Giving Back

On Friday, September 5th, I watched a show called STAND UP TO CANCER.

In watching that multi-network, multi-celebrity extravaganza, I learned a few things:

• In the time it took to watch the show, 60 people in America died of cancer. One per minute.
• Almost everyone is touched in one way or another by cancer. (Skin, breast and colon cancer have affected just my immediate family!)
• Cancer hits 1 out of every 3 women
• AND 1 out of every 2 men
• I can help!

…HOW?

Easy – donate! Not so easy – in this economy, funds are tight and I can’t afford to just stroke a check…or can I?

I got to thinking about it…I’m in sales…I earn commissions…if I give a portion of what I earn, THEN I can afford to donate.

This is what I came up with – From September 8th – December 31st, 2008, I will donate 10% of all my commissions earned to help fund cancer research.

What does all of this have to do with you? That’s a no-brainer! If you or someone you know are in need of a marketing program that includes promotional products and decorated apparel, purchase from Tracy Ebert and Atlantic LogoWear :)

I will be keeping an accounting of my donations on the homepage of my website www.alwtspecials.com.

You can reach me with any questions at: tracy@atlanticlogowear.com

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Household Uses for White Vinegar

We all know vinegar is a must for cooking. That’s why you can find it sitting in a cabinet of almost any kitchen. If you’re into alternative medicine, you probably also know that white vinegar can be used to cure ailments from diabetes to toenail fungus. But if you want to know the full power of vinegar, you should try using it to replace some of the your unnatural cleaning products for a beautiful sparkling house.

The best part about cleaning with vinegar is that you know it’s safe. You no longer have to worry about your kids or your pets drinking cleaning products. While they may be a little queasy, drinking a bottle of white vinegar isn’t going to cause any permanent damage. In fact, it may actually be good for them.


Different and Alternative Cleaning Uses for Vinegar:

As an All Purpose Cleaner

Tired of those “all purpose” cleaners that usually work on one thing and not another? Instead of using several brands of these cleaners, just replace them with a bottle of diluted vinegar (half water, half vinegar). This can be used to clean counters, sinks, windows, and even carpet stains.

Floor Cleaner

Using a separate product to keep your floors shiny? You can use vinegar for this too. Just mix vinegar in your mop bucket (about 1 cup vinegar per gallon) and wash like normal.

Odor Absorber

Vinegar is a great way to absorb odors. If a room has a persistent smell that just won’t go away, leave a bowl of vinegar sitting out overnight to soak up the odor It also deodorizes as it cleans so is great for smelly jobs like garbage cans. If you’re not a fan of the vinegar smell itself, add a little bit of lemon juice for a fresher scent.

Shower Cleaner

There have been a variety of products appearing on the market that clean your shower for you. You just spray after every use to prevent the buildup of mold and soap scum. There’s no scrubbing or wiping, just spraying. You don’t have to worry about these hazardous and expensive products. Just put vinegar in a spray bottle and use it daily. The bottle can also come in handy for cleaning toilet bowl build-up and other stubborn bathroom stains.

Keeping Bugs Away

Ants can be a pain to keep out of the house, especially if you don’t use harmful poisons. Well, vinegar is a safe way to cut them off at the pass. Just follow the trail and figure out where they’re coming into the house. Then spray the area. Ants won’t cross the line and you’re saved from having to fix the holes with expensive repairs.

For jobs when plain vinegar just won’t do, you can add some baking soda. The bubbles produced by this reaction are great at breaking up backed up sinks and garbage disposals.

These are just a few of the literally hundreds of uses you can find for vinegar around the house. Now you don’t have to worry about expensive, dangerous products anymore. You’ll just have a clean, safe house.

Book Review: Home Learning Year by Year

Product Name: Home Learning Year by Year: How to Design a Home School Curriculum from Preschool through High School

Reviewed by: Jen Thomas; Denver, CO
Rating: 10
Where to buy: Amazon.com

Description: The best guide I have found to help with a curriculum for home schooling your children. Rebecca Rupp who is an expert in the art of home schooling wrote this book.

Review: Most of us who decide to home school panic in the beginning. If you’re like I was you started looking for any resource material that would lead us in the right direction. This book was just what I needed.

My biggest worry was if I would be able to come up with the right lessons to teach my children what they needed to learn for each year of school. This guide showed me what curriculum I should follow from preschool through high school.

It lays out how important each subject is and why. For most of us Mom’s this is really important. We worry if we are teaching our children the same things that children in public schools are learning. Even though we home school, our children still interact with other children. I was scared my child would be behind. This guide did wonders to ease those worries.

It is a very organized book, simple and easy for me to follow. I wasn’t going from front to back to the middle to find the help I needed. This was also important to me. I didn’t want to waste precious time I could be spending teaching my children or even spending quality time with them.

There are numerous references in this book. The other books and websites listed are a great help in planning out your next lesson.

There is a section on how to approach subjects that are very sensitive to a mother and child. I look foreword to using this part of the book when my children are old enough to learn about sex education, a very touchy subject in most families.

I would recommend this wonderful guide to anyone who is thinking about or has already started home schooling his or her children. It’s a guide I can’t live without.

