Archive for News Worthy

My Husband Lost His Job….Again

Five and a half years ago my husband came home through our front door at about 9am, which was uncharacteristically early considering he left work at 5:30-6:00AM and usually returned at 3:30-4:00PM. When I asked him what he was doing home so early, he replied, “I was laid off.” It was such a shock. Robert had worked at the store since he was in junior high. We worked for the first owner from 1981-2005. Then when the second owner bought the shop in 2005, Robert at times felt he had less job security. But seriously, we never saw the lay off coming.

Robert was out of work for about 20 months. I cleaned houses for a couple of months and started our virtual assistant business. Then his original boss, whom he had worked for over 20 years called him saying he had a new buyer for the store. You see, the second owner still owed the original owner money so when he went out of business in 2009, the store reverted back to the original owner. Clear as mud, eh?

My husband lost his job
He’s trying hard not to crack a smile in this photo in case you didn’t notice. ;)


My Husband Lost His Job….Again

We accepted the job because we had high hopes of the store succeeding under new ownership.

This current lay off was better in the fact we knew it was coming. Robert’s job allowed him to see the numbers in the reports he ran and I’d say early in the summer he called it by saying he gave the shop until mid-August. He was a little off in that he had a job until about the end of August, as he was officially done a week and a half ago.

It’s was a topsy, curvy ride waiting for the axe to fall, so to speak. It is a bittersweet end to a job Robert enjoyed. He really liked this last owner and we thought the store would make it but alas, the industry has changed so much with the advent of the internet. Mom and Pop stores cannot compete with their distributors or online competition. Just look at your home town’s main street. If you have empty store fronts like we do, you’ll see what we are living.

We are not sure what God’s plan is in all of this. It is definitely stretching us.

Robert is applying to jobs. I’m working more. I just learned that I have a job as a hostess of a new moms forum, which will help bring in a little extra money. We are trying to get caught up around the farm while Robert is home…but that is a never ending task because there is always something to do!

Have you ever been unemployed or faced a lay off? How did you survive?


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Healthgrades Website

healthgradesHomepageLogo

“I participated in a campaign on behalf of Mom Central Consulting for Healthgrades. I received a promotional item as a thank you for participating.”

 

Looking for a great doctor or hospital and do not know where to turn? Well, there is a great website that can help! Healthgrades is a wonderful website that provides information on doctors and hospitals.

All you have to do is type in the doctors name or specialty and your zip code and Healthgrades will give you providers within your specifications…. it’s that simple!

After you search for your provider their name will pop up or if you searched for a specialty a number of providers will pop up… then Healthgrades not only gives you their information but gives you a rating on the practice as well. Patients can rate the practice and give them 1 – 5 stars. I don’t know about you but I like to know that the doctor I am going to got 5 stars!

I think this is a wonderful service to find providers for health services… I have used the service and have been very pleased with new providers I found on the sight and have been pleased to see that my existing providers are getting high ratings!

I personally like to research and meet doctors/hospitals before I have a visit or procedure… Healthgrades gives me the option of finding out and narrowing down my choices. Although I do not think I would replace an in person office visit to meet a doctor with Healthgrades I do think it is a great choice to narrow down choices of who to see for a consultation. One other thing I found that it is great to look up a provider based on the recommendation of others. I can type in a provider that someone else suggested and find out what multiple people are saying about the same doctor… this is a great service!

I do not think you will be disappointed in healthgrades.com … try it out and see if you can find what your provider is rated. Do not like your current provider or their rating… browse Healthgrades for a new provider. Quick simple and easy to use!

You can also find out more about Healthgrades by Downloading d Healthgrades’ Women’s Health Report 2013 and review the material presented. They have factual information as well as highlights of the 2013 award recipients in different areas. I was certainly pleased to fund my provider/hospital on the award recipient list. Download the report to find out more information and find out the award recipients in your area. You can find the report at: www.healthgrades.com/quality/womens-health-report

Healthgrades Excellence Award 3


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What You May Not Know About Newspaper Delivery

You may or may not remember I took on a newspaper route in late December 2012. It’s been interesting, but I am grateful for the weekly paycheck that helps out while waiting to be paid for my other “solo gigs”. I discovered a lot of things about people who deliver newspapers in the last five months and thought it made an interesting enough blog topic and a way to share a little more about my day between 2:30 and 5:30AM…..plus some of my winter frustrations.

Newspapers

What You May Not Know About Newspaper Delivery

We have to hand bag the papers.

We have to stuff the papers with the flyers and often a second insert.

