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San Antonio The Second Time

January 30, 2019 Karen Leave a Comment

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In 1996, my son was still living in San Antonio, Texas. He and his wife announced that they were pregnant, due in October, 1996. I decided to take a road trip to San Antonio from Atlanta so that I could take the bassinet that he slept in to use for his new baby.

Donna, a friend since childhood, went with me. We left Atlanta early in the morning, headed for Texas. It took us two days to get there. Once we got there, we visited with my son and his wife. They lived in an apartment off base. My son took us on a tour of Lackland Air Force Base, showing us where he worked and some of the planes that were there.

The next day, Donna and I went to Riverwalk, and went on the boat tour on the river. Yes, I wind up at Riverwalk every time I am in San Antonio. It is just a beautiful place, with lots of places to eat and spend time with friends and family.

The before we left to go home, we decided to take a side trip to Laredo, Texas, so that we could visit Nuevo Laredo, Mexico. I love going across the border to Mexico and exploring all the little shops. The trip from San Antonio was about 160 miles from my son’s apartment. Donna and I decided to spend the night in Laredo so we would have plenty of time to shop.

We bought about twenty of those Mexican blankets for $2 each (remember, this was in 1996). Donna bought a longhorn steer skull with horns so long that it barely fit in the back seat of the car. We named it Harry. While we were driving home to Georgia, with Harry on the top of all those blankets in the back seat, so many truck drivers honked their horns at us. It was a hoot! That road trip to San Antonio was one of the best trips I ever made.

My First Trip To San Antonio, Texas

January 30, 2019 Karen Leave a Comment

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My first visit to San Antonio, Texas, was back in 1994, when my son graduated from Air Force Boot Camp. I flew from Atlanta to San Antonio in November of that year. When I boarded the plane in Atlanta, it was winter. When we landed in Texas, it was almost 80 degrees at eleven o’clock at night.

Since my son could not leave the base before the graduation, his girl friend and I had a whole day and night to kill before we could see him. I decided to do drive to Luckenbach, the town made famous by Waylon and Willie.

Luckenbach is approximately 75 miles from San Antonio. The drive is quite pleasant, through the countryside of Texas. It takes about an hour and twenty minutes to get there. The town of Luckenbach consists of a ramshackle old dance hall, a post office/general store/saloon, and a stand of trees alongside a rutted dirt road. Not much there other than a great history, and a souvenir stand. It was fun to go, though, and know that I had been in the same place as Willie Nelson had once been.

We made our way back to San Antonio with enough time to visit The Alamo before heading back to our hotel for the night. The Alamo was very interesting to visit, and re-live the history of the place. The mission is still standing after 300 years!

The next day, we made our way to the parade grounds at Lackland AFB to watch the graduation ceremony. It was a very proud moment for me to see my son march by. After the ceremony, the Air Force treated the new graduates and their guests to a San Antonio Spurs basketball game at the Alamodome. The guys were required to ride the bus provided by the Air Force, and we followed in our rental car.

Finally, on our last day in San Antonio, my son was allowed to leave the base. We went downtown to Riverwalk, then to Landry’s Seafood for dinner.

I was sad to leave to go back home. I really enjoyed my visit to San Antonio. I have been back several times, and each time I discovered another place to explore.

Relieving Stress Of Your Next Home Move

January 20, 2019 Karen 1 Comment

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There’s no doubt about it – moving to a new home is a stressful time. You have so many balls in the air that it’s hard to keep them all straight. But not only that, you’re also on a deadline – you need to have everything done by a certain date, no matter what. With so much going on, and a deadline to do it by, it’s no wonder that moving to a new home causes stress.

However, it doesn’t have to be this way. With a few simple strategies you can relieve some of the stress from your move and make the entire experience a little more manageable. Here’s what you need to do:

Start Preparing Early

The most important thing you can do is give yourself plenty of time. Once you have a moving date set, start preparing. Don’t wait for the moving day to creep closer and closer before you start thinking about all of the things you need to do.

This doesn’t mean you need to pack away all your belongings three weeks before you move – that would be a big inconvenience. Rather, it just means that you should start prepping. Make a moving checklist of all the things you need to do before you move. Then, as you complete something, cross it off, or if you think of something else, add it to the list. This will help to keep you organized through the whole process.

Another thing you can do early is gather your packing supplies. You’ll need plenty of things like boxes, tape, and bubble wrap, so start stocking up. You’ll need more than you think too, so if you can, buy it in bulk.

Get Rid of Clutter

Before you start packing things away, it’s a good idea to take some time and think about what you really need to bring. Chances are over the years you’ve accumulated some stuff that you don’t really need any more. In the weeks leading up to your move, go through your basement, garage, attic, etc. and make piles of the stuff you don’t want to bring to your new home.

