What have I done lately to promote my company… nothing much to be honest.  I have great ideas in my head, I just have trouble implementing them.  In addition there are factors that also play into the delay of me moving forward.  There’s 5 of us in the family all buying for time on one computer.  To add to that I work a regular full time job, which leaves me feeling drained by the end of the day.  Plus I have a household to run when I get home.  So… my motivation is lacking between all these factors.  But probably the biggest hold back is financing. 

Now, I’ve read plenty of how to obtain financing, but I don’t want to owe anybody any money.  I don’t need that burden on my shoulders.  I don’t like owing people money.  I imagine this may come from being a poor single mom for years and owing money on things I didn’t have the money to pay for.  Maybe this is a bad business decision, but for me it’s the only decision at this time.

My challenge is to get people to know about my products while spending the least amount of money as possible.  That means being very creative and counting on your friends to help you network you with their friends and co-workers.  Next step is how to get them to buy.  Well… Try it you’ll like it!  We aren’t fancy, but for some reason people like paying for packaging as much as the product inside.  Yes, sure there is cheaper stuff out there as well…but I have learned that stuff is cheaper for a reason… its crap!  Not to actually say ALL of it is crap, but the majority of it is.  It’s made with cheap ingredients or a lower grade of quality.  I guess what I’m trying to say is a pretty package doesn’t guarantee a good product.  Being that my funds are limited… my packaging is not fancy, but my product is “pretty” so to speak.  It’s good stuff.  I love it, my friends tell me they love it… I just need more people to know about it and to love it too. 

 What it comes down to, is I need to get motivated again and get busy getting my product out there to people.  I will be brainstorming the best way to spend my money doing that.

Cover the turkey breast with tin foil if it is cooking faster than the legs and is over browning.

-To crisp up the top of your stuffing place it under the broiler for a minute or two.  For stuffing that’s been baked inside the bird place it in a oiled baking dish at 450 degrees for 10 minutes or so.  Then broil it for a minute or two to crisp the top.

-Burned gravy can be saved by adding a tablespoon of creamy peanut butter.  It will soften the smoky taste.

Over salted your gravy?  Add a peeled, cut up potato to the gravy and cook for about 5-10 minutes then remove potatoes.  They will absorb the salt.

-For dried dinner rolls, wrap them loosely in aluminum foil and heat in 300 degree oven for 15 minutes.  During the last 4-5 minutes unwrap the rolls slightly to crisp lightly.

-Save your disposable pie tins and cut out the bottoms.  You can then use them by turning them upside down and placing it on top of your pie to keep the crust from burning.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving Day!

 http://www.webmd.com/content/Article/109/109137.htm?pagenumber=1

Cellulite is something almost every woman gets.  We all attribute cellulite to being fat and over weight.   It turns out that cellulite is not the same fat that makes our cloths no longer fit as they use to.  This type of fat sits far below the skin and is what our bodies use for energy. 

Cellulite is made up of fat cells that lay within the skin.  They cannot be burned up through exercise or changed through diet.  So why am I hitting (or trying to) the treadmill for an hour 3 or more times a week?  Because I don’t want to get fat and exercise will still help reduce the appearance of cellulite.

According to Amy Newburger, MD, cellulite is hereditary handed down from our mothers.  In addition to that the circulatory system that nourishes our lymph vessels and skin cells will be damaged over time.  This causes the cellulite to become more apparent.  This is even more reason to take care of our skin and keep it nourished.

Cellulite is predominate in women over 35.  Although, I’ve seen cellulite in girls as young as teens and twenties.  I have to admit it does help me feel better about having it myself.  When Tyra Banks admitting to having cellulite I almost leapt for joy.  Yes!  Supermodels are not cellulite free!  Yet men seem to be less disposed to this trait.  How unfair!  Us women get stretch marks from childbirth, saggy boobs, cellulite and men get a beer gut that they seem to pat with pride.  Ugh!

So what can we do to help cut down on cellulite and prevent it?  Creams and serums that help stimulate cell circulation, melt fat and move fluid toxins out is one approach.  Keeping your skin healthy and nourished will also help prevent and reduce the appearance of cellulite.  While dramatic results will not be noticeable over night, repeated use of such products can help reduce the appearance of cellulite.

