If you work at home, it’s easy to get into the trap of being home all the time. Although our homes can be a really great place, sometimes this at-home stuff can get a little out of hand. If you haven’t seen your friends, extended family or even much sunlight in a while, it might be time to shake things up a bit.

If You Have Little Ones

I know when I first started my home business with a little wee baby on my arm, I wanted to make sure that I didn’t have to run all over town selling my wares just to work at home. It seemed like such an oxymoron that all these “work-at-home opportunities” required that you get out of the house and sell products several times per week.

Even if you’re in the same boat now, that doesn’t excuse you from getting out with baby and getting a break just for mom now and then. You may work at home, but there’s plenty of fun to be had out there in the real world.

If You Have Older Kids

If your kids are older and in school, you might enjoy incorporating some out of home activities into your regular business day. For example, get out for networking events, learning opportunities, meeting clients and teaching. You can still have a home base of operations, but get out their talking to real flesh-and-blood human adults and you’ll see it’s great to be out in the real world.

For Everyone

Regardless of how you run your business, make sure you schedule a little fun, fitness and socialization into each day. It’s way too easy to get into the “in your PJs” rut. It’s true that working in your PJs has some perks, but a change of pace is good now and then too.

Here are some ideas to get you going:

• Join a gym, walking club or make some kind of commitment to fitness. If you have a baby, join a gym with a play center or get out with the stroller.
• Join a book club, take a class or participate in some regular activity.
• Volunteer for an organization you care about – your schedule allows it now.
• Go on many dates with your spouse or significant other.
• Call your family and connect more often.
• Call old friends who may have forgotten who you are and plan a date.

It doesn’t really matter what you do, but do something. Remember, bears, frogs and gophers hibernate – but humans don’t.

Contact: Alice Seba

Address: Suite 577 – 7231 120th Street, Delta B.C. Canada

Website: http://www.schmoozins.com

Email: news@internetmarketingsweetie.com

Phone: 604-608-5575

Delta, B.C. Canada: New women discussion site offers women the opportunity to have their say on a variety of issues they face on a daily basis.

Schmoozins.com is a place where the emphasis is on real women providing relevant information and interaction for other women. Topics include health, parenting, career, finance, relationships and more. In a world where women are so busy with career and family, websites like Schmoozins.com give women the connect with other women twenty-four hours per day, seven days per week.

Instead of a faceless, anonymous corporate identity, website creator Alice Seba, has put together a place where interactivity, feedback, peer-to-peer discussion and submission of new content is actively encouraged. Seba’s background in web development and working with entrepreneurial women since 2002 inspired to her decision to provide a more comprehensive resource for all women.

“Women like to visit and connect with websites where they can become part of the community and share their opinions. It’s just a fun, informative and casual place to be,” says Seba, “I want women to feel the presence of other women on the site and not feel like they’re being preached to by some faceless identity.”

Women are given the opportunity to “schmooze” by posting comments, opinions and points of view, or even create a new article that they feel will benefit the other users of the site. New helpful articles are added every day.

To keep up to date with new articles and discussions on Schmoozins, visitors can register to receive updates via email or RSS feed.

Some recent information for women put up for discussion on the site includes:

• Protective vs. Over-Protective Parents: Which Are You?
• Dealing with Urinary Tract Infections – Relieve the Pain & Get On with Life
• Home Beauty Treatments – Fun and Relaxing Ideas
• Tax Breaks for Parents – Quick Tips
• How One Mom Arranged for a Family Cruise Vacation for Under $100
• Getting into Exercise and Fitness
• Moms Need Romance Too

Women are invited to join the discussion and sign up for updates at http://schmoozins.com.

Many women report vivid dreams during pregnancy, especially in the third trimester. If you’ve ever experience these, you might wonder why.

A Few Possible Causes:

1. This is an emotional time. There’s lots to get ready, you’ve got worries and a lot going on. It’s no wonder that some of your fears may irrationally appear in your dreams.

2. Your hormone levels are changing. The added progesterone may contribute to the increase in these dreams.

3. You remember your dreams more readily. With constant waking to adjust discomfort and to go pee, you’re more likely to remember your dreams.

Just a few possible causes for the wild night time ride. Remember, they’re just dreams and try not to let them bother you. You’re going to be a great mom.

