L.A.

My youngest daughter and I will be heading for L.A. baby!  She has chosen southern California for her senior trip and we both couldn't be more excited!  I have only one worry... She will fall in love with the area and move there permanently.

I took my oldest daughter to New York when she was a senior.  She had dreamed of going to New York City since the sixth grade.  We went and had a fabulous time.  This was back in 2002.  This oldest daughter of mine is still in New York City and never looked back.  She loves it there.  She met her husband there.  She had my first granddaughter there.  I have no regrets.  She was made for NYC.  It suits her and her family and I couldn't be happier that they love it so much.  And I have a great place to stay in NYC!

This youngest daughter is a theatre girl too.  In fact, we plan to hit Disneyland and then head up the coast to Hollywood.  I know that secretly, she hopes to be discovered sitting at some drugstore counter. We will have a rental car and will drive around looking at homes of the stars.  But what if she really likes the Homes in Los Angeles?  I know she will love the climate.  And she is going to positively love everything about movie and television studios!  She wants to see Grauman's Chinese Theatre and the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

I can see it now.  I will have children from coast to coast.  As long as they're happy, it's perfect.

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

A Professional

Ideally, we all hope that bankruptcy is not in our future, but in this day and time the majority of us struggle to make ends meet.  And the cold, sad truth is that those people who simply owe more than they can afford to pay, also believe that they can not afford to pay for filing bankruptcy.

Absolutely, without question, there are fees.  The court has mandated costs.  For example, filing the paperwork with the courts alone is around $300.  The average cost for a Chapter 7, the most common type of bankruptcy is around $1500.  And the worst part of all of this is that people will think they can do it themselves and avoid attorney costs.  In my opinion, this is just one bad situation falling into another.

Bankruptcy laws are complicated.  You can also make serious mistakes that may put your home in jeopardy.  In fact, I wouldn't trust just any attorney.  It would have to be a bankruptcy attorney firm who specialized in this area of law like Kirkpatrick & Associates for example.  If you have reached the point where you need to file, then by all means do it right and really make a new start for yourself.

There are a lot of things we can do for ourselves.  We could give ourselves stitches, but we go to a doctor.  We go to a professional.  Filing for bankruptcy requires a professional.

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

What Am I Doing?

I have five daughters.  All of them are beautiful.  I know... I'm their Mom... but truly they are gorgeous.  I am the first to say that they don't get it from me.  I'm average.  Not gorgeous, but not hideous either.  When the oldest four were all teenagers I thought we would have to move to the mountains.  Many parents joke about locking up their daughters, but I seriously considered it.  Oh I trust them... it is the men.  Happily, the oldest four are married and I couldn't be happier with my son in laws.  And it does my worry good to know they are "taken" by wonderful men.  But there is one daughter left and she is not making life easier.

She has many qualities I love about her... but it is the ones I wish she didn't have that give me gray hair.  She is tall... with great legs... curvy... beautiful face.  You see my dilemma?  She'll be eighteen this year and off to college.  She has two big brothers who definitely look out for her but where will they be?

She's oblivious and I must admit I am sometimes.  She's my little girl.  I stupidly got her braces so she has a great smile.  And I am so dumb that I recently got her teeth whitened at Genesis Dental of Salt Lake.  I'm crazy!  What am I doing?

I should have left her teeth all crooked and scraggly.  I should give her a bar of soap to wash her hair!  I should dress her in overalls!  I'm glad I have a plan for when she leaves for college.

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

Winter = Modest

Despite the fact that it is a mere eight degrees outside, I have to say that I love winter.  I love being all bundled up.  I love snuggling to get warm.  I love a hot shower.  I love baking and having the kitchen get all warm.  And I love being out and about and being social with people I don't even know.

That last one is weird, but with the freezing cold brings modest clothing.  How much easier is it to strike up a conversation when they are covered up?  When the girl in front of me at the grocery store drops something and I don't have to look at her underwear while she bends over with that mini skirt on.  Or look at the beer bellied man with his shirt unbuttoned down to his naval.  Bring on the cold and make people cover up the parts that should be covered.

