pet for christmas

Gifting a Pet for Christmas

During the holidays parents are tempted to give a pet as a Christmas present. You need to be sure that the kids are prepared for the responsibility of taking care of an animal. Or that at least you, as a parent, will take care of it if the kids lose interest.

Teaching to care for an animal early in life will teach kids not only responsibility for another life. They will also learn to love a creature that completely depends on them for everything.

Always research pet breeds for hardiness, common medical issues and grooming requirements. Make sure the new family member will fit your lifestyle and budget.

Always remember: Adopt your pet, Don’t shop!

If you are interested in a particular breed, there are many rescues that focus on that breed. If not, a good mutt at the pound will do just fine. They often come with a history that tells you how they are like already. Unlike a puppy or a kitten who can turn into anything because you did not have the time or skill to teach them the basics from an early age.

If you do decide that a pet will be a great addition to the family there are great sources online for pet rescues. There are great pets waiting for a good home out there.

Buying a pet can come with issues such as medical issues because it’s a from a puppy or a cattery mill that exploits animals into breeding non-stop for profit. Then you are dealing with vet bills and unexpected expenses. Plus the heartbreak of a potential loss.

A lot of these sick animals end up in rescues because a lot of people don’t realize the expense they got into after they purchasing an animal from a mill. Eventually they choose to give these pets away because they can’t afford treatment. So again: Adopt, don’t shop!

Finally, always make sure your pet has a good supply of toys to play and a good source of nutritious food so it can thrive.

Happy responsible pet ownership and may your pet bring you many years of happiness and companionship!

Tatiana

A long time ago you slept the sleep of the assured…..

sonooo……when you were closer in time to your introduction (or reintroduction) to this world. Whether you knew it or not you had something like a divine awareness and hence you slept the sleep of the assurance of yourself in the proper order of things, that everything had a rightness and a comfort therein, that things were well and were meant to be so, and you knew little of the divergence yet to come. Those days of assurance (which was also the beginning of a divergence from that ideal) might have been so long ago that you were then a child, a teen, or if you were lucky, perhaps you still retained some sense of it even into some portion of your years as a young adult.

So what has happened in the years since then? You began to know more of and learn more about this world, not just the new and different, but increasingly the sameness of the world: of earning a living, of gaining and losing, of repetition, and crucially of the notion of a near daily quest to gain or regain that which you were taught to believe is now missing. This repetition of the mundane is an aspect of basic survival, which for many of us, also includes ambition, from which came about the divergence from, and for some of us the actual separation from, that which we formerly knew was blissfully whole (you slept well at night!). This separation is reflected in a multitude of things as we have come to live them; in the protracted and burdensome constructs of survival and ambition ….on the one hand a person is fortunate to have a mortgage and retirement plan, on the other hand things of that sort just by their nature tend to relegate ‘security’ to a never-ending series of incremental trials …for instance, “can I make the mortgage payment next month?”

When you knew in the promise of your youth that all was fundamentally right, you slept the sleep of the assured even while in waking you were increasingly taught to believe through the years of mortal joy and sadness, of loss and toil and its repetition, that you were only chasing a dream. And in the sameness of repetition, the world has formalized this divergence, whole industries and catch-words have grown around it …. e.g., ‘anxiety’, ‘depression’ , ‘the holiday blues’.

So what to take from today’s repetition, and what to make of tomorrow’s and the next days’? We are already hauntingly aware of the memory of the long ago assurance we once knew; …….so for today, for just a singular moment before you breathe and walk and talk the repetition, remind yourself your assurance is complete and you were already living it before you were taught to believe it is only an idealized or fleetingly elusive dream for you to chase. You have been living correctly all along in all things that essentially matter, you just stopped believing it over time.

For today, know and believe in the never-ending light of assurance; that it always was and is, ….and do that before you begin today’s litany of repetition.

