Play Board Games for Family Fun

There are a lot of different types of games that people play. There are online games and home video game systems, but it seems that one type of game that used to be played a lot is not as in the spotlight as it used to be. These are board games, and although they have seemed to drop in popularity a bit over the past few years they are still great fun to play, especially in a family friendly environment. Everyone that loves board games has their favorites, but here are a few that I love to play.

1. Monopoly - This is the old standby board game that almost everyone has heard of. It is a board game that is generally played for long periods of time and has to do a little bit with the roll of the dice and a lot with strategy of buying real estate (the squares on the playing board) The game is won when one individual owns everything and the other players are totally flat broke. This game has been played in marathon sessions where the company actually had to fly in additional monopoly money.

2. Parcheesi - Here is a great old board game that is a lot of fun to play and doesn't require much brain power (sorry if that offends anyone). You roll the dice and move your piece around the board. The first person to reach the goal wins, but you need to reach that goal with an exact roll of the die.

There are many other board games that can be played, but these are a few that will get you started. If you love these games then you are in good company. If you've never tried them then I suggest getting them and try having a family night where you play them together. You might find that you actually enjoy each others company.

By Steve Miers

Bras Men Like

What bras do men want to see you in?

I asked my guy.

He said a bra that is easy to take off. Bras that look like lingerie. Black bras. I wasn't satisfied with the answer.

I gave him the unenviable job of going through lingerie catalogs to tell me which bras he finds sexiest.

The verdict.

Strapless bras. A huge surprise to me as I thought these were purely functional. Worn to avoid tiresome straps under tube tops, off shoulder tops or strapless outfits.

His rationale. He just finds strapless bras very sexy. A huge turn on. The simplicity catches his eye. No messy strings. Bare shoulders which he simply loves. Most importantly, they look really easy to take off.

Next in line is the lace bra. That is because lace bras are very beautiful. That I agree with him. Lace bras are very pretty.

In 3rd place is the push up bra.

This one is obvious. Push up bras make your breasts look much bigger. These padded bras add inches to your bustline. The Gel filled bras really boost a girl's assets. A way to get that cleavage without resorting to surgery.

He was saying for girls who really want to turn on the men, go for these 3 types of bras. These are the ones that leave men wanting more.

I do know the kind of bras he simply hates. The fussy types with multiple hooks, the cotton granny type of bra with thick ugly straps that are popular only because of comfort and anything that makes breasts look smaller. In other words, don't waste your time with minimizer bras.

So if you want to dress for your men, what you wear underneath counts too.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
The writer is the webmaster of www.buy-bras.net. Check out the Bra size tool to find out your real bra size.

Common Poker Tells & How to Find Them

Youth Hostels Guide Part 1 of 2

This is a complete guide to youth hostels, split in 2 parts; this is the part 1 of 2.



Youth Hostels History



The first youth hostel was founded by Richard Schirrmann around 1909. Schirrmann was a German teacher who organized trips and visits with his students.



During one of these excursions, a sudden rainstorm forced his group to seek shelter in an empty school. It was then that Schirrmann had the idea of using schools that were empty during holidays as guest houses for young people that were travelling in groups in the countryside. The idea caught on very quickly, and by the 1930s there were more than two thousand hostels in Germany.



The idea spread out in the rest of Europe, and after an important international conference in 1932, the idea was exported to the United States and many other countries, and the International Youth Hostel Federation was born, with the idea of providing cheap accommodation for young travellers. With time, the concept of hostel has broadened, and now hostels accept guests of all ages, providing cheap but comfortable accommodation and a unique atmosphere that cannot be found in hotels.



Hostels Equipment



If you are travelling for a long time, buy yourself a good backpack, which fits you comfortably, and do not exceed in loading it - a heavy backpack can be very painful to carry when it's summer and it's hot. Choose comfortable shoes, and keep cool shoes for evenings out.

Hostels most often provide you with sheets (often at an extra cost), but you should bring your own, just in case. Some hostels might not allow sleeping bags, for reasons of hygiene (you might have been sleeping anywhere with a sleeping bag, and hostelling is not the same thing as camping).



Some hostels will provide you with a so-called sleep-sheet, which is two sheets sewn together, so they form a sort of sack. This way the bed stays clean. It is not as common as it used to be years ago. You should also bring your own soap and towels, since only some hostels provide these, usually with an extra charge.



Hostels Social Life



Hostels are definitely the place for socializing. Since the guests in a hostel are mostly younger people, there are plenty of occasions to get to know other travellers. Some hostels organize parties, meetings or competitions, or have a bar within or just outside their premises where people can meet and chat to fellow guests.



Hostellers are generally more interested in meeting other people than your average tourist, so it's much easier to get in touch with them, share common interests and exchange advice, tips, etc. Many people travel on their own all over a country or continent more than a year long, and rely on chance meetings to make friends.



Remember: you can always meet people who have opinions (on politics, sex, religion, your country) that are very different from your own, so you must be prepared to be tolerant and understanding other people's positions and views on life. Without a doubt, this will certainly enrich you and broaden your perspective. So if you go to a hostel, expect to meet new friends, (especially if you speak some languages) and put on your best smiling face. Who knows, you might make the best friendships of your life!



Youth Hostels vs Hotels



There are several types of hostels nowadays, and all of them tend to have their special characteristics; some are more like standard hotels, some are a completely different experience. The main difference is that most hostels offer accommodation in dormitories, or shared rooms. Dorms can be bigger or smaller, can be for males/females only or mixed, but anyway this means that you can share your room with strangers.



Although many hostels now provide private rooms with en-suite facilities, the atmosphere is still very different from that of your average hotel. Whereas hotels only tend to just provide their customers a comfortable place where to spend the night, hostels tend to have more of a social atmosphere which often is derived from sharing dining tables, washing machines, dryers, and much more with with other guests.



Many hostels organize parties and excursions for their guests, and many have a bar where people can meet and get to know each other. In a hostel it is much more likely to start a conversation with a fellow traveller or to be asked for advice, tips and information by someone you have never met before.



Basically, hostels are generally a good place to make friends, to meet people from far away countries with ways different than your own, to exchange tips on clubs, museums, shows, shopping and the like.



Different kinds of hostels



Hostels come in all shapes and sizes nowadays. City hostels tend to lean more towards the social/fun aspect of city life, offering information about pubs, tours of the city, thrift shops and night clubs. They can be much noisier than country hostels, since they often have no curfew and are open 24 hours a day. The bigger the hostel, and the more night-life oriented the city it's in, the more social life you will find. Country hostels are a very different thing. They're mostly frequented by people who are travelling through the country, possibly walking or hiking. This means people wake up earlier, and go to sleep earlier, and usually like it quiet!







This guide is brought to you by www.HostelsPrice.com and en.EuropeLowCost.com.

Developing Your Strategy in a Changing Real Estate Market

Just about every area in the United States has experienced what most would consider a down market. As a real estate professional, it is important to evaluate your business on an on-going basis, specifically, when the market begins to slow down. In the Northeast, we are beginning to see signs of what we would consider a buyer's market. This is unusual for the area, which is an adjustment for sellers, and quite frankly, some of the newer real estate agents that have not been accustomed to taking a consultative approach with their business. There are a few key elements to developing and continuing a steady stream of clients.

Client relationships-Quality real estate agents consistently discover that their business is closely tied to the relationships they have built over many years. Building and nurturing those client relationship results in trusting relationships and referral business. Focusing on client service, with a long-term view of those client relationships, creates value.

Clear, written plan-Successful agents develop a detailed business plan including how many closings they are targeting for the year, the activities tied to reaching their closing goal, and the amount of personal promotion money that they will allocate to build their business. These goals should be visible to the agent, and not just developed at the end of the year (for the next year) and stuffed into a file. Having a focus on your goals on a daily, monthly, quarterly basis will increase your odds of consistent, viable business.

Market Knowledge-As the market begins to turn, it's not only important to have the statistics for your buyers and sellers, but also have the in-depth understanding of the impact. Being able to articulate the changes in each neighborhood, price range, and overall market will add to your credibility as a sales professional.

Communication with your clients-Changing markets do strange things to both buyers and sellers. Anxiety is created with change. The most effective way to help your clients through the change is keeping them apprised of all of the news, whether good or bad. Clear, consistent, and thorough communication also develops long-term client relationships.

Melissa Riley is an Office Leader with Prudential Connecticut Realty. She is a 24-year veteran of real estate and relocation. Visit her website at http://prudentialctcareers.com/

All You Need To Know About Baby Crib

Save Money on Student Property Investment

Share the Risk of Purchasing Student Property and reduce the costs

As students eagerly await exam results parents are seriously considering how they will help their children to cover the costs of a university education. With property prices rising all over the country many parents who had previously thought about buying a property for their children are now wondering if this is a viable option. Rent differs between different university sites but most students can expect to pay ?2,000 to ?3,000 per year on rent whether in the Halls or through a ?bedsit?. With the maximum student loan (outside of London) being ?4,195 most parents can expect to be asked to help out with some of the costs.

Many parents can no longer afford to take on a full mortgage in a University town (the average cost of a property close to the University of Sheffield, for example, has increased by 133% over the last four years) yet are loathed to ?waste? rent money for the three or four years their children are at University.

Could the new era of ?a co-buying network? be the answer to the student property quandary?

