Friday, March 18, 2011
What's The Big Hoopla?: How to Plan a Kick Ass Funeral
What's The Big Hoopla?: How to Plan a Kick Ass Funeral: "That's right, that's what I said!"
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
What's The Big Hoopla?: Let the games begin.....
What's The Big Hoopla?: Let the games begin.....: "http://www.thebighoopla.com/"
Friday, January 7, 2011
What's The Big Hoopla?: Could Credit Card Debt Delay Your Retirement?
What's The Big Hoopla?: Could Credit Card Debt Delay Your Retirement?: "According to the AARP, Americans 55 and older have been the largest age group to file for bankruptcy in recent years. They account for 23% o..."
Could Credit Card Debt Delay Your Retirement?
According to the AARP, Americans 55 and older have been the largest age group to file for bankruptcy in recent years. They account for 23% of the more than 1 million filings in 2007.
Laying aside bankruptcy cases, the sheer volume of mortgage and credit card debt among retired senior citizens is a cause for concern. According to figures compiled by the Employee Benefit Research Institute, 43% of people age 65 through 74 had mortgages in 2007 that carried a median housing debt of $69,000. Largely, it is credit card debt that is an increasing problem for seniors who have limited or fewer resources. According to one study, credit card debt has risen 26% among those 65 and older since 2005.
Get Out Of Debt in 7 Steps (priced at $8.95 / www.TheBigHoopla.com) helps participants gain control of their financial lives in a step-by-step process. While retirement is viewed as a well-earned conclusion to the grind of the working world, older Americans are forced to delay their retirement. Almost 50% of househeads headed by someone between 55 and 64, and 37% between 65 and 74 carry credit card debt. In fact, 30% of all households headed by a retiree carry credit card debt. (August 2010, www.creditcard.com)
Laying aside bankruptcy cases, the sheer volume of mortgage and credit card debt among retired senior citizens is a cause for concern. According to figures compiled by the Employee Benefit Research Institute, 43% of people age 65 through 74 had mortgages in 2007 that carried a median housing debt of $69,000. Largely, it is credit card debt that is an increasing problem for seniors who have limited or fewer resources. According to one study, credit card debt has risen 26% among those 65 and older since 2005.
Get Out Of Debt in 7 Steps (priced at $8.95 / www.TheBigHoopla.com) helps participants gain control of their financial lives in a step-by-step process. While retirement is viewed as a well-earned conclusion to the grind of the working world, older Americans are forced to delay their retirement. Almost 50% of househeads headed by someone between 55 and 64, and 37% between 65 and 74 carry credit card debt. In fact, 30% of all households headed by a retiree carry credit card debt. (August 2010, www.creditcard.com)
Now is the time to get your finances in order.
Let's make this New Year's Resolution happen.
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Tuesday, January 4, 2011
What's The Big Hoopla?: Junk Food & TV Driving Kids to Obesity
What's The Big Hoopla?: Junk Food & TV Driving Kids to Obesity: "Studies find it's tougher than ever for youngsters to stay healthy Our current lifestyles with too little movement, too much TV exposure and..."
Junk Food & TV Driving Kids to Obesity
Studies find it's tougher than ever for youngsters to stay healthy
Our current lifestyles with too little movement, too much TV exposure and way too much junk food are pushing U.S. children toward a life of overweight and obesity.
The studies -- published in a special supplement of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine -- show the myriad challenges youngsters face every day in trying to maintain a healthy weight. Today's kids live in a world where it's often easier to get a fast food meal than fresh fruit, where walking to school is the exception rather than the norm, and where they're bombarded by ads telling them to eat more junk food and sugary beverages.
Change your family’s health today.
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Tuesday, December 14, 2010
May God Be With You Elizabeth Edwards
The death of a celebrity or “personality” is often presented by the media as it is in the movies – in a Hallmark moment, a perfectly coiffed and expertly made up loved one lies in bed. Well dressed and well-behaved family members crowd around the bed, murmuring poignant good byes. Well, certainly, reality is a bit grittier than that.
When Elizabeth Edwards died this past week, the media reported that her home was filled with family and friends, gathered to say their goodbyes. Okay – so we don’t really know what happened in those last moments.
But what we do know is that Elizabeth Edwards acknowledged that her death was imminent. She knew that she was dying so she turned her mind to preparing herself, and her children. Ms. Edwards began to write letters to her children, letters which she acknowledged would “never be done”. In those letters, she would leave her last thoughts, try to impart advice and humor, encouragement and insight.