As for tomorrow and the next day: …because the world is always changing and so are you, visualize instead a not too distant future in which you look back and know that in the unfolding of yesterday (which in the present is today) all was well even when it was not, and that you could have and should have slept the sleep of the assured.

remodeling tips, safe remodeling, asbestos and mold

Remodeling Tip of The Day: Demo Day is Fun But Full of Surprises!

DIY, safety, safe remodel, tips, decor, mold, asbestos, constructionRemodeling tip of the day: when demo-ing your house or room in your next project make sure to test walls for lead and asbestos.

You can find these kits online for almost nothing and test your walls before doing anything.

If your house is older than 1978 very likely you will find these unwanted surprises. Also check for mold in wet areas.

But don’t be surprised if you find mold a few feet away where is not wet at all! Water has the uncanny ability to travel and you just never know.

Types of Materials to avoid mold infestation

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In my bathroom remodel, I found mold in an area very far away from where the original trouble spot was. And get this, wood floors!! In the bathroom!!! It looks nice and all but wood and water don’t mix!

Remember the old nasty habit of putting carpet in the bathroom? EWWW! With the new products out there you can find tiles that look like wood boards (I used that in the bathroom redo) or you can use vinyl planking. 

It looks like wood but it’s laminate and waterproof! I used vinyl planking in the upstairs bathroom. And it looks great! (more on that upstairs remodel in a future post).

Seal, Seal, Seal

Be wise when choosing flooring or even counter tops for wet areas. Be sure to seal any exposed grout and gaps on counter tops, showers and tubs. There are new materials out there for sealing including silicone in colors! You can now match your grout color to the seal. No more white gunky looking seal around the tub. Another EEWW!

Safety measures when remodeling

It seems pretty obvious but always wear a mask when doing demo. You never know what you have behind your walls and even cabinets. We all love demo day but finding mold and other toxic substances can be dangerous without the proper protection.

If you come across any suspicious growth get it tested and if positive, have it handled by professionals. You can still do your remodel afterwards. 

remodeling, DIY, safety, safe remodel, tips, decor, mold, asbestos, constructionToo often I see clients who did their own remodel and now they are disabled because of lung issues, cognitive impairment, tremors, confusion and the list goes on.

We all like to save money but your health is priceless. Be careful!

I was starting my bathroom remodel and found all of the above (mold, asbestos). The sign on the picture was hanging on my laundry and bathroom entry for days! (sniff).

I was still able to do the remodel once the professionals gave me the green light. It only took a little longer than I was hoping for but I still had fun finishing the project. More on that project soon.

Have a happy and safe remodeling!

Cheers

Top 13 Reasons Your Social Security Case Is Being Denied And What To Do To Improve Your Chances At Winning.

Today I will give you the short list of the top 13 reasons for denial of benefits and a very short tip on how to fix each one and in the next few posts, I will explain each one in more detail. Remember that this list is not exhaustive. There are many other reasons for a claim denial but these are the most common. So here it goes:

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top 13 reasons for  DISABILITY DENIaL

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1) 90% of cases are denied in the first try. Don’t give up. Appeal it!

2) It could be your medical records. Get your doctor to describe your medical issues better.

3) You are not receiving the right treatment(s) for your condition(s). Get 1referrals. Get treatment.

4) Your records are too old and you are not seeing doctors now. You need to see new doctors or more visits during and after the adjudication of your case.

5) Diagnosis alone does not win cases. Once you are diagnosed ask your doctor if your condition is severe enough to prevent you from working. Permanently!

6) You think you are disabled but you are not. Social Security only needs to show that you can do some other job than the one you can’t do anymore and case closed. In most cases, you must prove you can’t work ANY jobs. At all!

7) Your doctor may not be supporting the notion that you are disabled. It goes back to item 6.

It gets worse:

8) Some of your treatment may be a violation of the rules. I know, it’s weird but it’s true. Eg, medical marijuana. Legal in some States, not legal in the federal system yet (Remember Social Security is a federal benefit).

