Sunday, February 26, 2012

Coffee Addicted Mommy - parenting


REVIEWED BY: Marguerite Zelle

MY RECOMMENDATION: YES

AMAZON SUBSCRIPTION LINK: Coffee Addicted Mommy

WEB ADDRESS: http://coffeeaddictedmommy.blogspot.com/

BLOG DESCRIPTION: Pull up a chair, grab a cup of coffee, and let's chat! Are you a mom with a sense of humor? Then you will LOVE this blog!

MY REVIEW:
These days, raising kids is more stressful than ever. Moms and moms to be will enjoy this blog about what it takes to raise a kid in today's world.
The ever so sacred Girl's Night Out
Before I was a mother, I rarely felt the need for a girl's night out. Although I worked 40+ hours a week, I was perfectly content to spend the weekends and evenings at home. Home was my break, my rest place. Yes, I had some light housework to do, but frankly, there wasn't much. Since I hate cleaning and we lived on two salaries, we had a cleaning lady. So, other than laundry, cooking, and whatever school work I brought home, I spent most my time at home relaxing.

I spent a lot of time with hubby. On weekends, we'd either go out on dates, go to parties, or on double dates. About once every few months, I'd go out and grab a bite to eat with a girlfriend, see a chick flick, or go shopping with my mom, mother-in-law, or sister-in-laws.

If I did need some quality girl time, I could always travel! About 6 years ago, my sis and I took a sister's trip to San Francisco. Also, about once or twice a year, I'd travel to go see some of my closest girlfriends. We are all spread out now in places like New York, Pennsylvania, and Virginia.

A regular girl's night out was just not in place back then. Probably because I knew I could go out whenever I wanted.

Now I am a stay at home mom. Home is my work place and my rest place. Who am I kidding? Mostly my work place! This fact really hit home yesterday.

After spending 3 hours practicing animal cupcakes (pics posted on my FB page!! https://www.facebook.com/pages/Coffee-Addicted-Mommy/277475352313970), I picked my son up from preschool. I coaxed him into the car without a fight (phew!), and gave him his lunch to eat in the car. When we got home, the tantrums began. He didn't want to get out of the car so just getting him inside the house was challenging. Once I got him in, it was just about time for nap. Enter: the naptime battle. After I finally, FINALLY, got him in his bed and closed the door, I breathed a quick sigh of relief and started tackling my to do list.

First on the list is always: eat lunch. Yes, I have to put this on my list. By this time, it was about 2:00pm and I still hadn't eaten. As I sat down to eat my lunch, I noticed the baby monitor going crazy. I could hear the thumping sound of my child jumping on his bed. I could also hear his loud chipmunky voice singing at the top of his lungs. "I'll give him until 3:15", I told myself, "Maybe he'll fall asleep by then!"

After over an hour and numerous check-ins, I realized this kid wasn't going to sleep. I was so tired I could barely keep my head up and had not gotten to anything on my to do list!!! SO FRUSTRATING!

Fast forward to 6:00pm. I was looking forward to getting A to bed early since he skipped nap. I fed him dinner and was about to start on dinner for hubs and I when the phone rang. It was the hubby, telling me he'd be late.

Ok, breathe in, breathe out. This meant I'd now be responsible for every single nighttime battle too. Just the fight to get him into the bathtub resulted in a 30 minute tantrum and crying spree. (The boy, not me, although I seriously thought about crying too!) Eventually I got him in the bath and ready for bed. For some reason, he didn't want me to leave his room at bedtime so he decided to cry and scream then too. Luckily, the child must have been so exhausted that he quickly passed out.

About 7:45, I finally sat down and ate a bowl of cereal for dinner. The hubby showed up around 8:30pm and of course, everything was done. When I told him I had a bad day, he just couldn't fathom it. According to him, I didn't have to go to work and I got a 3 hour break in the morning while our son was in preschool, so how could my day had been bad?

How indeed????

Back to my original topic: girl's night out. As you can see from the story above, I now LIVE for girl's night outs. Or ANY girl time I can get! It's become such an important part of my life. I live for the chance to dress up and have a peaceful meal (and wine!!!!) with my closest friends. I know most of my momma friends feel the same way.

