Hubby has had a gps for a year or two now, it was a gift from my parents. I used it a couple of times and once he complained, telling me that I hadn’t cleared it. I wouldn’t use it again after that, even though I wanted to. Several months ago I got a GPS of my own. It doesn’t have all of the features that his does but it will get me where I need to go if I need it. I love the convenience of having it in the car all of the time. I’ve used it on a couple of trips and it’s plotted me the way I would have chosen to go myself. Right before I got it three of us were going to a concert and weren’t sure where to go. We asked and the directions we were given were to “get to the other side”. Unfortunately we couldn’t find out the other side of what. I’m so glad I don’t have to worry about that happening again. Now I can get to the other side on my own. I recommend having a GPS highly.

I’m getting ready to redo my older son’s room. This got me thinking into the future, for when I redo my younger son’s room. It’s a ways off but I like to get my ideas in place ahead of time. I never considered
classroom furniture before but once I started thinking about it it sort of makes sense. The furniture is durable and I think the cubby units would look cute and make for great storage. It’s look really organized too. I’ll have to check pricing details for when we make the budget.

My brother’s been talking about taking a trip to Cancun. We got to talking about how we’ve always heard that you shouldn’t drink the water in Mexico or you get really sick. We decided a colon cleanse might be preferable to the problems we’ve heard about people having. Curious why they say not to drink the water, we did a little reading. According to a few websites the water table there is close to the surface, therefore contaminated by dumps and runoff. Even one of the Cancun sites said visitors should drink bottled water. Hmmmm. Not exactly a visitor enticing thing, is it.

This week’s Saturday Safari takes me to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina via the Myrtle Beach Cam. My parents are traveling there tomorrow. It’s June so it should be in the mid to high 80s there. It’s much more humid in the South than it is here in New Jersey so I’m hoping the hotel they’re staying at is near the ocean so it’ll be a little cooler. I hope they have good weather and a great time.

I saw my brother this morning and we got to talking about travel. One of the places he wants to go is Cancun. That’s why today’s Saturday Safari takes us to Cancun via the Cancun Cam. Cancun is a city on the coast of Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula. I didn’t know until today that it was also called the Mexican Caribbean. More thaqn four million people visit Cancun every year. There are over 150 hotels in Cancun, most of which are contained within the “hotel zone”.

If you have a large family or your extended family does things together such as travel then you know that it can sometimes be challenging to spot each other in a large crowd. My family isn’t all that large and when we al do something together I always feel like I’ve lost someone.  An inexpensive way to minimize that problem is to order a promotional product like a shirt or hat and have a saying or image put on all of them so that you’ll all stand out in a crowd. You could get the typical “Doe family reunion” or go with something a little more personalized like a group photo. I’d love to hear any tips you have for keeping a large group organized.

We have a huge dining room table. When both of the leaves are in it can easily seat a dozen people. I cook both Easter and Thanksgiving dinner every year and invite everyone in my family and some additional folks as well. We usually can find enough room at the table but for a couple of years we never had enough chairs. If you’re in the situation I used to be in and need some extra seats, try an office furniture store. You can usually find some inexpensive office chairs. Some even carry folding chairs. No need to recycle seats or pray someone doesn’t make it to dinner anymore!

Have you ever been to the doctor and had to fill out one of those long questionnaires? Did you know all of the answers? That is to say, did you know what diseases your relatives have had? It’s important, because a genetic factor is very strong in some things. Here’s a project that will help you learn more about your family and prepare you for the next time you’re presented with those questions. Construct a family health tree.

That’s right, I said a family health tree. Have some fun learning more about your background and tracing your ancestors. While building the tree you’re going to encounter some of those same facts that doctors ask such as the family member’s name and their place and date of birth. But you could also include their blood type, allergies, immunizations, illnesses and surgeries. You’ll learn more about your background and be a little more prepared for those questions in the doctor’s office.

We all take pictures when we go away, no matter if it’s a quick trip or an actual vacation. I love looking at pictures from trips we’ve gone on, especially the family Disney trips. Wouldn’t it be cool to see your pictures in a photo book! Inkubook has given me a special code to share with you that will allow you to create your own photo book for FREE! The offer is only good for a short time, it ends on 11/03/08. Inkubook is an online photo book creation service. Members can create their own photo books individually or with others.

If you join now, by November 3, you’ll have up to 30 days to create your photo book. The book will be free, all that you would need to pay is shipping of under $9. If you’d like to create your own free photo book (and who wouldn’t!), go to inkubook.com and register for your free account. You’ll need to use code TVL655 in order to get your free photo book. This is a terrific offer, so be sure to share your friends using the “invite friends” feature. Then your friends can get a free photo book. And your friends can tell two friends, and they’ll tell two friends, and so on, and so on, and so on. I’m considering putting pictures together from the big family Disney cruise and vacation of 2006. What will you put in yours?

If you don’t know how to prepare yourself and your home for the first 72 hours after a disaster, you should visit 72hours.org. 72 Hours is a website run by the City of San Francisco but offers valuable planning tips that would be useful to anyone.

There are two main areas to the site.  The first area is How To Prepare. This area teaches you to create an emergency plan, and what you’ll need ready and waiting for you to get through the first 72 hours after the disaster strikes. For each of the different topics discussed there are helpful tips included on how to help make your home safer on a day to day basis. The different topics include home safety, children, seniors & the disabled,  pets, utilities, food, water, first aid, go bag, phone, volunteer, training and community. I never realized how helpful it could be to have an out of state emergency contact in case of a natural disaster. The suggestion there that I want to do in our home is to create a “go bag” for all of the members of our home.

The second area of the site is the What To Do If section. This area instructs you on what to do in certain types of potentially disastrous situations.  The different topics included here are earthquake, storm/flooding, terror, contagious disease, transit safety, evacuation, fire, no power, tsunamis, sirens and shelter in place. I found the evacuation tips very helpful.

I found this site to be a very valuable resource that anyone could benefit from visiting. Are you and your home ready if a natural disaster strikes? Would you be able to get through the first 72 hours? Check out 72Hours.org and see if you’re ready. Let me know which idea you found most helpful.