Paid to Shop

My cousin got her first job out of college with Hallmark.  She didn't just get any position.  She was the buyer for Hallmark.  You know all the gifts, knick knacks, ornaments, etc...?  She decided what Hallmark would purchase and sell in their stores.  It was a dream job.  She was getting paid for going shopping!

Now I don't know about you... but this is the kind of career where I would definitely be happy in my work!  A position in supplier management would be a great way to satisfy your shopping desires... while spending someone elses money.

And from what I understand, the salary is around $72,000 per year... so not only would you save money by shopping on someone elses dime... but you would be able to pack away a nice little savings.

And you know how some people compensate with shopping for emotional needs.  If they are sad, they buy something pretty to make them feel better.  If they are happy, they go shopping and buy something they've always wanted as a celebration.  Essentially, these moods would simply make you a better employee.  You would dive into your work and become employee of the month!

I love it!

This is a sponsored post however, all the points and views are my own.

Perfect

I love my son in law.  He is great.  He is smart, ambitious, funny and fun, brings out the best in everyone, kind, giving, truly thinks of others and is a wonderful husband and father.  And he is the first to admit that I did not include handy.  He is not the first person I would call to come and fix my disposal.

And it's not that he wouldn't be more than willing to give it a try.  He is an extremely helpful person.  The desire would be there, but hands on fix it kind of skills are not at the top of his list of his many admirable qualities.

And it's not that he doesn't have incredible ideas.  He is smart and very much a problem solver... he's just not not... the dryer won't heat up, kind of problem solver.  He is taking a new online company to a highly successful company and is key with sales and service and understanding the product.  Put him on a computer or on the phone and he is amazing.  Put him under the engine of a car... not so much.

True... no one is perfect... but he comes close.  He is the first to admit that he's not the guy to figure out why the sinks are backed up, or the basement is flooded... but... he definitely knows how to hire and get the Roto-Rooter Plumbing truck to come and fix it.

Maybe he is perfect.

This is a sponsored post however, all the points and views are my own.

Family First

Facebook has become a constant in today.  My kids all love to communicate with this ever present social media.  I, however, have my difficulties navigating my way and keeping up with all the likes, dislikes, pokes, and friends.

I have never really wanted a facebook page creation for myself.  I only registered so that I could see the kids pictures on their pages.  I loved being able to keep up with what they were doing.  And the pictures were so much fun.  But then it got complicated and I had a terrible time trying to accept or not accept friends.  Then people started writing on my wall and this became confusing.  I was overwhelmed.  I had so many friends!

Now I need to qualify the friends part.  I have a normal amount of friends, but when you talk of facebook friends it gets a little out of control.  Everyone wants to be your friend.  At first, I honestly thought that by accepting someone as your friend, you were going to spend time with them.  Go out for ice cream.  Talk on the phone.  And then when my friend requests grew to numbers beyond anyone's reasonable number of friends I quit.  It was just too much.  There is a thing as too much and I hit it.

Now, I have a new facebook page where it is just me and my family and it rocks!  Everything on the facebook page is about my family and let's be honest here... that is who I ultimately will want to follow when it becomes too hard to follow everyone.

Family first.

This is a sponsored post however, all the points and views are my own.

Weekend Getaways? I Recommend It!

Sometimes it just feels good to get away... but it is the actual getting away that is so hard.  We all have so much in our lives with work, school, children, friends, and countless other things.  It seems we are forever busy, busy, busy.  If you can endure the prep of getting away, and survive getting there... it is well worth the effort.  I speak from experience.

Now I'm not saying I've ever had the high end getaway.  I've never ran off to Cape Cod or dined at Marthas Vineyard restaurants.  I have, however, enjoyed a weekend off of enjoying my family.

I have a daughter in New York.  My granddaughter is there and one time I got away for the weekend just to be there for her 2 year old birthday.  Crazy trying to sew up loose ends in order to get out of here early Friday afternoon.  And it was positively crazy to fly back only 48 hours after my arrival... but it was totally and completely worth every bit of it.  My granddaughter was so surprised and I spent her entire birthday with her just doing whatever her little heart desired.

I also recently got away to my son and daughter and her husband in St. George.  They run a shuttle from Salt Lake to St. George and it is a pleasure.  I absolutely love it.  I love to read and I just sit back and enjoy the ride while I read and read.  I get there by dinner time Friday and then take the late morning shuttle back on Sunday.  Hectic... yes.  Fabulous to spend the weekend with my kids... oh yes!

The weekend getaway?  I highly recommend it!

This is a sponsored post however, all the points and views are my own.