The key to having a clean and organized home is a daily routine. I know that the thought of a routine makes many shiver. But a routine is basically a set of habits that you do. Start your routines by developing simple housecleaning habits, you’ll notice that your work will get easier and easier. These tips will give you some great ideas of good habits to start.

Delegate
Housework can be a huge job. Learn to delegate. Make chore charts for everyone in your house. Even small children can help pick up toys and other things. As you learn that you don’t have to do it all, housework will become much easier.

Fill the Sink

A good habit to start is filling your sink with hot soapy water every time you start to cook. This way you can “clean as you go.” As you get done with each pot or dish, wash it quickly. This makes clean-up a snap.

Have a Charity Box
It’s a good idea to keep a box or bag in your front closet that you put things you don’t need anymore. This really helps get rid of clutter in your home. When the box is full, simply drop it off at your local good will store.

Tackle the Small Jobs
Housework can be overwhelming. Learn to break it down and tackle the smaller jobs first. As you do, each job will become easier. Also, if you clean the small messes before they get big, it’ll be a lot easier to clean up.

Fast Pick Up Before Bed
If you make it a habit to do a quick pick up before going to bed, it’ll really help. You’ll find that it’s easier to wake up and feel good about the day if even one room is clean.

Take a Trash Bag With You
As you leave the house, make it a habit to take the trash out. This is a simple tip, but why make extra trips if you don’t need to? This is also a great job to delegate to a teenager. They’re always coming and going anyway.

You see, there is no need to freak out at the mention of developing routines. Start with these simple habits. You can try adding a new habit each day. In no time, you’ll have a daily routine in place without even realizing it.

About the Author
Cara Mirabella is manager and founder of http://thehouseholdhelper.com, a site providing tips and resources for cleaning, organizing, meal planning and more. A former “domestically challenged” wife and mom, Cara now coaches other moms, to help them save their time, money and sanity when managing their home and family. More information about home and family management coaching can be found at http://thehouseholdhelper.com/coaching.

Memorial Day is the day we honor all of our men and women who are fighting wars across the world. Remember them as you celebrate the day. Put out your American flag and hang it at half mast. Now, on to the celebration! If you need some Memorial Day party ideas, here are a few which may make this day a special one.

Have a barbecue and buy special invitations for the event, such as an American flag or a photograph of a soldier. Ask each family member and friends to bring a special dish. Use the red, white and blue theme throughout the day.

Set your table with red, white and blue napkins, cups, tablecloths and utensils to mark the occasion. Place red, white and blue streamers on the backyard fence or patio. Blow up red, white and blue balloons to enhance the festivities. Place red, white and blue candles on the table.

Ask everyone to dress in these same colors. Play music appropriate to the day, such as John Philip Sousa’s CD! To top things off, bake a white cake and decorate it with red and blue icing. Don’t forget to put the little flag on top!

If the weather is accommodating, you may also want to gather the group together to attend the Memorial Day parade in your local town or city. This would be a wonderful way to show support for our troops. Everyone could wear their Memorial Day hats and cheer as the bands and armed forces walk by.

Another great idea is to have a sing along to all of the great songs made famous in Yankee Doodle Dandy. If one of your friends or family members has a portable piano, ask them to bring it along.

While Memorial Day marks the beginning of summer, it is a time of reflection as well.
Before you end the night’s festivities, stop and say a prayer for all of our men and women in uniform. Give thanks for the freedom we enjoy due to their courage and patriotism.

With Spring soon in full swing and Summer approaching, you will be planning to tackle a number of chores in the backyard. Perhaps you are even thinking of cleaning out the garage. If so; here are some tips for getting your kids involved in outdoor chores.

As always with a tough Winter, you may want to begin to clear out your flower beds; prepare a compost pile; and generally prepare your backyard for additional planting such as an herb garden. As soon as the weather gets a bit warmer, there are plenty of chores your entire family can participate in. Make a list of all of the tasks you have to accomplish, and make a list assigning each member of your family to handle one chore.

• Assign an older child to rake the leaves; and younger children to put them into a bag. Of course, they will want to stomp on the leaves before they put them in the bag.
• Have another child help you clear out the flower beds, or help you pull out weeds.
• Have each member of your family help you spread the mulch.
• Have the kids start a compost pile.
• Maybe dad and son may want to build a new birdhouse.
• You may decide to put a rock border around your flower bed.
• One of the children can accompany dad to buy fertilizer.

