Great Gift Idea Monogram Photo Letters

I found this great idea on-line and wanted to make it for a certain person for Christmas, so Heather, if you are reading this....PLEASE LEAVE MISSY, lol.  The link to the original post the crafter put up is broken now, so I can't credit her post, or find her again, but I will walk you through it, it's super easy.

Here is a list of what you will need:

1 letter, I used a 22 inch paper mache letter, but you can choose smaller or wood, makes no difference.  $10
1 bottle 2 oz of black (or whatever color you like) paint.  I bought Apple Barrel gloss black. $1
1 8 oz Mod Podge (uses very little so if you already have some, use it). $5
1 Spray can of Krylon Low Odor Clear Finish (uses very little so if you already have some, use it).  $8
1 printer with black ink and paper loaded
Paint brush
Foam brush

So if you already have your printer, paint brush and foam brush, you pay full price for the above it will cost around $24.  Prices are as of today, November 14, 2011 and will vary from store to store.

Go get the letter of your choice.  There just happens to be a coupon for this week (Nov 13th - 18th 2011) at Joann's where I found mine, 50% off....WooHoo.  You can also purchase everything else there.  Have your significant other, kids, whoever you can find print out a coupon and go through the line for you as well and you can make this for around $12 or so.

Lay some newspaper down on a flat surface and With your paint brush, paint the letter black on one side and down the sides...wait for it to dry...flip it and paint the other side.

Here is the paint I used, but use what you would like and  remind me to paint my own nails before pictures of this kind!

I just squirted and smoothed....repeat until.......

You get it covered all over.

Let it dry on the first side.  Flip and paint the other side if you want.  I did, I think it looks more finished and makes it sturdier.

My letter was 2 inches across.  I put all my pics into Microsoft publisher and adjusted them to 2 inches wide.  I also brightened them, then I printed them, making sure my printer was set to do black and white printing only.  You could do color if you wanted, but I like the look of the black and white.  I tried to do a print screen here, so I could show you, but it did not want to work.  You could also use Word or even Google Docs and get the same result.

Lay out your pictures with some over lap.  This is why when adjusting in publisher, you can make some bigger so that the persons face is bigger, knowing that you will trim the background.  Once you have the look you want, start trimming.  I used a pencil and lightly made marks on the front of the picture, then trimmed carefully, not wanting to have to print anything again.  Then glue the piece down and trim and glue the next and so on. I went from bottom to the center, then to the top.  Be sure to follow Mod Podge directions, if you are like me and can't see the itty bitty, little teeny, tiny......well you get it....print on the darn bottle, Plaid is nice enough to post it all on-line, with video for us right HERE.  Then you let it dry and brush over the top, once again following the directions HERE.  Let dry.  I let mine dry over night.

Next, take it to a well ventilated garage or outside.  I put mine in a cardboard box, picture side up and sprayed from about two feet away with the Krylon spray.  You can find out the best techniques HERE.  I like to give the you the manufacturers instructions in case something goes wrong, that way you can take it up with them, not me.  Hahhha.  Here is he end product.

I think it turned out well and will look terrific on her wall.  She is a picture junkie, so this is a great personalized gift....I think anyway.  I think I will use my glue gun to place some picture hooks on back and hang it with a pretty ribbon.  I am thinking black and white stripes, what do you think?  Stripes... poka dots..solid?  You choose what you think and I will post the end result.

Merry crafting and thanks for reading.  As always, I love comments, so leave some so I know how I am doing.

More thrifting...STOP ME ALREADY!

My thrifting money is usually whatever I get from cans and bottles.  Today I took back a bunch and bought a box of Capri Suns (Devin's lunch) and a pot pie for me.  Never get this stuff, but today, I admit it, it was good. My change was $17.49.  With the change I thought I would stop at my favorite thrift shop.  I needed a fat separator for making gravy this thanksgiving and had told my cousin I would look for Christmas books for her new baby, she wants to read a Christmas story a day during December to him.  Fabulous idea.  My favorite Christmas book is The Other Wise Man by Henry van Dyke so I was hoping to find a copy.  I knew I had to buy a new pair of pinking shears from Joann's also, so I could not spend much.

