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I’m one of those people who adore flowers. I have my yard full of them and I love the fact that I can have fully blooming, colorful flowers in my yard all year around here in Florida. I have amazing silk flowers inside all over the place. I love the smell of flowers, the colors, the silky feel of the petals and even the vibe they put off.

I have a very good friend who owns a chain of florist shops in Knoxville with her family and I make her describe in detail what it feels like to go to the annual flower shows in Vegas, to be surrounded by so many flowers.

I love love love fresh cut flowers. Some people may think sending flowers is outdated, but let me tell you that I cannot think of a single female I know that is not absolutely charmed by a flower delivery. I even love it when my daughter picks flowers out in the back yard and makes me a little fresh arrangement.

Although I will be thrilled with any flowers given to me, I am partial to bouquets that are primary white or pink. Since today is the very last day of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, I think Pink is the appropriate color to consider. I found this pink arrangement (the one at the top of this column) on Proflowers.com and they are donating 10% to Susan G. Komen for the Cure and breast cancer research.

It’s Halloween. All you mom’s with girly girls at home, have you taken the opportunity to check out the pumpkin clippies on the main Girly Things website? If you missed out for Halloween, this delightful little clippie is still a great craft to do before Thanksgiving. It’s perfect for the entire autumn season, in fact.

This clipping is an absolute cinch to make and looks great, too. There are lots and lots of free hair bow instructions on my Girly Things website.

I have cousins who are golfers. They are very good. I’ve gone out on the links with them before, but it does not take long before it is painfully obvious that my forte is more along the lines of putt-putt. I just haven’t had the practice or the proper instructions.

The last time I went golfing was actually with friends up North during one of my vacations. It was a situation where I was very happy to go the activities that they like to do on an average weekend. Plus, they paid for the greens fees. My friend’s husband was patient enough to work with me on my golf swing, but what works for him did not really work for me. I had a blast, but my score was nothing to write home about. Actually, it was more something you want to burn quickly.

According to Jim Clark, a Physical Therapist, there is actually a method to achieving a perfect golf swing. He has used his knowledge related to Kinesiology (analysis of body movement) to puzzle it out to a science. If you understand the precise movements of the neck, arms, trunk, hips, knees, and ankles anyone can perfect their swing.

For example, if you understand that there are maximum limits joints are can move, you can avoid over-swinging.

My theory is that if I am going to learn, I want to learn it right from the very beginning. Clark’s instructional tools have a money back guarantee and that kind of low-risk deal appeals to me.

I can back up the statement in the title of this post in a million ways, but this morning I am thinking in particular about all these school teachers having sex with their students. Right now, here in the Tampa area, the big spotlight is on a special education teacher who was having “an affair” with her teenaged student, letting him drive her Jeep. Now the boy and his parents are suing the school district and claiming he was abused. While I think that the teacher’s actions were disgusting and wrong, I also think that boy did what he wanted to do.

Now the news wires are burning with the details about a 25-year old female teacher who is suspected of running off with a 13413-year-old male student.

I have no idea the circumstances behind the situation. The articles just say they have had “a relationship” for some time now.

All I know is that young teen boys (12-15 or so) are gross. They just happen to go through a unpleasant stage in their lives. All of them. Period. Skid marks, and Dorito breath, hygiene issues, acne, low brow humor, inappropriate noises, all of it. Even when I was a young teen I did not want to actually date the boys my age. I had crushes, but when it came down to it the guys were still kids.

Ick. Just, ick. I surely would not want one of them toucing me now that I’m all grown up either.

Anyone who uses a computer to browse the internet knows that Spyware (also referred to as Adware) is a valid threat to the average web user. Without your permission or awareness, Spyware sends your personal user data to websites so they can track your browsing habits and buying patterns. Some of the more malicious spyware pests can event record and send your credit card information and pout you in danger of identity theft.

