Getting creative with my son’s vampire costume

Guest post written by Erica Stephenson

My son has a very strange sense of humor to be on 9 years old. But I embrace it. I guess that I have a really strange sense of humor too and that’s influenced him a little bit. So when he told me a few days ago that he wants to be a vampire for Halloween, he made a point that he didn’t want to be just any kind of vampire. Instead, he said, he wanted to look like a normal person who’s been changed into a vampire.

I told him that would be fine if that’s what he wanted to be. Plus, we could use some of his own clothes for the costumes, but I also made sure to order some vampire makeup online with our clear because we didn’t have any of that just lying around the house.

His costume isn’t your typical childrens vampire costume, but that just shows how unique he is. He says that he’s going as an accountant that was bitten. So I’m letting him go in his church clothes, complete with a tie. I’m just hoping that he doesn’t ruin any of those clothes with fake blood.

One Holiday Down and More to Come

Once the Christmas season cheers have passed on, we move right into the New Year’s Day celebrations. While we get caught up in them, we have a lot of holidays and special days for January ahead. It seems like a lot of famous people were born in January. I know we celebrate a couple of birthdays for U.S.  Presidents in January, along with the King of Rock Elvis Presley. Civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Junior also has a birthday coming up soon in the New Year. Before long, we slide right into the holiday for lovers. Yes, it will be Valentines Day soon and its never too early to start shopping for a Valentines Day gift. When do you normally think about valentines day gifts for girlfriend? Or if you’re a girlfriend or wife out there, when is the best time to go shopping for him? One thing I have learned, it is never too early to start shopping for those V-Day gifts. Trust me, it is better to have the present in your closet for months and months, than to run out the night before and trying to buy a nice gift at the 24 hour drug store. I have tried that path before and it doesn’t work out as well, as buying the gift weeks in advance.

As soon as you hear the word “valentines” or see that first commercial on TV, then stop what you’re doing and go buy a gift! Don’t wait another second or put it off for the next day or tomorrow. I know tomorrow never comes and it gets easier each day to keep putting it off and pretty soon, there are no more days left to put it off. You will get sick or something will come up and shopping for that gift becomes stressful, instead of fun, like it should be on Valentines Day. I hope your Christmas and New Years were jolly and fun, but now the real holiday is coming up soon and that is the 2012 edition of Valentines Day. Don’t forget, shop early!

Horse Riding Helmets for Safety

Do you have Stable Protection around?

If you don’t have a few safety related things around the stable or barn; then you’re asking for it. Riding horses on a beautiful Sunday morning or taking a ride out on a cool Friday evening, is the best thing in the World. No matter how lovely the weather is or how nice the afternoon breezes are; while out for a little trot, you must keep safety number 1. Forgetting to put safety in your horse riding trips, is asking for trouble. We don’t like to think about the accidents, but we all know they happen. The ones who can get back up and walk away (or ride away) from their accidents, really are the lucky ones. You can be one of the “lucky” ones, if you take safety gear along the way. The equestrian helmets may prevent the wind from blowing through your hair, but it also keeps the sharp rocks from entering your skull. These helmets work well, when your ride takes you under or through some low-lying tree limbs too. If you have pads you can wear on your elbows and knees, that is a good idea too. I know you will not look “too cool” with a bunch of skater pads and a horse riding helmet on, but these things can really help, if you fall off of your ride.

I know the lady riders will dislike the safety gear more than the men. It is a lovely site, to see a female equestrian rider bouncing along with her horse and watching her beautiful smile as she gallops along. Even with her equestrian safety hat, she can still show us her beautiful smile. And besides, it only takes 2 minutes to ball-up your hair and fit it under your horse riding helmets. The men do need to take safety precautions too. It is just as important for the guys to put on the safety gear and pads, as it is for the lady riders out there.

Stylish Equestrian Helmets on the Internet

All parents can get their kids started down the right road, if they will enforce some rules for the little ones. Never let your children take off on a horse, without first strapping on a safety helmet or some form of safety gear to protect their noggin. Pretty soon, the kids won’t feel comfortable riding, if they don’t have their equestrian helmets on. It is a lot like car drivers who always wear their seat belts. They don’t feel right, if they don’t put their safety belts on first. Its because they got use to wearing it and it works the same way on the horse farms too.

How Does Christmas 2011 Stack Up Against Other Holidays from the Past?

I think this Christmas will be a pretty good one. In the past, I can say I have had better Christmas times before. I can also say, there have been much worse Christmas times. Especially one Christmas in particular. I have only been away from home one time; when it comes to the Christmas time of the year. The worse Christmas I ever had, was away from home and I will never try that again. Being home with the family, is what makes Christmas time so special for me.

