Political Sherpa

I have been single for ages now. By ages I mean 1 year, 3 months and 2 days; not that I am keeping track. Well, it is not like I haven’t tried to be with someone. Believe me I had a fair share of awkward blind dates and sloppy kisses.

But I am positive that tonight my fate is about to change; for I am going on a date, a real date. What is a real date you ask? It is where I know the man I am going out with, not “I-know-his-name” know but “I-really-know-him” know. My date was a friend in high school. We lost touch in college but we somehow bumped into Starbucks yesterday as we are both thirsty for caffeine. I knew that being a coffeeholic has its advantages. Anyway, we got to talking, exchanged numbers and you know the rest.

So I am currently preparing for my date. I have this amazing deep purple dress, not too formal and not too casual either, it was just right. And thank heavens I wasn’t able to resist buying a stunning pair of bamboo earrings that was on sale last week. The earrings will give my dress a touch of glamour and drama and I am pretty sure I will look fabulous wearing it. Now I just have to wait for tonight and say hello to a wonderful life.

Losing weight permanently is not an easy task. You need discipline, perseverance and change of lifestyle. You cannot just deprive yourself with sweets and meats today then go on bingeing the next. You have to do it everyday; that is, if you want to keep the weight off.

I am one of the many who decided to have a change of lifestyle to lose the pounds and keep it off. I am into organic food now. I also grow my own vegetables, herbs and certain medicinal plants. And if you are also into this, you may want to invest in a spice mill grinder. You see, based on my experience freshly ground herbs and spices taste better. More importantly you are assured of its quality as it didn’t go through certain “natural” processes in the food factory.

The grinder is really versatile. You can use it when you are cooking and even for making herbal medicines and crafts! I tried drying and powdering certain medicinal plants as a remedy for my cough one time and the grinder was really useful and it gave me control on how finely I wanted the plant to be ground. Believe me, after you tried it you wouldn’t be able to live without it anymore.

I had this ultimate crush since freshman year, I am now a junior by the way, and his name is Jake. He is gorgeous. He has dark hair, deep brown eyes, killer smile. He is a jock of course and unfortunately, apart from random greetings once in a blue moon, I highly doubt that he cares if I existed. And I am not just being negative, I am being realistic. I forgot to mention that Jake has a steady girlfriend, a very beautiful girlfriend – Stephanie. She is like a model straight from a fashion magazine and to think that she is only in high school. Appearance-wise Jake and Stephanie look perfect together.

But I have been totally into Jake for almost three years now and I cannot forgive myself if I didn’t do all I can to get him to notice me before we graduate. So I need to be like Stephanie if I want him to notice me. If I am really serious about this I have to buy designer fashion accessories. I can no longer be seen wearing sloppy clothes, shoes and bags. I need to be the most fashionable version of me. I need a total make-over and I need it fast. Now, I just have to convince my mom to “finance” the new me. But I think that she would agree to it considering that she has been bugging me for years to act and dress up like a lady. I should have been a dutiful daughter and listened to her a long time ago.

I am single, in my early 30s, and I a just earned my first handsome paycheck as a published writer. And no, even if I don’t have any relationship or a family of my own, contrary to popular belief, I am happy. I have never envisioned myself as a wife. I always thought that there are women who are meant for “wifehood” and mother hood but I always knew that I am not one of those women. I just wanted to be an accomplished writer, have my own house, and to sit in a cozy chair during winter, reading a book in front of a warm and crackling fireplace.

I already achieved my first goal; I am, at least in my standards, an accomplished writer. I write for a living and rather comfortably at that, so I believe I am doing well in that area. And just recently, to fulfill my second life goal, I bought this house in Dallas, Texas. A huge old-fashioned brick house with a fireplace, which is a prerequisite for achieving goal number three. Just when I was so close to achieving all of my goals in one year, guess what? The fireplace wasn’t heating properly! Good thing I found a Dallas fireplace service that fixed my fireplace in no time. I was thrilled; I just had the best winter of my entire life. I am living my dream life and loving it.

Whoever was it that said kitchen ceiling light fixtures are boring has been looking at the wrong websites and magazines. He is probably remembering the old common ceiling lights. In earlier times these were nothing more than a single incandescent bulb hanging from an electric wire with a pull-down string for a switch, or perhaps a flush-mounted florescent with only a thin sheet of metal for a frame and a ballast to keep it lighted.

Times have changed. Today, designers of lights and lamps have created a myriad of attractive and appealing styles. These could be island lights where a pole suspended from the ceiling is attached to a horizontal bar which supports several cased lights, the case, or course, coming in a variety of designs. There are also pendant lights where a single powerful bulb is concealed by an inverted dome of frosted glass serving both as a light diffuser and décor. The list is endless.