A co-buying network involves people from different areas, different backgrounds and different socio-economic levels jointly taking on a mortgage. Owning a property with other parents is a very real solution to the ?rental trap? problem and is becoming an increasingly popular approach.

How Does It Work?

Parents interested in co-buying property should register with UK?s foremost and most experienced co-buying network - www.youtoshare.co.uk. Within their membership profile they would make it clear that they are looking to invest in a property while their child lives in it. They would then specify the area they are looking to buy in and search for other potential co-buyers. Membership of the ?You to Share? co-buying network provides access to a ?Deed of Trust? which is a legal document specifying who is responsible for what payments and provides a ?get out clause? for each party.

This document, typically, will cost between ?350 and ?500 and is provided free through our preferred solicitor(s). Many mortgage lenders are happy to divide a mortgage between three or four individuals which means three or four sets of parents could benefit from their offspring?s time within higher education.

Example Scenario

Mr Smith?s son is going to study Engineering at the University of Leicester. It is a 4 year degree and if renting Mr Smith would be looking at paying approximately ?20,000 in rent over that period. The average price of a four double bedroom terrace house close to the Leicester University campus is ?160 000 as advertised through Keywest Estate Agents in July 2006.

Mr Smith registers with ?You to Share? co-buying network and learns that Mrs Andrews and Mr Ryan also have children about to start at the University and are interested in co-buying a property in the area. The three (or four) parents contact each other via the You to Share co-buying network and arrange to have financial and police checks conducted on themselves so that they can then share this information with each other. They, with their children, search for a property that will meet the needs of each of the students. In certain areas, council tax for students is either very low or zero rated.

You to Share would introduce the potential mortgagees to recommended professional independent brokers who would provide/arrange the most suitable finance deal within this structure. Based on 6% interest rates, the parents will be looking at a monthly interest repayment of ?800.00 which is equivalent to ?12,800 over four years. This compares with up to ?16,800 for deluxe rooms in Halls for four years, if available. (Current rates vary between ?96 and ?116 per week for up to 42 week contracts)

You to Share would arrange also for the parents to meet with a preferred solicitor to complete the formalities and also agree the necessary Deed of Trust, a binding legal document specifying what each co-buyer is responsible for and specifying how the agreement can be terminated. The You to Share co-buying network provides access to specially negotiated reduced conveyancing fees which can incorporate the Deed of Trust, free, within the package.

Following the completion of their degrees the students/parents will be the proud owners of a property that will have increased in value (currently at a rate in excess of 40%). They can decide between them whether to keep or sell it the property. Whatever their decision, each parent can secure a financial return on their investment during their child?s time at university as opposed to having ?given away? four years of rent. The profit on the property would then enable the newly qualified graduate to stay on the property ladder by using the ?profit? as a deposit for their first solo property purchase. A win-win situation.

?I wish the (?You to Share?) co-buying service had been available when I was at University,? says Julia Smart, mother of a soon to be University student. ?My parents

paid out so much on rent which they could have easily paid into a shared mortgage. I have joined the ?You to Share? co-buying network to try to invest in a small property

in Cardiff where my daughter is going to study ? it makes sense to me.?

Naturally there are compromises to be made when co-buying but many of these involve the actual living day to day with your co-buyer. Parents investing in student property are able to act as absentee landlords, secure in the knowledge that their children are coping with home sharing exactly as they would if their parents were paying rent for them.

Essex based PR consultant

Visit http://www.youtoshare.co.uk/ for more information.

Celebrity Glamour Secrets Revealed

Celebrity Glamour Secrets are now available to anyone wanting to know, just how do I make myself look like a star. No, we're not talking nips and tucks here, we've found some very doable deals that can assist you in everything that it takes to slim, form, and shape your bodies into the shape you desire that will accent your body like the stars.

Celebrity Glamour Secrets are highly endorsed by such personalities as Oprah, Katherine Zeta Jones, Gwyenth Paltro, Teri Hatcher, and Jenny McCarthy. With names like that you know we've struck gold in these products.

Celebrities are no longer keeping their secrets. If you've longed for glamour or just want to look your absolute best, then you've got to see the whole range of products we offer.

One very unique product that's simply amazing is Spanx. You know those tell-tale panty lines, well no more. Our shapewear collections include bras, panties and hosiery that control and shape your figure in comfort and style. It doesn't matter if you are a size two women who just needs a little thigh smoothing, a full figure women looking for tummy control, or if you need special shapewear for maternity or post baby support. Everybody, and every figure, can benefit from our shapewear.

Celebrity Glamour Secrets offers shapewear, lip plumpers, waist cinchers, bra tops, strapless bras, undies, thongs, and much more. Visit our Galapagos boutique and start living like the stars. Accent your body and watch the world treat you like the star you are. Your Secrets to Instant Beauty!

Visit Us Today! Click here

http://wealthsmith.com/celebrity-glamour-secrets.htm

About the Author

Jim Wilson is an avid announcer of the latest trends on and off the web. He is a trend-setter of ideas, information, and so much more. See just what all he can offer you today: http://wealthsmith.com

Tips for Traveling with the Tots

While many parents avoid traveling with young children, a bit of preparation can ensure a successful family vacation. By making a checklist of all your necessities and planning for any difficulties, you and your family can enjoy your vacation instead of worrying about what could go wrong. Here is a list of travel tips to help you prepare for your family vacation. By following some of these suggestions, you and your family will always remember your family vacation for all the right reasons. You certainly can?t expect your children to be perfect, so set some reasonable expectations for your family vacation. Perhaps one of the best ways to keep your children interested throughout your family vacation is to involve them in the planning process. Your children will be excited to have a hand in the itinerary and will learn about the destination before you depart. Once you arrive, you can be confident that your kids won?t complain about the chosen activities.

Regarding air travel, you might want to try securing seats in the front row of the aircraft. The front row of seats will grant your family some extra space and privacy, which are especially helpful if traveling with infants or toddlers. Your children should also be able to wander with more ease at the front of the cabin, but ask the flight attendant if you aren?t sure what is acceptable.

While non-stop flights are recommended by many for family travel, a break can sometimes be useful. If your family is traveling to the Caribbean, an hour or two in an airport can take some of the edge off a long day. Not only will your children be able to walk around and stretch, you can also stock up on snacks and any items you may have forgotten. If you are traveling with older children, you might want to consider an early morning flight to prevent any delays. When flying with infants and younger children, many families prefer late night flights as they correspond with the child?s natural sleep schedule.

When traveling to the Caribbean or any other international location, pack all the medicines your children might need ? both prescription and over-the-counter varieties. As many countries have different medicines than the U.S. and packaging may be considerably different, don?t take any chances. Check the carry-on restrictions and pack whatever you can in your carry-on baggage. It is also a good idea to pack a change of clothes, a blanket and a pillow for your young ones to ensure that they are comfortable on the airplane.

One of the greatest difficulties of family travel is the transport of large items like strollers and playpens. Before you leave for your trip, contact the concierge of your Caribbean resort regarding the availability of cribs, strollers, car seats or anything else your baby might need. If your hotel is unable to acquire any of these vacation essentials, there are a few international organizations that arrange delivery of such rental items.

Organize a selection of toys like dolls, stuffed animals and books in one of your carry-on bags. To prevent any unnecessary embarrassment, try to avoid packing noise-making toys or those with small parts ? like model kits, building blocks or board games. Portable DVD players and CD players can also keep your children occupied and entertained. It is also a good idea to pack some healthy snacks for your children, as it is often difficult to please with airline food. Your preparation should also include planning for unforeseen events, such as someone getting lost or sick. By planning all the small details ? down to what type of trail mix to eat on the airplane ? and more serious issues affecting your itinerary before you travel, you and your family won?t have to spend your family vacation worrying. You will simply enjoy every minute of it.

This article was written by Justin Burch. Justin writes select pieces about travel in the Caribbean and Mexico for the Paradise by Marriott

Making the Decision to Move to Atlanta

The decision to settle in a new city, town, or state is very difficult to make. Not only is it a hassle to pack and haul all your things to a new territory, but it is also quite inconvenient to prepare for the move. However, if you have the right reasons to transfer to a place then it is a choice you have to make. To prepare yourself to relocate, you should first learn as much as you can about the place in which you are about to move.

Making the decision to move to Atlanta can be easier than you would have imagined. This unique city in the southern state of Georgia has its own charms and appeal that make its residents love it so much. Much of the renowned Southern hospitality is still very alive in this city, despite the hustle and bustle that drives its population nowadays. This place has a good mix of excitement and coziness that makes the decision to move quite easy. Perhaps this is why a lot people refer to Atlanta as the city that is too busy for you to hate.

A major factor that entices a lot of people to move to Atlanta is that it is teeming with commercial life. The city boasts of housing among the United States? and the world?s leaders in the corporate community. Here, well-known giants have planted their headquarters. The likes of UPS, Mindspring, CNN, Delta Airlines, Southern Companies, Russell Construction, and perhaps the most famous beverage company, Coca-Cola, find solace in this commercial hub. Atlanta is also the hub for the big companies of the future as it is where many young technology, communications, and designs companies are based. This is why many people who were just visiting the city suddenly make the decision to stay permanently.

