Inaugural Ball Pictures

Don't they look stunning, and happy. I love a ball. You get all dressed up, and feel like Cinderella, for a night. Congratulations to President, and Mrs Obama, and Vice President, and Mrs Biden. I had the Inauguration on through out the day, and saw bits, and pieces of it. I saw a little bit of the 10 Balls that were on last night. I really do not think, with the economy the way it is, that 10 Balls necessary. One sad story, that occured yesterday, was Senator Ted Kennedy had a seizure, and had to be taken to the hospital. Reports are, is he is doing better, and will probably go home today.


Lesson Plans for 1/22/09:

Reading: Read chapter 8 of Dolphins at Daybreak
Language Arts: Parts of speech, punctuation
Math: Multipliation, division, estimating
Writing: Robin Hood wants you to join his team. What special talent will you bring to the group?
Health: Exercising your mind- emotions
Spelling: Put your spelling words in alphabetical order
Vocabulary: Write each vocab word, and the definition, two times each
Spanish: Food and utensils 3

Finances Tight This Year? Kmart Offers An Awesome Layaway Plan

Like many Americans, this year, finances are tight, and people are worried about Christmas this year. Lucky for all of us Kmart Lay-Away Kmart offers a awesome Layaway plan.

If you click the link, you can go and see if your local Kmart offers the layaway service. The closest one to me, is in Winter Springs, which is two hours away. I wish my local Gainesville, Kmart offered layaway, because I would use it for sure. Kmart is the only large retail store, that still offers a layaway service. Other stores like Walmart, have done away with it, for reasons I do not understand. If I could use the layaway service, I would put this cute Fur Real Friends Horse, on layaway for my daughter. She would absolutely love this, but I can not afford to fork over 300 dollars for it.

Layaway is simple, you pick the items you want, like the horse above. You take your items back to the Layaway desk. They ask you some basic information, you pay a small start up fee, to hold your items. You agree to make a payment at least every two weeks, and after 8 weeks, you pick your items up, take them home, wrap them, and put them under the tree. Simple, convenient, and a life saver in a touch economy. Of course you could use their Layaway service any time of the year, not just for Christmas. Right now, on their website they are offering 99 cent shipping, on toys, and free shipping on clothing. Maybe next year, I will get lucky, and the Kmart in Gainesville will offer a Layaway service. That would be awesome, especially I start shopping in August. Take advantage of this great oppurtunity, and check to see if your local Kmart offers the layaway service.

My Top 10 Entrecard Droppers, Daylight Savings Time

We went trick or treating last night, and I was surprised, there was maybe 1/4 of the homes passing out candy, compared to last year. Not that I mind, my children never eat all their candy anyway. I am curious though, if it was because people just could not spare all that extra money, to give candy to about 300 children. It can be very expensive.

It is the 1st and of course that means, it is time to say thank you to my top 10 Entrecard droppers. Please stop by and visit all these wonderful blogs.

http://www.smalltownmommy.com
http://california.today.com/
http://parentinglife.today.com
http://grow-your-own-vegetables.blogspot.com
http://registryeditor.blogspot.com
http://wood-gas.blogspot.com
http://www.moneysavingpro.com
http://www.slamblogger.com
http://new-orleans-food.com/
http://newsvids.blogspot.com

We have had a crazy busy week, and next week will be too. With the holidays approaching, Caitlins last day of preschool at the Library, was yesterday. It will resume in January. As I previously stated, Friday the 7th we are going on a field trip to the Ocean, hopefully to find seashells. I was wondering what would we do with them, after we found them. Yesterday, while Caitlin was in her class, I found my answer. I was looking at a craft book, and they had the coolest Christmas tree topper, you could make out of sea shells. Hopefully we will find enough to do it.

Five Warning Signs That You May Be Laid Off

I found these, warning signs, in my local Sunday newspaper. Whether or not they are accurate, they are certainly interesting. My husband, and I decided last week, for me to cut back two nights a week, at my job, as signs were indeed pointing to me being cut anyway. As I am only per diem, and they have cut everyones overtime, and hours, I felt it was only soon to be my turn. I have seniority, and is probably the only reason it did not happen sooner. We figured we could easier plan for the money loss, ahead rather than just having it dumped on us all of a sudden. So here are the 5 warning signs:

1- Others are losing their jobs. Here in Florida, I do not see where jobs are ever stable, unless you are fortunate enough to get a state job. I have blogged about this before, but with the economy in Florida as terrible as it is, more jobs are being lost every day.

2- Hiring Freeze- I work in the medical industry, so a hiring freeze, is not really pertinent, but they can cut back their staffing to the bare minimum that is legal, and yes they have done that as have most medical facilities.

3- Training budgets cut, projects slow down- Ha that is laughable, this company does not offer such luxuries, but I do know Construction is basically at a stand still in Florida, and companies are cutting their benefits left and right.

4- Office gossip- I am not quite sure how this is a warning sign, as there is always gossip, at least as long as I have been in the work force.

5- Company is missing targets- The company I work for only has one target, to make money and spend the least amount of money. I am pretty sure they have met this target. However there are a lot of companies that have not. They are hurting for sales, especially in construction, auto industry, retail, and dining out.

