Monday, February 23, 2009

Target Take Care Of Education: How It Works

: How It Works: "How the Program Works
You shop, your favorite school benefits. It's that simple. And your REDcardSM makes it possible.

Here's how to participate:
Apply and get approved for a REDcard.
Enroll in Take Charge of Education and choose a school.
Start shopping with your REDcard.
Donations to Schools
We'll track purchases made by participating REDcard holders, then send a no-strings-attached donation check directly to the school principal.

Checks are distributed twice a year. If the total of accumulated donations is less than $25, the amount carries over to the next payment period. You can track your school's progress at Target.com/tcoe.

Fundraising Tools
Schools can make the most of Take Charge of Education when they promote the program to parents and staff. We provide downloadable fundraising tools—flyers, website banners and more—to help spread the word.

Get the tools
How the Program Helps
Red River High School - Grand Forks, ND

We will use your donation to help fund student groups that don’t have budgets and need assistance with registration fees, travel and supply costs. In the past we have funded students involved with Science Bowl and Science Fair competitions. Your Take Charge of Education program makes this possible. This program, along with the support of our parents, helps make good things happen for our students.

Share your story"

Nickelodeon

HangoverBuster.com - Hangover Cure, Hangover Remedy, Hangover Relief, Fix a Hangover, Hangover Remedies

This is a recommended cure-all for Mark and Jackie's Annual Saucecers. Wish I had thought of it Saturday, but of course, I thought of it as I was dealing with the after-effects of those drinks from that night.

HangoverBuster.com - Hangover Cure, Hangover Remedy, Hangover Relief, Fix a Hangover, Hangover Remedies: "Hangover Buster is a hangover cure that is designed to relieve hangovers after a night of alcohol consumption. It is a hangover remedy, one of the best hangover remedies available and it comes in an effervescent tablet form. It dissolves in room temperature water in order to give hangover relief. It is the ideal hangover cure among the hangover cures in the market and the one to use after a night of drinking. It is the preferred fix a hangover of an effervescent product."

Sunday, February 15, 2009

Twitter / Over capacity

Twitter / Over capacity: "Twitter is over capacity.
Too many tweets! Please wait a moment and try again."

Friday, February 13, 2009

Guess what I did yesterday? *Clothes Mountain*

Guess what I did yesterday? Can you tell the kids cleaned their room?

Posted via Pixelpipe.

This is not a sponge, it is a "SCRUBBER"

yes, it does say sponge INSIDE, that doesn't make it a sponge.

This is a sponge....

Posted via Pixelpipe.

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Free Pizza @Big Y

Eating on a budget

Wall Art @Starbucks

We Support Our Troops

Therese, ESPECIALLY! ;P

Starbucks Coffee

@Holyoke Mall

Starbucks Supports Our Troops

Posted via Pixelpipe.

Valentine's By Mail

From Gamma/Poppa & Nanna/Grandad

Posted via Pixelpipe.

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Mel and Martini

Mel Martini

Raise Your Glass, err, Cup

Cheers!

Mel and Trevor

The Kids

Daniela, Ally, Jacob

Tae Kwon Do 3

High Five!

Tae Kwon Do 2

Tae Kwondo @Eastfield Mall

"And I'm begging you please, Please Dojo"

Julius @Work

"Word!" - get it? - a joke about engraving, lol

the kids @Eastfield Mall

Posted via Pixelpipe.

Project Working Mom: Putting Education to Work | Home Page - eLearners.com



Project Working Mom: Putting Education to Work | Home Page - eLearners.com: "Change your life with an online degree.
Have you ever tried to go back to school, but didn't have enough time, money or confidence? You're not alone.

Women unable to pursue education because of life circumstances often become trapped in a cycle of underemployment.

eLearners.com established Project Working Mom, to lead the way in providing resources to moms everywhere."

