“Love is like a virus. It can happen to anybody at any time” – Maya Angelou. Maya Angelou’s famous quotes on love, courage, success, attitude, achievement and life are amongst the most popular inspirational quotes today. Angelou is a strong and inspiring woman, poet, author, actress and civil rights activist. Maya Angelou’s quotes, poems and famous sayings provide women and girls inspiring words of wisdom to live by.

Born Marguerite Ann Johnson in 1928, Maya Angelou is best known for her portrayals of strong African American women in her numerous writings. Angelou published her first widely-acclaimed autobiographical book “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” in 1970.

In the following year, 1971, she published her first volume of poetry entitled “Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water ‘Fore I Die”, which was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize. At Bill Clinton’s request, Angelou read her poem “On the Pulse of the Morning” at his presidential inauguration in 1993. Besides Maya Angelou’s famous poem Still I Rise and the poem wrongly attributed to Angelou A Woman Should Have, here is a collection of famous quotes and sayings by Maya Angelou to inspire and uplift women of all ages.

45 Best Maya Angelou Quotes

1. If we lose love and self respect for each other, this is how we finally die. – Maya Angelou
2. Love recognizes no barriers. It jumps hurdles, leaps fences, penetrates walls to arrive at it destination full of hope. – Maya Angelou
3. If you have only one smile in you, give it to the people you love. Don’t be surly at home, then go out in the street and start grinning ‘Good morning’ at total strangers. – Maya Angelou
4. If you find it in your heart to care for somebody else, you will have succeeded. – Maya Angelou
5. Love is like a virus. It can happen to anybody at any time. – Maya Angelou
6. The honorary duty of a human being is to love. – Maya Angelou
7. Courage is the most important of all the virtues, because without courage you can’t practice any other virtue consistently. You can practice any virtue erratically, but nothing consistently without courage. – Maya Angelou
8. I love to see a young girl go out and grab the world by the lapels. Life’s a bitch. You’ve got to go out and kick ass. – Maya Angelou
9. My great hope is to laugh as much as I cry; to get my work done and try to love somebody and have the courage to accept the love in return. – Maya Angelou
10. One isn’t necessarily born with courage, but one is born with potential. Without courage, we cannot practice any other virtue with consistency. We can’t be kind, true, merciful, generous, or honest. – Maya Angelou
11. The ache for home lives in all of us, the safe place where we can go as we are and not be questioned. – Maya Angelou
12. The idea is to write it so that people hear it and it slides through the brain and goes straight to the heart. – Maya Angelou
13. Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away. – Maya Angelou
14. I can be changed by what happens to me. But I refuse to be reduced by it. – Maya Angelou
15. I’ve learned that every day you should reach out and touch someone. People love a warm hug, or just a friendly pat on the back. – Maya Angelou
16. Success is liking yourself, liking what you do, and liking how you do it. – Maya Angelou
17. My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor, and some style. – Maya Angelou
18. You can only become truly accomplished at something you love. Don’t make money your goal. Instead pursue the things you love doing and then do them so well that people can’t take their eyes off of you. All the other tangible rewards will come as a result. – Maya Angelou
19. A woman’s heart should be so hidden in God that a man has to seek Him just to find her. – Maya Angelou
20. I’ve learned that no matter what happens, or how bad it seems today, life does go on, and it will be better tomorrow. – Maya Angelou
21. Be a rainbow in someone else’s cloud. – Maya Angelou (Letter to My Daughter)
22. We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty. – Maya Angelou
23. You alone are enough. You have nothing to prove to anybody. – Maya Angelou
24. Bitterness is like cancer. It eats upon the host. But anger is like fire. It burns it all clean. – Maya Angelou
25. The desire to reach for the stars is ambitious. The desire to reach hearts is wise. – Maya Angelou
26. Hate, it has caused a lot of problems in the world, but has not solved one yet. – Maya Angelou
27. You may shoot me with your words, you may cut me with your eyes, you may kill me with your hatefulness, but still, like air, I’ll rise! – Maya Angelou
28. I’ve learned that regardless of your relationship with your parents, you’ll miss them when they’re gone from your life. – Maya Angelou
29. Nothing can dim the light which shines from within. – Maya Angelou
30. I sustain myself with the love of family. – Maya Angelou
31. I’ve learned that whenever I decide something with an open heart, I usually make the right decision. – Maya Angelou
32. A Woman in harmony with her spirit is like a river flowing. She goes where she will without pretense and arrives at her destination prepared to be herself and only herself. – Maya Angelou
33. The ship of my life may or may not be sailing on calm and amiable seas. The challenging days of my existence may or may not be bright and promising. Stormy or sunny days, glorious or lonely nights, I maintain an attitude of gratitude. If I insist on being pessimistic, there is always tomorrow. Today I am blessed. – Maya Angelou
34. The problem I have with haters is that they see my glory, but they don’t know my story… – Maya Angelou
35. A woman who is convinced that she deserves to accept only the best, challenges herself to give the best. Then she is living phenomenally. – Maya Angelou
36. The sisters and brothers that you meet give you the materials which your character uses to build itself. It is said that some people are born great, others achieve it, some have it thrust upon them. In truth, the ways in which your character is built have to do with all three of those. Those around you, those you choose, and those who choose you. – Maya Angelou
37. Living well is an art that can be developed: a love of life and ability to take great pleasure from small offerings and assurance that the world owes you nothing and that every gift is exactly that, a gift. – Maya Angelou
38. Never make someone a priority when all you are to them is an option. – Maya Angelou
39. You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them. – Maya Angelou
40. We spend precious hours fearing the inevitable. It would be wise to use that time adoring our families, cherishing our friends and living our lives. – Maya Angelou
41. When we give cheerfully and accept gratefully, everyone is blessed. – Maya Angelou
42. This is my life. It is my one time to be me. I want to experience every good thing. – Maya Angelou
43. I have found that among its other benefits, giving liberates the soul of the giver. – Maya Angelou
44. We all should know that diversity makes for a rich tapestry, and we must understand that all the threads of the tapestry are equal in value no matter what their color. – Maya Angelou
45. You rose into my life like a promised sunrise, brightening my days with the light in your eyes. I’ve never been so strong. Now I’m where I belong. – Maya Angelou