9) Your case is less than sympathetic because you may be doing a lot of things to yourself. Illegal drugs if you have a mental disability, smoking when you have lung issues, drinking when you have cirrhosis. The list goes on…Get help!

10) Procedurally you don’t qualify or you need to overcome a remote onset of disability. This is a big one. It means you haven’t worked in years and you may not qualify, or you have too much money to qualify (see my next post on this one).

11) It’s too early to file. You need to show that your condition has lasted or is expected to last 12 months. The clock starts ticking from the time you stopped working. If you just quit and file a week later you are more likely to be denied.

12) Anger issues and bad attitude shown in your medical records. In mental disability cases, it’s expected. In physical cases, it a no, no! Do not throw tantrums at your doctor’s office. They will write it in your medical records and it looks bad!

13) Incarceration. You can’t get benefits while incarcerated. Simple as that.


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See you soon,

the larger view finding peace amid chaos

The Larger View

A nameless rage….a rage that pops up when you think of people taking advantage of you, or life being unfair to you, even the universe being unfair to you, such as yet one more thing breaking at your house. 

Or where you imagine scenarios of people taking advantage of you that haven’t even happened yet.   What do you do with it?   ….we can dissect that for hours, but remember this: remember also those times where you felt that rage but then something good or pleasant unexpectedly happened.  

Maybe you learned something sympathetic about some person who was causing your anger, or any number of other sudden changes that somehow flipped a switch where all of a sudden you saw a larger view of everything.

Mind your Thoughts and Control your Anger

I’m not advocating counting to ten or that sort of thing, we all feel the rage, and it seems some small measure of it might even be useful, after all nobody wants to be anyone’s doormat, and that anger might help you assert or defend yourself, provided it doesn’t run away with you, ….careful!

The point is, in the larger view of possibilities, rage melts away. 

The larger view of all that is possible can be called hope, and hope springs eternal, and rage withers before the eternal.  Too far fetched?

…maybe not: think back to a time where some enraged anger that had you in its grip disappeared when you learned new information or found something out.

I hope these words will bring you peace. In the meantime, Follow us on Facebook and  Pinterest for updates and snippets of wisdom.

Always zen,

 

 


The Angry Princess welcomes you


Let me start by explaining that the full name of these hopefully frequent discourses should probably be “Angry Princess, Beyond the Rant”, or some such thing, because what I really want to share with you are those inspirational perspectives (my version at least) of those more rewarding ways of looking at life, …let’s call it “the large view”   So this is more in the way of  insights (if not solutions) rather than another rant about life’s problems, but if I do lapse into a rant, that I am also at least exploring the greater meaning!

Indeed, many observations I will share may be rooted in ‘life’s anger’, which is part of the reason for the ‘Angry Princess’ name (more about that later), but I expect a fair number of my insights will have begun in a place of that ordinary often uninspired perspective to which folks are often limited simply by our human nature and the challenges and distractions of everyday life.

Occasionally I may diverge, but the goal here is insight beyond that ordinary and limited perception where ‘the veil’ (as I like to call it) covers ‘the magnificent’ (again, as I like to think of it) with the result that so many folks, me included, only get those elusive fleeting glimpses, those inspirations that keep us wondering and searching.

We are all restless in a way, …not for more anger of course ….what we all cherish is inspiration and exuberance!  Those treasured moments, like a break in the clouds, the extraordinary view.   We all work hard, and have our cares and worries, so what are the possibilities of life beyond this ‘veil’ that covers the ‘larger view’? …and most of all, what inspires us to see those possibilities?

There’s no way everyone sees or will see things the same way I do of course (a very good thing!), and so I leave you for now with the thought that my wish and hope is that what I express here as time goes by might resonate with some of you, and maybe in turn I get to hear some of your inspirations.