SafeLink Wireless

SafeLink Wireless: "SafeLink Wireless is a government supported program
that provides a free cell phone and airtime each
month for income-eligible customers."

Lifeline Benefits
Lifeline Assistance is part of a program that was created by the government to provide discounted or free telephone service to income-eligible consumers. To help bring you this important benefit, SafeLink Wireless is proud to offer Lifeline Service. Through our Lifeline Service you will receive FREE cellular service, a FREE cell phone, and FREE Minutes every month! SafeLink Wireless Service does not cost anything – there are no contracts, no recurring fees and no monthly charges.

Any Minutes you do not use will roll-over. Features such as caller ID, call waiting and voicemail are all also included with your service. If you need additional Minutes, you can buy TracFone Airtime Cards at any TracFone retailer Walmart, Walgreens, Family Dollar, etc). SafeLink Airtime Cards will be available soon.

Your exact benefits, including the number of free Minutes you will receive, depend on the state you live in. Please enter your ZIP code to get the details for your state.

Lifeline Benefits

Lifeline Assistance is part of a program that was created by the government to provide discounted or free telephone service to income-eligible consumers. To help bring you this important benefit, SafeLink Wireless is proud to offer Lifeline Service. Through our Lifeline Service you will receive FREE cellular service, a FREE cell phone, andFREE Minutes every month! SafeLink Wireless Service does not cost anything – there are no contracts, no recurring fees and no monthly charges.

Any Minutes you do not use will roll-over. Features such as caller ID, call waiting and voicemail are all also included with your service. If you need additional Minutes, you can buy TracFone Airtime Cards at any TracFone retailer Walmart, Walgreens, Family Dollar, etc). SafeLink Airtime Cards will be available soon.

Your exact benefits, including the number of free Minutes you will receive, depend on the state you live in. Please enter your ZIP code to get the details for your state.

Contact Information
For Customer Service

SafeLink: 1-800-378-1684 
TracFone: 1-800-867-7183 
Net10: 1-877-836-2368

Mailing Address:
TracFone Wireless, Inc.
9700 NW 112th Avenue
Miami, FL 33178

For Customer Feedback
CustomerFeedback@tracfone.com

For Customer Escalations
CustomerEscalations@tracfone.com
Or call us at: 1-800-876-5753

For Corporate Email Communications
CorporateOffice@tracfone.com

Biggest Loser's Jillian Michaels Plans Wii Fitness Game | Game | Life from Wired.com

Majesco has announced a new Wii title that uses the Wii Fitbalance board, based on the workouts of celebrity fitness trainer Jillian Michaels -- most will know her from her appearances on TV's The Biggest Loser.

With a title like Jillian Michaels' Fitness Ultimatum 2009, you can bet this won't be going for the light yoga exercises of Wii Fit, and will probably be more in line with the realistic title that Electronic Arts is working on.

Michaels seems pumped about adapting her fitness expertise to the gaming world. "As a huge gamer myself with younger siblings and godchildren, I recognize the importance of staying current with how people digest their media and information," she said in a statement. "I truly think this type of product will be instrumental in revolutionizing the fitness industry and will help combat the childhood obesity epidemic in this country today."

In the game, you'll play as a new recruit enrolled in Michaels' "boot camp," choosing one of four workout types -- weight loss, strength training, intervals, or hill climbing. You'll also be able to adjust the intensity of the workout, as well as the duration (between 10 and 60 minutes).

They're even including a party mode, in which two players will be able to compete in time-based individual challenges, or even use the entire training program found in the game.

The game is set to hit stores by the end of the year.

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

It's a B!

it's a BLT without the LT :(

Down to the last drop

The very last Chantix...pretty soon I will have to be on my own

Did I mention the ancient keys on the key ring?

Did I? lol

My USB Thumb Drive

something that was lost and now found. I need to upgrade...512MB = Ancient! lol

My Car Power Adapter

something that was lost and now found. I don't know how I have been getting by without it!

