Coping With the Drama

Having teenagers in the house, especially a teenage girl, is enough to cause anyone stress. Sometimes I wonder how anyone makes it through their teenage years, and I especially wonder how anyone makes it through their kids' teenage years. The problem is that it's easy to get caught up in the emotion of the moment and not handle things the right way. Just because you're the adult, you're the parent, doesn't mean it comes naturally or that you always know what to do.

I just read about this natural Magnolia supplement called AbsoluteCalm, and it's supposed to lower the stress response, almost immediately. All natural, no side effects, and it can help me keep calm in the midst of whatever whining, begging, teenage drama comes my way? It certainly sounds interesting. Often it seems that all the whining and drama is just a distraction from the real issue, and it would be better not to be distracted.

There's quite a bit of information on the website comparing the use of AbsoluteCalm with drugs like diazepam, which I really wouldn't want to try unless absolutely necessary. There are quite a few side effects with the drugs. Something natural, though, I would be more willing to try. The 30-day money back guarantee means there's nothing to lose.

Fair Tickets

Summerfest started yesterday, and we didn't go to opening day. The last couple of years we've gone in the afternoon, donated our 3 non-perishable food items, and gotten in free. Mostly we went because we wanted to see REO in concert, and the fireworks. This year REO isn't playing Summerfest, and we just couldn't get enthused about any of the other bands. We hated to miss the Big Bang, though. We did watch it on TV - not quite the same, but high definition is pretty nice.

We do have tickets to see REO at the Wisconsin State Fair, so we'll still get to see them. Jeffrey went and bought fair tickets yesterday since they're cheaper now than they will be at the gate. He figured we won't have much time to do anything else when we go for the concert, so he bought extra tickets so we can go back. We have to have time to check out all the Wisconsin products and the 'as seen on TV' product booths, right?

Image via WikipediaOne of our favorite things at the fair is the wine tasting, so we have to have time for that, too. We get to taste different wines from around the state and buy the ones we like. We have found some wines that we really like this way. I always grab the brochures, thinking maybe we'll go for a winery tour or sign up for the wine of the month. So far I just get the newsletter every month from one of the wineries. One of these days I am going to order some of their wine, because it is really good. I had some last weekend, and I really do need to order some.

Anyway, I think he got enough tickets so that we can go to the fair for the concert, go to the fair to taste wines and look around, and even go back to watch the horse pulls if we want to. Yes, we definitely must watch the horse pulls. I can't believe we never went to the fair when we lived in Illinois. We go every year here.

Looking for a Rental Car?

With the rising cost of airfare and all the added fees and regulations associated with flying, I'm wondering if more people will think about taking a road trip for vacation instead of flying somewhere. Of course, driving any distance from home means you have to be sure your car is in good condition. Or, you could look into car rental and rent a nice car or mini van that will hold all your luggage. That way you won't have to put extra wear and tear on your own car. We've done that at least a couple of times, especially before we had our own mini van. It made it so much nicer to have that extra room.

Advantage Rent a Car has summer specials starting at just $20.99/day. Select a pick-up location, time and date, select your desired vehicle, and select a drop-off location, date and time, and get a quote. I guess I should plan ahead a little more, because I wanted to see what it would cost to rent a convertible over the July 4th weekend, but there aren't any available. Still, it was easy to find that out. They have a whole page listing all the different cars in the fleet with information about each one, like how many people they can carry and how many bags. I couldn't have packed much if I rented a convertible anyway.

Here's a deal: Too bad I'm not in Florida wanting to get to Chicago. They're offering a one way rental from any location in Florida to Chicago for $1 per day. Anyone in Florida looking to visit Chicago?

