted to non-cloth-diapering families soon. Marketing them as baby's special wash cloths :)
Read more...New Online Selling Place
SILKFAIR
Silkfair is a new alternative to the big name... Ebay. With a FREE store, FREE listing, and only 3% of the sale price being the fee, this is an awesome alternative. You can integrate your existing Ebay feedback for your buyer's peace of mind. It offers both standard Paypal and newer Google checkout, for your buyer's choice.
SILKFAIR Is perfect for the home based business mom who is trying to get her name out there without paying a fortune in fees. SILKFAIR's listing fees are lower than Etsy's even, at $0, and the sale commission is $0.05 lower as well. Buying is easy, with the choice of many checkout options and at-a-glance feedback of the seller.
To see how it worked, I loaded up one of my dolls that I normally sell on Etsy. I registered with my ID being the same as my shop name on Etsy, and my Ebay profile. Branding people... branding.. you want people who are surfing the 'net to see your name all over. The more you pop up in search results, the more exposure for you!
It was super quick to set up and validate my store. The typical 1.01 authorization charge was charged (it'll be refunded in a few days) to my credit card, they wanted to validate my identity.
After submitting a few things like my shop name, shop announcement, etc, I uploaded a 'product'. I chose to upload a cloth diaper. I got a little hung up on adding my payment information, but was able to go on ahead (I chose to allow Paypal)
They allow you to choose your tax area (we're montana, so no taxes) and have an extensive inventory tracking system, helpful for work-at-home businesses. For some reason it came up as sold out, so I had to re-look into it. But overall, it was fast to load pictures, easy to use, and FREE to list, so a major plus :)
I tried editing my listing, and it was super easy and quick. I love the clean look of the site, and that it loads fast. I'll be going back to list more later!
Taxes and your home-based business
We all are excited about the home based business that we are about to start, right? I started Etsy-ing about a year ago, and now I'm doing paid blogging too. But one of the keys to making and not losing money in your home based business is to keep your receipts!
To keep my receipts for all my purchases related to my business (just Monday that was a printer cartridge, fabric, a pen, sewing machine needles, and my receipt organizer) I bought a small expanding file that I think was designed to keep coupons in. Each time a receipt crosses my path, be it from the post office or an online purchase, I tuck it in there. Come tax time, Uncle Sam isn't going to be able to take such a big bite out of my earnings, since I can now prove that it wasn't all profit, I had to... you know... spend money to make money ;) And Uncle Sam doesn't tax on what you spend for your business.
Works for me!
See Rocks in my Dryer for more great tips
Cycle Day
Do you know those acronyms? Are you obsessive about getting pregnant? TTC, CD16, 2WW, DOP, AF...
I'm waiting waiting waiting to get pregnant. My baby will be 18 months next month, I'm a whopping 24 years old, but we're still nursing. It doesn't change that I long to feel a little one snuggling up in my womb, that I constantly dream of how another baby would fit into our lives (very well), or that I say 500 times a week... 'if' I ever get pregnant... I'm going to name the baby-- I'm going to get this carseat-- I"m going to
Teehee. All in God's timing. We have the conviction to nurse our children until they're 2, so that might be suppressing my fertility a bit still. We'll see.
Going on a trip?
Are you planning a trip soon? Whether it be for business or pleasure, oftentimes a hotel stay is necessary. Why pay more for your hotel room than you have to? With HotelReservations.com you can save up to 70% and they have a $100 rebate, should you find lower rates! Not traveling in the USA? That's okay, HotelReservations.com still finds the lowest rates in many countries. You can book online (maybe from your lap top when stuck in a boring meeting) or by calling their 800 number. The web site is easy to use and loads quickly, even if you have a less than stellar Internet connection. They even have airline reservations, rental cars, and vacation homes in their database, so you can search and get the best value for your money.
I searched for a hotel in our small town, a whopping 2000 people, and sure enough they pop up with our little hotel AND save approximately 15%. Not too bad!
