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Photo Books – The Perfect Gift

Have you ever wanted to give someone special in your life a gift that would really mean something to them for years to come?  My family recently went to New York City and I wanted to put together the photos as a gift.  I chose to do a photo album, but not just any old photo album, one that is bound like a book and of professional quality.

Websites where you can create a photo book include Shutterfly.com, Costco.com, and Kodakgallery.com, just to name a few.  It is really not complicated and the finished products are amazing.  You get to pick the style of your book.  For my book, I used a travel theme for our New York City trip.  You upload your pictures and you drop them into a template.  If you change your mind you can replace the pictures easily during the editing process.  You can also add text to your photo album to describe the event or the people in the photo.  Once you are done, you order as many copies as you like and just like that you have your own professional photo book to give to your loved ones.

Photo gifts take a little planning ahead and time to complete.  I believe that you will find that it is well worth the effort once you see the pleasure of the person receiving it has in sharing the memories of special times captured in the pictures.  Mother’s Day is just around the corner.  Why not take some time now and create a one of a kind gift for the Mom, Grandma or special lady in your life?  You will be so happy you did!

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TIVO – Your new best friend for saving time

If you watch television at all you probably know that all those commercials add up to a lot of wasted time.  The average half-hour television show is actually only twenty-two minutes long and the average hour show is forty-four minutes long.  That means that for every hour of television you watch, sixteen minutes of it is time watching commercials.  We all have our favorite shows that we watch and if you would like to maximize your television watching experience, I recommend TIVO or a digital video recorder. 

Here are the benefits of using a TIVO:

*When you record your show, you can fast forward through the commercials saving a lot of time.

*You can still watch your shows when they originally air.  You can start recording your favorite show with your TIVO and wait ten to fifteen minutes.  You can then start watching it from the beginning and then skip all the commercials.

*You can records two shows at the same time.

*You can record one show while watching another show.

*You can watch your favorite shows when you it is convenient for you.

*You can pause anything you are watching at any time.  This is espcially nice if you have children.

*You can rewind anything you are watching if you miss something.  This is espcially nice if you have children.

*You don’t miss your favorite shows when you have something else to do because your TIVO records it for you.

*The TIVO is easy to set-up to record and you can get a season’s pass that will record every episode of your favorite show.

*If you are surfing and find a show that is in progress that you want to see in its entirety, TIVO can search to see if there are other showings of that exact show so you could record it from the beginning.

What TIVO tips do you have that help you to maximize your TV time?

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Why you have to have the right tools

My vacuum and I have had a rocky relationship for over 10 years.  We have had fights, disagreements and flat out assaults.  My vacuum could do 2-5 years if ever brought to trial.  I am also not the only one who doesn’t like it, my dog hates my vacuum and he has always been a pretty good judge of character.  If he is home when I vacuum, he barks and bites at it thinking that he will win the battle.  Unfortunately, neither my dog nor I have ever won the battle or for that matter the war with the vacuum.

Every year after Christmas, it goes on strike after the multitude of  needles from the tree have clogged it up.  We go through the same routine where I have to turn it over exposing its dusty underbelly and take it apart.  The vacuum doesn’t seem to  appreciate the invasion of privacy and usually retaliates with pinching my finger in some manner.  The expandable hose that allows me to clean the corners and crannies is a major source of conflict.  The problem is that it doesn’t expand.  When I pull it out and reach to get the dirt in question, it pulls the vacuum onto my head leaving me with a nice bump and usually some sharp words.  It is heavy and a bit like lugging around a packed piece of luggage over your carpet. 

I once owned this vacuum in part with a roommate.  When we moved into our own places we had to divide the things we bought together, which wasn’t much.  When it came to the vacuum, there was not a lot of debate.  My roommate said, “You take the vacuum.”  To which I asked, “What do you want in exchange?”  They replied, “Nothing, you can have it.”  In my opinion, this was one of the smartest decisions my roommate ever made.

Every year at Christmas, especially during our post Christmas fight and cleaning, I promise myself to get a new vacuum but I have yet to do it.  I have checked out Consumer Reports on vacuums, looked at them at the store and tried out various vacuums at my friend’s house.  I have oogled and admired many a vacuum at Costco.  If someone is talking about a vacuum, my ears perk up and sometimes out of the blue I will ask my friends, what do you think of your vacuum, do you like it?  Once they hear my story, the understand my plight.

Maybe this will be the year of the new vacuum.  Just writing this makes me want to once again check Consumer Reports and see what’s new in the vacuum world.  The moral of this story is to have good tools at your disposal.  You have heard the saying, if all you have is a hammer, everything becomese a nail.  Well if you don’t have the right tools, chores become more of a chore.  You also waste money on something that is not ideal and someday you will spend more money to replace it or will suffer with it to get what you paid for out of it.  From my experience, whether it be a vacuum, a rake, a garbage can, a mop, a printer or a watering can finding something that is easy to use and durable will make you happier when having to do household chores.