A great weightloss site, The Daily Plate

Talk about buzzworthy buzz!! This is the greatest site I have found in a long, long time. In my journey to lose the extra pounds that I carry around, I have searched and searched for online aids that are free or at best, not rvery expensive. Guess what!! Until today I just never found anything. But, go to www.thedailyplate.com . It's free to join and they have wonderful tools there such as a FOOD JOURNAL, CALORIE CALCULATOR, and FITNESS LOG. When you fill out the form for calorie calculator, they will tell you just how many calories you can consume to reach your goal. There are tons of encouraging support tools as well, such as a message board, for example. There are people there who are having success. I encourage you to visit this site. You'll be amazed!!!

I want to add that I found this great site while visiting another buzzworthy site at http://www.capessa.com/members/homepage.aspx?p=9
This is another great site full of women's issues and some super ideas. You wouldn't want to miss this site either.

I want to add that this is not a paid posting, but truly sites that I found and am so excited about. When I find something exceptional I just have to share it with you.

You'll find a link to the daily plate site on the top of the right hand side of my blog. Just click that and it'll take you to the website.

Let's get trim for summer together!!! Let me know how you're doing.

Until next time,

Mary

Earth Hour countdown

Earth Hour is this coming Saturday from 8pm until 9pm. I am hoping that as many of you as can will observe this hour by shutting off your lights. I'm thinking that to light a candle and walk around our block may be something we may do, though............ as many of my neighbors don't know about earth hour they may just think that Mary and Gary have finally plopped over into the "aged land of who knows what".......with their walking around holding candles and such. =)

I didn't learn of Earth Hour until last week, so was unable to organize anything. Next year, however, my neighbors and my world will know about Earth Hour. I hope to have our entire city observing this with me. By then we'll have a more productive recycling program started here. That is in the works and due to begin any day now.

To learn more about Earth Hour and the many small ways that you too can help reduce your carbon footprint can be found on this website, www.earthhour.org.

Until next time,

Mary

A New Kid In Town

There is indeed a new kid in town. Gary is his name and antiques/collectibles are his game. You see here his website. http://ramblinroseantiques.blogspot.com/ I urge you to visit him. You'll learn a little about antiques while you're at it.

Gary has been dealing in antiques for several years now. He sells on eBay and also has some booths in local antique malls here. Over the years he has educated himself to the place where he can be considered an expert in some areas. Nobody can know everything about everything, and Gary doesn't pretend to do so. However, if you have a question, he certainly can find an answer for you.

So, when you visit his site, if you have any questions about something or if there is something you'd like him to be on the look out for you, just email him or leave a comment. He'll do all he can to help you find what it is you're looking for. His website is http://ramblinroseantiques.blogspot.com/

You can email him at gmore39@gmail.com too. Tell him his wife sent you. =)

Until next time,

Mary

Earth Hour

On March 29th at 8PM people all over the world will be turning off their lights for one hour as a way of supporting the efforts to save our planet, go green, lower emissions and decrease our carbon footprint on an individual level. Gary and I have signed up to participate in this. At 8PM on the 29th of March, we too will be turning off our lights for that hour along with the rest of the world.

The site shows that three others in our town have also signed up to participate. I would love to see all of Victoria participate. You can too. Just go to this website, www.earthhour.org sign up and also learn what else we all can do to make a difference.

There are so many things, little things that we all can do. Things that all add up to big things. At www.earthhour.org you can also download a carbon calculator and see just how much big or small your personal carbon footprint is, and also find out how you can change those numbers.

Join Gary and I March 29 for an hour of not using electricity. Last year this even was a Sydney, Austraila event. This year it's a WORLD WIDE even.

Let me know if you're going to participate. Wouldn't it be awesome to have everyone meet at DeLeon plaza and burn candles to form one huge light, while the lights are out all around Victoria?? Awesome!!

Write me at mary1440@gmail.com

Interactive map of Earth Hour supporters

Spin the globe around to see where people are signing up to Earth Hour from

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Coming soon to your nearby computer....

My husband Gary has been in the antique and collectible business for several years now. He has several booths at a local antique mall as well as selling on eBay.

We've decided that it's time for him to have an online site of his own where he can offer items for sale. Once he has that up and running I will tell you all about it and give you a link so you can go check it out for yourself.

Meanwhile, go to eBay and check out garmar59.
He has 46 items up for sale and you might enjoy seeing them or you may even find something you can't live without.

The items pictured above are available on his site. The bottle is pre-civil war and his starting bid is $.99. The truck is a plastic Hubley truck from the 1950's and is also started out at $.99.

I'm so very proud to say that Gary has 100% positive rating on the hundreds of transactions that have occurred since he's been selling on eBay. His customers continue to return to buy from him because of his integrity as a businessman. I am very partial, of course, but eBay isn't and you can view their rating of him for yourself. Again, he is eBay Seller garmar59.