We have to travel in all kinds of weather – winter is the worst.

We have to walk over icy areas with little or no ice melt.

We often get complaints from people who say they didn’t receive their paper, but the wind may have blown it a little to the left/right or in the street. So look a little harder before you file a complaint against your newspaper delivery person.

We do not get paid enough for having to drive hours in the snow, sleet and ice to deliver your paper. We are risking life and limb for a bundle of paper. Think about it.

We get up in the wee hours of the morning to deliver your paper on time.

During high gas prices, our pay is probably used for a quarter to a third for gas, as gas allowance only covers barely an extra tank of gas for the month.

We are independent contractors and not employees of the paper – at least I am.

We have to double bag the newspapers on rainy days, which takes us longer to bag.

We do get use to the odd hours, sort of. At least I think I have, but I still take a nap! The joys of having three teen daughters in the house!

When I started I suffered from sore shoulders and hands from throwing and folding newspapers. That has since subsided except on days when the paper is really thick.

Rural routes can often be 100 miles and take a newspaper delivery person 3-4 hours to complete! That amazed me when one of my co-workers told me that.

In town routes are usually heavy on newspapers but shorter in miles. Like mine. I have 18-25 miles to travel and 80-275 papers to deliver on any given day. Wednesday, Friday and Sunday are my heaviest day. I have to admit Monday, Tuesday and Saturday are my favorite days to deliver on my own since I get home by 4:30pm. On Wednesdays and Sundays my older daughters are my helpers and I enjoy those days only because I have their company…and help! ;)

Overall, I am thankful for my little newspaper route and the fact that I have one in my town so my drive time is not as long as those with rural newspaper routes.


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Jersey Strong!

This picture seems to sum up the destruction of Hurricane Sandy. I’ve seen this picture over and over again. I’ve also seen this roller coaster on it’s pier on a beautiful sunny summer day.  I live about 1 1/2 hours from Seaside, NJ and 3 hours from Cape May, NJ where the eye of Hurricane Sandy came in. The Jersey Shore is my stomping grounds when the weather get warm. I’ve seen hurricanes and other types of weather devastate other parts of the country and have felt bad for the people that live in the area.  My entire outlook changed when I started recognizing the structures falling into the ocean. It’s just heart breaking.

Hurricane Sandy hit the Jersey Coast at only a category 2 and the destruction is hard to take in. Most of you have heard only about the coast, which took the brunt of the storm.

I live inland in Northwest New Jersey, like I said before about 1 1/2 hours from Seaside. There are 59,000 homes in my county and 52,000 were without electricity after Hurricane Sandy passed. In my town there are 2,801 homes and 2,292 were left in the dark, that’s 82%! I’d like to share some of my pictures from the storm.

Monday October 29th – She’s on her way

Wednesday October 31 – Since there were only very few gas stations opened because of lack of electricity and lack of gas.  We sat in this line for 1 1/2 hours waiting for gas for our car and a generator. The gas station is at the top of the hill.

The picture below is the end of the line where is starts to corner.

Having fun in the car with a box of crackers.

The reason we were without electric

Our nosy neighbors.  ha…..ha…. ha….

Our flushing system included going daily to the local stream to bucket water into the bin.

The contents of the fridge and freezer. All the corn and veggies we froze for the winter all went bad. Such a bummer.

Then, it started to snow.

Here’s a tree that fell at my in-law’s house.

That’s me standing next to the roots, I’m 5′ 3″.

Here’s a few various pictures from around my area. The photo below has been a common site in our area lately.  

The sign reads “Please do not wait – No Gas – We have Diesel”.

This one is a local hotel and the trucks and guys taking a break.

A pallet of Cup of Noodles.

We lost our power on Monday, October 29th at 8:00 pm. We were one of the lucky ones to get our power back 8 days later on Election Day November 6th. And on November 11th – there were still 2,164 homes in my county without electric that’s almost 2 weeks!  As I write this, I am very thankful for my family, friends, and health.  Many people lost everything. When I was able to get online. I found a few more pictures of the shore, I had forgotten about the sand.

This is sand coming in this front door.

This is the main road in Long Beach Island, NJ. I drove on this road 3 months ago!

JERSEY STRONG! We will be back!


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Grow with the Grain ~ National Bread Month

November is National Bread Month!

National Bread Month is a great way to remember to put whole grains in your diet.

We try to eat as many whole grains as possible… from bread, to pasta, to cereals. How do you incorporate whole grains into your lifestyle?

