Homemade Birthday Party Ideas

Guest post of the week by Brittany Booker

A group of co-workers and I were enjoying cocktails together one evening at a pub near our office when one of them, the president of the company, asked if any of us talked withSecurity Systems Milanoabout installing a security system in our homes. Most of us said we had. He had never owned one before and said his wife was adamant that they get one since she is at home alone a lot while he is working late hours. Now here he is was on an early evening off having cocktails with the gang. He deserves to socialize with us a bit though. As owner and president of the company, he comes in early and does work late, usually wining and dining clients. That means he does not eat dinner with his wife when he gets home. She is not upset with him about the late hours because his hard work has paid off for them. She just feels a little frightened at times since the kids are both now in college. She still has not adjusted to being alone so much. He loves her and will do anything to make her feel safer.

The Author of this post is Rory Reilly

Seriously, this site, http://www.expertsatellite.com/, has so much information about channels. Honestly, it is more information than I ever thought I would be interested in or need to pick out something that seems so simple. TV is just something I have always had and I never realized how much there is to choose from. I have been so helpless when it comes to figuring out how to set up utilities, paying bills and all that jazz. My parents really have always done that for me. Since I graduated from college, they have been pushing me to do it on my own. The first push was for me to get my own apartment, which I guess I did not mind them pushing me to do. At least now I can have some privacy and someone will not be looking over my shoulder all the time telling me if I am doing something they do not like. The only parts I was not a fan of when I moved out was setting up the energy provider, utilities and things like that. The TV part is turning out to be pretty fun, though. I get to look at different providers and options for channels. If anything, it is taking me longer just because I like doing it.

Is that sexist, to suggest that golf clubs would make a great gift for men? Maybe. Most of the men in my life play golf. occasionally, my stepmom will play in a couples game or just with her girlfriends, but if she never got the chance to play again I think she’d be OK whereas my dad would be crushed. I couldn’t tell the difference between golf drivers and putters if my life depended on it, but to a serious golf player, these things make a big difference.

I guess the golf lovers in my life probably wouldn’t know the difference between a dance hoop and a fitness hoop, I understand not everyone enjoys hula hooping the way I do but the fact is that people’s hobbies are often their greatest source of joy. I know I would be through-the-roof excited if someone got me a collapsible LED travel hoop that was 38 inches in diameter, but my father would rather have the golf clubs.  I probably suck at golf and he probably sucks at hula hooping. That’s OK, everyone has their own gifts.

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Contributed by Alec Bates

I think it’s important to monitor what your kids watch on Cable TV even when you’re not around. The more you teach them what’s appropriate and what’s not the less they’re going to want to go behind your back and watch something you know they shouldn’t. my kids for example know they’re not allowed to watch Beavis and Butthead or The Simpsons. I don’t think either of the shows (even though they’re cartoons) have good messages for kids and I just don’t want them learning anything from them that I’m not already teaching them. I try to stick to educational program but basically as long as it doesn’t have cursing or drugs or sex or anything like that it’s fair game for my kids. Their favorite show is actually jeopardy which is about as harmless as it gets and I’m fine with that. At least they’re learning at the same time they’re watching TV – not many shows can say that they allow your kids that kind of double duty!

Guest post written by my buddy Royce Heath

There’s nothing like coming home to a nice clean house but I wouldn’t know what that’s like because I haven’t been there for years. We got this new house about a year ago and we immediately started working on it to get it back the way we had imagined it was in its glory days. We hired people to come in and take out all the popcorn ceilings and we had painting done and the kitchen totally renovated and pretty much just everything I could think of. It’s starting to look better but you know, I’m pretty sick of living in inches of sawdust and I just wish there was something I could do to keep this place neat. We’ve been looking into the final touches like ADT UT and a new mailbox and stuff like that so I know one day soon I’ll be able to come home and get it all organized. But until that day comes I guess I’ll go on living like this – in a pile of all our construction mess!

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Straight Talk for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

If you’re shopping for teenagers then you are in for quite a challenge, but I hve the perfect gift idea.  yes, they can be picky and finicky and moody and whatever else, but one thing teenagers LOVE is connecting with friends over the phone, online and via text messaging.  If you have a teenager on your list, you might think it’s a bit expensive to sponsor their cell phone bill, but not with Straight Talk. We pay around $45 a month for my daughter’s phone and she’s in absolute heaven. She says she can  Feel Richer with Android because she can access the web whenever she wants and use the games and apps that her friends are enjoying, with unlimited access. Have you experienced The power of Android on a month-to-month, no-contract plan yet?  Once you do, you will never go back to those ridiculous phone contracts with their activation fees and re-activation and termination fees, it’s ridiculous.  These guys have the right idea. they do everything on a month-to-month basis and you only pay for what you use. It’s even good for Grandparents because light users can get the 1000 minutes and 1000 textx plan (I think it’s called “All you Need”) for only $30, which is such a bargain. In fact, I keep one as an emergency phone for when I travel because the Smart Talk coverage is actually better than the one my company pays for.  

Anyway, check out one of their videos if you’re still not sure. But really, there’s no reason not to. 

The getting richer effect has expanded… by LittleBard95

I feel like the very best Aunt in the world right now. My nephew just turned 13 and I had no idea what to get him. I noticed that he was wearing a T shirt with a band name on it (Drake), so I checked the music charts for the band and I learned that he must be into hip hop music, so I bought all of the top ten CD’s and then I learned that he had never even HAD a CD before, all his music has been purchased through iTunes, so he’s loving the printed lyrics, the jewel cases, the photos and other extra things you don’t get when you buy digital music. It was the sweetest thing, he feels like he has his own master copy, and I guess in a way he does because when you download music in your iTunes account you can’t share it with anyone else, but if you upload it from a CD, you can so he is having fun listening to all sorts of songs he didn’t know about before, he’s also enjoying sharing them with his friends. I don’t know if I can think of anything this cool next year, but I sure hope I do

Uncle Herman has been a nurse’s aid since the war, and he never acted like it was a lesser position, it was always a noble thing and we were always proud of him. His eyesight is getting bad and he’s in his 90′s now but he still has pride in the work that he does and the Office he’s with has been shifting his responsibilities around over the years to help him be effective wherever he’s at. Aunt Ethel had a meeting to go to for some charity thing she’s involved in and I had to pick him up from work and I was so surprised to see that his scrubs were a bit worn at the edges, so I bought him a new set for his birthday. He was so excited. I found some great deals online when I was checking for websites that sell scrubs. My favorite ones were at this site: http://www.blueskyscrubs.com/categories/Scrubs/Scrubs-for-Women/ I was so excited to learn where to buy cheap scrubs that I went a little overboard and got him like five sets. If I know him, he will still wear the old ones so he doesn’t wear out the new ones, but at least he has them now. If I had to bet money, I’m sure some of the women who work in his office would probably prod him into getting rid of the old ones, teasing him and flattering him until he blushed or something, he’s like that sometimes. Silly old guy, I don’t know why he needs to hear it from a pretty girl but it’s true. All you need is a pretty smile and a little bit of eye contact and he’s putty in your hands. THAT is why they have been married for almost 75 years, isn’t it? Oh well, life is good. So what about you? Have you ever found a better deal on scrubs? I didn’t think so…