The antiques and collectible enthusiasts will want to stay tuned!

Until next time,

Mary

Mahalo's Jason Calacanis is giving away a Mac Book Air

Jason is looking to surpass the number of follows on Twitter of Robert Scoble and Obama. He has to add 9,000 more followers to reach 20,000. At that time one of us lucky people will be awarded the MacBook Air. Log onto Twitter and follow Jason Calacanis, people!! That laptop is MINE, Jason Calacanis!!!!

read more | digg story

Great new site for online income opportunities!

I am always looking for ways to increase my income online, and here is a site that lists some great opportunities. I thought that if ever a site was worthy of being considered "buzzworthy" it's this one. http://income-opportunities.blogspot.com/

This site is a directory of sites that offer a variety of ways to earn some easy cash. It's one that you'll want to bookmark and check back on often.

Better yet, you can even subscribe to it. About halfway down the page on the right, it says, "email subscription". Subscribe there. That means that when additions are made to that site, you'll get an email update. New updates mean new income opportunities for you to check out. This is a secure option as nobody, including the site builder, have access to your email address or any other information on you.

Drop me a line and let me know how things work out for you. Better yet, leave a comment for http://income-opportunities.blogspot.com/

Comments pro and con in reference to things posted on our sites helps us to weed out anything that isn't 100% all that they say they are. We are all striving to keep the Internet roadways clear of "debris". You can help by giving us feedback.

Until next time,

Mary

Truly Buzzworthy "Contoured Bed Pillows"

A few months ago I was complaining to a friend of mine, Penny, about how much my neck was bothering me. She said that she had a lot of neck and back problems also and that since she started using a contoured pillow, her neck and back were a lot better. She also said that the pillow was so comfortable and she just loved hers. The sort of pillow we're talking about is like the one pictured on the left.

Well, I felt that it was worth a try. I had been going to the chiropractor ever few weeks trying to get relief from my headaches and my lower back pain etc. etc. I'd get an adjustment and it would help for a while, but soon the neck problems, back aches and the headaches that Tylenol or any other over the counter pain aid can touch would be back again.

I finally decided to give that pillow Penny kept urging me to get. She had even offered to pick one up for me and send it to me. Now that's someone who really believes in something.

The next time my husband and I were shopping we stopped at a store that sold good bedding. I can't stress that part strongly enough. GOOD BEDDING. They have several prices of this contoured pillow made out of memory foam. I didn't buy the cheapest, but I didn't buy the most expensive one either. I took my pillow home and used it. The first night, it felt strange and I missed my regular pillow. Determined to hang in there with this, I kept using it for a few nights. You know what?? I started to notice a difference. My neck felt better, my lower back wasn't bothering me anymore and if I had a backache when I went to bed it would be gone the next day.

It's been maybe six or eight months since I got this pillow and I can't say enough about it. I can vacuum my house now, my back may hurt ,but the next day with my neck supported as I sleep, my back is all re-aligned and I feel great. I haven't had one of "those" headaches since I started using this pillow. Do you want to know the very best part of all of this?? I have NOT been back to the chiropractor either.

You owe it to yourself to give one of these pillow a try. I've seen them at a lot of stores at different prices. They all say Memory Foam and look the same. My husband bought one from one of the low priced stores and his soon went flat and got as hard as a rock because the foam compressed. I bought mine at Bed Bath and Beyond. As I said before, I got the mid-priced one and paid about $40.

This is my TRUE experience and not an ad for those pillows or for stores that sell them. Do buy a good one from a good store, though. It'll pay off with a pillow that will retain it's shape.

Also, please share your experience with me. I'm anxious to hear from you on this.

Until next time,

Mary

"Second Life"

I recently got a new computer and with it all of the latest "gizmos" like a 3D video card making it more up to date for today's 3D programs. I had heard about "Second Life" and had tried to access it to see what it was all about, but couldn't get in because of my computer's limitations.

So, armed with my new well loaded computer, I downloaded the necessary software and took a trip to "Linden" on the "Second Life" website. Talk about a whole new experience. You can choose to be whomever you want to be. I'm a mature female in reality, but if I wanted to be a young boy in "Linden" I could. I chose to be a young woman with long brown hair and that body I never had. =) I was able to dress "myself" and even style the dress I changed into. It's white at present, but I'll find out how to change that next time I go visit.

So, my alter-ego and I went about exploring our new world. We walked into a few walls before we found our stride. That's going to take a while to get all of the postures etc down. Eventually, though, I saw another "being" so approached her. I needed a friend. She was dressed in a pretty Victorian style dress, I walked over to her and she shuffled her feet and acted shy and then took off running. I didn't know how to talk to her to tell her I was friendly so I just chased her. (certainly reinforcing the fact that I was friendly. Don't you think?? *grin*) Eventually I caught up with her and found a chat where I could communicate. I told her I was new and found out she was as well. She was having computer problems so had to reboot, and had to leave. We added one another as friends, though. My first "Second Life" friend. I'll look for her the next time I'm there, and let her know that I am a harmless female only trying to find my way around this new world on the Internet.

