03.10.2009

Hello everyone! Welcome to another issue of the newsletter. I hope everyone is enjoying the month of March so far. Well, I have lots to talk about so lets get right down to business! ~Phyllis


Here's a website to show you how to pick the best fruits when shopping, which will save you money
http://www.sixwise.com/newsletters/07/04/04/how-to-choose-the-best-fruit-in-the-produce-section-a-guide-for-15-common-fruits.htm
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We've all had times when we needed to glue something and for one reason or another it just didn't stick! Perhaps the problem was that we didn't use the right glue for the job. Next time you need to glue something together, log on to this site to find out which glue to use;
http://www.thistothat.com/
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Last year one of my Cool Picks was for Hungry Girl. If you've checked the site out, then you know she has all kinds of tips for "guilt free eating", along with a daily newsletter. Recently her newsletter had tips for things to NEVER feed your dog. I thought I'd repeat her advice here in case you didn't subscribe to her newsletter.

1. Never give your dogs grapes or raisins...they contain a toxin that can cause kidney damage.

2. Don't let your dog eat yeast or bread dough, because it can expand in their digestive system and cause damage.

3. Chewing gum or ANYTHING with Xylitol in it can be fatal to your pet. (Not only did I get this particular advice from Hungry Girl, my dog's vet recently told me the same thing.)

4. Macadamia nuts can upset your dogs digestive and nervous systems.

5. Don't allow your dog to eat chocolate or anything with chocolate in it, because it contains theobromine and caffeine, which affect the heart and nervous system, and can be toxic.

6. Never give your dog food with onions or onion powder in it. They contain sulfoxides and and disulfides which can damage red blood cells and cause anemia. (The same warning goes for garlic and garlic powder.)
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While we're on the subject of pets, let me share this site with you...
http://www.vethelpdirect.com/
Vet Help Direct is a site run by veterinarians. It has interactive questions to help you decide if your pet needs to go to the vet. But remember...no website can diagnose your dog's condition as well as an actual vet visit.
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HEALTHY LIVING

Usually I like to write about diet, exercise and fitness. But this week I'd like to about your skin...specifically about moles and dry skin.

Most of us have dry skin at least part of the time, especially in winter! There are some simple suggestions that could help. First, use mild, unscented soaps and body washes. Avoid HOT baths, because hot water actually pulls the moisture from your skin, leaving it dry, flakey and itchy. Apply a good moisturizing lotion to keep your skin smooth and soft. The best time to apply it is right after your shower, while your skin is still slightly damp. Fragrance free lotions are the best.

Moles are growths on your skin, and they are usually tan or brown. They can appear anywhere on your body, alone or in groups. When should you be concerned about a mole? Just remember ABCDE, which stands for
A...assymetry. Healthy moles should be symmetrical. If you draw an imaginary line down the center of your mole, both sides should look similar.
B....border. The border of the mole should be be smooth and distinctive, not jagged or rough.
C...color. If you have a mole that is more than one color, or a mole that changes color, it should be checked by a dermatologist.
D...diameter. The diameter of a mole should be no bigger than a pencil eraser.
E...elevation. If you have a mole that is raised or has an uneven surface, you should have it checked by a dermatologist.

Always check with your doctor if you have any concerns with dry skin or moles.
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Some pictures of lightning;
http://digital-photography-school.com/15-spectacular-lightning-images
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Learn more about recycling and find recycling centers near you at
http://earth911.com/
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FRIENDSHIP QUOTES:

A true friend is someone who thinks you are a good egg, even though he knows you are slightly cracked.
-Bernard Meltzer

A real friend is one who walks in when the rest of the world walks out.
-Walter Winchell

A friend is a present you give yourself.
-Robert Louis Stephenson

A true friend is one who overlooks your failures and tolerates your success.
-Doug Larson

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COOL PICK

Instead of sharing a cool pick this week, I wanted to remind everyone that this column is open to you if you have an interesting, funny, fun or cool website to share. Just write about what you like about the site, and send it in to be printed in a future newsletter. You can write a little bit about it or a lot! Send it to me at Twofriendsnewsletter@gmail.com
Toni and I welcome and appreciate your input!


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Hello everyone. For the time being here in West Virginia it is feeling very spring-like...but this is March and anything can (and probably will) happen. My Outlook Express mail server is down and has been for several days. I compile the newsletter through Outlook and so this week I'm having to do it a different way that I'm not used to so my part may not be as long as usual. Hopefully my ISP guy can get something done by next week. Well, let me see what I have to share this week... ~Toni
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~Tips from Cheryl~

Organizing Your Credit Cards

Make photocopies of all of your credit cards and store them in a secure place. Also keep your credit cards and a list of the billing addresses, phone numbers or website addresses in one place for calling and bill paying.

Easy Salad Mixing

After you've torn up the greens, and chopped the vegetables and other ingredients, put them in a large zipper-type plastic bag. Pour in the dressing, seal, and shake. Empty into a serving bowl and you'll have no mess to clean up!
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Judging junk. Ask yourself these questions to decide if it's clutter or not:

Does it work? So much of the clutter in our homes is made up of broken things we plan to fix and clothes that might someday fit.

