DIY Project

Sixty-five percent of our flooring is covered with carpet. People may not notice but there are spots of stains caused by milk spills and colored ink markers. This is not new when you have a toddler at home. I tried some stain remover chemicals but still portion of it shows. All I know in cleaning carpet is vacuuming but this won’t help in getting rid of the nasty stains. I think I may need to attend carpet cleaning training in austin to get my desired neatness. I also heard of steam carpet cleaning machine, austin that can be rented but I’m not sure yet if it will cost me big money and one more thing, I’m not patient in reading instruction manuals. I’m hoping that you may suggest something for this “do it yourself carpet cleaning” project of mine.

The Joy of the Internet

Guest post written by Ben Farley

It's amazing the kinds of things you can find online. It's funny, just the other day I think I ended up going to every site imaginable. I started out at www.homeproimprovement.com because I wanted to do a bit of electronic window-shopping for a new rennovation project my husband and I have going on at the house, and from there I ended up finding my favorite clothing store online (which just happened to be having a huge holiday sale) so I bought a few things there. Then, I thought--hey, I'm sure a ton of other sites have sales going on just for the holiday! I mean Black Friday is over and everything, but this is still crunch time for most retailers. So then I got to perusing and ended up finding almost all of my Christmas presents for the family online! I saved sooo much money, too, with all the free shipping offers and coupons.

Quite frankly, I'm just amazed that it's only early December and I already have the majority of my shopping done. It keeps getting better!

Comfortable and Cheap

Now that my wife is on her 6th months, her nursing scrubs are becoming uncomfortable on her since the baby is getting bigger as expected . Though, we easily found new under garments for her that will suit on pregnant women but finding scrubs that can make her move freely is hard. I don't know where to buy cheap scrubs since we prefer those because she will just use them for not more than 3 months. Her other uniforms are still good but you'll never know, once you've started shopping you'll always find something even better. Anyways, the more important thing for now is to get the ones that will make her comfortable because as I believe, a happy mommy is a happy baby.

Going Black Friday Shopping With My Husband

The Author of this post is Jefferson Maldonado

Usually my husband hates shopping but there is one particular day of the year even he will get up bright and early, sometimes in the middle of the night, load up in the car with me and hit up all the stores and that is on Black Friday.

We started going shopping together on Black Friday a few years ago when I begged him to go with me promising him lunch at his favorite restaurant as a bit of a bribe. Ever since then he has become hooked. We each have our own favorite stores that we like to check out. I prefer stores like Target, Sears, JC Penney's or Walmart while he likes stores such as Best Buy or Game Stop. While our tastes in shopping may be different it has become a fun tradition we really enjoy doing together.

This year we plan on starting out really early. We plan to get up at 3 a.m., set our home security alarm (Home Alarm Systems pricing), and then hit all our favorite stores. We get to shop for kids this year too since his sister moved to town with her three kids so we plan to see what sort of deals ToysRUs has as well. It will be fun getting to shop for kids for once!

I joked with my husband on Thanksgiving that maybe in a few years we will be shopping for our own kids on Black Friday. He just smiled.

The Basketball Game That Never Happened

Thanks for the post from Kirk Wood

I had an interesting experience the other night. The night began like any other night prior playing in my basketball league. I ate dinner at home, set my home security alarm from www.securitychoice.com/home-security-and-safety-facts.html, got in my car and listened to music, and arrived at the gym expecting to play a great game. But that night was different. The other team didn’t show up. At first, the guys on our team were not happy about this. But we came up with a solution, which was to play 31. This is a longer version of 21. It’s every man for themselves. Each basket counts as two points and three-pointers are obviously three points. Once you make a basket, you shoot three foul shots. If you make all three foul shots, you have the ball again. You have to end exactly on 31. Otherwise, you go back to 15. And to make it even more interesting, we made it so that you had to hit a three-pointer at the end. Otherwise, you went back to 15. The game was a lot of fun. Dare I say it, but it was even more fun than playing in a league game. At an extremely high risk of sounding corny and cliché, we had lemons and turned it into lemonade. That is how the saying goes, right? Regardless of how the saying goes, it was pretty cool to turn a negative into a positive. Uh-oh … is that another cliché?

My Best Friend, Sandy

Guest post from: Bruno Smith
During the course of my life, it has always been rather hard to make a friend, never mind a best friend. However, I did manage to find someone that fits that mold a great number of years ago.