For an all natural approach try Tigerfly’s Anti-Cellulite Body Oil Spray http://www.tigerflygifts.com/after_Bath_spray.htm .  This body spray contains carrier oils that bring nutrients and healing properties in the skin.  In addition the Essential oils of Lemon and Tangerine, that have shown to break down cellulite and smooth out the appearance of stretch marks, have been added.  Ingredients include:

 Essential Oil of Lemon – fights cellulite, aids dry skin, strengthens epidermis function, tightens blood vessels and stimulates connective tissue.

Essential Oil of Tangerine -  helps to breakdown cellulite and smoothes out stretch marks.

 Carrier Oils

These oils were specifically chosen for their skin renewing properties and their ability to absorb quickly into the skin. 

Sunflower Oil – High in Essential fatty acids, regenerate & condition skin.  Good for dry, sensitive, mature & damaged skin.  High amounts of vitamins of A, B, D, & E and minerals.

Apricot Kernal Oil – Prematurely aged, sensitive, inflamed & dry skin; High in vitamin A

Sweet Almond Oil – rich in vitamins, minerals and glycosides.  Helps eczema, dry, itchy and inflamed skin.  Extremely nourishing oil.

Jojoba Oil – Highly Penetrating, closely resembles our own sebum, anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant.  Rich in vitamin E.

CLARIFICATION APPENDED Written last month, this straightforward account of life in Iraq by a Marine officer was initially sent just to a small group of family and friends. His honest but wry narration and unusually frank dissection of the mission contrasts sharply with the story presented by both sides of the Iraq war debate, the Pentagon spin masters and fierce critics. Perhaps inevitably, the “Letter from Iraq” moved quickly beyond the small group of acquantainaces and hit the inboxes of retired generals, officers in the Pentagon, and staffers on Capitol Hill. TIME’s Sally B. Donnelly first received a copy three weeks ago but only this week was able to track down the author and verify the document’s authenticity. The author wishes to remain anonymous but has allowed us to publish it here — with a few judicious omissions.

All: I haven’t written very much from Iraq. There’s really not much to write about. More exactly, there’s not much I can write about because practically everything I do, read or hear is classified military information or is depressing to the point that I’d rather just forget about it, never mind write about it. The gaps in between all of that are filled with the pure tedium of daily life in an armed camp. So it’s a bit of a struggle to think of anything to put into a letter that’s worth reading. Worse, this place just consumes you. I work 18-20-hour days, every day. The quest to draw a clear picture of what the insurgents are up to never ends. Problems and frictions crop up faster than solutions. Every challenge demands a response. It’s like this every day. Before I know it, I can’t see straight, because it’s 0400 and I’ve been at work for 20 hours straight, somehow missing dinner again in the process. And once again I haven’t written to anyone. It starts all over again four hours later. It’s not really like Ground Hog Day, it’s more like a level from Dante’s Inferno.Rather than attempting to sum up the last seven months, I figured I’d just hit the record-setting highlights of 2006 in Iraq. These are among the events and experiences I’ll remember best. Worst Case of Deja Vu — I thought I was familiar with the feeling of deja vu until I arrived back here in Fallujah in February. The moment I stepped off of the helicopter, just as dawn broke, and saw the camp just as I had left it ten months before — that was deja vu. Kind of unnerving. It was as if I had never left. Same work area, same busted desk, same chair, same computer, same room, same creaky rack, same… everything. Same everything for the next year. It was like entering a parallel universe. Home wasn’t 10,000 miles away, it was a different lifetime.

Most Surreal Moment — Watching Marines arrive at my detention facility and unload a truck load of flex-cuffed midgets. 26 to be exact. We had put the word out earlier in the day to the Marines in Fallujah that we were looking for Bad Guy X, who was described as a midget. Little did I know that Fallujah was home to a small community of midgets, who banded together for support since they were considered as social outcasts. The Marines were anxious to get back to the midget colony to bring in the rest of the midget suspects, but I called off the search, figuring Bad Guy X was long gone on his short legs after seeing his companions rounded up by the giant infidels.

Most Profound Man in Iraq — an unidentified farmer in a fairly remote area who, after being asked by Reconnaissance Marines if he had seen any foreign fighters in the area replied “Yes, you.”

