El Cajon Fire Safety and Career Expo

Last Saturday I attended the El Cajon Fire Safety and Career Expo with my son, Michael. This free annual event was located at the Lexington Ave. fire station next to the library. The highlights of this event included free bicycle safety helmets for kids and teens provided by the Kiwanas, kids Halloween crafts, a kids workshop provided by The Home Depot, and open emergency vehicles for kids of all ages to sit and explore. Free snacks of popcorn and cotton candy were also provided by The Home Depot and the Kiwanas offered hotdog and hamburger combos at a minimal cost in order to raise money for the free safety helmets handed out.

The event began at 10 a.m. and my son and I arrived shortly after 11 a.m. Michael had one thing on his mind: sitting in an ambulance and a firetruck. Nothing was satisfactory until we accomplished this task, although cotton candy seemed to help. After standing in a moderately moving helmet line, we made our way to the firetrucks where handsome firemen were ready to assist small children (and damsels in distress) who dreamed of riding in a firetruck. My son climbed in and out of both trucks several times, excited that one fireman even closed to door so he could look out the window of engine number 6. From there, we moved to the ambulance, who had arrived from a call not long before. Michael was happy to stand in the back next to the gurney and take it all in. The Border Patrol also shared a vehicle with the crowd, where my son was thrilled to sit in the backseat and eat his popcorn while the police dog attacked a "perp" nearby. My son, while being 3, left mommy quite a mess to clean-up inside the vehicle. Another favorite attraction was the blow-up fire safety house where more handsome firemen allowed children to play inside, then at the sound of a smoke detector, the kids jumped out the windows onto gym mats. This was a little nerve wrecking for a mom of a young child as I had to man both the front doors and the back windows to avoid a wandering child. Not a fun activity for me!

The line for the Home Depot Workshop was rather large and slow moving so I opted to skip that activity. We headed over to a tent offering fire extinguisher services and allowing children to put out a "fire" with an real extinguisher. Michael was a little nervous due to the loud noise the extinguisher makes upon discharge but it was a hit! (With help) he pointed the extinguisher at a paper cut-out of a fire and let it go. He was especially pleased when he was able to choose a treat from their candy bowl.

Although crowded, the expo was an excellent event, drawing families from all around the community. Besides fire and emergency safety information, the expo offered career information for military and emergency workers, as well as college information. Despite the heat, the expo was informative and fun for children and adults alike. I will be sure to attend again next year!

Speaking Your Mind is American

I recently joined a site called Soda Head where people post questions or articles and other folks can comment on them. Soda Head covers everything from politics to entertainment to the mundane, depending on what people wish to post. There are few rules as it is open to expression. When I first joined I figured I would never post or use it only as a SEO business tool. But strangely, I am drawn to it. Seems almost every question becomes a political rant for some, but I enjoy the banter and expressing my own ideas. This is what America is all about! Freely expressing your opinion, even if it's ridiculous or off topic. As long as people remain open to others ideas and there are sites where expression is allowed, there will be an America. That's my opinion anyway.

Express Lane Diet: Quick and Easy Weight Loss Foods - That's Fit

I occasionally enjoy sharing articles I find that I didn't write. Weight issues is something my family struggles with on a regular basis. I am a sugar addict and my husband over-eats. We don't want our kids to suffer later in life as we do so we are constantly attempting to change our eating habits. This article gives good information as far as the vitamins you receive from these foods, ideas on how to use them, and information regarding how they can help in weight loss. I have to say that in our family, eating broccoli is not an issue, so I was happy to see it on the list. My family likes it best when I roast it! Spray some olive oil over the broccoli and mix it with salt and crushed garlic. Roast at 500 for about 10 minuets. Yummy! As for the article, here it is. Enjoy! Express Lane Diet: Quick and Easy Weight Loss Foods - That's Fit

Port Strike Adverted

Wrote this article on Soda Head and thought I'd share it on my blog too. Enjoy! Port Strike Adverted