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I will be turning 50 years old on July 5th of this year, a half a century old. Some seem to feel that turning 50 means you’re officially entering “old age”, a major milestone year in the life of men and women. For me, turning 50 is a blessing, one that I readily accept with joy and anticipation about the opportunities and possibilities laid out before me with nary a thought of what others feel or think about me.

Turning 50 years old offers many benefits, including the pleasure of watching my grown children reach their goals, get married if they choose to, and raise children of their own. The joy of being a Grandma and watching my grandchildren grow up to become happy, productive members of society is just one benefit amongst many that I take great pleasure in each and every day.

Turning 50 is a wonderful time to celebrate with friends and family and reflect back on one’s experiences and accomplishments in life, and that is exactly what we‘re going to do. Turning fifty years old and planning a 50th birthday party celebration for those near and dear includes being asked, What do you get someone who is turning 50?, What is an appropriate 50th birthday gift for a mom or grandma?, and, How do you plan a 50th birthday party for someone?

A 50th birthday party for someone like me is one that is a small, informal, casual, relaxed, low-key affair, not a loud and boisterous party filled to the gills with black roses and other black birthday party decorations or supplies, coffin cakes and the like. That is not my style, so when planning a 50th birthday party for someone as a surprise or not, it’s best to consider the individual person’s personality and style when deciding on the birthday theme, colors used, gag gifts, music, etc.

50th Birthday Party Gift Ideas

50th birthday gag gifts are of course funny and fun, for those that enjoy silly gag gifts. To me, they’re just a waste of money and more often than not, thrown away in the trash shortly after the party is over and the guests have left and gone home. Thoughtful, practical birthday gifts for a 50th birthday are more appealing than those that are just “silly”, for the sake of laughter. Birthday gift ideas for someone turning 50 aren’t much different than gifts for any other birthday, whether it’s a 30th, 40th or 60th birthday.

