The Game Plan

We will be in San Antonio over Thanksgiving, but that doesn't mean we won't be participating in our Annual Black Friday Shopping! The good news is that Hubby most likely will get to sleep in this year and Stephanie and I will be hitting the stores for bargains. You have to get up early if you're dreaming of laptop computers, high definition flat screen televisions, mini notebook PC, or the newest video games. How in the world will you be able to make it to different stores and buy all the discounted items on your list? Well, you need to make a Black Friday game plan. Here is how to make a game plan and prepare for Black Friday shopping.

Step 1~Recruit your team, your husband, your wife, your cousin, your aunt. If you can, split up to cover more ground. You husband can go to the electronics store while you go buy the toys for gifts. You get the point.

Step 2~Gather all and pack all your supplies. You will need a calculator – one you can use and still talk on the phone. You cannot forget your cell phone and bluetooth. You will need the cell phone to call your team and the bluetooth so keep your hands free. Bottled water is another must; there is no time to stop to get water. You will need snacks; low blood sugar is not something you want when you are in a long line.

Step 3~Wear comfortable clothing. I suggest you wear layers. You may have to wait in line outside a store so make sure to have a sweater. It can also get hot in a crowded store so make sure you can shed a layer. Wear your most comfortable shoes. Ladies I would suggest you wear a purse that you can wear over your shoulders. Guys wear pants with lots of pockets.

Step 4~Make a list. Make a list of what you need and a list of what you want. This will help you when deciding on your budget.

Step 5~Decide on a budget. Decide how much money you will spend on luxury unnecessary items and how much money you will spend on other people’s Christmas/Hanukkah gifts.

Step 6~Do your research. Visit the blogs and websites that have Black Friday deals. Some websites have sneak peaks of Black Friday circulars.

Step 7~Plan out your route. Do a google map search. Look for stores that are close to each other. You only have at most 2 hours to get all your shopping done. Keep in mind that the best items go quickly.

Step 8~Once you have decided which stores you will go to, you need to go some reconnaissance work. Familiarize yourself the stores’ layouts. Make sure you know where the items you will be buying are located. When you get to the store, go straight to that isle and get your item and go pay. There is no time for window-shopping.

Step 9~Make sure to verify the opening times. Some stores open as early as 4 AM.

Step 10~Make sure to get to bed early. I’m sure that won’t be a problem after the Thanksgiving turkey, fixings, pies, and wine. Set your alarm clock before going to bed!

GOOD LUCK AND HAPPY SHOPPING!

All Better!

I'm all better and I really think the Acai Berry is the reason my cold only lasted a few days. It was just a cold, but it was Doozy starting in my head and then dropping like a ton of bricks into my chest overnight. For two days I laid like a slug in bed, not even taking a shower. Day three I went to the store and bought Sambazon Antioxidant Elixir. The bottle said it provides powerful antioxidants and 600% DV Vitamin C... just what I needed!
Açaí 101
Acai (ah-sigh-ee), the fruit that's making believers of world-class athletes and health-conscious people everywhere. Grown in the Amazon rainforest, acai is truly a gift from Mother Nature. It has a rich, berry-cocoa flavor that makes it taste amazing, and its packed with more antioxidants than blueberries or pomegranates, plus loads of healthy Omega fats, protein and dietary fiber.

Açaí pulp contains:
• A remarkable concentration of antioxidants, to help combat premature aging, with 10 times the anthocyanins (purple colored antioxidants) of red wine.

• A synergy of monounsaturated (healthy) fats, dietary fiber and phytosterols, to help promote cardiovascular system and digestive tract health.

• An almost perfect essential amino acid complex in conjunction with valuable trace minerals, vital to proper muscle contraction and regeneration.
Açaí is a dense source of particular class of flavonoids called anthocyanins (red-blue phenols with potent antioxidant properties)

• Anthocyanins are a group of phytochemicals in red wine thought to contribute to the French paradox, i.e. France has one of the lowest incidences of heart disease of any westernized society despite a prevalence of smoking and a diet high in saturated fat and cholesterol (5). Açaí pulp contains 10 times the anthocyanins of red wine per equal volume (1).

