Great sweet treat for those who need to watch their sugar intake.

1 egg white
1 Tablespoon cold water
1 Pound pecans
1 Cup splenda
1 Teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon Cinnamon

Beat 1 egg white and 1 tablespoon cold water together until frothy. Stir 1 pound of pecan halves into mixture.

In a separate bowl mix:
1 cup splenda
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon cinnamon

Stir pecan mixture into sugar mixture until will coated. Spread onto cookie sheet.
Bake at 275º for 45 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes.

Despite its dubious nutritional issues, I really do love the flavor of freshly cooked bacon, all crisp and hot. I rarely prepare it, though. I usually save bacon cooking for tomatoe season when we can make BTL sandwiches with garden fresh tomatoes and farm fresh bacon. Of course, our family has an odd way of making the BLT sandwiches which turns them into BEG sandwiches, for lack of a better term. We skip the lettuce and instead add a scrambled egg. It might sound odd, but it tastes divine and it is a massive burst of protein. Yum.

Anyway, my mom made bacon the old fashioned way when I was a kid. She made it in a skillet on the stove. She did have a cool splatter guard that not only contained the popping oil, but also kept the bacon from curling up. When microwaves were brand new in the marketplace, our family was one of the first to own one. Bacon was one the foods that was forever relegated to the microwave. She cooked it on a glass plate, laying flat between two pieces of paper towel. The paper towel prevented splatters and soaked up the bacon grease.

I’ve never been fond of either the stove top or microwave on a plate method. So, when I had the chance to try a new fully enclosed microwave bacon cooker, I jumped at the prospect. This handy little gadget lets you cook bacon in the microwave, eliminated 100% of the splatter and saves the bacon grease for you – which can come in handy if you want to add a little your green beans or baked beans for extra flavor. The CrispyClean® Bacon Broiler is the only gadget of its kind available – fully enclosed and splatter-free.

It looks like an unassuming plastic pitcher.

As you can see on the inside, though, once you unlock the levers and lift off the cover there are arms on which you can hang half a dozen slices of bacon. By hanging the bacon, you get an evenly cooked product in just about 30 seconds and all of the grease drips down and collect in the bottom of the unit. The best part of the process is that the entire contraption is dishwasher safe. That rocks.

I have room to store this little gadget, so it is completely worth my time and effort to cook my bacon with it. I think the benefit of how the bacon hangs and allows the fat to completely leave the meat is probably my biggest selling point. Healthy bacon might sound like an oxymoron, and turkey bacon just doesn’t make my grade, so this cooking method is hands down your best option if you want to use bacon in any of your meals.

The Hogans are up to their necks in press, and not all of it is good. This week we have new fodder for the fire. Linda Hogan (Bollea) submitted a new filing in her divorce case and is accusing Hulk Hogan of “legal shenanigans”. No really, that is what they are calling it. Legal shenanigans. Did her attorney go to school with the Lucky Charms Leprechaun?

The shenanigans of which she speaks are things like her allegation that Hulk tried to trick her into signing a post-nuptial agreement and hiding $10 million from a real estate transaction.

Linda Bollea filed for divorce in November and now she wants the judge to stop Terry Bollea (Hulk Hogan) from using the money from the sale of real estate and to freeze his assets.

This is getting juicy.

The post-nup and the home sale she refers to, though, are both things that happened back in August, before she filed for divorce. They occurred after their son, Nick Bollea, was in that horrific accident that incapacitated John Graziano.

Linda Bollea says actions taken by Terry Bollea back in August are what caused her to file for divorce. She called his actions “legal shenanigans.

She also admits that last year she removed $1.5 million from their accounts, but has not spent any of it.

So, is the Hulkster hiding money? Is he tying up money from trusts into LLCs? Is he reporting all of the money transactions, as he is required to do under the divorce proceeding? Let’s just assume that now that suspicions have been brought to light, someone will find out what is really happening.

Divorce is Florida can be relatively straight-forward, but you still have to settle up all of the assets so they can be split 50-50. The tough part is tracking them all down and agreeing that the list is complete. I know my ex hid money from the sale of our home as well as some freelance work he did and stock options that he sold. It was very difficult for me to get a hold of all of the information I needed and in the end, I know I just got the short end of the stick. However, I did get my daughter and that’s worth all the gold in the world.

It’s January. How many times this month have you already been asked how your resolutions are going? Holy cow. I’ve been deluged. Now, to be honest, this is the first year ever where I just relaxed and did not make any real resolutions. I just can’t handle the clichéd failing feeling.