Choosing a 50th birthday party gift, or any other age, is just a matter of carefully considering the likes, dislikes, personal interests, hobbies etc of the gift recipient. I always try to make a mental note anytime someone near and dear mentions something they need or would like to have, that could be given as a kind and thoughtful gift for a birthday, holiday or some other special occasion.

Since I spend so much time reading books and magazines of interest to me, I’ve been carefully watching for the price of the Kindle wireless e-reader to go down to a more reasonable amount, as something I might get for myself sometime. I haven’t bought any kind of wireless e-reader device as of yet, but the price of the Kindle has dropped dramatically, so that may be a great 50th birthday gift idea for someone who reads a lot.

I especially like the Kindle for reading while traveling or on vacation, but it’s so small and light that it just may be a great reading device for anytime of year or while relaxing at home. I’ve been told that there is a Kindle application for smart phones, like the iPhone and Blackberry, but I just don’t see reading downloaded books on such a small screen as being very comfortable.

There are some other 50th Birthday Gifts I’ve passed along to those who have inquired as to what I might like as a gift that I won’t mention here. Suffice it to say that there are very few things on my “want” or “need” list as far as gifts are concerned, so enjoying the fun, food, laughter and good times during my upcoming 50th birthday party with friends and family is all that really matters to me. Turning 50 is great, and I’m going to enjoy every minute of being in my 50’s and beyond.

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Mother’s Day is a very special day for mothers and family, and coming up with ideas on how to celebrate Mother’s Day can sometimes be a challenge. Out of all the possible Mother’s Day gift ideas, lunch or dinner meals, relaxation spa treatments etc to celebrate Mother’s Day, nothing compares to the Gaylord Texan’s Mother’s Day Brunch at Gaylord’s Hotel in Grapevine Texas.

Having researched the many Mother’s Day brunches around the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex hosted at most of the nice local hotels or restaurants, deciding on the brunch at Gaylord Texan’s hotel was an easy choice. I didn’t want or need a Mother’s Day “gift” of some kind. I didn’t want or need anything as far as gifts are concerned, but the only wish I had was to enjoy a wonderful, relaxing meal with close friends and family.

When I read the entire Mother’s Day Brunch menu on the Gaylord Texan’s website, I knew what I wanted to do for Mother’s Day immediately. To say that Gaylord Texan puts on a magnificent brunch buffet in the Grapevine Ballroom is an understatement. White linen tablecloths, live musical entertainment, champagne/mimosa drinks, a beautiful yellow rose for each mother, hot breakfast items, chilled salads, fresh seafood, international cheese, pasta dishes, sushi, carved-to-order meats, desserts and so much more.

Tickets (purchased in advance) to Gaylord Texan’s Mother’s Day Brunch are $65 for adults, $25 for children ages 6 – 12, and FREE for children ages 5 and under. Well worth the price! There’s even a children’s menu of many delicious favorites for kids to enjoy. The price includes everything on the brunch menu, champagne, self-parking, musical entertainment, service charges, and tax. Valet parking and family photos are also available for an additional fee, but we took our own photos while we were there.

Celebrate Mom at the Gaylord Texan Mother’s Day Brunch

Gaylord Texan’s Mother’s Day Brunch has specific seating times: Every half hour from 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m, and guests are encouraged to arrive about fifteen minutes prior to their scheduled reservation time. Reservations can be made by calling (817) 778-1000 or book reservations online at www.gaylordtexan.com, and I would be thrilled if we decide to make the brunch at Gaylord‘s an annual event for Mother’s Day each and every year. We all thoroughly enjoyed the Mother’s Day brunch, champagne toasts amongst friends and family, conversation and laughter – who could ask for anything more.

We had never visited Gaylord Texan’s hotel before, but have heard a lot about the fun events hosted there and how beautiful the hotel is. To celebrate mom at the Gaylord Texan’s Mother’s Day Brunch, or at any of the 4 hotel locations, is a celebration unlike any other. (Gaylord Hotel and Convention Centers can be found in Washington, D.C.; Grapevine, Texas; Orlando, Florida and Nashville, TN)

We’ve since learned that the Gaylord Texan hotel in Grapevine also has a nightclub called the Glass Cactus that we plan to visit soon, and summer events for kids and families. After seeing some great photos of Gaylord Texan’s Summerfest from last year, kids and families looking for fun things to do in Dallas/Fort Worth should definitely consider adding a visit to Gaylord Texan’s to their list. I’ve also heard that Gaylord Texan’s is spectacular around Christmastime each year, so we’re looking forward to going back later this year to see what all the excitement is about.

