House Flipping in 2008 is it Still a Wise Investment?

Yes it is--any real estate transaction has always involved serious considerations and investigation and that has never been truer than now, but house flipping can still provide great income potential if you understand the environment both economical and physical. Here is a great article relating to the current real estate market and flipping--Flip That House in 2008

Favorite Valentine's Day Gifts

I love flowers. Since I do not have a green-thumb I don't have flowers around me all the time and can't just go outside and grab a bunch for the house. Flowers are a perennial favorite as Valentine's Day gifts and that makes that holiday one of my favorites. My husband knows what to get me. Valentines flowers always works for me.

I love the beautiful collectible vases that they come in too. 1800flowers has gorgeous arrangements with vases that will make wonderful remembrances for years to come. I have a beautiful collection of crystal, ceramic, and even mug vases. I like the mug ones best because they serve a double purpose and I can have a usable memento to keep my Valentine's gifts in mind all year long.

Another of my favorite kind of Valentines gifts are desert baskets, or treats like that.

It doesn't even matter if I'm on a diet which I usually am all year long, on that day it is nice to splurge just a little.

My Pets

I've cut down on pets a lot over the last year or so but I can't imagine life without them. I have four birds, 4 fish tanks, many barn cats, 2 horses, several goats, and a goofy goose who thinks he's a goat. Life in a rural area can be lonely at times. My closest neighbor is several acres away and town is a 15 minute car ride away. My husband works 5 days a week up in the city and stays up there during that time so I'm alone for the most part, but who can be lonely with pets all around them?

Happiness Is Pets

Anyone who knows me knows that Happiness Is Pets could easily be my own personal anthem. I have plenty. Fish, dogs, cats, birds, horses, goats, and even geese I live my life surrounded by animals. I can't think of a better way to live but I can remember a time that, in my opinion it was better and easier to find them. When I was young every pet store had live pets. Now it is very hard to find any that have larger pets although many still carry caged or tank animals. Perhaps the reasons behind that are sound but I can't help but think in many ways we're poorer for it and I am happy when I find a store that happily defies the current trends in the best ways. Happiness Is Pets is a company that believes in quality pets and cares for their animals well providing an important service to any in their communities.

One of the most important reasons I can think of beyond accessibility for finding a quality pet store like Happiness Is Pets is accountability. The buying public is most often forced to find private sources to obtain family pets and once a sale is complete who is accountable for that animal? Tracking down private sellers can be all but impossible if they choose to not be found. Quality establishments have a hard time hiding and they are also accountable to others such as zoning and health boards for their operation so you know the care behind your pets.

Frank Hanna Inspires Faith and Commitment

If you would consider a man in charge of a huge financial corporation most of the time inspiring comes to mind in a business sense but rarely does it come into immediate thinking on a faith basis. Frank Hanna has proven that faith is not only important in business dealings but necessary to a solid personal outlook as well. Perhaps his educational background in Catholic education developed that outlook but it has served him well in creating an environment of strong convictions and public service within his corporate life.

Faith, education, and excellence have always been a personal motto for Frank Hanna and he served former President George W. Bush as a co-chair on the President's Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans. The many years of service in educational stations gives him a solid basis for dealing with people of all ages and that is as much an important lesson for anyone wishing to understand good human relations as a solid background in spiritual belief.

Frank Hanna has authored a book, head up many philanthropic events and spent his life making other's lives better. In doing so his own life reflects the bounty of goodness that comes from spreading love and care to others. Perhaps that is the best lesson of all.

Entrepreneur Nachshon Draiman

The word entrepreneur brings a lot of images to mind: rich most commonly. The word busy also springs to mind of anyone who knows people deeply committed to excellence which you have to be in order to keep everything afloat. Nachshon Draiman exemplifies that commitment in everything he does and it goes far beyond his business interests. Nachshon Draiman is a sportsman who loves tennis and goes to great lengths to help others understand the game and work it takes to excel. The same attributes he puts into his business endeavors go into his personal interests and it shows.

A post on his blog shows Nachshon Draiman to be dedicated to perfection. That probably is the most common attribute of those who succeed in the stressful world of health care. His background in psychology serve him well in that realm but also carry over to how he relates to people on the Internet via his blog. For anyone who is interested in what it takes to be successful it helps to study those that are, not only in their professional practices but their private attitudes toward life and the world around them as well.