I run combination spyware/virus removal software on my pc. I am reasonably satisfied with the job it does, but I wish I had read more reviews before purchasing it. That way, I would have been aware of the fact that it slows you system down noticeably. I’ve since found user reviews that agree with my observation.

I love to use review sites when I am shopping for something like a new flat panel monitor or choosing a hotel to book. Did you know you can also find Spyware Reviews online? You just have to know where to look. Check out Upickreviews.com. They have an entire section with spyware reviews, suing a side-by-side comparison format. They’ve also got reviews for other software products, several e-books and a host of web services.

I absolutely think you need to be running a good spyware program. Check out the reviews and make an educated decision as to which one you should purchase.

I cannot stress enough how important it is for all of us to be fully awake in the face of MRSA.

MRSA is methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, the “SuperBug” that is no longer just a major threat in healthcare facilities. The risk of infection threatens us at every turn now. It is in our schools, job sites, playgrounds, pools, supermarkets, and just about any other place you can imagine.

My warning is not just for the layman. Doctors also need to wake up and see how common this infection has become. I heartily thank the doctor who immediately recognized my daughter’s infection when I took her into a pediatric after-hours clinic one Saturday night about two years ago. I became educated at that point and was able to quickly ascertain the situation the two times she subsequently became infected.

We’ve been MRSA-free for over a year now, because of more diligence on our part.

In New York, the family of a Brooklyn boy who died this month from MRSA is planning a $25 million lawsuit against the city of New York. They claim he was misdiagnosed and that it led to his death. The poor kid was treated for an allergic reaction!

Although I disagree with such high dollar amount price tags for such damages, I DO believe his family has a very valid point and there should be some level of monetary compensation.

Doctors should take this opportunity to collective wake up, as well.

I can remember, to the day, when I realized I needed glasses. I was in 6th grade and I put on my friend Kathleen’s glasses just to be funny. I looked up at the chalkboard (yep, we had chalk boards back when I was in school!) and I realized I could see the teacher’s writing better. Everything was sharper. Colors were better. My eyes felt oddly more relaxed.

I went home and told my mom. She got me in at my family’s eye doctor and the next thing I knew, I had my very own pair of glasses that I was supposed to wear for things like looking at the board at school, watching TV, and going to movies. When I got older, I needed them to drive as well. There was a period my freshman year when I wore gas permeable contact lenses, but they were painful and I gave up within several months.

Halfway through college I began to wear glasses pretty much all of the time and it became an issue of vanity. So, I finally went to soft contact lenses. I love them for the most part. When I say MOST part, I mean I love them WHEN I can wear them.

I have very bad seasonal allergies and for a collective three months of the year, I cannot wear my contacts at all. So, I have spent a lot of time researching Lasik. It’s a matter of saving up the funds and taking the plunge. I already know I want to be able to rollover in the middle of the night and see the room around me clearly. I want to see clearly without worrying about contacts and allergies and the risk of bacteria.

DocShop is a site that brings together links to respected doctors in any given field so you can research your local options; get the lowdown on the professionals an make a more educated decision when it comes to trusting who you will use for your medical needs. DocShop’s LASIK information section is more than just a link farm, though. It is loaded with articles and information about the technology, the results you can expect, the pros of choosing the surgery, and even the risks associated with the procedure. I’m looking at a good article now that explains the breakdown of fees. The articles are concise and I’ve found most of them to be useful in my decision-making process.

Once you are ready to check out their physician directory, you can search by state and then listings are broken up by map regions. At that point you can run down all of their basic info and find your way to their website. It’s a good resource for locating a variety of professionals in your area, not matter the field or specialty.

I’ve stated over and over how uncharmed I am by the fact that frivolous entertainment headlines often usurp meaningful world news on the major cable networks. And now, even the entertainment world cannot hold it together to get their own priorities strait. The world has lost a great performer with the death of Robert Goulet, but what order does CNN list their headlines?

