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Check this out…VERY interesting!
A couple of weeks ago, I saw an article in the Mobile (Alabama) Press-Register highlighting Danny Cottrell, an Alabama business owner that created his own version of an economic stimulus. As I see it, the plan contains 5 principles that can be implemented anywhere. Remembering and practicing them would go a long way toward helping all of us make it through these difficult economic days.
- TAKE ACTION – This guy didn’t wait on anyone to make the first move. He spent his time and energy thinking about something he could do with the resources at his disposal. Nothing more, nothing less.
- LOTS OF MONEY IS NOT NECESSARY – Cottrell gave his employees envelopes containing $2 bills. Full time employees received $700 and part time workers were given $300. His total investment was $16,000.
- CONFIDENCE IS CONTAGIOUS – When interviewed for the newspaper article, Cottrell said that he wanted to do something to let his employees know that their business was not in jeopardy. Having employees that arrive for work knowing that their job is secure makes them focus on their daily tasks, not their concerns about whether or not they will have a job tomorrow. It also makes those same people more willing to spend money in other businesses in the community because they are not worried about not having money down the road.
- CREATE A PAPER TRAIL – Using $2 bills allowed people throughout the community to track the stimulus money. Because this denomination is not common, everyone is able to see the stimulus money flowing through the economy of this town. Not only is the money easily accounted for, but it’s a real-life, real time economics lesson!
- REMEMBER OTHERS ARE HURTING – Cottrell asked that recipients donate 15% of their money to “someone needy”. If my math is correct, that means more than $2000 CASH went straight to people in THAT community who needed extra help.
We are STILL waiting to see what the results of Washington’s ARRA will be. Thank goodness for people like Danny Cottrell that are creating REAL STIMULUS right now! What about your community? Can you do something to stimulate the economy where you live?
when the weather is perfect and the kids are out of school for spring break and your husband takes the day off work, the best thing you can do is work outside to pressure wash the sidewalk and paint a couple of adirondack chairs and clean off the patio to get it ready for warm weather. And that’s just the kind of day I had today! With any luck at all, I am not so out of shape that I won’t be able to get out of bed tomorrow. I am CERTAIN that I used muscles today that don’t get used very often!
Mireille Guiliano, 2006 – Alfred A. Knopf
For readers, like me, that were not ready for “French Women Don’t Get Fat” to end, Mireille Guiliano has followed with another delightful book. This time, she takes the information she presented in the first book and helps her readers apply it to their real lives and daily circumstances.
French Women for All Seasons is divided into seasons. In those chapters, Guiliano shares menus, recipes and ideas for using foods in season. Additionally, she includes chapters on things she forgot to mention in the first book – things like wine, entertainment and vocabulary.
Like the first book, this one is very readable. It’s great to read a little bit at a time and it’s hard to put it down without finding something usable. Guiliano throws in her thoughts about fashion as well as creating an overall environment of pleasure and enjoyment. Again, her descriptions of her homes in New York and France add to the readability of the book.
Like “French Women Don’t Get Fat”, this book will live in my kitchen with my cookbooks. I have turned lots of pages down and underlined LOTS of passages that I expect to revisit. Certainly, this book can stand on its own. If you have not read the first one, you won’t have any trouble getting the ideas from this one. Do yourself a favor, though, and read them both!
Baby Steps to Being Debt Free - Karen at Write From Karen
Facebook Made Me Do It - Raina Kelley, Newsweek Online
Not Your Father’s Country - Jack Cafferty, CNN
Maybe You Feel It Too? – Everyday Mommy
Bon Appetit - George Will
An Orderly Home Affects Early Literacy Skills - Debra Lau Whelan, School Library Journal
12 Steps to Jump Start the Economy - Robert Hale
Better Than The Super Bowl - Rubel Shelley
When Writing Isn’t Enough - Hope ?
Free Your Damaged ‘Angel-In-Waiting’ - Wally Lamb
Healthy Habits: A Month of Living Perfectly - Carol Mithers
Should the news go non-profit? – Peter Osnos
Bail yourself out? – Linda Stern
Learning from The Velveteen Rabbit - Carrie at 5 Minutes for Books
Being Realistic About Our Families – MaryBeth Hicks
Now that my son is 8, he is ready for a ”big boy” bedroom. The safari animal fabric and polka dot window shades have served him well but he’s ready for something that reflects his current interests a little more closely. For his birthday in December, our gift to him was the promise of a room makeover “after the holidays”.
Yesterday, I embarked on what I thought would be some preliminary work for the makeover. Very quickly, it became a different day. I found everything I needed at Lowe’s on the 1st pass through the store which left me with PLENTY of time to see about a couple of the “big” things. I bought a mattress & box springs AND loaded it in the back of my car in approximately 8 minutes. I was even hitting the traffic lights and not having to sit through red lights. By the time I got home, the only thing missing for the room transformation was the paint.
There was only one thing left for me to do…GET STARTED! Between carpool and dinner, I got involved in making an upholstered headboard and that’s where my husband found me when he got home from work. Now, when I am in “mission mode” (my husband’s name for it), I don’t stop for much of anything. All arguing, bleeding and children “issues” are rerouted because I don’t eat, sleep or go to the bathroom when I get on a roll! Consequently, when dinner time rolled around and I declared myself “otherwise occupied”, my husband managed to put something resembling a meal together while I happily worked on my project.
Just before bathtime, my daughter was watching me work and she asked, “Mom, did you know you were going to do this today?”
I paused for a minute before answering her. “No, I started doing something else before I saw it was a different day.”
She is not yet old enough to understand how grateful I am that she gave me a reminder that being purposeful and deliberate doesn’t have to mean functioning without any flexibility. I wonder what my next “different day” will be?
My son needs a new backpack so I am entering the contest at Owlhaven. If someone in your house needs a new backpack, head that way and get your name in the hat!
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