I am really looking forward to my next trip to "Second Life'. It's free to go there and there are a lot of free things, but many build homes, run businesses just as they would in real life and buy and sell things. Hm, I just realized that "Second Life" might be a good place to promote my blogs. Thinking here. *grin*

Anyway, I felt this was definitely "buzzworthy". If you get a chance, go visit this new phenomenon at "www.secondlife.com. Let me know what you think.

Till next time,

Mary

"Bloggers Block"

"Whodathunk"? I knew that there was such a thing as writer's block. But "bloggers block"?? Imagine that!! Blogging is like having a chat with a friend, and I never run out of things to chat with friends about. Just ask Gary. =)

Blogger's block. An odd phenomenon!!

Until I unblock..... maybe draino will help. =)

Mary

Daylight savings time rant....

You can't say I didn't warn you that I was on a rant, so here goes. It's that time of year again, daylight savings time. WHY???? Why must we mess with mother nature, I ask you?? Each year I just hate it when the time changes. It takes days to adjust to this new time each Spring. We all walk around tired for days until we adjust.

When our children were babies it was really a headache. I kept my babies on schedules. They ate at regular times and went to bed at a certain time and it seemed to work out well for all of us. Then, along would come daylight's saving time. The clock would say "it's 1:00PM so time for baby's afternoon nap. But baby's body would be saying, "but it's only 12:00. Why is mommy putting me to bed when it's time to eat?" Of course I would feed them when they were hungry and put them down for naps when they were tired regardless of what the clock said, but I also had to slowly work them backwards or forwards time wise to get us all back on our schedule. We'd soon be back in sync and then along would come "FALL BACK" time and we'd be back in the same place only in reverse. I HATED IT! I still do. I think if people want more daytime in their days they should just get up earlier or go to bed later. Why should we ALL have to join in when we don't want to?

It's enough to make me want to more to Arizona or Hawaii where they don't have daylight savings time.

Aloha,

Mary

Computers......"gotta luv um"

The night before last I was reading my email and checking my online projects when all of a sudden my computer died. It didn't just get sick, cough, need a visit to the "computer hospital" it died a sudden and apparently painless (to IT, at least) death. Dead! Gone! Zip! Zap! Deader than a doornail. Mouth to mouth was ineffective. (ponder that a while, will ya? lol)

I have never had a computer die on me. I've had various and sundry computer issues over the years. Most of my problems could be fixed by a reboot, or a new piece of hardware. Not this time. It's so sudden, no warning. Ah, the pain of it all. =)

My first thought was our son, Steve, who is a computer expert. He does this for a living and is the first line of defense for his family, friends, and all who know him. He's the "City of Hope" for computers young and old.

The conversation went something like this:

Ring, ring, ring...........
Steve: Hello?
Mom: Steveeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
Steve: Mom, what's the matter?
Mom: Steve, oh Steve.
Steve: Mom?
Mom: Steve, (sniff) my computer just died!
Steve: What????????????? ( there was obvious disbelief in his voice)
Mom: It died. Black screen, lights out, no comforting buzz of the fan, nothing. DEAD!!
Steve: Oh man. Well, tell ya what. I'll try to get online and see what I can find and will send you some links.
Mom: Thank you Steve. I don't know what I would do without you.
Steve: No problem. I'll talk to you later.

That was Sunday night and this is Tuesday afternoon. I have a new computer sitting in front of me and our pocketbook is $600 lighter. Steve didn't like what he found online, so Gary went to some of the local computers outlets in town and found one that he felt was a good buy. Another call to Steve, his stamp of approval on it, and I am good to go again.

What would I do without my two men? I should have posted this in my "Bookends" blog as these two guys of mine are just that, bookends!! They look alike, they talk alike, they walk alike, and think alike. Father and son. God didn't break that mold, however, until he used it just one more time in the creating of our grandson Alex.

I'm a very lucky woman and thank God regularly for these three guys of mine.

Just had to share that with you all,

Mary

Home Decorating Project continued.....

Not long ago, Gary found this adorable lamp at a garage sale for me. I thought it was perfect for our dining room. I went to our local hobby store and purchased one of the shades that has a sticky surface which makes covering it with fabric a breeze. Isn't it cute? It's just what I needed in that room on my credenza. I have a fan with light in there, but really prefer indirect lighting, so this is perfect.

I'm struggling with the table runner. The fabric I have the most of is a smaller print and is just too busy for my taste. I think I will go see if I can buy more of the fabric I have on the lampshade to work with. I like the larger print. I can still used the small print for accents. I may even do a piecework type thing as shown using the larger and smaller prints together.

I'll keep you posted on this project with pictures and so forth. I love to decorate!

Until next time,

Mary