Do I really need it? Determine the impact of this item disappearing from your life.

Do I enjoy it? If this item brings beauty and joy to your life, it is not clutter. Sentimental belongings and things that bring true beauty to our lives should be treated with great care and respect -- not packed away in the attic to be forgotten.

Am I using it now? If it doesn't fall into the 20 percent of things you use on a regular basis, it is suspect.

Will I use it in the next year? If you are not certain you will use it soon, it's clutter!
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Free stuff just for having a birthday? Maybe getting older has an upside, especially when free bowling, dinners, golf, movies, skiing and spa treatments are involved! The list is growing everyday!http://www.freebirthdaytreats.com/
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Michigan
*Michigan is first in the United States production of peat and magnesium compounds and second in gypsum and iron ore.
*Michigan ranks first in state boat registrations.
*The Packard Motor Car Company in Detroit manufactured the first air-conditioned car in 1939.
*The city of Novi was named from its designation as Stagecoach Stop # 6 or No.VI.
*The Mackinac Bridge is one of the longest suspension bridges in the world. Connecting the upper and lower peninsulas of Michigan, it spans 5 miles over the Straits of Mackinac, which is where Lake Michigan and Lake Huron meet. The Mighty Mac took 3 years to complete and was opened to traffic in 1957.
*The Kellogg Company has made Battle Creek the Cereal Capital of the World. The Kellogg brothers accidentally discovered the process for producing flaked cereal products and sparked the beginning of the dry cereal industry.
*Michigan is the only place in the world with a floating post office. The J.W. Westcott II is the only boat in the world that delivers mail to ships while they are still underway. They have been operating for 125 years.
*Indian River is the home of the largest crucifix in the world. It is called the Cross in the Woods. http://pics4.city-data.com/cpicc/cfiles20365.jpg
*Michigan has more shoreline than any other state except Alaska.
*Michigan has more than 11,000 inland lakes and more than 36,000 miles of streams.
*Michigan has 116 lighthouses and navigational lights.
*Standing anywhere in the state a person is within 85 miles of one of the Great Lakes.
*Michigan was the first state to provide in its Constitution for the establishment of public libraries.
*Michigan was the first state to guarantee every child the right to tax-paid high school education.
*Four flags have flown over Michigan - French, English, Spanish and United States.
*Some of the longest bulk freight carriers in the world operate on the Great Lakes. Ore carriers 1,000 feet long sail Michigan's inland seas.
*The Upper Michigan Copper Country is the largest commercial deposit of native copper in the world.
*The 19 chandeliers in the Capitol in Lansing are one of a kind and designed especially for the building by Tiffany's of New York. Weighing between 800-900 pounds apiece they are composed of copper, iron and pewter.
*The nation's first regularly scheduled air passage service began operation between Grand Rapids and Detroit in 1926.
*In 1879 Detroit telephone customers were first in the nation to be assigned phone numbers to facilitate handling calls.
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Here is some excellent ideas for couponing from Sharon:

Want to start couponing?
A Thrifty Mom and the Krazy Coupon Lady offer advice for those just getting started:

~Start small. Start saving and organizing coupons.. Check out http://athriftymom.com/ or http://krazycouponlady.blogspot.com/ for daily updates on special deals, where to find the best coupons and more. Then decide if it's worth your time and money.
~Don't think you're going to get everything for free or half-off the first time you use coupons.
~Stockpile your staples. If a store is having a great deal on nonperishable items such as pasta or cereal, and you have coupons for the same items, buy as many as you can. That way, you won't have to buy cereal again until it goes back on sale.
~Check expiration dates. Don't buy more than your family will realistically use before it goes bad.
~Know your coupon etiquette. Share, play nice and don't wipe out the whole store. Just buy what you think your family will need. Then go back later in the week, and if there's more, buy more.
~"Stack" your coupons. Yes, you can use in-store coupons and manufacturer's coupons for the same item.
~You also can use coupons for additional savings on buy-one-get-one-free promotions.
~No, you're not ripping off the store. Retailers get paid for the items by the manufacturers who issue the coupons.
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Stamp news

You've probably heard that postage is going up soon. The date is May 11. I just wanted to remind you about the rate increase and to suggest that now is a good time to start stocking up on Forever stamps.
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Here's another installment of unusual town names

Arkansas

Bald Knob
Beaver
Biggers
Blue Eye
Experiment
Fannie
Fifty-Six
Flippin
Gassville
Greasy Corner
Grubbs
Hasty
Hooker
Magazine
Moscow
Nuckles
Okay
Pocahontas
Possum
Grape
Romance
Smackover
Strawberry
Toad Suck
Turkey
Scratch
Umpire
Weiner
Yellville
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Frank Winfield Woolworth was born in 1852 on his grandfather's farm, 40 miles from the Canadian border in New York State.

When he turned 19, Woolworth was so anxious to jumpstart his sales career that he offered to work for free at Augsbury-Moore, a dry goods firm.

