The Friday Funny - Old Age

Just before the funeral services, the undertaker came up to the elderly widow and asked, “How old was your husband?”

“Ninety-eight,” she replied. “Two years older than me.”

“So you're 96?” the undertaker commented.

“Yep! Hardly worth going home, isn’t it?” she responded.

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A reporter interviewing a 104-year-old woman asked, “And what do you think is the best thing about being 104?”

She simply replied, “No peer pressure.”

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My memory's not as sharp as it used to be. Also, my memory's not as sharp as it used to be.


(courtesy of John Hunt)

Importance of pet supplements

If your dog goes to the dog park, you take him or her for a walk down your street, or even if he or she gets their exercise on your own property, they are continually exposed to all kinds of pollutants such as pesticides, herbicides and chemical fertilizers. They pick these pollutants up on their paws and then lick their feet and fur back and home. Also consider the exposure from other animals who have passed the same way who might be carrying contagious viruses such as kennel cough. It's very important that your pet's immune system is working at its optimal best to defend against all the contaminants and diseases your pet comes in contact with every day.

Another thing to consider is the food you are feeding your pet. You may think your pet food is a well-balanced combination of the best food your money can buy, but not all pet foods are created equal - just remember the horrible pet food recall of 2007. A less than optimal diet filled with grains, by-products and chemical preservatives can be leaving your pet further susceptible to illness and disease.

Supplements are an easy way to give your pet an added layer of protection to things he or she faces each day. Cat and dog vitamins help counteract the affects of pollution with antioxidants and nutrients that boost the immune system, provide joint support for aging pets with joint issues, and liver detox supplements can help strengthen a pet's liver so it can filter the blood properly and fend off illness and disease. As people become more and more concerned with the source of our food and ingredients in supplements, kosher vitamins are gaining in popularity as well. Kosher vitamins are considered clean foods from certain animals such as cows, chickens, salmon, and turkey, avoiding the so called unclean animals like swine, shellfish and lobster. It also means no organs, flesh or blood was used in the product and no unclean animal parts have touched the product.

Just like supplements can be very effectively used in conjunction with a healthy diet for our optimal health, the same is true for our beloved pets. So take a close look at the ingredients in your pet's food to be sure there are no by-products, chemicals or preservatives listed, and further protect them with carefully chosen supplements to give your pets a long and healthy life.

Financial planning for your family

The following is a guest post by Jessica Bosari regarding financial planning for your family.  I hope you find it helpful.

Family Planning Means Budget Planning
Planning a family is one of the most satisfying and frightening moments of a couple’s life. Couples priority for families looking to expand.

Budget First, Baby Second
It is in your best interest to begin focusing on your budget prior to trying to get pregnant. This gives you the time necessary to pay down any debt that you may have and to accrue savings that will be helpful to your future. Begin paying off any high-interest rate debts. By consolidating your bills, you may be able to save hundreds of dollars in interest payments a month. Create and stick to a weekly or monthly budget. Take into consideration your weekly needs, regular bills, and income. While it can be hard to stay on a tight budget, it will be worth the effort when you have money saved to help your family. Your budget should also include setting aside a portion of your income to increase your savings. A savings account can be helpful to set aside money, with the understanding that the money should remain in the account until an emergency.

Hidden Costs
When planning to increase your family, it is important that you account for certain possibilities. Having the extra money saved by sticking to your budget can become very important when a pregnancy does not always go as planned. Obvious side effects of pregnancy such as morning sickness may hinder you from being able to work. If you need to take extra time off from the job due to sickness, it would be helpful to have extra funds in case your company does not cover your absences. In addition, complications and miscarriages during pregnancy may make it difficult for you to work.

Unexpected Difficulties
Some couples have trouble conceiving once they begin trying to expand their family. Fertility treatments, if not covered by your insurance company, may be expensive causing you to have to pay more out of pocket to conceive. If a couple does conceive through fertility treatments, there is the increased chance of multiple births. Couples typically plan for one addition at a time, so having multiple children can be an unexpected increase to your budget. For those that cannot conceive naturally, adoption is an excellent option, but creates additional fees.


Health Insurance
Once a couple finds out they are expecting a child, healthcare becomes a large concern and strain on the budget. It is very important to understand what your healthcare plan covers and what you will pay out of pocket. Ask your provider what exactly is covered, including ultrasounds, lab tests, and hospital stay. Find out what types of delivery insurance will pay.  If you are interested in having a doula, water birth, or home birth, see if there are any limitations from your healthcare provider. You may be responsible if they do not cover the services that you are interested. Also, be sure to ask about the procedure to add your child to your insurance plan so they have coverage their care when he or she arrives in the world.

Preparing to expand your family is an exciting and joyous time. With careful planning and a clear-cut budget, your family can be prepared for the many difficulties that may be associated with it.

Jessica Bosari writes about financial planning topics for TermLifeInsuranceNews.com. The site offers news, information and answers to consumer questions like, “What is Term Life Insurance?”

Watering tips for your garden

For my vegetable, herb and flower gardens, I've applied measures to conserve soil moisture, such as adding compost prior to planting, and keeping a good layer of mulch on top to hold in the moisture. But sometimes weather conditions require you to water your garden to keep the plants from experiencing too much stress. Here are some tips to help you:

* Use a drip hose rather a hand sprayer. It adds water slowly and since it goes directly into the soil, there's very little evaporation.

* Water deeply and moisten the whole root system. To check the moisture condition, poke the soil with your finger down to the second knuckle. If the soil sticks to your finger, it has enough moisture, but if your finger comes out clean, you need to water.

* Water early in the morning or evening so you don't lose precious moisture to evaporation in the hottest part of the day.