Something tells me that the friends and family we invited to the Mother’s Day Brunch will be just as excited about visiting the hotel and nightclub with us again, even in the winter months, because Gaylord Texan’s is simply spectacular and we all had a blast on Mother’s Day.

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Valentine’s Day is a special holiday for sweethearts, friends, lovers, spouses etc and that includes grandparents, on February 14 of each year. Valentine’s Day for us this year will be spent visiting with our grandchildren and grown children, out of town. There will likely be the Valentine’s Day cards and small gift-giving, even if the gifts are very cheap from stores like Walmart or Target.

Valentine’s Day gifts for lovers or wives typically mean sending flowers of one kind or another, but considering how overpriced flowers are during the Valentine’s holiday, flowers just never cross our minds to give as a gift to each other. I don’t mind at all either because there is really no good reason I can think of to spend so much money on Valentine’s Day flower bouquets that are just going to die in a few days.

We’ll wait until we arrive at our destination, where the kids and grandkids live, before we embark on buying any cards or inexpensive gift of some kind. The most we will do gift-wise is probably just buy a small toy for the grandchildren and just give cards to the adult kids. Since the grandkids are still very young, any Valentine’s Day gift for him and her may end up being a little toy they can play with to their heart’s content.

Maybe, and it’s a big maybe, we might also give the grown kids a small box of Valentine’s Day heart candy or something similar, if they’re not already sold out at the local stores near our hotel. Valentine’s Day is at the very beginning of our Chicago vacation trip for a week’s visit with the grown children and grandchildren, so planning anything special to do on Valentine’s Day may be a little difficult depending on their work schedules and other family responsibilities.

There is of course the weather to consider as well, so we’re expecting to plan mostly indoor things to do while we’re in Chicago, and spend some time checking out some of the new businesses, fun venues and restaurants that have opened up since we were there last. If it weren’t for the fact that we’re spending Valentine’s Day out of town, playing and having fun with the kids and grandkids, I’d almost say that Valentine’s Day for grandparents is overrated. Why?

Because neither of us are interested in the over-commercialism (materialism) of many of the holidays, especially Valentines Day and Christmas, and just because we’re grandparents doesn’t mean we will make a big deal out of one more holiday pushed on consumers to spend, spend, spend. We’ll just go with inexpensive, cheap, cheaper and cheapest.

If I had the time and inclination to actually make some homemade gifts for Valentine’s Day, like winter scarves or gloves etc, making gifts could almost count as a free Valentine’s Day gift since yarn is so dirt cheap. Since I don’t know how to knit or crochet, nor do I care to learn how, we’ll just make a point of stopping in one of the local stores and pick up something appropriate for the holiday.

From what all the grown kids have said so far while planning this vacation trip, all they care about is having us there for the week and spending time together “hanging out” and doing a bunch of fun activities around town that are soft on the wallet. Theirs and ours, since they pay their own way to each of the places we go while we’re in town.

Our not being expected to pay their way for everything we do and places we go is a great bonus, and we greatly appreciate their pre-planning of their budget to leave some room for spending Valentine’s Day with the grandparents, with their own money. The hugs, kisses, tickles and laughter are all free gifts to each other, and those last a lot longer than some stupid bouquet of flowers anyway.

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New year’s eve celebrations around the world traditionally include dinner parties, firework shows, singing songs, watching Dick Clark’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest on ABC, plus the New Year’s kiss at the stroke of midnight. Year’s ago, celebrating New Year’s Eve may have meant getting all dressed up and heading out to a number of New Year’s Eve parties, but this year we’ll celebrate the holiday at home.

