Bringing Home Some Color

Guest post by Gerard Mcdaniel

Fall is our family's favorite time of year. Leaves are changing color and the weather is perfect; it's never too cold or too hot to be uncomfortable. The beautiful colors outside seem to offer all the necessary warmth.

Yesterday, our family decided to embark on an adventurous journey by waking a walk through the neighborhood to enjoy the wonderful Fall season. Before heading out the door, we made sure to set our home security alarm from SecurityChoice.com and then we were ready to begin!

As we walked down the neighborhood to explore, my husband and son were busy picking up colorful leaves of all sorts. My son especially enjoyed jumping all over the leaves and listening to the loud crunch they made beneath his toes. I had my camera with me, of course, to capture a portion of these magical moments to be able to look back on them later in life. Finally, when my husband and son had a nice collection of unique looking twigs and beautifully colored leaves, we decided to head back home.

Once at home, we decorated a vase with leaves and placed the twigs inside to bring some of the Fall season and colors indoors to enjoy.

office decor

I've pretty much given up on decorating my office. Seems like it's all I can do to keep it clean, much less create some kind of office décor. I painted it last year, and that's pretty good for me! Besides, I am such a functional personality- I don't like to put things in there just to have something that looks pretty. Everything in my office has to serve a purpose beyond aesthetic beauty!

flash drives

I was cleaning out one of my drawers the other day, and I realized I just have way too many usb drives! I mean, I have flash drives of all different sizes, and I'm surprised by how many I have. It's crazy how quickly they add up. Plus they're just SO cheap nowadays that it's so much easier to buy a new flash drive... and I guess, the next thing you know, you just have oodles of them. Oh well!

Friday Night Get Togethers

Content by Mauricio Benson

My friends and I all share the same favorite reality show, "Big Brother." Every time the show comes on we have a get together at my house and order either chinese food or pizza. The show starts at 8:00 p.m. so everyone shows up around 7:00 to order dinner and get a comfy seat. Once everyone is settled in I turn on the sattelite from TVByDirect.com to get the show started. This season has been completly amazing and so far has kept us on the edge of our seat. This past show was devastating and we sat around my house for an hour after talking about the shows outcome. My sister took off in a rush because she was irritated with who had to leave the house, the rest of us thought the situation was a little humerous which upset her even more. She is always over-dramatic when it comes to tv shows, she really lets it ruin her night and sometimes ours if her attitude gets out of hand. Hopefully next week she learns to ease up everyone here, because we are not doing the voting!

Finishing touches

Guest post written by Steve Barton

I love the sense of pride that comes with admiring something that you've done yourself, but I do know when I can handle something and when I can't and should let someone else take care of it.

We bought an old house that we knew was going to be a fixer upper a couple of years ago and have been putting alot of our hard work and time into getting it where it is today, but we like projects like that anyway. So we were done with most fo the inside of our house and had moved onto the outside when we knew that we would have to get some new siding and roof for our place. I knew that I wasn't skilled enough for that, so I went to HomeProImprovement and got them to do it. It looks really good now and I can't believe the difference it's made.

Now we just have to worry about landscaping. My wife wants to plant a row of trees for privacy from our neighbors so we have to investigate how to do that and how much it's going to cost.

overshoes

Can you believe that people still wear products like neos overshoes? "Overshoes" seem to be a product that was used in the 30s or maybe the 50s. Maybe even earlier. Maybe I just find it odd because I live most of my life in flip flops, and I'm totally comfortable with wet feet. I suppose it would be different if I lived in a more urban area or had to walk to a bus stop or subway stop every day, but for now, no overshoes for me!

athletic supplements?

One thing I've observed since I began running is that athletes tend to be fairly obsessed with supplements and powders. They make protein shakes with this or that vitamin or mineral and claim they've found the secret to building muscles or repairing tissue. Personally I find it all to be just a bit strange... I mean, I take a multivitamin but anything beyond that feels like a heartbeat away from steroids or creatine monohydrate or some other ethically fuzzy product.

sleep

The past few days, I have not been sleeping well. I'm trying to adjust my schedule, and it's just killer. I mean, I'm making big changes to my schedule and it's just hard! I may have to look into getting some kind of natural sleep aid until I've totally adjusted! I don't function well when I'm sleep deprived, and I don't want to be grumpy!

Halloween Costume Shopping

Thanks for the post from Stan Atkins

The haunting night of Halloween is right around the corner. Last year I waited too long to go shopping for costumes and ended up having to settle for a princess gown that was two sizes too big. Therefore, this year I tried to get a head start. My sister and I thought we could swing into WalMart and quickly grab a costume. In reality, we spent the entire day searching for the perfect costume!