How far would you go for a girl's night out? Would you risk your life?

I did.

A few weeks ago, I found out my sis was coming to town for President's Day weekend. She is 13 months younger than me and my best friend. I love to go out to dinner with her when she visits. This time, I decided to invite two of my momma friends along. We spent the entire week before talking about how excited we were to get out and go to one of our favorite sushi restaurants.

The night finally arrived. The whole day there had been miserable weather and there was a chance of snow at 9pm that evening. Around 5pm, it started snowing. "Dammit!" I thought.

"I hope my friends don't want to cancel!" I told my sister, "I'll text them, but I doubt they'll cancel. One has three kids, one has two under the age of 3! I'm sure they need to get out. Besides, the roads don't seem too bad."

I texted both of them and lo and behold, both mommas still wanted to go out. Sis and I barely thought twice about our decision to go. The snow was light, my sis has an SUV, and we're from the North so we KNOW how to drive in snow.

As we drove towards the restaurant, the weather got worse and worse. Still, I didn't even think about turning around. We were so close to our GNO and we'd been looking forward to eating sushi ALL week. When we went to get off the exit, the car was swerving all over the place. You see, in the south they are not prepared for bad weather so the roads are not taken care of as swiftly as they are in the north.

The roads were so bad, I called my friend and told her we were going home. (The other momma was in the car with us). Although she was already at the restaurant, she agreed. We drove 20 miles an hour back to my house. It took us about an hour and it was the longest hour of my life. The roads were slick and the snow and ice were still coming down.

At the time, I saw my life flashing before my eyes. Now I just think it's hilarious that we were willing to put our lives in jeopardy just for the chance of a nice 2 hour meal without the hubbies or the kids. Not that I blame us. Girl's night out really is that sacred.

By the way, we've rescheduled dinner for this weekend. There is a zero percent chance of snow. ;)

RECENT POSTS:
--The ever so sacred Girl's Night Out
--The MOM code: It takes a village
--Nailed it!
--Valentine's Day!
--Stay-at-home NOTHING
--Why can't we all just get along? by: guest blogger...
--Bladder after baby
--TEN Million Moms
--Naptime-a mother's holy grail!
_______________
New reviews published twice a week.
___________________________
Check out my kindle BOOKS!:
Whose Body, by Dorothy Sayers (the Annotated Edition)
The Coldest Equations (science fiction)
Volcano Seven: Treasure and Treasure Hunters
The Lady and the Tiger...Moth

Thursday, February 23, 2012

Retro Review #33: The Kindle Taproom


REVIEWED BY: Ms. Cairo

MY RECOMMENDATION: YES

AMAZON SUBSCRIPTION PAGE: The Kindle Taproom

WEB ADDRESS: http://kindletaproom.blogspot.com

BLOG DESCRIPTION: Friendly, entertaining bar chat on all manner of topics, but especially great stuff on Kindle.

MY REVIEW: The author, Joe Menta, posts on average a couple of times a day (the Sample posts below are his first posts on each day, not all the posts on one day). He'll review a book available on Kindle, or a movie, tell a joke, and so on. Because of the great amount of content, I highly recommend the blog.

He writes well, he's amusing (when he makes his posts, I actually don't find the jokes he shares amusing, but then I never have cared for jokes) and he articulates his reviews well. He's a friendly guy, I think you'll like sharing time with him in the Taproom.

A FEW SAMPLE PARAGRAPHS:
Following up on my post of a few days back, we did end up seeing Shutter Island over the past weekend. Despite my fears, the movie was not an overblown special effects extravaganza (as the trailer seem to indicate), but a well-crafted, moody, slow-burn psychological drama that keeps viewers involved from beginning to end. I should have trusted Mr. Scorsese more. The big special effects scenes in the trailer, by the way, are mostly associated with hallucinatory scenes in the movie, scenes that are used sparingly and effectiviely.

There are definitely big, lurid moments and instances of underlined melodrama in the film, accompanied by disturbing blasts from the none-to-subtle musical score, but it all serves Scorsese's aim to emulate the psychological dramas of the 50's, which were at the same time overstated and artfully done. Kind of like those old 50's paperbacks, which sported lurid covers of violence and heaving bosoms, but very often subtle, well-done stories once you got past the covers.