According to these residential movers from Burbank, “It’s a good idea to take an inventory of all of your stuff, decide what you really need and then donate or sell everything else. Doing this helps to reduce the number of things you need to pack for your move, and it can make the moving process less stressful”

Find Some Help

A move becomes a lot less stressful if you have a good team working with you. This could mean gathering up your friends and family, then renting a moving truck on the big day. Or, if you want to make it even easier on yourself, you’ll hire a good moving team.

Look online for local movers in your area. Get together a list of names, then start comparing them against one another. How much do they charge? What’s their insurance coverage like? How many years of experience do they have? These are important questions you’ll want to ask to find the best moving team in your area.

The right moving team will remove most of the stress from your moving day, from taking care of all the transportation, to even helping you pack up. So, if you’re feeling overwhelmed, consider hiring a moving team.

Make Plans for Your Kids and Pets

For those of you with kids and pets, they may be adding some stress to the situation. You need to not only get their things together but figure out what to do with them on the day of the move. When there’s movers carrying boxes and heavy furniture around, you don’t want them stumbling over your dog, or worry about keeping your kid entertained while you’re trying to finish up packing.

To remove some stress, have a plan in place for your kids and pets. If you can, move on a school day so your kids are taken care of. If you can’t, try to find a babysitter, allowing you to focus on the move. The same idea applies to your pets – find someone to take care of them that day if you can, so that they aren’t in the way.

Get Excited About Your New Home

Finally, take some time to relax and think about your new home. Head over to Pinterest and find some ideas on how to decorate your new kitchen or home office. Think about the first party you’ll get to throw there. Focusing on the positives of moving will get you into the right frame of mind and help to melt some of that stress.

Moving to a new home is stressful, but there are ways to limit it. Just remember to give yourself plenty of time, to start preparing early, and to get as much help as you can. If you can do this, and keep a positive attitude, your move will become a lot less stressful.

3 Cockroach Prevention Steps That Grandma Can Execute

January 19, 2019 Karen 1 Comment

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A cockroach infestation can appear in any home. As long as they can make their way inside, cockroaches will start an infestation and ruin a lot of things and cause various diseases like asthma and allergies. Grandmas and grandpas who are living and enjoying their retirements at home are even more at risk of getting sick because of these infestations.

Seniors are more prone to diseases because their immune systems are not as strong and robust compared to their younger years. That’s why they would be more affected if a cockroach infestation appeared in their home. There are a lot of easy ways to prevent the infestation that even a grandma can do. Here are three easy ways to prevent cockroach infestations naturally. There are also online pest control services like joshuaspestcontrol.com who are experts in these kinds of jobs.

1. Cleaning the house regularly

Cockroaches prefer houses that are dirty and unmaintained. They crawl on unwashed dishes, gather on leaking pipes, and crawl near your food and on places where you prepare your food. Maintaining a clean and bright surrounding can greatly help in preventing cockroaches as well as other pests.

It is also important to make your house as comfortable and cool as it can get. Cockroaches do not thrive well on cool weather conditions. The colder the place is, the more unlikely they will stay at your house. Cockroaches like warm and moist places, so make sure that you don’t have any leaking pipes and faucets.

Also, make sure to always maintain cleanliness in the kitchen to prevent cockroaches from crawling to your kitchenware. Cockroaches can carry salmonella and E.coli that will get you sick when digested. Check the back of your furniture and other equipment regularly to monitor any appearance of infestation in the house.

2. Dehydrating the roaches

Cockroaches are known as one of the most resilient types of pests. They can go on for days without eating and they can also stay alive for days even after beheading them. However, they are not good at staying resilient without drinking water. The reason why they want to stay in places with a lot of moisture is that they cannot survive without water in a few days.

One way to kill cockroaches naturally is to dehydrate them. You can feed them dry food while also making sure that they have no source of moisture. In this way, they will have no choice but to leave your house or to die due to dehydration.

3. Easy and natural traps

One of the easiest ways to fight cockroaches is to install sticky traps in the places that they are likely to stay. These locations include places at the back and under your appliances and furniture, leaky pipes and drains, the space under your drainage, closets, and cabinets, as well as unused electronic devices. Sticky traps will not kill the cockroaches, but it will stick them in places and will let them die from starvation.

Another way is to use a natural solution that will not affect your health and the health of other people in the house. One such solution is a poison recipe from “Housewife How-Tos”. Using bacon drippings, powdered sugar, and flour as your baits, use boric acid powder to kill the cockroaches. They will weaken with borax and will die easily. To use this, combine, bacon drippings, sugar, borax, and flour and add water until there is a soft dough. Roll into balls that are the size of an olive. The last step is to bring the soft dough to where cockroaches are likely hiding and make sure to lightly drop water to keep the mixture fresh.