• The primary anthocyanin in Açaí is cyanidin-3 glucoside (1). Cyanidin-3-glucoside has been found to be 3.5 times stronger than Trolox (vitamin E analogue) and the predominate anthocyanin found in red wine (malvadin-3-glucoside) in an ORAC analysis (measure of antioxidant capacity) (11).

• Anthocyanins have been found to “exhibit numerous potential therapeutic effects including treatment of diabetic retinopathy and fibrocystic disease of the breast in human” (11). "Other potential physiological effects of anthocyanins include radiation-protective, chemoprotective, vasoprotective and anti-inflammatory agents” (11).
*All of these claims are documented at Sambazon's website.

Why is it so pricey? This LINK shows the process of getting the Acai Berry from jungle to finished product. I paid $7.99 for the 24 oz. bottle...

a small price for getting back in the race again!

Home Fires Burning

I love that first smell of cold weather. It's a crispness that's hard to explain, it just smells cold! Last night when I let Ben out, I could smell the woodsy warm fragrance of someone's fireplace smoke. Familiar like an old friend's face, it transports me back to my childhood. Winters in Missouri were cold and snowy. We visited my Grandparents often, and when we'd get there we'd pile out of the car and hurry into the warm little rock house. Grandma would have supper ready and the fire would be crackling in the fireplace. It was a mix of smells that are ingrained in my memory...ham and baked sweet potatoes, green beans, homemade rolls and pumpkin pie. That farm and their hard work provided the meals that they would fall back on all winter. It's a comforting memory that I return to every winter!

GRANDMA'S SOUTHERN STYLE BAKED HAM WITH COLA
1 (20 oz.) can sliced pineapple
1 fully cooked smoked ham, whole or half ~Go to OzarkMountainSmokehouse.com
2-4 c. (depending on size of ham) cola beverage

Arrange pineapple on ham; secure with wood picks. Place ham in shallow pan. Pour cola over ham; bake 15 minutes per pound in preheated 350 degree oven, basting with pan juices occasionally. Remove to warm platter and let stand 20 minutes before carving. Serve with sweet potatoes and hot ham drippings. Makes approximately 30 servings with whole ham, 15 servings with half.

VapoRub, Lick the Bowl and Tales From the Coop Keeper

The good news is that Mom finally got the ok from her doctor last week that she no longer has to wear the neck brace, the bad news is that everyone in the waiting room that day was hacking and coughing so I'm down with a cold. I know sleeping with the window open last week probably wasn't a good idea with nights in the 50's now, but I love the cool bedroom air. It's almost like camping except the bed is a whole lot better!

How can a cold make you feel so lousy? I don't think I even have fever but for the past two days I've worn the same pj's and haven't even showered. Tomorrow I must get in the shower and at least clean myself. I hope I feel like going into town for some juice and tissues, running low on both.

Mom's words ring clear everytime I catch a cold, I head straight for the medicine cabinet and the jar of Vicks VapoRub. She would slather it on our chest and neck, I'd fight but always lose the battle. Now I am a believer and it's my first line of defense.

Right now it's a head cold but it's trying to go to my chest and you know what that means, that irritating cough that takes forever to get rid of. We are flying next week so I have to get better quick. I'm going to buy some more Acai juice and try to stay home for a change.

Since I'm home and I've had a chance to catch up on my favorite blogs and guess what?? I found two new ones I LOVE! If you love to cook as much as I do you will be in 7th Heaven over

Lick The Bowl Good!

If you are searching for the perfect desserts to have for the holidays, Monica's blog may be the only site you have to visit.

...And I have found another farm blog that is so down home,

Chickens In the Road good, Pioneer Woman good...

Tales From the Coop Keeper.

Jayme wears many hats, she's a chicken farmer, she's a wife, she even homeschools her nephew Aaron (who by the way is cooking his way through Pioneer Woman's Cookbook.) So if you have some down time... I hope that doesn't mean you are sick with a cold,

go over and visit these two great blogs!

Musical Closet

About this time of the year I realize the stark truth, sandal wearing time is over. It's a sad thing, I shed a tear...I'll miss them. My Birkies, my flip flops, my many, many sandals that are my best friends all summer. But alas, I have many good friends in my closet. They come and go with the seasons, but they have endeared themselves to me by being there to comfort me. It's time to change out the summer clothes in my closet for fall and winter. The summer things go to the back where they will take a nap and have some much deserved R&R. I'm a boring shopper, buying multiple colors in favorite brands.

