Thank You Veterans

We just wanted to say thank you to all who serve and have served.

Those who are currently are serving, we pray you stay safe wherever you are.

More Free Veterans Day Meals

Here are a couple more free meals for veterans today to add to the list I had yesterday - Veterans Day Freebies.

Remember to ask about a military special or discount wherever you go to today.

Thompson Plumbing, Heating and Cooling is holding a Veterans Day breakfast Wednesday morning starting at 7 a.m. The breakfast will be held at the company's headquarters at 6 North Commerce Park Drive in Cincinnati.

Paxton's Grill in Loveland is offering a free meal to veterans on Wednesday. Veterans can get their free meal from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. at the restaurant, which is at 126 West Loveland Ave. Call 513-583-1717 for more details.

Veteran’s Day Freebies

If you are a veteran, bring your military ID with you to cash in on these freebies just for you!
If there is a restaurant you would like to eat at that’s not listed below – just ask the restaurant manager if they are offering a military discount for the day!

Home Depot is offering a 10% discount until November 11.

Uno’s is offering a FREE Entree or Pizza with an Entree purchase.

FREE Bloomin’ Onion and Beverage at Outback.

Receive a FREE Entree at Applebees!

Thanks to MommySnacks!

Cincinnati Museum Center is offering free admission to veterans

Free Car Wash for Veterans on Veteran's Day

Lowe's is offering a 10% discount as well.

Golden Corral. The 485-unit chain is offering free buffet meals - including beverage and dessert - to current military and vets on Nov. 16, from 5 to 9 p.m.


Remember to ask at any restaurant if they offer a military discount and remember to bring your military ID!

Is Your Pride For Your Kids Putting Them In Danger?

You’ve seen them. The mini vans that have stickers with the kids’ names, their school name and the picture of what sport they play on the back window. The parents are just showing their pride, right? Well, they are also advertising to child predators and would be kidnappers not only where their kids attend school and what sport they play, but they are telling them their names!

I cringe whenever I see these stickers on the back of cars as I know the danger. I don’t understand why parents don’t get this. I don’t know how or why this trend to advertise your kid got started or why someone didn’t raise this concern before it became popular. It is so easy to track your kids and their schedules with this information. When you advertise the fact that your kid plays soccer or any other sport at a particular school along with his name you are allowing a smart predator enough information to start tracking your family. These bad guys then can pull up to you at a light and see what the kids look like. They then will start going to games, hang out at the school, follow you home and keeping track of your schedule. They can easily blend in with other parents at events and get more information just by mentioning your child’s name and asking innocent questions. Yes, they can do all these things without the advertisement on the back of your car, but why give them more information to work with?

What can you do to protect your child? You can start by taking down your window stickers and start talking to other parents at games and school events about the risks. Ask to meet with school officials and coaches about stopping the distribution of these advertisements. Work with them about educating the parents on the dangers of these types of advertisements. Ask your local law enforcement if they would be willing to come to a school event and do a short talk on ways to keep your kids safe from predators and address the dangers of advertising your kids. Ban together with other parents and agree not to talk about each other’s kids to people they don’t know well. This will help prevent the predators from getting more information in an effort to find out more about a child. And of course, teach your children about the possible dangers and how to protect themselves.

We all love our kids and want to protect them. Show your pride to your child directly, not to the rest of the world. You protect your own identity from ID theft, you need to protect your child’s identity even more. Their very lives could depend on it.

FREE Thanksgiving Recipes

With Thanksgiving approaching fast, I thought you might enjoy looking into some free recipes.
Tell all your newlywed friends who are preparing to make their first holiday dinner. It will help take the stress off.

Friday Freebies

FREE Eye Exam for infants See my story on this program here: Infant See article

FREE Samples

FREE Grocery Coupons

FREE Dr. Seuss Books

FREE 25 Songs

FREE Name Brand Samples

Coupons.com - Free Grocery Coupons! - Why Wait for the Sunday Paper? Print Free Coupons Anytime

FREE 2 Issues of Family Circle Magazine

FREE Oil Change from Tires Plus coupon

FREE Birthday Freebies from Red Plum – click to find what you can get for FREE on your birthday!

FREE Tylenol calendar with coupons!

FREE Thanksgiving Recipes

Quality Health - Fall Samples - Sign up now to make the most out of the Fall Season with Samples & Savings on Name Brand Products

Quality Health - Diabetic Testing Supply Samples - Qualify to receive a FREE FreeStyle blood glucose meter.