But, let me tell you something just between you and me….and the several other hundred people who pass by here daily, according to my stats. In my heart of hearts, I still look at January as a time to sort of start over and I particularly look at it as a time to really try to work on my weight issues again. I used to have no problem with my weight, but then I had my daughter, and my divorce, and two subsequent moves. It’s been a rough road and my health has not been at the top of the list. So, here we are in January and although I do not like to call it a resolution, I suppose it really is.

Now, I know there is no miracle pill. And, if wishes were money,…yadda yadda yadda. When it comes down to it, the solution is exercise and a goal to achieve fast weight loss with healthy diet plans. I will add the stress to the word healthy!

Now, the year I had my daughter I joined Weight Watchers and I have to tell you, it works. I stuck to it as long as my family was willing to eat the food I prepared along with me. Once that willingness was gone, I got too flubbed up trying to cook separate meals and gave up. Still, the diet works and right now Weight Watchers has a 25% off coupon that expires at the end of the month. It’s a good deal.

I’ve heard good and bad things about so many of the popular plans and when it comes down to it, everyone has an individual plan that is right for their body, lifestyle, and desires. The Weight Loss Diet Help site is a good resource for discovering what might be right for you, because their focus is comparing the different popular plans. There are also helpful articles, like this one on how you can do small things to lose a pound a week. Do that for a year and you are looking at a loss of over 50 pounds.

So, like I said, it is January and my resolution to not have a resolution has likely failed. Maybe one for weight loss will succeed.

I’ve been putting off the applications for a couple of the charter schools in the county and I know that the lottery for admissions will start soon. I have no idea why I have been so slow to gather the paperwork I need, but it might be because the school I really like actually requires me to turn in everything I would give them if she were actually enrolling. That includes her birth certificate and immunization record. So, I have had to bop around gathering things.

If my daughter gets into one of the charter schools in the lottery this year, she will be able to attend at public school prices (free) and still; have a private school experience. I am focusing on two of the schools. They both have longer school days, because they incorporate additional curriculum, aside from the Sunshine State Standards. One school is an arts school and Gigi would have dance, art, and music weekly – if not daily. The other school teaches Greek and she would eventually come out bilingual. That would give her a leg up for the rest of her school career, so I am sort of hoping she gets into the Greek school, though I know that if I ask her she will choose the arts school.

The law here says that charter schools must hold a lottery for kindergarten admissions. That way, things are 100% fair. Cross your fingers, say a prayer, send good vibes, whatever it is you do in stressful situations. I want her to get into one of these schools.

I actually have her arts school application in already. I am going over to the Greek school this afternoon to turn in paperwork. And, there is one more school I MAY go see next week.

Now is a good time to be a girl. The world is wide open for women today and anything, absolutely anything, you want to do, and you can. No doubts, no ceilings, no strings. And the coolest part? Things are only going to get better.

I love that the barriers are coming down, particularly in the job world. I can’t think of anything girls can’t be. Women are soldiers, mechanics, forest rangers, and software engineers. And then, most of them also come home and are moms on top of everything else. Try that one on for size, boys!

The most empowering part of my life is being a mom and supporting myself and my daughter on my own, with my own sweat, education and energy. Because I am so independent and confident, I can see daily the traits that my daughter is assimilating and it feels GOOD! I am raising a happy, confident daughter who loves being a girl and knows she is strong enough to help herself.

Girl Mogul is a website with products that encourage and celebrate the girls, the women, the females that are strong and forward thinking. They have a cool shirt I am going to order for my daughter, to keep her inspired: Future Rocket Scientist. I included a picture of the graphic in this post.

It’s not a good time to have a house on the market in the Tampa Bay area. I get itchy every single time I think about how long my house might sit unsold. If it were not for my recent divorce, I surely would not go anywhere near the housing market right now, not even to buy.

As of last month, the median home price in the area fell 14%. Homes sales fell 32%. Both of these are as compared to the same period last year.

Although other areas in the country are seeing a slow up rise in their housing markets, the situation in the Tamp Bay area is not projected to have a rebound until sometime in 2009. Yikes.

This is the worst things have been since 1982.

It’s a bad time to sell, for obvious reasons. And, although some people say now is the time to buy, things are only going to get more dire so the really great deals are actually further down the road.

I had a lot of fun before Christmas with Overstock.com’s All I Want for Christmas Giveaway. So, I am tickled pink to see that they are starting a Game O Love on their website, just in time for Valentine’s Day. The promotion is running from January 25th to February 11th and you can register to win gifts for all the loves in your life.