Summertime Coffee

Today I'm drinking the pomegranate cranberry juice I told you about, but the last couple of days I've tried out one of the recipes Tammy shared on her blog. Remember when she posted the recipe for Not Quite Tim Horton's, But Almost as Good Ice Caps? You don't? Here's the original recipe:

NOT QUITE TIM HORTON'S, BUT ALMOST AS GOOD ICE CAPS

• 1 cup of whole or 2% milk
• 1 heaping teaspoon of instant coffee
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla
• 6 ice cubes
• 4 teaspoons of sugar

Mix all in blender until ice is crushed. Pour in glass and drink with a straw.

I usually double the recipe because as soon as I make one for me, everyone wants one.

from Tammy

Of course, like I do with all recipes, I had to change it a bit. Sometimes when I make my coffee in the mornings, I don't end up drinking all of it. In the winter, I often heat it up later and make hot chocolate, but I just don't feel like drinking hot chocolate in the summertime. So, earlier this week, I had some leftover coffee and thought I'd try it in this recipe. I used half coffee and half milk (doubled the recipe like Tammy said, so that was 1 cup coffee and 1 cup milk) and left out the instant coffee. It turned out really good.

I know I will be making this again. Now, on the days I have extra coffee, I pour it into a jar in the refrigerator so it will be ready when I want to whip up a batch of these Ice Caps. I probably need to find a different jar, though. The one I'm using now is the one that I usually store black olives in. Black coffee, black olives in black brine - they both look exactly alike. I can just see someone pulling the jar out expecting to find some olives in there.

I Wanna Be Seaside

Instead of working on the calendar, like I'm supposed to, I'm looking at oceanfront homes in Mexico. I get really easily distracted, especially when I'm confronted with pictures of beaches and the ocean. I love the beach. My idea of a perfect vacation involves a lot of lying around on the beach and playing in the ocean.

Seaside Beach Home Rentals looks like a great place to start planning a Mexico beach vacation. They have all kinds of private homes and villas listed. There are various sizes, anywhere from 2 to 7 bedrooms with lots of great amenities. Some of these larger houses would be great for a Rocky Point Mexico wedding, because the house can accommodate the whole wedding party. Some of these have adjoining properties for even more guests. These would be great for a family reunion vacation, too. Find a house you like, you can request more information or send in a reservation request. You can even give them the number in your party and what you are looking for, and they will suggest a house for you.

I would much rather vacation in a home or villa than in some hotel room, and these look so nice. I'm just afraid I wouldn't want to leave when my vacation came to an end.

Is Lasik Cheating?

Recognize those eyes? They belong to Tiger Woods, probably the winningest, most famous golfer in all of the sport. Those are some extremely focused eyes. But Tiger's eyes were not perfect, and he had laser surgery to correct his vision. This would never have occurred to me, but some people seem to think that's cheating. I don't see how. I think it would be the same thing to say that wearing glasses or contacts is cheating, and I really don't believe anyone has said that. Besides, just being able to see the hole you're supposed to put that little white ball in, doesn't mean that you can. There's a whole lot more involved, like skill, practice, and determination.

Lasik is a surgical procedure that involves reshaping the cornea to reduce or eliminate the need for corrective lenses. One of these days I would really like to go for an evaluation and see if Lasik is right for me. I've been wearing glasses since grade school, and it would be so nice not to be dependent on them any more. There is quite a bit of information on this Lasik in San Francisco website, and I think the more information I have, the more comfortable I will be with the whole process. They say on the site that it is perfectly natural to be nervous about the procedure, so yes, there's that. Also the cost has always put me off, but the cost of Lasik seems pretty affordable nowadays. It's just a matter of balancing cost and choosing a high quality Lasik center with a good record and reputation.

I bet even if I get Lasik surgery and have perfect vision, I still couldn't beat Tiger at golf. Just ignore the fact that I've never played in my life....

I'm Thinking Iced Tea

I've been hearing about green tea and its health benefits, but I admit I don't know much. I did try, for about a week once, to drink green tea instead of coffee. Somehow it just wasn't the same. Tea for me is more of a separate drink. It definitely won't replace coffee in my world. Ever.