Here are a few things to remember:

Bread and grain foods provide many essential nutrients our bodies need to stay healthy and help fight diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, some cancers and birth defects.

  • Whole grains are a good source of fiber and complex carbohydrates – and are naturally low in fat.
  •  Enriched grains are also a good source of complex carbohydrates and are one of the major sources for iron and folic acid in our diets.

A big key to maximizing your health and energy is taking a look at your diet – including how you “fill your plate.”

  • The Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend eating six one ounce servings of grain foods each day.
  •  Grain-based foods like bread, buns, bagels, tortillas and crackers are not only healthy, they’re convenient and affordable.

About White Bread/Enriched Grains:

White bread – whether it be sliced or as rolls and buns – is enriched, meaning that B vitamins including thiamin, and riboflavin have been added back in approximately double the amount of whole grains and niacin has been added back in its original amount.

Folic acid is fortified to over twice the amount found in whole grains.

Enriched grains are the primary source of folic acid in Americans’ diets and, according to the CDC , have been credited with a 36 percent reduction in birth defects since the FDA mandated fortification of enriched grains in 1998.

Enriched grains are also a major source of iron in the diets of most Americans and are a good source of complex carbohydrates.

About Whole Grains:

Whole grains are a good source of complex carbohydrates, numerous vitamins and minerals, and are naturally low in fat.

Whole grains are a good source of fiber and other important nutrients, such as selenium, potassium and magnesium.

Whole grains may lower risk of heart disease, some cancers and diabetes as well as other disorders, such as hemorrhoids, irritable bowel syndrome and diverticular disease.

This year marks the 250th anniversary of the sandwich! There are many reasons to love sandwiches:

    • Sandwiches are one of the easiest, most versatile and convenient ways to make a healthy meal for individuals or families.
    • Bread is the most important ingredient in making a healthy and delicious sandwich; it is the foundation of a great meal any time of day.
    • The complex carbohydrates in bread and other grain-based foods provide lasting energy the human body needs on a daily basis.
The sadwich shown above is the Avacado BLT…the recipe can be found here http://www.gowiththegrain.org/recipes/recipe.php?recipe_id=1144&featured_order=1

My children LOVE their sandwichs…favorites include Ham, Peanut Butter and Jelly, and Grilled Cheese. Although Peanut Butter and Jelly is the GO TO favorite hands down for lunches!

  • Do you send your kids to school with sandwiches? What’s a go-to sandwich for you to include in their lunch bags?

 

I recently discovered Celebrity Chef Bryan Voltaggio who has created some delicious recipe creations. They range from traditional to interesting. Definitely worth a look see! You can check them out here: http://bit.ly/t9woak.

Chef Bryan is definatley a sandwhich innovator to learn more about his history please visit this link: http://bit.ly/REO3uL

For more information on National Bread Month and Whole grains PLEASE visit http://gowiththegrain.org/
“I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour for Mom Central Consulting on behalf of the Grain Foods Foundation. I received a promotional item to thank me for taking the time to participate.”


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Melissa & Doug Terrific Twenty List and Giveaway

Head over to Melissa & Doug’s Facebook page to enter to win one of their Terrific Twenty!  Then, don’t forget to visit Melissa & Doug’s Website to see all of the Terrific Twenty and the many other fabulous learning toys Melissa & Doug has!


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Party Time with The Amazing Spider-Man! #SpiderManWMT #Cbias

Ever since our first post about The Amazing Spider-Man our children have been eagerly anticipating hosting our party and watching The Amazing Spider-Man movie, which is due to be released on DVD on November 9th. It took us four different extended invitations before we found some guests available and interested in coming to a Spider-Man themed pizza party and each time our children asked, “Is so and so coming over?” so they were pretty excited when we got the yes.

We went party shopping at Walmart and bought fruit – we made carmel apples – veggies, Spider-Man themed party supplies and Marketside pizza. Walmart will be releasing Amazing Spider-Man themed Augmented Reality triggers that will be included on the pizza box & display pallet, triggering special Amazing Spider-Man experiences on the iPhone, iPad or Android in-store, especially for shoppers.

I found that playing hostess with people outside our household didn’t give me or my daughters the same freedom or time in snapping photos of everything and anything due to taking care of my guests. I tried though.

We ate first before going down to our basement to watch the movie.

The Amazing Spider-Man Movie


All the younger children waiting for the rest of the adults to watch the movie. Sorry about the dark photo.


The adults were upstairs talking and enjoying quiet conversation while the children were downstairs waiting. We interrupted them to get a group picture.

