Top Business Cities

Here is something that really fascinates me from time to time,I love finding out what are the best cities to do business in. As someone who runs a small homebased daycare,I always wonder about expanding my business one day. Since I live in the Atlanta area its always fun to see where Atlanta ranks business wise.

Atlanta is a great convention city,but how do we far as a city doing business?

There were many surprises on the list and some not so surprising. I was truly surprised with #1 on the list. Check out the article and see if your surprised by the list.Yahoo!

-peace-

Hope Everyone Had a Great Holiday

I celebrated Christmas with my immediate family,at home,sitting in our PJ's until noon. Then I had to get down to business and hit the one only grocery store in my area up,so I could make my famous Spinach Beef and Mushroom lasagna. Yeah I know,why in the world would I wait to the last minute to make my Christmas dinner.....Well, my husband and I became consumed with finding a game called Pop the Pig, for our youngest daughter, and the Wii system for the whole gang,that we kept waiting to finish up our grocery shopping. I knew this would be a big mistake,but some days I just wanted to go home and rest,get warm or just eat.

We never did find that Pop the Pig game;it was always advertised on t.v.,but every time we went to a toy store,no one ever heard of the game.

My husband eventually found the Wii system, and I was glad he had found the system because we had already picked up a few games that were on sale a while back.

So, we found the Wii and now we're trying to figure out how to give the gift to the kids. I had already wrapped the Wii games with a bundle of movies that we bought the kids. We wanted the kids to unwrap this gift all together. The kids decided that they wanted me to unwrap it,so I did,and I took each movie out one by one as the kids read each title. Then I came to the middle of the movie pile and showed them the Wii game-and they didn't get it at first. Their first response was,"We don't have a Wii,that's for the Wii system." Then my husband said,"Oh you don't?" He told our oldest son, Rico(Brother) to go and check for another box in our room.

This is when pandemonium hit our living room. I wished our camcorder was still working because that was one of the best reactions I've ever seen. There was jumping,hugging,and screaming,you would have thought we'd hit the Jackpot. Well,I guess we did...from their point of view.

So, pretty much it turned out to be a fun filled day; everyone got pretty much what they wanted and needed. We had lots of fun playing the array of new board games,the Wii system, and made jewelry from a jewelry kit. All in all it was a pretty fun day minus the shopping for groceries on Christmas Day and spending way too much money on a few little items. Oh, well, it was a good meal that lasted for three days.....can't beat that,can you?

-peace-

Chocolate Rain Guy Does it Again

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This song is perfect for his voice,this guy is awesome. I also enjoy hearing him read poetry, a truly unique voice and more power to him.

Last night I went to my first hockey game thanks to my 10 year old son,Rico. He received a voucher ticket from his school for his excellent grades. It was the first ever attended hockey game for both of us,and man what an experience!

The game was fast paced,exciting and the crowd was awesome. Oh, did I mention we had great seats.....No nosebleed seats for us and I'm glad that my son got the chance to see the action up close the way he did. Just to see the sheer excitement in his face made my night.

I wished I had a camera to take pictures,but my camera is still broken. Hopefully, Santa will have one for me.

Man, I just lost a lot of my thoughts because I'm trying to type this on a Sunday afternoon while the kids are doing chores and they keep on talking to me. I knew I should have written my thoughts down,but I wanted to wing it!

Well, I just have to say,if you haven't been to a hockey game,what are you waiting for?

I've always enjoyed watching hockey now and then on television but there's nothing like hearing the cracking of the puck,the sounds of the skates sliding on the ice,the bodies banging against the glass as the players scramble for the puck,and of course.....the fights!

Hockey what a game,what an experience! I definitely would love to attend more games. I've always been a big college basketball fan (let's go Duke!),who knows,hockey might become a sport I truly follow now. I know my son can't stop talking about the game and the experience either and he wants to attend more games. He couldn't stop going over the program from last night's game. I'm glad we both had a great time and hopefully we can do this more often with each other.