Who knows what those letters contain...the finer points of etiquette, how to tip at the holidays? Encouragement to love your siblings and forgive your father? One thing Ms. Edwards did tell us that the letters contained was how to choose a church. Now, there’s a beautiful legacy to your children - how to choose the community that will support them through their mother’s death, house their weddings in future years, offer a retreat when life intrudes, become a haven when life cheats them, serve as the place that restores hope and implores forgiveness.
Here at the Big Hoopla, we’re big church people. We attend, we volunteer, we study, we believe. Of course, it hasn’t always been like that. One of us fell away from the church for years – and it showed. When we had reached the end of our proverbial rope, we went on what we called a ‘church crawl’ – not as much boozy fun as a pub crawl, certainly, but an interesting journey, nonetheless. Six churches and several years later, we landed at the First Presbyterian in Hooplaville. Never one to wade in slowly, we jumped in, became a member one month and a Deacon six months later. Now we’re happily immersed in the church community once again, unable to clearly remember why it was we wandered off.
Still we’re not sure what we’d tell our children about choosing a church. What would you tell your kids? What advice would you give your kids if you knew this really was your last chance to do that?
And if choosing a church seems like too big a step for you right now, consider trying the Big Hoopla series, “Starting a Relationship with God”. It’s a simple way to take some tentative steps toward a positive journey. And then we can talk about how to choose a church.
Monday, December 13, 2010
What's The Big Hoopla?: How To Plan A Kick Ass Funeral
What's The Big Hoopla?: How To Plan A Kick Ass Funeral: "The Big Hoopla packed up its wares and went to a trade show recently with mixed results. Attendees either loved our “Romance Explosion” seri..."
How To Plan A Kick Ass Funeral
The Big Hoopla packed up its wares and went to a trade show recently with mixed results. Attendees either loved our “Romance Explosion” series or said, ‘EEEEWWWW, who wants to have sex?’
Parents of teens snapped up our series about teaching teens responsible money management and plenty of girlfriends grabbed our “Love Him or Leave Him” cards for themselves or, frequently, for a girlfriend.
But definitely the one package that got the biggest response was our “How to Plan a Kickass Funeral”. Attendees either grabbed the package with delight or hurled vicious looks at us…seriously, I was amazed at people who seemed to think that if you ignore death, you’ll avoid it.
So I was especially enthralled to read this article in Sunday’s Chicago Tribune about Eileen Hagarty, a former nurse who has ALS http://www.chicagotribune.com/health/ct-met-nurse-als-goodbye-20101204,0,5437235.story . Eileen is determined to squeeze out all of the gusto left in her life and she’s doing it with a conviction that we could all use in our approach to life.
Eileen is actively helping her family members prepare for life after her death. And she has planned her funeral. Eileen gets what we are helping people do in “Kickass Funeral”. She has picked out songs, identified the cemetery plot where she’ll be buried, and written what’s going to be engraved on her tombstone.
In acts that define her love and compassion for family and friends, Eileen Hagarty is ending her life the way she clearly lived it – with passion, enthusiasm and a positive attitude.
Monday, November 29, 2010
Monday, November 22, 2010
What's The Big Hoopla?: MAKE YOUR OWN DOG FOOD - REALLY!
What's The Big Hoopla?: MAKE YOUR OWN DOG FOOD - REALLY!: " Ben As you probably know by now, I despise pre-packaged foods. I even make my own dog food, and you can too. Once again, as you can see ..."
Sunday, November 21, 2010
What's The Big Hoopla?: MAKE YOUR OWN DOG FOOD - REALLY!
What's The Big Hoopla?: MAKE YOUR OWN DOG FOOD - REALLY!: " Ben As you probably know by now, I despise pre-packaged foods. I even make my own dog food, and you can too. Once again, as you can see ..."
MAKE YOUR OWN DOG FOOD - REALLY!
Ben
As you probably know by now, I despise pre-packaged foods. I even make my own dog food, and you can too. Once again, as you can see from this reputable dog food company, the ingredients are scary. Would you eat this?
Ewwww! Why do you need all that extra junk? Ben has the healthiest coat and firm poops you've ever seen.
I know you love your dog as a family member. Fido deserves a healthy lifestyle too and you won’t ever have to worry again about subpar additive ingredients made in China and shipped here for canine consumption.
I make a large batch of this beef & liver stew every couple of weeks.
