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I just had the garage door replaced today. I had an older door that swung up and out and I wanted one that went along tracks inside the garage. While I was at it, I went ahead and purchased a door with hurricane supports. It’s nice and strong now.

Of course, now I’m looking around the garage and I want to install some more shelving and things to better organize the stuff we store in the garage. Since nobody in this house, except Gigi, really needs anything for Christmas, I’ve decided that Santa is bringing cheer to the garage this year!

I find some of the best prices for things by shopping online, and I accomplish that by buying from sites that not only have great prices and free or reduced shipping, but also online coupon codes.

Never shop online without coupon codes. I just hopped on over to Coupon Chief and found several new Ace Hardware coupons that were added today. You can get $20 off of a $100 purchase or $10 off of a $50 purchase – effectively 20% off. That one is not to be missed.

I also found a Container Store sale code for 25% off of shelving. Well, that’s just what we need for the garage!

It is seriously worth your time to look around for coupons before ever buying online. Take my word for it. I get the best deals this way.

Here in the U.S., we have had a lot of emotional situations with trapped miners. Now the South African Press Association reports that over 3,000 miners are trapped in a gold mine in Carletonville, South Africa. Right now they have access to water and air. The lift that is needed to hoist them out of the mine is not operating, but is expected to be running in the next two hours. Evacuations could take 10 hours.

It seems to me that while miners work an absolutely necessary job, their conditions are not maintained to the extent that they should be. In the South African mine. There is no emergency exit in the shaft, which had “not been maintained for ages,” according to mineworkers union spokesman Lesiba Seshoka.

All over the world, mining conditions need to be seriously examined and changes need to be made to ensure a safer working environment. No one will dispute that humans are needed to mine coal and metals and diamonds, but why should they have to endure such unstable safety while on the job?

I’ve always thought of Colorado as a place to visit rather than a place to live. I have an old friend from high school who is a Denver real estate agent and sometimes she sends me listings to try and entice me to move there. Clever thing, that girl. The properties are always tempting. But I am an East Coast girl to the core.

What got me to thinking about this is my dad just sent me some old pictures he found from a trip he took to Estes Park. I’d post some, but they are actually prints he sent in the mail. I’m not in a position to scan them right now. ? He went during the summer one year and the pictures he sent were taken from the open door of his hotel room. In the distance you can see mountains capped with snow. That sounds wonderful right about now.

It also makes me think about an old boyfriend who would tell me stories about when he lived in Denver. He and some friends decided to take off for the peaks one 4th of July to play in the snow. He told me that story while we were melting from the July heat in West Virginia watching the annual fireworks on the river. It made me crave a cold beer.

We have another hot day here in Florida. Picturing snow capped mountains actually does help cool me off as I sit here next to the oscillating fan.

There are lots of new additions to the Girly Things free hairbow instructions site:

• Michelle Cooper shows you how to make Christmas Tree Clippies, Turkey Clippies, Pumpkin Clippies, and Penguin Clippies.
• Mary Kalwite contributed instructions for an Interchangeable Headband.
• Notes on setting up your very own website.

Please check out Girly Things.

Upcoming additions will include:
Quad Color Bow
Tails Down Bow
Braided Headbands
and more…

I hear it all of the time. The women I mentor as they begin the journey to starting small businesses have an easy time of coming up with a business plan and even a business name, but they get stopped cold in their tracks when it comes time to put together a logo.

Your logo design is important, because it is a visual representation of everything your company represents. It should be unique and simple and very easy to remember. Don’t mess with too many colors or a busy graphic, because you will just overwhelm the senses. Keep it simple, so to speak.

I found an online service is perfect for those of you who do not have graphic know-how, but are still interested in Do It Yourself logo design. Logo Yes walks you through the steps to create your own logo. You choose the fonts, the colors, and even the graphic and layout. You use their tools to bring to life the concept in your mind. Or, if you are stuck for ideas, you will find that browsing through their categorized graphics will give you tons of inspiration.

I can design a logo myself with their system in minutes. In fact, I went ahead and took advantage of their offer to play with the logo design software for free and came up with this simple design for a pool company.

 

Once you feel happy with the design you have created, you can purchase the file for a nominal price. You will receive it in a format that allows for flawless resizing as well as use in a black and white document.

You can also purchase business card, postcard, brochure, and launch kit designs that incorporate your new logo. Again, I find these prices reasonable in comparison to the design market.

If you have the knowledge and software to design your own logo without using a service, then all the better. I have seen all too often, though, logos that use too many colors, hard-to-read fonts and low resolution images that pixilated when resized. Just grabbing a graphic off the internet and using it for print work is not a professional approach. You will end up with blurry images and sloppy looking business materials. You need to work with vector images that resize without compromising quality.