They have different toll free numbers for different countries, specialize in group bookings (like if you want to rent out the hotel for a wedding or something, everyone can be on the same floor)
Did you want to travel to Ireland? They can book you a rental! Did you want to travel to Spain? They have access to the best rates there too. Why chance going to a foreign country and trying to figure it out yourself, when a quick stop on a website can pull up all the information you need. Great for those who are budgeting a long international trip and want to see the most destinations for their money! Who would want to pay more than they have to just to sleep in a hotel? Visit HotelReservations.com and see what they have today!
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Shellac
Shellac is an insect resin secreted by the Lac bug, which lives in India and Southeast Asia.
Never woulda thunk it.. learned that from Wiki tonight :o)
So much to do and so little time!
I still have no idea what people are talking about when they say the days go slow. Today we are sewing up a gerzillion cloth pads that people are buying from us to support Goods4Girls.
It's supposed to be nice for a while, so I'm moving the roosters up to the garden to poop. Heh. Then they're going in the freezer. Not exactly looking forward to that, but I can't afford to feed a bunch of non egg laying chickens. They're just the wrong gender.
I need to scoop the dog poop out of the garden too. Then hubby will help me turn it over (once the roosters are dead) and we'll start planning the garden. The Babe's swing is right near it, so she can swing as I'm gardening. She adores the swing, should be good.
I've been reading Crunchy Chicken's blog lately (she's doing Goods4Girls) and I"m getting much more motivated to Blog! Hers is amazing. I'm starting an environmental blog tomorrow with a friend, I'm going to blog specifically about women's and children's health issues, and how they relate to the environment.
I want to do posts on how to select a wood stove, are wood stoves worse for the environment than gas furnaces? blog about my chicken butchering (I'll do that here, so as to not piss off the vegans), Christianity and environmentalism, what is being a good steward?
And we're also building... building a 900ish square foot house that we're designing ourselves. We have got to get out of the trailer this winter- I'm not doing the whole 'no water when the temp dips below 0' thing for one more winter. ENOUgh is enough.
Monday, February 18, 2008
More on routines
In my never-ending quest to make my time more managed, I am constantly redoing our routines. For right now what I'm trying to do is sew for Etsy in the mornings. Blog in the mornings before Babe gets up. Then do housework and errands between her naps, start dinner sometime in the afternoon, and get 1-2 loads of laundry done in the afternoon. But then, of course, life just throws a curve ball sometimes, doesn't it? Life seems to throw curve balls at me allll the times ;)
My etsy store is all but selling out right now, so it's 3:31 (and I should be making dinner) and I'm listing things. Pay Per Post seems stuck on uploading jobs when I'm *not* supposed to be on the computer, so I'm doing paid posting.
I did get the floor swept and sewing done and laundry done :) It's a good compromise.
Hide-and-go-seek for Software!
Free software in a hidden 'Vault' (use code 1234567)
Software.com has a special going on, they have free software hidden in their vault! Do you know where to find it? Access to the Vault requires a special code: (1234567)
Go check out their site while you're looking in the vault! They have everything from the most up to date program for your home business to fun educational games for the kids. Read reviews, download instantly, and more!
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Win an Oreck!
Win an ultralight Oreck from 5 Minutes for Moms!
I'm not sure *what* is with vacuums, but I am suseptable to advertising methods like no other when it comes to vacuum advertising. As if a small (pricey!) piece of equipment could *really* turn my home into a spacious retreat with sparkling floors, happily playing children, and well behaved pets. Ahem. But, regardless, I would would would love a new vacuum to get the crumbs/dog hair/ mud from hubby's boots up, so I"m putting in my entry!