In any event, the lurid (I love that word) and more subtle aspects of Shutter Island work together to deliver a decent movie, one that we both liked a lot.


RECENT ARTICLES:
-Pretty Good King (review of Stephen King's Blaze) (Feb 24, 2010)
-At the movies (review of Shutter Island) (Feb 23, 2010)
-Spirited try falls short (review of The Spirit movie) (Feb 22, 2010)
-One fine Sunday in the local pub (a joke) (Feb 21, 2001)

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

To Your Health: health and fitness


REVIEWED BY: Marguerite Zelle

MY RECOMMENDATION: YES

AMAZON SUBSCRIPTION LINK: N/A

WEB ADDRESS: http://acroan.com/

BLOG DESCRIPTION: Amy Croan's bio: I earned my BA in Journalism and Masters degree in Public Health from the University of South Carolina. After my husband and I moved to health-progressive Seattle, I worked in chronic disease prevention and health promotion before “retiring” to stay at home with our three children. For a decade now, this has brought about an entirely new awareness of health issues affecting children, families, communities, and schools. Other interests in which I actively participate are P.E.O. (a philanthropic educational organization which promotes education for women), restoring native culture among American Indians, cooking, and of course, writing.

"To Your Health" is a public health blog which focuses on personal, community, public and global health issues

MY REVIEW: This is a very interesting blog on health matters, flawed only by the fact that the author only averages about 2 posts a month.

The author is a professional writer and professional health practitioner.

Check it out.

Sample post:
Location, location, location! The high cost of living in a food desert.
How far do you live from a large supermarket? What if you only purchased foods you were able to carry either by walking or using public transportation? What if there was a McDonald’s one block over? How is your health affected?

These are questions posed around the communities of food deserts, areas in industrialized nations which are not close enough to any nutritional food retailer. In urban areas this is usually measured at one mile away, in rural areas, about ten miles. Existing stores in these areas carry high-priced, unhealthy options. In many cases, these are the only options.

Health Hazards
The high-fat and sugar content of the foods sold at convenience stores or small “grocers” (term used as loosely as possible) is causing an increase in disease in lower socio-economic communities where large supermarket retailers will not build for lack of profit. Consumers in these low SES minority neighborhoods show an increase in meat and processed foods, and much lower intake of fruits and vegetables, but are spending 37% more on food in general. This contributes to spikes in obesity, diabetes, sugar addiction, malnutrition, and heart disease.

As of 2011, the USDA underestimates about 2.4 million Americans living in food deserts. Factors not included in this measure are access to transportation, barriers for the elderly, food price, crime rate, and ethnic disparities, leaving the actual number of people at risk of food insecurity to be much higher. One study (Policy Link and The Food Trust, 2010) showed that in New Mexico, the same cart of groceries costs $85 for rural residents, and $55 for urban residents, a common disparity in relative costs. About a quarter of the people who qualify for welfare and food stamp programs live in food deserts. In fact, according to Mari Gallagher, founder of National Center for Pubic Research, USDA food stamp retailers provide more barriers to nutritious foods than fast food retailers.

Food Oases
Several states are seeing community-level interventions which pair public and private finances to significantly undercut costs and losses to supermarket chains. Co-ops are useful in promoting local growers, and farmers’ markets, although costly, also increase access to food. Community currency has been shown to boost profits in both of these endeavors. Even community gardens strengthen community and social support while providing access to nutritious foods. About 20 grants exist to help individuals and communities afford healthy food projects

RECENT POSTS:
--Location, location, location! The high cost of living in a food desert.
--My Picks: Top 10 Superfoods for Disease Prevention
--The Healing Waters: Mineral Hot Springs
--The Healing Waters: Hammam
--The Healing Waters: Thalassotherapy
_______________
Reviews published every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
___________________________
Check out my kindle BOOKS!:
Whose Body, by Dorothy Sayers (the Annotated Edition)
The Coldest Equations (science fiction)Volcano Seven: Treasure and Treasure Hunters
The Lady and the Tiger...Moth

Friday, February 17, 2012

Retro Review #32: Elmo Wallpaper


REVIEWED BY: Ann Currie

MY RECOMMENDATION: YES

AMAZON SUBSCRIPTION PAGE: The Elmo Wallpaper

WEB ADDRESS: theelmowallpaper.blogspot.com

BLOG DESCRIPTION: An Ivy League-educated, thirtysomething mother of three young boys survives motherhood in suburbia. Just barely.

