You know those “baby on board” stickers? To be honest with you, I’ve never felt 100% safe driving with a baby on board. Of course I drive slowly, but I’m always looking over my shoulder to make sure my little baby is still smiling and happy.

To keep my kids safe, I like to go above and beyond. Of course we have all the best child seats and all that jazz – but I got myself thinking the other day about what I could do to make it even safer for my kids. What I found, you wouldn’t believe. Don’t laugh!

It’s called a “train horn.” It’s essentially an extra loud horn you can install on your car. It blasts compressed air through a “diaphragm” and creates an extremely loud noise, much louder than your standard car horn.

It’s so loud that you almost have to cover your ears if you press on the horn while you’re sitting in the car. But that’s also what I love about it.

If you’ve heard about stories where teenagers were driving with loud music on and couldn’t hear an oncoming car’s horn honking – Well, I never want that to happen to me. Especially with my kids in the back. This new train horn of mine should hopefully prevent that.

P.S. The kids love it, they love pushing on it to hear the loud noise it makes.

I love/hate working outside the home. I love the money but hate not having time to do anything at home. I spend my best hours at work. By the time I get home, I’m tired and ready to relax even though there is plenty of things to do.

With Christmas fast approaching, I want to set up a deadline for organizing the house. I want to enjoy the holidays and not be burdened with clutter. So by Black Friday, I want to have an organized home.

To make more time, I plan to give up watching television at night. I only watch a few shows – so I won’t miss that much. I will just have to record them and watch it later.  If I can gain one hour or productivity a night then I would be happy. This pushing everything to the weekend just isn’t working out. It is a busy time of the year with many activities happening on the weekend. I have to get more done around the house through the week.

So I will start with small goals and work up from there.

Yesterday the vehicle malfunctioned, so I took the day off from work. I worked my tail off at the house and was able to find my kitchen countertops again. To celebrate, I decided to bake a cake.

I had read about using a can of Diet Coke with a cake mix to bake the cake. Forget the oil and eggs, all you needed it a liquid. Apparently when cake mixes first came out, all you had to do was add water. They didn’t sell well since no one seemed to trust just adding water. So they changed the instructions and cake mixes sold a lot better.

Since I had a few cake mixes left over from my daughter’s birthday party ( I bought a cake instead of making one), I had everything I needed to give it a try. Aside from burning the bottom of the cake, it turned out pretty good. The cake tastes like cake although there is something different. It’s not bad – just different. Maybe not as heavy as cake usually is? It has a lighter taste. I would definitely make another one using Diet Coke instead of eggs and oil. That saves about 60 calories a serving.

Now to find an alternative for icing as icing really does make cake delicious and delightful.

Although the winter is a beautiful season, we gardeners have to be careful to plan ahead in order to avoid any damage from being done. When I am talking about damage, I mean your garden shed, your plants, flowers and vegetables. I will briefly discuss a few tips that I believe to be of major importance when preparing your garden for the winter.

Firstly, I’d like to talk about your garden shed. It is vital to make sure that you have treated your garden shed (if you have got a wooden garden shed). This ensures that the wood is protected from the humidity of the winter, preventing the wood to rot.

If you have a metal garden shed, there are some things to consider, although metal sheds are known for their low maintenance work. Metal sheds have potentially one big problem called condensation. This occurs when moisture comes into contact with air which is at a lower temperature. This may result in condensation which can damage your shed significantly. In order to prevent this from happening, make sure you have put a damp proof membrane in the foundations. When inserted correctly, you should be fine.

When you have prepared your garden shed for the winter, there are still two other things to keep in mind. If you live in an area that is known for heavy snowfall then I would recommend you to clean all your gardening tools and other expensive equipment from the floor in your garden shed. If you do not do this, the snow might get to it, causing corrosion to your tools. Also, if there has been heavy snowfall and you have a metal shed, make sure you quickly remove the snow from the roof. The reason why I am pointing this out is because ice may cause damage to the roof of your metal shed, so act quickly by removing it before the snow turns into ice.

Lastly, I would like to talk about your plants. You should know which plants need to be covered up during the winter and which plants need to be put inside. If you have any plants that love heat, these obviously need to be moved inside, but please place them somewhere nice with lots of light. Don’t do this too quickly though! I always try to make my plants adjust to the light by gradually increasing the time when they are inside. So first move them inside for only a couple of hours and increase this slowly, until the winter season arrives.

Finally, please be careful with watering your plants. Plants grow significantly slower during the winter months as a result of lower light so only give your plants water when necessary. I hope these tip shave been useful. Enjoy your garden and good luck with the upcoming winter months!

A few years ago, I got rid of our couch. It wasn’t very comfortable and took up a lot of space. We never replaced it – so we have been sans couch for a while now. My daughter has been wanting a couch for a long time – and I think it would be nice to once again have a couch.

I have been putting a little money back here and there waiting for the right sale to buy a couch. At a rummage sale, I found a large chair that is almost like a couch – well at least a loveseat. Me and my daughter love it. It has become ‘our’ spot to watch TV – among other things.

Rae has been sleeping in the chair at night. I have decided that if it gets her to sleep, then let her do it since we are still getting used to this school schedule. She loves to used the ottoman like a desk for coloring and playing.

