Traditional Christmas Flower

Did You Know...

Today poinsettias are the most popular Christmas plant and are the number one flowering potted plant in the United States.

Courtesy to Home Depot

The poinsettia, a traditional Christmas flower, originally grew in Mexico, where it is also know as the 'Flower of the Holy Night'. Joel Poinsett first brought it to America in 1829.

Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade

I really can't wait till Thanksgiving. I'm sitting here counting the days waiting for the Macy's Thanksgiving day parade. I love to sit and watch the new floats every year. They always seem to get better every year. It's really amazing if you look back at the past years and look at how far the technology has come I was looking at pictures from back in about the 60s today of the Macy's parade then and looking at some pictures from the present day. It really amazes me how far technology has come and how much brighter the colors are and how much more detail is put into them.

I like to watch every year also to see which new singers and celebrities are there. Always seems to be somebody new and exciting, and also your old favorites. And let's not forget the marching bands and mummers. I always love to watch them.

It would definitely be more fun to actually go to New York and watch it live. But luckily I have good Satellite TV specials to watch it on with a crystal-clear image, and never seem to miss a beat. It's really great when you pump in the surround sound. Almost feels like you're right there with the bass. So even though I don't get to go and see it in person. I can still really enjoy it right from the comfort of my own home.

Author: Miles King

Discount On Baby Registry Items

Thank God we're done decorating the nursery room. My honey painted it and he did a great job. We already arranged the furniture in the places we wanted them to be, and the wall decorations and accessories as well. My baby's clothes (except those bigger sizes) are washed too. We bought a couple boxes of diapers and stacked them in the drawer.

Now I am checking my registry list and figuring out things I still need. Well, there are few more. I wonder if the store will give me discount for the items left in my registry.

The Boots You'll Love

The weather hasn't been nice lately. It was raining with gusty winds. I have had to go accomplish some errands. It's difficult to drive on rainy days. Still I managed to go to the post office, the grocery store, and the bank.

I hate getting wet in the rain. I easily get colds. My newly bought rain boots helped a lot. The rainwater on the road did not bother me at all because my feet was covered all the way to my calves. I got compliments from other customers in the grocery store. Women's rain boots are great to wear on unpredictable weather this Fall season.

If you want to invest on good women's accessories to protect you on rainy days, get yourself a nice pair of boots.

Weekend Snapshot: Love Roses

One of the things I really love the most is when somebody gives me flowers, especially when it comes from a very loving person. My honey never forgets to show me his love and affection even in little simple ways. And he knows I love roses.

Major Purchases on Black Friday

Guest post by Sally Gates

While most people are intent on doing their Christmas Shopping on Black Friday, I always spend the day shopping for expensive items like computers or television sets and whatnot because that's the only way you can save real money. I mean if you're saving 70% or whatever on an item that costs under $20, it's just not worth staying up all night lining up in front of a store in the freezing cold. That's like making $14 over 10 hours or something like that. If I'm going to go through the hassle of taking a day off from work and setting up camp, it better be for a major purchase that saves me tons and tons of money. Since I leave my home unattended all night long, I also have to make sure to set my home security alarm from Securitychoice.com/ before I go out to shop.

So anytime I have to make a major purchase, I hold out till Black Friday rolls around. Sometimes it takes some researching to find specific items that I'm looking for. Kitchen appliances are the number one thing I have difficulty finding. As I've found that most of the appliances available are fairly generic and not worth the cost. Basically, there is a reason why these items are on clearance. This year I'm probably going to be looking for a microwave as my current one appears to be on the fritz.

His Usual Dessert

Besides the big delicious turkey and main course food on Thanksgiving Day, desserts will never be out of place. Those of you who have sweet tooth like me, I bet you look at the dessert table first huh? 'Always do.

Even at home, we never ran out of desserts. I love sweets. My honey? Not much. He likes eating chocolate bars, only, after supper. That is why we stock chocolates in the fridge. I like fruits or cakes. But sometimes I eat sweets as a snack. My favorite is a cake made of chocolate. I can't get enough of that.

Happy Thanksgiving 2010

"There are many things to be thankful for."

That's my honey always tells me. I agree. For good things and bad things, we should always give thanks to God for we are still breathing.

We were at my sister-in-law's home yesterday to celebrate Thanksgiving Day. The temperature dropped. It was a bit chilly. The family gathered at her home at noon (we arrived a little late). She prepared lots of delicious food. It was great! Though I watched my diet, I couldn't resist to eat a lot. Glad I still maintained a balanced diet yesterday. Hahaha! It's nice to get together with family. We had fun talking about stuff. We're full too. Ah.