I have to admit I did not read S.E. Hinton’s book “The Outsiders” until the weekend after I saw the movie, opening night in 1983. I remember being breathless, over both the story and the cast. I still have my old copy of the book.
S.E. (Susan Eloise) Hinton wrote “The Outsiders” while she was a high school student in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Though it seems to contain wisdom beyond her years, the books also cuts right to the soul of adolescence. The issue of gang membership is at the heart of the book. The battle is between the upper class “Socs” and the lower class “greasers”, but a lot of the emotions that run so high in the novel are mirrored in today’s gangs.
“The Outsiders” was published in 1967. Her publisher suggested she use the name S.E. Hinton to avoid scrutiny as a female author. Somehow, you cannot imagine that being an issue 40 years later.
According to Viking, a division of Penguin Group USA, “The Outsiders” has sold more than 13 million copies and still sells more than 500,000 a year. While many of her fans would love to see a new novel by Hinton, she admits that bringing back the type of stories she wrote when she was younger would be difficult, because she cannot muster up the same intensity. That speaks volumes about the author and the story. “The Outsiders” and the other books Hinton wrote when she was young all breathed the very essence of her own youth.
Hinton is still writing, though her current project a paranormal suspense, which seems more appropriate after all these years. Some of the best books for young adults are actually written by young adults, as best they should be.

I feel breathless now, just thinking about the emotions I felt while reading “The Outsiders” when I was 13 and seeing the movie. Even now, I’m pretty sure that kind of raw reaction is something I have not felt since.

I know there has been a lot of talk about certain breeds of dogs lately, in light of the Michael Vick incident. There has been raging debate about pit bulls, in particular. Some day the dogs are only aggressive and deadly if they are bred to be that way. Others say that that the breed is dangerous by nature.

I’m not entirely sure of my stance on the issue. I have never owned a pit bull. I’m a little wary of them, I will admit. Here is a story, though, that might sway me to the side of believing the dogs are dangerous by nature.

Tina Marie Canterbury of Middleburg, Florida was killed by two redbone pit bull terriers she had raised since their births. Apparently, she was walking to her back yard when the dogs attacked her. Her son tried to intervene, but the dogs also attacked him.

One dog was subsequently shot by a neighbor. The other ran away, but was recovered and killed by authorities.

Police say there is no sign of abuse or dog fighting in the home.

Granted, there is very little in the way of details for this story, but it still spooks me. I have only ever owned a Maltese and a Greyhound and they were both docile and submissive. Even if they had attacked, I would have been able to overpower either of them. I would be reluctant to share my home with more powerful animals.

I am very, very fortunate to live close to family. When I need to be somewhere that I cannot take my daughter, I can get my mom or my sister or my daughter’s father to spend time with her. I always feel secure about leaving her and she feels safe as well. When I lived in Gainesville, I did not live near family, but we were absolutely blessed to have some best friends right across the street that had five children, three of which were old enough to come across the street and baby sit. Their parents were always available to back them up and their dad is a local pediatrician, so that was a double-blessing. There are just so many parents out there who have to make do with the best they can find when they have to go to work or perhaps to night classes. My friend, April, lives in Australia and she used a service to find a Brisbane babysitter. I might add that she had much success. I know we have similar agencies and finder services in the U.S.

I know my own mother did not have the same luxuries when I was small. She and my dad either opted to stay home, or she had to trust the recommendations of a neighbor as to which of the teens on our street were good babysitters. My sister and I were always safe and in the end, I realize we were fortunate.

My old neighborhood kept a directory of available sitters on our association website. Many churches also have a list of available sitters in their directory or on a bulletin board. I was part of a MOPS (Mothers of Pre Schoolers) group back in Gainesville and we often just sat for one other’s children. The neighbor I mentioned before told me when she was a young mother back in Texas; she got some neighbors together and formed a babysitting co-op.

My best advice is to keep your pool of sitters either close to your circle of friends and family, or make sure you have access to a good background check on the care provider you choose. Use extra diligence and you will cut dangers off at the pass, more often than not.

Yes, this is all on my mind due to the posts I have been writing this week about the abducted teen.

This morning I heard an official from Hillsborough County Schools (Tampa and surrounding) say that in elementary schools with 500 to 700 students, they are lucky is 15 parents show up for classes on internet safety.

Parents, how seriously are you considering the epidemic of online predators?

Your children are in real danger if they surf the net alone. Chat rooms and social networking sites are very popular with teens, because the social aspects of the internet are what they enjoy the most. I can understand that. The predators understand it as well, though. Those looking to exploit the trusting nature of children are becoming increasingly aggressive. Your kid does not have to be a “bad kid” to fall for the ministrations of an adult looking for sexual gratification or other criminal activity.

I am of the personal belief that it is not out of the question to track the movements of your child online. There is software you can use to do this and it seems to me that it is a great safety net to have in place. Of course, ideally you would want to have the sort of relationship with your child that allows open conversation and supervised internet time, but that cannot always be a reality.

A lesson should be taken after this week’s abduction of a 15-year-old Florida girl by a 46-year-old sex offender with a violent criminal history. The man is still at large and armed with a handgun, according to the girl (who is safely home with her family).

If you are going to allow your child to have a MySpace page, please encourage them to add myspace.com/kidscomefirstnc as a friend. This is an internet watchdog entity and can act as a layer of protection for your child. In the very least, having this as one of the top friends may deter a predator.