Search Results for: blog getting your home ready for summer vacation

Strangers to the Rescue

There’s a fine line between charity and prudence. It’s a lesson I’ve learned the hard way since becoming a parent. I was reminded just how challenging it can be to reconcile the two after hearing the story of the family whose summer vacation included a record breaking delay at Salt Lake City International Airport. Earlier this month, the local ABC affiliate in Salt Lake City broadcast the plight of Curtis Saxton, his wife, and his two children, ages 13 and 4, who became stranded at the airport for nearly a week. The clan was trying to get home to Virginia … Continue reading →

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to…

Summer is primetime for family vacations. With kids out of school and Mother Nature providing fairly decent travel weather, many clans are taking to the skies or hitting the road on summer adventures. For some families, this year’s seasonal escapes will be hard to forget. Just ask the family who made a pit stop in Memphis on the way to their summer vacation destination. While it’s unfortunate, it is certainly not unusual these days to read headlines about parents accidently forgetting their children at Interstate rest areas, restaurants, stores or theme parks. However, it’s not every day that you hear … Continue reading →

Summer Birthday Fun

My birthday is at the end of August. Growing up I always considered it a curse to have a summer birthday. For many years I didn’t have a party with friends because they were either out of town on vacation or they were too busy getting ready to head back to school. Some twenty-plus years later, I’ve learned that having a summer birthday doesn’t have to be a bummer. Rather, there are plenty of ways you can infuse fun into an outdoor bash that makes the most of the season’s beautiful weather: Cupcake War: This year, my daughter is insisting … Continue reading →

Summer Grooming Tips

Today I saw this picture of a fake cat made out of the fur of the real cat it sat beside. The picture really drove it home, as if the hardwood floors I have all over my house hadn’t already: summer is here, and that means so is grooming season. I hate grooming. It’s always just such a trial in my house. But I’m cheap so I hate paying for it more, and because none of my animals do much more try to walk away a little and guilt me a lot for brushing them, I don’t have a great … Continue reading →

European Adventures

If you haven’t already booked your summer flight to London to witness sports history unfold before your eyes, you may be out of luck. According to travel experts, despite fares increasing nearly 20 percent over last year, flights to England are being snatched up by travelers attending the 2012 Summer Olympic Games, which run July 27 to August 12. The U.S. Commerce Department’s Office of Travel and Tourism Industries’ website notes that nearly 13 million Americans visited Europe in 2009. That number is estimated to increase by at least 35 percent in 2012 thanks to the Olympics and the Diamond … Continue reading →

Are You A Freelance Writer Looking For jobs?

If you are a freelance writer, you may have a multitude of ways in which you find work for yourself. If you do not have at least a couple of avenues that you can pursue to find work, you may be wondering why you are so bored and have nothing to do. I have been keeping busy, busy, busy with my two home based businesses lately and have not had to pause to find more work for quite a while. I do know that a time will come when it is time to go out into the universe (okay, mostly … Continue reading →

Establishing Summer Rules

It was one of those very rare Monday mornings where everyone got out the door on time. Perhaps the motivation lies in just getting this week done and over with, since it is the last week of school for my children. So I took advantage of the leisurely drive to school, before iPods could be stuck in ears, to discuss summer rules. Things got a bit out of hand last summer and I don’t know how it happened. Perhaps it was because I bent on rules to a point where I then lost control. All I know is that for … Continue reading →

Get Set For Summer

Summer is pretty much here already, and school will be out soon. This is a challenging time for home-based professional parents for a few reasons, just one of which is the aforementioned end of the school year. There are other things that make summer a challenging time. For example, the plethora of fun things to do can make work seem unappealing, especially if you’re used to working at night and on the weekends. Many families take at least one vacation during the summer, and building that into your work schedule can also take some doing. With the potential challenges that … Continue reading →

Fleeting Moments

It’s the final stretch before summer vacation for my children, just one week left and I have mixed feelings. A part of me is ready to get it over with. No more waking kids up early, rushing out the door and making sure things haven’t been forgotten. No more rushing from one school to the next and then back out the door a few hours later to pick up. No more “Have you done your homework yet?” or checking grades online. No more emails to teachers or parent/teacher conferences. But then I think about the fact that it also means … Continue reading →

Beating Summer Boredom

I always know that moment in time during summer vacation when my children are ready to go back to school. No, they may not admit it but I know that it is there deep inside. It starts off with hearing the words “I’m bored,” even though they have a hundred things they can do in the house and they have lots of friends to hang out with. Then it turns into bickering. Before you know it, there are constant battles taking place between them. Yes, the itch for school to start has begun. It is probably being felt to a … Continue reading →