When it comes to snow, I love the stuff. I can’t get enough of it. Since my area of North Georgia only receives 2 to 4 inches per year, I really enjoy it and cherish it when it does fall at my house. On my worse Christmas Day ever, it turned out, the snow was flying that day. The temperatures were very cold and I believe it was near the single digits. All around there was ice, snow, and cold winter air galore. I wished I would have been at home, to enjoy that special Christmas Day. However, I have been at home other times, when it snowed on Christmas Day. My first White Christmas was about 25 years back. The snow that December 25th barely made it til the daylight hours. By noon time that day, most of it had vanished.

Just last year, we had a big white Christmas here. It was the most snow ever, for these parts of Georgia and around the Atlanta area. I love a white Christmas and I will never forget that one! My best Christmas ever, was the year we got a lot of electronic items. I got a VCR, while my sister got a new computer. Her computer was the old Commodore 64, that most people over the age of 30 will remember. If you don’t remember this old computer; then you’re not missing nothing. Imagine comparing Pong to Pac Man and that is what it was like, with the computers from the early 1980′s. Our VCR was around 500 dollars; which sounds high now. Since most of us can find a brand new VCR for 50 dollars or so these days. I will enjoy this 2011 Christmas, since I am at home and with my family. I have seen worse times than this before, on December 25th, so I can treasure this one and know how lucky I do have it. I hope your Christmas season is full of holiday cheer and laughs from all of your family and friends. I also want to wish everyone a Happy New Year for 2012 and please be safe for the remainder of this year and going into next year. Happy Holidays Everyone!!!

Buying Boys Their Toys This Christmas

No parent can go wrong, when they make the decision to buy Toy Cars Online and anything with cars on it. If you find a sleeping bag, blanket, pillow case, or a shower curtain with cars on it, you know the boys will like it. I think all little boys like the toy cars. No matter the color or the size, all little cars are a safe pick. If you are online now, looking for cheap boy toys, try to search for the toys online at Amazon.com. They have the lowest prices online usually. I love shopping online at Amazon, cause I know their items are the cheapest on the Net.

Do you have websites you like to shop at online? Where is your favorite place to shop online?

If you find any good places for coupons, please pass along those tips too. I would love to have some coupons or discount codes, for some of these toys I need to go buy in the next 2 or 3 days. I’m sure a lot of other holiday shoppers are going to be doing some last minute shopping like me. I am hoping to find some online retailers; which will cut their prices, right before the Christmas Weekend gets here. I am open for any new ideas, if someone out there has any online shopping advice for me. Thanks in advance and happy holidays to everyone this year. Please try to stay safe out there and be sure you do your part, to put some smiles on the little kids faces this year. Merry Christmas everyone!

Safest Building Structures These Days

If you were going to build a new building for your small business, what type of materials would you use? Do you like the classic look of bricks? Or do you prefer a more sturdy structure and would take a blueprint from the steel buildings in your area of town? I would like for my new business to stick out. It’s hard to do this, when you lease a space in a strip mall. I would prefer to have a free-standing building. Get away from the strip malls and try to have a building with my own parking lot. A lot would depend on your business. I guess some would flourish in the strip mall settings. I just know for me and my own preferences, that a brick or steel building would be the best thing for me. I need to have my own parking lot and I don’t need other stores or restaurants near by. If you build the right kind of small business, then the consumers out there will find you. It doesn’t matter if you are next to a popular fast food chain or located next to a super store. If you have good service and a product the community wants or needs; then location is not a big deal. The whole idea of geography being important, comes from the businesses that are not original or unique in the area. At least this is the way I look at it. I do hope I get the chance some day, to build my own business, in the hometown I am living at now. I really do believe, the city of Canton and all of North Georgia could benefit, from my unique ideas for a new business.

Making sure the building stands for a really long time is important. Since I live in an area that receives hard rains, heavy winds, and the occasional twister or two, I do want a super sturdy structure. To me, it would seem like steel is the obvious choice. Bricks or cement blocks are sturdy too, but after a tornado comes through, there always seems to be a lot of bricks and blocks laying around. Even a steel building is not guaranteed to stay intact, if a big F3 or F4 size tornado comes ripping through. I believe going underground is the only real way, to insure damage control, if a tornado does decide to come your way. What do you think? What materials would you use, to build a structure that would be sturdy and stand for a really long time?