But I walked in and saw this:

Did I need that...NO!  Was it the cutest little rocking chair I have ever seen....well, yes, yes it was.  I asked her how much and she said $5 flat and I said sold.....do you see the sold sign on it?  Yep, that is because I bought an antique children's rocker in great shape for $5.  Now what the heck am I gonna do with it you ask?  Mark asked too.....Well, I think I may just keep it for the time when I have grandchildren.  Devin even thought it was the cutest children's chair he had seen.  I REALLY like it. Am I defending this purchase for all I am worth right now, well, yes, yes I am.  Why?  Well look at it again.....if my behind could fit, I would be rocking for all I am worth right now.  See, look from this angle.....now you can see the cute little feet.  Uhhem.......

I also found my fat separator and some cute little loaf pans.  I may be using the loaf pans for the children's kitchen I want to build from the last post.

Not sure why the picture insists on being sideways, but you can turn your neck, lol.  All of these were $1 total.

Next the books.  Did I find my favorite?  Well yes I did.....

Three are just paper backs, but still perfect for finding favorites.  They can always buy hard backs of the ones they really like later.  Cost, $.40 for all.  Yep, $.10 each.

Last but not least, my oldest daughter lives in a small apartment and has never had room for a tree.  This one will fit though and she is excited to get it!

I like real trees, but this one will work for her and not cost her money each year.  She works full time, lives on her own and goes to college.  It is a brand new, never been opened 31/2 foot tree.  It cost me a whole $1.  Have I told you how much I love thrifing?  Total cost for it all..$7.40.  I LOVE thrifting!

I also managed to stop at Joann's and using my 50% Michaels coupon (yep, they take Michaels coupons for craft type items) I got a nice pair of  Fiskars pinking shears and 5 sheets of scrap booking paper, used a 25% off from Michaels for that and it was on sale 5 sheets for $.95.  Grand total?  Well, you can see.

Yep.....$11.70

Won't the scrap book paper make great wall paper and carpet for the barbie house I want to make from yesterday's post?  Oh and I love when the savings in more than the total cost......YAY!  I hope you have a great time thrifting and using your coupons too this holiday season.  It will take a lot of the burden off and leave your bank account better off this season!

So I went over by a dollar or so.....have you got a point? Hahhhaaa

Christmas Ideas for Girls

Christmas is right around the corner again....how the heck did that happen?  I know I have not been posting like I should, but stuff just keeps happening that prevents a long post.  SO, I am going to start doing short little posts (that will probably end up long) in an effort to keep you up to date on what I am doing.

I finally have some little girls in my life again, I may be reaching for them actually. Just miss the little girl fun and things, little girl things are the best, well for us girls.  You may be able to use some of this, so in researching things, I will share others posts.  Here are a bunch of great, fast, little girl projects.  I have become a great fan of the Goodwill bins for sources to get these things done.

Building a Barbie doll house out of a dresser.  I will be tackling this one this year.  Amazing!  Not hard at all....any of us could do it.  Here is the link: http://www.just-in.com/recycledDresser/index.htm  Thank you Just in Designs for this one.  I think peel and stick vinyl and carpet tiles from the dollar store and some scrap-booking papers will make this wonderful.  I wonder if I can manage a roof top garden out of paint?  I have a hot tub found at a thrift store for almost nothing that will look nice up there!

As a child my cousin had a great kids kitchen and then my daughter Naelyn had one.  I love them!  My son probably played with it the most.  They inspire future chef's and if a child has never made you pizza or tea, you are missing out!  Here is a great plan for a small kitchen you can do yourself from an end table.  I think this will be a project for next year! http://landofozfam.blogspot.com/2010/12/i-shouldnt-say-never.html  Thank you Land of Oz Fam for this cute post.

I personally lucked out at the Goodwill bins and walked away with this:

It cost me $3.00.  They usually go by weight, but you can ask how much for a certain item that is over weight and they will give you a reasonable price.  This is built so well I could jump up and down on it, so I consider myself more than lucky.

I had two flannel pillow cases from the thrift store that had cute little roses on them.  I got them two for $.50.  I sewed a mattress and filled with some of the roll of batting I got, brand new in the package, at the same thrift store for $.50.  Here it is with the mattress.

I made a pillow with the scraps and some more batting.

Then I made the quilt, quilted it and added yarn ties.