Angry Princess out!

social media disability claims

Social Media And Disability Claims

Social media! It’s everywhere and it is the most sedentary thing one can do. Even disabled people can take a peek on a phone or a tablet. It’s light, it’s there and you barely move a muscle.

But a lot of damage can be done with social media. Most people don’t think about that when filing a disability case. It’s the last thing on their mind. It’s just there. Those little apps sitting quietly on the phone and a life saver when one is bored. Waiting for time to pass.

In the waiting room in a doctor’s office, at the dentist, in the car (hopefully while not driving) and in bed. Who doesn’t do it? You lie down and you are still trying to unwind so you check your friends on social media without even thinking what it could do to your case.

Investigators in Long Term Disability cases and even judges in Social Security cases are taking a closer look at your social media accounts. If your settings in those accounts allow for anyone to go in and take a look at your accounts it is easy for these investigators and judges to make assumptions.

Assumptions that may cost your case and with it thousands of dollars gone!

They don’t care if that photo of you having the time of your life on a cruise is 3 years old. Or that you are seen holding a golf club with a picturesque location in the background and all you did that day was to stand up from the bench to take that picture. Or all you have done that day was sit while watching others play. It doesn’t matter that the business you dreamed to have one day is just an open account on LinkedIn. Or even though you never even opened that business or have made any money with the business.

All they see in your Social media is that it looks bad. Really, really bad!

Enough that they are even salivating when they find this type of evidence against a claimant.

So, as much as people don’t think about social media when filing a disability case, it is time to take it very seriously. In a very connected world like ours you never know what people know about you or what they can see. But if you are giving free access to your virtual life, one that you could actually control a bit, please take charge. Either close your social media accounts or change your settings to a more private setting.

Also, be careful what you post even if the account is private. Be careful with your own friends posts in their own accounts. Even if you have private settings, some of your friends may not. If you are tagged in any of their open posts, you will be visible.

If that photo of you in a friend’s pool shows up in your friend’s Facebook page and his/her page is open to the public, there’s your photo, in all it’s damaging glory!

Even if all you did was go in the water because it helps with your back pain!

The issues with disability and social media are new.  But these are picking up speed. Who knows what else will be available in the near future that can reveal things we don’t wish to be seen in public?

The reality is, there is no more privacy in this world. And if you file a claim for disability (Social Security, Long or Short Term disability or any other types out there) any and every information readily available online can and will be used against you. Learn more at this new site

Please be “virtually” safe!

Flash Mob Belly Dance – Brazil

Flash Mob Belly Dance 

Por um momento, todos alí vibravam na mesma energia, a magia da dança surpreendendo e marcando.

amigas4all, flash mob, belly dance, belly dancing

Todos queriam estar lá – e estavam – de corpo e alma.  Algumas precisavam ir a um casamento, outras tinham formatura, apresentação de TCC, mas mesmo assim estavam ali presentes para esse momento único.

A primeira tentativa de um Flash Mob veio de maneira inusitada, a partir do jornalista Bill Wasik, em Manhattan: “A idéia era que as próprias pessoas se tornassem o show e que, apenas respondendo a  um e-mail aleatório, essas pessoas criassem algo”.

O Portal abraçou essa proposta e marcou 2012 com  o  Primeiro Flash Mob  da região, sendo o primeiro no Brasil com o tema Belly Dance.  Acrescentando organização e método ao conceito original,  o Corpo de Baile  apresentou um Derbake moderno e vibrante :  

A coreografia é, por si só, atraente. Sem margem para repetições ou movimentos contidos, todos atentam para uma variedade alegre de giros e tremidos.

Giovana Colucci Após a dança uma mulher veio elogiar e perguntar se haveriam mais apresentações.

Débora Natali Crispiano A cada giro eu percebia que tinha mais gente do que antes! Kkkkkkk

Rayssa Tenorio Cavalcanti Ouvi várias mulheres dizendo que vão começar a dançar também pois adoraram.