Friday, February 15, 2008
Routines
I didn't realize it, but I've made a habit of putting the baby down for her nap after getting some fresh air. I do believe that getting fresh air is beneficial for a person, and sunlight (vit D) too. So unless it's below 10 or so degrees, or the wind is blowing hard, we're out for at least 20 minutes a day to get our 'fix'. And I notice it quite a bit when we miss a few days, due to extreme weather. We're more agitated, restless, and cranky. Mid morning I start to notice that the babe isn't playing happily with her toys. She doesn't want to nurse. She's ready for our walk! And we go on out, check on the chickens, put the dogs up in their kennel, maybe take out the trash. When we're done, she's leaning her head on my back in the Ergo. When I take her out, immediately she asks to nurse (in sign language) and her eyes get sleepy (as I blog LOL). Then I lay her down and do all the fun things like scrubbing the toilet, that I try not to do while she's awake :o)
Read more...On the agenda
On the agenda today. Since I thought it was TUESDAY and it's actually FRIDAY I have quite a bit of stuff to get done. Now that I'm staying home, I spend my week preparing for the weekend. Before it was flip-flopped, and I spent my weekend preparing for the work week.
Anyway, my plan today is as follows
Think if what we're having to eat when our friends are here on Sunday
Bring in wood
Move the laundry
Load stuff for the dump
Go to the dump
Mail out packages
Swing by grocery store
-bananas
-bread for french toast (I don't like homemade bread for that, is that pathetic?)
-?
Lunch- we'll have pan burritos from last night
Babe down for a nap
Move the laundry some more
Click on PayPerPost Open Opportunities 97 times (I hit refresh every time I walk by the computer)
Tame my fabric explosion in my closet
Sweep/wash the kitchen floor
Dinner will be.... French toast
I woke up this morning
Thinking it was Tuesday. Maybe Wednesday, but most likely Tuesday. What is it? It's FRIDAY. I stopped working at my 'regular' transcription job about a month back. And whoever said that the days are slow when you have little kids is sooo wrong! My days fly by. On the days that the babe sleeps past the alarm, I'll hear her wake and think it's about 7:00. No, often it's 8:30 or later! Then we're off and running, and before I know it she's acting clingy and tired, so we take a walk outside and put the dogs up in the garden. Nothing worse than getting the baby down for a nap only to have the mail man come up and make all the dogs bark and wake her up. But she's gotten enough sleep that she doesn't want to go back down but is still crabby. Anyway, after we do that nap, I get quite a bit done during nap time, then she's awake again, we get something to eat, and before I know it Daddy will be home in an hour! And it's a mad rush to clean up!
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Paintball anyone?
My brother loves paintball. My husband likes it too, he played with his high school buddies for years, until we moved out of the area The setup can get pricey. Paintball gun packages are a good way to get the whole setup at a good price.
My hubby's favorite place to play paintball is out in the forest, using natural land features as cover. While paintball isn't necessarily a 'clean' sport, it is good clean fun for the family, especially those with testosterone-filled guys who need an outlet. Moms, when you're wondering what's good about guys running around pretending to shoot each other, remember that we would rather *know where they are* and keep them busy. Paintball has other benefits than just fun, it's great for the mind. Paintballers must create strategics to win. It's also good exercise, running around in the outdoors. Of all the hobbies that my family members have, paintballing really is one of the best, I think.
When you are checking around to buy paintball equipment, be sure to check http://www.pntball.com - They have the most competative prices and FREE shipping, which rocks, because this stuff is kinda heavy and bulky.
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Eating healthy
Eating healthy is something we all strive to do as mothers, isn't it? For the health of our children prenatally, while we are breastfeeding, and still as our children wean, as we want to be good examples as well as live a long time to see our grandchildren and great grandchildren!
Over here are some healthy eating tips.
And a great detailed essay from Crunchy Chicken, that I think is awesome.
Ready for Valentines?
What would you like to get your sweetheart for valentines? Whatever you're looking for, CouponChief.com can help it become reality.
I'd love to get my husband a book that he's been eyeing about fishing from Amazon
And my sweet daughter would love something from Target
And my mom thinks that Zappos is the best!