We met when I was in high school and she was in middle school. She was the sister of somebody I knew at school, and for some reason we hit it off better than I did with her older sister. At first, she was a little slow to consider me somebody she wanted to talk to all the time; in fact, she was actually a little hostile, and gave me a few choice words whenever she saw me. Eventually, however, you were unable to tell that there had ever been any tension between us.

We have a lot in common. We enjoy going to local renaissance festivals and wearing costumes for the occasion - it actually makes things more fun when you feel like you are truly a part of that world. We like to go shopping, or even spend an evening at home, watching movies. I do not know what I would do if she was no longer in my life.

Before I make the hour or so long drive to visit her these days, I always make sure to set the home security alarm (ADT home security offers). We do not get to see each other as much as we used to, but I like to think that we will always be close.

Young Men's Soccer In Seattle

Author: Jonathan Suarez

An ambitious MBA by day and a rough and tumble soccer player by night, I am very glad I made the choice to move to Seattle from the South for several reasons. The reason that comes through, time and time again, is the vast array of opportunity here for men's pickup soccer and organized soccer. I mainly participate in one league, though I have popped in and out of an ongoing league at the University of Washington. The league I have spent many an evening in is designed for "Young Professionals". The league is gender mixed and sometimes features former Division I stars who have either had an injury or have elected to pursue other professions. Needless to say the competition has been very high. I decided to invest the majority of my liquid assets in a business venture that is starting to turn a profit, therefore I live in a rougher part of Seattle than I'd like to. I always set my ADT home security alarm before I go every evening to soccer. The best part about Seattle has been the social connections that I have made through "Young Professionals" soccer. In fact, the business venture is one I came upon through a match a little over a year ago. It has come to my awareness that the leagues for older adults and for young children are booming and that there are several semi-professional teams in the surrounding region. If you're looking for some great soccer, come to rainy Seattle!

Picking Up an Old Hobby

Guest post written by Hank Livingston

The other day I treated myself to a visit at the local Guitar Center in town. From the moment I walked in, I was like a kid in a candy store. I noticed many young kids trying out a variety of electric guitars and banging out rough melodies that rattled my Miracle Ear hearing aids. They reminded me of when I was their age and how I would go try out some of the instruments that I couldn’t have played back at home. My recent visit reminded me of when I was their skill level and learning about the world of music.

When I come to Guitar Center, I also check out the acoustic guitar room and play the twelve string guitars. I always loved the full and rich sounds that they produce, and I always enjoy getting my hand on one. After my visit, I determined that I wanted to pick up music again. Throughout my life, an instrument has always given me joy, and now that I’m retired, I want to spend more of my time recreating that joy.

Watch the ship carefully... You'll hear the people screaming if you turn your speaker's volume up. Look how the ship vanished.

New House, New Furniture

Thanks for the post, Lucius Gaines

There is about two more weeks until our house is finished being built. That means it's time for furniture shopping! My husband and I try to do the inexpensive, good quality search at Walmart and Sears, but we can never find anything. So we usually end up heading over to Nebraska Furniture Mart for all our furniture. We really like their huge selection and endless brand names. And best of all, it's modestly priced. When we bought our daughter's nursery furniture, we only spent about $1300 for her crib, armoire and dresser. We liked Baby's R Us' selection, but they were so overpriced it hurt our eyeballs to look at the tags.

Clearly, I'm pretty excited about going furniture shopping. I think we're going to be buying a new dining room set, bedroom furniture for the master bedroom, and a sectional couch for the living room. I've seen some sectionals that are like a recliner and massage chair in one. I can only imagine coming home from shopping, sitting on my vibrating, massaging recliner chair and watching some satalite tv.

Anyway, I think I already know which dining room table I want. I'm not sure of the brand, but I've seen it around Nebraska Furniture Mart before. It's all black, except the centerpiece of the table is cracked glass. It looks awesome. And very, very modern. Which is what I think we're going for in the new house.

The Gift

Ten more days before my wife’s birthday. I don’t know what to give her. Lately, I’m seeing her spending a lot of time giving herself some beauty treats like putting lotion, fixing her nails, doing her eyebrows and more. Though some of it is really included on her regular hygienic routine but I still appreciate it, I know she always wanted to look good in my eyes. Well, she’ll always be the most beautiful woman for me even if she’s just in her simple looks.