Márcia Maria Borges Enquanto eu e a Mariana Mason estavamos esperando a mulher viu nos de chale e disse que era para gente ir dançar logo porque estava muito lindo ela estava fascinada!!!!

Natalia Figueiredo e a cada instante da música sentia a energia boa transbordando ali!

Hellen Carolina Miola Meninas, infelizmente não pude assistir pessoalmnte=(,mas pelo video percebi que a cada minuto de duas a tres cameras digitais apareciam aos arredores de vocês

Lenya Mamede Natalia Figueiredo perdeu o sapato???? Perdeu nada…ela fez uma manobra ninja pra tirar e sem parar de dançar….kkkkk….ameeeiiii….o bebado eu vi tb…huahhauhauhau

Andrea Marchioni eu escutei ,olha como é dificil dançar isso,como elas mexem,lindo,e quando Marcelo entrou foi maximo,um homem dançando que legal,lindooo!

Cidinha Rossi Prestem atenção a Natalia tentando ajeitar o lenço (não sei direito o nome) que estava amarrado na cintura… — ia descendo. descendo. rsrs. tadinha. – rsrs. bjs.

Priscila Kubo Rosário Hahahhahahahaha acredita que o bebado veio me cumprimentar depois! Veio dar parabéns! Hahahhahah

Jéssica Aline Chiavegato O lenço da Natalia ia descendo, e o meu vestido ia subindo, piriguete mode on kkkk

Tha De As pessoas dançavam junto com a gente, tentando fazer o mesmo movimento, inconscientemente ou não…

Aline Edwiges Vestido subindo não é nada perto do botão da calça que voou e o desespero que eu fiquei rsrsrsrsrs

Tyele Pelissoli Hora q eu fui entrar a galera abriu um corredor…foi demais!!!!

Junto à reação das pessoas, cada sorriso, cada expressão de surpresa, estava a manifestação de um grupo todo, e TODO especial.

Uma única palavra jamais descreveria com propriedade.

Contagiante, talvez seja só uma delas.

Quem esteve no centro da cidade de Jundiaí , definitvamente, viu algo acontecer.

E o Portal do Egito, agradece.

“ Sou o que sou pelo que nós somos”

Bar Stool Redo part deux amigas4all.com

How I Brought My New “Old” Bar Stools Back To Life-Bar Decorating Part Deux!

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 bar stools, DIY, restoration, furniture to life, restore furniture, restoring furniture, bar decorating, bar of our dreams, new "old" chairs, stain, how toOh! The “Wild West” home bar of our dreams …but no bar stools to match!

As you saw in part 1 of our bar decorating saga (here’s part 1) we managed to get the bar of our dreams in a bargain deal, but when we were looking for the chairs we were shocked to discover how expensive they were, especially if you wanted to use a rustic style.

Out of Our Price Range

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Some of these bar stools were more expensive than a car!! Who pays $1000 for bar stools? No offense to those who can, but seriously?! My head was going 1000 miles per hour thinking: Who in the world could pay for 5 bar stools if they were that expensive?

And the look I wanted complicated things. I wanted something “Old West” or Rustic style like this:

bar stool redo image sample

The price wasn’t bad but I just could not afford 5 of them. So, I looked here, there and everywhere for something similar. 

How We Found Our Bar Stools!!

I engaged the help of my research queen and friend “McGiver” Carol. She lives in a place where there are a lot of Mexican goodies including rustic furniture, just the way I needed.

She searched a little bit and wouldn’t you know, she found them! And after a little bit of back and forth, she was able to buy them for $35 each! Guess how much these are brand new? 260 bucks! 

The bar stools looked perfect in the room (Here are some more pictures). They were only selling 4 stools but we figured out later that 5 bar stools would have looked a little cluttered.

Especially when you add two more tables and bar stools around them as I later did (see my posts for table 1 here and table 2 here).

Getting the bar stools refinished

The first thing I needed to do was give them a good scrubbing.