Two Speed Limits - One Road

Sure I've gotten a few speeding tickets in my lifetime.  I do tend to be a rather speedy driver.  For the most part, I have deserved the tickets, and haven't even tried to fight a speeding ticket.  This last one, however, deserved a fight.  At least I thought so.

I was driving in Salt Lake City.  I had to run an errand and so my mission was clear.  I drove to my destination down a main street in the city.  Parked.  Got what I needed.  And headed out the same way I came in.  This is the tricky part.  One side of the road had a speed limit of 45 miles per hour.  So coming in to accomplish my task was 45.  Driving back, the speed limit was 25 miles per hour.  Weird?  Right?

Naturally, I only saw the speed limit coming in, so when I headed out, I got pulled over.  I had the usual surprised look and "Is there a problem officer?" look and this is when he informed me that I was going 20 over the speed limit.  I explained that I was sure I saw a speed limit sign that read 45 and this is where I was informed that the 45 was on the other side of the street.  I laughed... thinking he was clearly joking.  Nope.  He wrote the ticket.  I tried to the fight speeding ticket move.  I failed.  I was told that I need to always be looking... always checking for speed limit signs.

I hate it when they're right.

This is a sponsored post however, all the points and views are my own.

What To Do With That Clunker

How many times have we all been there?  You get a new car, but the old car is not really worth selling.  We get a clunker... one with a tremendous amount of metal around it... for our new teenage drivers.  They are decent cars... but inexpensive to insure and register due to their salvage title... or low value.  When we reach the time to get rid of it, it really isn't worth selling... but there are other things you can do.

We have had one weighed for it's scrap metal and since these cars tend to be built like tanks (the Mom in me insists they are protected in every way possible when they drive) and this makes them heavy.  There are places that will purchase them just for the scrap metal.  They literally weigh the car and pay you a set price per pound.

A better way to get rid of a car is donation.  What is of very little value to you... can be of great value to a variety of organization.  It is a great thing to donate cars for vets.  There are several organizations that take used, broken down cars.  They come and pick it up.  At cars for vets 100% of the money goes to veterans.  You avoid the hassle of expensive repairs, or trying to place an ad and sell the car.  And to top it off... you can take the highest resale price and use it as a tax deduction.

A simple thing... that can mean so much.

This is a sponsored post however, all the points and views are my own.

A Book That Makes You Think

I love books that make you think.  Books about other cultures or interesting situations.  I am reading a book right now that I can not stop thinking about.

It is a book that takes fictional characters through a nuclear war.  The story is obviously not real, but the situation and the out fall are very much what would happen if we did have a nuclear war.  There was the bomb that takes out an entire part of our country, but then there was another troubling issue I had no idea of.  They can take a nuclear bomb and explode it in the air and it takes out all power, anything electrical across a huge area.

Where I am at in the book right now, this has happened and essentially they have digressed to like the 1800's.  There is no power.  No phones.  No machinery.  No cars.  Nothing.  When it turns to nighttime it is black as coal.  You can't just go to the doctors if you're sick or injured.  You literally can not get there.  And food becomes a major issue.  Farms have no machinery.  There is no means of transporting food.

There have been constant warnings that we should maintain a long term food supply, and although I have heard this for years, it sounds stupid, but this book has helped me see the light.

It's good that I read books that make me think... I think?

This is a sponsored post however, all the points and views are my own.

Senior Trips

When my children graduate from high school, my gift to them is either a private trip with just the two of us, or a substantial donation to a car or their college education.  I don't think I need to tell you which gift I prefer!

The oldest chose to go to New York City.  She had dreamed of going there since the sixth grade.  We had an incredible time and she absolutely fell in love with the city.  So in love, in fact, that she moved there after her freshman year in college and has never looked back.

We booked one of those Catalina Island Packages for my second daughter.  A beautiful hotel with an ocean view and shopping galore!  We ended up having to cancel and she ended up being the only one of my children who had a car in college.

And the fourth chose Cancun which was fabulous.  We did all kinds of amazing things, like a zipline ride through the jungle, toured the Mayan ruins, and cliff jumped into these weird tropical sink hole like things.  We had pina coladas on the beach, which also included my daughter nearly drowning on the shore, but all in all it was incredible.

I now prepare for my last graduate.  We are heading to California.  First she wants to be a little kid one more time and go to Disneyland.  Then we are off to Hollywood.  My theater buff wants to absorb everything... Grauman's, Hollywood Museum, and we have dreams of going to Ellen, etc...

Graduation, a memory of it's own.  The trips, more memories to last a lifetime.

This is a sponsored post however, all the points and views are my own.

Reminders...

