Almost too busy to blog

Between home, church, my business and helping friends, I’m busy as a bee. I’ve been upstairs cleaning out our “old” office so that I can move our current office upstairs. We are putting wood floors down in the living room, which we are now using as our office, and the dining room. Somehow the old office had turned in to our junk room. You wouldn’t believe what I am finding up there. Yesterday I found a box of banking papers from 1990 thru 1992. I will be busy with the shredder today getting rid of most of those. I found a box of Jennifer’s old stuff that she had thrown in there before she moved out several years ago; most all of that went in the trash. It really feels good to get that room cleaned out.

I’ve been helping a friend, Felicia, get her house prepared to put on the market. She has lived there for 15 years and she has collected lot’s of things. We have given away many of her things and taken many more things to the Salvation Army. Yesterday, a friend of mine, took all her office furniture and her computer. It really scares Felicia to think that she is moving into another phase of her life. She is going from a large three bedroom house into a small two bedroom assisted living center. She really doesn’t want to do this but her memory is getting to a point where she needs to. Last Tuesday, six ladies from church came over and we did some deep cleaning. We cleaned things that I am sure haven’t been cleaned in a long time. I think the house is finally ready to put on the market. Yea!

I have my grandbabies for a few days because Justin’s mom is in the hospital and not doing very good. Her kidneys are shutting down and her bowels are not working right. He and Jennifer are trying to get some work done so that he can go to Mexico and see her. Grandma to the rescue! My work for the next few days will be to take care of a 4 year old and an 8 month old. I’m just glad that I can help take a little load off of Jen and Justin.

With my calling at church, I have been busy helping others get prepared for hurricane season, which starts in about four weeks. We have ordered 5 gallon water containers and 55 gallon water barrels. I am working on the delivery of those later this afternoon. Next on the agenda will be 2,400 and 3.600 calorie food bars for our 72 hour emergency kits. Our church leaders have asked us to make sure that we have food stored for emergencies and we have been working on that. The scripture, “If ye are prepared, ye shall not fear.” comes into mind here.

Between all of this, running a business, and daily chores, life keeps going. I wonder sometimes how I manage it all. I’m grateful to God for the help he gives me and the love of my family. Where would I be without them?

Have a good weekend to all of my friends out there in blogland!

Subject: Two Wolves

One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people.

He said, "My son, the battle is between two "wolves" inside us all. One is Evil.

It is anger, envy, jealousy,sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.

The other is Good.

It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith." The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather: "Which wolf wins?" The old Cherokee simply replied, "The one you feed."

Note from Lucy: I sometimes wonder which wolf we feed. Could it be a little bit of both? I hope I am feeding the good wolf much more than I feed the bad one. We need to be more concious of the things we do. Remember that the things that we do feed either the good wolf or the bad wolf. Thanks Richard Sutton for the story.

Jury Duty

Yesterday I pulled something in my back, so when I woke up this morning I was pretty stiff. I carefully rolled out of bed at 6:00am. and got in the shower. The water was good and hot and I let it pound on my back as I shampooed my hair and soaped up. I had jury duty today and I didn’t want to call in with an excuse. I was grateful that the hot water and some muscle relaxants helped loosen things up. An ice pack between me and the seat, made my trip into town a bit easier.

I am always amazed at the number of people who show up for jury duty that are wearing jeans and sandals. I had on a skirt and blouse and almost felt out of place. The jury pool that I was picked for included 65 people, with me being #50. We walked, as a group, over to the criminal court building, went thru the medal detectors and up to the 15th floor. The deputy that was in charge of us, lined us up by our numbers and took us into the court room. The case that we were there for was a sexual assault, with a grown up, in which violence was used. We were asked some really interesting questions by the prosecutor and defending attorney. All I can say is, I am sooooo glad that I was not picked to be on this jury. I was so wrapped up in the case that I almost forgot about my back hurting. I came home and took a nap, taking it easy for the rest of the day.

