Blogging Fusion

Rock a 1920?s ?do

Did you know ?the bob? hairstyle originated in the 1920s? I didn?t realize that until today. ?The bob? is a classic hairstyle that has been recreated, reinvented and reintroduced again and again over the years.

I love to see young women wearing their hair in a way that represents a certain era or style. The 1920?s bob ? especially in the early part of that decade ? was short pretty much all the way around, usually skimming the earlobes. What made this side-parted look so stylish were the sexy waves that made the style so unique. Don?t be mistaken though, the bob was also worn sleek and sharp, curly and crazy as smoothly seductive.

In order to sport a 1920?s hairstyle you have to make sure you use the best hair products available and a little help from the ghd Scarlet Styler. It?s a professional flat iron with red plates, a protective plate guard and a heat resistant styler roll bag, which also comes with sectioning clips that are perfect for separating hair while you style. Whether you?re going for the smooth bob ? and sliding the iron straight down your hair, slightly curving in at the bottom ? or the wavy, by changing the direction and angle of your tool; the Scarlet is the right tool to use.

One of the the most important things to remember is protecting your hair from heat and you can do that by using a heat protect spray. You want your hair to be healthy and stylish, right?

If you?ve ever made a statement with a 1920?s hairdo ? or any era for that matter ? leave a comment and tell us all about it.

A love/hate relationship

Have you noticed that I haven?t talked too much ? if at all ? about my weight loss? I?ve tried to keep you updated on my health, but am purposefully skimming over any facts about my weight. You probably recall my 60-pound weight loss about two years ago ? well since then the weight has crept back on and everything I did before to keep it off is no longer working. One of the reasons is I?ve been sick (condition related) on and off and some of the changes in medications have resulted in weight gain.

So.not.good.

Wednesday began a significant change for me: I start working with a personal trainer. I figure that instead of worrying about the time it takes away from work or the cost, I will remember that it is an investment in myself. I?ll have to keep remembering that every.single.time I don?t want to do it. AND every single time I wanna push the trainer (Sammy!) off of a very high building.

My first meeting with Sammy went well. He gathered health, personal and physical information. I filled out so many forms that it was like getting a car loan ? but, you know what, I can?t complain about that because it shows that he is a thorough and professional trainer. None of that keeps me from giving him a hard time though.

Our second meeting ? now sessions ? went well. I complained through the weighing in, the sit ups and the three sets of everything. I sorta enjoyed those parts of the session, but I had to give him a hard time because it wouldn?t be as much fun if I didn?t. And, most of my close family and friends know that I just get pleasure from giving people a hard time. Hey, it?s all done in love.

It was all good as gravy until he told me to get on the stupid elliptical machine thingy. Or was that the stair climber do-hick-ee? It really doesn?t matter because I absolutely HATE both of them. I hate trying to maintain the rhythm and I don?t I?ve ever been able to complete an entire program on them. In addition to that, I often get dizzy and absolutely drained from the stupid things.

Everything I loved about Sammy went right out the door as soon as I got on that machine. I think I cussed him out (in my head) in three different languages the entire time. Oh, wanna know how long I was on there? Eight minutes! Yup, just eight minutes. Don?t laugh. He needed to get my active heart rate and that thing definitely did the job.

So I can already see how this is going to go. I?m going to love him for making sure that he has me doing stuff that is in accordance with my medical limitations and for helping me through each and every step of this. And I?m going to hate him when he makes me do stuff I don?t want to do. For instance, I haven?t been too fond of him this entire weekend because my arms/chest areas are sore. I don?t care what everyone says about ?no pain no gain;? that just shouldn?t apply to getting in shape. I mean, seriously, isn?t there a way to do this without feeling like you were run over by a truck?

*imagine me sucking my teeth*

Well, I need to hurry up and finish laundry and whatnot ?cause I gotta sign on to the site where the meal plans and tracking stuff are. Yea, as if just exercising isn?t bad enough I have to eat even better than I was. I guess I shouldn?t tell him about those cookies I ate this weekend. ? Or that granola bar that he said was no good. Hmmm, maybe I need to leave out the two cups of coffee (16 ounces each)? as well as those yummy chunks of cheese they served at the birthday party I went to yesterday.

Oh boy. It looks like I?m going to need you guys? help as well to keep me accountable. That means I?m back to keeping you up-to-date on my weight loss journal, which I?ll try to do at least once a week.

Here are my current stats:

Week One
Feb. 2
Weight: 198.9 (Gasp!)

Feb. 3
Weight: 196.4

My body fat is poor (about 33%), but I?m looking forward to that decreasing each week (No more cookies!). To take a peek at a previous weight loss journal just click that link. Before you go be sure to leave a comment with your suggestions or experiences with weight loss, trainers and/or exercise.

Photos were taken by Anna, my 4-year-old daughter. The first two were taken about five months ago and the last one was last week.

Pay Per Click advertising

Does your business or service website need more traffic? If so, you may want to consider pay per click advertising with BizzClick LLP, which is a pay per click agency. This agency offers a wide variety of services including the ability for you to advertise within their network or monetize traffic with them or both. If you?re new to the arena of pay per click advertising or need help with the process BizzClick has an around the clock support team and you?ll have a personal manager to assist you.

Also available to their clients are tools to help in the creation of advertising campaigns, one of the fastest XML feeds in the industry as well as a traffic ranking system that makes it easy to get the type of traffic that fits your needs.

Finding the right agency to assist with advertising can be a challenge, but BizzClick has a user-friendly and well-designed site. Logging into your account ? whether you?re a publisher or advertiser ? is clear and simple as well as any other information you?re looking for. It?s also easy to get someone to help you because they have live chat.