In year’s past, looking for things to do on New Year’s Eve was fun and exciting. Maybe we’ve just gotten too old for extravagant parties where everyone is drinking to excess and then stupidly driving while they are clearly intoxicated.

We will still prepare a New Year’s Eve dinner with all the traditional fixings, but to tell you the truth, I do not like black-eyed peas so we’re going to have to come up with a new recipe if I am going to eat any of those.

While many people will be out and about town searching for things to do and places to go watch fireworks, we’ll be content to celebrate the ringing in of the New Year at home, safe and sound. In previous years, we’ve managed to stay awake long enough for the traditional ball dropping in Times Square to finish, but we’re on a different time zone than NY so we’ll share a kiss and go to sleep earlier than most.

New Year’s Eve songs like the traditional Auld Lang Syne will be sung in celebration of the new year. Until recently I didn’t know that the song is a Scottish poem written by Robert Burns and when translated into English literally means “old long since”, “long long ago” or “days gone by”. I’m trying to memorize the Auld Lang Syne lyrics and maybe just maybe actually learn the lyrics by heart and not forget them again. My memory must be slipping!

Popular New Year’s Eve Songs

• Auld Lang Syne

• Let’s Start the Year Right

• It Was a Very Good Year

• It’s Just Another New Year’s Eve

• What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve?

• Same Old Lang Syne

• Happy New Year

• The New Year

• A Long December

• New Year’s Eve by The Walkmen

• New Year’s Day by U2

• What a Wonderful World

Auld Lang Syne Video Song

Click here to view the embedded video.

Happy New Year to you and yours! I’ll be busy downloading my favorite versions of these songs New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day for sure, since there are so many different singers and performers.

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Repairing drywall cracks in drywall, due to foundation settling from the extreme heat we get in Texas, started before my husband fell through the ceiling and we had to learn about repairing large ceiling holes in a textured ceiling. If you have ever had cracks in your foundation and needed to know how to fix or repair cracks in drywall, let me tell you right now, doing these repairs yourself is a pain in the butt.

Having to fix foundation cracks is a costly project, plus the cost of repairing or replacing broken brick on the exterior of the house, and replacing shrubs or bushes that were destroyed in the process. Getting our green grass to grow back again isn’t a big deal at all, and we’re not the least bit worried about regrowing grass right now. I know people who decided to fix their cracked foundation themselves, rather than hiring a foundation specialist to do the repairs, but that is one do-it-yourself project that has “Hell No” written all over it.

As a homeowner, doing repairs or home improvement projects comes with owning a house, that’s for sure. Being able to fix drywall cracks on the interior of the house ourselves, with the help of an experienced carpenter in the family, is saving us a lot of money in the long run.

Fortunately for us, we didn’t have to go far to learn how to patch drywall cracks, and I was happy and relieved to find out that do-it-yourself drywall repairs to repair damaged drywall doesn’t take very long to finish. If we didn’t have our own carpenter to rely on to help us repair the drywall, something tells me that our DIY project to patch the drywall plus taping, bedding, texturing, painting and finishing the walls would have brought on a lot of cussing and do-overs.

Foundation Problems Warning Signs

• Cracks in the ceiling or walls

• Separation of ceiling trim or crown molding

• Cracks in interior walls near corners of doors or windows

• Obvious cracks in exterior brick and mortar

• Windows, doors and wall joints cracking and pulling away from each other

• Doors that are sticking or have been shaven at the top

• Door sill separates from the door frame

• Cracks and/or leaks in and around the brick fireplace wall

• Noticeable change in elevation or “slope” of the floor when walking

• Cracks in ceramic tile

• Tears, wrinkles or separating wallpaper

• Previous or existing sheetrock repairs showing signs of curling or tearing

• Windows that stick or are very difficult to open/close

• Drywall nails popping out of sheetrock, gypsum board or corner frames

I don’t know all of the causes of foundation problems, but extreme heat is one we know all too well here in Texas. If we had to do all of this drywall work completely on our own, without our trusted carpenter to help us, there are “how-to” videos online that teach how to fix drywall cracks and even videos about how to tape drywall that would come in very handy.

