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Money Matters!

I was surfing around on MSN (they have some of the most interesting and useful articles, I swear) when I came across this little gem. It's a lovely article about saving $$ on a shoestring budget, though I think the tips are applicable to just about everyone.

The article talks about little tricks, tips and techniques to use when you're trying to save. Like:
* spare change savings plans some banks are offering where they round up your purchase and deposit the change into a savings account (there's also a credit card out there that's putting a percentage in a high-yield account too).
* auto transferring funds each month, so you don't miss what's not there
* don't overpay taxes: reduce your witholding to the proper amount and deposit the savings – the government holds them and gives you NO interest
* bank your raise: put that extra 3% or 5% directly in savings as though you didn't get a raise at all

Anyhoo, thought I'd pass the wealth of knowledge along. We can all use a little more jingle in our pockets, I'm sure.

Two more links:
* Women in Red are bloggers helping women get out of debt and save
* Lifehacker has an entire section on personal finance Continue reading “Money Matters!”

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Books Galore

As part of my 101, I made the commitment to read 11 books I've never read before. It seems kinda silly, but this is a pretty big thing for me since when I fall in love with a book, I read it over and over … in fact, I have a select set of books that I read at least once a year (helps that I read pretty fast). I'm sort of chicken when it comes to trying new books. But I did it!! And I did more than 11. Continue reading “Books Galore”

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Off into the Sunset

On a whim, I decided to subscribe to Sunset. This magazine appeals to me greatly since it focuses on life in the West (PS: don't ever tell a Denverite that we live in the “midwest” … I've lived in the Midwest and Denver ain't it). That's great for us denizens of the Mile High City, since a lot of publications leave us high and dry (which is our natural state … if you've ever been here, you know what I mean).

It has sections on food, travel, home and garden all with a list towards the Western style, a more laid-back style than the east. I think it would appeal to lots of folks in the East and everywhere in between. Like their sister magazine, Cooking Light, they have a very nice online recipe database, however it can only be used by those who buy the magazine (there's a code in there somewhere).

Check it out!

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Frosty Morning

Well the ground was all frosty this morning as I drove to work. I could see my breath when I got out of the car to drop Loki off at Doggy Daycare. And now I'm sitting at my desk, still wearing my jacket, with my space-heater going full-blast. Everytime I have to move away from it, I get very very cold. Brrrrr…

If the calendar, the beautiful fall colors, and the new skin for Jesser weren't enough clues, FALL IS HERE!

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Yum!!

Last night we had my parents and sister over for dinner. It's feeling very fall around here, and so were we, so we made a very fall meal. We made a spinach salad with some cranberries and pine nuts and cucumbers (dressing of your choice), Pasta with Spicy Sausage and Mixed Wild Mushrooms and we had a little red wine. For dessert, we made the absolutely scrumptions Apple Spice Cake, which I found somewhere on the internet (All recipes, possibly??). Truly one of the yummiest desserts I've ever eaten. Very fall too…

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Apple Spice Cake

from: somewhere on the web

Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter, softened
2 cups white sugar
4 eggs
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon warm water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 apples – peeled, cored and chopped
1/2 cup raisins
1/4 cup confectioners' sugar for dusting

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Butter a 10 inch tube pan. Cover raisins with warm water, let soak for 10 minutes and then drain. Whisk together flour, spices, and salt. Set aside.

Cream together butter or margarine and sugar. Mix in eggs and vanilla. Stir together soda and 1 tablespoon warm water, and mix into the sugar mixture. Stir in flour mixture, apples, and strained raisins until well blended. Pour batter into prepared pan.

Bake for approximately 1 hour, or until a tester comes out clean. Cool in pan. Once cool, shake pan to loosen cake. Turn onto plate, and dust with confectioners' sugar.

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New Look for Fall

I've added a new fall skin to jesser to celebrate the changing season. Matt has promised to make a skin for Halloween.

Check out the new fall look for Jesser.org.

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Bird Flu

Don't get me wrong. I'm not in a Bird Flu panic. I'm sure there's the possibility for danger (there's always the possibility for danger), but until the thing mutates and start spreading between humans, I won't panic.

They say the thing's responding to Tamiflu, which reduces the symptoms and lengths of the disease. So demand for Tamiflu has sky-rocketed. Roche, the pharmaceutical company who manufactures the drug has thus far been unwilling to release their patent on the drug to allow companies to make a generic version and up until recently, hadn't been allowing licensing of the drug to other manufacturers to keep up withthe demand. I laughed hard when I learned the CEO of Roche is named (William) M. Burns.

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Shattered

Well my morning has gotten off to an interesting start. I got to my desk this morning and I noticed that I hadn't put my water glass in the dishwasher before I left yesterday. So I filled my bowl with my oatmeal packet and took it and the glass into the kitchen. I set the bowl on the counter and went to put the glass in the dishwasher. I turned it upside down and started to set it in the rack. Before it had touched anything (I think) it SHATTERED in my hand. Not 5 pieces. Not 20 pieces. Hundreds of pieces. In the dishwasher, all over the floor …. Luckily though, nothing really hurt my hand. A guy I work with showed up just after it happened and helped me get it all cleaned up … and now I'm left with a good story and a bandaid.

I told one of my co-workers … I'm not trying sky-diving today, but I might buy a lottery ticket.

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Overflow

Well my cup certainly hath been running over. This isn't a bitch and moan post since pretty much everything in my life is wonderful. Who can complain about that??

But my life is certainly overflowing. I started up working on a website outside of work, which is taking a good bit of time and my mom and sister recently joined my gym, so there are a lot of group workout sessions which lead to a bit more wait time or time spent at the gym. Plus, now that the holiday season is upon us, I have loads of holiday projects to work on.

Ooh … that reminds me. I really should make a fall theme for the site. And a Christmas one. And a Winter one…