They do say, that if you think you will be laid off, it might not be a bad idea to try to work out something with your company. Maybe an incentive package, that could hold you over why you look for another job. Plus going back to school, and getting a trade in some of the areas that are not hurting right now. Personally I am not sure what those industries are, so I can not help there.

There is only 24 hrs to get in the contest to win the 10 dollars, and free 90 text link. I have had tons of entries, way more than I expected, and have decided to use Random.org to draw the winner. It would take me forever to write up, and tear tiny pieces of paper, for the number of entries I got. Thank you, and good luck to all of you that entered.

Lesson Plans for 10/29/08:

One note, my husband seems to have thrown out the balloons for the paper mache pumpkins, so they will be done later this week.

Writing: Write about the adventures of a Scarecrow
Reading: Write book report for Mummies in the Morning
Social Studies: Halloween themed unit, Idaho
Math: Money, division, multiplication
Language Arts: Phonics review, verbs past and present
Spelling: Lesson 9 write each word, and circle the consonants
Vocabulary: Lesson 9, think of a Synonym for each vocabulary word
Spanish- Food and utensils

700 Billion Dollars Are You Kidding Me, Halloween Fudge

I have tried really hard, not to talk about the Economy, and Politics, however since they are going hand in hand right now, I cant help it. First let me start by saying, I had heard, that it was actually Bill Clinton, that started all this spiral downwards. Since I just dont take anyones word for it, I did some research. It is true Clinton is the one, who signed the bill, at the end of his last term, that allowed the banks to have things to their advantage. He could have vetoed it, he didnt. He could have requested changes, he did not. I feel since, it was the end of his term, he figured I will just let it go through, despite the warnings that it would take 8-10 years to totally screw up the markets, and screw the American people. 1999-2008 hmm excactly 8 yrs, and look what is happening. To view the article, I read go to http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/stories/1999/11/12/banking.reform/index.html There are several articles on the topic, that can easily be found on the web. Now let me say the two legislators, who proposed the law, later went on to become CEO's of these investment banks, and made millions if not billions of dollars. Hmm no wonder they wanted it. How many of these legislators, including McCain and Obama have made millions of dollars, off of the tax payers, and the unknowing consumer, that had no say over these unscrupulous laws, that only protected the rich, and made them richer. I can not even begin to tell you how angry I am at both Democrats, and Republicans. It is an election year, and in my opinion they should all be fired, period. Change the banking laws back, and put some regulation into all these dealings that go one behind closed doors. I really would like to know what our candidates have invested in, made money off of, and who exactly is lobbying for them, because I dont trust a single one of them.

Now lets talk about the bail out/loan, whatever you want to call it. I have posted before, that I do not agree with this. These banks should just fail, lose their money, and start over. I dont think tax payers should be bailing them out of their risky, unscrupulous acts. Now of course, legislators, want to add more to the bail out/loan such, as bail outs for the auto industry, bail outs for defaulters of credit cards, homeowners who knowingly bought homes they knew they couldnt afford to get rewritten mortgages so they can afford said luxury home, are you kidding me. This is absurd, why should Americans bail out any of these issues? Alot of Americans have had bad debts, some filed bankruptcy, some spent years and years paying it off, why should any of us just give ones who didnt take care of their bad debt, a free handout. This is absurd, and I am completely and totally against this.700 Billion Dollars, are you kidding me. How will they pay for this, how will they get the money for this, and why should we be forced to pay for this? When will it end, it might not even work, please this is ridiculous.

Now on a lighter note, here are some nice Halloween recipes, to make for your little ones to enjoy. If you click on the picture, it will come up to full size, so you can print it, enjoy.

Lesson Plans for 9/25/08:

Reading: Read Chapter 4 of The Knight At Dawn
Health: Brushaway Plaque
PE: 30 minutes
Spelling: Place your spelling words in alphabetical order
Vocabulary: Write each vocab word, and defintion 2 times each
Math: Multiplication, addition, subtraction, problem solving
Language Arts: Phonics review, pronouns, suffixes
Writing: Write a paragraph that describes what you look like
Word Search: Dinosaurs

Economy, Finance, Stock Market, Cute Pencil Holder Craft

Tomorrow is test day, so I do not have a lesson plan to post. So I get to talk about some other topics, instead.

What does everyone think about the US government, bailing out or giving bridge loans, to big Wallstreet investment banks? I know if they dont do something, the economy will supposedly fall completely apart. I am not sure I believe that, nor am I sure it is fair for US taxpayers, to have to pay for people who do high risk investments, and even borderline legal dealings. I think they should just be allowed to fail, and pick up the pieces wherever they may fall. Taxpayers will pay, no matter which road they take. I dont think paying these CEO's who themselves, and their companies, have become extremely rich, through their dealings, should continue to get big fat pay checks, while we the taxpayers pay for it. I think it is just plain wrong. My husband has a 401K, through his job. Thank goodness, he only had a very small amount of it invested, in the Stock Market. I hate to think how much money, the average person has lost, through the dealings of these big investment companies.

Here is the craft project, for your little ones to try. It is to make a pencil, or crayon holder. Feel free to print, and use it as you wish. We are not making ours, exactly as shown, my kids picked some other decals they wanted to use instead. So it is versatile, and you can tweek it as you see fit.