The Perfect Spot At Consolidated Resorts

If you are ready for a vacation, and I sure am with the temperatures averaging in the teens lately, Consolidated Resorts is a great place to find fantastic deals in beautiful locations.

I've always wanted to go to Hawaii and Consolidated Resorts has an amazing location in Kauai perfect for relaxing and enjoying everything the islands have to offer. I would love to go relax on the white sands and just drink up the tropical drinks as the sounds of the ocean surround me. I've only seen the oceans twice in my life. Once in California, and once in Florida (so okay, I've seen both ends but it has been a long time).

Consolidated Resorts are everywhere so no matter where you dream of vacationing you are likely to find a beautiful spot just right for you and your family.

The Man Behind Mohammed Babangida

You have to love when important men take the time to do what so many of us do on a regular basis. Mohammed Babangida is an influential African (Nigerian) businessman who also sits down at his computer to expound on his tastes in music (most notably Jazz), just like you or I would. His great love of the music so influenced by his homeland is beyond admirable.

I love blogs about music. I love all types of music and find Mohammed Babangida to have extremely poignant opinions on the influence of Jazz on all forms of music today. Mr. Babangida is also an avid sportsman. These are the things you do not often see when you meet a man in a business suit during the normal processes of a day's business and what makes blogs and other online forums so interesting. It allows a peek into a private life and perspective and brings everyone together in a common sense of individual commonness. I'm not sure if commonness is a word--or if it would be spelled that way if it is, but it suits the idea. We have so much in common and the Internet allows us to see that. It helps to bring people of all races and countries together in a unity that was perhaps never before possible. (Okay, I looked it up, commonness works.)

For the average I-traveller it doesn't matter so much that Mohammed Babangida is involved in many business pursuits. All that matters is he is a man with deep convictions and great passion that we can all understand and appreciate.

Ask Tim Arel

What does good property management take? Ask Tim Arel and he'll probably tell you it takes dedication, communication, great leadership skills, and concern for the people of each individual community. His own background includes a former law practice, and studies in economics. Both of those play a large part in his abilities to understand the problems and legalities associated with good property management. Tim Arel has a resume that reads like a book of experience in all areas concerned with his present position of property manager of Director of North Point Property Management. Part of the responsibilities of being a good property manager include being heavily involved in the surrounding communities and the involvement in town functions and committees. That takes a great deal of personal time and commitment.

Excellent property management is not only important to the residents of a resident association committee but also for investment property owners. Tim Arel is a great example of what to look for in a management director and how they should prepare and operate their duties. Keeping a property functioning requires skill. To those on the outside it only seems like a beautiful community, to those on the inside the smooth running and healthy atmosphere ensures peace, tranquility, and prosperity.

Birds as Pets

Birds make GREAT pets but they have a different set of rules than your dog or cat. Birds can be trained, and actually many of the parrot species are very communicable and adaptable but they are still basically wild animals with great socialization skills. Unlike your dog or cat who while behaving largely on instinct but can be trained to accept human ideals birds most often cannot. They will be birds no matter what you try to do to adapt them to your lifestyle. This makes them both fun and occassionally frustrating for those who do not understand the way birds think and respond to outside stimulus.

Many habits cannot be 'trained out' of a bird like they can a dog or cat. One such habit is 'preening' loved ones. Your bird will want to groom you if it loves you. That's a good thing but if you do not fully undestand the meaning of their actions it can be misunderstood and attempts to curtail the habits will only lead to frustration for both owner and bird. Here is an example of 'preening' clothing on a loved on (me in this case) by my Sun Conure, Simon.

Burn Fat Faster

Leptovox is another of the super food drugs for weight loss. This one is labeled as a fat burner. Now that is something I really would love to work. I need to try it. It has many of the same ingredients as other super food weight loss drugs and one of the primary ones is the acai berry which I do believe has great weight loss properties and helps really boost the metabolism. That can definately stimulate the body to burn fat faster.

Cold, cold and More cold

They say it is going to be the coldest winter in a long time and today really proved they're not far off. It hit 17 below today during the day and wind chill is supposed to increase that to -30. Yesterday I had to shovel 5 inches of snow off our 700 foot driveway, thankfullly the cold hadn't really started yet so it wasn't brutal. If that had been today I'm pretty sure there would still be a full blanket of snow out there because I don't do anything 'below'.

