Upcoming Book Reviews and Contest!

Great news! I've received my copy of Death by Dorlana Vann (containing Jaclyn's Ghost and Passage to Mesentia) and A Cup of Comfort for Dog Lovers II with a story by Susan H. Miller. I first mentioned these books in my post, WordProverb: Writers Group News and Success!

I'll be posting full reviews in the future!

In the meantime, I am pleased to announce my first ever giveaway/contest on this blog!

Da-ta-ta-da!! What will you win? ...drum roll, please

There will actually be two lucky winners. 1st place winner receives their choice; Death by Dorlana Vann or A Cup of Comfort for Dog Lovers II. Second place winner will receive the remaining book. I'm working on getting the books autographed too, but can't promise that yet!

I'm so excited and I hope you will be too, because it is so easy to win. To enter, just leave a comment (yes, that easy). Here are the rules:

• Comments are eligible for the contest until midnight, July 16, 2009 Central Time zone.
• I will use the Custom Random Number Generator to pick 1st and 2nd place, and announce the winners on this blog on July 17.
  
• The winners will need to contact me by email before 10pm Central Time on July 27, 2009 or another winner will be selected.
• Sorry, only residents of the continental U.S. and APO/FPO and Canadian addresses are eligible.

Please note - to be eligible, your comment must appear on this post on the WordProverb blog. If you are reading this on Facebook or elsewhere, please visit the actual blog post to add your comment.

Thank you and good luck!

A Sense of Accomplishment - One Task at a Time

My mother always told me to make sure I accomplished one thing a day, whatever the task, but usually always something house related. I used to follow her advice. But in recent years, it seems I had forgotten that piece of wisdom.

Recently though, something caused me to conjure back that memory, and I've put it back into practice. It works. I truly do feel a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction in getting just one thing completed each day. I’m not a week into this yet, but so far I've:

• Scoured the bathrooms, including washing the baseboards and woodwork
• Cleaned the stovetop
• Washed the baseboard in the foyer and living room
• Dusted and polished the old piano
• Rotated the mattress on the bed

Back in our DINK days (Double Income No Kids), my husband and I hired a housekeeper to clean our home every two weeks. We got that “whole house clean at one time feeling” and it was great. But with kids, work, and obligations of life, I’ll settle for the one thing a day routine. It works pretty well. Thanks Mom!

What are your tricks and tips on getting things done? What gives you a sense of accomplishment?

Book Review - I'll Make You an Offer You Can't Refuse by Michael Franzese

I'll Make You an Offer You Can't Refuse: Insider Business Tips from a Former Mob Boss by Michael Franzese

rating: 2 of 5 stars

In I’ll Make You an Offer You Can’t Refuse, Michael Franzese, former capo in the Colombo crime family, shares his insight and wisdom in running and making the most of your business. From the basics, like creating a written business plan, to keeping it legal, Michael offers antidotes and stories that describe how he reached success while a high ranking member of the mob.

But therein lies the problem. There were double standards throughout the book. For example, Michael Franzese tells us to put together a clear, focused, and written business plan. However, not if you are a mobster. A mobster’s objective is always to get as much money as possible, as fast as possible, and they prefer not to have paper trails as these can be incriminating. So if Michael Franzese did it the mobster way, without a written plan, why is he telling his readers to do it another way?

The business information contained in the book wasn’t particularly unique or fresh. Play it straight, learn to listen, put a lid on greed, don’t gamble, and operate with integrity are just some of the significant messages explored in the book, but a lot of the information felt like common sense. Certainly good lessons with moral appeal, but not new, insightful, eye-opening information for most people (perhaps I think too highly of the integrity of the human race?).

One of the best aspects of I’ll Make You an Offer You Can’t Refuse is its strong message of motivation and encouragement. Michael Franzese devotes an entire chapter to failures. He explains that failure is normal, and that some failure in life is to be expected. But value comes from using the failure as a tool for learning and improving, and the best way to handle failure is to pick yourself up and dust yourself off.