I thought you would enjoy this recipe for:
Vegetarian Enchilada Casserole

1 can crushed tomatoes in tomato puree -- (28-ounce)
1 can chunky salsa -- (14 1/2-ounce)
1 can tomato paste -- (6-ounce)
2 cans black beans -- (15-ounce) rinsed and drained
1 can whole kernel corn -- (15 1/4-ounce) drained
1 can diced green chiles -- (4-ounce)
1 1/2 tablespoons ground cumin
l/2 teaspoon garlic powder
5 corn tortillas
1 can sliced ripe olives -- (2 1/4-ounce) drained

In a large bowl, combine the tomatoes, salsa, tomato paste, beans, corn, green chiles, cumin, and garlic powder. Mix well. Ladle about 1 cup of this mixture into the bottom of your slow cooker; spread evenly. Top with 1l/2 tortillas, cutting to fit as necessary. Spread on 1/3 of the remaining tomato mixture. Repeat these layers 2 more times, ending with the rest of the tomato mixture; spread evenly over the top. Sprinkle the sliced olives over all.Cover and cook on the low heat setting about 5 hours.Serve hot.

Today's Crockpot Recipe Courtesy of Juan Valdez

Today’s stories brought to you by Dollar Stretcher

Dollar stretcher has been one of my favorite websites to visit. I even get a weekly newsletter with a variety of subjects that lead me to their website. Today, I decided to just give you a taste of what you might expect if you were to visit their site. If you are interested, check them out here: www.stretcher.com

Is now the time to buy HDTV? It could be, even though the mandated switch from analog to digital is a few years away.
http://www.bankrate.com/dls/news/pf/20060411a1.asp

Alert feds of credit report errors:
http://www.bankrate.com/dls/news/credit-management/20060412b1.asp
Want to express your opinions and complaints about the credit reporting system? You've got until May 22 to speak your peace. Federal financial regulatory agencies want to find out about those errors on your credit reports and how they can help fix them. The agencies are developing guidelines and rules on accuracy and integrity required under the Section 312 rule in the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003.

Debunking the Mortgage Prepayment Myth
http://www.stretcher.com/stories/04/04apr12c.cfm
I would like to weigh in on the fallacy of the "conventional wisdom" provided by many professional financial planners on the subject of prepaying your home mortgage. Namely, most financial planners advise you not to do it! by Jeffrey Yeager

Spring Cleaning Made Easy
http://www.stretcher.com/stories/06/06apr10j.cfm
Collector plays 'Pin debt on daughter'A daughter is right to resist a collector who insists she pay her late mother's credit card bill
http://www.bankrate.com/dls/news/debt/20060414a1.asp

Avoiding Freezer Burn
http://www.stretcher.com/stories/05/05apr11a.cfm

Avoiding Marital Money Problems Improving your relationship
http://www.stretcher.com/stories/05/05apr11b.cfm

Fame & Fortune You might be a redneck if you've ever spewed beer through your nose laughing at Jeff Foxworthy's Southern fried humorhttp://www.bankrate.com/dls/news/investing/20060411b1.asp

He has risen......

I’m up early this morning…..thinking of the resurrection of Christ. There are non believers all over the world, but what Jesus Christ did for us is for all mankind. Some people accept the gift and others reject it, not realizing that Jesus died for their sins also.

My husband wrote a blog last night talking about the meaning of the similarities of passover and the resurrection. Please go take a look at it because he explains it far better than I could have. Here it is: http://tfsternsrantings.blogspot.com/2006/04/joining-of-two-sacred-events.html As I sit here the words and music of “He is risen” just keep going thru my mind….How grateful I am for the ultimate gift of Jesus Christ. May you have a wonderful Easter.

The power of residual income….

A few months back, Big Dave asked me to post on residual income. I think this would be a great time to do that. How many of you know what residual income is? It is doing something once and being paid over and over again. An example of this would be Elvis. He wrote songs, sang them and recorded them. Every time that song is played on the radio, or used for a commercial, his estate is paid a small fee. I’m sure his family is making some great money off of this residual income.

Most of us work for "earned income." Let’s say that you worked for Bath and Body Works. You go in each week, work forty hours and on Friday you get paid for that weeks work. Next Monday you have to go back to work to earn more income. You get paid for actual hours worked. If you get sick, and have to take a week off, you don’t get paid, you earn no income. No pay check on Friday and you still have to go back to work on Monday and start earning income again.

