That my Dad got a Keurig coffee maker is actually great news, as now I can use my keurig coupons to save money on buying him different flavors of K-cups coffees for all the special occasions, like his birthday, Father’s Day, and Christmas. The K-cups have come out with several different major brands and dozens of different flavors. There are also K-cups with hot tea, apple cider and hot chocolate available for those who aren’t coffee drinkers or those who want something different.

I didn’t even realize that they needed a new coffeemaker, or I would have bought one for them at Christmas. When I was up there over the summer I noticed that had a big Mr. Coffee coffee maker on the kitchen counter, and that is what they used for breakfast during my visit. I guess my Mother just decided that it would be the perfect gift from her to my Dad and she didn’t want anyone else to buy it for him.

To be honest, I didn’t even know that they knew anything about the Keurig single cup brewing systems. I’ve known about them for years because we had them at work. To the best of my recollection, they have always used a nice 12-cup Mr. Coffee machine and made a pot full of coffee every morning at home before breakfast and then leaving for work. The pot always seemed to be empty by the time they were ready to leave, as I had considered buy them thermal mugs for the hour long drive to their store. But my Mother politely declined when I suggested that.

I wonder if they have a Keurig coffee maker in the store, too? If not, I could buy them one for their anniversary and then they can have one in the store and one at home. That would make it very convenient and practical for buying different flavors of K-Cups for them to keep on hand in the kitchen and in the break room of the store. Of course, buying them a coffeemaker would not be a surprise, as I know that they read my blog. LOL

The best thing about the single cup coffeemakers is that everyone can pick their own favorite flavor and roast of coffee bean and not have to compromise over what someone else picked for a while pot. You make your own flavor and the next person gets to make their favorite flavor. And with the traditional coffee pot serving 10-12 people, depending upon the size of the mugs, the single serve coffeemakers are just as fast serving the same number of people – with 10-12 different flavors if they all want something different.

Eric’s folks live in the San Diego area and do not get online very much. We used to be neighbors and are still friends, although it has been a long time since we visited each other. They are older, retired, and very active outdoors with all that the San Diego area has to offer. They save money and use dial up for their internet access. It is all they need, as they do not use the internet for gaming or for streaming videos. In fact, Eric’s parents are so frugal that they still have a VCR and watch old VHS tapes at home rather than going to the movie theater and paying up to $30 for a night at the movies.

Even though most of us have used dial-up internet at some point in our lives, many have upgraded and only want the fastest, the newest, the biggest, the fanciest, etc. But for many people, dial up is all they really need and they see no sense in paying anywhere from $20 to $50 per month for cable internet when the cost for dial up is only about $10 a month. That is a huge savings – especially for retired people living on a fixed income.

She is not used to living in a college town and gets very frustrated having to accommodate everything that goes one there with Duke University. she is amazed that the local TV stations will pre-empt prime time TV shows in favor of televising Duke basketball games.

Good thing she can watch her favorite TV shows on the internet. A lot of the hit major network shows are available online, either the same time they are broadcast on regular TV or within 24 hours of the original broadcast time.

Movies are available online too. So if her husband wants to watch the Duke basketball game on the TV, she can sign up for a service like Netflix and watch a movie on her laptop and they both get to watch what they prefer.

I’ve got a Cincinnati home security system at my house and the kids keep setting it off. I don’t think they’re trying to sneak out because they’re only 8 and 10 but I put them down to bed and not 2 hours later they’re up at one of the doors or windows trying to get it open! I don’t know what’s gotten into them and I’ve been trying to work with my husband to get it all under control but you know, I guess it’s not the worst thing to deal with this now rather than when they’re 16. If they had boyfriends or something I would be worried but I think they’re just being kids and getting into mischief like kids tend to do and it’s really hard to get mad at them for that, you know what I mean? I love my children but sometimes they push my buttons too far when I’m at home – guess that’s what I get for being a stay at home mom!

I have helped him put together a resume and showed him how to search for product fulfillment jobs posted on the local jobs boards. There are always a dozen or so openings posted, all over town. I really thought that he would be able to get a job within 6 – 8 weeks.

I ran an order fulfillment department back in the 1980′s and I know a lot of things have changed since then. For one thing, we can use bar codes and computer printed manifests for shipping. That saves a lot of time and avoids errors from bad handwriting on shipping labels. Even packaging has changed a lot since then, and running a warehouse is much easier, with conveyors, rollers and motorized forklifts to help workers find the inventory items and get them pulled for packing.

