03.03.2009

March definately came in like a lion here in Maryland! We got our biggest snowstorm of the season on Sunday night...over 6 inches! I think I'll just stay inside and enjoy a nice hot cup of sugar free hot chocolate! (Although maybe I should go outside and shovel some snow. It burns a lot of calories!)
Hope things are warm and cozy where you are!
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FYIEarth Hour is on Saturday, March 2009 at 8:30 PM. To find out more, go tohttp://www.earthhour.org/
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Tips for reducing your energy usage

Most of us know at least a couple of tips for saving energy around the house in wintertime, such as turning down the thermostat or switching from incandescent bulbs. Here are a few other tips you may not have though of:

1. Close your curtains and shades at night to minimize heat loss and to cut down on the cold coming in through the windows. During the day, open your curtains to let the sunshine in to warm your home naturally.

2. Look for drafts in unfinished basements and crawl spaces. Since spider webs tend to accumulate in drafty spots, you can use them as indicators of areas that might need more insulation.

3. Wash your laundry in cold water. Did you know that heating water accounts for nearly 90% of the energy use for washing machines? Most washing machines and detergents nowadays are very effective in cold water. Also, make sure you only use your clothes washer (and dish washer too!) when you have a full load.

4. Plant trees in front of south facing windows. This will allow solar heat to penetrate the windows in winter when the tree has lost its leaves...but also provide shade in the summer, which will reduce air conditioning costs.

5. Unplug your cell phone charger and electronics when you're not using them. Even when they are turned off, if you leave them plugged in they will still draw "vampire" power.6. Reset your water heater to 120 degrees.
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COOL PICK

I'm a big fan of nostalgia. I love reminiscing about my 'glory days'. If your glory days were in the 70's then here is a site you might enjoy.
http://www.stuckinthe70s.com/index.html
From music to movies to fashion, this site has just about everything you remember from a simpler time. Browse through old Tiger Beat and 16 magazines to look back at your teen idols, like the Bay City Rollers or David Cassidy. Check out the fads and fashions of the decade. They even have recipes! So if you have fond memories of the 70's, take a trip back in time with Stuck In the 70's!

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Hey dog lovers! Check out these pictures of seven VERY LARGE dogs!

http://www.gomestic.com/Pets/Seven-of-the-Worlds-Largest-Dogs.559347
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Healthy Living

Sometimes when you start on a weight loss or exercise regime, you are very motivated. You're eating right, working out, and feeling good. But then...something happens to your motivation. It just disappears on you, and you find yourself struggling to stick to your healthy eating and exercise plan. This is what I'm going through now. After losing 25 lbs since November, I'm finding that my motivation is slipping. Instead of focusing on how much weight I've lost, I'm too busy thinking ahead to all the weight I still need to lose, and how much work I still have ahead of me. I need to remind myself of WHY I want to lose this weight, and get my motivation back. If you've ever been in the same boat, here are some tips to help you re-gain your motivation, or "mojo" as I call it.

1. Stick to only one goal. Its too hard to stay motivated when you've got too much going on. Pick one goal and follow it through. If you have other goals, you can always get back to them later.

2. Look for inspiration. For me, this means looking towards people who have accomplished what I want to accomplish. I read blogs on SparkPeople...the success stories there inspire me to keep going.

3. Realize that its normal for motivation to come and go. Don't just throw in the towel and give up. Keep doing the best you can NOW, and eventually you will re-gain your motivation.

4. Ask for help. If you are blessed with family members who are encouraging and supportive, let them know that you need help to get you motivated again. Or join an online diet support community to find others like yourself, and you can motivate each other.

5. Think about the benefits, not the hard work. Instead of thinking about how hard it is to exercise, think of how good you'll feel afterwards, and how it will make you healthier (& slimmer) in the long run.

If your motivation is missing, I hope these tips help you to find it again!

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Here's a fun site for kids...they can create their own comic strip!

http://www.makebeliefscomix.com/

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Ooey Gooey Chocolate Cherry Muffins

This is a healthy, low calorie recipe from Hungry Girl! The recipe makes 12 muffins, with only 131 calories each! (And only 0.5 g fat!)