I don’t know if it has anything to do with our foundation problem or is related at all to having to repair cracked drywall or not, but it seems odd that we had ant problems for a short time during this whole ordeal. As soon as the foundation was fixed, closed and sealed up, the ant problem disappeared completely.

I don’t know if these were just your ordinary household ants or if they were carpenter ants, but Grandpa mentioned something about Rasberry crazy ants being a big problem in Houston, Texas in recent years and that the crazy ant problem is spreading.

Oh great, just what we need. A crazy ant invasion taking over our homes and neighborhoods. Ick. Why I keep wanting to spell Rasberry ants as Raspberry crazy ants with a P, I don’t know, but who would have thought that repairing drywall cracks and fixing foundation problems would make me think of raspberry jelly? I crack myself up sometimes.

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What’s cooking Grandma? Grandma’s kitchen is a favorite place to be at Grandma’s house when the kids and grandchildren are in town, and one of Grandma’s recipes that continues to be popular is Grandma’s ham roll ups recipe with broccoli.

Being a Grandma is wonderful, and passing along to my children and grandchildren many of their favorite recipes that have been prepared for them over the years is an added perk. People that haven’t learned how to make ham roll ups, or broccoli ham roll ups, are really missing out on a great recipe.

I would guess that many of the recipes given to me over the years originally came from my Grandma or great grandmother, but I can’t be sure of that. Cooking in the kitchen with my mother as I was growing up usually meant we were baking cookies or other sweet treats, as she preferred to be cooking in the kitchen by herself when preparing or cooking dinner meals for a family of eight, and that was ok.

There were never any leftovers at our house when mom made her ham roll ups recipe, and since we all loved broccoli with cheese sauce anyway, her ham roll ups were a hit. When I got married, I was given many family recipes and some great cookbooks to start my own cookbook collection, and I was thrilled to find a Mexican roll ups recipe included in one of the cookbooks. We always doubled (sometimes tripled) this recipe, since the kids love ham-broccoli roll ups so much.

Broccoli Ham Roll Ups Recipe

• 20 oz Broccoli spears, fresh or frozen

• 2 tablespoons butter or margarine

• 2 tablespoons flour

• 1/4 teaspoon salt

• 1/2 teaspoon pepper

• 4 oz sharp cheddar cheese, shredded

• 6 slices boiled ham, 4×6 inches in size

• 1 cup milk

Preheat oven to 350 F. Cook broccoli according to package directions or until tender. While broccoli is cooking, melt butter/margarine in a heavy saucepan. Stir in flour, salt, and pepper. Gradually stir in milk. Cook, stirring constantly, until thickened. Add cheese and continue stirring until cheese is melted. Do not overcook.

Divide broccoli spears into 6 portions, splitting large stalks as necessary. Alternate direction of flower ends within each portion. Place broccoli portions on and parallel to narrow end of each ham slice, extending flower ends over edges of ham. Roll as for jellyroll with broccoli in the center of each rollup. Arrange rollups in a baking dish with seam side down. Use toothpicks to secure, if necessary. Pour cheese sauce over rollups. Bake until sauce is bubbly, about 20 minutes. Another variation of the ham broccoli roll ups is Asparagus-Ham Rollups — Use fresh or frozen asparagus spears in place of the broccoli.

Cooking Mexican food and learning how to cook Mexican type dishes I hadn’t learned yet became a favorite hobby of mine, and my Mexican husband was beside himself when I surprised him with Mexican roll ups. My entire history of cooking was all about Mexican food, and making typical American type meals was a rare thing at our house, except for the ham broccoli roll ups and a few other American foods.

I can make some pretty mean authentic homemade tamales, Mexican posole soup, beef tongue tacos, Octopus stew, Mexican fish soup, potato tacos, menudo, and many other Mexican dishes that would blow your mind. No Tex-Mex type dishes were ever made in this Grandma’s kitchen – only Authentic Mexican food will do.

I haven’t made homemade tamales for many years now, and the idea of spending two full days in the kitchen making tamales with pork, beef or chicken just doesn’t appeal to me anymore. I have one of the best sweet tamales recipes ever known to man in my recipe collection, and one of these days I may have to make some sweet tamales to surprise the kids and grandkids.

