Personal items, info and things that don’t fit into my other blog projects… including the occasional rant.
Need some help getting your 8 hours of sleep? Try one of these 10 foods. According to Yahoo they “relax tense muscles, quiet buzzing minds, and/or get calming, sleep-inducing hormones - serotonin and melatonin - flowing.”
For doses and suggested combinations, check out Yahoo! Food.
(Found via LifeHacker, who found it via lifehack.org.)
Book Diva says she spends too much money on books. I know what she means. I’ve put myself on a money diet this year. As part of preparing for that I tracked every cent I spent for two months. I was shocked by how much I actually spend on books. And into the first month in my money diet, I’ve already exceeded my book budget by 50%. I anticipate that this is going to be one of the problems in my budgeting goals this year.
The other problem is eating out. I’ve exceeded my monthly budget by 100%… and the month’s not over yet. For those of you paying attention, that means I’ve spent twice as much on this as I intended. Now Boston Gal points me to an article in US News that, for Americans, eating out is the thing they splurge on most.
Well, at least I have company.
StevePavlina.com has a very interesting post listing the 10 Reasons You Should Never Get a Job.
Why is getting a job so dumb? Because you only get paid when you’re working. Don’t you see a problem with that, or have you been so thoroughly brainwashed into thinking it’s reasonable and intelligent to only earn income when you’re working? Have you never considered that it might be better to be paid even when you’re not working? Who taught you that you could only earn income while working? Some other brainwashed employee perhaps?
Found via LifeHacker.
I’ve been in bed with a cold for a few days now. After days of feeling miserable, as if I couldn’t breathe and wheezing every time I tried to take a breath, I finally feel semi-normal again. That is, I’m craving real food and walking up the stairs doesn’t knock me off my feet. I’m still congested and sick, just not as sick as I was.
I hate being sick. On top of the fact that it puts me behind in my work and personal projects, it leaves me off my game for a few weeks. I’ve never been one of those people who bounce back from an illness immediately. I slowly get back to normal, crawling towards productivity and energy at a snail’s pace.
I envy people like my sister Arianna, who can jump right back into her routine after being sick. Of course, that’s just a demonstration of her willpower, I guess.
Anyway, it would be at 2 a.m. when I start to feel somewhat normal again. After I missed Alicia’s birthday party and took two days of sick time.
I’ve always been fond of this quote, though I never did find out where it started: “Life is what happens while you’re making other plans.” The older I get, the more truth I see in this. It does feel, quite a bit, like I am stuck planning things and my life is happening while I try to set things in motion.
Liz Strauss, at Successful Blog, posted The Top 10 Ways to Start Living Your Life to help you get out of planning and just do it. The shortlist:
Go to her post for the details. To quote Liz one more time: “Life either happens to us, or we take hold of life and live it.”
A round-up of recent links and posts throughout PalomaCruz.com:
Don’t forget to go out and order yours today.
And, if the taste alone isn’t enough incentive, here’s something from the Houston Chronicle:
[snip]
A 72-year tradition is underway as Girl Scouts of San Jacinto Council participate in the 2007 Girl Scout Cookie Sale. Priced at $3.50 a box, all the favorites are back: Thin Mints, Peanut Butter Patties, Caramel deLites, Shortbread, Thanks-A-Lot, Peanut Butter Sandwiches and Cartwheels.
[snip]
Of course, I have a girl scout (my niece) and will be selling cookies every chance I get. That’s in addition to the 10 or 15 boxes I buy for myself.
It shouldn’t come as a surprise that losing weight was one of the many New Year’s resolutions I made this year. Yeah, me and millions of Americans have made that promise to ourselves.
I’ve been trying to figure out how to do this without fad diets and without starvation. (Any tips?) In my research I came across this article on ivillage, from Good Housekeeping, listing 15 foods that are supposed to help you lose weight:
The one I found interesting:
6. Soup
A cup of chicken soup is as appetite blunting as a piece of chicken: That was the finding of a Purdue University study with 18 women and 13 men. Why? Researchers speculate that even the simplest soup satisfies hunger because your brain perceives it as filling.
Good tips. Let’s see if they work.
I have a lot of friends who are looking for work. I have a lot of friends who are thnking about looking for work. My job search is on hiatus.
Just in case, though, I keep my eye out for information, tips and tricks to help me when I decide to get back out there. About.com’s Job Search site has the Top 10 Interview Blunders. The shortlist:
The one to pay attention to in this list:
4. Too Much Communication
Believe it or not, a recent candidate for employment, who, by the way, didn’t get the job, didn’t hesitate to answer his cell phone when it rang during an interview. Leave the phone behind or at least turn it off before you enter the building. Same goes for coffee, food and anything else other than you, your resume, your job application, and your list of references. They don’t belong at an interview.
Good info. Now all I need is an interview where I can put these into practice.
If I were actually spending money right now, or anticipating being able to spend money any time in the future, I would be a lot happier about this find: Endless.
An Amazon site, it has some very nice selections of shoes and (yummy) bags. Browsing the site is a lot of fun, especially for those of us addicted to buying bags.
(Found via Shop Girl.)