MY REVIEW: A blog of honest emotion by a mother struggling with daily domestic life with her three young sons. Her posts, unlike those of many mothers, are not cute or coy. She is right up front, not bitter, but truthful. She questions her life and what woman hasn't has some point? How did I get here - I did everything right - I went to the right school, did well, fell in love, married a bright guy. Here I am listening to the Wiggles, spending part of my valetine's evening in Border's, and treating goose eggs. There have been many times when I could have related to this lament. But it is not negative, it is well worth the read and well written. You want to offer her your support, cheer her on, and follow her vicariously. She comes through with strength and humor. She posts several times a week.

RECENT ARTICLES:
  • If you are needing catharsis today . . .
  • Other peoples pictures

  • Ask me anything
  • Why I am wound:
  • My graceful friend

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Retro Review #32: Fully Booked (NY Travel)



REVIEWED BY: Ann Currie

MY RECOMMENDATION: YES

AMAZON SUBSCRIPTION PAGE: Fully Booked

WEB ADDRESS: www.fullybooked.biz

BLOG'S DESCRIPTION: Events with an edge! In New York. Parties, press events, launches, shopping events and more! Trends in the party scene. And lifestyle tips. For those who are not invited. Get invited for free!

MY REVIEW: Bored in New York? No idea what to do? Where to go. . . here's your answer. This blog gives a daily post with a description of the event, the location, the time, and any other relevant information, often including a picture. Frequently web sites are listed and, although you cannot access them from the Kindle, you do have them for later reference. The events are interesting and run the gamut from the Fancy Food Show, a book signing at Williams Sonoma, Food & Wine from North Carolina, gallery openings, and happenings at Whole Foods just to name a few.

RECENT ARTICLES:
  • Wedding Salon and Dylans Candy Bar
  • Pistachio Hot Chocolate
  • Back Stage at New York's Fashion Week - Designer's Andy and Deb
  • Beard on Books

Thursday, February 9, 2012

Retro Review #31: Breast Cancer? But Doctor, I Hate Pink!


REVIEWED BY: Ms. Cairo

MY RECOMMENDATION: YES

AMAZON SUBSCRIPTION PAGE: Breast Cancer? But Doctor, I Hate Pink

WEB ADDRESS: http://www.butdoctorihatepink.com

BLOG DESCRIPTION: With an humor and intelligence, Ann Silberman, breast-cancer "ass-kicker," describes her life since diagnosis. She found her lump in May 2009 and was diagnosed in early September. She is sharing her journey through surgeries and chemo as they happen. A must-read for anybody who either has cancer or has a family member with this disease. Ann writes with wit and energy in her blog: Breast Cancer? But Doctor ... I hate pink.

MY REVIEW: The author of this blog, Ann, found out she had breast cancer in August, 2009. This blog tells the story of her fight against the disease. It is very moving, very affecting, the more so because she does indeed manage to be funny and heroic at the same time. (Yes, there are heroes who, in a split second, risk their lives for others, such as our soldiers, and police and firemen and just regular people, and then there are people who have chronic illnesses in which they suffer every day and have to rise to that challenge every day. They are just as heroic.)

If you have just been diagnosed with breast cancer, or have a friend or loved one who has been - this is an excellent resource for you to know what the future holds. There are photos, there's talk of the various drugs and the chemotherapy and so on. If you're just interested in how people live their lives when faced by chronic illness, you will find this blog uplifing as well.

A few paragraphs from a sample post:
I am a small person with bird bones. My wrist is five inches around; I wear a size 4 1/2 ring. I can't purchase a watch without a picture of Hannah Montana on it, and I buy bracelets to use as anklets.

