Lofty Matters

In the area of steam cleaners, one has a variety of options when choosing a machine for home use. Recently, I had the benefit of receiving a Gruene steam cleaner to try. Now, I have a large family…which means I also have large messes. This means my family was able to put the Gruene to the test…and I’m pleased to say it met the challenge and performed well. We used it to clean messes off the kitchen floor as well as using the hand-held steamer for above-floor cleaning. Just today, we used the steamer to clean the entire kitchen floor…without any chemicals. Steam cleans effectively all on its own, making this cleaner not only cost-effective but green as well!

I’m pleased to say that the Gruene has surpassed my expectations and I will be using it often in my home.

Rachel Bethany

Rachel arrived on July 7, 2010 at 9:14 p.m. weighing 7 lbs 14 oz and 21 inches long.

It was a long delivery…36 hours to be exact…and it was filled with ups and downs…but God is faithful and always provides when we need it.

Thinking about things like how to order Phentermine are in the past for now…now I am thinking more along the lines of baby poop, sleeping and feedings.

She’s a sweet little princess and we are loving her.

Happy Independence Day weekend to you! Hope you have a happy and safe Fourth of July!

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Mars Rover Sees Huge Crater Better Than Ever

The Mars rover team members is informally naming features around the rim of Endeavour Crater. The team is making plans to investigate that destination when NASA’s Opportunity rover finally arrives there after many months of travel.

Thanks to a new, super-resolution view of part of Endeavour’s rim, team members can see details that were not discernible in earlier images from the rover. Super-resolution is an imaging technique combining information from multiple pictures of the same target to generate a new image with a higher resolution.

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Living Soldier is Nominated for Medal of Honor

The Pentagon is recommending that the White House award the Medal of Honor to a living soldier. This would be the first time for such an honor since the Vietnam War.

The soldier up for nomination ran through a wall of enemy fire in Afghanistan in the autumn of 2007 in an attempt to push back Taliban fighters who were almost overtaking his squad.

Military officials said his actions saved the lives of about six men.

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Brain Stimulation Technique Boosts Language Ability in Alzheimer’s Patients

A brain stimulation technique called repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation boosts the language ability of patients with Alzheimer’s disease.

This is a non-invasive technique that involves the delivery of a fast magnetic pulses in frequencies up to 100 Hz.

Rhythmic stimulation may change cortical activity in the brain. This means that readjusting unhealthy patterns from disease or damage. People with congenital or acquired brain damage have shown that some areas of the brain seem to be plastic–cortical activity can be reorganized as a result.

Happy Weekend to you! Can you believe June is almost over already? Unreal how quickly the time flies. So far, so good. No baby yet to report in our household, but it shouldn’t be long now.

Ready for some good news?

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Missouri Pooper Scooper Finds $58 in Doggie Doo

An employee of DoodyCalls Pet Waste Removal in St. Louis recently found $58 packed in dog poop. He returned the cash to the pooch’s owner after sanitizing the money.

Wilson didn’t know what to do when he first noticed money sticking out from the waste. After pulling out the cash and cleaning it, he put it in a plastic bag and gave it back to the customer.

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Test Could Detect MS Nine Years in Advance Doctors presently have no way of detecting MS markers before symptoms develop. For this reason, patients are frequently diagnosed quite late.

A team of Israeli doctors and scientists have found “chemical markers” on blood that should lead to a test for the disease.

By examining blood samples of 20, 19-year-old Israelis soldiers, and then nine of them who later developed MS, researchers were able to examine thousands of genes for markers that showed a difference in those who developed MS and those who didn’t.

Those who will develop MS will show a different blood signature from those who will not develop the disease.

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Car Tires Fuel Green Shoe RevolutionImagine a business making shoes from old rubber tires and tubes with each one cut by hand into soles. This business comes from the original old car tire shoes worn by soldiers who fought off Italy’s invading forces.

Ethiopia is not known for its innovation. Ethiopia is Africa’s second largest city and one of its poorest. The country is dependent on foreign aid and millions receive food assistance every year.