Quality Health - Free Diabetes Books - How Much Do You Know About Diabetes? Learn more with Free Books to Manage your Type 1 & Type 2 Diabetes. A $60 Value!

Free Recipes - Hearty Crock Pot Recipes - Free eCookbook: 33 Hearty Slow Cooker Recipes featuring 50 pages of quick and easy recipes.

Free Crafts - Angel Crafts - Free eBook: Angel Crafts eBook featuring 45-pages of cheap and easy angel crafts.

Cheerios Sample - Choose the Better Cereal & get 2 Boxes of Your Favorite!

Free Travel Guides - Free Travel Guides and Brochures - Browse destinations, pick travel guides that you'd like, receive guides Free by mail or download.

Free Recipes - Restaurant Copycat Recipes - Free eCookbook: 27 Secret Restaurant Copycat Recipes featuring46-pages of quick and easy recipes from your favorite restaurants.

Planning Family - Free Baby Samples - Baby on the way? Get free baby samples and coupons.

Racing Junk To Give Away Snap-On Tool Cabinet

Racing Junk is giving away a new Snap-On rolling tool cabinet!
This would make a great Christmas gift!
Click on picture below to enter. Good luck!

NHRA & ESPN to show a 10 event Pro Mod Drag Racing

It’s about time that Pro Mod, a fan favorite, starts to get some air time.

You can see the article here: http://www.promodchallenge.com/index.php/news/17-las-vegas-news/199-nhra-announcement

According to Pro Mod Challenge, there will be 10 half-hour segments airing on ESPN2 in 2010 on a tape delayed basis.

Since they will only be 30 minutes, half of those will probably be pre-empted by other sports running into overtime. Nothing against other sports, but I really hate it when I set to record or sit down to watch racing, only to have it not on yet and then shortened to make up the time because the previous sports event ran into overtime. That is the problem when ESPN chooses to show your sport of choice as tape delayed (which I can understand) but choosing to show live other sports that can go longer than expected. To prevent this they should show all sports as tape delayed and take out the fluff of people talking giving their personal take on the game or whatever. When you are waiting for your sports event to come on, you find yourself shouting at those commentators, “Who cares what you think!!!!! Just show my racing! #@$#%”

I also wish ESPN would show other drag racing venues other than just NHRA big races. Sportsman racing, class racing, special events and even bigger bracket races can be just as much fun to watch.

As you can probably tell, I am not very fond of ESPN’s coverage of drag racing.

Take control of your health before it takes control of you–and your finances

There are simple preventative measures you can take now to help you stay healthy in the future. As part of our commitment toward a better, healthier tomorrow, we'll help you every step of the way with useful tips and product suggestions. One area that many people have problems with is blood sugar level. Diabetes is fast becoming a major health threat to so many and much of it has to do with our diet.

Read below for five tips to retaining a normal blood sugar level

1) Achieve a healthy weight
In a properly functioning body, insulin, a hormone made by your pancreas, helps transport glucose into the cells of the body so it can be use for energy. However, in overweight individuals, cells of the body can become resistant to insulin's action. One of the best ways to retain normal blood sugar levels is to achieve a healthy weight. Try our Weight Loss Plan, an effective and clinically tested† program powered by leucine, an amino acid that helps preserve your muscle while you lose body fat.

2) Eat foods with a low glycemic index
When you're constantly on the run, it's easy to forget about giving your body the proper nutrition it needs. You may find yourself reaching for a bag of cookies, which most likely have a high glycemic index (GI), meaning the carbohydrates in those cookies are quickly broken down to glucose and released into the bloodstream. This quick release can then lead to a sharp rise in blood sugar, followed by a sharp drop in blood sugar leaving you with feelings of low energy. Help retain normal blood sugar levels by eating foods that have a low GI. Our Meal Replacement Shakes and Meal-in-a-Bars are a great alternative because they taste great, fill you up and give your body the sustained energy it needs.