I have correspondingly small veins. Watching people draw my blood has always amused me, because I have a strong sadistic streak and no needle phobia whatsoever. I like seeing sweat on the brow of the phlebotomist responsible for getting blood out of me and into that vial. It just doesn't happen without hard work.

Typically, the way it goes is the first tech pokes around a while, moving the needle in and out, muttering about tiny veins until she either pops one or freaks out. She then calls the specialist with the butterfly needle who has the finesse to start the flow. Even when I try to make it easy - drink lots of water and wear warm clothing to "plump the veins," it's never enough to get the well pumping.

I'm so dry if I was Bella, Edward would leave me. [Is this a Twlight reference? KBR ed]


RECENT ARTICLES:
- Chemo Angel (Feb 21, 2010)
- Vampire Diaries (Feb 20, 2010)
- Did I mention before, that I hate leukine? (Feb 19, 2010)
- Chemo number...oh I can't remember (Feb 18, 2010)
- Chemotherapy-induced anemia (Feb 17, 2010)

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

BloominThyme: gardening / kids


REVIEWED BY: Marguerite Zelle

MY RECOMMENDATION: YES

AMAZON SUBSCRIPTION LINK: N/A

WEB ADDRESS: http://bloominthyme.com/

BLOG DESCRIPTION:
A mother of two young children in Central Florida, gardening is one of the LAST things I have time to do, but what started as a “victory garden” has become a favorite pastime. No longer working outside the home, I spend my days driving through school drop-off and pick-up lanes, running errands, washing clothes, volunteering in the community and managing a household – visits to the garden have become my personal reprieve!

Unless of course, it’s summertime. Heat and humidity don’t do any favors for the vegetables, let alone my appearance, but then again, summers are for vacations. Fall through late spring… Now these are wonderful times to be outdoors, and the harvest from a productive garden is simply a bonus. Not to mention it makes a great addition to the dinner plate. While my kids may change their appetites on a daily basis, the two agree: a bean never tasted so good as the one they grew themselves!

My other favorite pastime is writing novels, specifically women’s fiction, though I’d like it to become my next career. Not that I’ll ever give up my day job as mother and wife, but I would like a more creative outlet than cooking and cleaning. There’s only so many ways you can cook chicken before the family looks at you and asks, “Really? You expect me to eat that? I can’t hardly identify the thing, let alone rally an appetite!” Changing laundry detergents doesn’t impress the husband, either.

“My undershirt doesn’t smell clean.”

I smile. “I used a new brand.”

He grunts. “Something good for the planet?”

I nod my head cheerfully.

“Can we save it some other way? I really don’t care to walk around smelling like funk.”

“It’s lavender,” I corrected, but the point is made.

So rather than dwell on my family’s lack of appreciation, I throw myself into writing. A combination of romance and life lessons, my stories are meant to entertain and offer perspective on some of the most challenging issues facing women today.

While a fan of the old adage “it’s not what you say, but how you say it,” I’ve found many times it is what you say that counts. For that matter, what you do. Each and every day.

As a woman and mother of a daughter, I believe we women need to pull together, learn from each other, and brighten this path we call life by coloring it with our own beautiful, intricate, and individual blossoms of distinction.


MY REVIEW: This is a very fun blog, all about teaching kids the joys of gardening.

If you're a gardener, or someone with kids looking for ways to inspire them, check this blog out.
Sample post
Learn Something New

Did you know that basil can kill rosemary? I had no idea. Did you know that some plants don’t like to be near each others while others do?

This concept is called companion planting and very important when planning an organic garden. As you know, the kids and I are moving the garden, planting in a new spot this spring, but “planter beware” when it comes to what goes where…

Cucumbers love sunflowers, so we’ll plant them both along the fence. But potatoes? Not so much. Best to keep them away from each other. How about corn? It wants nothing to do with tomatoes and vice versa, but it enjoys the companionship of squash and peas. And bush beans? Can’t stand everything about the onion family or basil, but they like potatoes!