My Red Sunglasses

something that was lost and now found

CD's

something that was lost and now found

Easy Money?

My Car Power Adapter

something that was lost and now found. I don't know how I have been getting by without it!

Posted via Pixelpipe.

Posted via Pixelpipe.

Circuit City Liquidation: What You Need to Know

Circuit City Liquidation: What You Need to Know

After going into bankruptcy, Circuit City was unable to find a buyer and is going out of business. This means that all of its stores must be shut down. There's a massive liquidation underway of all of its products. So what does this mean for you, the consumer? We poked around the web to see what we could learn and have compiled a list of information below.

First Off, the Numbers.

Consider the following: Four firms that specialize in liquidation events purchased Circuit City's assets (the products it sells) at a discount to their retail and wholesale values with the hope of selling the items for more than what they paid for them. Here's how it breaks down:

$1.8 billion -- the full estimated retail price of all of the goods acquired by the liquidation firms
$1.2 billion -- the full estiamted wholesale price of all of the goods acquired by the liquidation firms
$846 million -- the price the liquidation firms paid for all of the assets (70.5% of the wholesale value)

Okay, so what does this tell us? Well, for one thing, we know that the liquidators paid just 47% of the retail value ($846 million/$1.8 billion). So the liquidators stand to make a decent amount of money. For example, even if they sell all of the items at the wholesale price, they would make over $354 million and get a nice, handsome return of over 40% on their money (and in less than one year -- a pretty amazing annualized return, no matter what the economic environment!).

But to be fair, the liquidators do have expenses, both their own operating expenses as well as the costs to operate the Circuit City stores while they liquidate (they are on the hook for all of the store operating costs). And in some cases, liquidators have arrangements to give some of the profits to the bankrupt company. Still, they should do reasonably well if they can move all of their merchandise.

What the Numbers Mean for You

For the consumer, this is good to know, because you can see that the liquidators have a fair amount of wiggle room to lower prices and still get a hefty return on their investment. The liquidators have an incentive to sell these items as quickly as possible, too. They incur costs when the stores are open, and they have their own operating costs, all of which eat into their margins. So at some point, it's more cost-effective for them to lower the prices of the items and get them sold than to hold out hope that all of their products will sell at the current prices.

You can't ever be sure how supply and demand will work together. If consumers are afraid that the products will be gone tomorrow and thus feel compelled to buy today, then demand trumps supply and prices won't fall further. But in a slowing economy like the one we're in now, this is probably less likely than at other times. A lot of people just can't afford to buy the goods at the current prices. Period.

Be Knowledgeable About Prices

The website Consumerist.com posted an 
article about Circuit City recently that quotes a reader who says he is a current employee. Among the interesting things he has to say is this quote: "All of what you have seen is correct, not much is actually on sale. Looking at items I remember from a couple weeks before, most everything is more expensive. Especially things like blank CDs, flash drives, and anything in the computer area. Cables are less expensive than usual, but still way more than online. Game systems are not a bad deal either." 

So one tip is: Don't assume that just because you're walking into a store that is in liquidation and must sell their entire inventory, everything is a "deal". Some items may not be discounted at all, or their discount may be less than a discount that was offered weeks ago -- particularly around the holidays when big sales were in place.

Shop around online before you hit Circuit City and make sure you know the price ranges for items of interest, and make sure that you don't get caught up in the excitement of a going out of business sale and overpay.

Discounts Vary

Also keep in mind that products are discounted differently. Apparently, big-ticket items like TVs haven't been discounted much so far -- maybe 10% at most. Other items, like game systems, as the employee cited above notes, might be discounted as much as 30%-40%. As a recent 
Business Week article noted, "liquidation sales trim the price of items that normally don't go on sale, such as the game accessories ... or leftover iPods, which are rarely discounted."