How about you? How's your Thanksgiving Day?

Unique Home Address Signs

I went to visit a friend two weeks ago. It was my very first time to be in the town where she lives. I drove in the back roads because that's the route my gadget guided me. The drive was pretty smooth except in the areas where road works are on going.

Looking for her house did not took me so long. Their address sign is very clear to see from hundreds of feet away. While I was looking around to find a parking spot, I noticed that her neighbors' home have the same wall address plaque as hers. Uniformed. Which, I think, is cool.

I saw her husband walking towards me and teased, "I see, looks like you have a big basketball in there," pointing at my big belly. "She's waiting for you," and he led me to their house. We were laughing because I told my friend that her husband teased me about my baby bump. I also complimented about how unique their home address plaques are.

It was a nice visit. My friend gave me a bag full of infant clothing. She has a little girl too. I think that's sweet.

Avoid Out-Of-The-Area Travels

Hhmm...what did I do today as far as Thanksgiving preparation is concerned? Nothing. Though we are back in our house in the country, we are not hosting the Thanksgiving dinner for now.

We will go to my sister-in-law's home tomorrow for Thanksgiving. I was asked if I am still okay to travel. Now that I am in the full term of my pregnancy, my doctor asked me to avoid out-of-the-area travels for signs of labor might start at any time. But this one will be fine...I think.

Free Prepared Childbirth And Newborn Care Classes

We finished the Newborn Care and Prepared Childbirth classes this week. Both are informative and essential to pregnant women, and couples like us. These classes are offered free by the hospital and birthing center where I will deliver my baby.

The Newborn Care class basically tackles infant care after delivery which include: feeding (breast or bottle feeding), bathing, infant safety, and others. Then the Prepared Childbirth tackles topics on: stages of labor (proper breathing techniques, relaxation, positioning, focal point...), false and true labor, delivery (normal, Cesarean, medication and non-medication), postpartum recovery, postpartum depression, and others. There are also labor and delivery films to watch.

My honey and I were happy that we attended these classes. I just hope I will be able to remember the techniques to ease labor pains. Labor pain is a pain with a purpose. Nature only knows when I will be in labor. And when the time comes, I should be ready to let my beautiful baby out to see the world.

Lunch Break Potluck

Thanks to Danny Mays

I love spending my lunch break with friends at work because we have a great break room with cable television specials that we watch to catch up on our stories. We all love the soap operas that are on everyday and we would miss many of them or have to watch prerecorded shows if we didn't have this perk at work.

Our break room is very comfortable with a couch, tables and chairs. We also have a refrigerator, microwave, toaster and more at our disposal provided by our wonderful employer. So if I choose to bring my lunch from home of leftovers from dinner the night before or a sandwich, I can store it in the refrigerator until lunchtime arrives.

Sometimes one of us will make a run to the store or a restaurant to pick up a food order we placed by phone, and then we can enjoy the meal while watching our shows. We also occasionally take turns making a large amount of food to bring in to share with each other. My favorite meal to make is spaghetti because it tastes so good and serves many, usually with leftovers for the next day too. One of my co workers usually brings chicken wings when it is her turn; she got the recipe from her mother in law and it is delicious.

Whatever we have to eat, my lunch break has been made to be something I look forward to each work day.

Wordless Wednesday: The Ideal Food

Holiday Homesickness

Just feeling homesick today.

When my sister said that the packages has arrived, I got so excited like a child. I called my mother last night to confirm and asked how's everything. They are very happy and the children are excited about their birthday presents. They are anxious to open their holiday gifts too, but they can wait until Christmas.

The shipping of the packages (Balikbayan boxes) always takes more than a month. In this period includes the custom checks and sorting when the packages arrived at the door-to-door service company's office in the Philippines. After weeks at sea, the packages are delivered safe and sound to our family's door front door. Amazing huh?

Why am I feeling homesick today? Because I am wishing to be with my family while they open their presents. And this morning, when I turn on the radio, Christmas songs are playing. Good timing, right?

Never Miss A Payment

After two doctors appointment, I was hurrying to go to the department store today. I had a payment due to beat. I don't want the store to charge me any late payment fees. That is a no no! Late fees are very high. They're higher than the minimum payment amount in your bill.

Then I remember somebody told me about credit scores. If you pay your bill in advance or on time, you will have a good credit score. And it will reflect on your credit records. Is that right? That is why I am doing my best not to fail on my bill payments due date. For convenience, we should always keep bill payment reminders in our calendar. It will help us remember that way.