In all these years that my neighbor has had this swing, I have never seen her sit on it and actually swing. But we do have a lot of squirrels and birds who love this swing. I wish I could have snapped this photo with a couple of bright red cardinals on the swing with it sprinkled with fresh snow. I really like red cardinals and they look especially bright against the dark brown of wood and the white of a fresh snowfall.

Somehow it is just not as satisfying to rake the leaves from the backyard into a pile and then have to dump them into oversized brown paper bags and wait for the county yard waste truck to drive through collecting the bags. It’s just become another mindless, isolated chore that has to be done. I miss the good old days of leaves burning and all the neighbors gathered around, telling stories and jokes and being part of a close knit community.

The talks and presentations continue as we finish our lunch and then right before we adjourn, the President invites the attendees to take turns standing and declaring any wants – such as looking for a particular type of property – or any haves – such as a listing just signed since the last monthly meeting.

The announcement of haves and wants is a great advantage to people with hot properties or anxious buyers. This is when we hear about deals that are underway or have just been signed. We hear about the deals before they hit the internet and we also have the ear of the brokers involved. Access to this type of information is invaluable and there is no better way to get an edge on the competition then eating lunch with and rubbing shoulders with the dealmakers.

Farewell to 2011 and HELLO to 2012! I’ve been looking forward to this year, and we had a nice party last night to properly welcome 2012 into our lives. I hope this new year is kind and generous to us all!

Moving wasn’t something we really did because we wanted to, we had to for my husband’s new job. I really miss my family but I went to http://www.wildbluedeals.com/satellite-internet/oklahoma/m/muldrow/ after we got settled to ensure I’d at least be able to email them and keep tabs with my sister’s blog (she’s got a new baby so she posts pictures all the time.) I actually like this new town although it’s smaller than I’m used to and I’m going to start looking for part time work once the boys start school. I don’t think I’ll have trouble making friends through church and all that but I think the biggest challenge is going to be finding a way to fill the void that I feel now that my family is so far away. I love them so much and they were such a big part of my daily life it’s really going to be an adjustment getting used to them not being around as often as they were when we lived just down the street, you know?

Tonight we have been invited to a holiday party at my friend, Josh’s home. I’ve know Josh since he was in grade school. He and my son were best friends for over 10 years. To be honest, I think of Josh like a son, even though he has his parents and doesn’t need another dad.

We bought some gifts for Josh and his wife and also their kids. It add to the sense of the holiday season to continue seeing family and friends even though Christmas was 2 days ago.

There is a sign out front advertising a hiring fair. Evidently there will be a need for several CNAs, housekeepers and maintenance workers. My step daughter has been looking into the CNA programs here and was even recently checking http://www.blueskyscrubs.com/categories/Scrubs/Scrubs-for-Women/ to get an idea of how much she will need to spend on nursing uniforms.

Most of the nursing homes here will sponsor interested applicants while they attend school for their CNA certificate. The classes are widely available through technical schools and community college campuses. They have schedules for mornings, afternoons and evenings, so it is possible to work a job and also take classes. Once she has earned her CNA certificate, the nursing home will give her a full time position and all she needs is a week’s worth of uniforms to get started in her new job.

My thoughts afterward were that the killer took advantage of people who were ill and in desperate times, at the lowest points in their lives. That was despicable. On the other hand, the show made the point that treatment methods were more successful than the average treatment in California. I wonder how much truth might have been behind that statement, as I cannot find any real successful recovery rate statistics for California or any other states.

When I am evaluating a program or a service, I like to hear from customers and clients, not just the salesperson or the owners of the business. When people who found success are willing to step up and share their experiences, that means a lot to me.

Still, the idea of living someplace where you walk out of your front door and gaze across a sand beach to a sunrise over sparkling blue waters does make me wish I could move to Mexico or a Caribbean Island. I even starting investigating the possibility of buying a nice condo near a Mexican resort to have for most of the year, with plans to travel back to the U.S. to see family and celebrate holidays.

With the idea of moving to Mexico I searched online for International Movers to investigate the cost of moving out of the country and to read up on any tips or special considerations we would have to make to move.

Obviously, International Moving is not going to be the same as moving locally. For one thing, you have to deal with Customs agents and restrictions against certain items being allowed across the border. For example, you cannot take plants across the border. But there are a lot of other restrictions that I had not considered and was surprised to learn. For example, you cannot take a Persian rug into Mexico.

To move to the Caribbean Islands is different from Mexico. You have a lot of International Shipping restrictions. No wine or alcohol, no drugs – but I mean personal medical prescriptions, not the illegal stuff – and no guns or ammunition – not even for personal protection. That concerns me – with all the stories of cartels and violence, especially in Mexico, I would not want to be a new, American resident with no means to protect myself and my family.