* Don't over-water. A good rule of thumb is to water well every 10 days or so. Your plant's roots will be encouraged to grow deeper with a good soaking rather than repeated surface watering. If you don't get rain, one inch of water per week should be sufficient for your plants.

Storm safety for your home

You never know when your area will be hit by severe weather.  In some areas it's the threat of tornadoes and others it's hurricanes or flooding.  Many people choose to go to a secured evacuation center, but most pet owners like myself choose to ride out storms at home because most centers don't allow you to take your pets.

    So making your home secure against the storm's winds and driving rains is important for your family's safety.  Securing doors and windows is a must and Storm Tight Windows has a wide variety of replacement windows to suit every home's decore in multiple glass choices along with being maintenance free.  Their windows have the Energy Star rating and can save you 40% on heating and cooling bills.  For hurricane prone areas in the South and the Gulf coast,  you'll be glad to know their hurricane windows are Miami Dade County approved.  And right now they are offering a $99 trade in for each window replaced using their site's ad.  You'll also get a $3000 tax credit for a limited time.

    Their slogan is "when it must be done right, call Storm Tight" - 100% satisfaction guaranteed with easy financing available.  Call for a free in-home estimate for new home or replacement hurricane windows.

(review sponsored by Storm Tight Windows)

The importance of mulching

Mulch helps hold in valuable soil moisture and also improves the appearance of any garden area. It can be any kind of material that is spread over the ground as a covering. There are many types available, and it's a personal preference as far as texture and color. The only caution I would give is to stay away from the chemically treated mulches for your vegetable gardens, or if your pets will be around the mulched areas.

Personally, I like grass clippings the best for my vegetable garden (untreated grass only). For my more visible and decorative areas, I prefer cedar. Cedar mulch is one of the most popular because of the wide variety of garden benefits:
* it repels insects because of it's strong smell, which insects dislike
* it controls the soil temperature because of it's light color.
* it blocks the sunlight, preventing weeds
* shredded cedar decomposes rapidly, adding nutrients to the soil.

Before applying mulch, pull weeds and water the soil. The mulch layer should be around 2-4 inches thick for best results. The more course mulches will suppress weeds better, while finer mulch holds moisture in better but will decompose faster and need to be replenished sooner.

Keep algae out of your birdbath

Birdbaths can help attract birds to our yards, and birds in turn help keep the bug population in check.  But birdbaths tend to get icky and filled with algae if not cleaned frequently.  So if you have a problem with algae growing in your birdbath, here's a neat tip I found to prevent that slimy algae growth from forming.   All you need is some lavender and a daylily leaf from your garden.

Lavender releases a chemical that stops the algae from growing. You'll need to clean your birdbath as usual, and fill it with water. Then tie about 7 sprigs of lavender flowers together with a daylily leaf, and let it float in the birdbath. Replace with fresh lavender every couple weeks.

Alternative Weight Loss Methods

The following is a guest post written by fitness enthusiast Will Kashis on alternative weight loss methods. I hope you find it helpful in your weight loss efforts.

3 Great but Unknown Reasons Why Intermittent Fasting Works for Weight Loss

You may not have heard of intermittent fasting, though in recent years it has become popular as a way of losing weight. It may sound a little confusing, after all everyone has heard of things like ‘starvation mode’ and the benefits of eating 6 small meals a day, but there are a few reasonable points within this concept:

1) Unusual way to cut calories

Most people need about 2,000 calories a day to maintain their body weight. So, if you want to lose half a pound of fat a week, you’ll need to eat exactly 1,750 calories every single day for a week. Daily calorie counting can be not easy – and it certainly isn’t any fun.

In opposite, short-term fasting promotes eating less food over the course of an entire week, not one day. By looking at the bigger picture, the guilt of occasionally splurging on burgers and fries is removed.

In fact, one or two “fasting days” thrown into a week may burn up 3500 calories and create the same calorie deficit you get from cutting calories on daily basis.

2) Natural Fat Burner

As we know, human body is genetically predisposed to store fat in certain areas. It uses fat storage as source of energy and start burning fat when, for some reason, you are not eating.

In other words, when you eat, your body prefers to burn the fuel you ate first. But if you don’t have any food in your system to burn as fuel, your body still has to burn something, and it shifts to burning fat as its primary fuel source. This is the main fact that supports using of short-term fasting for fat loss.

Both men and women, who practice this approach, usually do 1 or 2 fasts during a week to burn fat and exercise to build muscle mass if it’s necessary.

Most of them report they have lost 1-2 pounds of body fat per week. Some lose 3 or 4 pounds per week during the first couple weeks, but this is mostly due to the loss of inflammation, excess water, and some fat mass.

3) Energy and Growth Hormone Booster

The most common myth about intermittent fasting is so-called ‘starvation mode’. During starvation mode, the body supposedly slows its metabolism production during times when too few calories are being ingested.

The truth is a large body of scientific research shows you can eat very low calories for extended periods of time with no change in your metabolism and, no decrease in muscle mass, as long as you do some form of resistance training.

Yes, longer fasts can drain an individual of energy and metabolism, sometimes leaving an individual weak and drained, but with 24-hour fasting, the opposite is true. It often provides more energy and a higher metabolism.

More over, according to the recent study, during 24-hour fasting periods, human growth hormones increased to an average of 1,300 percent in women and nearly 2,000 percent in men.

This hormone acts directly on fat cells, telling them to release stored fat for energy when are not eating.

Bottom line: Intermittent fasting is not a secret or magic weight loss pill. In fact, it is a simple approach to weight loss, which allows individuals to enjoy all their favorite foods most days of the week while refraining from food entirely for one or two days.

By Will Kashis, fitness enthusiast and popularizer of alternative weight loss methods