If you go on over to the site now, you can enter your e-mail address so Overstock can send you a reminder when the game goes live.

My personal gift list for Valentine’s Day is a little different than it has been in years past. I am a happily divorced Mommy and my heart and soul are both focused on the love of my life – my daughter. I’m a pushover for giving her things she wants and Valentine’s Day is yet another excuse for me to check another item off her long life of gimmes.

My mother recently decided to learn how to play the guitar and Gigi has seen her grandmother practicing, so she decided she would also like a guitar. She specified, however, that her guitar should be pink. Well, look at what I found on Overstock! A pink guitar with a heart-shaped sound hole. Perfect for Valentine’s Day, wouldn’t you agree? I’ve got it on my list now and it is to be my first Game O Love entry.

Young runaways are a subsection of our population that my hearts aches for on a regular basis. As a mother, it is always in the back of my mind that I could find myself facing a missing child one day. It’s a heart breaking prospect.

Eleven-year old Kacee Pape is missing from his Tampa, Florida home. It is feared that he may have run away. Despite that speculation, a child away from home is still at risk and his case should be taken as seriously as any other missing child case.

He was last seen at home 8 a.m. Monday. He is 5’1” and about 90 pounds with brown hair and brown eyes. He was last seen wearing an orange sweatshirt and blue jeans.

Anyone with information about the boy’s whereabouts is asked to call the sheriff’s office at (813) 247-8200 or Crime Stoppers at 800-873-8744.

I’ve lived in or near large cities all my life, save for the few years I was in college in a small West Virginia town. I was born and raised in the Washington, DC area. I live near Tampa, Florida now. Traffic is just a part of daily life.

As much as I appreciate having traffic cops at the ready for things like accidents and tracking dangerous drivers, I am absolutely not charmed when I drive by and see a speed trap. Who is? I suppose I see more worth in that same officer being out and about patrolling potential aggressive drivers than just sitting on the side of the road radaring passing cars.

Have you heard of Trapster(TM) Speed Trap Sharing System for Mobile Phones? It’s an ingenious system for your mobile phone. If you see a speed trap, you can simply press a button on your phone to port the location. Then, as other drivers using the service get ready to pass the same trap, they will receive a beep on their phone to alert them. How cool is that?

Best of all, the whole thing is free. And, it works in real time.

You can download the free program to your cell phone for the best results, or you can just opt to participate by calling in reports to a toll free number and receiving alerts via SMS.

So, how is Trapster different from all of the other speed trap notification sites? Its location based and as I said before, it works in real time. And, it’s not just for speed traps. It is also for speed cameras and other road hazards. Again, in real time.

Our local news here in the Tampa Bay area is never boring, that’s for sure. We have our fair share of celebrity hijinks, interesting criminal cases, and tropical weather to keep us busy. Today’s biggest news here is the word that Mike Alstott has officially ended his NFL career. Alstott has been heralded as the most popular player ever to play for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers franchise.

Alstott was sidelined for a full year due to a neck injury. He’s been with the Bucs for 12 years and has seen them go from obscurity to Superbowl champs and has often commented that not being able to play lately has been hard on his spirits.

Word on the street is that Alstott may continue to work for the Bucs in the front office or in a coaching role.

The landing page is far from dead. In fact, marketing experts agree that a properly optimized landing page is akin to a 30-second commercial for your website. Your site’s landing page is one of the best ways to accurately track pay-per-click (PPC) advertising returns and the all important business leads.

Marketbright is conducting a Webinar that will showcase:

• Fundamentals of landing page creation and design
• Optimization of Google for landing pages
• Tips and strategies for optimizing landing pages for maximum click-through

Register for the webinar now.

::: ::: :::

 Press Release:

SAN BRUNO, CA–(Marketwire – January 22, 2008) – Marketbright, the only on-demand integrated online marketing and web content management platform, will host a Webinar on Thursday, January 31st, on Landing Pages 101. Landing Pages have quickly become the 30-second commercial spot of digital marketing, and their importance in tracking pay-per-click (PPC) return on investment and capturing critical lead information cannot be understated.

