Holiday Shopping

The arrival of Halloween means one thing to me, it's time to start shopping for the holidays. I love the convenience of shopping online and that is how I do the majority of my gift buying now.

My new favorite resource is ShopWiki. They list products that are available from all over the internet, not just from retailers that have paid to be included.

I was looking for backpacks for my nieces and their list showed me tons of them to choose from. My nephew loves designer clothes and the listings for those were awesome as well.

We all know how I feel about accessories, so I have to confess to peeking at that list. I'm not admitting anything, but the brown truck may be carrying a purse or two when it shows up.

Jewelry Shopping

Since it is such a rainy day I have spent the day shopping online. I plan to be ahead of the game on my holiday shopping this year. I refuse to be a last minute shopper like I was last year.

I am loving the jewelry selection at the Sam's Club website. I had not realized that they had such a big offering of diamond and fashion jewelry. So far I have been able to take care of gifts for both my mother and my sister in law. I ordered beautiful earrings that I think that both of them will adore.

Once I visit the electronics section I can probably knock out a gift for my father as well. It looks like today is turning out to be a productive one.

I Remember

After spending a good deal of time back in Memphis I am remembering why I left. I don't think it ever stops raining here! I have seen more rain in my trips here than I have in the past year at home. I have come to the conclusion that it has a direct impact on my mood, the rain and cold is too depressing for me!

Security is Everything

When we moved into our home it was in a small, sleepy little town with very little crime. I am sorry to say that along with development, crime has moved into the area. My husband and I recently decided that it was time to check out home security systems and we had an ADT security system installed.

We both feel that home security is something to be taken seriously. We are happy that we went with an ADT system. Installing it was not only about protecting our assets but also about protecting ourselves and our dogs. This time we decided to go with a Home Security Surveillance System. As long as we were doing it we wanted to go with a modern system. We don't want to have regrets later on.

Flash Back

My pretend niece, also known as my best friend's daughter, had an event at her high school yesterday which I attended. I not only got to support her but I also had the opportunity to revisit my old school. It was a real flash back to be there again.

Walking down those hallways full of school lockers made me feel like I was in school again. I went and found the location of the locker I had for both my junior and senior years. I'm sorry to say they have replaced them so I can't say my name was still scrawled inside. But I can say that I think the gym lockers smell exactly as they did back in the day. :)

The World of Coins

I have been introduced to the world of coins today. My father had a stash of various gold and silver coins and it was given to me to dispose of. After visiting several coin dealers I now know more about coins than I ever wanted to know. :) At least I found one whose prices I liked and it is taken care of. Let's just say it will pay for their new golf cart to get around the retirement village in.

Find it Locally

The internet is a great place to quickly find information on things and places all over the world. Sometimes the difficult part can be finding local information. You may have to visit 3 or 4 different sites to gather the information you need about local restaurants that are right down the street.

Now there is a site called Local.com that aggrigates it all for you. It's like local yellow pages, local reviews and local search all rolled up into one place. It is partnered with sites like Yelp.com and CitySearch.com along with others so you know the information is good. You can use it to get what you need in one place and stop wasting time.

I Jinxed It

I must have jinxed Twitter by blogging about it the other day. It's been misbehaving all weekend and this morning it is down. I feel like I am in withdrawal without it twittering away in the background. My office is strangely quiet. I may have to resort to turning on the television for company and background noise. Horrors.

Going Up

Did you see the news that the stock market went above 10,000 yesterday? A year ago everything in stock trading was doom and gloom and now things are looking up again.

We decided to cautiously step back into the stock market not long ago and it looks like we are not alone. This time we are trying online trading through an online broker. We have decided to be completely in control of our investments this time. If they tank it will because of a decision that was made all on our own. Let's hope that the upward trend continues and the economic recovery is really happening.

The Defense

I am receiving an education in how the criminal justice system works from watching my neighbor. He has been charged with a serious white collar crime. He and his wife were devastated when the charges were brought against him. I am just glad that he was able to afford to hire a firm that is know for having a good team of Federal Criminal Defense Lawyers to help him get justice. I hope everything turns out well for them.

Twitter This

Are you addicted to Twitter? I readily admit that I am. My favorite application for it is TweetDeck and it twitters away in the background all day. I just upgraded to the newest version and I really like it. One of the coolest new features is a column for new followers. You can see your latest followers and decide if you want to follow back right from there, very easy.

Retail Has Changed

I realized while on my shopping trip today just how much retailing has changed. I worked in a dress shop when I was in college and all we had was a register, we had to key the codes in ourselves. Now with all of the advanced point of sale tools for data collection a retailer can collect all sorts of information.