That doesn't mean that I don't want to drink tea. I enjoy a good cup of tea, both hot and iced. Since it's summer now, I'm going to have to go with iced, of course. I found this website where I can buy tulsi tea. It's also called Holy Basil, and it's an herb known in India that's supposed to have healing powers. This might be even better than green tea? It comes in 18 delicious flavors and is supposed to provide stress relief, increased energy and a boost to your natural immune system. Some of these flavors sound really great - Pomegranate, Red Mango, Vanilla Cream. They have a special summer pack on sale for 50% off - 4 flavors that will be especially good poured over ice for a refreshing, healthful summer drink. That Raspberry Peach sounds yummy.

All the teas at Organic India are certified organic and grown by thousands of family farmers. Together with whole farming communities, they have converted tens of thousands of acres of impoverished farmland to robust certified organic fields. The farmers are paid a good wage, and buying this tea helps those farmers keep their land and support their families.

New RVs

Jeffrey's mom and her husband have a very nice travel trailer they use whenever they travel around the country. It's so nice for them, because no matter where they go, they have their own bed, and they don't have to carry their clothes in and out of a hotel room or the place they're visiting. I told them that when they're tired of traveling, it will be about time for Jeffrey and me to start traveling around the country, we'll use it.

So, they better take care of it! Of course, there is still plenty of traveling left in their future, I'm sure, so we may have to start looking for New RVs when we get ready to travel. RVs.com looks like the perfect site to find one. They have new RVs and used RVs. You can search RVs to see what's out there, or if you have an RV you want to sell, you can list it there, too. There's also some great information to help you choose an RV.

Mom & Fred, I'm just saying that you better take care of that trailer, or I better start saving my pennies now! Oh, but these things are nice.

Jobs and High School

Cory was out of bed and into the shower at about 8:00 this morning. Seriously.

He's volunteering at the library today. He could be there all day. He loves it there, and they love him there. I'm just glad he's got something positive to do with his time. His dad seems to think he should find a job, but right now that would mean that I would have to be sure he got there and back. He can ride his bike to and from the library, and at least he's not wasting all his time on his computer (unlike me!?). Also, during the school year, he's got activities going on with band and drama and such.

Part of the reason we told Beth she needed to get a job was that she was not involved in anything at school. She went to school, and she came home and wanted to goof off and 'hang out' with her friends. It just seemed like she needed some kind of direction, something positive going on in her life, because she would have been happy just whiling it away doing nothing. Also, after calling around for car insurance quotes, we realized how much more it was going to cost if she didn't get her B average and qualify for the Good Student Discount. That's when we told her that, if she didn't get the B average, she would be the one paying for her car insurance, not us. No job, no insurance, no driving. She didn't get the B average. She had to pay for insurance, once. After that, she put a little more effort into her schoolwork and has achieved her B average. I think she's hoping she'll get to keep a little more of her paycheck for herself...

What do you think? Should teenagers have jobs while they're in high school? Should they concentrate on schoolwork, school activities, and volunteering when possible? Or is it good to get a taste of what the real world is like - working all the time and having next to nothing to show for it?

She's Allergic to Swimming

Beth called home last night. It sounds like she's having a good time - getting to go to the beach and swim in the pool, which are both things she likes a lot. Unfortunately, she sometimes has a weird reaction to swimming, and it doesn't seem to matter whether it's a pool, a lake, or the ocean. Her nose gets all stuffed up, and she can't breathe all night after. Not a good thing, especially for someone who loves to swim so much. Now, if Jeffrey had that kind of reaction to swimming or being in the water, he'd just stay out of the water and never miss it. The rest of us couldn't live that way.

So, we took Beth to the doctor when this started happening, and he said it was an allergy. So, she's allergic to water? It's a little strange, but he prescribed lipovox, or something and told her to take it whenever she was going to go swimming. I think it was Zyrtec, something for allergies anyway, and it does seem to help.