Atlanta is a cozy city that sprawls for only about 131 square miles. However, it houses more than 3.5 million people quite comfortably with various types of homes available for every need. All types of houses are available from townhouses, single-family houses to duplexes, condos and sprawling mansions. Buying a home is relatively affordable with prices starting from under $100,000. You really can get alot of house for the money.

Going to and from Atlanta is quite convenient. This relatively small city houses the Hartsfield International Airport, which is the second busiest airport in the USA. While traffic can be a hassle in the city, one can easily take advantage of MARTA, the clean and safe rapid-rail system that is conveniently integrated with bus routes that are quite efficient.

The entertainment scene is very much alive in Atlanta. Whatever type of music that moves you can be found here, whether it is jazz, rock, R&B, rap, pop, or Latin. The city also houses fabulous entertainment hubs such as the Fox Theater, the Roxy, and the Tabernacle. You might also want to see the renowned Ballethnic Dance Company and the Jomandi Productions, which are established companies. Sports fans may also be excited to see the Hawks, Falcons, Braves, and Thrashers in action, or any of the other major sporting events hosted by the city.

The best part about moving to Atlanta is that you are sure to live in a friendly and exciting place. You can easily walk around and say hi to every person you meet on the street without getting any awkward stares you might experience in other great cities. Atlanta can sure be a home to anyone and this can make the decision to move here the best choice you would make for your entire life.

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Are you thinking of relocating to the Atlanta, Georgia area but don't know where to start? Bettye Prothro is available to become your Personal Connection for Atlanta Homes and Real Estate information. Visit http://www.AtlantaHomesAdvisor.com for Atlanta Homes & Real Estate Information and Resources.

Los Angeles Real Estate Experts: Selling Your Home in All Market Conditions

Understanding the real estate market is a complicated task. Currently, there are a number of areas in the United States that are experiencing a decrease in home sales. There are many individuals who assume that this is not the time to sell their home, but those individuals may be making a life changing mistake.

If you live in or around the Los Angeles area and if you are interested in selling your home, you should. There may be a wide variety of different reasons why you would want to sell your home. Whatever your reason for wanting to sell, you are encouraged not to use the real estate market as a guide. There are a number of other factors that you should first consider.

As previously stated, not selling your home when you want to move could be a costly mistake. This mistake is most often seen with individuals who need to move to another city or state to accept a new job. How well your home sells should not be a deciding factor in whether or not you want to accept a new job.

Despite the fact that the Los Angeles area has seen a slight decrease in home sales, it is highly likely that you home will still successfully be sold. The deciding factor will all depend on the condition of your home, its location, and the individual you turn to for assistance. This assistance should come from a professional real estate agent.

Professional real estate agents are trained and experienced in the buying and selling of Los Angeles real estate. Many agents go through extensive training. This training educates them in ways to target new home buyers and teaches them how to make a traditional home more appealing. If you are concerned with the status of the current Los Angeles real estate market, an agent could provide you with valuable information and assistance.

If you are interested in finding an agent who specializes in the Los Angeles real estate market, you can do so a number of ways. Most homeowners search for a real estate agent or company by using the internet and their local phone book. Each should provide you with a large number of qualified agents in the area.

Since local phone books and the internet are both likely to produce a number of results, there are many homeowners who wonder which agent they should use. The best way to determine an agent?s experience with the Los Angeles real estate market is to speak with them directly. It may be possible to schedule a free consultation appointment with a number of real estate agents. Information can also be exchanged over the phone or online.

Taking the time to speak directly with a real estate agent will enable you to determine their experience with the Los Angeles real estate market. This experience could help you sell your Los Angles home, even at a time when home sales are on the decline.

Brad Horn is a writer for 1 percent realtor where you can find a great resource for information regarding Los Angeles Real Estate

How To Make Your Own Board Game

Making your own board games does not only help you save up, it also develops your resourcefulness and creativity. Making homemade board games is twice as exciting as playing the game itself. It is also very economical. So why buy them when you can create your own? You can even get a lot of benefits from making your board games yourself. Now, how do you start making them?

First of all, you have to gather your materials. It is important to take durability into consideration when selecting your raw materials. The more long-lasting the material is the more games you'll be able to play with it.

Chess, Checkers or Go

If you are making your own chess game board, you must decide what to replace your chess pieces. Stones and beads are the popular choices for board game pieces. In chess, since the king is the biggest piece, reserve the biggest stone for that. Stones, in fact, were first used as pieces in games like Go. For chess, if you are using beads, choose the largest one for the king or use a distinct color for each piece. And since the Queen symbolizes femininity, reserve the pink bead for her. Almost anything can be used to serve as playing pieces. If you have a figurine collection, you can use them as well.

If you know how to carve, you can use leftover wood to create your board pieces. Then use paint or varnish for a finishing touch. Coins can also be used as markers. The lists of possibilities are endless!

Different board games need different game pieces. Some may require a dice as well as a deck of cards and poker chips. For your convenience, it may be better to purchase these items instead to make sure they're uniform. While you're at it, you may need to purchase some permanent markers, scissors and a ruler as well to make your playing board.

Rudiments: Boards

You can make your own game board from different things. You can use an illustration board or spare plywood to draw your playing field. If you want your game board to be portable, you can even use a cloth, which you can easily fold after playing.

Just make sure that the material you use for your game board can easily be laid flat. If not, you'll be spending most of the time leveling it while playing the board game. If you love the game, it is best to invest your creativity in it, as well as some money, time and effort. A nice board for your playing pleasure will affect your mood while on the game.

Packing It Up

Now you have your board game set. However, you are not done yet. You also have to consider other important things such as the storage of your entire board game set. If the board you made is small and convenient enough to store in a portable box, you can bring it anywhere you fancy. If you made a large one, look for a cool, dry place where you can store and easily retrieve it.

If you store your board in a hot place, the markers may fade right away. If you are using cloth for your board, do not fold it when storing it. Roll it up or keep it flat in an envelope so that no crease will disturb your game pieces once you start the next game.

Making your own playing board and pieces will help you play your favorite game without spending too much. Moreover, your improvised board game set will be uniquely your own.

Visit Board Games Store A Place Where You Can Find Board Games Articles And Find Info On The World's Most Popular Board Games

By Robert Diarioti

Wedding Lingerie Honeymoon in Paradise

There are many things to remember in preparation for your wedding day.  Of the many items you cant forget, your wedding lingerie is very important.  Getting the most out of your big day is all about taking advantage of every experience.  This includes the honeymoon.

There are many things to remember in preparation for your wedding day.  Of the many items you cant forget, your wedding lingerie is very important.  Getting the most out of your big day is all about taking advantage of every experience.  This includes the honeymoon.

Traditions create many of the reasons why we do things, especially in weddings.  Youve spent so much time selecting the right invitations and the just the right dress, so why wouldnt you do the same with your intimate apparel. 

Panties play an important role in everyday life, but a more important one under your bridal dress.  Many of the latest dress styles are more sensual and revealing than ever before.  White thong panties are the perfect answer to the panty question.  Thongs are required because there is a chance that your dress is slightly see through, and you dont want to give anything away. 

Choosing the right bra might be just as easy.  You want support, yet you dont want your wedding guests to see it.  It also has to be seductive for the alone time that follows.  There are many strapless bras that provide wonderful support, while also adding a little more in the bust.  The design choices are intricate, with lacy designs that are easily transferred to the brides chambers. 

Your stocking choice is maybe the most difficult decision to make.  There are many inexpensive options available, but they dont have the same appeal as vintage sexy stockings.  The traditional silk variety is head and shoulders above the competition.  Shiny, white legs will go a long way down the aisle and the dance floor.  Pantyhose just cant provide the appeal you are looking for in a stocking. 

Last, but not least, is the traditional wedding garter.  It is customary to give this one out to a lucky someone in the wedding party, so you dont want to spend a fortune on it.  If you want to keep one for yourself, then you can go all out.  Find something that matches your personality, and make it fun.  The removal of the garter is just as traditional as any other custom. 

Getting the most out of your wedding day shouldnt be contingent on your lingerie, but it will definitely have an impact on your memories.  Take a chance on your styles, and do it differently than all others.  Make your day more special for bride and groom with the little details that are so memorable.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Robb Ksiazek researches, writes, and publishes about sexy lingerie for Lingerie-4U.biz.  He feels the right apparel will allow us to be ourselves, yet someone we desire to be.

Put That Kid in a Car Seat!

Copyright 2006 Mike Patrick Jr, MD

I don't currently advocate road rage. Laying on the horn, swearing like a sailor, and swerving around the slow guy in the passing lane is not my style. Of course, tastes change over time, so I'd like to reserve the right to practice road rage in the future. But understand this: It won't be the slow guy in the passing lane that sets me off. Instead, it will be stupid parents.

You know the ones I'm talking about. You see them on interstate highways and city streets and country roads. You point them out to your spouse, and explain their poor judgment to your children. At least I hope you do. These are the parents who drive with unrestrained kids in the car, ones who let Little Bobby climb over the headrest and crouch on the floorboard and roam from window to window, pausing only to stick his tongue out at cars in the cruising lane.

Why do some parents allow their children such freedom? I think it boils down to convenience. Dad doesn't want to wear a seatbelt and he doesn't want to hear Little Bobby screaming to get out of his. So Dad lets him roam.

