Every year about this time, people begin shooting off fireworks. I have a dog that is terrified of the noise. She will tremble at the sound of thunder so the 4th of July is just plain horrible to her. Some times she hides in our bathtub or one of our closets. She really makes herself sick.

One day I was researching the net and came across this website on pet information and it opened my eyes to a lot of things. Not only do they sell the best dog beds, they have information to help you with your dog. I discovered my answer on what to do during storms and how to keep her safe from listening to loud noises such as fireworks.

It is actually a very informative website. They offer just about anything regarding your animal. From beds, information, they are on twitter, and they can sell you the medicines that your dog needs.

I for one trust them and use the information they gave me to help my animal. Now I know come this 4th of July, my dog will not make herself a nervous wreck and we can all enjoy the evening.

Every now and then I sit on my front porch and I think. I really don’t have neighbors but once in awhile one will pass down the little dirt road and we exchange waves. Sitting on the front porch make me feel like I am a part of the town. Like I have staked my claim on the land and I am showing it off.

It is hard for me to sit on my back deck. To me at times it is scary which is totally absurd. The back of my deck faces the woods and sometimes it scares me. What do I do if a bear comes out, or something else. Well, the answer is easy, I turn around and walk into the house. It is just that back there I feel isolated from everyone. I don’t even grill out there anymore.

I need to get over that. Its so pretty out there too. Yet I prefer to sit on my front porch and wave to the occasional neighbor that comes back. Now that I am starting a new year because today is my birthday I think my rules that I have places on myself without really knowing so are going to change. WOOOOOT I am happy I just said that. Now to go start my list of things that are going to change!!!!

All this from just sitting!

The beauty of a Humming bird is so glorious. They flicker in front of you and if you are lucky enough to actually see them you just stand back and go Ohhhhh….they are so beautiful

I used to have humming bird feeder in my yard but after all the hurricanes, they stopped coming around. I decided today that I am going to begin to coax them back into my yard again. The first place to start is with a bird feeder and information on how to entice them to your yard. The best hummingbird feeders is the way to start. Then you just sit back and watch. The funny thing about humming birds is you never know they are there until they get there and you are shocked to see them.

The time is now. Immigration is going on as we speak and the faster you get those feeders out there the better your chances are to see them. http://www.birdfeeders.com/advice/bird-watching/hummingbird-migration is a great site where you can learn all about hummingbirds and how to bring them to your yard.

Enjoying birds is a favorite pastime of mine and I am sure it will become one of yours as well.

Today is my birthday! Another year younger. I was never one that was big on birthdays, the faster the day went the better. This year my birthday is important to me. It reminds me that I am here on this earth for this many years.

I looked back in my mind and thought of all I have done since I was born and I was amazed. From the time you are born you are going forward towards something great. Whatever that is you will find out as you get older. Or I should say as your life continues.

You are born and you are give a life where someone is taking care of you. They take constant care of you and as you get a bit older you start to fend for yourself and the need to learn more is always there. What you do with your life as you move forward (or get older) depends on you and how you handle your life and the path you chose to take.

I never doubted the one I took. I loved doing what I did and never regret a minute of it. I was very blessed to have what I had. My life has gone in cycles and a few were not good but as a child born under the sign of cancer I am stubborn and strong willed therefore a fighter so here I am.

I have overcome road blocks and mountains in my path and although the pesky mountains just keep coming, I am getting pretty good at climbing them.

So as my birthday began this year on a very happy note I want to thank my mother and father for giving me birth and allowing me the freedom to make my own choices throughout my life. This has allowed me to become a wife and a mother and a finally a grandmother. (a young grandmother)

I know what path the rest of my life is going on and I will continue to embrace each birthday now with a happiness. With all the sadness and death that has surrounded us of late I have to remember that for every death a child is born. A rebirth.

…so Happy Birthday to me!!!

The importance of being able to provide a matching donor if your child would ever need a marrow transplant is something not to be taken lightly. Precious time is wasted while the search begins and perhaps you will get lucky on the first try or you might not be one of the lucky ones at all.

At Cryo-Cell can make all this easier and safer by collection the cord blood at the time of the birth of your child. This is the blood that remains in the umbilical cord and placenta when your baby is born. We never had a reason to save it until scientists found it was a rich source of stem cells. Thousands and thousands of people have had successful transplants due to the stem cell collections.

Many people want and need to keep up with important news and now they can even easier and faster. Cryo Cell is now on Twitter where you can follow up minute to minute and gain more information or websites to click on and get facts faster.

Facebook is another great way to get information. On Facebook, not only will you receive the information and websites faster but you will also have the opportunity to read other people’s comments.

Cryo-Cell has helped over 175,000 families preserve the stem cells from their newborns for use against any future diseases such as leukemia and sickle cell disease. Scientists are now studying the stem cells in an ongoing battle against other diseases. Cryo-Cell Cord Blood Bank is moving on trying to do research to find solutions to preserve the stem cells in a noncontroversial way. Science is making headway and will continue to make progress in the battle against heart disease, stroke, diabetes and others.

The fastest way to keep track of new and upcoming things is by checking them out on facebook and twitter.

For years I have been trying to learn photoshop. Everyone I know is using it to take the pictures they take with a normal camera and turn them into something spectacular. I try when people give me suggestions or even how to do it, everything still comes out wrong. I have to depend on others to do what I which I knew how to do.