Had to show it with the "creepy" doll....thanks Devin, he thinks she is really creepy, lol.  This is only a 12 inch doll, but the actual mattress size of this bed is 22 inches, so this will fit a lot of different size dolls.

I am excited to give this to the little girl it goes to and not bad for around $4.00.

Hints for thrifting.  Thrift often through the year with your projects in mind.  Carry a fabric tape measure in your pocket.  My sewing one works just fine.  That way I can see if things will fit in a space or be the right size for a project.  Always think of ways you can re-purpose something.  Check out the web site of the thrift store, sometimes they have "cards", discounts or coupons....save all you can.  If you know you will be digging, bring a dust mask and some gloves.  At the Goodwill bins carry in your cash or debit in a pocket and nothing else, no purse or visible jewelry.  Most of all have fun!  I do!

First of the summer canning is done!

This summer seems crazier than previous summers.  Time is flying by and there is so much left to do.  The summer has taken it's own sweet time getting here in Oregon, so today we put up some peas.  Normally peas would have stopped long before the end of July, but ours are still going strong.  We have been referring to them as the Jurassic peas.  Given the amount of time they have been growing, the vines are HUGE.  The amount of both regular sugar snap and snow peas got out of hand this week, so I thought I would pickle some.  Here is what I did:

I cut one of my jalapeno peppers and sliced it into seven pieces
I cut as much dill as I could with out harming my plant, it was not much, maybe 4 tablespoons
Sterilize your jars and add 3 peppercorns and a jalapeno slice to the bottom of 4 1/2 pint jars and divide the rest of the jalapenos and 4 peppercorns to 2 pint and a half jars.

I added 2 1/4 cups of white vinegar to a pan with 1/4 cup of salt
I added the chopped dill
bring it to a simmer to dissolve the salt

Then I added 2 1/4 cups of cold water to it as soon as the salt was dissolved and removed it from the heat.
Next I chopped all the ends off the peas, taking out the string when needed.

I then laid my jars on their sides and packed them full of peas.  Make sure that there is 1/2 inch head space at the top of the jar.

Meanwhile, my cannier is on the stove getting hot.  We just put 2 inches of water in it.  My lids and rings are in a pan of hot water to sterilize my jars earlier.

Mark helps me now.  We fill the jars with the warm brine leaving 1/2 of head space at the top, put on the lids and rings and place them in the canner making sure the lid is locked.  Now we cranked the heat and let it come to 10 pounds of pressure for 25 minutes.  It may be different where you are.  Elevation makes a difference.  The National Center for Food Preservation can help you with the amount of pressure and times.

All pickled and lids are snapping closed.  I LOVE that popping sound.  When winter hits we will have some great snacks!

A good friend of mine asked us to go pick blackberries at a friend of hers farm in Dayton Oregon.  Devin and I went to swimming practice and then met Suzanne and her son Chad and rode to Dayton.  We were pleasantly surprised to find acres and acres of Marion berries.  Marion berries only grow here in Oregon and are huge and sweet.  Karen and Bob told us to pick all we wanted so we did.  That is Suzanne and I did while the boys chased chickens, found baby birds and petted the neighbors dog all while eating a few sandwiches and tons of peanut butter cookies!  I can home with about 5 gallons of berries, just me, that does not count Suzanne's haul.  I washed them right away and broke out the canning equipment.  Mark, bless his heart, helped me can them all, even after a long day at work.  Here is how we did it:

We cleaned and put all the berries in a large pot, adding more as they cooked down.  To this I added 3 cups of sugar and planned on adding 1 package of no sugar added pectin later, after the food mill step.  Yes, I know I added sugar, but you do want to add a little and it was one cup for every gallon, I cooked down three gallons.

YUMMMMMMMMM!

 These babies are huge!  Over an inch long, every darn berry was!  I love...love...love it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We used a food mill to remove all the seeds.  I find if I crank (or Mark does) 4 times counter clockwise and twice clockwise it goes the fastest.  Then simply fill your sterilized jars leaving 1/2 inch of head space at the top.  Put on your sterilized jar lids and rings.  We filled 8 pints jars at this stage and put them in the cannier for ten minutes with no pressure.  This is our syrup for the year.  What was left in the pan we added 1 package of no sugar added pectin to and then canned in 14 half pint jars for 10 minutes.  Again, if you have any question of pressure and times The National Center for Food Preservation can help you.