The shop I was in had these cool touch screens that the sales people were using. I looked them up and they are called Elo touchsystems 1537L open-frame touch monitors. It can be used to collect a wide range of inventory data. They can also be used for other functions in the store as well. I think if I got hired in a store today it would take me a while to catch up with the technology!

Wedding Invitations

Wedding invitations are so much more exciting than they were when I got married. I had a choice of which shade of white I wanted and a selection of fonts. It was all very formal and there was no personality involved. Now there are all sorts of designs and colors and images used on them.

I was just looking around 123print.com and the selection of wedding invitations is amazing. There is so much room to express who you are and what you are about with them. Selecting a creative invitation is a cool way to set the tone for the whole wedding. I wish I was getting married again just so I could order some.

Watch Your Back

My husband's back surgery had made me very aware of taking care of my back. I found a site called Back2Yourself for back exercises. Besides their program they have a free exercise page, you should check it out!

Moving is Hard Work

If you read this blog then you know that I spent the past month moving my parents from their home of 50 years to a retirement home. Besides all of the emotional work involved in convincing them that it was the right thing to do, there was and is a lot of physical work involved. I wish that I had known about HireaHelper.com.

I do no live in the same city as they do so I was on my own to get the work done. I spoke to a lot of moving companies and got several estimates for the move. Movers can do all the work but are expensive. I didn't know of any other way to get it done so that was the route I took.

It would have been much less expensive to hire a truck and do the driving ourselves but I didn't have anyone to help me do the loading and packing for the drive. My brother could have come to drive the truck but could not have stayed long enough to help pack the boxes or load it all.

HireAHelper.com provides services for Moving.com and Realtor.com. They can connect you with reliable day laborers to help you move yourself. If I had known about them I could have hired them to do the loading and saved a lot of money compared to what I paid the moving service.

The good side to all of this is that I still have work to do there. My parents only took about half of what was in the house since their new place is smaller. When I go back to pack the rest of it up, hold an estate sale and fix it up for the market I know who to call. The service not only has registered helpers for moving, they can also refer ones for landscaping, cleaning and general help. It should make my life a lot easier.

A New Handbag!!

It's been a while since I adopted a new addition to the family. You know I'm talking about a handbag, right? :) While I was in Memphis I took a few minutes to stop at one of my fav shops and walked out with a new B. Makowsky purse. It's a deep purple hobo style with lots of silver studs and very soft. I just carried it for the first time this morning and loved it, very comfortable!

Healthier Fried Turkey

My favorite way to prepare turkey at Thanksgiving is fried but I have to admit I feel a little guilty about it. I love the crispy skin and juicy meat and try to forget that I am frying it in a huge vat of oil.

Now I don't have to feel guilty anymore. There is an oilless turkey fryer on the market! It is an infrared cooker that promises the same delicious taste as fried without all of the oil. It also suggest using it for whole chickens or pork shoulders. My mouth is watering at the possibilities.

Besides being a healthier alternative it is also a safer alternative. The large pot of boiling oil has always scared me. I have hear horror stories of what happens if it boils over.

I Love Coupons

I love coupons, promo codes or any kind of promotion to save money so here's a quick post to pass one along to you. This smooth fitness promo code might be just what you're looking for! :) We all have to find ways to save as much as we can, right?

Broadband Service

Finding a good broadband service is important no matter where you are. I have been looking at a lot of providers lately trying to find the best one in my area. I live in a small town and finding a reliable broadband provider isn't as easy as you might think.

The search for service isn't limited to here in the US. I found a forum dedicated to UK Broadband users. It seems that they have the same discussions and debates about it that we do. I found the T Mobile Broadband discussion interesting. The people there have the same thoughts about the company as most of the people here do. I guess it shows how small the world has become with computers in our lives.

I Love the Coast in the Fall

I know that most people think about vacationing at Oceanfront Myrtle Beach Hotels in the summer. A beach vacation brings thoughts of hot steamy days on the beach and eating crabs by the bucketfull. But summer isn't the only time to visit.

My favorite time to visit an Oceanfront Myrtle Beach Hotel is in the fall. The weather is beautiful and comfortable and the water is still warm. The best part is the lack of crowds. You can take long walks on the beach and have it all to yourself.

If you have some vacation time left think about spending it at a Myrtle Beach Hotel and check out the fall weather. You may fall in love with it like I did.

I Missed You!

I haven't been posting lately because of a family emergency. My parent's health took a turn for the worse and I traveled to Memphis to help move them to assisted living in Texas. My brother lives there and we selected a place close to him.

I will be traveling back and forth to clean out their house and put it on the market but the rush is over. I hope to be posting like usual from now on.