What am I?

While wandering the stairs on Filbert Street near Telegraph Hill in San Francisco we were treated to many botanical delights.  The gardens up and down the stair case were amazing.  The steps are steep, but worth the climb to Coit Tower.  On the way back down we noticed this beauty, but we have no idea what it is.  I was wondering if anyone out there might know what kind of flower this is.

"The Office" is on Track

Thanks for the post from Wilbert Aguilar

Season six of "The Office" was painful to sit through as I watched Jim and Pam get married and give birth. The season lacked comedy on most episodes to the point I even missed episodes here and there. However, with song, dance and ignorant Michael Scott, season seven of "The Office" started off with a band as my favorite fall TV premiere on satellite TV fromwww.directstartv.com/localchannels/Texas/.

Michael Scott hires his nephew over the summer as an assistant to grow close to his family. The only problem with this is Luke sucks at his job and the crew in the office isn't afraid to say so. Michael won't hear of this and demands kindness towards his nephew. After Luke fails to send off important documents Gabe squeals to the owner that Michael is treating his nephew with extra care and it is decided Michael is then responsible for all of his nephew's actions if he stays employed. The entire episode is full of slapstick and ignorant comedy as Michael Scott shines at his best.

If this episode is anything of what the future season holds there may be light at the end of the tunnel for "The Office."

 

Birds are back

We played out the yard today.  We did some gardening, weeding, planting, and of course filled all the bird feeders.  The birds are back and there are tons of them everywhere you look.  From the big blue jays and cardinals to the little black cap chickadees and tufted titmouse.  They were all on the feeder today.
I caught this one (so to speak... with the camera).  What a great day for a little bird watching.

Diversions!

Every once in a while I need a little break, a diversion from everyday things.  I like to play text twist, or other online games.  It gives me a little break that I need, but in the case of text twist, it keeps your mind sharp.  I really like the games that make you think a little bit.  Online games can be just what the doctor ordered.  During baby nap time, I like to play a quick online game before I get all my chores done, makes me refreshed, and ready to go again.  Now that I have had my break, it is time to get back to the laundry!  So when you have a break you can check out the games on the web.
You can find downloads for both Mac and PC for all the online games that you love.

Playing the market

No. Not the stock market.  We are always on the look out for property in our home town that is cheap.  Free Foreclosures are the best way to keep up on that market.  On the internet you can search for free, no fee to pay for a search of homes in your area.  Many sites charge a fee, or offer you a free trial, but why use them when you can get the info here for free!  We want to find a great small place that we can fix up and use for a bit, then maybe rent it out.  Of course we don't want to spend and arm and a leg to get it, so I watch for free REO foreclosures on the internet, and through a local agent.  If you are patient and keep your eyes open there are deals all around.  You can find them for your own town, or one that you are keen on.  Though the real estate market is not what it used to be, if you are smart with your purchase you can be profitable.  The flipping that was so common a few years back is not the way to make your money though, I think the way to go is buy low, fix and rent small places in a great town.  Real estate owned foreclosures are all around in every town in this great land you can find foreclosures, from big to small, rural single family to city apartments, they are all around.  Keep your eyes open for great deals, and perhaps you can be a real estate tycoon with all your rentals.  A girl can dream right!?

Fall planting

It is time for mums.  We were recently visiting some friends up in Pennsylvania, and they had a great fall scape on the front porch.  There were some gourds surrounded by some fiberglass planters filled with a variety of colors of mums exploding with flowers.  They were huge, and bright, and beautiful.  Now I think it is time for me to pull our my fiber glass planter and fill it up.  You can find all sorts of planters to match the style of your home, and they will last a lifetime!  I am not sure if I can get any plants as nice as theirs looked, but I will go check out the home improvement store for a few good ones.  I find it easiest to buy the plants and put them directly into a fiberglass planter so that when the flowers are gone, I can easily remove them, and fill the planters with something for the next season.  How are you going to decorate for fall?  Post your ideas here, and check back to see what others have come up with.

Feeding a Fussy Child

Thanks for the guest post by Kristofer Bartlett

My daughter is a food picker. I try to give her the healthiest all natural foods available, but I just think her palate isn't developed enough to appreciate it. Or she's just plain fussy. Either way, I found an interesting show on direct.tv where kids ate healthy foods and liked it. They even asked for more.

It's all about disguising the healthy foods at this point, for fussy eaters. Doll it up so it looks pretty and attractive enough so that they don't see it coming. Peanut butter is a good addition for flavoring, but some children are allergic. I thought about all thefruits and vegetables and how to disguise them.

I've found that I can sneak greens into her by the means of a vegetable dip. Homemade vegetable dips are simple to make. A small container of low fat or fat free sour cream, I've even tried yogurt, and mix a packet of onion vegetable mix to it makes it taste great. I don't like to use packets that hold monosodium glutamate in it, so sometimes it can be a hard find in the grocery store. When worse comes to worse, onion powder and beef boullion powder, both MSG free, are an easy substitute. Slice up some any vegetables of any color and the kids will easily eat them without a fuss.

Viva Mexico!

I was visiting my parents the other day, and my dad mentioned that you can find coke with no High fructose corn syrup.  You just have to search for it at the store.  Look for a few glass bottles packaged separately and say bottled in Mexico!  We rushed to the store to see what we could find.  After several minutes I was ready to give up.  Then my mom found them.  Hidden between a few small bottles and a six pack of glass bottles there were 4 bottles by standing in a row.  She grabbed one, read the label and it said made with sugar!!!!
Of course we had to rush home and try them.  And sure enough the taste conjures up memories of how real coke tasted! Oh glory day, it was delicious!
Go to your grocery store and look for them, and do a taste test of your own.

Phone Home

When I went off to college, my parents had a toll free number that I could call...so I would phone home.  It was the ultimate convenience for a college kid who did not even have a phone in the dorm room.  I could call from any pay phone (that is dating myself since pay phones are a thing of the past).  Now you can have toll free forwarding to your cell phone, or business phone, or even just your house phone.  It is perfect if you have a lot of business traffic via the phone from overseas, it gives you a way to keep in touch with clients with a single phone.  With tollfreeforwarding you can direct all your calls to a single phone without your clients having to pay for long distance calls.  International call forwarding is great for any business that is building a client base.  Start out right from the start with a toll free number that gives you the freedom of international or domestic calling rates.  Not only would a  international call forwarding be great for businesses, but think about my experience with toll free numbers, college kids studying overseas, or here at home.  It is a great way to keep them in touch, without having to give them extra money to phone home!