Oh how I love reminders!  These days when my mind doesn't seem to hold on to the things I need to remember... I love friendly reminders.

My kids are great at texting me to remind me that I need to pick them up...or they have an appointment I need to take them to... or I have an appointment.  These little texts are so kind and thoughtful and I appreciate them more than they will ever know.  My daughter will ask me to pick something up for her at the store and no doubt while I am at the store... my phone will make it's little sound that tells me I have a text and sure enough it is the thing I am supposed to pick up.  Fabulous.  This does of course require that I remember my phone... and that I have it turned on!

And I know you are going to think I'm crazy but I love online reminders.  Companies like mad mimi email marketing put little ads in your email.  I know this can be troublesome if there is too much... but I have to admit that I like seeing a reminder that I need more See's Candies... or that I purchased tickets somewhere and would I like to go again?  I like the little pictures of items I like that pop up when I am searching online.  It is a friendly reminder that... oh yeah... I was shopping for one of those!

Some people take offense at reminders but I never do.  I take them in the spirit of someone trying to help me... someone doing me a favor... and this is always welcome in my book.

This is a sponsored post however, all the points and views are my own.

Oh... If You Had Only...

Holiday shopping is at full force these days and I can only imagine that credit card transactions, cash transactions, every kind of transaction is surging through the financial networks.  Businesses are being slammed and I'm sure there are many who are surprised by the number of online shoppers this year.  Some businesses probably wish they had some kind of billing system in place.

I know when I am online shopping... the ease of check out is key.  If it is a pain... or complicated and gives me grief... I will simply go somewhere else.  Let's face it... online shopping is everywhere.  If an item is unavailable somewhere... you simply go to another sight.  There are so many search engines... you literally can find anything.

I think another reason for some kind of Subscription Management would be the ability to keep track of your customers so you can go after that returning revenue.  It is a simple concept.  If I find a website that is not only easy to use, but has good customer service... I will return.  I have already done it this year alone.  If a business has something in place to track customers... they can market to those who have already proven they like what they see.  What an easy sale this would be?  But if you can't keep track... then you've lost a valuable asset.

I'm sure there are many businesses right now saying... "Oh if I had only... "

This is a sponsored post however, all the points and views are my own.

Ideas For The Home

My move is getting closer as the weeks fly by.  After the holidays I know it is going to come crazy fast and I hope I am ready.  The move itself is going to take time... but it is the deciding how my new place will be is the all time consuming piece to this puzzle.

I have a basic layout of how I would like things... but then I get online and find so many ideas my head is full.  I love to go on Pinterest and other websites that show decor ideas, but it is the real estate websites that have the most concrete ideas for me.  When you look at a site like www.thepartnerstrust.com you have access to not only landscaping ideas, but the interior, and a vast array of other areas of your home.

Landscaping is great but I like looking at the cute details some of the homes show.  Cute wooden square boxes that are decorative and useful right outside your back door on the porch.  There is interesting lighting ideas and front door decor on each listing.

The interior ideas are incredible too.  People are getting pictures of their home taken and so they have it looking just right and I love looking at the small details... things I may not have thought of doing.

A move is a huge step and is life changing.  I can't wait to be all settled in to my new home... but I will have to get through all the planning and preparation to get there!  It will be well worth it!

This is a sponsored post however, all the points and views are my own.

Holiday Spending

Quite obvious... but December is clearly the month we all spend the most money.  Holiday shopping can take it's toll on you and your credit cards.  Here are some ways to avoid that inevitable holiday financial hangover.

First of all... don't wait until the last minute.  When you are rushed and in the mode of just getting it done... you don't care about the price.  Trust me when I say... you will care come January and you see what you spent on gifts.

Try to avoid using plastic.  I don't like this theory because I like my rewards.  If your disciplined you can still use your credit cards.  The idea of cash is that you withdraw what you have budgeted for the holidays and when it is gone... it's gone.

Think location... location... location.  I have kids who live in New York who seriously plan on shopping for gifts when they visit in Utah.  Why?  The same item is nearly three times more expensive in New York.  I can only imagine the need for a New York or a los angeles bankruptcy law firm is much higher after the holiday shopping in these locations.

And don't forget the traditional homemade gift.  These are always the most treasured.  Cost the least amount of money.  And they give you the feeling of the season most readily.

This is a sponsored post however, all the points and views are my own.

Shorter?

I've had my entire colon removed.  I must admit that when I was told that I would have to have it removed, it seemed pretty far fetched.  I mean... can you live without your colon?  And it's so big!