3) Enhance your health
So, you’re at a healthy weight and your blood sugar is where you want it to be. What else? How about the health of your heart, brain, digestive system, and other body parts? Keep the healthy momentum going and remember to take your vitamins and minerals on a daily basis. Our Vitamin Packs is the perfect supplement for daily nutritional support. Its 80 bio-optimized, clinically proven nutrients that enhance immunity, protect your DNA, and help manage your stress. It contains more than 20 antioxidant compounds and essential vitamins and minerals you need for a comprehensive approach to health, wellness, and vitality.*


4) Additional botanical support
Certain minerals and botanicals have been scientifically shown to help retain normal blood sugar levels. These include banaba leaf extract, which helps stimulate glucose uptake, and chromium, a mineral essential to insulin function. Our Glucose Regulation Complex contains these plus other normal blood sugar supporting ingredients including magnesium, vanadium, zinc, taurine, and alpha lipoic acid.*

5) Stay active
Last, but not least, stay active. Try to get in 30 minutes of regular physical activity, such as brisk walking, bicycling or swimming most days of the week. If your busy schedule won't allow that, break your activity into sessions–10 minutes in the morning, 10 in the afternoon, and a short 10 minute walk in the evening. Being more active will not only make you feel good, it will enhance your body's ability to use insulin and help you maintain a healthy weight.

*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration.
These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

†12–week preliminary study.

Solitude

As a busy mom of a toddler who drag races (I race, not my toddler – just in case you needed that clarified - LOL) along with my husband who races, having time to myself is well, almost non-existent. I don’t even get much time alone in the bathroom! You can read my humorous post on that called, Things I Miss Now That My Baby Is A Toddler.

A recent article written on solitude talks about so many Americans have so little time alone. That is probably why carpooling never really caught on in this country. So many of us relish that time we have alone. Our lives are packed with so many people demanding our attention that the drive alone is our only source of solitude.

Still, solitude is very much needed in order to collect ourselves, to de-stress and to go inward to do some deep thinking. We need this time to ourselves for deep thought in order to work out solutions to our problems, to reflect on our blessings and to straighten things out in our head sometimes. We have so much going on in our lives today that it can get all jumbled. That can make us feel like we have lost control of our lives. Going inward and thinking deeply can help us sort through the mess and allow us to prioritize our thoughts. We can throw out what is not important and decide what is. In order to do this though, we need some quiet time alone.

If you don’t think you can find time to do this, try some creative thinking. If you can’t seem to work in long periods of time alone, try short bursts. Schedule it in if you have to, but remain flexible if your schedule changes frequently. Start with your drive in the car. If you always seem to be hauling someone then try and see if you can get someone to watch the kids and go to the grocery by yourself. You have to go to the grocery anyway, but the drive alone to and from the store is what you are looking for. When driving, try driving without the radio on for a change. It’s amazing how much thinking you can do while driving if it’s quiet. Just be sure to still stay alert to traffic and no talking on the phone!

Try to steal a few minutes to yourself after dinner. Proper digestion is crucial to health and running into the next task right after dinner is not good for your digestion. If family won’t allow you to just sit and relax then think of a task you can do that no one else wants to do. One task is doing the dishes. If people are constantly coming into the kitchen to ask you questions or whatever, threaten everyone that whoever comes into the kitchen will have to do the dishes! This threat works well when you want some time alone. Folding laundry is another one. They are tasks that don’t require a lot of concentration to do therefore allowing you the opportunity to be alone to think.

Spend five minutes of your lunchtime at work sitting still with your eyes closed. Try and find a place where you’ll be alone even if it means sitting in your car! If that won’t work or you enjoy your lunch time by socializing with your coworkers, then try and get to work 10 minutes earlier and just sit and meditate about your day ahead. You’ll be amazed at how much more centered and calm you will be during the day.

Try and set your alarm for five to ten minutes earlier and find a quiet place to sit and think. If you think you just can’t get up any earlier than you already do then take those five or ten minutes in the evening to yourself. Instead of dashing around after the kids go to bed trying to straighten the house spend that time to straighten your mind. You deserve that time alone to think about your day and deflate.

After doing this for a while you will get very good and efficient with your thinking time. This will allow you more time to learn how to become quiet in your mind as well. Meditation - where you think of nothing is also something that both our minds and bodies need. You will find that you can sort things out your mind quickly allowing you time to sit and meditate which allows you to empty your mind. Emptying your mind will help solutions to problems you have to come to you more easily and is one of the best ways to beat stress. I highly recommend learning how to meditate. It takes a little practice, but when you get the hang of it, it really can change your life.

Taking time alone helps us to be better parents, better spouses, better workers and overall happier in our lives. Solitude is required for our sanity and our happiness. Insist on it, make time for it and respect others need for it as well. You’ll find it recharges you and calms you all at the same time. Now that is multitasking!