Are you confused yet? Don’t be. It’s just a matter of using your reference guide well. Here’s a good list from Absolute Astronomy to get you started, but there are a ton of others out there so don’t be shy—click your mouse away! The main thing is to keep a plant’s needs in mind. For instance, in our garden here’s what we’re planting by row: cucumbers, tomatoes, peas, corn, squash, bush beans, potatoes. Along the fence next to our cucumbers will be the sunflowers. (We LOVE sunflowers!) On the opposite side, we’ll plant a small herb garden. We’ll interplant some herbs with our vegetables (basil with tomato, etc.) but we wanted to keep this area separate, as our rosemary and lavender will continue to grow. No sense pulling them out! Wanna see? Take a peek at our excel file: School garden layout

We’ve planted potatoes already and today the kindergarteners planted corn. Very exciting. You’ll notice we keep track of our progress by recording the dates of each planting.

I like to color code according to rotation group as well (another key tenet of organic gardening) such as beans (blue), leaves (green), roots (orange) and fruits (pink). Have to keep it fun! Corn is part of the grass family so it has its own color. And while potatoes are technically in the same family (nightshades) as tomatoes, I treat them differently when it comes to crop rotation.

As we move forward, we’ll talk more about the “what” and the “why” of how we plant, but in the meantime, check out the Garden Elements section of this website. You’ll find tons of information to get you started!

Happy gardening!

RECENT POSTS:
--Cucumbers and Beans are IN
--Mandy’s Planting Olive Trees!
--Gardening Without Bending? No Weeds? No Way!
--Learn Something New
--

_______________
Reviews published every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
___________________________
Check out my kindle BOOKS!:
Whose Body, by Dorothy Sayers (the Annotated Edition)
The Coldest Equations (science fiction)
Volcano Seven: Treasure and Treasure Hunters
The Lady and the Tiger...Moth

Monday, February 6, 2012

Retro Review #30: Makes Me Want to H oller: Fatherhood


REVIEWED BY: Ms. Cairo

MY RECOMMENDATION: YES

AMAZON SUBSCRIPTION PAGE: Makes Me Wanna Holler - Mom, Dad and Husband , published by Eric Payne

WEB ADDRESS: http://makesmewannaholler.com

BLOG DESCRIPTION: The evolution of a family man in NYC and all the joy, pain and insanity that comes with the love affair I have with my wife, my thirteen year-old boy who's growing out of control and eating me out of house and home, and my three year-old evil-genius princess intent on having her way at all costs. It's all about living life from the father/husband lane (and laughing a lot) --- one day at a time.

MY REVIEW: Another blog that I enjoyed reading, for all that it isn't really my cup of tea. I have no kids (and find life so much easier that way).

But it's a joy to read the writings of parents - in particular dads, who get so little credit sometimes for what they bring to a child's life - who so obviously love their kids, and bring them up right.

This is another blog that all parents will enjoy reading, and maybe even kids, too, who want to see just what parents go through to bring them up.

SAMPLE PARAGRAPHS
I'm typically very cool under pressure. However the one thing I cannot endure is my child not being able to get a full breath of air. I get angry quickly and begin to bark. Why? Because I've had bronchitis more than once as an adult and unless you've actually felt what's it's like to not be able to bring air into your lungs, you can't relate. I can call 911, I can tell someone or write out (to conserve air) what's wrong. My daughter, nor any child for that matter cannot. And for this reason I hate cigarette smoke, cat dander and anything else that can trigger such a thing as if they were the Devil themselves. What made matters worse, is we were out of medicine and I had overlooked refilling the prescription because it's almost been a year since her last episode.

Tuesday night I didn't sleep. I sat in her room on my iPod Touch, surfing the Net and watching the rise and fall of her chest, regulating the heat and the humidifier in her room, sitting her upright if she coughed, patting her back and rocking her (as my dad did me) back to sleep when she awakened from the discomfort of it all. At sunrise I picked up her prescription, her symptoms subsided and somehow I made it through the day with no sleep, a bit of personally disappointing news and the threat of the snowstorm of life being flashed on every channel on television.

Yesterday afternoon I took her to a park in my neighborhood where, armored from head to toe looking like a pink Stormtrooper (or pink mercenary), she pelted me with little snowballs, chased her grandfather at 1 mile per hour and made snow angels, laughing through all of it the whole time. I had to literally pick her up off the ground to get her to leave.