If you get sick, while earning residual income, you don’t have to worry about getting paid. You get a check in the mail each week even while you are home sick or taking a week off. I happen to like this method of earning income.

My husband, TF, is a locksmith. He owns his own business and he has to work to get paid. For the last two weeks he has been sick with a nasty throat infection. He just finished taking his second round of antibiotics today. All in all he missed about five or six days of work. We probably lost about $1,000.00 of income during this period of time. “No work, No pay”! He can’t take more than four days off in any one time period. If he did, not only would he loose business, he looses customers. His customers depend on him to be there when they call. Most people want there care keys NOW!

I, on the other hand, work for bonuses, commissions, and residual income. I have two businesses that earn residual income. One of them I have been working for four years and I have a nice residual coming in. The other one I just jumped into.

At our age, we are thinking of retirement income. I don’t want to depend on the government for my retirement. TF is a retired police officer and he receives a small pension from that. We have our share of investments and depending on how those work out, will give us a few more dollars. One thing I don’t want to do is depend on Social Security. This is the reason I am earning residual income. I do not want to be on poverty level when I retire. TF and I decided to take the bull by the horns and earn multiple streams of income. If one falls flat, we have other income coming in.

My new business is growing by leaps and bounds and should provide us with some great residual income. If it keeps up this growth, TF should be able to retire from locksmighing in about a year. This enity is inflation proof and a necessary commodity to most 99.999% of the people I know. I sell electricity for a Retail Energy Provider. Do you know anyone who uses electricity? I’ll bet you do. We are an REP in the state of Texas. Our price is better than the “Price to Beat” provider in all of Texas. We offer two plans, 1) a month to month plan, 2) a plan where you lock in to a rate, for a whole year, that is lower already than the “Price to Beat” provider.

If you live in Texas and would like to learn more, take a look at my website at: http://stern.igniteinc.biz/ If you have any questions, I can show you how to save money on your electric bill and/or earn residual income by signing up other electric users. Our company pays independent associates instead of spending millions on massive advertising.

Yes, I love residual income! I also like saving money. Those of you looking to make extra income, for whatever reason, should take a look at a company that offers residual income.

The WWII Memorial has some missing words....

SHALL WE HIRE A MONUMENT ENGRAVER TO GO TO ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY AND ADD THE MISSING WORDS ?A MESSAGE FROM AN APPALLED OBSERVER:

Today I went to visit the new World War II Memorial in Washington,DC. I got an unexpected history lesson. Because I'm a baby boomer, I was one of the youngest in the crowd. Most were the age of my parents, veterans of "the greatest war," with their families.

It was a beautiful day, and people were smiling and happy to be there. Hundreds of us milled around the memorial, reading the inspiring words of Eisenhower and Truman that are engraved there.On the Pacific side of the memorial, a group of us gathered to read the words President Roosevelt used to announce the attack on Pearl Harbor: Yesterday, December 7, 1941-- a date which will live in infamy--theUnited States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked.

One elderly woman read the words aloud:"With confidence in our armed forces, with the unboundingdetermination of our people, we will gain the inevitable triumph."But as she read, she was suddenly turned angry. "Wait a minute," she said, "they left out the end of the quote. They left out the most important part. Roosevelt ended the message with 'so help us God.'" Her husband said, "You are probably right. We're not supposed to say things like that now.""I know I'm right," she insisted. "I remember the speech." The two looked dismayed, shook their heads sadly and walked away.

Listening to their conversation, I thought to myself, "Well, it has been over 50 years. She's probably forgotten."But she had not forgotten. She was right.I went home and pulled out the book my book club is reading --- "Flags of Our Fathers" by James Bradley. It's all about the battle at IwoJima. I haven't gotten too far in the book. It's tough to read because it's a graphic description of the WWII battles in the Pacific. But! right there it was on page 58. Roosevelt's speech to the nation ends in "so help us God."The people who edited out that part of the speech when they engraved it on the memorial could have fooled me. I was born after the war. But they couldn't fool the people who were there. Roosevelt's words are engraved on their hearts.Now I ask: "WHO GAVE THEM THE RIGHT TO CHANGE THE WORDS OF HISTORY?????????"

