Most people want to be in better shape. They commit themselves to working out a few times a week but they don’t really work it. What most people do not realize is that when they work out they are supposed to feel sore. That soreness is the feeling of muscle building and growing. I know plenty of people who will stop working out for a week or so because they are sore. What they don’t understand is that when they do, they are losing all of the progress that they had just made. There are better ideas then just stopping. These ideas will let you still workout but you will not have to work the sore parts.

What people should do is alternate the parts of their body that they work. For example, one day they should focus only on upper body. Do work outs like bench presses and curls. On another day you should do only lower body workouts such as front and back squats. Using these methods you can continue to work out every day without worrying about being too sore. These methods will still make you sore but that’s part of what working out does. I have found that P90X is a great way to alternate workouts and get good results.

My wife and I have been slowly working our way toward eating locally grown foods but we have run into a rather large snag; our love of coffee! We live in the center of the country and while we have several coffee places that roast their own coffee, the coffee bean is being brought in from around the world. To try and get an alternative to coffee, I looked into tea. You can get some teas that are grown in the US but they aren’t local either.

So we are looking for an alternative to coffee for our morning drink. We have seen hot cranberry juice but that’s not a local product where we live either. I’m not sure about the rest of the country, Southern CA, Southern Florida and South Texas excluded, but eating locally is a lot harder than it appears on the surface! I know it can be done since our ancestors did it. We have so much at our grocery stores to choose from that is not locally grown it really wakes you up to what is trucked in to an area. And for one, I don’t even like the thought of giving up my morning coffee!

I recently asked my lovely wife what she wanted for her birthday. I was expecting a romantic weekend getaway or a nice evening out for dinner and a movie; you know something that you would see in a movie. What I got was a request to paint the interior of the house. Of course this has turned into more than just the interior of the house because when you change colors you also have to change the bedding in the bedroom as well as the dressers and tables, curtains, pillows, etc.

Now, two weeks later, I can truly say that the house looks great! It was my wife’s birthday gift and I did most of the labor, which I really like to do anyway and I also get to enjoy the new look and fresh look of the house. I was so inspired that I went ahead and painted the outside doors and porch that we had been talking about for the last year. The bottom line is, for the price of a weekend getaway, we put a fresh coat of paint on the walls that we will be able to enjoy for years! Happy Birthday baby.

Everyone is talking about going green and wondering what they can do. One easy transition to a greener home is reducing your energy consumption by changing out your traditional incandescent light bulbs for compact fluorescent ones, or CFLs. CFLs use about a quarter of power to operate. If you have a fixture that you would use a 60w incandescent in you would use a 14w CFL. However, unlike incandescent bulbs that put out a warm color temperature, CFLs come in different temperatures such as daylight, bright white, and soft light. Daylight is similar in color temperature the bright, bluish light that enters your window first thing in the morning. Bright white gives off a clean, crisp illumination ideal for kitchens, bathrooms, reading and working. Soft white gives off a warm full glow ideal for living rooms, dining rooms, bedrooms and recreation rooms.

The impact of this change is huge. If every home in America replaced just a single traditional incandescent bulb for an Energy Star rated CFL, enough energy would be saved to light more than 3 million homes and cut the greenhouse gas emissions as much as 800,000 cars! Some people are concerned with the mercury in CFLs, however no mercury is released with the bulbs are intact or in use, and if recycled properly will not end up in the environment. In addition, because CFLs use less electricity than incandescent ones, and reduce the demand of electricity, it also reduces the amount of mercury emitted into the atmosphere by power plants.

I hate to admit it but I find that no matter how much I try to keep all the stuff I store up to date, I fail every year. Sometimes I fail because I cannot stand the thought of giving away something that was given to me by someone I no longer have ties with but don’t want to loose even though I have it placed in a box stowed away in a closet! I fail because I don’t want to throw away that old blue shirt even though I know it doesn’t have any buttons; I’ve just had it sine the sixth grade.

The rule of thumb is to give away or toss anything that you have not touched within the past year and while I do pretty well, there are certain things that are hard to part with. So I understand to some extent how people become hoarders in their homes and businesses either attached to or afraid to part with items they deem valuable, whether anyone else does or not. These are emotional ties that bind you to the past or to a feeling that is either familiar or comforting. But the truth is; it is important to move on and live in the present with what I have everyday. So good -bye blue shirt and good-bye sand from a trip from long since past; I am moving on.

Now that every time you turn on the TV you hear how lousy the economy is and how we all need to watch our spending, etc. it opens up the possibility that in your effort to save money and get a great deal; you get fleeced instead! Case in point are some of the places people turn to on the internet for trades and cheap second hand materials in order to do those repairs and renovations that you may not be able to do if paying full price.  But it is NOT a DEAL if the materials are substandard and break down.

The old saying, “it seems to be to good to be true” can be applied here.  As a buyer you must be aware of what you are buying.  If you are not versed in the product, do some research or talk to a friend who has some expertise in that area.  I am fortunate enough to know someone who has expertise in a number of kitchen and bath products, including appliances and turn to her often when purchasing a product second hand.  She has saved me from buying a product that was misrepresented online on several occasions and I recommend everyone seek out someone who has experience in that area to help you.  It will save you money in the long term!

If you have a renovation project that is taking place in an older home, try looking through some of the videos and text for This Old House.  Chances are that someone else has had the challenge before and their experience can help you avoid any potential pitfalls that may be on the horizon.

As someone that has renovated several older homes the information that I received before I started tearing things apart was a great help.  Gathering information before doing anything can be invaluable when you are dealing with the unknown elements of older building methods.  You will find that the reasoning behind such methodology can be insightful even if old fashioned and short of today’s standards.

I always come away with an appreciation of how things were accomplished.  This Old House can be a very useful tool before, during and after a renovation on an older home.

Kits are a great way to get started in the do-it-yourself world.  You have to know just enough about what you want to accomplish but not so much as to have a contractor’s license.  Also you can purchase a kit that is within your comfort level.

Some of the things you can do with kits range from building toy models from boats to car’s to airplanes to projects that encompass erecting sheds, greenhouses, arbors and pergolas.  You will have to learn the basics in using certain tools to do these kits but they usually easy to master.

If you want to get involved with laying concrete or other masonry or other refined skilled labor projects, it may be worth your while to visit a local hardware store and see if they have some weekend classes that you can participate in to learn more about your project.

This is a great question to ask BEFORE you start a project in and around the house. You see, there are a lot of people that tend to start things that never get finished; or the project gets finished in a way that was neither intended nor acceptable by others in the household.  In other words, it ended up a mess and a bone of contention.

Lot’s of people believe they are saving money doing it themselves and that is definitely sometimes true. However, it can also be the furthest thing from the truth.  So how do you know if something is worth doing yourself or hiring someone to do it for you?  A lot of times the answer depends on you.  Is what you are doing interesting to you?  Do you have the skills and tools to “pull it off”?  What is the cost as far as time goes and can you cut your time by using a kit of some kind?

All of these are valid questions you will want to answer BEFORE you start your project.  Once that is done, plan it, do it and enjoy.

PR: wait… I: wait… L: wait… LD: wait… I: wait… wait… C: wait… SD: wait…