INGREDIENTS:

1 Box No Pudge Original Fat Free Brownie Mix
1 cup Fiber One cereal (original, the kind that looks like little twigs) crushed
2/3 cup light cherry pie filling
1/4 cup light vanilla soy milk


Preheat oven to 400.
In a bowl, mix all ingredients together. Place batter evenly into a 12 cup muffin pan sprayed with non stick spray (or lined with baking cups, which is what I do.) Bake for 20 minutes. Enjoy!
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I don't go out to eat very often, but when I do, I first check out

http://www.healthydiningfinder.com/
Whether its a fast food or a sit down restaurant, healthydiningfinder helps me plan my meal in advance so I know how many calories I'm getting.
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To check out your 'carbon footprint', go to this site and fill in the blanks on a few easy questions.
http://www.climatecrisis.net/takeaction/carboncalculator/

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We didn't get as much snow as Phyllis did (only about an inch) but still I'm considering March coming in like a lion because of the extreme cold and high winds. All I can say is this has been an unusually long winter and I was happy to flip the calendar page from February to March. I got some wonderfully red and sweet strawberries at the store today so things are at least tasting like spring...hopefully soon it will start to feel like spring. ~Toni
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This coming Sunday is the beginning of Daylight Saving Time. Yay! It is one of my favorite days of the entire year!! Here you can read everything you could possibly ever want to know about Daylight Saving Time--it's history and why we use it plus lots more.
http://www.energy.ca.gov/daylightsaving.html
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John Jacob Bausch

John Jacob Bausch was born in 1830 in Switzerland, one of seven children. When Bausch was only six years old, his mother died.

Bausch's first job was assisting in his older brother's spectacle-making business.
In 1848, the younger Bausch got word of an opening at an optical shop in Berne, so he left on foot for the city. When he arrived, he got the job at a starting salary of 36 cents a day. After only a year however, Bausch decided to try his luck in America.

He traveled to Buffalo, New York, where he worked as a cook's assistant, then moved to Rochester, where he found work as a wood-turner. There he suffered an accident. His hand got caught in the machinery, and he was forced to leave the trade.

Once he had recovered from the accident he tried selling his brother's optical supplies. The business seemed promising, and he convinced a friend to join him in business making eyeglasses. That friend's name was Henry Lomb.
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~Cheryl's Tips~

Cleaning Washing Machine Interior If you notice a residue buildup, left from detergents or hard-water minerals, you can remove them by filling the washer with hot water and pouring in a gallon of cheap white or apple cider vinegar. Run it through one complete cycle and it should be gone. Do this only periodically, so you don't damage the interior surface.

Pasta Boiling Over or Sticking to Pot? End these messy problems simply by greasing or spraying the sides with cooking spray before you put the water in to boil. And of course always monitor the pasta as it's cooking!
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Massachusetts

~Boston built the first subway system in the United States in 1897.
~In Holyoke, William G. Morgan, created a new game called "Mintonette" in 1895. After a demonstration given at the YMCA in nearby Springfield, the name "Mintonette" was replaced with the now familiar name "Volleyball."
~There is a house in Rockport built entirely of newspaper.
~The Fig Newton was named after Newton, Massachusetts.
~The visible portion of Plymouth Rock is a lumpy fragment of glacial moraine about the size of a coffee table, with the date 1620 cut into its surface. After being broken, dragged about the town of Plymouth by ox teams used to inspire Revolution-aries, and reverently gouged and scraped by 19th-century souvenir hunters, it is now at rest near the head of Plymouth Harbor.
~The first U.S.Postal zip code in Massachusetts is 01001 at Agawam.
~Harvard was the first college established in North America. Harvard was founded in 1636. Because of Harvard's size there is no universal mailing address that will work for every office at the University.
~The Boston University Bridge on Commonwealth Avenue in Boston is the only place in the world where a boat can sail under a train driving under a car driving under an airplane.
~The Children's Museum in Boston displays a giant milk bottle on the museum's wharf. If it were real it would hold 50,000 gallons of milk and 8,620 gallons of cream.
~Princeton was named after the Reverend Thomas Prince, Pastor of the Old South Church in Boston, and one of the first proprietors of the town. Princeton was incorporated in 1759.
~In 1908, Miss Caroline O. Emmerton purchased The House of the Seven Gables - built in 1668 - restored it to its present state and, in 1910, opened the site to the touring public. The seven-gabled house inspired Nathaniel Hawthorne to write his famous novel of the same name.
~The Boston Tea Party reenactment takes place in Boston Harbor every December 16th.
~Balance Rock in Lanesborough is named in honor of a 25' x 15' x 10 boulder that balances upon a small stone below it. http://tinyurl.com/acjg72
~The first Thanksgiving Day was celebrated in Plymouth in 1621.
~The first nuclear-powered surface vessel, USS Long Beach CG (N) 9, was launched at Quincy in 1961.
~The USS Constitution 'Old Ironsides', the oldest fully commissioned vessel in the US Navy is permanently berthed at Charlestown Navy Yard. Since 1897 the ship has been overhauled several times in Dry Dock 1.
~The official state dessert of Massachusetts is Boston cream pie.
~Milford is known the world over for its unique pink granite, discovered in the 1870's and quarried for many years to grace the exteriors of museums, government buildings, monuments and railroad stations.
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Phyllis and I don't get together with our newsletter ideas beforehand. She does her half and I do mine and then I put them together. So I guess it's a case of "great minds thinking alike" when we each have a site to share that deals with dogs.
Welcome to Funny Dog Site. We update funny dog pictures on a daily basis. Cute Puppies, Funny Dogs. Hilarious pictures every day!
http://www.funnydogsite.com/
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I am always searching for foods that are free of hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated oils. My latest discovery is Vinta crackers. Yummy!
http://www.darefoods.com/usa-en/products/crackers/vinta/index.shtml
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From Cheryl:

Interestingly, koi, when put in a fish bowl, will only grow up to three inches. When this same fish is placed in a large tank, it will grow to about nine inches long. In a pond, koi can reach lengths of eighteen inches. Amazingly, when placed in a lake, koi can grow to three feet long. The metaphor is obvious. You are limited by how you see the world.
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Online Multimedia Educational Games for Kids in Preschool, Kindergarten, and Elementary Grades http://www.iknowthat.com/com
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Is green your favorite color? Here's what the color means around the world:

~Only one national flag is a solid color: the green flag of Libya.
~Ancient Egyptians colored the floors of their temples green.
~In ancient Greece, green symbolized victory.
~In the highlands of Scotland, people wore green as a mark of honor.
~Green is the national color of Ireland.
~A “greenback” is slang for a U.S. dollar bill.
~Green means “go.” When “all systems are green,” it means everything is in order.
~The green room of a concert hall or theater is where performers relax before going onstage.
~The “green-eyed monster” is jealousy.
~A greenhorn is a newcomer or unsophisticated person.
~Green is youthful.
~Being “green around the gills” is looking pale and sickly.
~“Green with envy” means full of envy or jealousy.
~A person with a “green thumb” is good at making plants grow.
~A green, or common, is a town park.
~Green is a healing color, the color of nature.
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Savings ideas on everything from banking fees to groceries. This is a very comprehensive list and not all will be applicable to you, but you're sure to find and idea or two. http://kiplinger.com/features/archives/2009/02/print-all-ideas-save-fifty-dollars-day.html
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Miscellaneous trivia
There are 119 grooves on the edge of a quarter.
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Hand Crafted Fun Multi Colored Crayons! Each Crayon is a Work of Art - No Two Are Alike!Made From the National Crayon Recycle Program. http://www.crazycrayons.com/
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FORT PIERCE, Fla. (AP) - Authorities arrested a man who claimed he was justified in stealing candy at a truck stop because he had served in the military. Police said an officer confronted a 31-year-old man at the truck stop early Monday morning. The officer reported finding several packages of candy and nuts, two black T-shirts and a 20 oz. bottle of beer in his pockets.
He said he had paid for all the items, but a clerk denied ringing up any purchases for him.
A report stated that while in the patrol vehicle, the man screamed out the window that he had served in the military over in Iraq and could steal all the M&M'S he wanted.
His veteran status could not be immediately verified.
The man was charged with retail theft and was being held on $5,000 bail.
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Make your next broom your last... Some ideas to make your brooms last longer and do a better job.
1. Always use a holder to keep the broom stored off the floor or store with the broom side up. (Resting on the floor the fibers will flatten and reduce the effectiveness of the broom).
2. Comb out the fibers regularly to remove debris.
3. Brooms can be cleaned with mild detergent and water; this is a good job for your spouse if they forget your birthday.
4. Always sweep gently in order to let the bristles do the work.
5. Push broom blocks have two handle holes (one on each side). Change the sides often so that fibers wear evenly.
6. The correct length for a broom handle is from the floor to the bridge of your nose. Remember to sweep in an upright position to prevent back fatigue. (Note from Toni: I am short and my broom handle only comes to my chin, so I can't figure this one out...)
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Did you know?

CFL bulbs work best in rooms where they'll be left on for at least 15 minutes. Frequent on-and-off (say, in a closet or pantry) can shorten bulb life, so the replacement cost can outweigh energy savings.
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Celebrity real names

Lauren Bacall..........Betty Jaon Perske
Pat Benatar..........Patricia Andrejewski
Tony Bennett..........Anthony Dominick Benedetto
Jack Benny..........Benjamin Kubelsky
Milton Berle..........Mendel Berlinger
Robert Blake..........Michael James Vijencio Gubitosi
Jon Bon Jovi..........John Francis Bongiovi
Bono..........Paul Hewson
Sonny Bono..........Salvatore Bono
Pat Boone..........Charles Eugene Boone
David Bowie..........David Jones
Charles Bronson..........Charles Buchinsky
George Burns..........Nathan Birnbaum
Richard Burton..........Richard Jenkins
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R.I.P. Paul Harvey http://www.abcrn.com/harvey/
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"It was one of those March days when the sun shines hot and the wind blows cold; when it is summer in the light, and winter in the shade." ~ Charles Dickens