When I dropped my daughter off at pre-school this morning, my heart swelled as it does every morning. I lose a piece of me every time I part ways with her. But I don't own her. Despite all of what I described above she is NOT my human. She is my child and what I own is the responsibility of raising her and her brother, who currently believes he is God's gift to women and football, (Update: he managed to pull up all of his grades to a modestly respectable level for his 2nd quarter of high school. Now his challenge to to continue to pull them up even higher), protecting them and teaching them as much as I can until they leave the nest.

RECENT ARTICLES:
-Touching Robes (musing on ambitions past and present)
-The Winners - The Soldier of Love CD
-I (Didn't) Invented Sex - (talking to his son about music)
-Make it wearable (comment on custom t-shirts)
-Will it be Yours? (Valentine's Day)

Friday, February 3, 2012

The Flying Couponer (money management)


REVIEWED BY: Marguerite Zelle

MY RECOMMENDATION: YES

AMAZON SUBSCRIPTION LINK: N/A

WEB ADDRESS: http://www.theflyingcouponer.blogspot.com/

BLOG DESCRIPTION:
I coupon
Let's get started!

First of all, you have to change the way you shop. Don't buy anything full price anymore and avoid buying only when you need it. In order to do that, you will have to start a stockpile. That means that you are going to have a little (or big!) reserve of the things you need. You will have to buy enough to get you through a few months while waiting for the next sale.

I only buy at the lowest price possible and I don't buy what I can get for free LOL. Paying more than a dollar for Tylenol? NO WAY! Its way too expensive!

Where to find your coupons in Canada

You can order coupons online that will be mailed to you. This type of coupon is called ''mail order coupon''. The most popular ones are:

https://www.websaver.ca
http://www.save.ca
https://www.brandsaver.ca
http://www.gocoupons.ca
http://www.rightathome.ca

There is also many coupons online that can be printed from your own printer! Or from your work printer! (Maybe I should not encourage this LOL.) This type of coupon is called ''printable coupon''. You can print them from those websites:

http://www.livingwell.ca
http://www.smartsource.ca
http://www.utilisource.ca (Version française de Smartsource)

If you are from the States, you absolutely want to register to:

http://www.coupons.com/

There are also coupons that are PDF files! Oh Mamamia! We looooooove those!
Ok, ok, let's calm down. Please, make sure to print only the coupons that you are really going to use. No need to print billions of copies. Haha. Stick around guys, and I will give you those pdf files! Don't forget to submit your email to receive updates.

With love,

The Flying Couponer


MY REVIEW: This blog is not available on the Kindle, and isn't really suitable for the kindle, as it directs the reader to various locations where they can print out coupons in order to save money on practically every item under the sun.

In this time of a harsh economy when everyone is tightening their belts, anything that can be done to save money just makes sense. So check out this blog.

RECENT POSTS:
--New tear pads!
--SmartSource Coupon Machines?!
--Couponing American style!
--GIVEAWAY!!

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Retro Review #29: Wendy's Knits


REVIEWED BY: Ann Currie

MY RECOMMENDATION: YES

AMAZON SUBSCRIPTION PAGE: Wendy Knits

WEB ADDRESS: www.wendyknits.net

BLOG DESCRIPTION: Running commentary on knitting with advice, free patterns, and Lucy the WonderCat.

MY REVIEW: A blog that follows a knitter and her cat Lucy through their daily life. She mentions friends, interviews a peer who has recently published a book, talks about projects she is working on, and new products she has found. It is a well written blog that stays on track with her life around knitting with just enough of her personal life to keep it interesting. (It is a great resource.)

If I were a knitter, I would be a reader, but alas I lack this talent. The author posts frequently, almost every day, and has been doing so since 2002.

RECENT ARTICLES:
  • Busy Day
  • Happy Birthday Lucy
  • An Interview with Crazy Aunt Pearl
  • What Today has been Like
  • Let it Snow


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Ann Currie publishes My Life a Bit South of Normal
and also, Silver Pieces: The Strange and Peculiar