So what’s in your garage? Tools? Toys? Equipment? Appliances? Has it turned into a storage space for anything and everything that doesn’t fit in your home? It happens. You should see my parents garage. It’s so full of stuff that you can’t even walk through it. So what happens when you need something? You go hunting for it and waste time, possibly hours. Possibly days. Maybe you don’t even find what you’re looking for. That can get pretty frustrating after it happens more than once. Take time to make a plan to make your garage organized and useful. Pick a day and get in there and get to work. Get rid of the things you don’t need or want – either throw it away or recycle it. Organize what’s left. Put away everything you’re keeping in an organized fashion, making use of cabinets, peg boards and storage bins. Store like items with like items and then label, making everything easy to find.

Here are my top three tips for making the garage a friendlier place.

Garage door openers – Save time and energy. The convenience is especially appreciated the first time you pull into the driveway during a big storm.

Bike racks – Get your bike up off the floor and hang it on the wall. These save lots of room on the floor, something that’s especially helpful if you have a small garage that doesn’t have much floor space.

Shelves, Pegs And Storage – Clean up the clutter. Only keep what you use or will need. Store like things with like. Hang frequently used things like small hand tools on a peg board in plain sight and easy reach.

Recently we were talking about camping and my coworkers asked me two things, one on motorhome insurance
and one on regular maintenance. The maintenance for a travel trailer like we have isn’t bad, it doesn’t even require oil changes. Somehow we got onto the subject of oil and one of the ladies I work with asked me how many gallons were in a barrel of oil. I thought the answer was 55, because I was thinking of those big drums (my Dad used to get kerosene in those), but I wanted to be sure. So when I got home I went online and did a little reading. Oil doesn’t come in those big 55 gallon drums like I thought. I should have known it by the wording. Oil comes in a barrel, not a drum.

One barrel of crude oil contains 42 gallons. One barrel of crude oil produces approximately 19.4 gallons of gasoline, as well as home heating oil, diesel fuel, kerosene type jet fuel, coke, heavy oils used as fuels in industry, marine transportation and electric power generation, liquefied refinery gases, still gas, asphalt and road oil, raw materials for petrochemicals, lubricants and kerosene. That’s a lot of stuff!

A while back I came across an article in which the author wrote about the cost of smoking cigarettes and stated that quitting could save money. This is obvious. The author implies that people that smoke have less money to pay their bills so they will be slower to pay their bills. I don’t really agree with this. The author means that if these people didn’t smoke they’d have the money they’d spent on smoking to pay down their debt, specifically credit cards and mortgages. It is my feeling that in place of smoking would simple be another different expense. The author continued to mention other costs that are effected by smoking, including health and life insurance. These statements are true. My husband still smokes and his insurance is crazy expensive, which is why he doesn’t have a lot of it.

One cost the author didn’t mention in his article is one that all mortgage holders are aware of, as are potential home buyers, and that is homeowners insurance. More than 23,000 residential fires each year are caused by smoking. With a statistic like that it’s easy to understand why here in the US mortgage lenders require buyers to have homeowners insurance, they need to protect their investment. Homeowners and renters insurance is cheaper when people in the house don’t smoke, because there is a lower risk to the house. Insurance costs can be further lowered by installing smoke alarms and detectors. So if you’re interested in lowering costs for homeowners insurance (it’s good career advice too because it stinks), consider quitting smoking.

I got a notice on my front door last year from a tree company informing me that they were in the area to trim trees that were near power lines and that my property had one of those trees. The notice stated they would be performing “directional pruning” on the trees. I wondered exactly what that meant, so I checked it out on the internet.

Directional pruning means that whole branches and limbs will be removed from the tree at the trunk, so that as the tree grows the new growth will not be in the direction of the power lines. Also, the thinking is that the after directional pruning only the strong limbs are left, and that the new growth is less sturdy and less likely to fall off of the tree.