Of course, along with forgetting to take a camera with her, Beth forgot to take her medicine along. Luckily it's now available without a prescription, so they went to Walgreens and bought some so she could swim and enjoy herself, and still be able to breathe. Breathing is always a good thing.

Learn More About Web Hosting

I'm right in the middle of working on the school calendar. Actually, I'm supposed to be working on the school calendar, but so many other things keep getting in the way, like that laundry I mentioned last post. Also, I have an email box full of website updates I have to make, when I have time. When we started the web page in question, it was hosted on a server with FrontPage extensions. What that meant was that my friend Peggy could log into the server and work on the webpages, too. There were still tweaks I had to make and details to be fixed , but at least the pages were up, which made people happy.

Now we're on a different server. No FrontPage extensions, so when Peggy creates pages she has to email them to me. I have to import them into Frontpage so they'll work with the rest of the pages, and then upload them. Ideally, with no Frontpage extensions, I should re-do the whole thing and take it out of FrontPage, but that will take more time than I think I have.

I was reading this article on cpanel tutorials, and I wonder if we could use this to help us work together better on the web pages. The article makes it sound like a very useful thing to have. The tutorials look like a very handy resource for people who use or want to use cpanel. (Don, can we have this on the server? There's information here about security issues and how to take care of them.)

This site has quite a bit of information about web hosting, so if you're thinking about choosing a web host, or just want to know how to use the tools your host provides, give it a look.

Ad-Posting Software Saves Time

One of these days I would really like to de-clutter around here. How in the world do we accumulate so much stuff? Like I have said before, I hate to just throw stuff away, especially when someone else can get some use out of it. We usually end up donating the stuff we get rid of, but it would be even better to make some money, wouldn't it?

I know Craigslist is supposed to be a good site to market all that stuff you don't need. We've searched for things we need want on there, but we've never tried creating our own ads to get rid of our own stuff. It probably wouldn't be a bad idea to get rid of some stuff before we get more stuff, huh? It's just hard for me to think that someone might actually want something that I no longer have a need for.

If/when I ever get around to the whole de-cluttering process and am ready to get rid of some stuff, I will have to check out this ezadsuite from Craygo. It's supposed to make it so much easier to post your ads to Craigslist. It makes it easy to select the cities you want to post to, reads and enters the Captchas for you, let's you schedule your ad posts, sends email reports of your ad activity, and more. Craygo has more features than any other product out there. Reading through the customer testimonials, it looks like this software can be very helpful and that it pays for itself. One customer said he made back his purchase price in 48 hours.

Along with your purchase of Craygo, you get a regularly updated manual that explains how to use each and every feature as well as resources like a FAQs page, members forum, and 7 day a week email support. So, if you're ready to sell some stuff, and want to make it easier to place ads on Craigslist (and Backpage if you use that) and start making some money, check out Craygo to see what it can do for you. They say it can reduce the time it takes to post an ad by 50%, and time is money. right?

Here's a screenshot: (right-click and choose 'view image' if you want to see it full-size)

I'm Sending an E-Card

Fathers Day is this weekend. I love my father figure. He's awesome. I'm not sending him a card, though. Instead, I'm sending an e-card, you know the kind you store in computer memory - instead of the kind that will clutter up the house.

That's a good reason, right? He still gets to read it, enjoy it, and know I thought of him and think he's the greatest dad ever. Maybe I'll even give him a phone call.

What do you do for your dad for Fathers Day?

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Everyone Loves Chocolate

I've got a cake baking in the oven, a chocolate cake. Who doesn't like chocolate, right? When I have to take a dessert for a potluck, I usually figure I can't go wrong with chocolate. Seriously, once I made a chocolate pie for a dessert contest. I felt like it was cheating, because it was basically just a pie crust with a mixture of chocolate pudding and non-dairy whipped topping in it. Not difficult at all, and I won. Why? Because it was chocolate. Period.