Going to town
We went to town today, my darling daughter is always the star of the show :) We live in a town where there are mostly older people, and the few that do have kids tend to be the kind who don't *like* their kids and the kids are always crying, they are always yelling. Not too fun. But my little daughter just lights up with a smile for everyone, is so curious at how everything works, and I usually take her when she's well rested so she's in a good mood :)
Sorry for the shameless bragging :o)
Heights Auto Brokers, Billings, MT
I normally do not write things like this, I don't like to do things like this. It isn't my personality. But I am beyond irritated with this guy, and I'd like to warn others before they allow him to 'borrow' their belongings.
~~~
Why I am never going to work with the Heights Auto Brokers in Billings, Montana ever again:
The owner, Jason, was so sure that he could sell our vehicles. He did sell two things, a ol' beater 75 Chevy truck, for a little less than our asking price. We could live with that. And a Grand Am 1994 for $200. Blue book was somewhere around $1200, but oh well. These are the prices he says he got for them at least, no way to really know.
That's not the reason I will never be working with the Heights Auto Brokers in Billings, MT, ever again, though. It is because we provided him with a lock and cable to lock up the dirt bike we had for sale down there. After months of not selling it, we started noticing it wasn't even out on the lot. So I put it up for sale on craigslist.org. When someone contacted it because they wanted to buy it, we said sure, and called Jason to let us know that we needed to come pick it up. Jason informed us that it was in a garage or shed that he couldn't get to. There was no way to get it out. My husband promptly went down there and 'helped' him figure out a way that we could get OUR dirtbike out of the shed, where it was obviously not available for sale. If he had just told us that he didn't want to have the dirt bike on his lot any more, we would have picked it up the next day, but no, he chose not to do that.
But even that we could live with.
The thing we had an issue with was that Jason apparently had taken the lock home with him that we had provided to lock up the dirtbike. He assured us that he would bring it for us to pick up next time we were in Billings. I stopped by on my monthly run to get groceries, unbuckling and rebuckling my baby from her car seat in the middle of winter just to find that he
a. wasn't there
or
b. didn't have the lock
3 or 4 times.
I called. I called more. I talked to his secretary. Still no lock. It turns out he loaned it (NOT his lock, he never paid for this) to another customer who needed it to tie down an ATV or something. Never mind that Walmart is a few blocks away from where he works, or that Ace Hardware is nearly across the street, both of them having locks that are available for sale. No, he loaned out our lock, and now doesn't have it.
This was back in December when I started all this, now it's the middle of February and he does not pick up his phone, assures me that I just need to give him a few more days, and he will have the lock. I estimate that between stopping by the place of business and calling on the phone, I have spent over 3 hours trying to get this stupid lock.
Why is the lock so important, you ask? Because it's keyed the same as 3 other locks we own. And it's the principal. Someone who does not own something, should not be loaning it out because it's more convenient than buying his own.
Is Jason a nice guy? Sure he is. Is he someone I would trust with my belongings ever again? Absolutely not. Seeing that things we have for sale are boarded up and loaned out, is not good business.
And since I wrote this, I sent down an invoice for the lock. I asked for either the lock to be mailed up, or the invoice paid. He says he has the lock (heard this before) and to just swing by. I said no, mail it, we've already been by at least 4 times since we picked up the dirtbike over two months ago. He says I'm being demanding. I hung up on him.
Vacations
Oh, in the middle of winter, what's more exciting than planning a summer vacation? Second best, I suppose, to darting off to some romantic tropical island :o)
american motor homes
Come check out american motor homes and see if one is right for you. My parents, who live in California, are planning a visit over here in Montana this summer. My dad recently re-did his motor home and may be towing it with his truck out here. It's a 25 hour drive, and I have a feeling if he does decide to drive my mom will fly in and meet us in Billings, but once they're both retired they plan on doing lots of sight seeing. The drive from California to Montana isn't difficult. There are a few different ways you can go, we did all of them I think in our move out here.