If you read my previous post, you know that we took advantage of the pre-order opportunity to get a digital download of Spider-man on DVD or Blu-Ray on Vudu.com. I also set up an UltraViolet™ (UV) account, which “is a new movie industry standard that allows you to securely store your digital movie collection in the cloud.” We really like online streaming technology.

The Amazing Spider-Man is rated PG-13, unfortunately for families with young children. I wish I had watched it in advance. I naively thought “Spider-Man…what could possibly be wrong with it” and neglected to read the rating, I should have known better. There were a couple of scenes I quickly had to cover up. A brief glimpse of one scene made our 10 year old son say, “That scene on the subway was unnecessary.” And guess what? He’s right.

The movie wasn’t bad, if you haven’t seen it yet, but a lot of the story line was changed if you are use to another version. Even the children noticed since they’ve watched the animated version. We tend to not like new changes.

After watching the movie we gave our younger guests The Amazing Spider-Man goodie bags and they left for home since it was getting late. We thoroughly enjoyed entertaining and look forward to the next time.


Friends talking

For additional information about The Amazing Spider-Man upcoming DVD release, check out Twitter (use hashtag #SpiderManWMT) or Facebook.

“I am a member of the Collective Bias™ Social Fabric® Community. This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias™ and Sony Pictures Home Entertainment #CBias #SocialFabric” (Feel free to add any additional wording you would like such as “all opinions are my own”)


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National Do Not Call Registry

Lately, I’ve been getting lots of unwanted calls on my house and cell phone. So, I headed over to the National DO NOT CALL Registry and signed up my phone numbers. You will need to enter a valid email address, they will send you an email for EACH phone number you register and you MUST click each link to activate the registry for each number. So, my fingers are cross this works. It’s so annoying to receive unwanted calls!

Editor’s note: It’s also worth having an unlisted/private number as well. It is a nominal fee each month for the additional privacy and the phone company does not include you in any phone listings on or off line. Since moving to our new home a year ago we have enjoyed a relatively quiet phone line since having an “private” number.

We also exercise caution when giving out our number, especially our cell phones. It’s not easy because you still have companies who will sell, rent or give out your number.


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Back to School With Boys and Girls Club of America (BGCA)

Back to school season is here! I know we are in full swing around our house! The children have gathered and packed their school supplies in anticipation of the first day of school…and today we finally got our teacher assignment!

What are some of the things you do to prepare your children to head back to school?

I know we are a fortunate family in being able to clothe and supply our children for the upcoming school year. But we also remember that there are those less fortunate than ourselves and as a family have always participated in programs that assist unfortunate families during the back to school season.

There are many local, national, and global organizations that you can pick from to help the less fortunate…but Boys and Girls Club of America (BGCA) is a great organization that assists children in need.

This year Boys and Girls Club of America (BGCA) and Disney have partnered to launch the Tools for Back to School initiative. This initiative features a pop-quiz style game, where supplies are donated to BGCA for every correct answer you score.

This is a fun way to give back to the community without leaving your home…plus the kids can play too! Here is the link: http://www.bgca.org/backtoschool/Pages/Landing.aspx

I just played the trivia game and got all the answers correct! Can you beat my score? Reminder that each 5 correct answers = school supplies for a club kid!

The BGCA has also partnered with JCPenney – and in August you can join JCP cares and round up your purchase at the register to benefit BGCA.  So…take a trip over to your local JCP, get the kids some back to school clothes and a free hair cut (JCP is giving away free haircuts in the month of August). Visit JCP website for more information: http://www.jcpenney.com/dotcom/jsp/browse/marketing/promotion.jsp?pageId=pg40013300014

Well I hope you are getting yourself and your children ready for the start of a new school season! Whether your children are home schooled or attend a traditional school remember that the BGCA website offers different educational content and tip sheets for parents to download and utilize. You can find them on the left hand side of the BGCA site under the ‘Get Ready’ header.  You can find these handy tools here:

http://www.bgca.org/backtoschool/Pages/Landing.aspx

BGCA has really outdone themselves with tips for parents and children. I especially like the time management tip sheet that they have available. Do not forget to check the Get Ready section and see if any of the materials can work for you!

“I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour by Mom Central Consulting on behalf of Boys and Girls Club. I received a promotional item to thank me for taking the time to participate.”


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Window Covering Safety Council – FREE Retrofit Kit

At the Window Covering Safety Council website you can order a FREE retrofit kit for your blinds.  If you have some sort of blinds with a cord, please order these.  Those cords are so dangerous for children, I ordered mine this morning.

Order yours today!


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