Rice, Bacon and Asparagus

Ingredients:
6 strips peppered bacon, diced
3 cups cooked rice
1/4 cup white wine
2 cups cooked asparagus, cut in 1-inch pieces
1/2 cup toasted pine nuts

Directions:
Cook bacon for about 5 minutes over medium high heat. Once browned, drain all but 1 tablespoon of grease. Add rice, wine and asparagus to skillet with the 1 tablespoon of grease. Heat completely through (approximately 5-6 minutes). Once cooked, remove and toss with pine nuts and serve. Serves about 4.

Intuition Plus Razor by Schick

Product Name: Intuition PLUS by Schick
Submitted by: Sher Birmingham; Valley, AL
Rating: 9
Where to buy: Amazon.com

Description: This is a razor with the soap or shaving product around the blade of the razor. Intuition Plus is Fragrance Free. It has Shea butter, aloe and vitamin E and is Moisture-Rich. Intuition has a pivoting action. Intuition® Plus™ lathers, shaves and provides extra moisture* to your skin in one easy step. No needs for shave gel, soap or body wash.

New! Skin Conditioning Solid™ with Shea Butter lathers and provides extra moisture* for a smooth shave Enriched pivoting head glides smoothly over curves Triple Blade self adjust to level of Skin Conditioning Solid™. New! Sleek, light and comfortable handle. All Intuition® cartridges are interchangeable, but enhanced pivoting works only when Intuition® Plus™ handle is used with Plus™ cartridge.

Review: I didn't like Intuition Plus the first time I tried it. There was so MUCH soap on it I felt I needed to shave with my regular razor to get the hair. But every other time I love it. I don't have to be in the tub or shower...a quick shave on DRY Skin! I wet the Intuition Plus and shave! It works great! I am lathered up and get a good shave. I rinse off with a wet cloth and ready for the day! Intuition leaves my legs feeling like I have washed, shaved and lotion them! But yet it is not too much for my underarms. I think that the reason I didn't like Intuition at first is because there was TOO much soap to get a close shave. I have the Intuition with razor & travel cap. The cap sits nicely on the side of my tub.

Back to School: How to Avoid the Back to School Blues

Returning to school is not easy for kids, which makes it especially hard for parents as well. In order to make the process of returning to school easier for your child, here are some tips which can alleviate those back to school blues.

1. One of the things you can discuss with your child is they will be able to see their friends again, how much fun they will have, and all of the new things they will learn. If you have a child who exhibits anxiety about returning to school, you can tell him or her that there are other kids feel the same way.


2. Perhaps a trip to the mall to shop for some new outfits will help. This can lift their spirits by allowing them to pick out two or three outfits and shoes for their first day back to school. Another way to improve your child’s spirit is to invite other kids over for a day; kids who are classmates and friends who go to other schools as well. In this way, they can talk to each other about school and other things so they can begin the process of re-connecting with, and feeling comfortable about, going back to school.


3. Prepare your child for the first day by beginning a bedtime regimen a few weeks earlier. This will enable your child to establish a routine for the school days ahead.


4. If your child is attending school for the first time, find out if there is another child in the neighborhood who is also attending the same school. In this way, they can go together whether it’s by bus or within walking distance. Having someone to go to school with can ease the tension and anxiety for both children.

Most children will feel anxious and down about their first day back to school. While it is a normal occurrence, it can also be an exciting time for them. Teachers also understand the difficulties of returning to school, and they also take extreme care to ensure every child is made to feel comfortable on their first day back.

Baking Soda: The Safe Way to Clean

Most of us have used baking soda at one point to remove odors from our refrigerator, but we never bother to take that box out and use it somewhere else. You fridge isn’t the only place nasty, bothersome smells develop, so why only use baking soda there?

Many cleaning products use harsh scents to cover up odor. To some people, these scented products can be really irritating to your skin and nose. That’s why baking soda is so great. Instead of covering up odors, it absorbs them and locks them away. You know it can get rid of odors in the fridge, but why not try putting some in garbage cans, shoes, litter boxes, or even sitting out in kitchens and bathrooms? Baking soda is a great way to remove offensive odors from pretty much anywhere.

Baking soda is a great way to remove dirt and anything else that might be stuck on surfaces. Just sprinkle a wet wash cloth with baking soda and scrub away. You can even use baking soda to get stuck on grease off your floors, counters and even pots and pans. If it’s really stuck on, you may need to soak it in baking soda and water before you start scrubbing. Remember to rinse all your surfaces after you clean them so there isn’t a residue left.

While baking soda can be used for general cleaning, it’s also a great way to get out stubborn stains. Just use a small amount of water to turn the powder into a gooey paste. You can then apply this to stains in your kitchen, bathroom, and even your clothes. Just let sit and then scrub. This paste is also a great way to clean your silver.

You can even use baking soda to disinfect objects like toys or other items around the house that get really germy (door handles, telephones). If the items can be soaked, they should be put in baking soda and water and left. It they can’t, simply cover the area and let it sit for a minute before wiping it off.

You can get even more cleaning power from your baking soda if you combine it with another wonderful natural cleaner: vinegar. If you’ve ever seen a model volcano at a science fair, you probably already know what happens when you mix these two chemicals together. When these baking soda and vinegar mix, they release thousands of tiny carbon dioxide bubbles. These powerful bubbles are great for cleaning out clogged drains, toilets, and garbage disposals. If you want the bubble with a fresh scent, try mixing baking soda with lemon juice instead.

These are just a few ideas for how to clean with baking soda. It is such a versatile product, the possibilities are endless. So why not pull your baking soda out of the fridge and give it a try all around your house? You may find yourself buying a lot more baking soda on your next shopping trip.