Since my whole history of cooking was making Mexican food and not your ordinary American meals, I couldn’t be happier that Grandpa is an excellent cook and is very handy in the kitchen. Grandpa knows how to grill a steak like no one else does, and you know you’ve had a great steak when you don’t want or need to add steak sauce to give it any flavor. Thank goodness for Grandpa’s kitchen abilities!

Image Source: Kraft Foods

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Heard of the Bad Gift Emporium? The Bad Gift Emporium is a site dedicated to re-gifting a gift received that are unwanted gifts. Bad Gift Emporium is the online version of people standing in those long return lines and gift exchange lines at stores to return bad gifts, since the belief of it’s the thought that counts is just a lie.

A bad gift may be both radiant or repulsive to the gift recipient, depending on the eye of the beholder. If you’ve ever stood in the gift returns line to return or exchange a bad gift, or a White Elephant gift you don’t want, check out Bad Gift Emporium at badgiftemporium.com

The day after Christmas is always a popular day for people to go to Bad Gift Emporium, which makes the bad gift site show up on the list of trending topics at Google Trends. Remember, it’s the thought that counts…..right? Wrong.

If you received a few gifts that you don’t want or don’t like, Bad Gift Emporium is the site of the day to explore, trade or compare your own bad gifts collection with the gifts that have been submitted.

Remember the old saying “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure”? That’s one reason why Bad Gifts Emporium is so popular right after Christmas. No driving to the store and standing in those long lines to return bad gifts anymore. Just head over to the bad gifts official website and turn in your bad gifts or unwanted gifts for someone else to enjoy.

At Bad Gift Emporium, people upload photos of bad gifts they received with hope that some visitor will see it and want to take their gift off their hands. Some people may have to keep their bad gifts, especially if they live with the bad gift-giver, so those people just share photos of the bad gifts they have to keep and put up with for a verrrry long time.

If nothing else, checking out the Bad Gift Emporium website can be a fun and entertaining site to visit just to see what sort of things people consider to be a bad gift. Plus, it further proves the point that it’s the thought that counts is just a bunch of bull.

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Grandpa and I have been working hard on getting out of debt, or more specifically, getting out of credit card debt, on our own. Like many other Americans who are dealing with debt from credit cards and/or loans etc, working hard to reduce or eliminate debt from credit cards became our New Year’s Resolution after Christmas last year.

Of course, there is such a thing as good debt, such as paying for a mortgage that creates home equity – which after a period of time allows homeowners to sell their house at a nice profit if the housing market is right for homeowners to sell their home. Right now, the housing market sucks due to the economy, so there’s no way we’d be able to sell our house even if we wanted to, at least not for the kind of money we’d want and need to get for it.

Anyway, in order to help us meet our goals of getting out of debt completely, we made the tough decision to really tighten our financial “belt” so to speak and focus our time and energies on paying off all credit cards and loans as quickly as possible. One debt-inducing expense each year has been the amount of money that is often spent buying Christmas presents for everyone on our xmas list. We are generous gift givers, to a fault.

As the Christmas season rolls around each year, it seems there have been more and more names needing to be added to our Christmas gift list, and something has to give. Between family, friends, adult children, grandchildren, parents, grandparents, bosses, co-workers, etc – the gift giving list and available monies has its limits, especially considering our efforts to get out of debt rather than increase our debt.

As much as we’d like to be able to continue buying everyone gifts for Christmas, as well as gifts for those we haven’t bought for in awhile, getting out of debt has to be given first priority. We’re not getting any younger either. Call it selfish if you wish, but we’re focusing on ourselves and our needs, for a change.

Getting out of debt once and for all means creating and sticking to a tight budget and not creating new debt, so that any and all remaining income from our jobs and money made from being a freelance writer and blogger goes to paying down debt until there is a zero balance on any and all credit cards.

“Getting out of debt on your own” means we are doing this on our own, rather than trusting our money and credit history to possible debt consolidation scams and schemes we hear so much about it on the news and online. A friend of mine was kind enough to buy Dave Ramsey’s book called The Total Money Makeover along with the accompanying Total Money Makeover Workbook as a gift for Grandpa and I to help us in our efforts to get out of debt the smart way.

