Do you ever watch children’s movie that you enjoyed as a kid nowadays. I always enjoy it because there are so many things I actually understand now that I am a little bit older. I think that filmmakers do this on purpose so that even people of all ages can enjoy their films.

Two great examples of these are Shrek and the Wizard of Oz. In the Wizard of Oz one of the witch’s evil tricks is to cover the yellow brick in poppy flowers. This reference just flew right over my head as a child. Now I understand that poppy becomes heroin and heroin makes people drowsy. That got a little chuckle out of me last night. Shrek also has some great ones. My favorites are the Donkeys constant musical references. One thing I’d like to say is that in my opinion, Donkey has a great taste in music. Now that I have become more familiar with music, his character is that much more enjoyable.

There are plenty more examples than these but those were just to name a few. I think it’s a good idea for people to go back and enjoy some of the older movies to see how much more they like them now. It might just be a good idea.

My step father in a general physician and the senior partner in his practice so he was one of the doctors I spoke to about healthcare. In the beginning he was all for the changes that were being proposed and then something changes; it became about the insurance industry and not about the care that we get from our doctors and hospitals. No one is arguing that we should do nothing; the question is what do we do?

Today it was released that the average American spends 17% of their total income on healthcare. That’s over a third of the average American’s mortgage payment since most house payments cannot exceed 45% to be approved. That is a staggering amount of your household income spent on healthcare but again; what do we need to do? I suggest you ask your doctor on your next appointment and find out what he or she thinks they need us to fight for in order to improve care. When I have asked mine the questions they had said some very smart and creative things. We should be talking to the people who take care of patients and NOT the administration big wigs whose only job is to make a lot of money. Until we get our priorities straight, a solution will never be found.

Children are not inclined to go outdoors and play. Why would they when the TV, video games, and the home computer as entertainment all call them to stay indoors and “play”? This is a shame because with the denial of the outdoors, the environment becomes more and more disconnected. The kids today will one day grow up to be the voting adults of tomorrow and why would they vote for public funding of National Parks and for legislation to protect the environment. And why would they care when the environment has always been climate controlled and defined by four walls and a roof.

How can we encourage our children to play outdoors like we did if we are so afraid of the outdoors. The media has made us all so painfully aware of the multitudes of dangers to our children what with child molesters and child murderers to bird-flu carrying birds to West Nile Virus carrying mosquitoes. We all need to revisit the concept of outdoors and we need to start with our own backyards, in our own patios and gardens. First steps are always the closest to home and then we can venture forth to explore the great big world outdoors.

Two years ago my husband and I thought we were doing the right thing when we put in a raised garden bed to grow organically grown herbs and vegetables.  We did so much research on the plants, the soil and the pesticides/herbicides we should stay away from as well as water runoff.  We thought we had done everything right including stopping using fertilizers on our lawn.  Then we found out that by using treated timber to build the beds we were introducing the toxic chemicals into the bed.  Last fall we replaced everything with real organic raised bed kits made of cedar.

Now that the beds have been replaced we are again planting and making sure we are doing everything we can to make sure we have good clean, natural food to eat. Though I know it’s not as important to everyone to go to the trouble we have, it is important to have good food to eat at your disposal.  Whether they are organic or not, I highly recommend the raised garden kits for the ease they bring when planting, watering and caring for your plants.  There is no better way to garden!

One of the things we don’t consider when we think about storage is the convenience of having that storage available 24/7, 365 days a year and the only way you can have this is having a storage shed on your property. Most people have one shed and while that works really well, having a shed that is dedicated to you backyard work and activities can make your life incredibly easy especially if you also garden.

Having your tools and equipment at your fingertips and always in their place when you are looking for them makes life easy and that is always a good thing. Don’t you think it’s time to get serious about your backyard shed? Make your gardening more fum with good, organized storage!