Do you care about your credit score? If you want to know, you can check for a free credit score online.

The Invites

There are plenty of invitations for parties this month. I would love to go but my honey and I have busy weekends now that I am getting close to my delivery date. I feel bad when I decline invites.

As my due date approaches, we have to finish preparing our things to bring to the hospital (just in case). And we need to finalize everything in the nursery room as well. My in-laws are coming over to help. I am very thankful.

A Weekend At The Library

This guest post from Walter Horn

The library is one of the best places on earth. There's no place that will allow you to read the newspapers from different states and magazines that cover such a broad field of topics. It's a super resource center that puts a world of knowledge right at your fingertips.

There's no way to express my full admiration for the people that originally invented this concept. It's the best place on earth for indulging in the world of the written word. I have always loved books, and I love to write. The library gives me an opportunity to read and a quiet space to write. It's the best of both worlds.

I go on Saturdays because I know that there are few people that will wake up and think of going to the library on the weekend. It's always busy during the weekdays. The weekend is different. People are at home watching games or out shopping on Saturday. No one is checking out library books but me. I usually leave home and set my home security alarm. I get some brunch from the local eatery and go directly to the library.

It feels just like home when I'm there, and I always want to hang around for longer than I attended to. I check all the different books and try to decide what I will check out.

Blogging Tips And Techniques Help You Make Money Online

Though I am pregnant, I still spend time to surf the Internet and tend to my blogs. Making money online has been a part of my daily routine on the net. My earnings is doing pretty good. It helps me in so many ways.

When I started blogging two years ago, I thought I would not be able to handle it. There were evenings I stayed up late doing minor adjustments in my websites. Then I have to submit them to search engines and free directories so I get traffic. That's the cool part. The rankings are good too. That is what I am happy about. Thanks to all the readers.

I did not get into making money with my blogs, yet, for a few months. I had to research and read some blogging tips and techniques articles. They helped me a lot. One of the concern I ahd before was the website hosting. It was really hard to find a very reliable hosting service. But with the help of other bloggers and web hosting reviews, the problem was solved. Now I know which one is better than the rest of the web hosting websites.

There is a lot you can do to make money online. Just look for ideas from reliable sources. Bear in mind that the Internet is not safe. Always be aware of the limitation. Blogging can be stressful too. But with proper time management and the right attitude on the freedom of expression, we can be professional bloggers like the others.

Wordless Wednesday: Missed Drinking Coffee

For Mail Security

Mails are delivered in the house almost everyday. I said 'almost everyday' because there's a day in a week that we don't get any. Our mailbox is just a typical residential mailbox you see in a neighborhood (mounted in a concrete).

I just wonder if there are locking mailboxes. How do they work? And if I get a locking mailbox for the house, do I have to have a key for it? I am just kinda curious. Will the post office allow homes to have lockable mailboxes?

Weekend Snapshot: The Cowboy Stadium

On our way home, we passed by the newly built Cowboy Stadium in Arlington, Texas. It is huge and looks very nice. It opened May 27, 2009 and has a capacity of 80,000 and is expandable to 111,000 with standing room. One of the big event in the Cowboy Stadium this year is boxing, a bout between Manny Pacquiao and Antonio Margarito on November 13, 2010.

Property Listings

When we moved back here in the house, we were surprised two of our neighbors are selling their homes. My honey spoke to one of the owners. The guy said that he and his wife are splitting. That's sad.

Their homes are priced higher than what we had ours (in the market) two years ago. My honey said it's good that the homes in our neighborhood are appraised high. But at this time, people are still worried about the economy and it's effect in the real estate industry.

However, there are some people who afford to buy high-priced homes. I remember that my friend and her husband got a very nice place in Boston. She was very happy with the Bushari Group Real Estate who helped them find listings for condos in Boston. Well-furnished luxury Boston condos, that's what they're looking for. It is great to find a Boston Real Estate agent to help them achieve their goal.

I told my honey that I was thinking of living in a condo before. He did not like the idea.

7 Up And New Dino

Did You Know...

Up and Away
The name of the popular beverage "7-Up" came from teh fact that, when it was originally produced, it came in seven-ounce containers. The "up" describes the direction the carbonated bubbles went in upon opening a can.

New Dinosaur
There has been a discovery of a previously unknown dinosaur in Tanzania, East Africa. Called the Asilisaurus Kongwe, scientists say that it existed 10,000 years earlier than other known dinosaurs.

Coffee News, Lavon Edition Oct. 29, 2010