Send this around to your friends. People need to know before everyone forgets. People today are trying to change the history of America by leaving God out of it, but the truth is, God has been a part of this nation, since the beginning. He still wants to be...and He always will be!If you agree, pass this on. If not, MAY GOD BLESS YOU

Thanks, Jack Stout, for emailing this to me.....I'm passing it on. It just breaks my heart that this kind of thing is happening in our country.

Recognizing a stroke

My friend sent this to me and encouraged me to post it and spread the word. I agree. If everyone can remember something this simple, we could save some folks. Seriously.. Please read: STROKE IDENTIFICATION:

During a BBQ, a friend stumbled and took a little fall - she assured everyone that she was fine (they offered to call paramedics) and just tripped over a brick because of her new shoes. They got her cleaned up and got her a new plate of food - while she appeared a bit shaken up, Ingrid went about enjoying herself the rest of the evening. Ingrid's husband called later telling everyone that his wife had been taken to the hospital - (at 6:00pm, Ingrid passed away.) She had suffered a stroke at the BBQ. Had they known how to identify the signs of a stroke, perhaps Ingrid would be with us today. Some don't die. They end up in a helpless, hopeless condition instead.
It only takes a minute to read this...
A neurologist says that if he can get to a stroke victim within 3 hours he can totally reverse the effects of a stroke...totally. He said the trick was getting a stroke recognized, diagnosed, and then getting the patient medically cared for within 3 hours, which is tough.

RECOGNIZING A STROKE

Thank God for the sense to remember the "3" steps, STR . Read and Learn!
Sometimes symptoms of a stroke are difficult to identify. Unfortunately, the lack of awareness spells disaster. The stroke victim may suffer severe brain damage when people nearby fail to recognize the symptoms of a stroke.
Now doctors say a bystander can recognize a stroke by asking three simple questions:

S *Ask the individual to SMILE.

T *Ask the person to TALK . to SPEAK A SIMPLE SENTENCE(Coherently) (i.e. . . It is sunny out today)

R *Ask him or her to RAISE BOTH ARMS.

{NOTE: Another 'sign' of a stroke is this: Ask the person to 'stick' out their tongue... if the tongue is 'crooked', if it goes to one side or the other that is also an indication of a stroke}
If he or she has trouble with ANY ONE of these tasks, call 9-1-1 immediately and describe the symptoms to the dispatcher. A cardiologist says if everyone who gets this e-mail sends it to 10 people; you can bet that at least one life will be saved.

Thanks, Steve Sanders for this information.

Yes, the French do know how to entertain....

This is a cute night club act:
http://media.hugi.is/hahradi/fyndnar/maestro_1.wmv

Cowboy Cookies

Cowboy Cookies
Recipe By : Real Food for Real PeopleServing Size : 144

5 cups Flour
1 pound Margarine
1 teaspoon Baking Powder
4 Eggs
2 teaspoons Baking Soda
4 cups Quick Cooking Oats
2 cups Sugar
2 cups Brown Sugar, packed
1 cup Nuts -- chopped (optional)
12 ounces Milk Chocolate Chips
1 tablespoon Vanilla
1 cup Raisins -- boiled

Cream eggs, sugars, vanilla and margarine in a large bowl. Add dry ingredients, then nuts, chips and raisins. Mix well. Drop by spoonfuls onto greased cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees F for 8 to 10 minutes.

Note: This dough can be wrapped in four long logs, and refrigerated or frozen until you are ready to bake them later. Frozen dough can be sliced in 1/2 inch pieces to bake. You may also freeze cookies which have been baked. Simply place them in heavy duty zip baggies, remove as much air as possible from the baggie, and label before placing in your freezer.

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 93 Calories; 4g Fat (39.2% calories from fat); 1g Protein; 13g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 6mg Cholesterol; 56mg Sodium.Exchanges: 1/2 Grain(Starch); 0 Lean Meat; 0 Fruit; 1 Fat; 1/2 Other Carbohydrates.

Are You Properly Insuring Your Home?

As Hurricane season approaches, I once again an thankful that I have flood insurance on my house. I don't want to worry about if I am "covered" while waiting for a storm to hit. Did you know that the insurance doesn't go into effect for 30 days after you take it out? You can't wait till a storm is off shore and get insurance. Check out this article by Kitty Werner about proper insurance for your home.