My favorite way was to go north through California, then through Oregon and Washington, and over through Idaho and then to Montana. It takes a little bit longer, but it’s much nicer than the other route of California-Nevada-Utah-Idaho-Montana
I think if we ever have an RV we’ll take it out to the forest in a remote area of Montana, maybe north western Montana, and do a week or two of fishing, hiking, and swimming. I grew up tent camping, and while I suppose that was okay for my parents, I really would appreciate being able to sleep off the ground, have a small area to cook in, and a place to get out of the weather, as we often seem to end up camping when the only snowstorm in June hits ;)
This is a sponsored post Read more...
My Love...
My dishwasher is running. I ♥ Dishwashers. I really think they help me cook more, and we actually eat healthier because of them. Is that insane? After having a dishwasher for a year, then not for 3 years, I'm back to having them, and it's my new best friend... :)
Read more...Remodeling?
replacement window
Are you remodeling? We're hoping to build this spring or summer, a small house. In designing our house, and budgeting for the cost, budgeting for good windows is always a cost-effective important decision. Windows can make a substantial influance on the costs of every day running the house. UV blocking windows help keep furniture from fading, and double paned windows with good insulation lower heating and cooling bills. We love lots of light, and hope to have good windows on all four sides of our small house that we build.
This is a sponsored post
Monday, February 11, 2008
Procrastination
I was reading my sister-in-law's Good Housekeeping magazine this weekend, and there was an excellent article on procrastination in it. I'll go see if I can find a link. Also a good article about marriage with Dr Phil. Dr Phil is someone I've heard a lot about, but never actually read anything he wrote or listened to his show.
The procrastinating article had one statement that I thought was totally insightful. It was something about people doing all sorts of 'busy' things while putting off what really needs to be done. Their thinking is that 'since they're not having any fun, isn't that almost as good as doing work'? Hmmm, something to think about next time I decide to scrub under the burners on the stove top when I really should be putting away laundry ;)
Here's a link to the article.
Valentine's Promotion from Honda
Valentine's Special 2008 on Honda Cars for San Diego County Residents
Honda is having a sweetheart deal for San Diego residents. If you are in the area, come check them out! Honda is well known for their good-quality cars. I'd love a Honda SUV or Minivan, but, alas, my husband refuses to have a minivan parked on our property or work on them, so for now I"m a pickup gal.
My sister-in-law has a red honda civic, which is super easy to get around. The only disadvantage is that now that between us we have three children, we can't fit 3 in car seats in the back seat. And it only has two doors, so it's kind of hard to get the kids in and out. But it can't be beat for maneuverability- I drove it for a while while our truck was getting fixed, and it feels so easy to drive, it makes errands not seem so tedious. Driving around our 1-ton pickup, regardless of it having 4 doors, is kind of a drag when you have to make 15 stops on errand day, carefully trying to ease the truck into the cramped parking lot at each stop.
This is a sponsored post
Sleeping
I co-sleep with our baby. Some call this the family bed, to me it's just normal. We do have a crib ;) Actually, a crib and a port-a-crib, but we didn't set up the big crib. I use the portable one for when I need to keep the babe safe while I do something that she can't be a part of, like getting firwood when there's snow on the ground. Too much danger that I'd fall if she was on my back, so in the 'containment device' she goes.
Anyway, at night, she's taken to sleeping with her foot on me. She juts a leg or both out at a 90 degree angle, just to know I"m there. It's the sweetest thing, I absolutely adore her. I have no doubt that this is keeping my fertility away, which I'm not thrilled about (she still nurses at least once a night), but it just seems to be the *right* thing, so this is what we'll do.