An iPod that is discounted at 10% might be a great bargain, because iPods are rarely discounted and will probably be scooped up quickly. So it might be worth it to pick up an item like this at a small discount, just because there will be more demand than supply and you might not see the discount go below 10%.

As the Business Week article notes, the "psychology, typical of going-out-of-business sales, is heightened by the recession that has consumers paring back. Liquidators acknowledge that they'll sweeten the deals as the sale goes on, but they also warn that items in demand will move before then. Still, liquidators worry they may have paid too much for inventory that newly thrifty shoppers may not buy."

When to Buy

Okay, so nobody has a crystal ball and it's tough to know with certainty when to buy a product and when to wait. A discount of any kind is tempting, particularly large ones. But what if prices drop further? It's really a roll of the dice, and at some point you have to take in all of the facts and then go with your gut. 
Time magazine notedthat the liquidation "will likely take eight weeks". So if that's true, it might be worth swinging through the store a month from now to see what's left, as it might be massively discounted by that point.

And the liquidators are ready to drop prices should they get the sense that items aren't moving as hoped. Again, according to Time magazine (referring to a liquidator involved with a Circuit City store), "in a stockroom, he's got hundreds of additional discount stickers piled up — 40%, 50%, all the way through 80% off. Electronics are rarely discounted as desperately as, say, clothes, so 10-20% deals alone could move the merchandise. According to the liquidation firms, Circuit City sales are beating projections thus far. But with consumer spending so dismal, and so many stores desperate for dollars, Fried [the liquidator being referenced] might need to shift those stickers to the sales floor. 'It used to be that if you were doing a liquidation, you were the only one out there,' Fried says. 'Now, there's much more competition. You have to be sharper.' And ready to sell a 40-inch plasma for chump change."

Buyer Beware

One final note: In most -- if not all -- cases, once you purchase an item from Circuit City, you cannot return it. So make sure that you really want the item, and understand that if you run into a problem, you're stuck with it.

Is Your To Do List Working For You?


FEATURE ARTICLE: 
"Is Your 'To Do' List Working for You?"
by Marcia Ramsland, "The Organizing Pro"


        A new list each day is better than a pile or sticky notes of reminders by the back door. Why? Because a list puts your thoughts in order and keeps you at the top of your game for the day. A to-do list is a list of actions you want to remember or need to accomplish in a given day or short time period. It solves the problem of "I forgot . . ." and relieves the worry that you won't remember an item that comes up during the day.

My Order, Time Order, or Priority Order?

When you start listing items on your to-do list, you have three choices: you can put to-dos in the order they occur to you, in the time order in which you will complete them, or in the priority order of importance. As you develop your success rate with one of those, you will become more skilled at getting the right things completed at the right time.


Seven Reminders for a Successful To-Do List

1. Limit it. Find out how many items you can handle in a day. When my kids were in school, I could do nine items, but when they were home during summer vacation, I could only do three. What is your average per day? 

2. Write it. Each day write down what you need to accomplish. Clear out mental clutter by putting it on  paper. Leave a space between each item to sandwich in new priorities.

3. Verb-alize it. Begin each to-do item with an action verb (e.g., pay bills, call Mary, send birthday card, put away laundry, outline proposal, etc.). Your mind visualizes you in action as you "verb-alize" it and then write it down.

4. Anchor it. Keep your to-do list in the same place each day. Whether it's in your planner, on your kitchen counter, or on a sticky note on your computer monitor, keep it anchored in one spot.

5. Refer to it. Reference your list throughout the day until you are finished. Consider it your personal compass pointing you in the right direction.

6. Adjust it. Plan your morning to-dos the night before. Before lunch each day, plan your afternoon list.

7. Check it off. As you complete each item, check it off with a red pen, cross it off, or delete it from your computer (or store it in a "Finished" file).

What Do I Do with My List Each Night?

       At the end of every day, congratulate yourself on the goals you reached, and plan a better list for the following day based on what you did today. Probably a shorter list with time appointments for each task section, i.e. projects, email to send, paperwork, etc.