This made me think of giving her some makeup products like lipstick or lipgloss to enhance the softness and appeal of her luscious lips. I don’t have any idea of what shade she wanted and I don’t want to ask her. I want it to be a surprise. I asked some of my lady friends and one of them suggested for me to try getting a lip lacquer instead. Waaahh..!! I didn’t know that even just a simple lipstick will be so complicated when you open it up with ladies. I’m still thinking of my other options. Do you have any suggestions?

To tile or Not to Tile

Whenever we go to our local hardware stores, we always see to it that we visit and check the tiles section. We have plan of putting backsplash in our kitchen counters to add color and character. As of now, we still don’t see in stores the one we really like. We’re looking for tiles that are contemporary in its styles and designs to match our appliances and furniture. We resorted on searching for it online and we found the one that we really liked, see the picture below:


This is so cool! We’re excited to see it in our own kitchen. The online store also gave other varieties to choose from, so personalizing our house is very possible. Glass is what we preferred but we are also open for other options as long as it will look extraordinary. Once we’re finish in our kitchen, our next project will be the bathrooms, we have 5 full baths in the house so I believe we need to work hard first to earn the right budget for all 5. Our bathroom tiles are kind of traditional though it’s an upgrade but still didn’t qualify our taste. I’ve seen bathrooms made of subway tiles and they’re really great! Very modern and sophisticated. I always see home improvement expensive but still worthy especially when you take pride of the house you’re starting to build as your home.

Down in the Pumpkin Patch

Guest post written by Alex Leider

My wife and I had the best time last weekend. We're trying to get into the spirit of the season, what's with it getting colder and the leaves turning and all. Well, we were just sitting around though last Saturday when we saw a commercial come up for a new pumpkin patch in our area. We decided on a whim to check it out so we could get a few pumpkins for the house, a few for carving, and one for cooking! (Edna makes the best pumpkin pies.)

We got to chatting with the guy that worked there, he had a really interesting story. Apparently, he'd inherited the patch through his family, and was running it for the time being. He looked so familiar, almost like someone I'd gone to school with in the past. I wish I had gotten his name! All I remember is that he was wearing Miracle-Ear hearing aids at the time. Oh well. It sure was a great day at the patch, though.

Getting Good Deal in Car Insurance

Time is so fast. I can still remember 6 months ago I sent my payment to my car insurance company and now I received my renewal package. Though they gave me lesser premium for the next term I still want to shop for better deals. There’s a lot to choose from. This time I prefer local insurance company. I asked my friends of their insurance, went online and called some agents to compare and get the best buy.

I gave the same coverage I wanted but still they offered different premiums. Some are really expensive maybe because of the integrity they already established in their names, but some which are not well known are good enough for me. I got my car insurance from the latter group, I’m really looking for a cheap one but with good standing from their claimants. I think that’s more important; easy transaction, same coverage and reasonable price. One of our friends referred this one and told us about his good customer service experience in processing his claims. I believe it's because of being not a well known insurance company, they only have fewer clients and this means more time and attention will be provided for me in times of claims. Still, I’m praying never to have a chance of getting any claims from them.

I want The Office to be MY office!

Written by my friend Lino Brown

My favorite comedy on TV right now is The Office. Michael, as the clueless branch manager, is the pivotal character in the show. His antics and carefree management style often create total chaos within the branch. I also would not be able to live without Jim and Pam streaming through my satellite I ordered at www.direct.TV every Thursday. After years of watching them struggle to come together as a couple, my patience has finally paid off, they just got married and had a baby. Of course the Angela and Dwight story line has been a constant source of humor over the last few seasons. This past year the show took a twist with the disbanding of the Dunder Mifflin Paper Company and the takeover of a printer company owned by a southern woman with a large personality and she is played by none other than the talented actress Kathy Bates. I am sad to hear that Michael's character will be done on the show at the end of the Spring season due to Steve Carell leaving the show. I truly hope that the remaining characters will be able to carry the show and fill the large void that will certainly remain after his departure.

Bridezillas

The Author of this post is Velma Baird

One of biggest guilty pleasures on television is the show Bridezillas. I could have never imagined that there were women who actually behaved like this when planning their wedding. At times I have almost felt guilty watching the show and laughing at the craziness that they exhibit, but I always continue to watch. Each bride comes with her own set of drama and issues. Each season seems to bring with it louder, angrier and bossier brides than the season before. Between the meltdowns, fights and evil glares that these brides provide, I cant ever look away from the screen.