My kids and I went to The Body exhibit shortly after I had schedule this surgery.  As my son looked at the three dimensional sculpture of the human body with the skin invisible so you could see all the parts inside... his first question was "Mom, will you be shorter?"  To him it seemed like there was going to be an awfully lot of space left empty in my abdomen, so I would naturally crunch down and be shorter.  A logical question after looking at the example.  It also seemed like the surgery would be pretty huge.

Turns out the surgery was all right and I was feeling pretty good.  At least I felt like I would come out of it.  And then I kept throwing up.  And kept throwing up.  This was not expected.  A CT Scan revealed an aortic aneurysm in my abdomen.  This seemed to be more alarming to my docs than the surgery.  I actually had three located between my stomach and liver... thus the difficulty eating.  After a long hospital stay, blood thinners for well after my stay, and many scans, and incredible hunger... I would avoid the aortic aneurysm.  And despite all of this, I'm still 5'6".

This is a sponsored post however, all the points and views are my own.

Cleansing

I have heard many people discuss the benefits of cleansing the body.  Cleansing in the sense of ridding your body of antioxidants, etc.. not the outer soap and water type of cleansing.  The type of cleansing I am talking about is the kind where you actually weigh a few pounds lighter after the cleanse.  Ha!

The topic came up the other morning when I prepared what I believe to be a very healthy breakfast.  I love blueberries and the benefits of blueberries has never been disputed.  They are naturally good for your body and are a natural antioxidant.  At this time of year, they are quite expensive and I like to eat a lot of them.  I found a large bag of frozen blueberries at a warehouse store and I am in heaven.  Anyway... I prepare Cream of Wheat which is so high in iron and then I dump a cup of the delicious blueberries into it.  It turns the cereal into a dark purple, so it's not all that appealing to the eye... but to the palate it is delicious.  And let me tell you that everyone of my children that I have fed this healthy delight has discussed the cleansing properties it possesses.

Within a matter of hours everything you may have eaten will be eliminated along with this breakfast.  You will feel pounds lighter and refreshed.  This was never my intent, but it works.  I like eating healthy and I like drinking juices such as xango, cranberry, fresh orange to add to my regimen of keeping my body healthy.

Now there is no guilt in eating the ice cream, candy, cakes, cookies, and pie of the holidays!  I just need to eat them the night before!  Ha!

This is a sponsored post however, all the points and views are my own.

Speaking and Travel

It's no secret that I would like to eventually make my career solely one of public speaking.  I have had several speaking assignments, but certainly not enough to support myself.  This would also be due to the fact that I seldom ever charge anyone.  I rarely charge because for the most part I speak at fundraisers.  When someone is attempting to raise money for a good cause, I do not feel like cutting into their funds.  And I truly enjoy speaking to a crowd of good people trying to make a difference.

The generosity and kindness of others never ceases to astound me.  There are some genuinely good people out there who think nothing of donating their time, talents, income, etc...  I love being around and associated with these people.  They make me a better person.

I also enjoy the travel and seeing the set up of various fundraising organizations.  I have spoken in New Orleans at a beautiful women's center that they provide for breast cancer patients.  It was a lovely facility designed completely for women.  I always try to soak in the ambiance of the area, so I feel the culture.  I would love to go to a conference center Boston to speak and soak up all the history... the food.  Or how about an Alaskan fundraiser?  These are places I would love to see, and to speak in addition to being there, that would be frosting on the cake.

This is a sponsored post however, all the points and views are my own.

I'd Go There

One of my favorite TV shows when I was a teenager was The Mary Tyler Moore Show.  There was just something about Mary Tyler Moore that I loved... no doubt from my obsession with the Dick Van Dyke show as well.  But I loved how Mary lived on her own, with a smile.  She had a career and good friends.  The opening song truly got me hooked.

Who can forget "Who can turn the world on with her smile?"  "Who can take a nothing day and suddenly make it all seem worthwhile?"  I mean really, who could not help but sing a long?  I have always wanted to go to Minneapolis St. Paul where she lived and where she walked through the streets and then did her signature throw of her hat into the air.

I wonder if there are Hotels in St Paul MN dedicated to the Mary Tyler Moore Show.  I would totally go!  They could have each room arranged like Mary's apartment with the pull out sofa bed.  The lobby could be the lobby of The WJM News.  It would be a pleasant stay with wonderful staff that felt like friends.  And they could have a Sue Ann Nivens who would bake wonderful things and take any stain out of your clothing.

A city where "Love is all around.  No need to waste it."  "You can have the town why don't you take it?"  I'd go there.

This is a sponsored post however, all the points and views are my own.