In every state, they're breaking the law. Not that it matters. Most states have secondary seatbelt laws, even for kids. This means police can only write a citation for an unrestrained occupant in the course of pulling a car over for another violation. But let's face it, toughening seatbelt laws into primary violations would do little to reduce the thousands of unrestrained children killed and injured in the United States each year. Why? Because you can't force common sense through legislation. Don't forget, these parents are stupid.

If you are still reading, I suspect you are either not a stupid parent or you are motivated to rise above your stupidity. And since smart parents ask lots of good questions about the appropriate use of car seats, booster seats, and seatbelts, I will review the basics for you.

The rules are pretty simple really. Until your child is a year old AND twenty pounds, use a rear-facing infant carrier in the back seat of your car. The middle of the seat is safest. Once your child is twenty pounds AND one year of age, it's safe to use a forward-facing car seat. Again, keep it in the back, and if possible, put it in the middle.

When do you graduate to a booster seat? For most kids, you can make the move when they weigh forty pounds. Start with the type that has its own restraining harness. When your child outgrows the harness (usually between 50 and 65 pounds), advance to a booster that incorporates the car's safety belt. The important thing here is to make certain the belt fits properly. The lap belt should fit over the pelvic bones and not slip up to the belly. The shoulder belt should cross the chest, not the upper shoulder and not the neck. Many of these boosters feature an adjustable clip to keep the shoulder belt in a good position. Never forsake the shoulder belt. Serious injury is common among children in booster seats who only use a lap belt.

For all car seats and boosters, be sure to follow the manufacturers guidelines for proper positioning and securing. You'll have to pay close attention here. Some seats are rear-facing only, some only face forward, others are reversible. Also pay attention to minimum and maximum length and weight for a given seat. If your child outgrows the length recommendation of a rear-facing infant seat, but is not yet a year old AND twenty pounds, you'll need a bigger reversible seat. Keep it rear-facing until he is big enough and old enough to face forward.

When are kids ready for seat belts without a booster? When their feet reach the floor while their back is against the seat. The lap belt must fit snuggly across the pelvic bones (not the stomach), and the shoulder belt must fit snugly across the chest (not the upper shoulder or neck). The exact age varies from kid to kid. If your son or daughter is petite, he or she might be 10 or 11 years old before meeting this criteria. I realize this is much older than most people (especially children) want to believe. But I bring you the facts. Please, don't shoot the messenger.

There's much more to say about car safety. When can kids ride up front? What about air bags? How do you secure premature babies and disabled children? The American Academy of Pediatrics has an excellent resource answering these and other questions at http://www.aap.org/family/carseatguide.htm

So what do we do with the dad who won't buckle Little Bobby? It's a tough call. This is America. Parents have rights. Does Little Bobby have the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness? Is Dad interfering with that right? Maybe. Until we sort that out, you'll do well to avoid Dad's mistake. Be a good example to your children and always wear your seat belt. Insist on your children being properly secured from day one. Always use a car seat. Make no exceptions. Little Bobby figured out that if he screams loud enough and long enough, he gets to roam the car and stick his tongue out at passing cars. If you have a Little Bobby in your car, it's not too late. Let him scream. It won't last long. Will you be interfering with his life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness? Maybe. But I know which choice I'd make. How about you?

About the Author

Mike is an American pediatrician. Read more at http://www.pediascribe.com
COPYRIGHT 2006 Mike Patrick Jr, MD

Know The Pieces In Your Backgammon Set

When you are shopping for a backgammon set, it is important to know what to look for. No two backgammon sets are the same, unless they are made that way purposely, such as by the same manufacturer. Some are fancy and some are plain. Some are cheaper than others and some can be really expensive. It all depends on what you are looking for.

What is great about a backgammon set is that the board doubles as a case to carry the different pieces. The board itself can be made of several different types of materials such as magnetic, vinyl, plastic, leather, aluminum, and wood. Some backgammon sets come included in certain pieces of furniture such as an ottoman or end table. Other sets are very small with magnetic pieces for travel. With backgammon, there is something to suit every taste and a set for everyone.

Because backgammon sets vary so greatly in sizes, shapes, and materials, you can expect to pay between twenty and one-thousand dollars for a set, it all depends on how fancy or plain you want to get. Within the backgammon set itself, you will find a variety of different pieces. Again, these pieces can be made of a variety of different materials such as wood or plastic. Depending you your budget, you can buy sets that are made from the finest materials. If you are really hooked on the game, having a nice expensive set can help add to the experience of playing.

Each backgammon set comes with thirty backgammon chips. Fifteen white and fifteen black chips. Of course, this could vary as well, depending on the manufacturer; they can be of different colors such as two different shades of brown. The chips are typically made from a heavy type of plastic that feels rather nice to the touch and makes handling the pieces fun, but they can also be made from wood and other materials. Typically, most backgammon sets come with two shakers as well, one for each player. They may be of the same color or of two different colors. They too may be made out of different materials, such as wood, plastic, or even leather.

Dice are also standard with a backgammon set. This could mean two dice, which the players would have to share, or four, in which each player would have their own set. Another standard in a backgammon set is the doubling cube. The doubling cube is a six sided dice, which has the numbers 2, 4, 18, 16, 32, and 64. However, most people playing for fun avoid using the doubling cube. The doubling cube generally only comes into play when money is at stake.

So there you have it. Now you have a good idea of what pieces are involved in a backgammon set.

About the Author:

Lee Dobbins writes for http://backgammon.games-webzone.com where you can find out more about playing backgammon and backgammon sets.

A Complete Guide to the Nordictrack Elliptical Trainer

Avoiding Discriminatory Real Estate Practices

Real estate agents should never say or imply that the presence of persons of a particular protected class (race, national origin, etc.) in a neighborhood could or will result in:

lower property values;

a change in the composition of the neighborhood;

a more dangerous neighborhood; or

a decline in the quality of the schools in the neighborhood.

Most real estate agents would not act in an overtly discriminatory way; for example, they wouldn?t raise the listing price because of the race of the prospective buyer. Yet some of these same agents might tell racial or ethnic jokes or make derogatory remarks about a particular group of people.

Although these jokes or remarks don?t necessarily indicate a willingness to actually discriminate in a transaction, a listener might assume that they do. Even listening or going along with inappropriate remarks can give the impression that the agent agrees with these discriminatory attitudes. Agents need to watch out for signs of such attitudes, in order to avoid helping others violate antidiscrimination laws.

Listing agents should make sure the seller is willing to follow the law, and decline to take the listing if the seller is not.Real estate agents should also provide equal service to buyers and sellers without regard to their race, creed, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, sex, marital status, familial status, age, or disability. For example, an agent should never refuse to show a property to a potential buyer based on discriminatory reasons.

Sarasota Real Estate Marketing

With Sarasota becoming a hot spot for real estate investments, realtors use various marketing strategies to attract new clientele. Apart from the local print and media, realtors take advantage of the Internet.

Research shows that homebuyers prefer viewing details and photos of properties online. Detailed information on the description of the property, photos, maps and neighborhood information help reach thousands of buyers.

Websites offer directory listings and MLS, or multiple listing services, providing realtors the opportunity to gain maximum exposure. Virtual home tours give realtors a chance to offer a preview of a property to prospective buyers. As more buyers begin their property search online, a web tour is often their preferred introduction to their next home and to the real estate professional who?ll guide them towards closing a deal. For sellers, virtual tours help separate the serious buyers from the window shoppers. Virtual tours can be a simple series of photos and text or multimedia presentations with maps, floor plans, 360-degree panoramic images and a sound track. Many providers also offer lead capture and tour promotion services.

Property-casting is a new concept in real estate marketing. Property-casting is the filming of audio and video tours of real estate properties, for distribution over the Internet or to portable devices such as mobile phones, iPods and other multimedia devices. Full-scale audio and video tours are broadcast through different mediums. Property casting is economical and can be used in all areas of the real estate industry.

Professional marketing consultants that specialize in real estate offer a variety of marketing strategies to realtors. They are trained and experienced in project management, accounting, finance, real estate property operations, and information technology.

One of the reasons for Sarasota growing faster than many other counties in the US is the innovative approach of the real estate marketers here.

Sarasota Real Estate provides detailed information on Sarasota Real Estate, Sarasota Pre-Construction Real Estate, Sarasota Real Estate Marketing, Sarasota Real Estate For Sale By Owner and more. Sarasota Real Estate is affiliated with Minnesota Commercial Real Estate.

Definitions for Promotional Products Promotional Items Corporate Gifts and Promotional Gifts

Most people have heard and even used the terms ?Promotional Products? and ?Promotional Items?, but what is the difference? How about the difference between ?Promotional Gifts?, and ?Corporate Gifts??

Recently, the folks at InkHead Promotional Products have put forth their efforts to define the distinctions among these four important terms.? InkHead is an online Promotional Product distributor.? InkHead Promotional Products was launched in 2003 and was voted the second fastest growing distributor in the advertising specialties industry for 2007.? Their intention is to help customers to have a clear understanding and the knowledge necessary to make a best informed decision when planning their promotional marketing campaigns.

