The Week for Invitations and Announcements

Posted on 14th May 2012 in Around Here, Friends, Fun, Learning and Classes

Here it is only Monday and there were two graduation announcements in the mailbox waiting for me when we got home. I know May and June are the big months for graduations, but I didn’t realize that I know so many people old enough to have children who are graduation from high school and college.

My peers are in their thirties. My children are just now starting school, and only a few friends who got married right out of high school instead of waiting until they got out of college have kids that a couple of years older than mine. So the idea of my friends having children that are 17 – 22 years old is freaking me out a little.

I remember when i was getting ready to graduate from high school. We didn’t graduate until mid-June and we always had our graduation ceremonies outside. My graduating class had commencement on the football field of our high school and we didn’t have any problem with rain or bugs or mud. I only sent out a few graduation announcements, to family members. Then off to college I went!

When I graduated from college, we had our ceremonies on campus in the auditorium. Some of the colleges and even high schools have their commencement ceremonies on the stage of the Grand Old Opry. I always though that would be very cool – the Opry is such a Nashville landmark and its stage will always be very special to us all.

The graduation announcements that I received in the mail today were for the children of people that work with me. Now, that makes sense, as I am one of the youngest employees in our office. I am flattered that my co-workers think enough of me to send me graduation announcements. That is very cool and I am looking forward to going shopping this weekend for a nice gift for each of these kids.

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We Love Dolphins

Posted on 13th May 2012 in Around Here, Family, Fun, Pets

dolphin

My son loves everything about the water. He reads about sharks, loves to look at fish, and especially loves dolphins because they are natural enemies of sharks. But when he saw this cute photo we all busted out laughing. So I had to share it – so funny!

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Energy Audit for Homeowners

Posted on 10th May 2012 in Environment, House and Home

About the only monthly bill that changes drastically every month and keeps going up is my electric bill. The price of gas keeps going up, too. But I do have a little control over that. I can shop for the best price per gallon, keep the tires inflated and plan my route. But my electric bill is something that I don’t have a lot of say in and it is driving me nuts.

My Dad suggested that I arrange for a home energy audit and see if a professional inspection might reveal a few things that I can do to reduce energy consumption and increase the energy efficiency of my house and yard. I am willing to look at everything – from planting trees for shade to hiring a home insulation contractor and add more insulation to the attic or walls. From what I understand, older homes sometimes need to pull out all their old insulation that has compressed and settled, becoming less effective, and replace it with new, better insulation materials.

My dad wants me to check out new energy efficient windows, too. He says that any single pane windows are now obsolete and I need to get estimates on replacement windows for the whole house.

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Playing with Aluminum Foil

Posted on 9th May 2012 in Around Here, Eating In, Musings

Talking with a young woman downtown while waiting to get into Puckett’s, she told me that she wanted to buy or make a sword toy for her son to play knights and dragons. They are going to the Ren Fest next weekend and they are all dressing in character for the day.

I suggested she cut out a sword shape and cover it with aluminum foil to make the blade. It doesn’t have to be very big and you can tape or glue the aluminum foil for the day of pretending he is a knight. Surprisingly, she admitted to me that she does not have an aluminum foil at home, because food stamps does not pay for non food items like toilet paper, tampons, plastic baggies, soap, etc.

That just breaks my heart. I know that food stamps is supposed to cover food and be an emergency resource. But instead of paying for Twinkies and Captain Crunch, which have no redeeming nutritional value but are covered by the food stamps program, why not allow a few non food purchases? Or come up with some kind of assistance program separate from food that provides the other basic hygiene items that today’s families need?

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Online Marketing is a Specialty

Posted on 8th May 2012 in Been There, Business, Buzz, Computers and Electronics, Designs

My entire career has been based on marketing. That’s my degree, that’s what I do, and I love it. But marketing means different things to different people, and the kind of marketing that I do is totally different from the online marketing that businesses need for their web sites. Online marketing means a lot of different things, too.

Online marketing includes designing or re-designing a web site to be friendly to both users and visitors to the site but also to the search engines. It means getting your web site noticed by the right people and found when potential customers search Google or an online directory for your store address or phone number. And the newest technologies involve developing apps to work on the smart phones, like what the Scottsdale web development company can do for clients like the Bella Interior Design company that my girlfriend Ilaria used on her new house.

I can’t help people with their web sites very much. I know what looks nice and what needs tweaking. But I can’t do that for you. It takes someone who knows what is going on in the online world and has the right design skills. When I saw the Bella Interior Decorators web site I was so impressed that I asked Ilaria to ask them who design their site for them. I want to be able to refer my friends and business associates to the companies who do really good work.

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