It Makes The Man

There is this video that my daughter and I absolutely love.  It is simply the best music video.  First of all it has Tim McGraw.  Need I say more?  It is his "Live Like You Were Dying" music video.  The song is great, but it is what he's wearing that draws you in.  We have actually frozen in the aisle of Target (when the song was released and the video was getting played regularly) and just gazed upon the screen as carts passed by us.

He's wearing jeans, a white button up shirt, he's barefoot, and has a black cowboy hat.  I don't know what it is about cowboy hats that make a man look manly.  Honestly, what is that all about.  I love the rodeo, not only because you have a huge crowd of guys in cowboy hats, but because a rodeo is tough.  A rodeo is mean, hard, manly.  So now you have these tough, not afraid of getting hurt, men with the cowboy hat.  A deadly combination I'm telling you.

You can even take a puny, scrawny, helpless kid and put him in a cowboy hat and he looks tougher.  Now he's no Tim McGraw or rodeo rider, but he does look more like a man.  The effectiveness of seducing a woman with a cowboy hat is underrated.  Take a look at the movies...  John Travolta in Urban Cowboy, Paul Newman and Robert Redford in Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid, Harry Connick Jr in Hope Floats.  I'm telling you, the cowboy hat makes the man!

This is a sponsored post however, all the points and views are my own.

Location

I deal with customers who do not pay their bills.  It really is an enjoyable job because for the most part, our customers are people who have simply not received or lost the invoice.  There may be a discrepancy in pricing which holds up their payment.  There are occasionally those incidences where they have no intention of paying.  Collecting this moeny can be difficult or relatively easy.  There are many factors to consider when thinking of the ease of collecting for a past due invoice.  Location.  Location.  Location.

If we have a customer in the United States we have a vast array of services we can use to collect the money owed.  We can make phone calls to them, we can email, we can file a complaint, we can enlist the services of an attorney, and we can serve papers to the majority owners.

International customers make our life more difficult.  Sure, we can call, and email, but the additional services become very complicated.  Even the simplest task of serving them with a court order is nearly impossible outside the country.  For example a process serving california, is profoundly easier than process serving a business in South America.  It falls under the validity of the law makers and judicial system in place.  If there is no law and order, then serving papers to a business really doesn't mean anything.  Fortunately, if you get the help of a professional serving company, they can follow the correct steps.

This is a sponsored post however, all the points and views are my own.

Foolish Spending

You know the last time I was in New Orleans I became addicted to the Southern Candy Makers Pecan Praline.  It was an easy thing to do considering my hotel was right next door to where they actually made them.  And I mean the hotel and the candy shop shared a wall!  The minute I would walk out of the hotel in the morning, I could smell the warm freshly made pralines.  I'm telling you, if you haven't had a warm praline, then I you will never understand why I may have needed a bankruptcy attorney new orleans if I had stayed any longer than a week.

I ended up spending over $200 on candy.  Now don't judge me.  I'm sure there are plenty of things people spend an unprecedented amount of money on, just as foolish as candy.  And candy really wouldn't put me into bankruptcy whereas many other foolish pleasure really would put you in serious need of a bankruptcy lawyer.

I have a friend who has more clothes and shoes than she could possibly wear in a year.  Seriously, if she wore one outfit a day for a year, she would still have clothes, shoes left unworn.  Now that's crazy.  And she really will have to apply for bankruptcy due to credit card debt.  It is never wise to file on your own, so she is at least smart enough to get a lawyer.

I would love to see the bankruptcy lawyers face defending this one!

This is a sponsored post however, all the points and views are my own.

Pre-Wedding

Whenever one of my children gets married, rather than a bachelorette party, we have an evening of salon services.  It has really turned out to be one of the funnest parts of the wedding festivities.

We gather all the girls, bridesmaids, sisters, mother of the bride, mother of the groom, grandmas on both sides of the family.  We rent a large hotel suit.  We always get one with the hot tub in the room.  Our prep involves filling the room with chocolate, chocolate, chocolate.  We also include a few salty snacks so if you get sweeted out, you go salty, and then you are ready for some more chocolate.  There is also whipped cream in the spray cans.  This is for this game where you squirt a blob on the back of your hand and then hit your hand.  The whipped cream blob flies in the air and you must catch it in your mouth!  But then we also prep the room with the most important items.

Salon and spa supplies.  We have everything you would find at for example a Devachan Salon and Spa.  In fact, you can find many of their products on their website.  We have everything for pedicures, manicures, facials, and you can soak in the hot tub.

All in all this has turned out to be a great pre-wedding party.  And the bride is pampered and spruced up for her big day!

This is a sponsored post however, all the points and views are my own.