 Yummy and super yummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!

Next we took the whole washed berries, packed them full into four 1/2 gallon jars, leaving and inch of head space.  We added 1 tablespoon of sugar and filled with water to the 1 inch below the rim mark.  We canned them for 40 minutes in a hot water bath, no pressure.  These we will use for cobbler and pies.

Well that was our week, not including the practices and swim meets, visits with family and other crazy unexpected stuff.  What did you do?  Hope you enjoy the instructions and pictures.  Talk to you next post!

This is where we get a lot of our canning information on what and how in case you need a great book on stocking up: 

FATHER'S DAY LADDER GOLF

So for Father's Day this year we made a Ladder Golf game for Mark.  Some people call it Bolo or Hillbilly Golf, but whatever you call it, it is a lot of fun!  Fawn wanted one too so we bothered the guys at Home Depot together.  Our shopping trip was fun though and we brought back the simple supplies.  Of course, poor Mark got roped into setting up the power tools and we had him drill the golf balls.  Fawn and I were both afraid we would have some seriously off center holes if we were to drill them.  We used the power hand saw though and team worked helped.  I was much better at the actual sawing and Fawn was great at setting up the clamps.

If you are looking for a fun project with the kids or a fun gift, this might be the gift for you this year.  You can follow the instructions below or just buy one on-line, I will provide a link for that too.


What you need to make ladders
• 44 feet of 3/4" PVC pipe ( or 1" PVC)  buy 5, 10ft pieces
• 12 L connectors ‐ 3/4" elbows
• 12 T connectors ‐ 3/4" tees
• Saw or pipe cutter  (we used a hand power saw)
• PVC glue ( optional, we just glued the elbows and T's to the 2 foot pieces so they would not get lost, but the game can be taken apart for storage or travel.  Mark's will be camping a whole lot! )      
Cutting the PVC pieces
• Two rolls of duct tape in different colors (duct tape comes in some really cool shade these days!)
• Cut 14, 2ft pieces of PVC pipe
• Cut 16, 1ft pieces of PVC pipe
• Cuts can be made with the cutting device of your choice.   Hand saw, table saw, jig saw, etc.
• Rough edges from cuts can be lightly sanded, if you choose to, we didn't because we glued the elbows and T's to the ends of most of the pieces.

Assembling the PVC pieces
• Connect the cut pieces with the T and L (elbow) connectors
• The 2‐ft pipes will be used for the back footprint as well as the ladder rungs.  The front footprint doesn't need to be as long as the back because all the force is coming from the front. (A footprint is what is holding the game up)
• No need to use PVC glue. For tranport, it's easier to have the option of disassembly. Some people will glue everything together except for the base to ladder connection. That leaves to pieces of similar size, easy for hauling.  We glued on just the elbows and T's to the 2 foot pieces so we can break them down and take them places.
• Wrap the two foot pieces in duct tape, alternating the colors.  This helps protect the pipe from cracking if you have enthusiastic ball throwers!

How to make the Bolos  
• You will need 24 golf balls. MAKE SURE THAT THEY ARE SOLID CORE.  Paint or color in groups of 6.  We got big sharpie pens and colored them 4 different colors in groups of 6.  This allows for four players.  I have heard that some people use Rid dye on the  balls and rope, but the sharpies worked well for us.  Paint would not stick.  You can also buy balls in different colors, but they are generally a little more expensive.
• Drill a hole going through the center of each golf ball.
• You will need 12 ‐ 18inch pieces of nylon rope.
• Thread the rope through the holes that you previously drilled.
• Place a golf ball at each end of the rope.
• Tie a knot right in front of and behind the ball to hold it secure.
• Use a match or a lighter to slightly melt the knot. This will help the knot stay tied. If you made your holes a little big, you may want to wind the rope through the knot twice to make the knot a little bigger so that it won't pull back through the holes.

Now here are the rules:

Ladder Toss, Ladder golf, Bolo Toss, Polish Horseshoes, hillbilly horseshoes, Hillbilly golf, Redneck Golf, Ladder Ball, Monkey Balls, or Ladder Ball, is a lawn game for 2 to 4 people. The game is played by throwing a bolo, made of two golf balls connected with a rope, at a 3 rung ladder. Different rungs of the ladder are worth different amounts of points. The top rung is worth 3 points, the middle is worth 2, and the lower rung is worth one. The goal of the game is to get exactly (and not over) 21 points.