Option Range Now Offers Leading Binary Options Trading

Option Range has launched the leading binary options trading platform that is suitable for both experienced and novice investors, by offering them the chance to trade a wide variety of assets, including currency trading, commodities, key US stock options and major indices, including the likes of FTSE100, Bovespa, S&P Future, as well as the Nasdaq and Dow Jones. Option Range is also the first brand to offer their investors the opportunity to trade on certain assets, namely Crude, Gold and the Euro against the US Dollar, over the period of one month. Investors can look out for more monthly expiration assets, as Option Range tries to give their traders more trading options. With these new long interval binary options now available, Option Range expects to see an influx of investors over the coming months.
Option Range has become a hop for traders who look to invest from the internet, as there are no commission fees involved, and they can start their trading experience from a minimum trade set at $10. Not only does this allow them to benefit from high returns, but it also gives them the chance to invest with hardly any risk involved. But if that wasn’t enough, a demo environment is also available in order for all investors to get used to the trading platform and all the tools that are available to help maximize their profits. One of the most distinct advantages of binary options, is that investors simply need to forecast which way an asset will go, up or down in order to make money. So before you go looking for new bingo sites to spend your money on, check out Option Range to see what is all about.

Finding alternative electricity

I would like to go to Niagara Falls someday. I know a lot of people take their honeymoons or make it a romantic type of trip when they visit this breath taking scene. I would just like to go and see the raw power that water has coming off the edges. I know the falls are used for electricity purposes and I bet it is responsible for a lot of people having power in that area. It can impact those that are in the business in building and selling various electrical goods for the consumer. While simply supplying electricity for normal house hold items like TV’s, computers, and heating hydro power electricity is certainly a great resource to have. With the latest advancements in alternative electricity customers now have a choice over their local power and light company. It can also depend on various conditions such as rain fall and melting snow packs in the mountains. I’m not sure if it’s possible for a drought to occur in that area and would hurt the amount of power it supplies to the residents up there. I know a lot of people would be without lights if the Falls was to suddenly stop.

Many of the dams in the Southeast produce a major portion of the electricity for homes and businesses but there is still a gap in consumption and demand. We need Niagara Falls to flow in our lakes for about a month to help them fill back up. Most of the experts think our biggest problems will be late in the summer next year, but right now we have about 75 days of water left, if it doesn’t rain anymore. I was just wondering with global warming and the climate changing, if Niagara Falls would ever be in danger of drying up or becoming a trickle one day? I guess a lot of ice and snow-covered mountains feed it and the hotter it gets, will just mean more water that comes through the Falls.

Finding a Job in 2012

We would all like to think finding a job in 2012 will be easier than this past year, we all just went through. It seems the population continues to grow and the job field market is shrinking. There are jobs out there, if you know what to look for. Some job titles have fancier names than others, but the skills needed to work these jobs aren’t that bad.  Technical Recruiter Jobs are available to a wide majority of the population right now. I know my field of advertising is growing at a steady annual increase each year. There is actually a low number of job fields, where the job rate is decreasing.

If you need a job for the new year coming up. Look for titles and positions that you have never looked at before. When you see one of these “fancy job titles“, do a little research and see what skills are needed. You may just find these jobs require very little training and a lot of employers will offer on the job training to their employees. Also, be sure to look for “entry level” positions. This means an employer will train the right candidates,  for a position with their company or small business. Don’t forget to put your computer to work either. The best way to visit a lot of companies in one single day, is to drive around on the World Wide Web, instead of the actual roadways out there. I wish you lots of luck with a new job in 2012. Please be sure to come back here and list any new job tips you have; which might help someone else find a new job.

The Shampoo You Use for the Family

Does your family buy the same cleaning products each week? Is there a certain toothpaste, soap, or shampoo you use regularly? If your household is like mine, you probably have different family members that like different products. I know if you ever use a product and feel like you get good results from it, you will certainly want to use it again. For instance, if you ever spent a little extra money on a seaweed shampoo product and felt like it worked better than the other shampoos out there, you would want to buy it again, right? Most of the consumers out there are like this. I do know when it comes to the hair care products and especially the shampoo field, there is a lot of different things that help our hair out.

Often it feels like the stranger the ingredients, the better the product will work. We naturally know some things are great for cleaning. We see things like “lemons” or “oranges” showing up a lot in personal cleaning products or in other things like dish washing liquid or furniture polish. How often have you seen seaweed? When you see something unusual like this, it makes us feel like it will work better. The stranger it is, the better it will probably work? Or at least it seems like that most of the time. It’s anyone’s guess what the next unusual thing will be in our family’s shampoo or other personal care products or household cleaners. What is the strangest ingredient you ever saw in a cleaning product or on a shampoo label?