I am going to see if they have a book PhotoShop for Dummies!

You see so many power scooters around these days and I think they are the best thing that has ever been invented. My father is in a wheel chair due to a massive stroke and I wish he could have one. Just my luck as feisty as he is he would use that power scooter to create as much trouble as he could in the nursing home, but then again my dad is unique. He is one of the rare ones that still has that umph in him after having the type of stroke he had. He is bad enough in a wheel chair.

Point I am trying to make is that power scooters are the way to go if you or a loved one is having a problem getting around. I see this one man everyday who is totally handicapped but has never let it get him down. He starts out in the morning in his chair and tells people he is out for his morning run. He ran when he was younger and he says why should that stop him now. He may not be using is legs but he is still doing what he loves to do. Stops all the time to chat with people and we can see him coming because he has an orange flag that tries to keep up with him.

We have many that come into our grocery store that can move those things better then I could ever. They have made them so easy for you to use. Finally there is a company that took the time to listen to what people needed in a chair. If you notice I do not say the elderly. Having a power scooter does not mean you are elderly OR handicapped. It means that this way makes it easier for you to get around. That is what this company is trying to do. Help the ones that need it.

The people that use the  electric scooters have found the freedom they so craved for so long. I thought I was going to have to begin using one and I am not that “old” but due to an illness I have, the time is coming and I know I will be giving them a call when and IF that day comes to be.

I love the fact that it is easy to use in the home. You can still do just about all the things you did before and it is not in the way. It is easy to pack up and take wherever you go and everywhere now a days are ADA equipped to handle the scooters.

One funny story though I have to tell. We have this gentleman who is quite elderly and uses one of our carts in the store. (if only he would have a power scooter) He comes in walking with a cane and gets the key and starts out to shop. He puts his cane across the front of the basket and I just know he understands what he is doing. One day he rounded a corner near our produce section and his cane hooked onto a display of wine. He pulled the entire rack down and he looked back and I swear he sped that cart up and took off laughing. I won’t say how long the clean up took but we never said anything to him but we knew when he was in the store to look out and get the cleaning cart ready.

Our carts are not that easy to get around. If he had a power scooter he would never had killed our display. Although, it makes me wonder what he would have done HAD he had the power scooter. He was as feisty as can be…

Bottom line is this. If you need something like this, give them a call. They will work with you, your insurance company and any one else as needed.

I know when my time comes, I hope they have one for me!!! Because nothing is going to keep me down!

Everyone likes to have a day off and many of us do not get a full weekend off. I for one do not. I used to and I loved it. I would spend one or the other doing my chores and running around, then the other day was spent relaxing.

Now when you get a day off, it’s really not a day off. You spend the day doing yard work, or running errands, cleaning house or whatever you can fit into that one day. It is hard. The only thing that is different is when you work during the week, you are working, normally for someone else. The work you do on your day off is a labor of love. Did I really say that. Do we REALLY love mowing our yards when it is 98 degrees outside or drive around town doing errands when the traffic is horrible?

Well..at least you get a few minutes of relax time somewhere around that day off.

So many times during our life, occasions come and go that we need that special gift to give a loved one. Something that whenever they look at it they will see how much we love them.

When I graduated from high school, my parents gave me a special gift. It was the gift of time. A watch. A beautiful watch that I cherish to this day even though it has stopped working long ago. All through my life I wore this watch and looked at it numerous times during the day. Whether it be to see if it was time for lunch, dinner or to go home. When my children were born it was to see how much time I had left to myself before they all came running in the door after school.

My watch was the one thing on me that never aged. Until it just suddenly stopped working.

I bought a series of watches throughout my life that would wear out and I just tossed them. They were cheap. No big deal. With my busy life being a mom I never had time to do anything special where I would need a “nice” watch so I just keep up with the handy ones.

My family decided recently that I was sitting in the house too much. They were all grown with their own families and I just worked and really did nothing at all. My birthday was near and they saw this site online (what would we do without computers) that showed a huge selection of watches that were within their price range and super quality. Casio watches are my favorite and believe it or not the first watch I owned was a Casio. Back when I wore my favorite watch, it was not easy to fix them. And it just wore out.

Well…for my birthday I was so surprised when I opened my gift because there was a new watch yet it looked like the watch I had when I was younger. They searched and searched and even talked to the customer support people and came as close as they could to getting me the exact watch from years ago.

I wear my watch proudly every day and when people ask me where I got my watch I tell them to check out bluedial.com and they will soon be the owners of the best watch they will ever own.

Last year I was “lucky” enough to be the one this bird decided to sing to each and every night for weeks. Only then it seemed like months. The Mockingbird would start singing about 9pm each night in the tree outside my bedroom window.

At first I thought it was cute and I laughed the first night it kept me awake. After a week of getting hardly any sleep I began to wish it would move on and how could I help it hurry along. Nope..nothing I did work. I even yelled at this poor bird one night. My neighbors must have thought I was nuts.

Finally one night it didn’t show up. I thought…hmmm….could I be imagining things? Am I just not hearing it. It was gone. I was so happy. I could sleep normally again.

Well…this is a new year. Summer is here and just when I thought everything was right with the world again I heard the familiar song last night as I tried to sleep. Guess what. It’s backkkkkk!!!!!