Promotional Products are defined as:imprinted products that are used to promote and/or brand businesses and special events while at the same time are functional and usable by their recipients. Some examples of Promotional Products are: pens, pencils, flashlights, USB drives, visor clips, rulers, and insulated bags. Promotional Products are given away and used by your company. No matter what you are trying to promote, you'll spread the word effectively with Promotional Products from InkHead. Browse InkHead?s online catalog today, or request a print catalog of the featured promotional products!

Promotional Items are defined as:imprinted items, often non-functional, used purely to promote and/or brand businesses and/or special events such as parties, weddings, reunions, sporting events, and more. Some examples of Promotional Items are:signs, magnets, spirit flags, stress balls, key chains, and lanyards. To compare,where Promotional Products have a clear use that is simply accompanied by a business logo, Promotional Items are meant to be seen as an advertisement. Signs and flags are the best examples of Promotional Items and are important for all organizations: corporations, small businesses, schools, not-for-profit organizations, sports teams, and charities.

Corporate Gifts are defined as:high quality imprinted or engraved gifts used to show employee appreciation or achievement while promoting and/or branding a business or event. Some examples: executive pens, laptop bags, golf items, briefcases, and wine and bar gift sets.Corporate Gifts are generally not related to the type of business giving the gift, they are simply elegant gifts meant to show appreciation or thanks to outstanding employees, faithful patrons, or prospective clients. They are usually customized with business logos as a way to gain brand recognition. When choosing Corporate Gifts to customize, try to cater to the individual and remember that everywhere your gift recipient goes, so will your logo. You will get exposure, so choose wisely!

Finally, Promotional Gifts are defined as: medium to high quality customer appreciation gifts used to promote businesses and/or special events. Some examples are:

day planners, portfolios, hats, golf shirts, backpacks, poker chips, and coffee mugs.If you?ve ever been to a trade show, you have probably received Promotional Gifts from participating businesses. They usually are not products that are particularly related to the industry, but are keepsakes that will keep the name of your business on their minds.

For more information on Promotional Products, Promotional Items, Promotional Gifts, and Corporate Gifts, click on link text to visit InkHead.

Source: Free Articles from ArticlesFactory.com

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

J. M. Leander - Senior Editor - Prime Interactive, Inc.

http://www.PrimeInteractive.com

6 Tips To Buy Cheap Repossessed Homes At Government Auctions

Buying homes at foreclosures and auctions sponsored by the US national and several local governments is the in-thing when shopping for existing homes nowadays.

There are more and more people who are preferring to buy existing homes nowadays because constructing and investing to build homes would most often be troublesome considering the current labor costs and rising prices of raw materials.

Here are some useful, practical and logical tips that could help you get pull out cheap buys and deals when buying homes at US government-sponsored foreclosure and auctions.

1. Clearly define and set your preferences and style before going to the government foreclosure. This would save you the time and prevent you from wasting time looking out unnecessarily at homes, which at the first place would not meet your standards.

2. Inspect the home you are setting your eyes at and make it a thorough one. Check out for any defects or damages on the interior as well as the interiors. Check out for non-performing house furniture and old-aged amenities. Finding defects, be it small or major, could entitle you to huge discounts and mark downs.

3. Lodge a practical and low tender. Other bidders might bid higher, but you can still try to outbid them. Starting at cheap and low bids would make up for a great auction start, don?t you think?

4. Seek an expert or professional advice when buying repossessed homes at government foreclosure. Cheap homes can never be that cheap, or expensive ones must be priced cheaply, for all you know. Experts know best about the valuation of such homes.

5. Check the legal papers of the home for sale. Sometimes, though they are already offloaded by government bodies, there are assets and estates that run with complicated and uncleared legal impediments.

6. Properly arrange for the payment scheme for the transaction. As mentioned earlier, there are different modes for making the payments. It can be in the form of cash, checks or through installment schemes, ask the government representatives for more details and deal provisions.

The best tip you could be given when buying repossessed homes at government auctions would be to stay in focus. Focus, focus, focus.

For listings of government repossessed homes, please visit www.buy-cheap-houses.info.

Don't Get Scammed Buying Breast ... (Review)

Below article is copy from RadioHealth.net which i find interesting and like to share with all ladies out there

Don't Get Scammed Buying Breast Enlargement Products Online

Read this special article before you consider buying breast gain products on the Internet

From the desk of Donna Schwartz (Senior Reviewer)

Sometimes we get interesting assignments at RadioHealth.net...this one is no exception. I was asked to find and test various products that guaranteed an increase in breast size naturally. My first reaction was 'yeah, right'. I was quite skeptical of all the claims that one could increase their breast size by a 'full cup in as little as 30 days' with no surgery and no prescription medication.

Today, as I write this, I'm practically in shock. Not only did I gain a full cup size, it actually took 33 days to achieve the desired result. BUT, it took me a long time and a lot of money to find the right breast enlargement product (I was the victim of several fakes and shady operations until I found the right companies and products).

Initially, because of an error in the address that I submitted when ordering, I was left with a credit card charge and no product and I was at the mercy of a fly-by-night fulfillment operation that didn't know the first thing about customer service. On another occasion, my order was lost (or so I was told) and I never heard from that company again (they've since been put out of business by the FTC). Through all my trials, I was able to conduct extensive research regarding the many companies that sell breast enhancement products online. Needless to say, when I finally gained a full cup size after finding the 'right' product, I was overjoyed and committed to sharing what I found with as many self conscious women as possible. My hope is that you will benefit from my experiences (my list of reputable breast enhancement products appears below).

First, a little background. Over the past 6 years I had actually considered and researched several options to increase my bust (including costly and dangerous surgery...which I thankfully ruled out). I'd spoken with a dozen companies and was looking for assurances that whatever product I chose would not lead to an increase in my overall body weight, or cause me to gain additional weight associated with a lot of herbal formulas on the market. Surprisingly, it was this assignment that led me to 'the holy grail'.

Actually, I'd been self conscious about my bust size since the 8th grade so, when asked to investigate, I immediately ordered several advertised 'magic' pills and tested them methodically. It didn't hurt that I had recently seen a report on natural breast enhancement on Dateline NBC and in USA Today in the same week. Honestly, I was willing to try anyting because, for years, I would wake up every day feeling bad about my breasts (And, yes, I had tried every padded and push-up bra on the market).

With the products that I successfully tested, what you'll notice right away is that you will not increase your overall body weight AND you'll feel better about yourself.

During my months of researching the breast enhancement market online and speaking with company representatives, I came across some very important information that everyone should know before purchasing breast enhancement pills on the Internet.

When you select your breast enlargement product, choose one that has at least 12 all-natural ingredients that are rich in estrogen and human growth hormone stimulation (from plant sources called phytoestrogens; these natural estrogenic compounds help to promote the growth of healthy breast tissue). Don't be fooled by substitute products that claim to be like the products listed below -- many may only contain two to five of the necessary ingredients for guaranteed breast tissue growth.

The products we recommend are the original leaders in this category with nearly 8 years of successful use and a combined 160,000 satisfied customers worldwide.

IMPORTANT: because of the growing awareness and popularity of these miracle herbs, rip-off products that contain very little or no authentic phytoestrogens in them have flooded the marketplace. So.......

Before choosing a breast enhancement product, make sure to ask how long the company has been in business and how many successful cases the product has produced. No products have been more successful in stimulating the growth of breast tissue than those recommended below. Also, insist on no Ephedra, no Ma Huang, and no Ephedrine. And, by all means, do not settle for any company that does not provide discreet shipping and billing worldwide.

Finally, when deciding which products to recommend on RadioHealth.net, we always ask 2 questions:

1. Does the product have a successful track record? (has it worked for us AND are there documented consumer success stories?)

2. Does it come with an iron clad MONEY BACK GUARANTEE and/or free samples?

I'm happy to say that each of the products below passes our test.

All the best.

Signed,

Donna Schwartz

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About the Author

Author Info...

Annabel Cruz is a researcher that studies Natural healing by combining both Western and Eastern ways. Feel free to use this article on your website or ezine as long as the following information about author/website is included.

http://www.bestpuerariamirifica.com

Playing the Different Variants of Backgammon

Buy Cheap Repossessed Homes From Government Auctions 5 Tips

With the proliferation of government-sponsored foreclosure auctions of repossessed homes, people could shop for already existing homes. One source or venue of such existing homes up for sale is the government auctions.

Not surprisingly, governments, be it national or local, are always possessing homes from citizens and constituents who have in one way or another screwed out resulting to the confiscation or sequestration of their homes.

Here are several useful tips that could serve as a helpful guidance for you if you are planning or are already on your way to buying repossessed homes at government-sponsored auctions.

1. Inspect the home thoroughly and carefully. If you are still not an expert at this, bring along a friend or an expert to compare and validate the valuation of the home for sale.

There might be defects and small or even major ruins in the home that should be taken into consideration, for they may significantly alter or lower the home's tag price.

2. Do a little research about the former owners of the home. This can be a little hard to do, but it would satisfy your curiosity and never ending questions about the history of the house.

3. Government auctions are just like any other forms of auctions. People tend and aim to outbid each other.

If you desperately want to buy a home, just learn to let go and accept the fact that luck must go with you for you to own that dream house you have been eyeing for sometime.

Otherwise, if you compete with higher bids, you may end up spending too much or overpaying for the unit.

4. Focus on the tag price and always be reasonable and logical in weighing the prospects, or in analyzing if the investment would be a worthwhile and practical one.