After two and a half years, Woolworth had increased his salary from zero to $6 a week. He left the company for a dry goods firm that offered an incredible $10 a week, but his employers were not impressed with his performance and cut his salary to $8 a week.

In 1877, his old employer at Augsbury-Moore, who had been impressed with Woolworth's work, offered to match the $10 a week, and he returned. After two more years with the company, Woolworth convinced his boss to lend him the money to open his own "Great 5-Cent Store" in Utica. It flopped.

Woolworth tried again, in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. This time, it was a success. He later added 10-cent items, creating the first "Five and Dime." Many imitators were to follow.

A generation grew up buying sodas from lunch counters in "dime stores," a term that is rapidly disappearing as 10-cent items become more and more scarce.

In its heyday, Woolworth had more than 2,100 variety stores throughout the world, but as the 20th century drew to a close, large discount stores such as Wal-Mart replaced the Five and Dime. Woolworth announced it would close its American dime stores.
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Did you know...
There are 18 different animal shapes in the Animal Crackers cookie zoo.
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Everyone knows that hoodwink means to deceive or to fool someone, but the meaning is not apparent from the word’s roots. The hood makes sense enough, but what about wink?

Hoodwink is a bit redundant. Both roots mean to blind. The hood is a reference to a covering of the head, and while wink today usually means to close one eye, it originally meant to close both. The verb, in a literal sense of to cover the eyes, to blindfold, dates to 1562. From An Apology of Private Mass from that year: Will you enforce women to hoodwink themselves in the church?

The sense of to fool or deceive dates to 1610 and John Healey’s translation of Augustine’s City of God: Let not the faithlesse therefore hood-winck them-selves in the knowledge of nature.
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Is blue your favorite color? Here's what the color means around the world:

~In ancient Rome, public servants wore blue. Today, police and other public servants wear blue.
~In Iran, blue is the color of mourning.
~Blue was used as protection against witches, who supposedly dislike the color.
~If you are “true blue,” you are loyal and faithful.
~Blue stands for love, which is why a bride carries or wears something blue on her wedding day.
~A room painted blue is said to be relaxing.
~“Feeling blue” is feeling sad. “Blue devils” are feelings of depression.
~Something “out of the blue” is from an unknown source at an unexpected time.
~A bluebook is a list of socially prominent people.
~The first prize gets a blue ribbon.
~A blue blood is a person of noble descent. This is probably from the blue veins of the fair-complexioned aristocrats who first used this term.
~“Into the blue” means into the unknown.
~A “bluenose” is a strict, puritanical person.
~A “bluestocking” used to be a scholarly or highly knowledgeable woman.
~The pharaohs of ancient Egypt wore blue for protection against evil.
~The “blues” is a style of music derived from southern African-American secular songs. It influenced the development of rock, R&B, and country music.
~“Blue laws” are used to enforce moral standards.
~A blue ribbon panel is a group of especially qualified people.
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From Cheryl:

"When I was a girl of fourteen, my Mother was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the woman around. But when I got to be twenty-one, I was astonished at how much she had learned in seven years."
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New product:

Want to try a yummy new peanut butter? Try Smart Balance Natural Peanut Butter. It has no hydrogenated oil, no trans fatty acids and no refined sugar. It is gluten free, lactose free and vegan. It also contains 1000 mg of Omega-3s per serving. And best of all it doesn't need to be refrigerated so it spreads great.
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146 reasons why sugar is ruining your health http://rheumatic.org/sugar.htm
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Ballpoint-Ink Stain

THEN: Hairspray
NOW: Rubbing alcohol

Ink formulations, fabrics, and hairspray ingredients have changed today. To get rid of the ballpoint ink from clothing you launder, place the garment on a towel stain-side down. Lightly dampen a cloth with rubbing alcohol and gently dab (do not rub) the stain.
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Celebrity real names

Nicolas Cage.....Nicolas Coppola
Michael Caine.....Maurice Micklewhite
Dyan Cannon.....Samile Diane Friesen
Kate Capshaw.....Kathleen Sue Nail
Diahann Carroll.....Carol Diahann Johnson
Ray Charles.....Ray Charles Robinson
Charo.....Maria Rosaria Pilar Martinex Moline Baeza
Chevy Chase.....Cornelius Crane Chase
Chubby Checker.....Ernest Evans
Cher.....Cherilyn Sarkisian LePierre
Eric Clapton.....Eric Clap
Patsey Cline.....Virginia Patterson Hensley
Perry Como.....Pierino Como
Bert Convy.....Bernard Whalen Patrick Convy
Alice Cooper.....Vincent Damon Furnier
Howard Cosell.....Howard William Cohen
Joan Crawford.....Lucille Le Sueur
Bing Crosby.....Harry Lillis Crosby
Tom Cruise.....Thomas Cruise Mapother IV
Tony Curtis.....Bernard Schwartz
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"The March wind roars
Like a lion in the sky,
And makes us shiver
As he passes by.

When winds are soft,
And the days are warm and clear,
Just like a gentle lamb,
Then spring is here."
- Author Unknown