If you need to increase traffic then go with a company that has the right tools to assist you and knows exactly what they?re doing. BizzClick may just be the right agency for you.

? just one of those days?. already

This morning was a little hectic. So much so that instead of running the errand I had scheduled to do this morning, I came home first to sit down for a minute, have a cup of coffee and regroup. Wait, that?s not entirely true: I came home to further clean up the kitchen after I spilled an entire.cup.of.coffee all over myself and the floor.

It was like a geyser erupted ? not to mention the hot coffee that caressed my hand? a geyser of totally perfectly prepared coffee. {deep breath}

It all started when I came out of my bedroom this morning and spotted the trail of ants going up the side of the laundry room door, across the floor next to the carpet and toward the eating area. So, I had to clean the wall then pull out the vacuum to suck up all the little irritants. ?Cause of course my carpet is the exact color where I can?t see where they are or where they are going.

And while I?m on the ant story; why in the world are they popping up randomly around the house. One day they?ll be on a wall in the girls? room, I annihilate that area and the next day they?re in the kids? bathroom. Another day they were on a closet door then there were a few in my bathroom then in my closet. Each time I use a very unexpected remedy: dryer sheets. Yea, for some reason they don?t like them. Today, however, I was so annoyed that when I inspected the laundry area after carpooling and saw a few persistent pests I sprayed their little a**es.

Now here I sit, taking deep breathes and tapping into some Zen before I continue with my day. Of course now I don?t feel like running my errand, but I made a commitment to turn in some paperwork this afternoon and I have to go get it completed.

Ut oh, I just looked up and realized I haven?t fed my little red beta fish. Yup, red. LOL? If you?ve been here regularly you know that?s my favorite color. I would include a link to my red-accented apartment, but I can?t find the post. AND what in the world is that big stop sign on my blog? stop SIGNS! Oh gosh, someone help me.

An Egyptian excavation

Although I have a very small budget for my three youngest children to participate in extracurricular activities and purchase all the latest gadgets and learning materials, I still make a concerted effort to incorporate a wide variety of experiences into their daily lives. We enjoy watching Animal Planet together and learning little-known facts about wildlife and we spend a lot of time watching PBS, reading books, researching topics on the Internet and anything else I can think of.

I always look for cost-effective and interesting ways to keep this going. My son receives Lego and Boy Scout magazines in the mail as well as a National Geographic (I think that?s the one) magazine about animals. My youngest daughter, 4, gets National Geographic?s little kids Discovery books that feature a different animal each month along with hand/eye coordination activities, information/fact cards about other animals and learning games. One of the things I really enjoy with the children is the Little Passports packet that my middle daughter Amareah receives.

When Amareah was about 4 years old (she?s 7 now) she showed interest in other countries and cultures. It started with International Day at head start when they learned about China. It was something about the Chinese culture that stuck with her. About a year later when we went to a Disney on Ice show Mickey and Minnie skated out and perched under a cherry blossom tree with their kimonos on while Minnie twirled a parasol, and Amareah pointed and said to me, ?That?s from China.?

That?s why when I learned about Little Passports, I just had to order it for her. It?s a global adventure for kids that includes monthly packages containing stickers, letters, souvenirs, photos and much more. The first package came with a travel suitcase, an introductory letter from Sam and Sofia, a world map, travel passport, stickers, activity sheet and access to online games via the boarding passes (which, by the way, I keep forgetting about).

I?ve put Amareah?s map on the wall in her room and every time she receives a package we take the enclosed sticker push pin and place it on the map. Then we review the other places she?s ?visited.? I?d also like to be able to add real push pins for states she?s actually travelled to.

Her most recent package was about Egypt and I think Amareah had the most fun with it. There was a clay pyramid that contained a little pharaoh, which had to be excavated using little tools. Before they began chipping away at it I read the letter to Amareah and her sister explaining different details as I read.

They were excited to begin:

It took the girls at least 20 minutes to see the little metal piece peeking through.

More than an hour later they were finally making progress. They were so tired from chipping away at it that they were laying their heads on their arms. I tried to get them to take a break, but they refused and continued with their mission from their prone positions!       

They got this far and couldn?t get the piece out so the excavation leader (i.e., me ? super mom!) came to the rescue.

One of the things I liked ? and didn?t like ? about this project was the amount of dust. I was sitting nearby and I could feel the dust going up my nose and covering my skin. The girls were so dusty that it looked like they had actually been in the dessert. I explained to them that what they did was very similar to what actually happens when archeologists are exploring ruins, etc. 

The excavation team:

I am very pleased with Amareah?s monthly packages and the information she is learning about different countries and cultures. It?s also good that her siblings ? and myself! ? benefit from it as well. Do you have something you do to open up the world to your kids? Or something that explores their interests? Please tell me about it in the comments.

Disclosure: This IS NOT a paid post or a sponsored review. I purchased a Little Passports? subscription for my daughter and thought you?d like to read about it. You can review my complete disclosure policy.

Autism supplements

Many people believe that Autism can be cured and/or greatly assisted by changes in diet, nutritional supplements and, overall, more natural remedies. Now there are physician designed and approved  supplements for autism available to the public and they are touted as safe and effective.

The available Autism supplements are formulated to help counter the adverse effects of poor eating habits and other nutritional challenges related to autism. And these prove very effective for autistic children who are very selective about what they consume.

If you are looking for vitamins that are tested and approved by medical professionals then it behooves you to take a good look at these supplements.

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