There are probably more chores you can think of to assign to each family member. Depending upon the weather, of course, working in the backyard or garden allows your kids to not only have fun, but become involved in every aspect of planting. Perhaps your daughter would like to plant some special flowers.

The more you involve your kids, the easier it will be getting your kids involved in outdoor chores. They will not only have the opportunity to see the backyard come to life, but will begin to appreciate nature as well.

Here’s a family budget worksheet to help you plan your monthly family expenses. Click the link below to open it and save it to your computer:

Family Budget Worksheet | Instructions *

*You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to read these files. If you do not have Adobe Acrobat Reader, you can download it for free.

Instructions for Using Your Family Budget Worksheet

1) Fill out the worksheet as thoroughly as possible and include dollar figures with the categories you fill in.

2) Take time to really brainstorm and make sure you include all income and expenses. If anything changes, be sure to add it to the worksheet so you can keep track of your income/expenses.

3) If your expenses exceed your income, use this worksheet to help figure out where you can reduce expenses or gain more income.

4) Recommended: Get More Help with Your Family Budget with Your Step-By-Step Guide by clicking here.

If you’d like a more interactive family budget planner, download your free family budget spreadsheet.

Memorial Day commemorates those who have fought and died as well as those who are still fighting for freedom. Remember our men and women around the world by honoring them with a special family ceremony by lowering the flag at half mast. Say a prayer for them and their safe return to our shores. Undoubtedly, you will me celebrating Memorial Day by having a barbeque at your home. Well, here are some Memorial Day game ideas to make this day even more enjoyable.

• Play a game of touch football with family and friends
• Get out those kite kits and have everyone make their own kite. It would be wonderful if you can have kites with American flags soaring upon the treetops.
• If you have permission to have your barbeque at your local park; bring along the baseball gear and have a quick five inning game.
• If you’re at the park, have a relay race.
• Get those board games out such as trivia or monopoly.
• Play charades.
• Get out the music and play musical chairs.
• Play word games, such as naming a state for every letter of the alphabet.
• Play pin the tail on the donkey.
• Put on CDs wherein you can sing along to patriotic music.

There are a variety of Memorial Day game ideas you can come up with besides the ones mentioned here. More importantly, remember to attend the Memorial Day Parade in your town or city. The importance of this day will have more meaning for most people than ever before. As you enjoy the day, think about its meaning.

While there are families across this nation who may not want to participate in Memorial Day games for obvious reasons, perhaps as an act of kindness you can pay a visit to families in your area who have lost a son or daughter. Surely, having you there and showing how much you care may lift them up, at least for a little while. Perhaps you may even wish to invite them over to your barbeque. While Memorial Day game ideas may be a way to distract anyone from worrying about their loved ones; maybe talking about it may help as well.

Keeping track of the family budget isn’t always easy. Here’s a spreadsheet to help you plan your family’s budget and does the math for you. It is in Microsoft Excel Format and it has been saved in a zip file. Click the link below to open the file.

=> Family Budget Spreadsheet

*Note, if you are unable to open the zip file, you can download a free trial of Win Zip here.

Instructions to use your Family Budget Spreadsheet:

1. When you open the spreadsheet, you’ll see that the first tab (look at the bottom of the file) is the family budget spreadsheet. The second tab includes instructions on how to use the spreadsheet, so they will always be handy to you.

2. Feel free to save an extra copy of the spreadsheet, so that you can copy and paste all the information to track your budget month after month.

3. Fill in the current year in cell A2.

4. Fill in your income first. The total fixed income will be automatically calculated.

5. Fill in your various fixed expenses and investments. The total fixed expenses/investments will be automatically calculated.

6. Fill in your various variable expenses. The total variable expenses will be automatically calculated.

7. You will notice that your total expenses will automatically calculate as you fill in the worksheet.

8. In addition, the income vs expenses will automatically calculate as you fill in the worksheet. Take special note of this dollar figure as it will let you know if you’re spending more than you’re making.

9. Get More Help with Your Family Budget with Your Step-By-Step Guide by clicking here.