Once that was done the bar stools were ready to be restored. I mean, ready to be stained.

Note that the wooden seat in one of the chairs was deformed and the other was separated.

I could have just replaced the wooden seats with a new wood base, but I thought that even if I sanded all the wood around the legs and back, they would never match the rest of the chair no matter how much I tried. I later decided to upholster the seats (here’s how I did it). 

But before that, I started by nailing the warped seat to level it a little. Even if the seat was not perfectly level the foam and fabric would certainly hide the problem. 

The other bar stools had other minor imperfections and they were easy to fix. But once the bar stools were stained they would still have some “character” since they would still show that they had a previous life somewhere.

In other words, they would not be the cookie cutter stuff you find with faux rustic stuff. These were the real deal. Especially because the wood in my bar is completely rustic. It has even wormwood holes in it!

Love rustic everything!!!

The next task was to stain them. I opted for two colors of stain: one to bring life to the wood – Minwax Wood Finish Stain- Color Provincial 211 (a little more yellow). Then Minwax Wood Finish Stain – Color Red Chestnut 232, a more reddish color to change the pale appearance and match at least some points of the wood in my bar (see).

So here’s the final product! I know it’s hard to see but these chairs were very dull and ready to crack because of dehydration.

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What do you think?

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Here are some of my dream picks for this post:


Join us for the next step, the upholstery project, and see how simple it is to give life to a stool/chair by simply adding foam and fabric!

It is not difficult, and it is super fun to see the final product. And you can tell everyone that you made it yourself! Let us see your project in the comments below!

Follow us on Facebook and Pinterest for new project ideas and don’t forget to sign up for our email list below for news and updates!

See you in a jiffy,

bar redo, bar decor, amigas4all

Decorating a Home Bar

Home Bar: Where it all Began

I decided to transform my boring formal dining room into a home bar since nobody ever looked at it.

I have a big family so I would set the table in the dining room for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and other similar occasions and we always ended up in my kitchen. But what about that dining room? It’s big and I wanted to use it.

So my hubby and I started dreaming of ideas for that room. One day we both decided that a nice “Old West” home bar would be very cool.

One day we both decided that a nice “Old West” home bar would be very cool.

Since the house has a colonial style to the outside, we thought the “Old West” would be a good theme.

The search

Well, we looked online, at antique shops, left phone numbers with consignment places etc and nothing.

I even looked at two well-known free market websites (we all know which) to see if there was anything there and yeah, but they were way too pricey!!

Even custom-made ones were a fortune. I lost many nights concocting in my head how I could make the home bar counter with an antique door front, or would use wainscoting or ready-made cabinets but nothing felt right.

Found it!

Then one day I was looking for college books for a friend (long story) and I saw one of my old searches starting with “b” for backbar. Wouldn’t you know? there it was, still pricey but oh, so right!!! See the behemoth below?

Sorry! Not a great photo but we were so excited with the bar that we just started piling up the bottles from our booze cabinet without any thought to it!.

The first order of business was clean up.

It was dusty because it sat outside in weather. So I first dusted it and use a wet rag to get all the dust out. Then vacuumed to make sure there was nothing absurd left such as spiders or any critters.

I used a nice orange wax to bring moisture to the wood. It not only brought instant life but it also served as a yellowish stain since the wood was very dull looking. 

My plan is to give it a few months to get the wax fully absorbed and then I will reapply the wax to keep hydrating it.

The bar is huge and it takes almost half the room. But imagine game night in a bar like that. We will be installing a TV and add decor touches that you will learn to make right here. So follow our blog and let’s do this together!

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Here are my dream picks inspired by this post:


Next episode: Bar Stools! Learn how I revived some bar stools I found for a bargain.

I hope you enjoyed this project. Follow us on Facebook and  Pinterest for new updates and cool projects and don’t forget to sign up for our email list below and receive news and updates. 

Until next time!