We had left the house around five o'clock. This time, I had set my ADT home security alarm before leaving. (There has been a string of vandalism in my neighborhood lately.) After shopping at nearly every department store in town, I finally settled on two costumes. I was looking for something that was weather appropriate, age appropriate and cheap. It seems costume makers fail to realize it is cold in the end of October and three year olds really should not wear French maid costumes! Then they make the costumes out of horribly cheap material and put a high price tag on it. With a lot of searching, I was able to buy both costumes for under $30. My oldest will be a cat and my youngest a dog. I will probably have to add a bow to each of them to make them look cuter. However, they were priced just right and fully covered them.

Maybe next year I will try shopping online for costumes!

chilean miners

It seems like every blog is making their token post in regards to those amazing Chilean miners who escaped yesterday.

I can't imagine going through that. Everything from the starvation to the entrapment, the heat and humidity, right through to the escape up that tiny shaft.

Some of them even had to lose weight just to fit. I guess starvation will do that- even better than the best weight loss supplements.

Wow.

what a world

I am a zombie tonight. A totally frustrated, edging-on-tears zombie.

I have worked and worked. I have a race coming up. I've trained and trained- and all I can think is that, I'm not ready. Somewhere deep inside, I'm afraid that I'm right. I'm afraid that I've hit the wall, that there's nothing left, that there's nothing more I can do.

Shoot, maybe all that's left is the dream of weight loss supplements that work.

What a world.

computers

I love my computer. It seems like my whole life is on my computer, and I wouldn't have it any other way. But it's so funny how my love "transfers" every time I buy a new laptop! It's like, in just a split second, I forget about what my old computer was because I'm so excited about what my new computer is.

But every once in awhile I remember... and there's value in that.

tobacco

I seriously don't understand why tobacco became so popular. In my opinion, cigars and cigarettes taste and smell awful. It seems so strange to me that, many many years ago, someone looked at this awful-tasting and awful-smelling plant and said, "gee, I wonder what will happen if I roll this up and smoke it?" And then, once he smoked it, other people thought that looked like fun and did it too. Next thing you know, lung cancer. Really.

home theaters

I have to admit, I don't understand people who install home theaters.

I guess I sorta understand it in an abstract saving money sort of way- if you like to watch movies, ultimately it is cheaper to install a projector and home theater seating and watch movies at home. But I guess I just don't enjoy watching movies a lot. I mean, they're ok but I am generally not the kind of person who can totally zone out in a movie. I get distracted too easily for that!

Survival of the Fittest

Author: Isiah Williams

Chances are I will never get stranded in the Sahara or the Great Basin Desert. I most likely won't be camping up in Antartica as well, but nevertheless I do enjoy a bit of good old fashioned survival show on satelite tv from www.bestchoicetv.com/satellite-tv/ca/. They have some great tips on what to do and what not to do, and foraging for food has always been an interest to me.

I always wondered what is edible in the wild, and I come to find that there are a good amount of things one can eat safely. Of course you never want to eat something you are not sure of, but hunting in the wild is a good way to get your source of protein. Luckily my brother in law is an avid hunter and occasionally has game sitting in his freezer. After watching the show I asked if I could have some of his venison to try out a dish.

Venison can be quite pungent and gamey but with the right preparation it can be quite good. Spices such as garlic, oregano and a hint of basil are perfect for making venison steaks. Using a little olive oil in a pan or brushing it before grilling it is all it needs. The meat is incredibly lean and cooks up well on the any heating source, campfires included.

Volunteering to Paint the Hallways

Guest post of the week by Moises Henderson

My town just reopened the doors of a formerly closed down school and needed summer volunteers to help get it ready for the school year. As my children are going to school there, this past summer I got together with a lot of other parents to paint the hallways bright new pastel shades. It was satisfying for a couple reasons: the community benefits, personal fitness and helping out my town.

Every Wednesday night, I got my old painting clothes on, set my home security alarm that I found on www.securitychoice.com and got the kids in the car. When we got there, I got a couple hours of a good work-out in (carrying buckets, standing, painting) while the kids ran around their new school with the other kids. While chatting, painting and listening to music, I made some good friends with the other parents. I'm really glad and I hope we will continue to be friends now that our children are going to school together. It feels good to have that community...

I feel really good about the whole experience and only wish it were longer - though I am glad the kids are back in school!

Volunteering to Paint the Hallways

Guest post of the week by Moises Henderson

My town just reopened the doors of a formerly closed down school and needed summer volunteers to help get it ready for the school year. As my children are going to school there, this past summer I got together with a lot of other parents to paint the hallways bright new pastel shades. It was satisfying for a couple reasons: the community benefits, personal fitness and helping out my town.

Every Wednesday night, I got my old painting clothes on, set my home security alarm that I found on www.securitychoice.com and got the kids in the car. When we got there, I got a couple hours of a good work-out in (carrying buckets, standing, painting) while the kids ran around their new school with the other kids. While chatting, painting and listening to music, I made some good friends with the other parents. I'm really glad and I hope we will continue to be friends now that our children are going to school together. It feels good to have that community...

I feel really good about the whole experience and only wish it were longer - though I am glad the kids are back in school!