Getting Out Of Debt Blogs

I’ve been reading many of the top personal finance blogs found online for quite some time now and will continue to do so. There are hundreds of “get out of debt” blogs online, with helpful tips about easy ways to reduce debt quickly, written by knowledgeable and experienced financial experts. Many of my favorite personal finance blogs are authored by people paying off debt just like you and I, who are “blogging away debt” and explaining their journey to a debt-free life on their personal finance blogs, for free.

We don’t need consumer credit counseling help either, and there are a lot of scams regarding those too, so thanks but no thanks. Creating a budget that we can and will stick to isn’t rocket science. Coming up with some easy and simple ways to pay down credit card bills isn’t hard either.

We’re eating out less. We’re watching rented movies at home instead of spending money at the movie theater and on expensive snacks. I quit smoking and the money saved by not buying cigarettes goes towards paying down credit card debt. Brown bagging lunches, instead of eating lunch at restaurants, creates a sizable savings each week that goes towards paying off debt.

We’re also creating a grocery budget, which will help to eliminate needless spending at the grocery store on things we really don’t need to be eating. The fact that we’ve set a goal of losing some weight over the next few months will also help reduce our grocery bill too, since we won’t be spending nearly as much money on snacks and junk foods. We’re well on our way towards getting out of debt, having already paid off a couple credit cards so far, and there’s no stopping us now.

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The very popular poem entitled A Woman Should Have has been attributed to Maya Angelou as author for a very long time as “Maya Angelou’s Best Poem Ever”, but as much as this delightful poem seems like the works of Maya Angelou, this poem below is not her work.

Maya Angelou herself has even denied authorship of A Woman Should Have on her official website, and Snopes.com has done its best to clear up any misconceptions of who wrote A Woman Should Have too, but the tall tales continue.

The real author of this wonderful poem about women is none other than Pamela Redmond Satran, and the original poem was entitled “30 Things Every Woman Should Have & Should Know By The Time She’s 30”, where the list of 30 things appeared under her byline in Glamour Magazine in May of 1997.

Pamela Redmond Satran has written five novels including The Man I Should Have Married, Babes in Captivity, Younger, Suburbanistas, and The Home For Wayward Supermodels. Pamela has also written many articles are magazine publications such as Glamour, Parenting, Bon Appetit, Good Housekeeping, The New York Times, Mens Journal, Redbook, Ladies Home Journal and The Washington Post. If that doesn’t tell you that freelance writing pays very well, it’s your loss.

A Woman Should Have
by Pamela Redmond Satran

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE…enough money within her control to move out and rent a place of her own, even if she never wants to or needs to…

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE …something perfect to wear if the employer, or date of her dreams wants to see her in an hour…

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ..a youth she’s content to leave behind….

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE …a past juicy enough that she’s looking forward to retelling it in her old age….

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ..a set of screwdrivers, a cordless drill, and a black lace bra…

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE …one friend who always makes her laugh… and one who lets her cry…

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ….a good piece of furniture not previously owned by anyone else in her family…

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE …eight matching plates, wine glasses with stems, and a recipe for a meal, that will make her guests feel honored…

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE …a feeling of control over her destiny…

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW…how to fall in love without losing herself..

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW…HOW TO QUIT A JOB, BREAK UP WITH A LOVER, AND CONFRONT A FRIEND WITHOUT RUINING THE FRIENDSHIP…

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW…when to try harder… and WHEN TO WALK AWAY…

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW…that she can’t change the length of her calves, the width of her hips, or the nature of her parents…

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW…that her childhood may not have been perfect…but its over…

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW…what she would and wouldn’t do for love or more…

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW…how to live alone… even if she doesn’t like it.

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW..whom she can trust, whom she can’t, and why she shouldn’t take it personally…

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW…where to go…be it to her best friend’s kitchen table…or a charming inn in the woods…when her soul needs soothing…

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW…what she can and can’t accomplish in a day…a month…and a year…

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