Shopping Maniac

Fingers crossed that the awful renter neighbors next door will be gone

The Shopping Maniac — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 00:07:57 +0000

I’m just waiting for the house next door to ours to be empty! We got word from the home owners that they are kicking out or rather having the awful renters next door evicted!

It was supposed to happen yesterday according to the home owners but it doesn’t look like the sheriff showed up to evict them. I’m not sure what happened there … but I know the home owners won their case, so the scummy neighbors should be gone very soon!

I just hope that they don’t cause trouble when they get kicked out. These people are really bad – I would not be surprised if they have a gun in the house … yeah so if I do see the sheriff and or any police outside when they are being evicted I think I’m going to either go upstairs or to the basement and hang out there until it’s over. Hmm maybe I should check on our life insurance before all this goes down? LOL

Have you ever had terrible neighbors that you just wanted to be gone? Seriously, if these people found a way to stay or delay their eviction we might just put our house up for sale … yes, they’re that bad.

An online university sounds like a great way to get a degree

The Shopping Maniac — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 01:18:58 +0000

I’m sure at some point in most people’s lives they think about changing their career. These days more and more people are doing just that because of the recession from which I hope we are slowly starting to recover.

If you’ve been thinking of changing your career but perhaps you can’t afford to go back to school full time due to having children to care for and bills to pay, you might want to look into getting a degree at an online university such as Western Governors University.

Not only is Western Governors University a widely respected University that currently serves over 14,000 students, but it also offers accelerated courses. They’re programs are also accredited – something I know that I look for in a college or university.

WGU has a wide range of programs. Perhaps you are interested in Business Management or maybe Information Technology Management? Of course you could look into getting an bachelors degree online.

Other courses and degrees offered by Western Governors University include Humane Resources Management, Information technology, health care professions, Marketing Management or Accounting just to name a few. They also have an online teachers college.

If you’ve been toying with the idea of improving your education to better your career opportunities take a look at what WGU has to offer.

Ah the in laws are coming for a visit

The Shopping Maniac — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 00:12:38 +0000

Darn! We just got a phone call from my mother in law. They’ve decided to come to Toronto for a visit tomorrow.

It’s just supposed to be for the day, but they’re older and more than half the time when they come to Toronto to shop for things like organic foods at the Big Carrot, eye cream and other goodies that I’m sure they could get in their home town, they tire themselves out and end up staying over night.

Not only that but it’s not just my mother in law and father in law that show up. They bring along my father in laws sister too so we end up having to put up three people that totally take over the house for the whole weekend.

By take over the house I mean that they put everything they bought at the organic store in the fridge (jam packing it), move things that they have no right to move like things I use all the time, do a wash, use 10 towels and so on. Oh and they even walk into the washroom when the door is closed! Who does that?

It takes me days to recover and get my house back in order after they’ve visited.

Do you dread an in-law visit too?

I feel like a Smoothie

The Shopping Maniac — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 00:02:51 +0000

I have a craving for a smoothie. I know – it’s winter – not exactly the right time for a frosty cold drink, but I’m craving a nice fruit smoothie right now.

I think maybe after dinner tonight I’ll pull out the seldom used Magic Bullet and make my husband and I some fruit smoothies. I haven’t made one for a long long time.

For some reason when ever I make one – with the full intention of making a healthy drink, we end up adding some rum or vodka to our smoothies. LOL Hey it tastes great, but it’s not really the point is it? Ok … it’s great in the summer on a hot day when you’re sitting on your patio perhaps enjoying some freshly barbecued food.

We have lots of frozen fruit in the freezer so it will be easy to make a great fat burner smoothie. If I don’t do it tonight I’m certain it will happen sometime over the weekend … can’t stop those cravings when they hit can you?

Moisturizers are so expensive!

The Shopping Maniac — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 00:01:23 +0000

I guess this is skin care week here at Shopping Maniac. I spent some time today doing some research on facial moisturizers and I managed to find some great eye creams, day time cream and the best night cream for my sensitive slightly dry skin.

What gets me is that there are so many choices out there and a wide price range. Since we’re on a budget I can’t go spending 50 to 75 bucks or more on a cream – especially one with just one specific purpose like a night cream or eye cream.

Why are moisturizers so expensive? Do the products really warrant those big price tags or is it just business? If it’s just business then business must be booming!

Good moisturizers

The Shopping Maniac — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 02:52:13 +0000

Huh – I was just doing a search for under eye creams and I came across phisoderm moisturizer. I didn’t know they made a moisturizer.

When I was a teen there was a skin cleanser that came in a big bottle with a pump on it. I’m sure it was called Phisoderm.