What Priceline Did for Me

So in a weeks time, my husband and I planned a family trip to Las Vegas. Unfortunately we waited too long to book our hotel. Prices beginning under $20 a night for hotels disappeared like water in the desert. A couple of days before we planned to leave, we booked at a hotel that was pet friendly and claiming location just outside the Las Vegas strip. Well, Henderson, Nevada is not JUST outside the strip. It's about 30 minuets away! The hotel itself wasn't bad, but it wasn't what we wanted, so hot and tired with two kids and two dogs* we moved to plan B. We drove to my mom's house and regrouped in an attempt to locate a decent rate on the strip the same day we are supposed to check in. "Impossible!" you say? We decided to see what William Shatner could do for us. Using our mobile phones we began searching Priceline for hotels on the strip. To our dismay, many of the hotels were sold-out. It seemed our vacation was coming to a close before it had even begun. Suddenly we spotted The Rio all suites hotel for $48 a night. A 4 star hotel just off the strip for $48 a night? Can't be! I called The Rio directly to find their rate to be over $100 a night. When I told them what I found on Priceline they simply said, "then you need to book it from them." So we did. My husband, skeptical at what we were getting ourselves into, halfheartedly complained on our drive over. He worried our room would smell like vomit and the hotel would be decrepit. I assured him that I'd been inside The Rio before and I remembered it being a nice place. Our fears continued when it took a half hour to valet our car and another half hour to check into our room. But once we walked into our room, our fears melted and relaxation set in. Our room smelled clean, which in Vegas is difficult to do even in the non-smoking rooms as cigarette smoke travels stealthily. We had two queen beds, a desk, a couch, coffee table, and TV. The bathroom was large with two sinks: one inside the toilet area, and one outside. The room was a beautiful thing! Then there was the pool....several of them to be exact. The main pool, where most of the families seemed to be located, had a beautiful, white sandy beach leading into the pool where several waterfalls cascaded over the swimmers. My daughter's face lit up at the site; she could hardly contain herself long enough to be sun-screened. Several other pools were located on the site, also with waterfalls, but they didn't have a beach. Tranquil spas were inset all around the property for enjoyment, but it was just too darn hot for that!

Thanks to Priceline, our vacation was saved! We stayed at a beautiful resort where we relaxed, swam, stuffed our faces at the buffet, and my husband and I even received half-off the featured show: Penn & Teller. William Shatner, thanks for saving us, we'll never book with anybody else ever again.

*The Rio is NOT a dog friendly hotel. We boarded our dogs at a friendly animal hospital . They took good care of them!

Postage Increases

So I am doing a lot of research for one of my clients, Action Mail, who is involved in the direct mail business. Apparently we are up for another postage increase. This has many marketers in an uproar! "What! Another increase? What will this do to my marketing campaigns? What will this do to my business?" Seriously people? Quit your whining! Increases are not going to go away. The Postal Service is loosing money due to increase of internet usage. Just as you need to increase business or increase prices, so does the USPS. What it comes down to is marketing smarter (see my blog posting "How to Market Smart"). Maybe you need to develop a more creative marketing campaign with specific targeting. When was the last time you purged your database? It's time to think outside the box! Look at postage increases in a positive light: maybe this is what you need to be creative in how you reach your customers.

Share your thoughts with me. Are you up-in-arms about this postage increase or do you plan to use it to develop something better for your business? How do you plan to market smart?

Happy Meals ban in Santa Clara County - latimes.com

What is our country coming too? What is the government thinking by controlling what me and my kids eat. I understand that people need to become more conscience of what they eat, but there is no way in heck the government should be telling me I can't have a friggin' Happy Meal! He-l-lo Big Government! Start looking at yourselves and the dept you're in and stop controlling my life! What are your thoughts?

Happy Meals ban in Santa Clara County - latimes.com

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More from Eyjafjallajokull - The Big Picture - Boston.com

What incredible photos! While we were experiencing earthquakes in California, Iceland was dealing with this ashy mess. One of my co-workers was visiting France and had to stay an extra couple of days due to the explosive cloud of ash impeding plane travel. From France, she took a train to Spain, where she was able to fly home. Artists and musicians had to cancel or postpone trips to the U.S. due to this event. Our earth is constantly changing; sometimes it's good to have a reminder that we are simply visitors on this planet...

-Rachele

More from Eyjafjallajokull - The Big Picture - Boston.com

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Great Post on That's Fit

Great Post on That's Fit

How to Market Smart

Things You'll Need:
* Prospect List
* Client List
* Opt-outs or Unsubscribes
* Third Party Mailing List Management Company (optional)

Have you ever received multiple "new customer" credit card offers for a card you already carry? How about "new customer" offers for you current internet or cable company? Amazingly enough, companies are forgetting to update their prospect lists with their client list. Not only is this a waste of time and money for that company, but it makes the customer feel less then special knowing they are just a name on a list. Maybe you are that company, sending out offers to existing clients without even realizing it. Follow these simple steps and you can start marketing smart and reducing cost.

Step 1: "Scrub" your prospect lists. This means removing current customers, duplicate mailings, and deleting unsubscribes and opt-outs. Yes, it may be time consuming but in the end it saves you money and resources.