Natural Drugs

Drugs like Lipovox fascinate me. Labeled as a super food and said to cure everything from weight problems to acne--yes it sounds like a strange combination but I can definitely see the relationship, can these types of drugs really work? I don't know. What I do know is that I have more faith in the possibilities of drugs created from actual foods and enzymes rather than synthesized chemicals that are scary and work on metabolism and body chemistry in artificial means. The ingredients in Lipovox are fairly well-known for being good for you.

Super Food Ingredients:

Cayenne Pepper and Garlic--two well known health benefit foods.
Brazilian Acai--the Acai berry is touted as a super food for weight loss, stress reduction and many other health problem benefits that also has great antioxidant properties.
Green Tea Extract--definately a scientifically proven antioxidant.


Those are just a few of the known super foods and antioxidants used in combination to create Lipovox.

Wish He'd Grow Up

I have a 24 year old son too. I wish he'd grow up a bit. I know men/boys mature slower than girls but it sure seems to be taking him a long time to find his direction in life. He's been in his share of trouble too. All of it chemical related and not violence or anything like that but it has destroyed a very promising life and no amount of talking, example, or encouragement seems to help him break the cycle. I often wonder what makes people choose to view life as their own personal pity party, especially when it wasn't the way they were brought up. I guess there's no real way to understand it. I'm hoping it is something he'll wake up from. My daughter has had plenty of problems as well and still is not where she should be or my husband and I would like her to be but she is trying, going back to school, working, raising her kids as best she knows how, and has finally seemed to see life for what it is--what you make it even when what you have to work with isn't perfect.

Growing up Fast

In my late 40's and coming up on the big 'change' I have noticed a lot of vaginal dryness and am always looking for products to help solve the problem. It's not something you usually talk about but then again we're a much more open society now. In fact my daughter (grown, married, 3 children of her own so not a child) called me last night to talk about a sex facts book she found at the library. Hey, at least she's reading. It was a rather fun and unique discussion. Probably not something I ever thought I'd be talking and laughing about with her 20-25 years ago when she was a baby and toddler. They grow up so fast. I still remember walking the floor with her when she had colic. Those were good days. Then again, an hour long sex conversation that brought on fits of laughter could be considered a good day too--something I'm sure I'll look back on 20-25 years from now (I hope) and think fondly on how they sure grow up fast.

A Little Birdy Told Me

I have a cool little bird named Simon. He's very much a one person bird and doesn't like anyone else to varying degrees. Men he absolutely hates. With me however he's EXTREMELY cuddly and loving. He's on me now as I'm typing this and that's pretty much why I started talking about him. He's making it nearly impossible to talk or think about anything else. Simon is a sun conure. They are small/medium sized parrots that are bright yellow and orange in color with some green/blue on the tips of their wings and tail. Here is a picture of my Simon

Green Paper?

I sometimes wonder how much easier, or harder, life would be without the myriad of credit cards, the odd membership card, and other official documentation that everyone, including myself has to carry around on a daily basis. I think about how thick my wallet is, and I don't even have them all in there and wonder just how guys manage it with a single flat wallet they carry in their pocket. I have cards in my computer brief case (mostly signature cards for specific stores that I shop online with) a few cards in my desk (keeping them from being used without discretion when I'm out and about), but the majority of my cards are in my wallet for anytime use. It kind of boggles the mind that there was a time when no one had plastic cards and actually carried that big green paper stuff around all the time. Last night hubby and I went out to eat and he got ready to pay the bill with a credit card and looked to me wanting to know if I had any cash for the tip or if he had to put that on the card too... cash? What's that? I haven't carried that around in years.

Fluctuating Is Scary

Things are finally looking up again with my work. The one problem of working at home is that it can fluctuate unlike a job where you have a weekly paycheck and know pretty much how much you will make every week so long as you show up for work. At home you can 'show up' and have nothing to do which when you work for someone else is great, really sucks when you work for yourself.

I did manage to make enough to squeak through this month but it will be tighter than it has been in over 8 months. The last two days (officially the beginning of the month for me) have finally been back on track though so next month (I get paid for the previous month from the one I'm working in) should be better.