After reading about it I realized that the electric company had directionally pruned this same tree about three years ago. They came out one day and spent a couple of hours cutting. It didn’t seem to be an exact science and none of them even wore any safety clothing. Ever since then it’s leaned to one side and looked like it is going to fall over. I met up with the tree company this afternoon around our neighborhood when I got home and I asked him if there’s any way they’ll take the tree down. I explained we’d spoken with four tree companies and none were willing to take it down. He said it wasn’t touching the wires anymore and he didn’t think so but he’d check. Man how we’d love that tree out of there.

I’d never heard of Bookcrossing until about a year ago. When I mentioned it to a coworker, they weren’t familiar with it either so I thought there might be a lot of people out there who weren’t familiar with it. Bookcrossing is a way of sharing, or recycling, a used book with other people and tracking where else it’s traveled or has been. It is free to register as a member. Members register a book that they own and it receives a unique identifying number. The book is then placed in a  location (released) where someone else is free to pick it up and enjoy it. From the site you can search by a number of features. If you’re hoping to find weight loss success stories, for example, you could search by title or author or category. Ideally, the person that picks a book up will see the identifying number and website and then write on the journal that they’ve caught the book. I think that Bookcrossing is a great idea, and a terrific way for people to share  a book and promote reading.

Do you wonder how things do what they do? For example, do you know how system memory works? Do you want to know? HowStuffWorks is a website that was started in 1998 by a North Carolina University professor. It’s goal is to educate people on how things work. It tackles the questions we all wonder about one step at a time until they’ve figure ou how something works. The website is part of the Discovery Communications group, the number-one nonfiction media company. Discovery Communications holds many tv channels and websites we’re all familiar with including the Discovery Channel, TLC, Animal Planet, The Science Channel and Discovery Health. The site not only contains thousands of articles on how things work but it also contains helpful tips and articles related to the topics. For example, you can learn how a dishwasher works and then read tips on countertop cleaning. The site is quite enjoyable and offers something for everyone. And it’s child safe and user friendly. I love  HowStuffWorks.com.

My son asked me this one. I thought I knew the answer but wanted to be sure. Here it is. Deodorants contain a fragrance or scent designed to mask odor. Noone likes body odor or wants to smell like they live in a room full of fitness equipment. Antiperspirants may or may not contain a scent and are designed to stop sweat from forming by blocking the sweat ducts. Both are available in many forms including solid, gel and spray. It is healthy to sweat because toxins come out in sweat. Which one works best for you depends on your lifestyle.

I found myself considering what the craziest thing that ever happened to me on vacation was, and the answer was a no brainer. Now realize before reading this that crazy does not mean the same as best. That being said, my trip to New Orleans, Louisiana while I was in high school was the craziest.

It was our first trip to New Orleans. We stayed with an uncle, in his apartment. I do not like bugs, I never have. The apartment my uncle lived in had tons of palmetto bugs. Well that’s what he called them. I found out later that up here in the Northeast we just call them cockroaches. Ewww. Best otc appetite suppressant ever. Anyway.

While there, we were thrilled to find so many things to do in New Orleans. My Uncle was working so he couldn’t take us around most days, so we just explored on our own. We loved the Audobon Zoo, The French quarter and Jackson Square. Some of the restaurants were great. But the thing I remember the most is the day we left.

The day we left New Orleans there was a big storm. I don’t recall if it was a hurricane or not as it was so long ago. But I remember my father’s concern that we needed to get out of the city before the storm got worse because my uncle said there would be flooding. (My uncle had a whole car, an MG, get destroyed when it got covered with water one flood.) So my Dad got us all into the camper and started towards home. As we drove away from my uncle’s we could literally see the water starting to rush behind us, submerging everything. No matter what, I will never forget our trip to New Orleans.

Have children but not sure of your food choices? Before worrying about how to help them lose stubborn belly fat visit a site like the Nourish Interactive website. The Nourish Interactive website was designed to teach families the importance of proper nutrition, making good food choices and exercise. The children’s area contains interactive educational games and challenges. The parents area contains an educational area, a healthy meal planner, worksheets and interactive tools. The site is free to join.