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Tasty Treats

Someone brought in the most divine cake pops I’ve ever had in my life today. They were beautifully decorated to look like little pumpkins and ghosts. I don’t have the skill to do the fine piping work that was done on these or I’d try to make some myself.

These tasty treats were made with a pumpkin cake and cream cheese frosting. They were coated in a chocolate candy coating that was smooth and creamy when you bit into it. The cake was exceptionally moist, not one bite was dry. The woman who made them wouldn’t give us the recipe but she did share that much with everyone.

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Cord Blood Banking

I was watching a show on one of those educational channels last night. It was all about saving cord blood and storing it in a cord blood bank. It was pretty fascinating to watch as they showed us the process of storing the blood and keeping it in a ln2Freezer. Who knew liquid nitrogen could be so useful?

Not only did they go over the methods used for storage, but they also explained the benefits and uses that the preserved cord blood could serve. They said that cord blood could be used in the treatment of some cancers, blood disorders, and even some genetic diseases. They showed us how cord blood might have advantages over traditional bone marrow transplants when a matching donor cannot be found in that very critical time frame.

This program made me wish I would have looked more into the benefits of saving the cord blood from our kids. We donated it because we couldn’t afford it. It would have been nice to have as a back up and just in case.  Nevertheless, someone may get some benefit from it.

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Pumpkin Carving

Today we carved the pumpkins we brought home from the pumpkin patch.  We decided to not do anything scary this year.  Instead we went with nontraditional cute pumpkins.
 
One pumpkin we carved into a penguin.  The girls have been obsessed with Happy Feet and can’t wait to see Happy Feet 2 so a penguin was an obvious choice.  The second pumpkin we carved into a cute kitty cat.  It was very detailed and had lots of fine lines to cut out.  I was worried that part of the pumpkin was going to cave in around the eyes because there was very little flesh left in that spot once it was finished.
 
Both pumpkins turned out great.  If I can find my camera I might even be able to upload some pictures of them.

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Home Business Advertising

One of the gals at work mentioned that she thinks her son needs to find a new Advertising Agency for his home business.  She said he has a great product and service but no one really knows about it.  She thinks that if he hired someone to advertise for him his business could really take off.  Right now his business is struggling to stay afloat.  He’s barely able to pay most of his bills.  He needs to start making a decent amount of money so he can pay off his loans and get in the black again and not have any debt left.

He needs a company that will create social media, viral videos, and eye catching advertisements for him.  She’s convinced that hiring someone can deliver all of these necessary components for a successful business.  If he were able to just add five more clients a month his profits would dramatically multiply.

I told her to do some research online to find some reputable companies.  He doesn’t need someone taking advantage of him.  His business is already struggling, that would only make matters worse.  It would be nice to find a company that has an impressive portfolio to look over and browse through to see how successful they have been with helping other customers.  Reading satisfied customer testimonials is always helpful.  But, it’s also important to read those reviews from customers about the companies when they weren’t happy with the results.  Reading both sides about each company can give you a great impression of what you might actually receive from an advertising company.

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Pumpkin Patch Trip

Today we took the kids to the local pumpkin patch.  We rode the hay ride and ran through the corn maze.  We all got our faces painted too.  The girls got cute little black cats painted on their cheeks.  My hubby’s face was turned into a skeleton.  The girls thought he looked really spooky.  I got a friendly jack-o-lantern painted on my cheek.

It was a blast roving through all of the pumpkins trying to find the perfect one.  There were pumpkins of all shapes and sizes.  They had some award winning pumpkins that were bigger than the kids.  I can’t imagine how long it would take to carve some of those giant pumpkins, let alone clean out all of the pumpkin guts and seeds.

After a while of wandering around and inspecting pumpkins we finally found the perfect ones.  We brought them home and plan to carve them out soon.  We don’t want to do it too early for fear of them going bad. There is nothing worse than rotten pumpkins sitting in your living room and on your front porch.

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Clothes Shopping

My hubby needs some new clothes.  He really likes an easy casual look when he’s not at the office. I think shopping for clothes for guys is a lot easier than it is to shop for women.  I mean there really isn’t much to it.

He likes polo shirts, graphic tees, jeans and the occasional sweatshirt with a hood.  He has a really easy to fit body.  I swear his body type is copied from a mannequin.  I wish I had that problem.  He has a perfect 32 inch waistline.  Pants and shorts come in all different colors and styles in that size.  He never has to have anything taken in either.

Anyway, I’m going to drop by the mall on my way home from work tomorrow and pick up a few outfits for him.  He hates shopping himself so I usually do it for him.  I pick up a couple things, bring them home, and he tries them on.  Whatever he likes we keep, and what ever he doesn’t like I take back and exchange.  I would like him to come with me to save time occasionally but this way I get to pick what I like and try to get him into some color.  If he had his way the only colors he would wear would be black, white, and gray.

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Spooky House

On my way home from work today I saw a house that was completely decked out with Halloween decorations.  It had spider webs all over the place, amazing jack-o-lanterns along the front portch, and even a huge blow up skeleton on the lawn.

Seeing houses like this remind me of when I was younger and we’d go out with the family to see lavishly decorated houses.  I think maybe we should start doing that with our kiddos too.  I’m sure they would enjoy seeing that spooky house too.

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Sweater Weather

One of my sisters went to her high school reunion last weekend. She called to tell me about it and how much fun they had. She said the best thing was seeing some of her best friends from the old neighborhood. And the worst thing was how cold the weather was. She should have taken a light jacket or sweater with her – especially for after the sun goes down. After all, this is October!

I think she might need to shop for some new  plus size sweaters and is just having a hard time admitting that she has gained a little weight since last fall and winter. I totally understand about the weight gain – she has been depressed and spends too much time online. She should really unplug the PC and get more exercise. Of course, I should do the same thing.

I hope that there were a lot of photographs taken over the weekend at the reunion and that she finds some flattering pictures of herself to share with us on her blog. I know I don’t like to have my photograph taken, and I’m always very critical of my weight and posture when I have to look at myself in photos.

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In the News

Thank goodness I am not a celebrity. I think it would be awful to have people hanging around you, stalking you, and showing up at the worst possible times with the sole intent of getting a photograph of you or a quote from what you are saying that shows you in the worst light.

I am careful about my appearance, but most people do not look their very best all day, every day. There are days that I do not want my picture taken. Celebrities do not have that luxury. Not only do they get their picture taken, but it gets sold to magazines, newspapers and web sites with the intent to embarrass them.

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Apartment Searching

One of my friends from high school decided she wanted to move to Canada.  She’s interested in all of the benefits and she found a great job.  She looking for apartments for rent in Calgary.  I remember how hard it was to look for a place to rent when I lived in the city.  I can’t imagine how hard it must be to try and find  place while you aren’t even in the same country.

I hope she is able to take a trip up there to see a few places before she has to make a decision on a place.  I know a lot of websites have fancy features that offer 360 degree virtual tours, but nothing beats actually walking around in a place.  I think you can get a better feel for the place when you can see it in person.

I also like to take a good look at the surrounding areas to gauge if it’s a safe neighborhood or not.  An agent gave me the best advice on shopping around for safe places to live.  She told me to drive around the neighborhood at night.  If it’s well lit and not littered with police cars and people doing suspicious activities then you probably have a pretty good place.  I’ll have to remember to share that tip with her before she goes to visit.