There are differences in chocolate, though, and if I'm going to eat chocolate, I want the good stuff. I want something like gertrude hawk chocolates. What's so special about the Gertrude Hawk chocolates? These chocolates use the freshest ingredients and time-tested recipes. No shortcuts here, just great chocolate. Remember, everyone likes chocolate (OK, if not everyone, then most people) and that means chocolate makes a great gift. Gertrude Hawk has all kinds of chocolate gifts like fresh fudge, chocolate covered cherries, dark chocolate, chocolate covered pretzels, their very own chocolate Smidgens®, and much more. You can create your very own gift basket for someone you love.

Take a look. I bet they have something you'd like. In the meantime, my kitchen smells oh-so-chocolaty, and it's about time to take the cake out of the oven Do you think I should add some chocolate frosting?

Freezer Squeezers

Summer's coming, and it's time for Cory's favorite treat - freezer squeezers. Actually, I think the box calls them Freeze 'n Squeeze, but we always call them freezers squeezers. They're those tubes of sweet, colored water you stick in the freezer to make your own popsicles. Cory would eat those all day every day if we let him. The only problem is that they're considered a 'seasonal item' so you can't buy them all year long. He had a whole stack of boxes of them last summer, and he made them last a while, but he's been out for a while.

Yesterday, Jeffrey stopped at Aldi and bought several boxes. Yes, they're back in the store now, so Cory's a happy camper. He immediately opened a box and put some in the freezer, and tonight we had the first frozen freezer squeezers of the summer. Jeffrey and I each had one. I think Cory had at least 5. Did I tell you the boy likes these things? Luckily they aren't too expensive at Aldi, so Cory can have his freezer squeezers, and we can still save for Tuscany villa rentals or something else we might want. I like shopping at Aldi for a lot of things. I just wish there was one closer.

Wimbledon 2008 is Almost Here

I've been working on the calendar today. One of these days I'm actually going to get it done - hopefully soon. Today I've been formatting and inserting the athletic schedule for the high school. Our school has your basic sports - football, volleyball, boys and girls basketball, wrestling, track, soccer, etc. One sport our school doesn't have is tennis. The school in the next town, the one where the kids have to take finals in all their classes? They have tennis, or at least they have tennis courts out front, so I'm assuming they have tennis. We do have tennis courts in our local park, and the kids both took tennis in summer school, back when they were in elementary.

Jeffrey always enjoyed tennis, but he got frustrated pretty quickly the few times we went to the park to 'play tennis' - meaning, try to hit the ball back and forth over the net, never mind scoring. Yes, I'm hopeless. I wonder if practicing with the Wii will help me any? He took the kids to the park a few times to play after they'd had the class, but no one really stuck with it.

So, he may not get the opportunity to go out and play tennis very often, but he does watch tennis on television every once in a while, and always when the Wimbledon tournament is on. I have a hard time following the action even on TV, but he knows what's going on. I just cheer for whichever one of the Williams sisters is playing. Those girls are amazing, both of them. Venus won last year, as well as in 2000, 2001, and 2005. Her sister Serena won in 2002 and 2003. I wonder how they'll do this year.

Wimbledon 2008 is approaching fast. The tournament runs June 23 - July 6. Wimbledon tickets are still available, for those who can get to the All England Lawn Tennis Club. Those who don't have tickets can queue up overnight for seats. That sounds like an experience, doesn't it? We'll just have to watch the tournament on TV, follow it online, and maybe even become a Wimbledon fan on Facebook. The actual experience of being there will have to wait.

Comparing Web Site Hosting Plans

I keep getting these emails: Choose the web hosting plan that works for you. I just keep saving them, because I want all the resources I can get when it comes to choosing a web hosting plan. I want to be able to compare the plans and hopefully make the right decision to get just what I need, when I finally decide to do it.