Britney Spears ordered to childproof her house
Singer Robert Goulet dies waiting for transplant

That a washed up young singer is court ordered to plug up her electrical outlets and install some baby gates should never, ever come before the announcement of the death of a honestly talented star.

First of all, the entire universe could go on a boycott of all “news” items Spears related and nobody would bat an eyelash.

Second, those eyes, that voice – Goulet will be sorely missed.

When I went through my teaching program last year, fully half of the people in the program were from Canada. Apparently, it is really hard to get into teaching school there and it is common for people to obtain alternate degrees and then come to the U.S. to become certified alternatively.

Anyway, I got to know some of the other students quite well and as I plan a winter trip to see one of my best friends up in Buffalo, I’m planning a little side-trip into Toronto and some of the surrounding suburbs.

Now, I am traveler who likes to plan, but not in your typical ways. I will get my transportation taken care of and make sure I have a place to stay, but I tend to go with the flow when it comes to deciding what attractions to visit. I let the mood move me, so to speak. Not so when it comes to finding places to eat, though. I rarely have good luck when I leave choosing a restaurant to chance. I like to look at reviews and menus first.

I like it when a town or a general area has a website that allows me to look at local businesses, including restaurants. Brampton.com is a great example. The site is a powerhouse when it comes to info on the locale. In fact, it is connected to an entire website dedicated to Brampton, Ontario’s restaurants. You can also pick up that local news, upcoming events, best places to shop, and so on. It’s perfect for the way I like to prepare to visit somewhere I’ve never been before. Of course, it’s also the kind of site the locals love. I use a similar site for my area here in Florida almost daily, because I can find business reviews and free classifieds and pretty much anything else I am looking for on a given day.

It’s been clear that retailers are starting to target consumers earlier and earlier for years. When I was a child, Christmas décor and items did not make an appearance in store until after Thanksgiving. In recent years, Christmas items came out as soon as Halloween items came down. This year, though, most of the stores around here set up their Halloween and Christmas displays side-by-side the very same week.

Tonight we watched It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown and it was chock full of ads pimping the new Christmas toys. It was nearly unwatchable, because my daughter is very susceptible to commercials right now. There is a reason that her general TV viewing includes only Noggin, PBS, Disney and the pre-school On Demand channel.

So, as we slowly enter a depression, as people have less and less in savings, the retail world is bleeding us dry earlier than ever.

One of my teeth started to hurt this past weekend. It’s not a sharp pain. But I don’t want to ignore it, wither. It feels like it is one of the teeth I had worked on last fall. At the time, I had a small cavity and put off the dental appointment to get it fixed for three months while my insurance issues after my divorce were worked out and running smooth. That was a mistake. In those three months, the cavity just happened to get into the soft part of my tooth and narrowly missed the root. The dentist was able to save my tooth, but only with heavy reconstruction.

And, it took a LONG time to pay off the bill, despite the fact that I have dental insurance. My insurance just did not cover much and I was expected to pay a very large part of the bill. I am a little concerned that when I go back I will be looking at yet another large bill.

Now, like I mentioned, I have dental insurance. It can be a hassle, because I have to use a doctor who accepts the plan, they have to file forms, my insurance company can deny claims and there are limits on what procedures are allowed.

A different option, which I am now looking into, is a dental plan. A Plan will differ from Insurance in that the Plan is network of dentists and services I can use to receive up-front discounts. DentalPlans.com, for example, partners with over 30 regional and national discount plans and more and 100,000 providers in combined networks. As an alternative to insurance, any dental plan I choose would have an annual membership fee and then grant me access to dental services with discounts anywhere from 10% to 80%, most typically in the 50% range.

My dental insurance costs me about $216 annually just for the premium. I changed to a less expensive plan this past enrollment period. It was costing about $450 annually. Keep in mind that is just the premium. I still needed to pay deductibles and non-covered services and procedures.

I’m going to do some more research on discount dental plans. There are a lot of choose from and they all have slightly different benefits. All in all, though, it might be a better option for me.

