There are a few times in life when you get to do something really special. I had this chance recently and I feel great about. It was for a program called birthday kids and it is special. The idea is that people buy birthday gifts for kids who may not get any otherwise. I liked the idea and immediately signed up. I started with one of my favorite sites for toys and its called loulouscorner.com.

I wanted to get something that I know every kid would love. That’s why the first thing I wanted to get was a stuffed animal from jellycat. They have some of the best animals available and the quality is top-notch. Since most kids take their animals to bed with them, I thought that getting them a nice warm blanket would be a good idea. When I saw the blankets by barefoot dreams, I knew I would have to have one of those as well.

Being as that I am also a practical person, I pondered the fact that many kids don’t have enough clothes to wear. I found some little shirts that were made by appaman that would be a great gift for any toddler. I think I made some great gift choices and I can’t wait to hear about the kids who get to enjoy them. There are times when I am proud to help out a neighbor and this is one of those times!!

The news came in today about the increase in asking prices for homes across the nation. This is good news for everyone as it may mean that the housing bubble has hit bottom. A new survey found that while some cities have little change, others cities are doing well. I hope this trend will continue.

California has seen some of the biggest increases in new home prices. Inventory of homes for sale are slowly dropping causing higher demand for existing homes. This bodes well for the economy and the nation in general. I will keep my fingers crossed that this good news means that we are on the mend.

Every once in awhile, you come across a really good book. Usually I like mysteries or action books, but this one was a little different. This book is called Surviving Mesothelioma and is all about a man named Paul Kraus. He was diagnosed with a disease called Mesothelioma and was given one year to live. Despite this discouraging news, he took steps to survive the disease and is still alive today.

The book was given to me by a friend and at first I wasn’t really sure about reading it. I’m glad I decided to give it a try. Mr. Kraus was exposed to asbestos and contracted Mesothelioma Cancer. This disease is very deadly and has taken many lives. I was inspired by his will to fight the disease and with the help of his family he has shown the world what he is made of.

The book not only tells the story of this brave man, it also has a wealth of information about the disease and ways to cope with it. Anyone with any type of cancer can take a few lessons from this book. In the end, I was glad to learn about Mesothelioma and those who survive it. I hope the next book I read will be as good as this one.

One thing that almost everyone will agree on is the need to help keep our environment healthy. That’s why we decided to look for easy ways to do so. We also wanted to reduce our house bills if possible. We were glad when we discovered a way to achieve both goals. We found out about rain barrels and their positive impact on the environment and our monthly water bills.

Fresh water is a precious commodity. Many of us tend to take it for granted, but its availability is becoming scarce. We found that using a rain water barrel could help us utilize water that came to us for free. Whenever it rains, our supply is renewed. There are many benefits of rain harvesting and I’ll explain a few of them.

Rain water is basically very clean. It can be used to water plants and wash cars. Saving the water that comes to us for free is easy on the environment and our wallets as well. When we saw that there were rain barrels for sale, we knew we had to have one. Now we are able to put our ecological views to the test. We are helping our community’s water supply and lowering our water bills at the same time. It’s always good to find ways to improve our land; I hope we can find more good ideas like this!