SoleRebels provides the perfect scenario for the system. It is a family-run business using fair trade practices and building itself with sustainable growth.

Ever hear of the Gulf Coast Jones Act? How about a maritime lawyer? No? Me neither…

A maritime lawyer has the unique responsibility of representing seamen, dockworkers, oil employees, cruise ship employees, and any other employed people who are injured or killed in maritime accidents that happen at sea.

Not that this would personally apply to me, but I thought this was an interesting attorney specialty that I had not previously known about.

Have you looked at online printing lately? There is a wide variety of different services and options out there for just about any printing need or desire you may have. From brochures, business cards, programs, announcements, cards, invitations…the list goes on and on. The quality has improved exponentially as well as technology improves, which just makes it all the more fun to shop for various printing needs online. As an office supply junkie, I love nothing better!

Spring is sprung here, so we are not exactly considering any Orlando vacation packages at this moment. Give me a few months, and I’ll be ready to talk about it, though. It’s been years since I’ve been to Orlando. I’m sure it’s changed considerably since I was last there. Perhaps this winter will be the winter when we finally venture down there with the kids to do DisneyWorld some damage!

Have you heard about some of the options available for people who want to earn a degree, yet cannot fit college into their already full lifestyles? People like me, for instance? In this case, finding a quality online university is exactly what you need to do.

This is the way to earn that online mba you have been putting off for all these years. No more procrastinating…there’s no reason to anymore! Not with online universities such as Western Governors Online University ready and waiting to help you achieve your dreams. Accredited, affordable and flexible…three things that are so important for achieving a goal like this.

March is firmly underway. In our  neck of the woods it came in like a lamb…so we’ll be hanging onto our hats at the end of the month. It’s uncanny how that old adage seems to ring true every year.

If anyone is following our pregnancy progress, this last week we found out we are having a healthy GIRL, so we are celebrating this in our family!

On to the good news!

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Fresh Veggies Need Light
The lights above the produce in the produce section help keep spinach fresh and producing new vitamins. These findings should apply to other fresh vegetables as well. This is good news for figuring out ways to keep produce fresher longer.

Grocery stores often display fresh spinach in clear plastic containers. They keep temperatures constant at around 39 degrees F under fluorescent lights 24 hours a day. Spinach kept under lights has been shown to have significantly higher levels of vitamins C, K, E and folate. Leaves stored in the dark actually lost nutrients.

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Diver Wrestles Frisbee Off Shark’s Neck
John Dickinson was diving off the coast of southern Florida when he found a nurse shark laying quietly on the ocean floor. After tugging on its tail, the shark began to swim away. At that point, his diving partner went after the shark, grabbed it with both arms and wrestled with it until he was able to remove a frisbee. The shark swam away safely.

The shark was emaciated because it could not eat properly (wasn’t able to open his jaw because of the ring around his neck). The Frisbee also might have been preventing it from getting the oxygen he needed.

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Massive Head of Pharaoh Unearthed in Egypt
Archaeologists have uncovered a huge red granite head of an Egyptian pharoah who ruled nearly 3,400 years ago.

The head of Amenhotep III (approximately the height of a person) was dug out of the ruins of the pharaoh’s mortuary temple. The leader of the expedition says it as the best preserved sculpture of Amenhotep III’s face found so far.

Amenhotep III, was the grandfather of the famed Tutankhamun. He ruled from 1387-1348 B.C. at the peak of Egypt’s New Kingdom. He also presided over a vast empire stretching from Nubia in the south to Syria in the north.

have you given any thought to beautiful beaches and warm blue water? No? Trying to avoid thinking about such things? Me too…

BUT…there are times when I just cannot help myself and my mind wanders to thoughts of turks and caicos all inclusive getaways.

Honestly…how could this not be a good idea? Visiting a Caribbean paradise when the snow is piling up and the wind is howling? Last night we had a low of -9F. Um…seriously? YES! Unreal…time to get away somewhere warm!