5. Finalize the payment arrangements. Urgently indicate whether the mode of payment would be in cash, in checks, or in installment terms.

Cash payments usually are imposed special discounts, while installment basis can be sometimes convenient and lighter, though computing in the long term would reveal that the total amount could be much higher.

For listings of government repossessed homes, please go to http://www.buy-cheap-houses.info/

Love and Health

The Love-Health Relationship:
Dr. Gray is the author of many books including the fabulously successful book Men are From Mars, Women are From Venus. Another of his books addresses how some people or one person in every group or organization including a family, will be what he calls a psychic drain. There are neurons that respond when a person acts a certain way and research on monkey brains in 1996 showed some monkeys respond when they see another monkey doing something. This empathic ability can be lost or damaged in human brains due to trauma such as lifelong or early life abuse. The loss of what can be called empathy can also occur with lead poisoning and there are researchers in medicine that some label environmental medical practitioners while they emphasize the mental part of the word, who say many if not most ailments are brought on or exacerbated through pollution and food additives or other things. Thus highly functional sociopaths are often becoming our leaders while the decent empaths become victims of society

The Love-Health Relationship:
Dr. Gray is the author of many books including the fabulously successful book Men are From Mars, Women are From Venus. Another of his books addresses how some people or one person in every group or organization including a family, will be what he calls a psychic drain. There are neurons that respond when a person acts a certain way and research on monkey brains in 1996 showed some monkeys respond when they see another monkey doing something. This empathic ability can be lost or damaged in human brains due to trauma such as lifelong or early life abuse. The loss of what can be called empathy can also occur with lead poisoning and there are researchers in medicine that some label environmental medical practitioners while they emphasize the mental part of the word, who say many if not most ailments are brought on or exacerbated through pollution and food additives or other things. Thus highly functional sociopaths are often becoming our leaders while the decent empaths become victims of society

Education, Nutrition and A Personal LOVE of mine:

Dave and I went together to T. G. I. Friday's at Keystone at the Crossing on Indianapolis' north side. I saw a beautiful blond woman across the bar near the antique gas pump. It seemed that she had a halo around her head. I saw no other woman and paid no attention to anything except her. Dave and I went to stand near her and her friend. I was wearing my southern climate white suit that women in Miami had thought I looked like a member of the Miami Dolphins in after I had bought it in Coral Gables. Sherry's sister had a friend named Rick Osney who years later said: So what do you do other than make cheap suits look good? He was a retail clothing specialist. Sherry was most interested in Dave; she told me for months after, and the truth is Dave looked like a model and did some modeling and writing. I was so enchanted and enthusiastic that if it weren't for the fact that Sherry had just had a partial mastectomy and needed a worshipful admirer she would have blown me off very early, if not instantly.

I nattered on about all the success we were on the verge of achieving and the triplex we owned in Toronto as well as my travels. Sherry saw that her friend was interested in Dave. Her name was Sue Ann Blackwell. Sherry wasn't impressed by money or power but I guess the fact that I thought she was the most beautiful woman I had ever met or close to it, was a deciding factor in her agreeing to see me again. I had a policy about making love within three dates over the previous four years or I thought it wasn't likely to become a real relationship. What stupidity, eh? The limited time available in every city made this a little more justifiable than it sounds however. I remember she went to her parents in Bloomington for Thanksgiving and having her prepare a simple dinner at her place during one of our early dates. She is a Libran and over six years older than me. Libran's have the classic hourglass figure that I love and their sign is a good fit with me. I felt willing to marry her even before we made love. It was a totally ecstatic time and my infatuation was complete. With 60 hours towards her doctorate in education and a very loving family that had enabled a globally conscious person that oozed class, Sherry was my ideal.

There was a lot of conversation and I enjoyed her insights even if she didn't agree with me about whatever it was we were debating. She was open enough to hear my stories of psychic things and question the science behind them and see the possibilities. I told her that I was afraid of doing anything to cause us not to be friends but I still spoke my mind. There was no policy of three dates and I was on cloud nine. She had to make the first sexual moves. Her simple hamburger dinner was a disaster that we later laughed about for years. Yet, despite the fact that she saw I was a sweet person with all the right motivations she also feared the salesman in me. The truth became apparent in a couple of years as Dave developed a relationship with Sue Ann that he was the real 'operator' and Sherry still would keep me at arms length other than sex. I wrote poems and bought roses on may occasions. Before I left Indianapolis for Philadelphia I had made it clear I wanted to marry her.

I lost 20 pounds in 19 days while taking vitamins and eating my 1000 calorie two peanut butter sandwich diet. I was proud of my body and went back to see her. I remember meeting her at Subway Sam's and having lunch. She told me that she couldn't see me anymore if I was going to talk about marriage. Ours was to be an 'open relationship' and I felt the pangs of what other women that I had known must have felt. I adjusted and we soon were sharing talk about our other 'friends'. In a year or so, it seemed we were hurting each other. I was making more money and the business was doing well. I guess you could say I was a prime target for a lot of women who wanted wealth as part of the package. It became increasingly superficial and I trusted fewer people the richer I got.

Sherry had a couple of problems of a medical nature. Her hypoglycemia had been miss-diagnosed and she had been given massive cortisone shots that I believe had contributed to the cancer that resulted in the partial mastectomy. Women are not treated as men are when it comes to medical treatment; as well as every other aspect of misogyny in society. My studies of wholistics and hermetics were becoming quite extensive. I am going to quote authors from quite different sides of the fence.

David Depew and Bruce Weber of MIT wrote 'Darwinism Evolving' in 1995 and it says on pages 492 & 493:

They also made it harder for the scientific worldview to be received with equanimity by other sources of culture. Indeed, since the reducing impulse undermines fairly huge tracts of experience, people like Wallace, who feel deeply about protecting phenomena they regard as existentially important, frequently conclude that they have no alternative except to embrace spiritualism, and sometimes even to attack the scientific worldview itself, if that is the only way to protect important spheres of experience that have been ejected from science's confining Eden.

In response, scientists and philosophers who feel strongly about the liberating potential of a spare, materialistic worldview began to patrol the borderlands between the high-grade knowledge scientists have of natural systems and the low-grade opinions that in the view of science's most ardent defenders, dominate other spheres of culture and lead back toward the superstitious and authoritarian world of yester-year. 'Demarcating' science from other, less cognitively worthwhile forms of understanding was already a major feature of Darwin's world. A line beyond which the Newtonian paradigm could not apply was drawn at the boundary between physics and biology. We have seen how hesitant Darwin was to cross that line and what happened when he did. Twentieth-century people are sometimes prone to congratulate themselves for being above these quaint Victorian battles. They may have less reason to do so, however, than they think, for the fact is that throughout our own century, the same sort of battles with emotional overtones no less charged, have been waged at the contested line where biology meets psychology, and more generally where the natural sciences confront the human sciences. Dualisms between spirit and matter, and even between the mind and body, may have been pushed to the margins of respectable intellectual discourse. But methodological dualisms between what is covered by laws and what is to be 'hermeneutically appropriated' are still very much at the center of our cultural, or rather 'two cultural', life. Cognitive psychologists and neurophysiologists are even now busy reducing mind-states to brain-states, while interpretive or humanistic psychologists are proclaiming how meaningless the world would be if mind is nothing but brain. Interpretive anthropologists are filled with horror at what would disappear from the world if the rich cultural practices that seem to give meaning to our lives were to be shown to be little more than extremely sophisticated calculations on the part of self-interested genes. Conflicts of this sort would have given Darwin stomachaches almost as bad as the ones he endured over earlier demarcation controversies.

Hermeneuts is a new epithet for alchemists such as myself who OBSERVE and try to fit ALL the facts together and don't eject anything 'from science's confining Eden'.

The rhetorical pattern of these battles is still depressingly similar, in fact, to Huxley's confrontation with Wilberforce. Hermeneuts ridicule scientists like Hamilton, Dawkins, and Wilson when they suggest that nothing was ever known about social cooperation until biologists discovered kin selection. Reductionists in turn criticize hermeneuts, now transformed largely into 'culturists', for bringing back ghosts and gods, just as their nineteenth-century predecessors were taxed with being 'vitalists' every time they said something about the complexity of development. Humanists identify scientists with an outdated materialistic reductionism. Scientists insist that hermeneutical intentionality is little more than disguised religion.

Perhaps, a way out of this fruitless dialectic between the 'two cultures', can be found if each party could give up at least one of its cherished preconceptions. It would be a good thing, for example, if heirs of the Enlightenment Credited to Bacon, Shakespeare, Jonson and others with an alchemical background. would stop thinking that if cultural phenomena are not reduced to some sort of mechanism, religious authoritarianism will immediately flood into the breach. They should also stop assuming that nothing is really known about human beings until the spirit of reductionism gets to work. Students of the human sciences have, after all, been learning things alongside scientists ever since modernity began. Among other things they have learned that humans are individuated as persons within the bonds of cultures and cultural roles, they are bound together with others in ways no less meaningful and valuable than the ways promoted by strongly dualistic religions. By the same token, it would be helpful if advocates of the interpretive disciplines would. abandon a tacit assumption sometimes found among them that nature is so constituted that it can never accommodate the rich and meaningful cultural phenomena humanists are dedicated to protecting, and that therefore cultural 'ought never' to be allowed to slip comfortably into naturalism. Humanists seem to have internalized this belief from their reductionist enemies, whose commitment to materialism is generally inseparable from their resolve to show up large parts of culture, especially religion, as illusions. These opponents, we may safely say, take in each other's laundry.