Tonight I was browsing Network Solutions and their web site hosting plans. They have plans from Standard to Pro, and they all include tons of storage space and lots of monthly bandwidth. All plans also include a free domain name with annual purchase, 24/7 real person customer service, 99.9% uptime, tons of email boxes, an award-winning online web site builder tool, and more. These are the kinds of things I would expect from a web host. I worked on a website redesign last year, and I just want to say that I am not at all thrilled with the host we are using. Basically, with them I get ftp and FrontPage extensions. They provide email boxes and forwarding, too, but that's about it. Network Solutions would have been a better choice just based on the options I have already listed, and there are more.

Network Solutions is the recipient of the Find My Host Editor’s Choice Award for June 2008, and they'd love to be your web host. Check them out and read all the features offered if you're looking for a web host.

Milwaukee Area Banquet and Conference Center

We're attending a wedding this coming weekend. The daughter of some of our friends is all grown up and getting married. From what I hear, planning a wedding can be quite an elaborate affair. I'm so happy I didn't know that when Jeffrey and I got married almost 22 years ago.

What I know now, is that, if you're planning a wedding, you better start planning very far in advance in order to get the place you want for your wedding and wedding reception WI. Keeping that in mind, I'm bookmarking this place in Menomonee Falls called Davians. It's a nice banquet and conference center in the area. They have experienced event coordinators to handle all the details, and, while they have packages to choose from, each event can be completely personalized. The experienced staff at Davians is there to make your event just what you want it.

Someday my daughter might decide to get married, and it will be good that I know this.

Invitations, As Easy as...

It won't be all that long before I'll have to start thinking about invitations. Beth will be graduating next year. Doesn't that mean we're supposed to have a graduation party or something? That's what I've heard, anyway. She's planning to graduate (or be finished with school, anyway) after first semester, so I'm not sure how that is going to work. Will she go back and go through graduation with her class in June? I'm not even going to try to guess what she will decide she wants to do.

In the meantime, I want to play with designing some invitations at VistaPrint, just to see how easy it is. First step: Choose a design. Then: add all the information, which is as easy as typing it in. The design automatically updates so you can see what it will look like. The design I chose had and event information line prefilled to say, "(without the boys)" - Since I'm creating a Let's Celebrate Beth's Graduation invitation, I changed that to say (in spite of the boys). I'm sure she'll just love that! OK, no she won't, but it's really easy to change, and then, you can even do some advanced editing, move things around, change fonts, and stuff like that.

Creating an account with VistaPrint will enable you to save your designs, so you don't have to re-design. For instance, I can save this invitation I just designed, so when we're ready to plan a party, all I have to do is enter the correct date and time (and take out that line about the boys, maybe). VistaPrint has hundreds of design templates to start with. It takes only minutes to create the perfect invitation or announcement. VistaPrint provides high-quality, full-color printing - something I really appreciate because we can't afford to print this school calendar in color. Envelopes are included, and you can receive your order in as little as 3 days.

Besides invitations, VistaPrint offers a wide variety of printing services, business cards, stationery, rubber stamps, and more. Everything is fully customizable, so if you have printing needs, check out VistaPrint.

Rain Delay

Image via WikipediaSerious rain today. We were at our friends' house in Milwaukee, and Cory wanted to get home because he had a games night at the library. About the time we needed to leave, it started pouring. So, we waited for it to let up. In the meantime, Jeffrey went out in the rain a couple of times, loaded the van, got the umbrella, moved vehicles so ours was behind and we could get out. Then, when it let up a little, we all ran for the van and headed home.

About then it started raining hard again. Streets were flooded so we had to turn around and take an alternate route, and it was hard to see. There were a few places on the interstate that were flooded - luckily in the opposite lane. Cars were backed up over there and taking their time getting through. Still, we managed to get Cory to the library, about half an hour late. And by then the rain had pretty much stopped - or we just drove out of it.

Cory's game night ended up going later than originally planned, so he really didn't miss all that much. It sounds like they had fun. They played some board games or party games and some video games on the Wii and playstation 3, and no-one was ready to go home at 8:00 as planned. This would be why we don't plan to pick Cory up at any particular time. We just tell him to call when he's ready or if he is getting a ride.