…instead of spookier and spookier.

I used to give out great, big chocolate bars for Halloween. I believe in skipping right over the cheapie Sweet Tarts and weird little peanut butter taffy wrapped in orange and black wax.

Last year, though, I moved to little packages of Goldfish, Teddy Grahams and pretzels. This year I am talking it one step further and passing out the little coupons you can buy 12 for $1 at McDonalds. Kids can redeem them for apple dippers, drinks, cookies, and fries. It one more way I am not contributing to that first night of over-consumption of food. ?

The chain of how precious heirlooms are handed down is an interesting thing. I have some items that belonged to my grandparents, my great-grandparents, and even my great-great-grandparents. I have clocks and vases and bonnets and aprons. I have Bibles and books and diaries. I imagine passing these along to my own daughter, along with some of my favorite things from my life. I imagine her passing them along to her children and so on.

But, sometimes the chain misses a link. Then what?

I have a jewelry bag full of amazing pieces that belonged to my step-father and his family. I have a pocket watch and class rings and cameos and cufflinks. My step-father did have one son and a one grandchild and one great-grandchild, but somehow these items came to me when he realized how little they wanted to do with him even in his dying days. I did not know the people who gave the items to him. I did not know his mother or his grandmother. The jewelry means something to me, but my daughter was only 9 months when my step-father died and she has no emotional connection to him.

Is the magic in these items lost? Will they live on to mean nothing to anyone? I feel a sort of guilt over it. I feel a responsibility to make them matter. So, I went to my mother and we talked about it and I asked if it would be alright to send these things to my step-father’s niece, who loved him dearly and still writes my mother and who is named after her grandmother whose cameo I have in my jewelry box.

I think this is the way I am going to go and it takes a great burden off my heart.

If you and your child loved If You Give a Pig a Pancake and all of the other books in the series, you’ll love If You Give a Pig a Party. This time, the little pig from the pancake book, along with her human friend, is back and she is bringing all of her friends. The cast is fleshed out with the stars of the other If You Give… books. Moose is there with his Muffin. Mouse I there with the cookie. You’ll also meet Dog, Cat, and Snake.

We loved the book and today Gigi and I had the pleasure to see a live-action version of the story at one of our local theaters. Gigi’s pre-school class went on their first field trip to see the play. The Hall was chock full of thousands of cheering children. It was a blast, to say the least. Seeing something on a massive stage makes me miss my home theater system just a little less.

I’m even more tired than usual!

I am on the fence about Halloween. When Gigi was born, I vowed not to even expose it to her. In the end, she ended up figuring out all about Halloween from other family members, school, friends and the TV. So, I do allow her to pick a princess character to dress as each year and we go to one of the big, local celebrations so she can collect candy. I let her have one night where she can ingest as much sugar as she likes, even if it does make her almost literally bounce off the walls.

Gigi wore an Ariel the Little Mermaid costume this past weekend. Her little seashell bikini top was actually quite a demure undertaking, since her entire top half was neck to wrist fabric in a flesh tone. She did not have a shoulder or belly button in sight. I cannot say the same for some of the other kids her age I spotted on Saturday night.

I saw a sexy witch and some belly-ringed “rock stars”. There were belly dancers and nurses in high heels. The odd part is that not one of the costumes I just named was on a little girl over the age of 6. I kid you not.

I saw pre-teens in French maid outfits and at least one girl who was barely in puberty, dressed in a Playboy bunny outfit. There were latex-looking dresses and other “sexy” stuff.

I was listening to an article on one of the cable news stations and the designers and retailers in the Halloween costume industry are BLAMING the parents, say we drive the sales, we buy them for own children and actually demand the styles.

Huh?

I’m a parent and I would never demand a sexy costume for my daughter. Once she turns 18, it will be her choice, but I won’t be walking into a store and shouting that I want a sexy costume for my girl.

Yikes. Who ARE these parents they are talking about??