My satellite tv from direc4u.com is often tuned into Bridezillas, especially on days when I can just sit around and watch tv for hours. Luckily, the show is often broadcast as a marathon and I can truly spend my day watching women overreact and lash out at everyone around them. It is always interesting to see how bridesmaids, family members and especially grooms handle difficult brides. One of the most shocking episodes I ever watched centered on a bride who left her groom by himself at rehearsal over his mother being ten minutes late. In the end, almost every wedding ends with the bride and groom spending a great evening at their reception and still somehow having friends around to celebrate with.

Am I the Only One Who Still Goes to the Movies?

Thanks to Erasmo Cortez

I remember when I was a little kid every time I went to the movie theater there was always a line, my Mom and I would have to almost fight for seats that didn't make our neck hurt or require up to climb over eight people's laps in order to go the bathroom and sometimes (God forbid) the movie would even be sold out! These things never happen to me anymore. Now, I have to sneak snack in my purse in order not to pay $20 for a small box of candy, set my Adt security company home alarm before I leave the house, to ensure I can actually enjoy the movie without worrying the entire time and when I get there, nine out of ten times it just end's up being me and my boyfriend in the theater, which isn't necessarily a bad thing if we want to smooch or any of that without offending anyone. To be honest with you though, this really takes away from the whole experience for me! Before it was an adventure, now I feel like I might as well wait for the rental. This deters me from going to the movies at much as I once did, so now I only go to see the movies I cannot wait for instead of just going for something to do on weekends.

Modern Technology makes life easier

Wouldn't be cool if you can access your home computer from your office computer or vice versa? Or say as far as from one country to another country. People may don’t know but it’s possible. The convenience of file access, troubleshooting and configurations of computers and software from one place to another is actually happening. Remote Management or Access is what you can best describe it. This is with the help of Remote PC Access Software and of course, internet connection. Security will not even be an issue since these kinds of software provide up to 256-bit encryption making your computer files safe and only accessible to the one authorized to work with it, like your technician or co-worker. Can you imagine how much it will save time, energy and effort for both you and the other people involved in your business? Even technicians love it! They can still brainstorm and troubleshoot together in the convenience of their own different locations to work on one remote computer with the help of some collaborative tools that comes with the software. New technology rocks! You better update yourself for what new today maybe obsolete by tomorrow. That’s how fast it is!

This is the job for cook top cleaner

Our home improvement project – kitchen segment doesn’t end with nice furniture and accessories but also the sleekness of the appliances. Being organized and clean are all it takes to make the kitchen look gorgeous and elegant. My rule of thumb when it comes to kitchen, “where you get it, there you’ll return it”. It really helps a lot and it makes cleaning easier. Every time I cook and had our meals, I always make sure that everything will be cleaned up asap, from the counters and tables to the pots, pans, dishes and ranges. The thing that encourages me a lot to do this task fast is by thinking that someone might give us a surprise visit any minute and I don’t want to be apologetic by the messy scene in our house. Cleaning agents are my partner in doing this seemingly never ending chore in the kitchen. For the toughest grease on my cook top range, I use my trusted cook top cleaner. It doesn’t just cut the grease and make it clean but also polishes the surface for a shiny finish. If yours are glass or ceramic, you better find the one that has protection feature. I can say that the cook top range is one of my biggest challenges in the kitchen especially when I forget to clean it right after I used it. But no worries because my cook top cleaner will surely do its job. A little wipe here, a little sweep there and voila! our kitchen will look like unused and fresh again, ready for all family and friends to come and visit.

Online conversations with old friends

Guest post written by RJ Benson

Since most of us retired and we had a lot more time to spend on the Internet, a bunch of me and my high school friends will chat online. A lot of times we’ll just e-mail each other but a few of us have started using Skype to call and video chat each other. It’s a lot of fun and the easiest option because we live in different cities across the country.

One time I was Skypeing with one of my friends she mentioned that she had just gone to miracle ear Charlotte and got fitted with some hearing aids. I told her that I thought that sounded like a good idea and had been considering booking an appointment to do the same thing at miracle ear HOUSTON. That inspired me to get off my tail and actually do it, so I did.

About a week later I talked to another one of our friends who was on the football team with me and he said that he had just bought a hearing aid in PA where he lives.

I thought that it was funny that even though we live separately now, we still have the same mindset and are going through a lot of the same things.