To be perfectly honest, I was feeling snubbed by the women at the meeting, so I tried to listen to the men’s conversation, thinking that I could participate in some of that chatter.  But all they seemed to be talking about was sports, or cars.  I could hear that one of them was trading in his dodge ram but couldn’t make up his mind between a chrysler 300 or a suzuki kizashi . Another guy was talking about buying a new infiniti ex as a graduation gift for his daughter that had just graduated college. Must be nice to have enough money to buy your kid a brand new car like that! I’ve been driving around a 1996 Chevy because money is tight, and these guys are talking about buying new cars. Why can’t men get more excited about fixing up their houses?

I can remember just a few years back no one in this neighborhood even locked their doors at night, or when leaving the house!  People felt very safe around here.  But I’ve been hearing recently that a few houses a couple of blocks away were broken into over the past couple of weeks, and just last night by neighbor told me that someone appears to have been in their house over last weekend when they went away to visit their relatives in Ohio.

They said that it does not look like anyone stole anything, but things were rearranged and food was eaten from their pantry and refrigerator.  And beds had been slept in.  I have to wonder if it was maybe some neighborhood kids that were just taking advantage of a temporarily vacant house to have some private romance time!  I’m glad that nothing was stolen, but I’m sure that it would creep me out if I came home and found that someone had been in the house.  Who knows what they might have gone through?  How could I tell if a couple of pieces of jewelry were missing?

My hubby asked me to try and find a consumer reports article about what are the best security systems and services to use.  I think he is concerned that someone might break into our house and steal some of his NASCAR collectibles!  When I got up this morning I saw his laptop computer was on the http://www.broadviewsecurity.com/webpage.  So I guess he’s really serious about looking into a system!

She has gone online and found Avista Resort to be a perfect top notch Myrtle Beach hotel for us both to stay at, and on her dime to boot! They have a great website at http://avistaresort.com that she found by spending some time on the computer at her work during her lunch breaks. We both like the beach and we both like to play golf, so it is a perfect match. And by going after Labor Day the prices aren’t as pricey and hopefully the place won’t be as crowded either.

It sounds good to me. I can take the time off, but I don’t have a lot of cash to throw around, so if she pays for the lodging I think I can manage the rest. I’m so excited, a girls weekend at the beach, gotta love it!

She has been sharing with me some of the sites that she has been looking at for teen addiction info. There is some good information to be found online and I’m glad that she trusts me enough to share this issue with me. Lord knows I wish that she wasn’t so far away, I’d love to be able to wrap my arms around her and her kids and be there through the whole ordeal and I know that she would do the same for me, in a heart beat. We have known each other since the 2nd grade and keep in touch almost on a daily basis with emails and cell phones.

The Newport Academy has a great web site  that she has turned to for teen drug rehab information and guidance. If anyone out there needs this type of information I would certainly refer them to this Treatment Center’s web site to see if they can help with their particular situation.

With almost half of the online game playing population looking for and playing virtual girl games the demand has been heard and they have done a good job in providing females with a good variety of virtual girl games to occupy our online time. My 11 year old niece got a laptop for Christmas and spends a good amount of time online, since she is the only child she doesn’t have anyone around the house to play with and spend any of her spare time with, so the computer has turned into her best friend these days.

It is a good thing that her mother is on the ball and is constantly checking in on her and does look to see what sites she has been visiting. She isn’t allowed to have a FaceBook or a MySpace account yet, but she seems cool with that for now.

We especially get excited when we see a bluebird; we don’t see them very often!  My hubby has been talking about trying to take pictures of them, but by the time he gets his digital camera, they’ve flown off!  I recently came across a website that  sells special bird cameras.  I’ve never heard of them before, but I was intrigued.  These are special wireless bird cameras just for taking pictures of birds!  They are weatherproof, have motion detectors, and one even has a flash feature for night time photos!

The cameras were more affordable than I would have expected!  I just might break down and buy my hubby a bird camera for his next birthday.  I think he’d be really excited to get a gift like that!  No more groans of disappointment when the bird has flown away!

That was my very first time painting on tiles! I used Folk Art Enamels paints, and used the One Stroke method of painting. When I gave them to my mother-in-law, she was thrilled to death! It would be very easy to glue some felt and ribbons to something like that to make a pretty gift!

When I moved to my neighborhood over a year ago I was impressed with how everyone welcomed me. Within the first two weeks I was invited to a neighborhood watch meeting and I knew I had to attend. At the meeting everyone offered up new suggestions to keep the neighborhood safe. One of the suggestions included having a Gilbert first alert alarm installed. I did this soon after, which gives me added comfort when I’m home alone. Since that first meeting I would say that my neighborhood watch has been very effective. Meetings are held once a week and any new activity is reported. Neighbors report any suspicious vehicles parked for long periods of time to each of the members so everyone can keep their eyes open. Weekly night watches are done by some of the more courageous members and signs are posted in almost every lawn stating that we are an active community watch committee. I feel much safer knowing that there are people monitoring the neighborhood. My family and I have been practicing ways to be safe that include locking the doors at night, keeping one light on downstairs to give the impression someone is awake. We also try to collect books like the yellow and white pages up from in front of the door. I have never felt this safe in any neighborhood.

He has been after me for a year now to order a Custom Computer myself. He wants me to buy a second monitor. He says he has two monitors at home. To be perfectly honest, I don’t know if I would have a use for a second monitor; and I sure don’t think I have the room! Besides, I think I have a few old monitors taking up space in my basement!

I would, however, be interested in looking at some Custom Laptops to see what they might have to offer me. Seems to me that I’m the only one in my family that doesn’t have my very own laptop! I don’t know if a Custom Laptop would save me money or not, but I think I would look into one; I can’t see the logic behind getting one that has a lot of stuff on it that I don’t need.