The use of brushed stainless steel, bronze, nickel, and wood in combination with clear, frosted, etched, or colored glass of all shades and shapes to encase the light bulbs has given elegance to ceiling lamps. Some even use faux leather to shade the bulb, and which could be hand-painted for a truly unique look.

These new designs have given life and color to the old drab and dreary ceiling lights. They definitely can add all the class you want in your kitchen.

There are almost 20 million shipping containers worldwide. These continually travel from state to state, or from country to country. They can be hauled by trucks, trains, or loaded into planes and ships. They usually come in 10, 20, and 40 feet variants, although some may be as long as 48 to 53 feet in the United States. There are also special types such as a refrigerated version which is designed to transport perishable materials such as food or medicine, or insulated containers which are for items that need to be protected from extreme temperatures.

For a company that owns or rents out huge numbers of shipping containers, it is most helpful to have in place a reliable container tracking system. It is certainly not enough to have a list of the containers that left the garage and to forward this list to their expected recipients. A hundred things can happen along the way. Containers have been known to be lost or to be delivered elsewhere. Others may have been delivered but after great delays. Still others have been pilfered with only half their contents being delivered.

With an efficient tracking system, managers can immediately determine the exact location of their container or if there is any deviation in its expected route. This should alert them to any possible untoward or undesirable incidents.

Planning a wedding is such a hassle. It is extremely stressful. It’s no wonder that several brides have transformed into “Bridezillas” while preparing for their weddings.

Now that I am planning my wedding sans a wedding coordinator, I vowed to myself not to turn into a screaming and whining monster bride. A week after, I admit I had given up. No woman will ever be the same or sane after preparing for her own wedding. To keep my sanity and reputation intact, I asked my closest cousin to help me with the wedding preparations including the guest list, bridesmaids’ gowns, and cake and venue reservation.

Well… So far, so good. My fiancé and I just enrolled ourselves for our wedding registry. I do hope I get that Cuisinart toaster oven I have been wanting for years as well as those wonderful china. We’ve also made a final decision regarding the wedding invitation layout and the motif too.

It was hard to relax and sleep at night when the wedding date gets closer and closer. One time, I had to get up at two in the morning just to check my seating arrangements. I would not want my Aunt Grace to sit near Aunt Mildred or they would be bickering and crying all night.

Now that I am already working with a stable job, I had the luxury to have a hot built in my own house. Seriously, I never thought that owning a hot tub was really hard work. When I thought that I only had to clean it once in a while, I also had to use hot tub chemicals in it. The main purpose of the chemicals is to make sure that my water is sanitized. The primary chemical that I keep is chlorine. Same as its use for pools, chlorine maintains the cleanliness of the water keeping it bacteria free.. Ozone on the other hand, oxidizes the water in the hot tub to keep it clean. Just make sure that you have an ozonator so that your ozone will be activated. Mineral systems are usually used inside filter cartridges so that the hot tub is immediately cleared out of foreign substances. You can now enjoy a cleaner how tub with these.

A lot of modern women and girls wear charm bracelets. Most of them love the wrist jewelry because of their good looks and attractive designs, unlike their older sisters who used them because of their purported powers to bring good luck and ward off evil. Perhaps they do bring good luck but probably it is only because they make the wearer feel good about having something beautiful on themselves. Feeling good surely shunts evil.

This piece of jewelry consists of a chain made of precious or at least semi-precious metals. Thus you can have a silver, gold-plated metal, platinum, or gold charm bracelet. Using small jump rings, different charms can be attached to the chain. Charms are also made of the same metals as the chain. Some charms may also be studded with precious stones. These stones include rubies, sapphires, and even diamonds.

A great advantage of this type of jewelry is that you can choose which charms you want to attach to your chain. And if you want some variation in your item, you can always purchase new charms and add or swap them with those already attached to the chain. There are countless variations of charms. They can depict animals, sports, zodiac signs, musical instruments, professions, etc. The list is almost endless, thus making charm bracelets a most versatile jewelry that is also perfect for gift-giving.

As a family, we often need to do things together. It could just be exchanging stories during dinner, watching a blockbuster movie or enjoying a baseball game at the stadium. Frequent interactions and encounters encourage open communications. When family members talk and share stories, this allows closeness and bonding.

Nowadays, parents are often too busy to talk to their kids. They often leave the house early and return late at night. The kids too, especially the older ones, are so engrossed on video games, watching TV or going out with friends.

In order to bring back the closeness that you once had, it is recommended that you go on a family vacations once or even twice a year. You don’t have to worry about the cost because cheap family vacations are possible! You just need to research on different locations and alternatives that you and your family can enjoy. Check out different website on discounted airfares, hotel accommodations and tours. There are numerous resorts that offer packages to families including free meals, excursions and so much more.

Different family members call for different activities. Make sure the every member gets to do something during the vacation. You don’t want them to be grumpy and complaining all throughout.

Family bonding has never been so much fun and inexpensive. Book a family vacation now!