I'm still waiting to 'fall out of love' and get annoyed by her... It hasn't happened yet. I adore every minute with her. Don't get me wrong, some things that she does need to be stopped or trained away (the *shrieking* every time I had something to drink, because she wanted some too, put a damper on my water intake, so that had to stop. But every day, all in all, I enjoy every minute :)
Perfume
Looking for perfume bay? It's right here. Come look at their unique variety of new perfumes, hard to find favorites, and scents for men and women. The look of the site is clean and welcoming, easy to navigate. I enjoy shopping on sites set up like this, they are descriptive and easy to navigate.
I'm not one to try different perfumes often, but when I do I go for high quality and don't mind paying a little more. The price per ounce is high, but higher priced perfumes often use higher quality ingredients. I try to find one that has good reviews online and is high in natural ingredients. essential oils are preferred to synthetic fragrance oils, fragrance oils tend to degrade and smell different over time.
When testing perfume bay perfume, be sure to smell it as it first goes on, smell it again 10 or so minutes later, and again a couple hours later, as your body chemistry reacts with it the scent will change. I've found Sand and Sable to be the best for my body chemistry, as well as Stila's Lilly of the Valley.
This is a sponsored post.
Saturday, February 9, 2008
Politics
A quick rundown on my politics
I'm
Pro-life
anti death penalty by the government (though I reserve that I should have the right to shoot someone who is breaking into my house and looks like they may harm me or my family)
pro-immigration (open borders, and yes I understand why this isn't likely to happen any time soon, regardless, I'm still pro-open borders)
anti-socialized medicine
anti-government programs
Pro legalized drugs
Friday, February 8, 2008
50 links to starting an online craft business
50 Helpful Links to Starting an Online Craft Business
1. Starting your craft business without debt
7. Your site’s Page Rank
8. The benefits of starting a business blog
9. All you need to know about Paypal
10. Google Checkout?
12. Craft Econ 101
14. Importance of dividing your shop into sections
15. Making your site user friendly
16. Setting prices
17. Shipping- pad it with your fees?
20. Free Advertising
21. Paid Advertising
23. Choosing your items for sale
24. Taking Pictures
25. Using free photo editing software
26. Keeping the kids busy while you work
28. Myspace/Facebook benefits for your business
30. Getting your supplies in bulk
31. Selling your product wholesale
34. KISS
35. Your description
36. Copyrights
37. Patents
38. UPS/Fedex/USPS
41. Buyer Beware
42. Insurance
45. Advertising with Google Adsense
49. Balancing with your family life
Abortion
Loaded topic, no?
Molly is talking about voting based on abortion stance. Something that I am wrestling with as well. Her blog seems to mirror my wonderings, and inspires me to think it through more.
Right now I support Ron Paul, and I'm not sure what I think of his stance on abortion. It's not so bad that I can't vote for him, and I tend to think it's the most effective way, but I'm not convinced it is *right*. This is what I understand about him: He believes that the unborn are *real* babies, and is against killing them. But he believes the federal government should leave it up to the states to vote on it (?)
I believe this is the most effective way of starting to get abortion to be illegal in some areas of the US. Right now I believe the vocal minority (NY and CA mostly) are causing it to be legal in all states. I would be willing to bet that if it was up to states to decide, a lot of the middle ones would vote against abortion, like Montana, where I am. I believe this could potentially save more lives sooner than trying to re-work the entire nation at once.
But is it right? My ideas are that we need to have less laws. Either it's okay to kill innocent people for convenience, or it's not. End of story. To me it would be *right* to not say that abortion is illegal, but just to throw out whatever moron statement says that the unborn aren't people. There already is a law about killing innocent people in the US, or so I'd imagine, and I think they should just be using that law and not making new ones.
The reason I can still vote for Ron Paul is because I believe he is doing what he can to save the most babies as soon as possible. I'm willing to compromise on principals in order to save lives.
Statement of faith
I believe..
I believe God made the world in 6 days
I believe God created man in His image
I believe God created woman out of man, to be his helper
I believe God breathed into the animals the breath of life
I believe that there was a fall in the garden of Eden, and because of that, there was separation between man and God.
I believe there was a flood...
I believe it covered the whole world.
