Anne is a 30-something full-time SAHM mom of 5 ranging from 3 to 17 and grandma of 1 who resides in Ashwaubenon (Green Bay) Wisconsin. She started blogging in 2008 as a way to regain her sanity. She enjoys coffee, chocolate, cheeseburgers and vodka along with spending time with her husband and kids.
With one of the busiest holiday seasons quickly approaching, now is the time to prepare and make sure you have everything you need to get through your visits to different family members and friends homes.
Whenever we are visiting someone else’s home during the holidays, there are a few items I always bring with me. If you are planning on heading to a friend’s or family member’s house this holiday season, be sure to check out these tips to make sure you have everything you need.
Hostess Gifts – If you are visiting someone’s home, make sure you bring them a small gift, like a bottle of wine, chocolates, or flowers, as a way to say thank you for opening your home to us.
A Dish to Pass – Help out your hostess with the holiday meal by bringing a dish to pass.
Extra presents – For gift exchanges, I like to wrap up a few extra presents that could be given to anyone just in case someone forgets something or an unexpected guest arrives.
Phone chargers – When we are on the go, I make sure I have a mobile charger with me to keep my battery fully charged so I don’t have to worry about it dying.
Camera – As much as I love my iPhone, it doesn’t always get me the best pictures so I like to bring a backup camera with me so I can capture every important moment.
Just by packing up these few items and tossing them in the car with you while you are out visiting this holiday season, you will be prepared!
Do you feel like your pets are always getting things? If so, it is time to consider how you are storing prescription medications in your home. We all know that dogs and cats are curious, and they are no match for “child-proof” caps on medications, which makes it too easy for them to accidentally ingest something that could potentially harm them. While many pet owners know the dangers of certain foods and chemicals, prescription medications are often overlooked. The dangers of prescription medications to pets vary depending on the type of medication and the amount ingested.
Seemingly harmless items, like inhalers, bottles of pills, and liquid medication measuring tools can cause all kinds of problems if our pets get into them. For example, if you are pouring liquid medication into a measuring cup and walk away, your pet can quickly find it and lap up all of the medication, which can lead to all kinds of symptoms. Inhalers can be bitten into, which allows your pet to inhale the medication inside, which can cause high blood pressure and increased heart rate. If your dog or cat gets into a bottle of pills, they can overdose or become very ill due to the ingredients in the medication.
While all medications can have serious side effects, some are more harmful to our pets than others. Additionally, some medications are more commonly ingested by our pets. Here is a list of a few of the most commonly ingested human medications that pets ingest:
• NSAIDs
NSAIDs, such as Advil, Motrin, and Aleve, are some of the most ingested medications by pets, because they are very common in most households. Even though humans don’t think much about the safety of these medications, even a pill or two can be very harmful to your pet. Dogs and cats can develop stomach and intestinal ulcers from NSAIDs. Kidney failure has even been linked to NSAIDs.
• Acetaminophen
Another popular pain reliever is acetaminophen. This medication is very dangerous to pets, especially cats. Just a single regular-strength tablet can damage a cat’s red blood cells, which limits the ability of those cells to carry oxygen. Acetaminophen can lead to red blood cell damage and liver failure in dogs.
• Antidepressants
Occasionally, antidepressants are used to treat pets, but overdoses can cause very serious neurological problems. These problems can lead to tremors, seizures, incoordination, and more. Some antidepressants stimulate the body and can cause the heart rate to elevate to dangerous levels, as well as blood pressure and body temperature. Unfortunately, pets often seem to enjoy the taste of some of these medications, such as Effexor, which means they may consume more than enough for the pills to be dangerous and deadly.
• ADD/ADHD Medications
Medications like Adderall and Ritalin are common ADD and ADHD treatments. These medications contain strong stimulants that can cause tremors, seizures, elevated body temperatures, and heart problems in pets. These medications can be deadly to dogs and cats.
• Benzodiazepines and Sleep Aids
While these kinds of medications are supposed to support relaxation in people, they often have the opposite effect in pets.About half of the time, when dogs ingest sleep aids, they become agitated instead of tired. Additionally, pets can experience incoordination, lethargy, and slowed breathing.
• Birth Control
Birth control pills generally come in packages that are very easy for pets to get into. A small amount of these pills will likely not cause any problems for dogs and cats, but large ingestions can cause problems in non-spayed pets.
• ACE Inhibitors
ACE inhibitors are used to treat high blood pressure in people and pets occasionally. Overdoses of ACE inhibitors can cause weakness, dizziness, and low blood pressure. While small doses of these medications generally don’t cause any problems, a large dose could cause problems. For pets with kidney failure or heart disease, these medications can be very dangerous.
