Where has the time gone?! Since we last spoke I have become a hiking fanatic. By fanatic I mean that each time I go, despite the bugs, humidity, or exhaustion, I cannot WAIT for the next time I get to go! I have also been spending less time at the computer monitor and more time out with real live people. Crazy I know. Don't worry though, I still love my vegging out time.

All that extra activity and socializing has made me appreciate my quiet time, silly time, down time even more. I have been watching a lot of movies. I have Dish Network with all the premium movie channels so between flicks and DVR'd Colbert & Stewart, I'm pretty much set.  I think I have watched WHAT HAPPENS IN VEGAS 8 times already this month. Not because of poor choices, but because I love it that much. I come home tired, fall into bed and drift off to sleep to it, laughing, and knowing I'm not going to miss anything cus I've already seen it all. Ha!

Maybe movies isn't your thing. Mytvoptions.com matches you up with the tv service provider that best matches your criteria. It seems to sway to Directv, but that's just my opinion. You should check it out for yourself if you're investigating your program options. I like my Dish a lot, but I do enjoy the commercials for TimeWarnerCable.com. They aren't available in my area or I  might be tempted to try them just based on personality. I'm a sucker for fun marketing.  You know who else isn't in my area? Cox Cable and Cox.com. And I don't get it. It seems like I have heard of them all my life but when I look at the service map they are real scant in most other areas. 

Wait, how did I get on this topic? Or right. Chill time, TV time, me time. I think I'll take advantage of some of that right now. What are YOU watching?

 

I have fun blogging and building websites. I don't particularly know what I am doing, though. I lam learning as I go. It takes patience, for sure, to wait while your content piles up and you gain traffic, but I have found a few things that have worked for me to help that traffic find me.

CONTENT - Of course you need content. But not just any content will do. Quality content that is kept up to date with new posts and comments will keep your site fresh, appealing, and productive.

SEO - Research those keywords relevant to the post you are writing. It only takes a few minutes and will work wonders in getting that post noticed.

LINKS - Trade links with other websites and blogs.

PARTICIPATE - take part in bulletin board conversations and comment on other blogs so that folks you run into there will follow you back to your website. Engage people in social media outlets such as Facebook and Twitter so that they will follow you back to your site and the particular post or feature you are highlighting.  

DIRECTORY SUBMISSION - register your site with all the blog and website directories you can find so that the search engines can better find you.

This is just my simple list of basics to help anyone get a plan for getting started. What's your favorite tip for generating traffic to your website? 

Oh. My. Word. You mean to tell me that TEN percent of the weight of my pillow is made up of dust mites and dust mite FECES!?  The same pillow that I sleep on every night and occasionally curl up on with my children for afternoon naps and cozy movie nights. Nu-uh. I ain't having it. 

You do not even want to know the mattress stats. Okay I'll tell you. After ten years, the weight of your mattress DOUBLES thanks to the bugs and their guts. This is not the first time I have heard these germ and inspect reports, but the idea of my sleeping accessories actually doubling in weight significantly due to all the grossness - I am speechless.

Well, you know I don't really get speechless, but I am worked up. Here's the worst part. Those stats probably pertain to the average person. You'll see in the video below that the samples they used were that of individual adults. I gasp to think what a sampling of my sleeping accessories would be like. I of the greasy, disgusting children and the husband that eats in bed!

You know, when I adopted my kids at their advanced ages of 3 and 7 I was prepared for certain things.  Certain behavior issues, educational gaps, and the like. They never taught us in class how gross the little buggers would be! They are all the damn time sniffing and snorting and putting their hands in their mouths. <gag> My son handles his food like a baseball. There's no finger tipping it. Lord, if we weren't looking there'd probably be no forking it either! Those same greasy hands have their way all over my house. Including the bedding. 

Sometimes I go into the second week before I change the bedding! I know. It's bad housemom 101. But I'm trying to sell real estate. I've got freelance writing deadlines. Bedbugs seem like a fairy tale and fall down the list of priorities when the mortgage is due and you find yourself a teensie bit short. So I'm working more and am home less to monitor everyone's already lacking hygeine and spreading of the filth. And they are eating and contaminating the whole house! Little Buggers!

Dr. Phillip Tiero on this GMA clip talks about coverings for your pillows that keep out the nasty. You still have to keep those clean though. I need something more like an allergy pillow. I found one called the Healthy Dreams pillow that is made of a Micrenza bio filter that makes it free of germs, mold, and allergens. 

I gotta go. Is anybody else itchy?