Worst City in al-Anbar Province — Ramadi, hands down. The provincial capital of 400,000 people. Lots and lots of insurgents killed in there since we arrived in February. Every day is a nasty gun battle. They blast us with giant bombs in the road, snipers, mortars and small arms. We blast them with tanks, attack helicopters, artillery, our snipers (much better than theirs), and every weapon that an infantryman can carry. Every day. Incredibly, I rarely see Ramadi in the news. We have as many attacks out here in the west as Baghdad. Yet, Baghdad has 7 million people, we have just 1.2 million. Per capita, al-Anbar province is the most violent place in Iraq by several orders of magnitude. I suppose it was no accident that the Marines were assigned this area in 2003.

Bravest Guy in al-Anbar Province — Any Explosive Ordnance Disposal Technician (EOD Tech). How’d you like a job that required you to defuse bombs in a hole in the middle of the road that very likely are booby-trapped or connected by wire to a bad guy who’s just waiting for you to get close to the bomb before he clicks the detonator? Every day. Sanitation workers in New York City get paid more than these guys. Talk about courage and commitment.

Second Bravest Guy in al-Anbar Province — It’s a 20,000-way tie among all these Marines and Soldiers who venture out on the highways and through the towns of al-Anbar every day, not knowing if it will be their last — and for a couple of them, it will be.

Worst E-Mail Message — “The Walking Blood Bank is Activated. We need blood type A+ stat.” I always head down to the surgical unit as soon as I get these messages, but I never give blood — there’s always about 80 Marines in line, night or day.

Biggest Surprise — Iraqi Police. All local guys. I never figured that we’d get a police force established in the cities in al-Anbar. I estimated that insurgents would kill the first few, scaring off the rest. Well, insurgents did kill the first few, but the cops kept on coming. The insurgents continue to target the police, killing them in their homes and on the streets, but the cops won’t give up. Absolutely incredible tenacity. The insurgents know that the police are far better at finding them than we are — and they are finding them. Now, if we could just get them out of the habit of beating prisoners to a pulp…

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http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1543658-1,00.html

Now admittedly I had to begin to question it and wonder if her imagination was getting the best of her.  She was about 12 years old during this time.  But her complaints kept continuing and she didn’t want to go to bed anymore.  She was going to be with Rosary beads and my reassurance that it was nothing and she’d be ok.  Now as any mom would do with their child you want to beat the crap out anyone who wants to harm them.  So one night after putting her to bed and frustrated with my daughters fear I decided I would speak to this thing…whatever it was.  So in my head, I yelled “Leave my daughter alone!  If you want to mess with someone then you can come see me, not a little girl!”  I honestly didn’t think much more of it and went to bed.  Within minutes of settling in to bed I heard this very evil laugh right next to my left ear.  Fear instantly shot through my body.  I opened my mouth to say my boyfriends name (who is now my husband) to wake him up.  It was the weirdest thing cause I could feel my mouth freeze as I opened it along with the rest of my entire body.  I tried desperately to move something… anything.  As my mouth sat open I tried to vocalize a sound and I couldn’t get anything to come out.  My mind raced thinking what am I going to do.  Then something so simple came to my mind.  I thought, logically this doesn’t make sense to be sitting here frozen.  Instantly after that thought, my entire body released from its frozen state.  I had no more fear and my entire being was exhausted and I fell asleep within minutes.  I had never experienced something like that before or since.

Now you can take that for whatever you want, but I believe something truly did happen.  My daughter had not been bothered for a long time after that.  She is now 17 years old, and just recently found out that she still hears things, but chooses to ignore it.  Again, I didn’t discuss it too much with her as I don’t want her to get scared. After all she sleeps in the basement now.

Any how, around 1:45 pm I decided to drag myself over to the desk of my co-worker to learn the new stuff I’m going to be doing.  Ugh!  I’m sitting there thinking I don’t care enough about this place to learn it.  Although I know when it comes to me doing the work I will work hard to do it well as my work is a reflection of me.  Doing it poorly is just not in my character.  But I do it for myself not the company I work for. 

As I walked to the printer I looked around at the decorated cubicles and Halloween themes of the teams.  I remembered back to the day that I cared about decorating for the holidays.  Back to the days when work was fun before they changed it all and took the fun out of work and broke my spirit.

As my training for the day ended and walked back to my desk/cubicle all I could think is… “OMG!  I’ve got to get out of here!”  Of course I’ve been saying that for 7 years now, but this year I really do mean it.  I’m more than this place.  I want more.  I envy those who have their dream job or enjoy the work they do or love the company they work for.  Some day…I will be that person.

Bye for now!