I wonder if these authors and their reductivist buddies are aware that all humanists are not without the ability to incorporate hard physical science to an even higher factual degree than they do. The quantum physicists like Wigner (Nobel laureate), Schrdinger and Heisenberg think that humanistic richness is robbed by reductionist unspiritual thinking. The global reifying thrust of materialism (Dr. Boddy of U of T, anthropology) is hopefully, in due course, going to return to a global deifying thrust of spiritualism. The only REALITY is NATURE and it assuredly includes ALL observable facts not just the 'Toilet Philosophy'.

If I may be allowed to quote someone who tries to keep an 'open mind' and use WHATEVER WORKS even if it isn't 'modernity'. I choose to quote a wholistic doctor by the name of Zoltan Rona who has his M.D. and M. Sc. He edited the 'Encyclopedia of Natural Healing' in 1997 which says on pages 33 and 34:

It is misleading to call the natural health movement alternative medicine as is often done. Natural Medicine is considered the founder of contemporary Western medicine. What we now call modern medicine is actually an aberration, the result of social change at the dawn of industrialization in the eighteenth century.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Columnist in The ES Press Magazine
Author of Diverse Druids
Many books available at World-Mysteries.com include one this is an excerpt from called Integrating Soul and Science

TEFL and ESL Board Games For the Classroom

Classroom board games are probably one of the most effective teaching tools available. Here we see how to stimulate and motivate students, and provide a welcome change to more standard classroom teaching approaches, giving students a refreshing new focus to practice their spoken English.
A few important points to bear in mind when using board games, which will increase their effectiveness and get the students speaking in English are:

1. The first rule to establish is that the game is to be played in English. Give some input vocabulary such as 'Whose turn is it?', 'Pass the dice please' or for a bit of fun 'Hey, stop cheating!'. Then as the game progresses and you see other linguistic requirements, supply them, drill them briefly, and continue to play. I often have students keep a separate booklet for game playing vocabulary. The students motivation is strong, so take advantage of it!
2. Encourage students to speak in only English by establishing the second rule: not speaking in the target language forfeits a turn. This sounds a little dramatic and harsh, but you'll be amazed how well it works. It also creates an enormous amount of spontaneity of language, resulting in increased fluency and a reduction in response times.
3. Teachers usually think in terms of one-class time slots, whereby the material to be used is to be finished by the end of the allotted time. This can lead to unnecessarily self-imposed restrictions on the choice of materials. I often let a game run for 3 or 4 lessons in order to let the students become highly familiar with the vocabulary fields as well as letting them build up a sense of momentum to the outcome.
4. Students should 'earn' the right to take a turn to generate the motive for speaking. This would mean, for example, asking a team to answer a question before being allowed to take a turn. Depending on the the theme of the board game, you may also use relevant video clips, story reconstructions with visuals or maybe role play situations in parallel, which allow students to score points which in turn allow them to throw the dice.
5. Don't just limit yourself to the rules in the game. Feel free to 'play God' and adjust the rules as you find convenient to make the game move more slowly or faster. It's amazing how our knee-jerk reaction to a game's set of rules sometimes leaves us feeling powerless over how to play the game! Such changes may include giving new consequences to the value of a throw on the dice e.g. 'if a player throws a 5, then they get to throw again'. Wham! You've got a new dimension to the game.
6. Keep teacher talking time down! Let the students run the game - you just police it from a distance, supplying language as required. Because a board game generates spontaneous situations within a defined linguistic area, this is the perfect opportunity for the teacher to take back stage, and just give 'hot correction' when required. Error feed back and remedial work can be given at intervals as appropriate.

Adrian Allen is one of the co-founders of http://www.findateacher.es This is a bilingual search tool for private teachers to advertise themselves to students. It can be used either for free, or by paying a small subscription fee for better ranking in the database.

By Adrian Allen

Game Cheats And How You Can Use Them Without Feelig Bad

Florida Housing Market: Optimistic Perspectives Of Local Homeowners

A recent survey reveals that 58 % of home owners across Florida place positive views regarding the continual rise of the value of their homes over the subsequent 12 months. The general perspective holds regardless of indications that the five-year boom in the Florida housing market is declining. This online survey, which is conducted every year by Florida-based Attorneys? Title Insurance Fund?s Consumer Education Campaign, samples a poll of more than a thousand home owners throughout the state within the period of May 30 to June 6, 2006. The survey focused on dynamic Florida housing markets such as Broward, Miami-Dade County, Tampa, Sarasota County, Fort Myers-Naples, West Palm Beach, and Orlando. The respondents are aged 18 and above. The survey puts forward that home owners have been vigilant about the condition of the Florida housing market, in spite of the fact that affordability remains to be the major obstacle to purchasing a home (71 % of respondents? opinions). Homeowners in Miami-Dade and Fort Myers-Naples are even more likely to say that ?affordability? is a considerable purchasing obstacle (both 83 %). With nearly a 30 % rise from 2005 figures, Tampa witnesses the biggest increase in percent citing ?affordability? as the primary obstacle to home ownership compared to other areas in Florida.

The interesting facet of the result reveals that the views of home owners across Florida are split about whether the year 2006 is a good or bad time to purchase Florida real estate (amounting to 42 % for both views). However, by examining samples for select regions such as Sarasota County (53 %), West Palm Beach (49 %), and Orlando (43 %), statistics reveal a slightly higher chance to believe that now is a good time to buy a home as compared to regions like Tampa (42 %), Broward County (39 %), and Miami-Dade (34 %).

Nonetheless, hurricanes still linger within the minds of home owners. Nearly half of all respondents (47 %) said that they have apprehensions about being hit by a storm. Another 16 % of the respondents mention the impact of a housing bubble as their biggest worry, and even fewer cite escalating mortgage interest rates (13 %), devaluating home prices (5 %), or becoming the victim of real estate scam (1 %) as their biggest real estate anxiety in Florida. What is surprising about these figures is that Florida home owners do not rank high in terms of the concern of being the victim of real estate fraud, especially for the fact that Florida was recently branded as the top state across the nation with regards to prevalence of mortgage frauds.

The survey also reveals that the most confusing part of purchasing a property in the Florida housing market is the understanding real estate laws, which is evident in 41 % of the respondents citing such. In point of fact, about a third of Florida home owners found that understanding Florida real estate law is extremely confusing. Other aspects in the process of buying Florida real estate that are considered confusing includes understanding settlement/closing process with 24 % of the respondents saying that it is extremely confusing.

About half of home owners of Florida (48 %) have consulted with a real estate attorney in the past. This aspect of the survey shows that residents in South Florida consult real estate attorneys more frequently compared to residents in other parts of the state. For instance, 67 % of residents in Miami-Dade County, 61 % in Broward and 60 % of residents in West Palm Beach cite that they have been consulting with real estate attorneys, whereas only 37 % of residents in Tampa and 44 % in Orlando have done so.

Dranreb Earl Juanico

http://florida-mortgage.xon.us

Residential Real Estate Appraisal

An appraisal is simply an opinion of value. Some appraisals are a professional appraiser's opinion, others are guesses. Still others are based upon the sometimes harsh reality of the marketplace. The most important factors for appraisers are figures of recent real estate sales involving comparable properties. Basically, there are only two opinions that matter.

(1) The list price is a wishful-thinking value, merely a hopeful estimate. It is set by the seller. The sale price is the real value. It is determined by you, the buyer. Of course, the price you finally agree to pay is partially determined by the seller through the negotiation process. But you and only you decide how much you are willing to pay.

The lender's is the second opinion that truly matters. The bank usually employs appraisers, although sometimes it uses third party fee appraisers. A value of the property is determined, and the lender will then make a mortgage loan based on this figure.

If the lender's appraisal comes in lower than your agreed-upon sale price, you may not be able to buy the home. The lender bases its lending decision upon this professional opinion of value. It will only loan a percentage of this figure. Therefore, if you are counting on using the lender's funds in a certain amount to finance the purchase of your home, a low appraisal from the bank can seriously damage your first time home buying efforts.

The lender's opinion of value can be disputed. The appraisal department at a bank will usually welcome previously overlooked comparable sales data (comps) and other factors which might affect their appraisal. Sometimes there were sales in the area of which the appraiser was unaware. You and/or your real estate agent often know about non-MLS sales of which the bank appraiser has no knowledge.

Perhaps you decided to buy this house because the seller spent thousands on structural and mechanical system upgrades. The lender is not to aware of these value-enhancing improvements. When you bring them to the appraiser's attention, you quite possibly will induce the appraisal department to raise the appraisal figure. The critical point to remember about this is: If the lender produces a low appraisal, you can always contest it.

You might hear complaints when the lender's appraisers express a low opinion of value - Why don't they just appraise at sales price? After all, THESE buyers are willing to pay that much. Surely others would, too. Ah, but that's NOT necessarily true. Some buyers (hopefully not you) do agree to pay too much. The lender needs to protect itself from these lovestruck buyers who must have that home. If the bank eventually has to become the owner, by having to foreclose, it must have reasonable expectations of being able to recover all or most of its investment.