 

 

Can I just tell you that hormones are running rampant in our house. My ten year old girl and 14 year old boy are both experiencing all kinds of changes in their bodies right now. At the same time. Under my roof. Requiring my love, understanding, and patience.

Whatever.

First there are the physical issues. the oily skin, the face acne, chest acne,the boobs, and the hair. Are you kidding me?  I did not sign up for this. Technincally I did I guess since I adopted my kids and did actually sign paperwork saying that I would take care of them. But I was prepared to deal with their emotional issues, the ADHD, the Bipolar disorder, depression, and anxiety. I was not thinking about puberty at that time!   To top it all off is my son's voice change. As if his teen angst and shitty attitude were not enough, now he's got this low gravely voice to go with it that just grinds on my nerves.

When it gets so nuts I literally stop in my tracks wherever we are, close my eyes, and take a deep peaceful breath. Or I explode in a barrage of curse words. Whichever feels right at the time. What's your best time out tip?

Oh my goodness it has been so cold! And every new environment I enter gets colder! I need something to combat these shivers.

Here's what is weird. The temperature seems to change so significantly in a short amount of time. First I will notice that the temperature has come up because I will suddenly be sweating in the middle of the day. So I lower the thermostat just a bit. Hours later I am suddenly freezing. I go downstairs to the basement and shake from the cold. Then come back upstairs and it's even colder! How did that happen?

Going in and out of houses is always cold and painful. And miserable. Foreclosures are the worst - no heat on and probably a window or two broken and an ice pond in the basement. I wish someone would invent a small battery operated electric blanket that you could wrap around you or wear under your coat like a shawl to give you added warmth when in extreme conditions. Maybe I should invent it. I did invent lounge chairs with holes cut out for the face when you're tanning your back years before they came out. I just didn't know how to sell it. Hmmm. Anybody want to be my partner? :)

I don't know about you but even if they were gicing away Disney vacation packages, I don't think we would be able to go. Things are so tight right now and I'm sick of it. Do the packages even include air fare? I don't know. But we'd still have to spend money once we got there. Heck I can't even afford to buy food on sale at Kroger right now, how am I going to pay for over priced theme park food?

But I wonder, can we really afford not to take a vacation? I haven't taken time off in two years and I am living a rage I have never known before. I'm tired, I'm groucny, and everybody is on my nerves right now. In fact, this blog on on my nerves. Is anyone else suffering from "need a vacation from recession induced vacation?"  Anybody know how to cure it? 

I have recently started running, which is a good thing. I'm 41 now, my body has gotten stubborn - it doesn't move like it used to, it holds onto more than it used to - it requires more work to maintain that it used to! Here's the problem though- I live in Michigan. And it's winter. I can feel the cold air and chilly wind just dilling my delicate 41 year old skin. After my first couple of times I had a rash and my eyes were burning for days. Anyone else experience this? Damaged skin due to being outdoors in the elements is an easy enough fix, though, I have found.

After experimenting with a cariety of thick night creams I have found that slathering a generous amount of Vaseline actually protects my face from not only wind damage but it actually feels warmer too.  Just don't forget to wash it off afterward, especially if you have il skin! 

What's your favorite sport skin care tip?

The very first article I wrote "professionally" was an acne solution for kids piece.  It was fun and funny and included pitures of my daughter.  it wasn't a huge pay day for me but it got my foot in the door and gave me the confidence and excitement to write more. If you wan to get started writing -either for passion, for extra income, or both - just think about what you know and what you like- there is a venue otut there for whatever you write. In my case my 9 year old was having issues wiht oily skin. So I wrote about it and offered solutions to readers. What's something relevant in your life right now? Write about it. Tell us how to do somehting. Then publish it.  Bam! You're  writer.

Eye cream, lip cream, foot lotion, tanning lotion, stretch marks cream... Does it ever end? I've been primping and groooming and plucking since i was 14. I don't even want to think back for enough to my first sit up or yoga pose. I'm 41 now. I still want to look good but I resnt that I have to damnit. And that it's so hard! At what point it is okay to stop worryig about it and obsessing over it? Does that time ever come?

You know, I have always said things like, "Even if I had the money I would not pay that much for a ...." Fill in the blank. In those days, although I didn't have enough money to over pay for such items, I had enough money to buy the version that I could afford.  And now that my funds are so tight that I can't afford to buy many of the things that I have never been without, my attitude has changed.  I want a new Coach bag. I would pay $600 for a pair of Christian Louboutin shoes.  And there is no limit to what I would pay to resupply my make up and skin care sets. NO LIMIT! Why is this?