Michael Franzese writes with a strong, wise-guy voice that is easy to read and entertaining, but may not be the business book readers think. He writes, “Life is all about the ingredients.” Put in good ingredients and you’ll get a good product. I’ll Make You an Offer You Can’t Refuse is less a lesson in running a business, and more instruction in living a good moral life.

More Telecommuting Benefits

Do you dread yet another morning sitting in the stalled commuter traffic on Interstate Highway (IH)10? Or is US-59 or US-290 where your stoppage occurs? Whatever your commuter nightmare, perhaps telecommuting is the answer.

Today more and more companies are offering telecommuting options to their employees, and for several good reasons. Telecommuting can be good for the employee, but equally beneficial to the employer. Previously I posted Nine Reasons I Love to Work From Home. Here are a few company benefits to telecommuting.

Most employees like the option to work from home. If even just one day a week, most workers enjoy the break from commuter traffic and the autonomy of working from home. They appreciate the cost savings in gas, wear and tear on their vehicle, and a day in which they don’t have to wear their “work” attire, saving on associated wardrobe costs. This makes for happier and more satisfied employees.

Offering work at home options also enables companies to boast “green.” By reducing the number of staff commuting into the office on a daily basis, the company is helping the environment by reducing auto emissions. Since auto emissions are a major contributor to ground level ozone, this also helps reduce the likelihood of high ozone days, which is a danger to people with asthma or compromised lung functionality.

While not all jobs can be performed on a telecommuting basis, many can, and it’s worth your while to approach your employer about working from home. Do your homework first, and be able to provide your boss with all the benefits to the arrangement. You never know, perhaps the next major bottleneck on IH-10 will be one vehicle less – yours!

New TV Series review, Make It or Break It

Make It or Break It, a new TV show featuring the drama surrounding national champion gymnast hopefuls, premiered last night on ABC Family. Of course, having a gymnast in the family, we couldn't wait to see this new show.

Like watching the Olympics, I enjoyed seeing the spectacular feats performed on the beam, bars, floor, and vault. Since I did not see a whole routine executed start to finish without a lot of flashes to the feet, I am curious who performs the routines for the filming. It requires great physical strength, balance, and poise to be a gymnast, and the exercises performed appeared advanced to me. I would love to know who the actual gymnasts are!

Although I missed the beginning and didn't see the complete episode, part of what I saw was a lot of cutthroat between the team members. The show appeared to be as much drama as gymnastics, and heavily geared to the teen viewer. My daughter said she really liked the show, and I am reserving my opinion until after I've seen a full, future episode.

My hope is that the show will continue to feature amazing feats that will lure more spectators and participants into the sport of gymnastics. Even for kids not competing at a national level (lets face it, most of them aren't), the physical benefits of gymnastics are easily evident. My daughter is in excellent shape as a result of the sport.

Did you see Make It or Break It? What did you think?

Keeping Cool When the Temperature Soars

What do you do when average daily temperatures are in the upper 90's, high humidity makes those temperatures feel even higher, and your central air conditioner breaks? I recently experienced just that, and here's what I learned are the best ways to stay cool when the A/C is broke and the temperature's sizzling.

• Under no circumstances should you use the oven
• Close the blinds to reflect the sun away
• Open all your windows
  
• Use your ceiling fans and get the air moving
• Keep oscillating fans on you in the room you are in
• Dress skimpily
  
• Take cool showers
• Rinse the dishes in cool water
• Take the kids to the swimming pool (this one gives you great brownie points with the kids)
• Go shopping - your A/C may be broke but it isn't broke at the mall
• Run errands - any excuse to get into the air conditioned car
• Keep the lights turned off as much as possible
• Hair up or in a ponytail
• Light, cool meals are best - simple sandwiches, fresh fruit, cucumbers in olive oil & vinegar
• Better yet - eat out!

Any other ideas or suggestions? These helped for me, but I'm sure there are more great ideas out there.