Step 2: Review your target criteria and scrub your lists again. Are you marketing to 20 somethings but have prospects over 40 or visa verse? Remove those prospects who don't meet your current criteria or marketing strategy.

Step 3: Value your time and hire a 3rd party mailing list management company. Many direct mail service companies offer mailing list management services. Do your research and look for companies who are willing to update your lists at least every 90 days as well as pass it through the National Change of Address database. A good company will do your additions and deletions for you as well as use USPS approved software

Warnings: When hiring a 3rd party company be sure to research their privacy standards. If you have sensitive customer data, you want to ensure it's protection.

Resources: Smart Marketing: Prospect your prospects, not your customers

Action Mail Marketing and Direct Mail Service

News of the Day: Huge Quake in Chile

As I have family in South America and friends in Hawaii, this news struck me as rather important. With all the earth quakes occurring around the world, what is in store for California. Here in Cali, we are taught to fear, "The Big One," practicing as early as preschool to "duck and cover." Some may say this rise in tectonics is a sign of the times. Is it? Or is it simply the earth doing what it does best: changing?

Quake in Chile

Fresh & Easy

For those of you who know me, I have been a strong advocate for Fresh & Easy market for some time now. They make shopping a pleasant experience, and even on my most indecisive days, I am in and out in an hour or less. The F&E brand foods have no artificial colors, flavors, or preservatives and the prices are fantastic. Their floors are cement and their lighting is LED and minimal (of course you can see but it's not like the high energy using halogen lights in most grocery stores) which keeps prices down for us consumers.

Being the shopper in our family I have driven out of my way to shop at Fresh & Easy for almost a year now. It's worth the time and money I save to drive a little further to their store. To my surprise, a new store is opening closer to my home. Still slightly out of the way, but closer then San Carlos, Fresh & Easy is opening a store in Lakeside on February 24th. I know I shouldn't be so excited, but I am. Less driving time means I save even more money every week and can continue to provide my family with fresh, home cooked meals. Yea me!

For more information on the Fresh & Easy near you, check them out at www.freshandeasy.com

Do you shop at Fresh & Easy? What is your favorite buy?

Finding Time to Play

While scanning some of my e-mail I came across a link to San Diego Family Magazine. Clicking on it I found an article about a couple who began a website for other couples who need a little help in the romance area. So many of us settle for a dinner and a movie when it comes to date night, but Molly and Adam, founders of Playable Hours, insists it can be more. With dates serving both the budget conscience and those with a little more money to spend, Playable Hours offers a wealth of information for those seeking to expand their outings beyond AMC. Specializing in returning romance and play to the overworked married couple, the Playable Hours website offers "a one-stop resource to help you maximize your playtime with pre-designed, purposefully planned date and play concepts!" Everything from dinner recipes (for those looking for a little romance at home), to Venitian gondola cruises through Coronado Waterfront mansions (for those who really want to spice things up). They offer ideas for first dates to marriage refreshers. Check them out for yourselves at http://playablehours.com/index.php! I hope it brings some romance your way.

Report linking autism to vaccines is retracted by medical journal - latimes.com

Report linking autism to vaccines is retracted by medical journal - latimes.com

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Product Testing

So, to flex my blogging muscles more often I've signed up to be a product tester on a couple of sites, and looking for more. I am skeptical if I will ever receive anything to test, but it's worth a shot. I have a strong desire to take my blog to a higher level and I'm not completely sure how to do that. I know I should be posting way more then I am so that my blog comes across searches on the web. But I need more. I need sponsors lol! Besides writing for our business, Ingen10, which consists of a variety of clients, I want to tell the world about really cool products. I want to get free stuff! I want to be paid to try cool things (ipad....hello Apple?) I have a voice that wants to be heard and paid for it too. My job is good, but it's just a job. I'll never make the money I need to survive in California. If my husband died today I'd hit bottom financially before I could rise out of the ashes. I want to secure myself before that occurs. I want to make money doing something I have a passion for, which is writing. It's taken me years to figure that one out. I thought I always wanted to be a teacher, which I did. But reality hit when I achieved my dream and I am broke. Sure I could finish my credential, teach elementary school, and make a bit more then I am now. But it's still not enough. Whoever said money can't buy you happiness never had any money. Of course family is more important, but I want my family taken care of, not struggling to get by. My husband has the same desire. We want to be out of debt. We want to travel. We want the best schools and home for our children. You can't do those things without money! I no longer want to settle for just getting by. I want more out of life. We only have one life to live and I want to live it! I am 32 years old. I have done a few really cool things in my life but I want to do more. I want to do cool things with my husband and my children so they have those memories. I want to be more. I want people to know me. To listen to my opinion and trust it. I am this really big person inside this petite body and that part of me is screaming to get out!