Some very organized people have their clothes arranged by four seasons, but if you're like me and have limited closet space I play "Musical Closet" and the summer things go sit in the back! This is a great time to go through the things that need to be repaired, a button , a hem or maybe just pressed before putting away. As you sort, you're going to find the pieces that look too worn to wear, too good to throw away. Make yourself put these in a pile for Goodwill. There are plenty of people in the World that will appreciate that blazer that's a little out of fashion or the top that has faded a little over the summer.

From Real Simple Magazine, a few tips for organizing your closets...

Try this hanging technique from Kim Cosentino, a professional organizer in Westmont, Illinois: Hang all your clothes with the hooks opening toward the room (this will seem like the wrong way). After you wear an item, replace it on the hanger with the hook opening toward the back of the closet. Each season, you'll be able to assess quickly which clothes you haven't worn, because the hangers will still be facing the wrong way.
Go shopping in Your Closet...
Next time you're putting away laundry or dry cleaning, grab an armful of clothes that you haven't worn since you can't remember when and try them on in front of a full-length mirror, suggests Jeanine Baron, founder of Streamliners Inc., an organizing company in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania. Put the ones that you would want to buy again back into circulation; donate the rest.
Act Like You're Moving...This one works for me since we've moved a LOT!
Say you had to uproot and relocate. What would you take with you? You don't actually have to pack up anything―just set aside the few things that you love and use and see what's left over. Give those things away to someone you know that could use them, or donate to charity!

After you do this you'll find you have room in the closet for more clothes...

Let's go shopping!

The Grasshopper and the Ant

Being frugal is suddenly in. People who live in the country are now ahead of the pack–only they never paid attention to the pack to begin with. Frugal is a lifestyle in the country. There's surprising satisfaction in the simple pleasures of a meal of beans and cornbread, add some fried potatoes and you haven't spent more than a buck for the whole meal. Country people have always found joy in the simple life. Appreciating the things that last, recycling and reusing are a way of life. My parents and Grandparents took great pride in their gardens and the food that was "put by" for the winter. Firewood and hay was stockpiled months before cold weather, forever ingrained the story of the The Ant and the Grasshopper.

Life was simpler for them. Now, the rest of the world tries to catch up with "Country Folk."

It's easy...all they have to do is slow down!

Crime in your Neighborhood

You can't turn the TV on anymore without noticing that it seems like crime is at an all time high. Even in our neck of the woods crime is up. We've had two robberies from our boat dock in the last year. We all take precautions to safeguard our valuables, but sometimes no matter what you do a thief can outsmart you.

We can't just live in fear though, being well informed is a powerful weapon to keep you safe. There are some great sites that help you look up the crime that is occurring in your neighborhood. I went to crimereports.com and poof...there it was, 126 crimes in nearby Fayetteville broken down by catagory. Assults, thefts, breaking and entering, sexual assaults, robbery, thank God no murder. It shows a map with notations of the crimes and the sidebar gives the specifics; address, date and category of crime. It's a powerful search engine that can take you back the last 3-30 days and even pinpoint your address for crimes that may have happened nearby. In times like these, we need to be aware and keep on our toes.

Where to Go Online to Check Your Local Crime Statistics

http://crimereports.com/ -- Crimereports.com is my favorite site. It shows you a map and where the crime occurred on the map. It also gives you a short description and the type of crime (robbery, vehicle theft, etc). You can sort by date of crime and type of crime. It can also show you a map of sex offenders. It also has a great analytics section, which shows you charts of and graphs and crime trends. It is free. You can sign up for alerts to you email address.

http://spotcrime.com/ -- is very similar to crimereports.com. It shows you a map with icons depicting different crimes. It offers a many US cities, but is limited. One good feature is that it offers popular international cities like Paris, France and Madrid, Spain. The international feature can be helpful if you are traveling abroad and want to know where to stay as to avoid crime.

http://www.neighborhoodscout.com/neighborhoods/crime-rates -- This is a sight you would use if you are moving and want to compare neighborhoods. It gives you a map with different areas and their crime information. You are also able to pick trendy neighborhoods, areas to retire in, etc.