I live in the South and in the South you seldom get the “Winter Wonderland” that you hear about in the Christmas songs and see on so many postcards. However, it looks like we are in for a blast of old man winter in the next few days. When that blast comes you will find a lot of crazy people on the roads down here! Most have never lived in a Northern state so they have never driven with snow tires or had a lesson for how to steer in a slide when driving in the snow as it’s totally opposite of how you would think it was to steer.

I suggest, as well as I will be doing, to go get enough groceries to last you until temperatures get above the freezing mark and make sure you have a full tank of gas just in case you have an emergency and have to get out. You don’t want to get caught in a traffic situation and run out of gas. If you have to travel for work, please give the guy in front of you four to five times more space than you normally do as this is a major contributor to accidents in ice and snow. Other than that, dress warm and keep your walks and driveway as clear as you can (A broom works wonders in powdered snow) and good luck!

I friend and I went to see a movie a few days before Christmas and if anyone was wondering if people had gone out to the malls, I can testify that they were out in droves! The traffic was awful and wonderful at the same time. The awful part was the part we all hate; the waiting, taking of turns and wanting to flip people off that were a bit out of control behind the wheel. (We didn’t though in adhering to the Christmas spirit of the holidays)

The really good part though was that so many were out shopping for gifts. This seems to be a very good sign that the retail sector might be bouncing back after a very tough year. Granted, I don’t know how many of these people were going to a movie like we were or if they were out to get the best deals; but I do know there was a lot of them and for the first time in months the parking lot was full and people were everywhere. I hope it is a Merry Christmas to everyone; including those in the retail business.

Isn’t it funny how we are coming full circle and going back to the same materials our grandparents used? That’s right; our parents seemed to have been guinea pigs for the chemical, food and pharmaceutical companies. This is not said as fodder but as truth. We keep finding out about chemicals that are put into item we use everyday. One example is the bisphenol A , or BPA that is found in many plastic products that we use everyday including storage containers. We use so many products with BPA that it is now found in most of our bloodstreams and while these products are labeled dishwasher and microwave safe, heating them increases the amount that is transferred into our environment!

That’s why many are going back to old fashioned glass. Glass bottles for kids, glass bowls, cups and containers for storage; just one more thing to check off as unsafe for use and consumption and another reason to stop drinking water out of a plastic bottle. Either get a filtered system through your frig, pitcher or just drink tap water; it can’t be any worse for you than everything else we encounter. So much for progress…

If you have not already started your Christmas decorations and shopping you might want to think about starting now! There are only a couple of weeks left and you’ll be left behind if you don’t get moving soon. Of course, you may be like my father who just writes everybody checks so he does his Christmas shopping the easy way.

Speaking of the easy way to shop, we did ours online right after Thanksgiving and had our presents directly shipped to the people who don’t live close to us. It saved time and the hassle and extra expense of shipping because we got some really good deals that included shipping this year. If you hurry, those deals are still out there. Another thing we did was attend a Christmas Open House hosted by one of our friends who sells Pampered Chef. We were able to purchase some great gifts and you can email our friend at mkh37206@gmail.com if you need some great cookware by Pampered Chef. Just a few hints of what you could do between now and Christmas if you need to get started buying presents.

If you listen to all the retail stores, news outlets and anybody else that is hollering for you to buy, the time to shop is always now! There is always a sale just finished, just started or going to start in a day or two. That’s because retailers are hurting and while that is not very good for them it is a good thing for you. So before the economy picks up and prices start to rise, it is a good time to shop if you have the resources. It’s never a good time to shop if you don’t have money.

The other thing people are afraid to do is barter with the store. Find a manager and make him an offer. The worst he can say is no and so you loose nothing by asking and have to possibility to get a better deal. This works when retailers are looking to sell you things they can’t seem to get rid of. No retailer want to hold inventory for very long as this creates a large problem as seasons change and new merchandise arrives. Offer to take it off his or her hands at a reduced price and see what happens.