Borax is safe to use for humans and animals, so you don’t have to worry about your pets getting poisoned accidentally. However, Borax is deadly to cockroaches and is helpful for eradicating them. Make another mixture if the first batch was cleared.

WHEN TO GET HELP FROM PEST CONTROL PROFESSIONALS

If you think that the infestation is severe, and you start seeing live cockroaches (not dead ones) during the day, then it is time for you to call pest control professionals. This is because the infestation might be out of control already or your health is already getting compromised by the infestation. Pest control professionals have the tools to make sure that your house will be free of cockroaches.

Best Places To Get A Home Loan

January 18, 2019 Karen 1 Comment

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The new year has just begun and with it comes new beginnings, resolutions, and opportunities for many people. Some people may look for new careers and jobs, while others will look to move to new areas and purchase new homes. Those looking for new beginnings in a new house will surely be worrying about money, loans, and financing their new property. Comparing rates from different lenders and deciding which one is the best fit can be tedious and complicated for those that don’t know what they’re doing. Whether you’re looking for Virginia real estate, a New York penthouse, or beach front property, you may struggle identifying who to work with to finance your home. Thankfully, there are some lenders that stand out from the crowd as superior options. Here are the best places to get a loan for a home.

Quicken Loans

If you’re going to look into securing a loan for a home, then you may want to start with the largest online mortgage lender in the country. You don’t just become one of the biggest players in the market by simply resting on your laurels, so when borrowing from Quicken Loans you can ensure that you are working with a hard-working, smart, and reputable company. In addition, the company lives up to its name through its quick, speedy, and user-friendly interface. Wait times are very low, meaning you’ll hear a decision soon after your application is complete. If you’re not looking to wait around for your loan, then you definitely should look into the trusted brand that is Quicken Loans

Bank of America

Another large and reputable company, Bank of America has been serving customers for generations. As one of the largest banks in the U.S, Bank of America has a national presence. Their brand reliability coupled with their versatility in offering both online applications and physical locations make Bank of America a great choice. Not to mention that Bank of America offers some great rates on top of discounts that can be received by already being a member of the bank. If you’re looking for solid reliable choice for your loan, then Bank of America may be the way to go.

Guaranteed Rate

A relatively new player to the mortgage industry, Guaranteed Rate is still a strong option for those looking for home loans. Unlike most other lenders out there, Guaranteed Rate specializes in home loans, allowing them to offer the lowest rates and best loans possible. In addition, Guaranteed Rate can diversify its loans by offering many different types of loans for all kinds of financial situations. Although they may not carry the storied history that other national lenders may have, Guaranteed Rate is still a great choice to receive a home loan from.

Chase

Chase is a great choice for those that aren’t familiar with the home loan process. Chase specializes in physical locations and support, opting to forego focusing on quick online loan applications. While this may sacrifice some speed in the process, those that are unsure during the home loan process will be able to meet face-to-face with lenders and have all of their questions answered. This can be a great help for new home buyers, and can help them avoid some of the potential pitfalls that come with buying a new home.

Deiss Kitchenware Giveaway

January 12, 2019 Karen 30 Comments

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This post contains affiliate links. I received products from Deiss Kitchenware in order to host this giveaway.

I used to host giveaways all the time, but I when I checked to see when the last one was, it was back in 2017! I didn’t think it had been that long! I’m remedying that right now, with a giveaway for 5 Deiss Kitchenware products. Each of three winners will receive all 5 items! That is a great prize, don’t you think?

The items that Deiss is giving away are the Deiss Pro Citrus Zester Grater, the Deiss Pro Digital Meat Thermometer, the Deiss ART Silicone Collapsible Funnel Set, the Deiss ART Nylon Utensil Set, and the Deiss Pro Pineapple Corer. Any one of these items would prove to be very useful in your kitchen, so imagine how nice it would be to have ALL FIVE! I have had one of the Citrus Zesters for quite a while, and it is a very handy to have.

These Deiss Kitchenware products would make a nice addition to your own kitchen, or you can gift them at a bridal shower or housewarming and know that you have given the recipient a gift that will be useful and that will last a while. You can purchase them at Amazon by clicking on the links above.

To win, use the Giveaway Tools entry form below. Three winners will each win one of each of the five items shown in this post. That’s a pretty neat prize pack!