Now that I've taken a strange turn....product testing. If I actually start to receive things to test I will keep you posted. I will let you know about the products and also the sites that sent them to me. If you don't receive products, I will warn you of the sites that took my info and left me in the cold. Also, if you know of how to get on the inside, of how to test the really cool items (Apple, I'm here!!!! Find me! Please let me test something!), let me know. If you have tested products, I'd like to know the most interesting product you have tested and if it was a thumbs up or down.

National Mother's Day Off Day!

I was thinking last week how I could really use a day off. And I mean really off. No work, no kids, no anything but what I want to do. Sure, us mom's get Mother's Day, but come on! One, it's on a Sunday, so the average person already has that day off. Two, how many of us actually get left alone? I know I don't. If you do, you are genuinely lucky and I applaud your spouse for giving that time to you. What I am talking about here is a day where even the single moms of this great nation are rewarded. Dream with me for a moment.....if you are married, your spouse is required to take the kids. He has to watch them all day while you are given the opportunity to do as you please. If you are unmarried or single either you family must support this day and take your kids for you, or the government is required to provide you with a nanny for the day. I mean, why not? It's not like the government doesn't already spend on frivolous and worthless indulgences. What's one day a year to honor all of us mothers out there?

Think about it...once the kids are taken care of, what would you do? You know if this was a real day, hotels would offers specials, restaurants too, and of course, the ultimate, massages! I would book a hotel room for myself and sleep. Once I had woken I'd lay in bed, order food in, and watch a couple of my favorite movies completely uninterrupted. Then a masseuse would come to my room and give me a hot stone massage, completely relaxing me. Once I was nice and relaxed, I'd sleep some more, or read a book if I was unable to sleep due to the amount of sleep I'd already had. If I still had time in my day, I'd get my nails and toes done, plus a hair cut. Eventually I'd end up back home (probably the next morning) feeling refreshed and ready to begin a regular day.

Now, don't get me wrong. I love my family and we've gone through a lot of personal changes for the better recently. But as a mother who works full time, takes care of her house, family and kids, and is attempting to take her writing full time, I am worn out! If I take a day off from my job to work from home, I usually end up sleeping because it's the only time I can do it uninterrupted. I know other mothers in the same boat and I know many single mothers who could benefit from a day off like I imagine. Us mothers, we work hard, and often feel unappreciated! My husband is working on this part, but those of you out there without a significant other, you do so much with little thanks. Instead of the government spending large amounts of money on catering ham for their lunches (yes that is real, look it up!), they could use that money to support the women who are raising future voters. Mother's of America, you deserve a day off! I commend you for what you do! Single mothers, I salute you!

So women, what do you think? What would you do if you had a real day off, all to yourself? Do you think your spouse would burn the house down taking care of the kids? Or would you come home to empty pizza boxes and McDonald's bags strewn about the house? That would be me, right there. Every day off isn't without it's consequences right? But it would be totally worth it!

New Year....Same Old Goals?

Loose weight? Exercise more? Quit smoking? Watch less TV? These are often common resolutions during the New Year. But how many of us actually keep these resolutions? I know I don't. My husband doesn't, for the most part. Most of my friends fail with in the first two weeks. So what is it about making resolutions that seems so important at the time, but once it is said, we just leave them by the wayside as soon as we get too lazy to keep going? I suppose that as each New Year approaches, it makes us feel good to say we are planning to change. "This year will be my year! This year I'm going to do it!" But why can't we always be that way? Why does it have to be just once a year? It seems to me we have grown this mentality that we can't continually change. Change should be something we work towards on a daily basis. My husband and I have been known to have a difficult relationship. Why are we still together, some people ask. Because we choose to continually change. To work on our selves as well as our relationship. It has taken us several years to get to this point, but it is happening. The same goes for our business. If I ever want to get out of my J.O.B. then I have to change how I think. I have to take the initiative and pursue my dreams. I've always loved writing, so how can I make it work for me? By writing for myself, by writing for clients, by writing as much as possible to get my name out into the world. Eventually this will lead to my goal but not without a lot of work. I used to be afraid of the work, now, I embrace it. It may be difficult while working, taking care of my family, and taking care of my household, but I think in the end it will be worth it.

In conclusion, change is good. Don't look at changing just once a year; you should be changing all the time. If you brake your resolutions, simply start over. Life happens. We shouldn't see starting over as a negative but as a way to continually grow and reach our full potential. Sometimes a fruit tree needs to be pruned to the bare minimum to bare the most fruit.