Members of the public are invited to attend the Webinar. Attendees will learn:

– Fundamentals of landing page creation and design

– Optimization of Google for landing pages

– Tips and strategies for optimizing landing pages for maximum click-through

WHO: Kevin Miller – Director, Client & Business Development

WHAT: Landing Pages 101 – Best Practices for Leveraging Landing Pages

WHEN: Thursday, January 31st, 2008, at 11:00am PT, 2:00pm ET

WHERE: To register to attend the Webinar, please visit:
http://www.marketbright.com/pages/partners/mktb/jan-31-2008-webinar/index.html?Campaign_Id=11781&Activity_Id=9701

A replay of the Webinar will also be available after January 31st at
http://www.marketbright.com/pages/partners/mktb/jan-31-2008-webinar/index.html?Campaign_Id=11781&Activity_Id=9701

About Marketbright
Marketbright provides an on demand marketing automation solution which allows companies to implement self-service campaign execution and demand generation, automate lead scoring and nurturing, and to gain visibility into closed-loop campaign-to-cash metrics via real-time dashboards. The integrated marketing platform results in a full 360-degree view of your customers’ interactions, and this information is used to route only valuable, qualified leads into your sales CRM. Marketbright’s customers include Business Objects, Varonis and EVault. Marketbright is headquartered in San Bruno, CA. For more information, visit the company’s Web site at www.marketbright.com.

Reality TV is still a trend on the upswing, and thus far shows about tattoo parlors have done quite well: L.A. Ink, Miami Ink and London Ink to name a few. So, how about Tampa Ink?

At first glance the new Tampa Ink might sound like the other tattoo themed reality shows out there, but producer Mike Cooper has a whole other direction in mind for his show. He wants the show to highlight a scholarly look at tattoos as art and history.

Cooper is a charter boat captain and has produced local fishing shows. Tampa Ink is his newest project. The show will show the bulk of its action in Addicted 2 Tattoos, Lenny Welch’s shop on North Florida Avenue in Tampa, Florida.

Welch has been designing and giving tattoos for 15 years. She is a graduate of the University of South Florida with a major in fine arts. She has a background in graphic design and dreams of one day opening a state certified school for tattoo artists.

Do you want to get some ink in front of the camera? You can go to the Addicted 2 Tattoos web site and fill out an application.

Cooper is still looking for a national cable channel to carry the show.

Though the concept is not new, the push to enroll affiliates in the Net Audio Ads program is a current internet trend. I did sign up for the program. I will be up front about that. I plan on testing it on one of my medium traffic websites to see how I feel about the ads and the monetary results. I have come across several reputable websites using the ads and I have to admit they are impressively unobtrusive.

If you are looking for a way to monetize your website, blog, or social networking page, think about giving over some time to investigate the use of audio ads. You add a bit of code to each page where you want the ads to appear and a short 5-second audio clip then pays up on page load. Instead of only getting paid if a customer clicks on an ad or performs an action, you get paid for 100% of your traffic.

The rush people are in to get signed up is because there is an affiliate program that is open for all who sign up through February 1. After that, you can still enroll in the program and host the ads. Since I am already signed up, I am by default part of the affiliate program. I’m not pushing for sign ups yet, but if the program turns out to be a big money maker, I will certainly shout it from the rooftops, so to speak.

What a roller coaster it has been in Florida lately when it comes to Allstate Insurance. First, the Florida insurance commissioner banned Allstate from selling new auto insurance policies in the state after the insurance company refused to turn over documents the state had requested. Then, a judge overturned that decision, allowing the arrogant company to go ahead cherry picking policies.

And now more of the details are coming to light. It seems some of those documents the state requested and Allstate does not want to reveal are called McKinsey documents, so called because they were drafted in the early 1990s by the consulting firm McKinsey & Co. Supposedly, they prove that Allstate has been purposefully low-balling claims offers to its customers for years, and earning billions of dollars in the process.

Florida now is demanding the documents from Allstate and other insurers in an investigation of the companies’ business practices. Word is that the insurance companies are working together in the way they handle claims and let’s just say it is never in the best interest of the customers.

Allegedly, the documents outline the concept of the Allstate strategy called the “fast-track” settlement offer. Using this strategy, Allstate would offer insurance claimants a very low offer during the first 90 days after an auto accident, because typically it is within the first 90 days that people are the most in need of money and likely to accept a low-ball offer.

Sneaky, huh? That is just one of many ways outlined in the document that would make it so customers are paying for coverage they would never actually get. Allstate says the reason they do not want people to see the document is that it contains trade secrets. What do you want to bet they just don’t want the public tp see how they methodically cheat people?

Interestingly, McKinsey & Co. also developed other documents for Allstate involving homeowners insurance. It bears asking, what else is Allstate trying to hide from us?

It amazes me how much money insurance companies spend in trying to figure out ways around actually paying out claims to their loyal customers. Allstate is not the only company cheating their customers. Common sense tells you this.