Entry -Form

Annoyances To Avoid With Beginning Workouts

January 10, 2019 Karen 1 Comment

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Beginning a workout can be a little tough. There are some things you can do to make beginning a workout possible. Picking the same time every day to do your workout is the best way to start. First, you have to pick a workout to do for about 30 mins to 1 hr. Watching a video you can put on day after day for your workout really helps. You can also just use an app with workout positions. You can go to that app every day for reference and to keep you on track. Here are some other beginning workout issues to solve so you have no obstacles in your way.

exercise for older adults — Fabgrandpa on the treadmill

Workout Clothes

You have pressure points on your body. You also can have sensitive places on your body where clothes rub and make you uncomfortable. Sometimes you may want to work out in very little clothes in the privacy of your home. You may also want to work out in more clothes because you feel more comfortable. Whatever you wear, you need a full range of motion. You need to feel free in your workout clothes. Spandex and cotton are the best workout clothes because they breathe. Cotton and spandex yoga pants are some of the best workout pants if you overheat fast. You may need to layer up and peel off layers as you warm up if you tend to be cold. It is difficult to really get moving when you feel cold. So make sure your workout clothes are comfortable in the right temperature and comfortable in the range of motion.

Thigh Chafing

If you have ever walked down the beach and your thighs rubbed together and began to burn, then you know what thigh chafing is. The first rule is to walk slower. The second rule is to try to walk with your legs a little bit wider apart. Next rule is to wear cotton spandex yoga pants that help your thighs rub past each other preventing skin on skin contact. If you have tried all of these things to help thigh chafing, then it is time to wear some products like cream or powder.

Workout Space

You will not want to continue to work out unless you enjoy where you are when you work out. Some people are better working out in their own home. It is important that you are working out in a space that gives you enough room. You do not want to have stress over hitting something when you exercise. You want to have the freedom to move and be safe. If you go somewhere to work out, make sure you are comfortable with the space you choose. Make sure you feel comfortable working out around the people you are with. It may seem like a small thing, but if you are stressed about the people around you when you work out, it can ruin your workout.

Proper Hydration

Make sure you go into your workout hydrated. Muscle takes a lot of water. You also do not want to worry about hydrating yourself during your workout, so make sure you have properly hydrated yourself before you work out. You will get more out of your workout. Also, hydrate after you exercise and replenish whatever water you sweat out. Iced herbal teas have been found to be more effective than plain water thanks to the antioxidants in the herbal teas. Plain water is just fine, but some people get tired of drinking plain water over the years. Soda and caffeine are not good ways to hydrate after a workout. If you drink coffee and water a little bit before a workout that is okay, but caffeine is a stimulant and does not hydrate as well as plain water or herbal tea.

Beginning a workout can be daunting, but it does not have to be. You will succeed. Just be aware of the little things that might be annoying you when you start your workout. By getting rid of the annoyances before beginning a workout, it makes the likelihood of your success in continuing to exercise much greater.

January Blues and How to Combat Them.

January 9, 2019 Karen Leave a Comment

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January Blues and how to combat them.

With the fun of Christmas over, it’s no wonder that so many of us feel a little low and deflated. Going back to normality isn’t exactly fun, so catching a case of the January Blues is perfectly normal and very common. For some, tackling them is all about hitting those January sales and treating themselves to a bargain or one of the top designer handbags available right now. For others, it’s about quiet reflection and distracting themselves with work and fitness goals.

Luckily, there are lots of things you can do during this miserable month that will keep the blues at bay, or make you feel better. Why not try some of these to boost your mood?

Stay Active

The last thing most of us want to do after the festive period is get up and move more. But the fact of the matter is, keeping active and moving your body does so much more for you than just the obvious health benefits. Staying active boosts your confidence, helps your posture and is also great at diffusing stress and anxiety, something that is rife when we all head back to work and deadlines loom large once more. Fortunately, staying active doesn’t mean spending hours at the gym. All it takes is just a little walk around the park, or the office on your break.

If it’s raining? Well, take an umbrella! Your body and mind will thank you for it.

Stay sociable

I know what it’s like, you spend all Christmas surrounded and often smothered by relatives and guests. So, it’s no wonder that we all would like a break from our social calendars. We have the tendency to withdraw from our friends and family when we’re feeling low, which is ironic because they’re the people who are most likely to make us feel better! Do something simple; invite some friends over for a movie night, make a phone call to mom, write a letter to your grandma. Don’t isolate yourself!

Keep treating yourself

You might think that you’ve spoiled yourself enough over the holidays, but that doesn’t mean you have to stop. You should always prioritize what makes you happy and as long as it doesn’t negatively affect you, those around you or your finances, there’s no reason not to indulge. A hot bubble bath, a massage at the local spa, a delicious meal at your favorite restaurant. Doing what we love lifts our spirits, so go for it.

Keep eating right

During this miserable month, it’s all too tempting to reach for the left over Christmas treats. Even the chocolates that everyone has avoided at the bottom of the container look tempting. But while we crave sugary and fatty foods at this time of year, you need to be careful. These foods will make us feel good for a little while, but we’ll simply crash harder later on. Fill your plate with leafy vegetables, fruits, nuts and legumes and make sure you’re getting plenty of vitamins and minerals. You’ll feel amazing.