Anyway I’m still on the hunt for good moisturizers. I have sensitive skin and often flare up with allergies so I need a moisturizer that doesn’t irritate my skin. Any ideas?

Window treatments and bedding freshen the look of a room

The Shopping Maniac — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 02:43:20 +0000

We’ve been living in our house for 9 years now – 10 in June. Can you believe we still have some unfinished renovations? Ones that were started oh … maybe 6 years ago! Yeah, it’s true.

Anyway … in the areas that aren’t under an almost permanent state of renovation or stalled renovation I’m starting to get a little tired of the decor. I’ve been thinking of getting some new window treatments or perhaps even blinds for the windows in the upstairs bedrooms.

I think that will freshen the look of the room. Perhaps new bed spreads as well to give the rooms a new look. It’s really amazing what just changing the window treatments and bedding can do for a room.

I think I’ll start looking through catalogs and online stores to see if I can find anything I like.

Do you ever get tired of the look of a room? What small inexpensive changes have you tried?

The weight loss business must be booming

The Shopping Maniac — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 02:33:19 +0000

It seems every time I go into a drug store or a general sales type store they have tons of weight loss products at the end of the aisles and right at eye level in various places.

Even the magazines I like to read seem to have more advertisements for these types of products than they used too. It must be a good business to be in … especially in North America where they say a high percentage of people are morbidly obese.

Have you noticed an increase in these products in your favorite stores and in ads in magazines too?

Time for a real vacation

The Shopping Maniac — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 02:15:23 +0000

My husband and I haven’t been on a true vacation in years. It always seems that whenever we get a chance to go away we end up going someplace where we have relatives and end up staying in there home.

Don’t get me wrong. I don’t mind visiting with relatives – especially ones I don’t see often and staying in their home certainly cuts down on expenses … but I’m starting to long for a real vacation. Maybe in the spring we’ll try out one of those Outer Banks vacation rentals or even just go away to Niagara falls for a long weekend.

Do you take regular vacations? If you do – are they always to someplace where you stay in a hotel or are you like us and you end up staying with relatives or friends while on holiday?

Hormone Replacement Therapy Side Effects

The Shopping Maniac — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 04:12:18 +0000

The results of the second part of the Women’s Health Initiative (WIH), a federal study on hormone replacement therapy (HRT) and breast cancer, were released December 13, 2008 at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium. The new findings show that a much higher risk of breast cancer is one of several hormone replacement therapy side effects.

HRT Side Effects

The results of this new study indicate that the risks of HRT far outweigh the benefits for most women. Hormone replacement therapy includes estrogen and progestin, which doctors though would help women to avoid heart disease, bone loss, and other post-menopausal problems.

The WIH had two parts. More than 16,000 women, matched by weight, age, and other health factors, participated in the first study. These women were randomly assigned to a group that took estrogen and progestin pills, or or to one that took a placebo.

The researchers found much higher risks of heart problems and breast cancer in women using female hormone replacement therapy. In fact, the risk of breast cancer increased by 26% among women using HRT, espcially for those women who used HRT for five years or more. This finding caused an early end to the first part of the WIH in 2002.

All the questions researchers had weren’t answered, however. Did women who started on HRT when they first entered menopause in their 50’s, and who used HRT for shorter periods of time, still face higher risks of breast cancer and heart disease? Most of the women in the first study were in their 60s and well past menopause.

In the new study, researchers followed over 15,000 women who met the new criteria through July 2005. The researchers kept track of breast cancer cases as they occurred over time.

The results? The risk of breast cancer increased when women started HRT, hit a high point when the study ended, and then fell as nearly all the women stopped taking estrogen and progestin pills. Results at the high point showed that the breast cancer risk for HRT users was twice that of the others.

Hormone Replacement Therapy And Safety?

Conventional medical practioners are quick to reassure their patients that most women won’t get breast cancer if they use HRT for a short time. They say that the increased cancer risk from using HRT for two years amounts to only a few extra cases of breast cancer per year for every 1000 women using estrogen and progestin pills.

That’s easy to say, but what if you’re one of the women who develops breast cancer. Plus the risk of breast cancer does go up the longer a woman uses HRT.

Natural Treatment For Menopause

Women have always gone through menopause. This is nothing new. It’s a normal part of every woman’s life. Menopause is not an illness and shouldn’t be treated like one.

For centuries women have used herbal remedies for menopause. These natural remedies have few, if any, side effects.

The link between HRT and breast cancer is a subject women should know more about. Natural menopause treatments are readily available and quite inexpensive. It may be possible to find relief from common menopause symptoms without increasing your risk of breast cancer.

Shopping Maniac

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