I’m not really a hunting or shooting kinda girl. I don’t own guns. But, I do n=know how to shoot. My dad has an impressive collection of antique war weaponry, most of which has been handed down over the generations in our family. Also, he has been a member of the Izaak Walton League of America for as long as I can remember. The League is one of the nation’s oldest conservation organizations.

The local chapter where I grew up had a lot of land where we could camp, fish, hike, and plan t a whole lot of trees. The guys were also very into target and skeet shooting. Dad was a range officer, and he took my sister and I out to the range more times than I can count.

Now that dad lives on a big plot of his own land, he likes to do a little bit of target practice there. He often uses air guns for the target shooting and when I visit, I’d love it if he had something smaller on hand (like a BAM B40 Air Rifle) that I could use so we could spend some time together on the targets. Really, as far as shooting goes as a sport, I’m all for it. There is a lot to say about the skill it takes to develop accuracy at a long range.

I’m just spending some time tonight poking around on the Pyramid Air Gun Mall website. So many models! I get overwhelmed. I think tomorrow I will call my dad on Skype and have him browse along with me. I have to go to the master if I want to make the right decisions.

Cool thing about the Pyramid site: they give a 5% off coupon to customers for finding a mistake on PyramydAir.com. Talk about a cool way to get more than a few new sets of eyes.

I’ve been amazed by the national crisis that has broken out over Hannah Montana tickets. The first time tour for this Disney character (who is really Miley Cirus) hit the news wires, it was due to the fact that tickets for her shows had sold out faster than most any show ever in most locations. It was revealed that a majority were snapped up by massive ticker resellers who were using software to hoard the inventory. Parents immediately began to complain about the prices they would need to pay if they wanted to take their kids to the concerts. What it amounted to for most parents was skipping the concert or pay a scalper.

I agree that the situation is sad. It may also mean that venues that are technically sold out will actually have empty seats come concert time.

Now I am hearing about contests all over the nation where parents are doing crazy stuff in order to win tickets for their children. Right here in the Tampa area, 20 parents are holding out to be the last one touching a 12-foot Hannah Montana in order to win four tickets to the Best of Both Worlds concert tour, backstage passes and $5,000. The concert is November 19 at the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa.

The Hannah Monstrosity contest is being held by the “MJ Morning Show” on WFLZ. It began this morning at 7:57 and will last until Nov. 18, the day before concert. I’m seriously curious to see if parents will hold out that long. They get as 12-minute break every three hours.

Seems to me is all about bladder control and the ability to tune out the rest of the world. Might be a great time for some of the busy moms to get in some serious daydreaming.

I love my daughter. I do. I really do. But, I am pretty sure I would not endure such a contest simply for concert tickets. I want to teach Gigi to have a handle on priorities and what is a wise trade-off for something you want. I personally believe that no concert ticket is worth that much.

Working from home is something I am trying to make a more solid part of my life. I have finances in flux right now, but I keep looking for ways to expend my time home with my daughter. I’m a single mom now and I feel that giving my daughter time with ME is far more valuable than us living a cushier lifestyle right now. As long as we have the things we need, we’re fine. I suppose that will hold true until she hits her teens and the shoes she wants all cost $100+.

Anyway, I have a couple of small things I do to supplement my income. I am also working hard to make contacts at local private schools in hopes of securing a part-time, tailor made position where I can use my teaching background. Nonetheless, I am constantly examining new work-at-home options.

If you found this article because you Googled WAH opportunities, then you’ll be pleased that I am actually going to talk about a solid lead. This isn’t just me musing about my desire to make money from home.

I’m looking over the website for Courtney Raymond Consultants right now and they have openings for recruiters. They are the top national recruiting firm for Merrill Lynch. A lot of work-at-home opportunities end up having up-front costs built in to obtaining the job. As it stands, the unique opportunity with Courtney Raymond Consultants comes with nothing to buy, free training, and all of your leads are given to you at no cost. It’s just like any other recruiting job, but they hire people to work from their homes.

If you want more information about their positions, check out their website. You can either call the number listed or upload your resume via their online forms.

I do not live in a small town. I actually live in a sweeping metropolitan area. I can go days without seeing someone I know when I am out shopping and doing errands. It’s not like when I lived up in Gainesville and everywhere I went, I saw at least one person I knew from church, school, MOPs, or the neighborhood.

So, why is it that when I make a special point of driving out of the way to pick up coffee and a breakfast pastry at a little bakery I have to run into my ex-husband? What in the world is wrong with the universe that he would be in the same out-of-the-way location at the same time? — especially when he should have been at work by then.

It’s enough to make me not want to leave the house, people.

I’m not a great fan of the typical Top 40 music genre. Since I was a young teen growing up outside of Washington, DC I have loved digging in and finding great local independent bands to support. Unsigned is not a term synonymous with a lack of talent. It just means a performer or a band is as of yet undiscovered by the powers that be at a label. That doesn’t stop me from seeking them out, though. I often find that my taste in music doesn’t always gel with what the recording industry is trying to tell me is hot at any given moment, anyway.

Since we are in the age of the internet, it’s easier than ever to find new, unsigned bands. I still like to actually get out there and check out local independent artists in venues all around the Tampa Bay area, but I’m in no position to visit the dive bars of every city across our nation.

That’s why I really appreciate website like Unsigned.com. The site is a hub where unsigned music artists can put their work out their work out there for the world to hear. As a matter of state pride, I’m happy to mention Unsigned.com is a Florida company. Leave it to fellow Floridians to find an innovative way for musicians to reach out and expand their audience.

If I had to choose one genre to claim as my favorite, I think I would take the catch-all “Indie” genre. Some of the freshest sounds come out of the indie movement and there is usually no pressure for a band to sound one way or another. The badge of courage is to find a new sound and run with it. Happily, Unsigned has tons of bands in the “Indie” category.

Many parts of our country are under strict water restrictions. I cannot remember a time recently where we did not have a once a week lawn watering where in my area of Florida. Local authorities say that although our current restrictions are set to run out, the the laws may be extended or even tightened.

As hard at things seem here, I think about Orme, Tennessee. Natural water source levels there are so low that the town had access to water only three hours each evening; from 6 pm to 9 pm. The 145 residents rely on water trucked in from Alabama.
Imagine having only three hours for the laundry, bathing, doing housework, watering animals and absolutely anything else that requires running water.

I hope this will be a lesson to the people in my neighborhood who feel it is their right to water 3 times a week as long as they do it on the sly in the middle of the night. Or, for the businesses who water as they wish. Running out of water is a very real possibility in some areas.