I believe the world is right around 6000 years old
I believe that God sent Jesus as a perfect man to fulfill the law and wipe away our sins, should we believe in Him
I believe that Jesus is Lord
I believe that children are blessings
I believe that murder is wrong
I believe that it is the burden of the church, not the state, to provide for those in need
I believe that the Bible is the true inspired word of God
Payday Loans
Have you ever used a payday loan? I haven't, but I do realize they can be advantageous for those who are risking overdrafting their checking account due to an emergency circumstance. While payday loans do charge interest, oftentimes a few overdraft charges from checking ($30 each on average) will cost more. And then there is the embarrassment of not having overdraft protection and bouncing checks… having stores call you and tell you your check bounced, and then they tack on $25+ to the check when the put it in again to collect. Those can all add up. A cash advance could help avoid some of these fees, if used responsibly in emergencies or in the case of a mistake- like you and your husband both paid the car insurance payment for that month, and you didn’t realize it, and it creates a gap in your budget. Payday loans usually go by different terms, but they are a much shorter loan than regular loans, and are designed to be paid back within a week or two, not months. There are payday loan places on the internet, also around town, especially in Billings. They are as prevalent as pawn shops and casinos it seems, one on every street.
Read more...Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Oh Deer
Deer out the side window... We're now missing half a fender, want to guess why?
California Finance
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Staying home
We've decided for the meantime to have me stay home with the babe and back out of doing transcription. Transcription was great for helping us out in a rough patch in our lives, and I'm more than thankful that I never had to put Babe in daycare, but now that we've worked through some financial things (still got a LONG way to go!) we decided God is calling us to have me be a homemaker full time.
It's been so nice! I was a little giddy/nervous the first day, but after Babe went to bed 90 minutes early due to being so worn out from our fun 'eventful' day, I knew we made the right decision. 'Stuff' can wait. We can eat more dried beans. And I'll enjoy more precious time with my sweet baby, and preparing our home.
Online Shopping/ Packing the diaper bag
It's a theme one... Online shopping- Etsy is my favorite online shopping place, behind Amazon ;) We go to Amazon sometimes just for the reviews, and then acutally buy the book/DVD/whatever somewhere else. Their reviews rock!
Works for me... I had a great idea last week. Hey! I should remember to actually post that on a Wednesday! LOL And now, Wednesday morning, I can't remember it.
Oh, this was it. When we receive an outfit from... someone... that we're not quite thrilled with, we keep it in the diaper bag. We happen to receive like 6-piece sets (hat, 2 shirts, 2 pants, socks) from people, so it's easy to remember that that particular color/pattern goes right into the diaper bag from the laundry.
That way I don't have to *think* before we leave. I know that outfit's in there just in case, and it's not banishing an outfit I love to the diaper bag just so I have *something* just in case.
Monday, February 4, 2008
Blogging info
Going over our budget today- seeing if I can live off of blogging. No, just kidding. I am seeing if I can give up transcription, though, and just do odd side jobs that don't require a weekly commitment. I know that would help reduce the stress level considerably in our house!
I'm evaluating a multi-media course on blogging from the folks at Simpleology. For a while, they're letting you snag it for free if you post about it on your blog.
It covers:
- The best blogging techniques.
- How to get traffic to your blog.
- How to turn your blog into money.
I'll let you know what I think once I've had a chance to check it out. Meanwhile, go grab yours while it's still free.
Saturday, February 2, 2008
Taking Pictures
Want to add a boost to your Etsy shop? Or maybe even your Ebay listings? Come on over to Mommy Techie and learn how to use a free program easily and make your listings pop.
Read more...Friday, February 1, 2008
This afternoon I was going to make Babe eggs for lunch. I set the pan with olive oil in it to heat, and came to fart around on the internet. All of a sudden there was a *flash* *boom* and my olive oil burst into flames. Lets here it for farting around on the internet ;) I put the lid on it and I'm now boiling water in the pan to see if I can turn it from scorched black back to its shiny steel color.