As winter turns to spring, the weather patterns change, bringing violent weather to many parts of the country. Is your home covered with the correct insurance in case your property is caught in the middle of a tornado, flood, mudslide, hurricane or other natural disaster? Perhaps you had better check to make sure.

1. Know What You're Looking for
There are five forms of homeowners' insurance policies. It is worth reviewing your house insurance yearly to make sure you are covered for any conceivable incidents in your area. Make sure you are not overpaying for the value of your home, but also not underinsured either.
The Basic Form (HO-1): This covers eleven types of losses to the structure of the house and its contents. Included losses are fire and lightning, smoke, vandalism, theft, windstorms and hail, explosions, riots and civil commotions, damage by vehicles or aircraft, glass breakage, and volcanic eruptions.
The Broad Form (HO-2): Covers all of the above plus damage from the weight of snow, ice, sleet, surges or short circuits in electricity or problems stemming from the malfunction of plumbing, heating, air conditioning systems or domestic appliances.
The Special Form (HO-3): This is the most widely sold homeowner's policy. It provides all of the above plus more extensive personal property coverage. The exceptions are floods, earthquakes, war, nuclear accidents, and similar catastrophes.
The Comprehensive Form (HO-5): Except for floods, earthquakes and war, this policy covers everything, but it is not available through all companies. If you have special circumstances, you can purchase riders to a Special Form to expand its coverage.
Older Homes Policy (HO-8): This covers much older homes that would be prohibitively expensive to replace. It covers the Actual Cash or Market Value of the home at the time of damage, not the full amount of money you spent restoring it.

2. Calculate Your Gamble
How much money do you need to set aside to cover a loss? It depends on the size of your deductible (the amount of money you need to pay before your insurance kicks in). Deductibles can be as low as zero or well over $1,000. As a general rule, the higher the deductible, the lower your insurance premium, because the insurance company doesn't have to pay lots of small claims, it saves money.
As a fair warning, too many little claims on a low or no-deductible insurance policy can flag it for cancellation. Figure if your claim is really worth the aggravation before you file it if you have this type of a policy.

3. Take Good Care of Your Worldly Possessions
The contents of your house are insured as part of your homeowner's insurance. Depending on your policy, they are insured for 50 to 75 percent of the value of your structure. In other words, if your house and its attached structures are worth $100,000, your contents are insured for $50,000 to $75,000. Is that enough?
The value of your worldly possessions is calculated in two ways: actual cash value or replacement cost. An actual cash value means the value of your computer, TV, couch or silverware at the time of your loss. If you have a three-year-old refrigerator that cost $800 new, its actual cash value at the time of loss may be only $300, which is what you will get. Replacement cost, on the other hand, means you receive the amount of money it takes to replace that same refrigerator today.

4. Inventory Your Worldly Possessions
This can't be stressed enough. If you need to file a claim for loss or damage, how will you prove what you owned? Take the time to photograph and record the value of your possessions.
This takes time, but you only need to do it once. The trouble it can save you in the future is incalculable. Fill your still or video camera with film or get extra memory cards for the digital variety and take a picture of all your possessions. Then make a list of them, detailing their costs at purchase and gathering any receipts you have. Take all of this information and store it somewhere not in your house such as a bank safety deposit box. If trouble strikes, you won't have to recall the exact value of your credenza while you're reeling from its loss.

5. Have a computer?
Make sure your computer is covered under your policy. If you use your computer in a home office, as a business machine, it may not be covered under your regular homeowner's insurance. You may require an additional rider to cover this.

6. Fill in the Gaps - Think about Flood Insurance
Think you don't need flood insurance? Think again. Floods and mudslides occur in dry areas all the time. In fact, one in three flood insurance claims happens in a "low risk" area. Even if you don't live near water, hurricanes or quick snowmelts can cause flooding in places you wouldn't expect.
Congress established the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) in 1968, administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. In 1983, Congress widened the scope of this, allowing corporate insurance companies to offer this coverage under the Federal Insurance Program.
Contact your insurance agency to see if you can get a policy through your current company or you can call the NFIP yourself at 888-CALL FLOOD for information. Online, check out the FEMA website at fema.gov.