-peace-

The Banking Game

A few nights ago,my husband and I had to make a quick late night trip to the grocery store. We went to pick some lettuce,bread,eggs and milk. We probably picked up a few more items,but those were the main items we needed to get. So, anyway my husband and I are ready to check out and decided to use the self check out lane at our local Kroger's. We made our purchase using his debit card.

The following day he also used his debit card to put some gas in the car. Now mind you, he uses a debit card because it supposedly posts immediately;however,our bank didn't get the memo about this issue and lately hasn't been taking our purchases out immediately. Instead they wait 3 to 4 days to take money out of your account and also have been waiting 2 days to post money that we put into the back.

I mean come on now, if I deposit a certain amount of money into the bank before 2 p.m.,I expect to see my money in that bank account the next evening,don't you?

I see what these banks are doing now and it's not funny at all. They're waiting to deposit money to bank accounts and waiting to post your debit card purchases immediately because they know they can get many people with overdraft fees. Your account can be overdrawn by $9 and they charge you $35 for being overdrawn. This is what happened to my husband,his account was overdrawn by $9 four times,I guess in the past 2 weeks,I don't know,but the bank charged him $140 in overdraft fees.

Now this all started with us going to buy a few staple items at the grocery store (which added up to $13.00),and him having money in his account already before we made the purchases. In fact, he had made a call to check his account because he wanted to see if the money he had deposited earlier that day had posted yet,but it had not,and we were trying to figure out why the money hadn't deposited by now.

When I found out about him being charged $140 in overdraft fees,I was pissed,but I also realized this is how these banks make their money. Banks know that majority of Americans don't carry cash and use their debit cards on a regular basis. They know many people don't keep up with their account and go over budget,and not to mention the fact that many of these banks are struggling right along with many Americans.....what better way to make a profit. So, instead of immediately withdrawing money from a person's account they wait a few days and then, WHAM...... They've got you!

The banks can't get me because I use the cash in my hands. If I don't have the cash in my hands to buy something then I don't buy it. I know having a debit card is basically cash on hand,but I've never trusted that system. There's something about not knowing exactly what's in my account and,I don't know....I've just never trusted paperless,cashless,plastic card carrying system.....Believe me, there were times where I wanted to switch and be like everyone else,but couldn't because I kinda felt like I would become powerless for someone reason.

So, when my husband told me what happened,I said,"basically you need to carry some cash on you. " He said,"Yeah!"


-peace-

P.S.
Now we know the game,and we're ready to play too.

CPS, You Can't Be Serious?

This morning I was going through some news articles and found an article at http://wsbtv.com/ about Child Protective Services being called to Tiger Woods' home. I'm just wondering who called CPS on them and why? Or maybe CPS didn't receive a call from any outside source(maybe the hospital called,I don't know)and decided to do their own investigation because of "alleged" domestic violence on behalf of Elin Woods.



Personally I was over this story when I found out that he wasn't seriously hurt and would be okay. But, no the media kept on talking about it and I kept on turning the channel so I wouldn't have to hear this irrelevant news. I mean wake up people, unemployment is over 10 percent,people are losing their homes as we speak,more and more families are on food stamps,hell,in some parts of the country we have people living in tent cities........and what was the round the clock coverage on cable news...........Tiger Woods and his car accident!



But wait- then the story changed from car accident, to Tiger and his mistress, that he might of had..........Hmmm, a little different,but it still doesn't deserve around the clock media coverage. Apparently when I was taking my Tiger hiatus,eleven other women have claimed to be his mistress too. I guess we're still on eleven......I'm not really counting though.



My main reason for writing this post wasn't to talk about Tiger and his harem of women,but to vent about the government workers called CPS,DFACs or whatever they are called in your neck of the woods. These people can and do save many children's lives on a daily basis,but there are far to many times where this agency has torn up families and destroyed people's lives.