• Beta-Blockers
Another type of high blood pressure medication can also cause problems for pets. Beta-blockers can cause serious poisoning in pets, and overdoses can easily be life-threatening, as blood pressure can decrease to a dangerous level and heart rate can become very slow.
• Thyroid Hormones
Pets can have thyroid conditions that are very similar to humans. Surprisingly, dogs often require higher doses of thyroid hormones to treat the conditions than humans. So, if your dog happens to get into thyroid hormones, it is usually not going to cause a lot of problems. However, if dogs and cats ingest a large amount of the medication, it can cause panting, rapid heart rate, aggression, and muscle tremors.
• Cholesterol Lowering Medications
If pets get into cholesterol-lowering medications, like Lipitor or Crestor, they may cause vomiting and diarrhea. One-time ingestions are generally no cause for concern, but long-term use could cause serious side effects.
If your pet does get into a medication, you can contact the Pet Poison Helpline at 855-764-7661. You may need to seek immediate medical assistance. An emergency veterinarian can help you come up with an appropriate treatment plan for your pet.
Summer camps are a great opportunity for kids to learn new skills, grow as individuals and immerse themselves in a specific field. Many interest-basedsummer camps are created around career paths, college majors or hobbies that teens can enjoy. If you have a teenager who is highly motivated or passionate, a summer camp could help them excel in the field. As a parent, it might be difficult to let your teen go away for 2-8 weeks, but the level of growth that your child will experience is worth it. In this post, we will highlight some of the top summer camp ideas for highly motivated teens.
Engineering Summer Programs
Many colleges offer summer camps and programs to expose students to a specific major like engineering. This is a great way for the colleges to recruit students. Likewise, it can give your teen a sense of living away at college. If your college expresses an interest in engineering, a collegiate summer program or camp would give them the opportunity to learn about the different aspects of engineering. Since there are so many areas to explore within the field, your teen would gain experience with electrical, mechanical, materials, automotive and other engineering disciplines. At a young age, they would learn what they like and dislike. Additionally, they might find out what subjects appeal to them most. Surely, for a STEM talented teen, engineering summer camps are a good option.
Athletic Summer Camps
There are many athletic summer camps that become the primary location for developing professional talent. If your teen dreams of pursuing athletics as a career path, you may want to consider sending them to an athletic summer camp. For example, the Minnesota hockey camps are known for training teens at a very high level. When applying to colleges, these camps can be a mark of approval. Similarly, nearly every sport from baseball to football and basketball have elite summer training camps for kids. If your child wants to take their game to the next level, send them to a summer camp where they can train with the very best talent.
Film Academy Summer Camp
Your teen can train at some of the most prestigious film academies in the world. These summer camps offer the kids hands on learning for various parts of the film industry. The campers receive training on HD videography, shooting techniques and editing software. Moreover, you can sign them up for a camp that incorporates elements of dance, theatrical performance and visual effects. For students who want to get into the film industry, it can be tough. An experience at a world-renowned film academy could give them the basic skill set needed to succeed in a highly competitive field.
Fashion Industry Summer Camps
Additionally, summer camps are offered within the fashion industry. Known as educational tours, teens interested in fashion can travel to one of the most popular fashion destination, LA or NYC. In Project Fashion summer programs, teens receive hands on training to develop their own products and design their own fashion line. These types of fashion summer camps would expose your teen to industry professionals through workshops, demos and on site tours. For any teen who has a passion for style, branding and fashion, a fashion summer program would be an excellent fit.
Pre-College Leadership Camps
Teens about to enter college have the option to attend pre-college summer camps. These programs are suitable for graduated seniors who are preparing for college and want to make an impact at their new school. At a pre-college camp, your teen can take classes for college credit or courses to improve their academics skills. With the right mindset, your teen could prepare themselves for the first semester of college, giving them confidence when they get started. On top of that, these programs offer leadership training and activities that will guide your teen through the upcoming four years of college.
Summer camps present the opportunity to enrich your teen’s knowledge, skills and passion in a short period of time. It can set them up for success in a specific major, career or industry. If you have a STEM driven student, check out the engineering, math and other related programs available. For athletes, there are special development camps that are worth traveling for. At film academies, your child can learn first-hand about visual and performing arts. More so, fashion forward teens may travel to cities like LA for direct industry experience. Finally, you can develop your teen’s leadership skills at a pre-college summer camp. All of these summer camp ideas would work for a highly motivated teen who is passionate about their interests.
Motherhood is a fantastic, beautiful, stressful, radiant, challenging, rewarding, nurturing, worrying, incredible, breathtaking process. It’s also very hard work. There are no mothers on this Earth who, as long as they take care of their children, aren’t admirable in some deep sense. Without mothers, this world would be much darker than it is today. The challenge of motherhood is never over. It’s just part of having children. But on the same coin, the beauty of motherhood is never over either.