Scoring
Top Rung = 3 Points
Middle Rung = 2 Points
Bottom Rung = 1 Points
Score is determined very similarly to Cornhole, where points cancel each other out. If you score on a rung and the other team or person scores on that same rung, the points are canceled.

Example: Team 1 puts 2 bolos on top rung, it is 6 points, but team 2 puts 1 bolo on the same rung, it cancels out 3 of the 6 points.
Play up to 21.

Alternate scoring variation:
All balls that land in the base of the ladder can be scored one. The first rung can be scored 2, second rung 3,
and top rung 4. This is helpful with younger players, and can help the game move along a little faster For the one-pointers landing in the base, only one ball must be inside the area. The exception to this is a shot that lands both balls on the outside of the frame with just the rope on the inside of the ladder area. This is the only shot that counts for a point without any ball inside the base area.

Game play
Set Up
• Place the Ladders 15 to 30 feet apart (Adjust the distance, accordingly. Shorter for younger players is fine)
• Each team will have 3 bolos. (different colors for each team)
• Players alternate throwing one bolo at a time until all 3 are tossed.
• Ladder Toss can be played with 2 people or in 2 teams of 2 or 4 individual players each with their own set.
** For two people, both stand at one end and toss the balls, then move to the other end for the next toss.
** If you are playing with 2 teams of 2, 1 person from each team will stand on each side.
** If playing individuals, just stand next to who you want to chat with!

Here are some sites I used that helped me and might give you ideas for other fun family games: outdoorgameplayers.com
http://home.comcast.net/~jcjrsmith2/files/laddergolf.pdf

Here is a set you can just buy and wrap!  Honestly, it probably ends up costing about the same......we just had fun working together to do it......some of the time, lol.



Whatever you decide to do, have fun!  Sorry I have not posted in awhile.  I will get back to it!


As a side note, we played this until 9 last night.  Mark and I all by ourselves in the yard having so much fun.  If you know us, you know we had to be having fun if we were still outside and awake at 9 P.M.!

Medical Information We Can All Use

Medical information we can all use.  Have you ever met someone you really respected?  I mean trusted completely?  I have, let me share if you would.  I first met this man six days after I was born.  My mother had researched the best pediatricians and found Dr. Lendon Howard Smith.  We had to drive 15 miles to his office, but my mother insisted on his care, for this I will be forever grateful.

            In his office everything was my size, going to visit him was like going to a favorite uncle’s house.  He always had a warm smile and an even warmer hug.  He remembered my pet’s names and whether I was taking ballet, asked when my last swim meet was and checked on past injuries without looking at his chart.  He was the last of a dying breed of Doctors who really cared.

            Why am I telling you this?  Because he may have saved my life and prevented injury to my children years later and he, even though he has passed, may help you and yours too.  A friend reminded me of him today, his son received stitches for the first time and Dr. Smith had created the stitch fairy for me since I seemed to get them and not like them at all when I was little.  The stitch fairy made them okay.

I remember the last time I saw my Doctor, it was on Oprah (he was also on the Tonight Show 62 times) and he was talking about ADHD and ADD and how they were a farce made up by and for the drug companies (I know this will offend some, but bear with me please).  I listened intently being a young mother and followed his directions as I always had.  Meyaka (my oldest daughter, now 25), this is why you did not eat candy for a really long time and why I have always tried to cook meals rather than buy the already prepared packaged meals.  I need you to know, I am not getting anything for writing this, this is coming from the heart.  Here is a really funny video with him explaining part of it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfIf5ftWXio&feature=related  Wow, is this not what Dr. Oz and many others are saying now?

            I don’t keep in touch with his family, so am only guessing on some things, but I think he had a pivotal moment in the early 70’s which changed his life and career forever.  Please look these over and tell me what you think. 

http://www.casewatch.org/board/med/lendon_smith.pdf

            Looks to me like he got in trouble for prescribing Ritalin for hyper activity and heroin use, what do you think?  Don’t they use it for those things today?  Oh well, changed his life, mine and whole lot of other peoples.  He developed the attitude that he could cure these things without drugs.  He researched and had parents who went along with him on the diet changes needed to help these children.  He discovered that food allergies and too much sugar were to blame for much of it. "ADHD is not a disease; it is a nutritional deficiency."—Lendon H. Smith

            He then went on the write two different books on the subject Feed Your Kids Right (1979) and Food for Healthy Kids (1981).