It's 4:55 and hubby is on his way home, with a truck that now has a hole in it's fiberglass fender. He had a match with a deer, and of the two, he won. But we're still left with a shattered fender. It's cosmetic, he says, regardless of the fact that it's there to keep rocks from being sprayed up by the douls. Doules? Don't know how to spell that- the two tires in the back of a one-ton. It's $250 for the replacement part, and the part only comes in primer black- our truck is white. Depending on whether we sell it or not, we'll go ahead and 'rattle can' it.
I have a dishwasher full of clean dishes, my kitchenaid creaming the butter and sugar for chocolate chip cookies, babe sleeping, and two loads of laundry strewn across my couch, in folded and unfolded condition. A bath towel is on my floor, I have three large 'rag' towels both in the wash, another bath towel soaking up the water I spilled when trying to step over the dog bucket, and this one from my apparently splashy attempt at hand washing the pile of wooden can't-go-in-the-dishwasher dishes that had been stacked to the left of my sink for a week.
I've got another 20 minutes at the least until hubby gets home, I'll finish the cookies, kitchen, and stash the laundry in the port-a-crib where it's not as noticable as the couch ;)
I'm really liking blogging anomonously. My sister-in-law can know about it, and then just random people on the net. My sister-in-law and I aren't even best friends or anything, she just knows the good, bad, and ugly of everything. And I seriously doubt she'd get mad at me for saying she's not my best friend. A good kind of in-law to have :)
What IS a bluetooth
I'm so far behind on technology. We don't have TV, and I seem to have become immune to Internet advertising, but I'm entering 5 Minutes for Mom's Bluetooth giveaway from Best Buy anyway. I think it has something to do with music. Hubby loves music, and is more techie than I, so if I win I will have one happy honey!
Read more...Confessions in motherhood
I scheduled a job interview for yesterday at noon. Babe goes down for her nap usually around 11:00 so this would be perfect. I knew I'd have to conduct the interview in the bathroom, on the opposite end of the house, but that's not a big deal.
Come 11:20 a.m. naptime was nowhere in sight. I frantically folded the 4+ loads of laundry residing in the port-a-crib and put a dozen butterscotch chips (no dye) in the bottom of her plastic glittery Valentine's day cup from Grandma. Set child and cup 'o candy in the crib and the interview was conducted without a blip (other than my tendency to over-explain everything). Came out to child happily retrieving butterscotch chips from her cup.
Guess what my new parenting tactic is? Other people, like Musician's Friend, who I'm on hold with at the moment, understand a few baby chirps, but it's much simpler to write notes on phone conversations sans the grabbing fingers, loud input, and overall baby 'help'
We got our water back on this morning. I'm rather embarrassed about this, I generally don't mention it until after the fact, and generally never to my mother. We live in a single wide with minimal insulation in Montana. No matter how much we crank up the stove, the pipes/drains will freeze outside. While *I* realize that running water isn't a necessity of life, oftentimes others, especially others who don't live in a cold climate think that we are total savages.
Hubby's boss lent us what looked to be a jet engine that ran on diesel. We blew it under the trailer, the water wasn't on as of 11 last night when we turned it off to go to bed, but this morning I flipped the breaker and the water came pouring out. As I type this the babe is still asleep due to the lingering 'radiant floor' heating, Dog #2 is barking outside on her tether, dog #3 is frantically running around my feet, no, now Dog #3 is out, and Dog #1 is snorting under the door, but I know he doesn't really want to go outside. I have the dishwasher and the washing machine running, and hubby is on his 60 mile commute to work.
Is it bad that oftentimes I'm jealous of his commute?
I'm returning his guitar today. He had Christmas money and he researched and researched... and they air-mailed him a guitar with a crack in it. The crack is down at the bottom and painted over, but still very noticeable. Obviously something that didn't happen in shipping, I'd really like to know how this passed QA.
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