However, to tackle these challenges, we can all use a little advice. There are manuals to motherhood, but none of them, even the longest ones, are close to comprehensive or conclusive. Motherhood is a lifestyle, not a singular act. It’s a purpose, not a task. As your child grows, the challenges you will face with them should shift and become new.
For that reason, it’s always best to keep these stock attitudes, so you can tailor these challenges to the solution you need:
Presence
Simply being present can help you apply yourself to the situation more appropriately. As long as you take an active role in the life of your child, you cherish them, and you work through the issues together, you can overcome anything that happens. Good and bad are both bound to happen, and can absolutely influence your decision making in the long term. But it’s very important to keep in mind the reality that there’s nothing you can’t weather. Even terrible news can be alleviated when you are with them, and they are with you. That’s the true beauty of family, and your potential as a mother.
Presence might simply mean adjusting your schedule so you have more time with your children. It might mean taking the step to be a stay-at-home mother, or to simply reduce your working hours in order to ensure a healthier work-life balance. It might even be staying open to the option of raising a family in the first place, because while this isn’t right for some people, many can find real value in living this way, even if they from ConceiveAbilities, or the fact that they are adopted, or that their half-sisters are actually from a different father. Truth can help purge the worries of a familial situation, and put everyone on the same page. If you apply it wisely, the family can be much more open with one another, and no one will ever need to tread on eggshells.
Self-Care
A mother who cannot care for herself is a mother who gets burned out. You are an important part of the family too, you know. Part of motherhood is of course being nurturing and maternal, but you can’t expect to give everything of yourself all the time without needing some serious R&R. So be sure to do that! Even just a little break from time to time can help you return with energy. Children are hard work. Pretending they’re not can simply make you become irritable when things happen, and the tests of childhood seem to rear their head.
Sleep well. Exercise, even lightly. Eat correctly. You deserve to nurture your body and mind just as you hope to do for your children. This might sound like an extra person to take care of, so don’t be afraid to open up to your partner or friend about the struggles you’re going through. It’s not uncommon for women who bottle things up to fall into depression among many other things, and sometimes that’s not a rational form of mallady to fall into in the least. Stay on top of your own health, as if you’re healthy and active, you can apply yourself more lovingly and effectively to raising your children. Not only that – you’ll enjoy it all the more.
With these tips, motherhood will remain a challenge, but one you can enjoy with all of your heart, and one that will nourish your life in a profound sense.
Vintage and antique furniture is a wonderful investment and item to own. It can bring so much character into the room and lift the ambience as you showcase an item that has its own history. It’s no wonder that collecting and purchasing antique items such as furniture is such a commodity.
When it comes to differentiating between both vintage and antique however, often the lines get blurred. Also, many don’t exactly know the distinguishing signs of an antique piece of furniture. This article will help clearly differentiate the two so you can confidently get researching and walk away with the product you want.
Sometimes, the starting point can be the hardest thing. Antique dealers Brisbane residents trust like Wallrocksaregreat places to start as ithas an array of antique items from a reputable source. Another crucial element to the process is ensuring you buy from someone who is credible and knows their stuff.
For now, let’s look deeper into the signs of spotting antique furniture.
How To Tell You Are Dealing With Antique Furniture
Antique furniture achieves its status from being 100 years old or more. Vintage, on the other hand, can be anywhere between 30-100 years old so shops can feature much newer pieces. Whereas vintage is often considered to be more retro items, antique originates well within history.
The bottom line is, you can ask many experts what they consider to be antique and you can get several different perspectives. Going by this time frame is a general consensus however so will help you class something clearly as an antique item.
Here are some other things that could suggest your furniture is antique:
• An expert may spot more high style within the design and composition of the furniture. The techniques used to make the piece will be outdated and therefore make the item even rarer and potentially increase investment value.
• The materials in an antique piece of furniture may be considered highly rare.
• The style of the furniture will be much older fashioned compared to their contemporary counterparts.
• You will be able to spot significant features embedded in the furniture from certain eras.
Whether it’s colonial or something more Victorian, your item will have a deeper history if it is antique. Due to the time they come from, there’s probably lots to uncover about who it was owned by, created by and the story behind it.
Even though these are great signs to look out for, it’s always worth doing your homework. Antique items can come with a high investment and risk factor so finding the right supplier is crucial.
Even though a seller can be honest and have great intentions, they could be describing their product as antique when that’s not the case. So, a little detective work on your side plus keeping these signs in mind will keep you clued up.