Just look around and you will see that modest christian clothing can be stylish and attractive.  I love layering a button up blouse, with a cardigan, a scarf and then a great coat or jacket.  Skinny jeans tucked inside boots.  Yes!  Let me talk to people without having to avert my eyes in every direction.  In the winter we see peoples faces.  We shake hands.  And if you slip on the ice... no worries if someone tries to grab you and keep you from hitting the ground.  Chances are that in the winter... it's just a handful of sweater!

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

Minimally Invasive

All of us have experienced different medical procedures.  The range from the simple to the more complicated... from the slightly uncomfortable to the downright painful.  And I am the first to admit it can be all in your head.  There is just something about the human body that we all cringe and feel weak in the knees when just talking about certain procedures.

I have a daughter who freaks out with anything to do with a needle.  A flu shot is like a heart attack in her eyes.  I have had numerous, numerous surgeries, but never had my lung operated on before.  The surgeon prior to the surgery mentioned that they would be giving me an epidural because "lung surgery can be quite painful".  Never should a surgeon state the level of pain BEFORE the surgery.  In my mind, it would be unbearable... like I had been run over by a car.  The pain in my head was far worse than the actual pain following the surgery.

There is something about heart surgery that scares me.  It is associated with the fact that I broke my sternum.  Quite painful but still not the pain that I associate with the medical description for "cracking a chest open" for heart surgery.

It delights me to know that since my heart is one of the last organs to never have had surgery, that there has been tremendous advancement in this field.  They have what is lovingly called minimally invasive heart surgery.  A world of difference from using the word "crack".  Yes.  If I ever require heart surgery, I will go with the experience and skill that have come up with the "minimally invasive" procedure.

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

Clouds

I love to lie in the grass on a sunny day and watch the clouds go by.  One of my favorite pictures is my granddaughter and I doing this very thing.  You know the kind of day... where the sky is blue blue blue and the clouds are white and puffy... and you decide what they look like as they drift by.  This is what I think of when I think of clouds.

My daughter, her husband, and I all work from home.  Just yesterday I heard my daughter discussing some issues she was having with their internet server and she said... and I quote... "the rest I put in the cloud".  Huh?  Cloud Vps Server Hosting is new to me despite the fact that I have been working through a server for the past eight years.

We have a tech person who handles our server and any issues.  If it is moving slowly, we call him and he "resets" and we are back running efficiently.  If I can't get into the server, I give him a call and he figures out what the problem is and presto... I am back in doing my job.  And if I get kicked out of our server, again, I give him a call and he basically gains me access again.

But never once in all these years has anyone mentioned "cloud".  I think I would have caught on a lot sooner had we used this type of terminology.  Clouds speak to me and are not as foreign as gigabytes, data processing, optimization, etc..

Clouds I'm comfortable with.

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

A Hate and Love Relationship

I just barely blogged about phones and the constant interruption they are to our lives, but at the same time, I can not deny the fact that they are wonderful in the event of an emergency or to take worry of your mind.  I am grateful my children all have cell phones.  And although it annoys me to no end when they are on them constantly, texting, texting, texting, I am glad that they are aware of the status of their phone so they answer when I call.

When my daughter goes out on a date, I am glad she can call at anytime if there is a problem.  I am glad when she is out driving somewhere that she can call me if she has car trouble, or gets lost.  The lost factor is definitely the most frequent use of her cell phone.

And when I go on trips traveling to see my family or friends, I admit that I have a tiny sense of panic when my cell phone battery is getting low.  I don't know how many times I have gone on a trip, but forgotten the phone charger cord.  I ration the use of my phone so I can make it until I get home.  Just recently I learned that there is a Goal Zero Iphone Solar Charger.  This is something I need to keep in my car, in my suitcase, in my purse and then I will never come across the battery getting low problem.  I admit it.  I hate technology and I love it.

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