5.5 lbs. - Ground beef (I usually find this marked down at Sam’s Club) $12.00
3 (20 oz) packages of chicken livers – from your local meat department $1.69 each
4 sweet potatoes, chopped in bite size pieces - $.64
8 carrots, chopped in bite size pieces - $0.50
1 bag of frozen cut green beans - $0.99
2 (16 oz each) bags of barley $0.99 each
1 16 oz. bag of course cracked wheat – $1.49
(I’ve also used steele cut oats)
The cost is $21.69 for three weeks - 42 servings, feeding my Ben twice per day comes out to $0.52 per serving. That's quite a bit cheaper than canned dog food and so much better for Fido!
You’ll need a very large pot. Boil the ground beef and livers. Strain the meat into a big bowl and save the juice to cook the vegetables and grains. I de-fat the juice, there is no reason to give Fido all that extra fat.
For variety, sometimes I’ll boil a big batch of chicken thighs instead of ground beef. When done, I debone and remove the skins and chop into bite size pieces. This is more work, but worth it.
fat separator
If you don’t the inclination to buy a fat separator, add a few ice cubes to the broth (or refigerate until cooled). Within minutes, the fat cools and solidifies, making it easy to remove.
Put the meat juice back into the pot. Add the sweet potatoes and carrots. Bring to boil and simmer for 10 minutes. Add everything else. Cook until barley and what are just tender – not mushy.
Mix the meat mixture with the barley mixture. You may need another large bowl.
Divide the dog food and pack into appropriate sized containers and freeze. Add a little water to each container if there's not enough broth to smooth out the mixture and to avoid air pockets. Make sure you don’t pack more than what your dog(s) will eat in 5 days. You don’t want your dog to get sick from spoiled food.
If you don’t have the time or inclination to do this, make sure you buy your dog certified organic food such as Organics Formula.
You’re such a good doggie parent! Ruff! Ruff!
Have a great day!
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Airport Security - Getting to 2nd Base
The country is buzzing about the new airport security measures. Many feel like they will be groped and touched in all the wrong places. Some consider the new procedures to be too intimate, but I think we should take another point of view on this issue. This is a wonderful opportunity for lonely passengers and desperate TSA agents to cop a feel.
How many perverts will deliberately refuse the body imaging machine for a little pat down? I bet there are more than we think.
How many TSA agents will take the chance of a lifetime to rub down a hot looking girl? Or guy? Every job has its perks.
Have a nice day.
Cindy
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
I Love Sam's Club
My daughter is a very picky eater. She will only eat a total of 10 items. One of those items is Jif Peanut Butter. I’ve tried every other peanut butter known to mankind, but the low fat Jif Creamy Peanut Butter is the only one she likes. I’ve tried tricking her by disguising her food with other brands, but she always catches me red-handed. My innocent response, “Huh?” If I had it my way, I’d buy organic peanuts and grind them up myself.
The price points at Sam’s on some of their products are phenomenal, but not everything. Jif peanut butter comes in a pack of two jars at 2 lbs. each for $7.88, that’s $3.94 per jar. That same size jar of peanut butter costs $6.94 at my local grocery store. That's twice as much!
I’m not a spokesperson for Sam’s Club, nor am I getting paid to write this. These are my own observation and I’m amazed at some of their prices. Another thing I can’t resist buying there is bananas. You can always get a nice green bunch (about 9 bananas) for $1.29. My husband loves to eat the bananas with the Jif Peanut Butter. Go figure.
Monday, November 15, 2010
Ditch The Store Bought Dressing
I'd like to challenge you to make your own salad dressing and ditch your store bought salad dressing. Why? Ever read the ingredeints?
After you do, I hope you'll agree that you and your family deserve so much more! So many ingredients have been linked to serious illnesses and cancer. If that weren't enough, the first ingredient is water. Why pay so much for water and chemicals and preservatives when you can make dressing cheaper and better.
Even the fat free versions have horrible ingredients like high fructose syrup - yuck - and the other stuff that's not meant to go in your precious bodies.
Making salad dressing is so easy and so good. I recommend buying an emulsion blender - it looks like a boat motor and I use mine everyday. If you don't have one, that's OK too. A wire whisk works perfectly.
My cuisinart blender came with a tall plastic measuring up which makes it really convenient to throw some plastic wrap and keep in the frig for about a week.
The ingredients for this vinegrette dressing has endless variations.
2/3 cup extra virgin oil
1/3 cup any type of vinegar (apple cider, balsamic, white wine, raspberry, champaigne, etc)
generous dash of Mrs. Dash or dried herb of your choice or salt & pepper
1 packet of Stevia (or tsp of sugar)
optional: smidgen of a crushed garlic clove
Emulsify and wah-la - great dressing.
I've used variations of lime, honey and fresh cilantro for a southwestern dressing, lemons and oregano for greek salads.
Let me know how you do!
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