It is amazing how this one chair makes the living room feel like a living room again. Also the chair and ottoman were $75 for both – so now I’m using the saved money I had for hopefully a garden shed. Who knows, maybe I will run across one at a yard sale for a fraction of the price.

Within a year, we plan to move and will be looking for a place to rent. It is a daunting task considering how hard it was to find our last place. That was years ago though, and the web has really blossomed since then. I love to look at homes online since you can learn so much about a property.

Now we can use websites to find somewhere to rent from Evergreen to Edmonton – although Edmonton, Alberta is a little far for us. We are not even Canadian – but you never know what the future holds. Renting has many advantages and drawbacks. For us, it makes sense for the time being.

Now you can conduct your search online and even view the property. It saves a ton of time as you can rule out several locations that way. It is also helpful to know something about the property before visiting. This way you are prepared and can spend your time on getting answers to your questions. Rent Edmonton can help you sort out the many property options in the city. You can search by areas to find exactly what suits your needs. I hope that when we do look in earnest for someplace to rent that we are fortunate enough to find local tools that will help us out.

One thing I enjoy about our outdoor space is the bird feeders. It’s fun to sit outside and watch the birds flock to them. Because we now have cats, squirrels are not really a problem when it comes to our bird feeders. In fact, I cannot remember that last time I even saw a squirrel in our yard – but at our old house we did not have cats – and we had trouble with squirrels eating at the bird feeders.

Squirrels can seriously drain a bird feeder. If they aren’t eating the seeds, then they are knocking them out of the feeder. I tried using some Squirrel Away mixed in with the bird feeder. It was mostly cayenne pepper that apparently squirrels hate and birds do not mind since they cannot taste it. I joked that we had Cajun squirrels because they did not seem to mind at all the cayenne pepper. In fact, I caught them at the feeder more.

I decided that if I can’t beat them, then I will feed them. I bought a squirrel feeder and place it away from the bird feeder. I filled it with corn and watched as the squirrels now went for their own food instead of those teeny, tiny seeds. It did seem to help keep them away from the bird feeders. At least the birds had a fighting chance with the squirrels distracted.

Now we have a one true cure for squirrels – cats. I do miss seeing the squirrels scurry across the yard. There are only two things that get our cats moving that fast – the dog and food.

Thanks for the article from Jermaine Haynes

When my mom and dad got divorced they were both in their 60s and it came as quite a shock to all of us, let me tell you. They’d been together 40 years and seemed so good but I guess at the end of the day neither of them were happy which is a good enough reason to end things. I love them both to pieces but I know dad will be fine. Mom’s the one I worry about. She got the house and I helped her change the locks and look into adt columbus and even get a cat – she’d always wanted one but dad was allergic – and I know she and my dad talk nearly every day still. I just wish there was something any of us could have done to prevent the split but they both do seem calmer and more at peace now that they’re not together. I guess some love just isn’t meant to last but you never think it’s going to be your parents’ after so much time!

This past weekend my daughter and I did some bonding over rummage sales. It is the first time I have been out early on a Saturday to shop through other people’s discarded items in a long time – I was excited. The thrill of going to rummage sales is you never know what you may find.

I blame the thrill of being a rummage sales for my purchase of a flat screen monitor. My cardinal rule about used electronics at rummage sales is to never buy them – unless you can test it. I went against my better judgment and bought the Dell monitor for $10. It was at least a church rummage sale – so I figured if it didn’t work, then I just donated money to them.

I got home and was able to test it. Sure enough, it doesn’t work. There is just a white screen which is apparently the way Dell monitors say “I don’t work anymore.” At least I can take it to Best Buy for recycling but will have to pay. At least I will get a gift card – so I will still be out my $10.

My first clue that something was wrong with the monitor was at the sale. There were no cords with it – like the monitor and just the monitor had been replaced by the previous owner. I knew I should have listened to myself – but I bought it anyway. I did get a great chair at a rummage sale that I will have to share later.

So when it comes to electronics at rummage sales, don’t buy unless you see it work. Even then do not pay a lot for it because with electronics, it may have some quirk that doesn’t show up until it’s been on for three hours straight – and really you definitely do not want to spend that long at one rummage sale testing something.

So – lesson learned again. Like I said, I think I was just excited to be at rummage sales and lost my head. Too bad my pocketbook paid the price – $10 can go pretty far at a rummage sale.

It seems that each week there are at least three of my friends who are having birthdays. One of my goals is to try to be a better gifter. I not only want to give gifts that are well received but are useful as well.

Most people I know would be happy to receive green gifts – those gifts that are natural and possibly homemade. When I gift green gifts, I feel like I am doing my part to help the environment. It may be a small part – but it’s something.

I wish that I had the skill of one of my friends. She loves to recycle old items and make them useful again. She has made aprons from old clothing, purses from cassette tape holders, and much more. It’s her passion, and it’s always fun to see what her next creation will be. She is definitely an example of eco friendly giving at its best.

One project she has done is to make a gardening apron from overalls. I finally found an old, cheap pair of overalls at the thrift store and plan to try this project before next spring. I am also hoping to find a smaller pair over overalls to make an apron for my daughter since she loves gardening, too.

This Christmas I plan to give better gifts. I will not be buying something just to give it but will buy it for purpose. Thoughtful, useful gitfs are always well received. Shopping may take longer or I may have to make some gifts – but the extra effort will be worth it.