I have read far to many stories of children getting lost in the system,dying in the system,oh I'm sorry, I mean getting killed in the system because CPS is understaffed and can't get a case worker out to visit the foster child and foster parents,to see if this a good fit. Here's another thing that happens far to often with many of these cases.....there is no thorough investigation done. You can't just rely on a anonymous phone call to a hospital when a child has a broken arm to sway your investigation. That phone call should be one part of the investigation,but not the whole, because believe it or not,people do lie and will try to get your children taken away. I know that sounds cruel,but I have heard people get mad at each other and blurt out,"I should call CPS on you!"

One summer when my family and I lived in this apartment complex,my husband suggested that I call CPS/Dfacs on this family because their son didn't have shoes on his feet. I told my husband I couldn't do that because: first its summer and what kid doesn't love the feel of the sand or grass in between you toes(I know I did),my second reason was, he's a six year old boy and he might of left the house with shoes on his feet,but took them off while he was outside,my third reason was,he looks well taken care of i.e. dressed appropriately,looked healthy weight wise and parents seemed very attentive. I just couldn't image picking up the phone and calling CPS/Dfacs on this family. I know a social worker probably would have shown up and did an investigation of the home and that would have probably been it,but what if that investigation called for the children to be taken away from this family(there were 3 kids in all in this family)for a week or two weeks until the investigation was over. Do you know how traumatic that would or could have been for a child? It doesn't matter if its a week that you're gone from your family or 1 day.....the fact is some comes into your home and takes you from everything you have ever know and places you with people you don't know. Its kinda like legal kidnapping,I guess...I don't know,but I do know you can't play around with people's lives like that.

I understand why you can be an anonymous caller to the child abuse hot line,but at the same time,I am starting to see/hear a lot of false calls and this has to stop. People are wasting their time and lives on petty issues and in the mean time,there are real cases of neglect and abuse done to children in this country on a daily basis. Sometimes, I checkout http://parentsbehavingbadly.com just to see and hear the sorry excuse of a parent some of these children have. These are the parents that need to be locked away and many of them need their parental rights taken away.

Tiger Woods maybe a cheater,but having CPS come out to their house......come on now.
I do know however, that many times CPS will step into family situation because of a domestic violence issue in the family,which is understandable. But did you know if you argue(just words now) in front of your children,that's considered child abuse( law here in GA). So, even if Elin really did use the golf club to save his life from the accident and not to kill him;CPS could have a legitimate reason to go into the home and investigate because of the heated argument which could fall under child abuse(if FL law is like Ga law). Personally I think CPS is wasting their time and effort....these children are not being abused and neglected. They really need to focus their time and energy on helping children and families who are in need of help. I'm not saying that just because the Woods family is rich,that there is no possible way they can be abusive or neglectful,sure they could be,I guess I should say,go ahead an investigate,just don't drag this matter out like the media has. No family should have to go through this because of some spiteful person (I'm hoping this isn't the case).

-peace-

Parents of toddlers....this is for you.

If you are parent or childcare provider of a toddler or preschooler then you might want to check out . Tots radio has many of the hottest musicians and songs that toddlers enjoy. You can even make requests and listen to story time. Many of the stories aren't in a storybook format,like many other storybook websites. Personally, I like the fact that the stories are told through a podcast. I remember when my older children(who are now 13 and 10)were 7 and 5 years old, I bought them their first book on tape and they loved it. I found that having books on tape helped foster their imaginations. My kids would always tell me they could really see the pictures in their heads, and enjoyed the fact,they could picture the story. Whenever we would go to the library they would check out books four to five regular books,but always wanted at least one book on tape. That was a proud moment for me as a mom,I brought something totally different into their lives and they loved it.

If you're a busy mom like myself,who loves dancing and a good story to relax then check out (they also have coloring pages). Many of the stories on tots radio comes from a site called ,so go and check them out for more stories. Let's continue to encourage a children's minds,imagination and creativity.

-peace-

Most hated chore for me

If there is a household chore that I can't stand,its got to be dusting. You would think it would be laundry, with the large family that I have,but its dusting. Dusting.....that dull job where I pass it off to my children every chance I get. Thank god its the weekend and I don't have to dust at all. Mom's little helpers have been trained very well and know the routine.

What household chore do you hate doing?

-peace-

Shelly