Womensnet is offering grants to business women. The Grant winner will be notified by email within 30 days after the end of the current grant period. This grant period ends February 28, 2009. Winners will be announced March 31, 2009. If you miss this quarter, go for the next one.

Be sure to read all of the fine print. Grant Amount for 2/28/09 period is $500.

For more information go to Womens Net and good luck.

A train station in England has some new rules, “No kissing“, they even have signs posted all over the station that shows a couple getting ready to kiss or are they already smooching? At any rate there is a red line crossing through, much like a “no parking“ sign. Mmmm, what next?

Here is story if you missed the short blurb missed it on television last week. Fox News

On Loving Your Job; how important is it that we love our jobs?

Work/life balance expert Jim Bird says we hear all the time how important it is to have jobs we love. But he says most people he knows don’t love their work. They either accept it or tolerate it. He points out that while it’s not necessary to be passionate about your job, you should be passionate about how well you do the job. Why? Because that’s what you do for yourself.

Lacking passion for your job doesn’t necessarily mean you’re living your life less well than the individual who is passionate about work. Your passion may surface in regard to other areas of your life. Bird offers these suggestions for generating more ardor for living:

• Write the essay or book that’s been in the back of your mind.

• Take a class in a subject that engrosses you.

• Teach a class in the subject that engrosses you.

• Cook dinners that will make your friends swoon.

• Go to your favorite sporting events.

• Let the people you’re closest to know how much you adore them.

The key is to set aside time for doing whatever it is you love to do. The first step is deciding you’re going to do it. The important second step, Bird says, is to go for it.

All of that being said, I really did love my job. There is no way I could have stayed for 25 years if I had not, mine was a stressful and often deadline-based job. That along with personal rough spots would have done me in if I had not had an outlet.  As Mrs. Bird says “the key is to set aside time for doing whatever it is you love to do.” I never allowed my job to become who I was.

See Jim Bird’s definition of work/life balance at  Work life Balance

I am delighted to share the site Usurprise.com. This site can help you and your friends celebrate online big time.

No more “we would love to see you on this special day but we are scattered across the globe.” Usurpise.com is a virtual party venue. You can contact friends and have them post messages in one place. You can even post photos, etc. When you are satisfied, send the “It’s a party” e-mail to the recipient. 

Check out Usurprise.com  and get a virtual party started. Very cool.

The bull and bear comes into our homes. The American Psychological Association’s “2008 Stress in America” survey reported that the declining economy is taking its toll on everyone, though women are hit harder by financial stress.

When asked about the recent financial crisis, almost half of Americans said they were worried about their ability to provide for their families’ basic needs. Eight out of 10 Americans said the economy was a significant cause of stress—with women (83 percent) more likely to suffer ill effects from it than men (78 percent).

Other findings:

• Women of the Boomer Generation (ages 44–62) and “Matures” (age 63 plus) were the most likely to report the economy as a significant stressor.
• Women, in general, ranked financial worries above personal health, though Boomer women reported higher stress levels when it came to job stability and concerns about the health of their families.
• Women were more likely than men to report indulging in unhealthy behaviors to manage stress—including shopping, eating poorly, smoking, and drinking.

Read the article and the full findings here. apapractice.org

 Make delicious butter spreads for bread and green and starchy veggies.

Honey Butter. Mix a little honey with slightly softened butter or buy spreadable butter with canola oil (I use Land O’Lakes brand) and spread this on your toast, etc. Make enough for several servings. 

Sesame & Garlic Butter. This suggestion is from Watkins:

1 loaf of French bread
½ cup of butter, slightly softened
1 tablespoon Watkins Sesame Garlic Snack and Dip Seasoning
2 tablespoon grated parmesan cheese

Mix the butter, Watkins Sesame snack/dip and parmesan cheese together. Slice load and spread mixture on bread. Bake in 400 degree over for 10 to 12 minutes. Makes 8 servings. Doesn’t this recipe sound delicious.

Since I am a family of one, I will just mix the butter, snack/dip and parmesan cheese in a small container and use as I need it for a couple of slices of thick bread or a hard roll.

Visit watkins for the Watkins Sesame Garlic Snack and Dip Seasoning and for more recipes and ideas.

    Meet Me at the Corner writes this about itself  “Virtual Field Trips for Kids, is a dynamic, interactive site, which encourages individual expression and participation through video submissions from children worldwide. Through these video pod casts we hope to create a community of children, who learn the art of self-expression and storytelling through video. ”  If your little one can’t read yet or has a problem navigating online, click on Episodes and find a short film for the child to watch. I particularly enjoyed, Meerkats at the Staten Island Zoo. I think they are so cute :) I love when they stand on their hind legs and look around. What can I say, I don’t have cable so I watch a lot of PBS.  Find some info about the cute little devils Meerkats 

Visit Meet Me At The Corner A cool site.

This old fashioned no-cook chocolate pudding pie recipe is big on taste but easy on the calories. An easy 50’s dessert recipe with a slight change in the ingredients.   

Ingredients

1 graham cracker pie crust (buy pre-made from grocer)
1-1/4 cup cold skim or 2% or 1% milk
1 package instant sugar-free chocolate pudding mix
8oz Cool Whip
 
Directions:

Place milk, pudding mix (less 1/2 teaspoon) and 1/2 of the Cool Whip in a medium bowl and use large spoon or wire whisk to beat and mix well. Continue for 1 full minutes. Spread creamy mousse-like mixture into graham cracker pie crust and spread remaining Cool Whip over the pudding. (see optional below*) Refrigerate until ready to serve. Add cut melon, a few grapes or raspberries to each serving.

*Optional: Sprinkle the 1/2 teaspoon pudding mix or a dash of ground cinnamon gently over the Cool Whip topping. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Enjoy!

Try Watkins cinnamon. Watkins uses only the finet cassia cinnamon bark.There are no fillers, etc. For more information visit Watkins.

When ordering magazines online, be sure to read the fine print.

Did you know that some online magazine orders use a automatic renewing system, so your magazine subscription is billed to your credit card annually.  :(  Remember to read the fine print when placing an order, so can stay in charge of how and when your credit card is used. Also, be sure to read the print about how your personal information will be used, will it be shared? if yes, how and to whom? Many times upon subscribing there is a yes or no statement proclaiming I want to receive offers from, yada, yada… Often the “Yes” box is already chosen for you. Once you hit the send button you have agreed to accept countless emails from the magazine, its affiliates and perhaps outside third parties. Remember to read the fine print.

I remember reading something years ago that folk singer Pete Seeger said about money and bad times. He talked about rent parties and such. I believe that so-called rent parties started in the 1920/30’s in Harlem, New York when down-on-their-luck people would hold these parties to help get money to pay their rent.

An Associated Press article “Jobless turn to parties, bars to find work“, started me to thinking that we may see a resurgence of these parties under a different name. Sure enough after an easy Internet search I found what I was looking for, an article on How to Throw a Rent Party, I had to smile because it is on e-how, that tells me that these parties are coming into vogue again, but Yuppie style.  Here is the e-how link.

If you are ever in Atlantic City, you can always find an assortment of “street entrepreneur’s” playing for their supper and proberly their rent. That’s sort of the same thing. Many of the people in AC are not good, but they always manage to get rewarded for their efforts or maybe it’s for their chutzpa. 

Here is the link to the AP article.