            The real personal point I wanted to make though, was this, my mother was very thin.  5 feet 7 inches tall and 95 pounds, I was so adopted!  My parents thought a woman needed to be very skinny, as a result, Mom took me to The Weight Loss Clinic at the ripe old age of 12.  Yep, you heard me right, sorry Mom and Dad, but you were out of your minds on this one.  After this appointment she had made one with my wonderful Dr., watch out Dr. Smith, here she comes!  I so wish I could go back in time to warn him.  She walked in high and mighty talking about this wonderful program and how I would loose weight.  She showed him all the info and turned to me with a big smile and what she thought would make me want to stick with it, “Charlie, you will be able to drink all the diet soda you want.  Won’t that be fun?”  At this point, I will duck, as I did then.  The words began to fly.  He started out trying to tell her politely why this was a really bad idea.  She told him they assured her it was medically sound.  He told her I was NOT over weight and what she was purposing could have grave repercussions on my health. She told him he did not know what he was talking about.  Pretty sure he called my Mother irresponsible, lazy and nuts all in one breath.  Fairly sure she told him where he could put it and this would be the last time he would have to.  Point is, I spent that summer weighing my meat and doing everything in exact portions.  I also spent it pouring diet sodas down the drain.  I stood up to my Mother and stayed in the office for a minute as he requested, she steamed in the hall (paid for that one later).  My wonderful Dr. Smith apologized to me and told me that I would naturally loose weight with-in a year or so anyway once puberty hit.  He told me to eat all the veggies I wanted and humor my Mother.  And he said, “There is something wrong with the sweeteners in diet soda, please don’t drink it.  Trust me on this”.  I did and I am so glad I did.

            What he found later would prove him right and help many people.  Here is a short paper he wrote: http://www.whale.to/a/smith13.html  and also a series on it on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bejqIzAADwQ  There are seven parts to the series.  Now my children you know the story behind why Mommy would never drink diet soda or give it to you.

I did not see him again until he walked into Willamette Week Newspaper when I was 18 and working reception there.  He remembered me without having to be reminded and I got my last big hug.  He was a rebel who questioned authority and was made to stop practicing in 1987 due to his belief’s, many of which have been proven now.  I am confident the rest will be proven to have the same merit.  He must be laughing his hind end off.  Rest in peace you wonderful man and thank you for all the chances you took to protect all of us.

Lendon Smith, M.D. 
1921 – 2001

These are my personal opinions.  Please research for yourselves.  If you would like more information on Dr. Smith and his research, you can find it here: http://www.whale.to/v/smith1.html

Yellow Pages Opt Out! YAY! I can finally stop getting them and so can you.

The Yellow Pages have been a thorn in my "trying to be green" side for quite awhile.  I decided tonight to look for a way to STOP the insanity.  Thank goodness I found one and a pretty easy one at that.  Simply Opt Out of the Yellow Pages  Click on select directories, they make you make an account and send a password to your e-mail.  Then you can log on, type in your zip code and select the directories you want or don't want for your area.  Pretty simple!

You will get an e-mail that looks like this once you are successful:

Thank you Your Name Here,

The National Yellow Pages Opt-Out Site received your request on
February 4, 2011 at 10:04 pm.

Your selection:

- No copies of Portland - SuperMedia

- No copies of East County - Dex One

- No copies of Washington County - SuperMedia

- No copies of Portland Metro - Yellow Book

- No copies of Portland Plus - Dex One

- No copies of Greater Westside - Dex One

- No copies of Gtr Portland Spanish - Spanish Yellow Pages, Inc., The

- No copies of Washington County - Yellow Book

- No copies of Portland(Y)- Dex One

Will be sent to your address:
Your Name and Address here

Directory selections have been sent to the relevant publishers for 
processing.

Thank you,


-- National Yellow Pages Opt Out Site Team

They have other great things like this sustainability report too.

Hope this helps you to be a little greener like it is me!  Have a great day and let me know what you think.  I always like to hear if you like my topic choices or what you would like more of.