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When cooking for one, do you find it difficult to maintain a good diet and not waste food? Check out this website for some great ideas.

This website provides articles, not only about cooking for one, but topics like Being Prepared for an Emergency with Advance Health Care Directives, Living Trust when it's a Must, What to Tell a 12-Year Old Grandchild about Family Finances, Being a Senior Citizen Has Its Advantages, a lot of good information on credit cards, living within your means, Power of a Rocking Chair (sounds good to me) and a whole lot more.

As we celebrate our nations birthday, I find myself reflecting on my experiences and realizing that, although presently ailing, this is still the greatest nation on this planet. I am a little disturbed at the nature of some emails I have received and many rumblings throughout the land. It is everyone's right, in this great land, to express his/her opinion, but I fear that many are grumbling and actually delighted that our new president is having problems. Is it racism? Is it conservative vs liberal? I don't know the answer, but I fear that there is a movement toward rebellion. Of course, that is their right also, but I am leaning toward supporting our president and trying to cure our ailing system.

As I observed our small-town independence day parade and the display of our flag over the weekend, my heart swelled with pride. Everyone seemed to be truly patriotic and proud of our independence day. But, on Tuesday it will be back to business as usual. Do we celebrate because we really support our nation or is it just a big party? I admit that I like a party as much as anyone and I truly enjoyed our week-end celebration.

I really don't wish to be confrontational but I do not support our ever increasing national debt and I feel that we must tighten our belt and do something about it. None of us want to give up anything but how else can we balance our budget? In our own family budgets, when we spend more than we earn, most of us try to decrease our luxury spending. Of course, some just pull out the old credit card, just as our nation has been doing. But there comes a day of reckoning. The credit card bill must be paid and spending must be curtailed. Not an easy thing to do.

These are difficult times and the piper must be paid. We must all sacrifice a little and accept some higher taxes and some cuts in the luxuries we enjoy. I feel that hating our president and spouting rebellion is not the answer.

Now that the last offspring has left the nest, you may be thinking “We don't need this big house anymore and our equity would be a nice boost to our retirement fund. We could be just as comfortable in a smaller home and maybe be a little closer to social and medical facilities.”

Many soon-to-be retiring couples plan to trade their no-longer-needed large home for a less expensive, smaller home or condo and use the excess equity for retirement funds. If you are one of those couples, don't be too hasty. It seems that the current housing crash has hit the wealthy a little harder than the middle class and those smaller homes are often nearly as expensive as the bigger homes. In addition, the more expensive homes usually take longer to sell and usually don't bring the higher price they should. To find that lower-cost smaller home you may have to move some distance from your current home.  Maybe that's good, maybe bad.

In the current economy, another problem may complicate the issue. There is a trend toward the kids moving back home. If that might be your case, you may need that larger home. While having the kids, and grand-kids, back home might not be one of your fondest dreams, it could lead to some great times. Too late, many of us find that we did not spend enough time enjoying our kids and having them back home could give us a reprieve. Not to mention the joy of having the grandchildren around.  Perhaps that wouldn't be so bad.

I have just been reading my granddaughter's blog and she has been having “one of those days”. You know, when you feel down and nothing seems to be going right? Well, I have to tell you, her blog is so inspiring to me that I simply must share. She has published a list of 25 things she doesn't want you to know about her. That takes a lot of guts and I am so proud of her. Her blog is basically a description of her walk with God and she does it so well. I can relate to many of her “-things I don't want you to know about me......”, but I don't think I am brave enough to publish my list, or even put it in writing. She challenges her readers to share something we really would rather not reveal. It is good therapy to share and it could lead to resolution of those problematic areas of our lives..

I am a bit timid about discussions on religion because my faith is so personal and private. I guess that is one of my hangups. So often discussions on religion can become confrontational and I don't like confrontation so I guess that could be number one on my list. I think her list is so inspirational and that her entire blog is so well done that I definitely recommend reading it. It is not a pushy evangelistic blog—just a nice, but honest assessment of her relationship with God.

Go to http://melindatoad.com/2010/05/24/25-things-i-dont-want-you-to-know-about-me-or-the-ones-i-am-willing-to-share-that-is.aspx for a nice read. It could change your life and provide a means of having non-confrontational discussions.

Have you ever seen an Indian Head Cent? Unless you are a senior citizen or are an avid coin collector, the odds are that you have not. I am 75 and have seen only one.

If you have an interest in the Indian Head penny, visit www.icoincollect.com to read about the Indian Head Cent and numerous other articles about coin collecting and related subjects. This website discusses such topics as Silver or Gold, Tips for Buying Gold, Tips for Coin Collectors, Gold at Auctions, Ounce of Silver, Price of Gold Per Troy Ounce, and Is Gold a Good Investment?

A visit to icoincollect.com should give you hours of enjoyment and enlightenment.