When negotiating the purchase of your home, be sure you are always being prepared to walk away from the transaction if the seller is too unreasonable. There are plenty of other homes available. If you do this, the lender's real estate appraisal will almost certainly come in at or above your sales price and thus cause you no problem.

Keep the Golden Rule in mind: The banks have the gold, so they make the rules.

Paul Anderberg
http://www.first-time-home-buying.net

Mr. Anderberg is the author of many helpful articles about home buying. Visit his website to read more. Several others are also available on this site.

Twins: Getting Out and About

One of the most frustrating things I've found about being the mother of twins is that getting out of the house alone with them can be very difficult. I've often longingly thought back to my leisurely outings with my first child and wished life were still that easy now! Nonetheless, however challenging it may be to get out and about with two babies, with a little planning and flexibility, it is entirely possible to go do errands, visit with family and friends, or just get outside for some fresh air.

Getting Ready

Things go much more smoothly when you've got everything you need organized before you start getting your twins ready to go. So while they are either napping or playing on their own, get going by making sure the diaper bag is stocked and ready with the necessary supplies, including food, drinks and a change of clothes. Next, get out their coats, shoes, hats or snowsuits, and put them where you will be dressing the babies. If they still travel in infant car seats, put these ready to go by the door or have your stroller just outside. Don't forget about supplies that you'll need to keep yourself happy too, such as a coffee or something to munch on later.

Getting Out

After you change the babies' diapers, get them dressed and into the car seat or stroller, beginning with the twin who is likely to be the most agreeable at that time (the less crying, the better!). If they are out of their infant car seats, you either carry both of them out to your vehicle at the same time (not an easy feat), or leave one in a safe place in the house while you put the other one in the vehicle or stroller first. Be ready for either one or both babies to be madly crying while you do this!

Getting About

Most times you will be using a stroller to transport your twins. There are many types of twin strollers or double strollers on the market to suit the different needs of your lifestyle. If your main activity will be going for walks or jogs with your babies, you'll need to have either a good double all-terrain stroller or a double jogging stroller. If you will often have to take them along for errands and shopping, then a regular mall double stroller is all you need. With infants, a double universal car seat carrier (stroller frame) is invaluable, since they can remain comfortably in their infant car seats while you transfer them from the house or vehicle to the wheeled frame. There are lots of options out there, so make sure you research what your lifestyle needs are before purchasing a double stroller, since they are more expensive and will need to take double the abuse of single strollers. It will make your outings much more pleasant if your stroller has all the features you really need and want.

Getting Help

If you can, plan to have someone come along and help you from time to time when you go out with your twins. Schedule a relaxed afternoon of shopping with your mom or a trip to the zoo with a friend. Having an extra pair of hands makes the outing a lot easier and it gives you the opportunity to have some adult conversation for a change!

Getting Real

Unfortunately, there will be some days when you really want to get out of the house with your twins and it just won't be possible without you having a nervous breakdown. Either one baby or both will wake up cranky from their nap and won't settle down, or a feeding might take longer than you thought it would, and so on. With twins, as with all babies, you have to be flexible and accept that some days, your plans to get out and about need to be scrapped, or at least modified in some way. Perhaps a doctor's appointment can't be missed, but a short trip to grandma's can be rescheduled for another day. Take heart by realizing that as your twins get older, this, as well as everything else, will get a lot easier.

Copyright 2005 by Anik Giguere-Biollo. Permission is granted to reproduce this article in electronic newsletters or on websites provided that it is not edited in any way, all the links are left active, and that neither the copyright declaration nor this license are removed. This article was originally published at http://www.stroller-advisor.com/twins-getting-out-and-about.html.

About the Author

Anik Giguere-Biollo is the mother of a three year-old girl and one year-old twin boys and is a former grade school teacher. She offers a great deal of detailed information about choosing and purchasing double strollers and twin strollers (see http://www.stroller-advisor.com/double-strollers.html), as well as all other types of strollers, on her website at http://www.Stroller-Advisor.com.

Short Sales: How to Deal with Rejection

Buying houses by means of a short sale can be a great way to make significant amounts of money, but they're not for everyone. You have to find a seller who will work with you to persuade the lender to sell the home rather than allowing the foreclosure process to continue. Then you have to submit an offer that's low enough to make a profit, yet not so low as to be rejected altogether.

If a lender does reject your offer, all isn't lost. The first thing to do is to try to determine why your offer was rejected. There are many possible reasons, and if you want the sale to go through, you must job find out exactly what the lender wants in order to make the sale happen. Here are possible reasons.

First, your offer may simply have been too low, which meant the lender would be taking too big of a hit by accepting it. They also may believe they can do better once the foreclosure has been completed, or since loans are often sold to investors, it's also possible that the holder of the note wouldn't accept the loss.

Perhaps the borrower's financial difficulty wasn't stated strongly enough to make a persuasive case for a short sale. If that's the case, the lender might want to work out an alternative payment schedule with the homeowners rather than entering into a short sale.

Since most lenders will require a broker's price opinion (BPO), make sure your offer is somewhere near that figure. Otherwise, a lender will be convinced that they can do better on the open market once the foreclosure is complete.

There may be other reasons, but the number one reason short sale offers are rejected is simply because they're too low. After all, lenders are in business to make a profit, and even when appears there's no profit to be made in a particular home; they want to cut their losses as much as possible. So don't get greedy. You'll rarely be able to steal a home, but you can often get a substantially lower price than you would on the open market.

One of the best ways to avoid coming in too low is simply to ask the lender how much they hope to net from a short sale. They may not tell you, but you'll never know if you don't ask. Even if you don't get an answer in the beginning, you'll have another chance to ask before they make a counteroffer. Be courteous, but emphasize that you're really hoping to make the sale happen. Again, you may be surprised by the figure you receive, and if it's acceptable, jump on it. Don't kill your sale by being too greedy.

If your short sale offer is rejected, don't give up. Probe for more information about why your offer didn't fly and then try to satisfy whatever they ask for before making your counteroffer. You won't be stealing the home, but there's often plenty of profit to be made.

Copyright ? 2006 Jeanette J. Fisher

Learn how to fix houses for flipping or higher rent with the Design Psychology edge.

Author Jeanette Fisher teaches interior design psychology, home staging, and real estate investing.

http://www.doghousetodollhouse.com

Designer Car Interiors Car Seats & Covers

Custom Seat Covers

Why choose to use a seat cover? Designer seat covers are available from various suppliers, they all have significant modifications in fit, construction, style and price

Caring for your car seats by using a cover is probably the most overlooked aspect of maintaining your cars appearance, not to mention the value.

Most of us will simply run the hoover over the interior once a month if that, and before long the wear and tear will undoubtedly begin to show. This will rapidly devalue the vehicles worth.

Applying seat covers will keep your seats in mint condition, saving them from unnecessary accidental damage and long term wear.

Many companies offer designer car interiors which incorporate bespoke seat covers.

You can choose from a huge range of materials including denim, sheep skin & silk. The ideal seat cover will fit so well to the vehicles original seats it will be mistaken for the original upholstery.

Not only is the seat cover used as protection, but it can be modified for comfort and style. Furthermore there are companies that will offer designer embroidery enabling you to promote your business, dedicate to your loved one, or create your own wacky art design!

If you are an intrepid outdoors man you can purchase heavy duty waterproof seat covers and boot liners to protect your upholstery so those fishing and camping trips wont end with you spending the whole of the next day scrubbing your seats clean. Simply pull the covers off and throw them into the washing machine.

Many seat covers are stain resistance, machine washable and waterproof and also make allowances for arm rests and recliner wheels, what ever your requirement or style is you will be able to find a car seat cover for your needs.

Making the right choice when buying a child seat

The first thing to consider when buying a baby car seat is safety! The seat must be appropriate for your babies size and weight. It must also fit correctly into your car. Most retailers are more than happy to give a demonstration and test the seat in your car before you buy.

Even children up to the age of eleven who are not five feet tall must use a child seat of some sort.

Once you have decided on a particular car seat make sure you follow the manufacturer's instructions to the letter. Always allow enough time as fitting a child seat can be very frustrating. Also when it comes to strapping your child in the straps are tight enough to stop the child wriggling free but not too tight to cause the child injury or discomfort. Always give the straps a tug to make sure the seatbelt has locked.

Child Seat Age and Weight Guide

Baby Seats

Babies weighing up to 13kgs and from birth up to one year should be fitted with a baby seat. Baby seats must face backwards and can be installed in either the front or back seats providing the front is not fitted with an airbag.

Child Car Seats

Child car seats are for children aged 9 months to four years. The child must be able to support their own head and weigh between 9 and 18kgs. They face forward and are normally fitted in the back seat of the car.

Booster Seats and Cushions

These types of seats are for children weighing 15 to 36kgs aged approximately 4 to 11 years old. They are primarily designed to elevate the child in order they can safely use an adult seat belt.

Finally and one of the most important aspects to remember is not to get distracted by your child whilst driving. Many accidents are caused from the parent turning round to deal with a child whilst continuing to drive. In the event the child needs attention pull over to a safe location before dealing with the situation.

About the Author

Vicki Churchill is the owner of http://www.designer-car-interiors.com, a site that specializes in designer car interiors and information on car seat safety