    As you practice this habit, I guarantee you will see results. Write a To Do list every day for a month and watch your accomplishments (and productivity) soar. You'll feel so good about yourself and make a bigger difference in the lives of others at the same time. Go for it!


(This excerpt from Simplify Your Time: Stop Running and Start Living by Marcia Ramsland available at Office Depot or wherever books are sold.)

KFC has a new Marketing Campaign

Free tickets with Men in Motion- Valentine's Day show!


dateFri, Jan 23, 2009 at 7:32 PM
subjectFree tickets with Men in Motion- Valentine's Day show!
hide details Jan 23
Reply
Ladies we are doing a special Valentines day show by Hartford, Ct on Feb. 14th, Valentine's day. 
We are giving away 2 free tickets to whomever would like to go to the show. If you are interested please email me, Brett back and I will get you set up!
 
Look forward to speaking with you!
 
Brett
Men in Motion

Happy Birthday Mom

Today would have been my mother's birthday. She would have been 54 years old. Her sudden passing away still confuses me and it hurts more to know that she didn't even make it to her own birthday. 
I turned 30 in December, and she made sure to come down and celebrate my birthday with me. I wish I could have made her day as special as she did mine. 
I miss you mom, and sadly, I wish you a happy birthday.
Love, 
Jeanne

Monday, February 9, 2009

Music from the 51st Grammy Awards

 Buy 1, Get 4 Free CDs! 
50th Grammy Awards
WINNER Song of the Year

Coldplay 
Viva La Vida
$18.98 
Free 

Brian Eno produced this groundbreaking album from Chris Martin & compatriots.Violet Hill, title track, Lost!, Lovers In Japan, Cemeteries Of London, more.
WINNER Best R&B Song

Ne-Yo 
Year Of The Gentleman
$18.98 
Free 

Classy style shift from Grammy®-winning artist. Top-Ten hit Closer, plus Miss Independent, Mad, Single, Back To What You Know, Lie To Me, more.
WINNER Best Pop Vocal Album

Duffy 
Rockferry
$18.98 
Free 

Welsh singer/songwriter topped UK charts and earned Dusty Springfield comparisons w/this soulful debut. Mercy, Warwick Avenue, Serious, Rockferry, Stepping Stone, more.
2 nominations including Best New Artist

Lady Antebellum 
Lady Antebellum
$18.98 
Free 

Country trio’s distinctive male/female vocal blend is hard to resist. Love Don’t Live Here, Lookin’ For A Good Time, Slow Down Sister, Long Gone,more.
Nominated for Record Of The Year

M.I.A. 
Kala
$18.98 
Free 

Trailblazing sonics & socially aware rhymes from Sri Lankan artist. Boyz, Bird Flu, Come Around (w/Timbaland), 20 Dollar, Mango Pickle Down River, Paper Planes, etc.
Nominated for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance

Katy Perry 
One Of The Boys
$18.98 
Free 

Swaggering pop/rock diva’s debut includes sensational No. 1 single I Kissed A Girl, plus Ur So Gay, Thinking Of You, Waking Up In Vegas, Fingerprints, etc.
WINNER Album of the Year
Robert Plant & Alison Krauss 
Raising Sand (Premium Title - See Details)$14.98  

WINNER Best Rap Album
Lil' Wayne 
Tha Carter III (New Version) (Premium Title - See Details)$13.98  

WINNER Best R&B Album
Jennifer Hudson 
Jennifer Hudson (Premium Title - See Details)$14.98  

The Year's Biggest Songs!
Various Artists
Grammy Nominees 2009 (Premium Titles - See Details)$12.98  

For a complete list of GRAMMY® Nominees log on to www.grammy.com. The GRAMMY® Awards and the gramophone logo are registered trademarks of the National Academy of Recording Arts & Science, Inc. and are used under license.