I went to a retirement celebration yesterday evening for one of my college professors. I am so glad I made a point to go. I saw several friends that I played college ball with and all my PE professors were there. It was really good to catch up with where everyone is now and what's going on in each others lives.

Showing appreciation for those who have helped to shape our lives is important. Sometimes we don't realize what an impact we've had on others. We might never know that if they don't tell us.

Mother's Day is coming soon. How often do you talk to your mother? Does she live near you or far away? My mother lives about 3 hours away. I usually get to see her once or twice a year. Our hectic schedules keep us from seeing each other more often. I try to talk to her at least once a week. Usually I call her on the weekends. She keeps me updated on my nephews and how their ballgames are going. Sometimes she has a scoop from my sister who lives in California. We don't get to see her very often. But we are making plans for a visit this summer. My niece graduates from high school. It's always a momentous occasion when one begins a new chapter in the book of life.

Any way, back to mothers and keeping in touch. Make sure that you make the time and effort to talk on a regular basis. My dad has been gone for 8 years now, and I am glad that I talked to him every week in his last few years. I guess I realized at some point that they won't be around forever. Of course, we don't want to think about it. Daddy used to tease us by saying that someday he'd be dead and gone and we'd regret whatever it was that we didn't want to do, such as give him a kiss or something that required we give him our attention. We have to appreciate the time that we do have with our loved ones, because once they're gone, there's no going back to fix things.

You know, I really think I'll try to get that Mother's Day card in the mail early this year so she'll actually have it on Mother's Day. That would be novel, as I'm the world's worst at remembering to send cards. Who knows, maybe I'll get motivated and send her a gift even. No matter what though, I know that she knows that I love her. Don't forget about your mother this Mother's Day!

Just because I have 2 teenage daughters, doesn't mean I'm an expert on the subject. In fact, far from it. But, I deal with teenagers every day of the school year. I teach middle school health. We touch on some very difficult subjects for some of these kids to deal with. I don't always know what their background is, so I try to be sensitive to their needs as we discuss these delicate issues.
What bothers me sometimes is how callus they seem to each others feelings. It's easy for them to laugh and make fun of things they feel uncomfortable to talk about. But they may not realize someone else really is dealing with that issue in real life and doesn't think it's so funny. Many don't have the ability to empathize someone else's feelings.

But sometimes, they surprise me. A student that may have always come across as self assured and in control of everything can put themselves in someone else's shoes and become compassionate when you would least expect it. I guess my advice is just to be open to teenagers so that they know when they are ready to talk, they can come to you. Don't be quick to judge. Listen to their concerns without saying anything. Sometimes you can help them come to the right decision about the issue just by asking them questions and allowing them to sort it out themselves.

Kids nowadays aren't afraid to ask you anything...of course I teach health, so the questions I get might be a little tougher than you might have to deal with. I don't always have the answers and I let them know that. Some problems aren't cut and dry. They may have to do a little soul searching and find out what is really important to them.

I was so excited when I went to the mailbox on Saturday and there was my gift cards for my online offer through IDeal! I was very suprised that it came so quickly as I only began the process on 3/10/09! For those of you doubters out there, it is legit. Go to Carrie's blog http://www.moneysavingmethods.com/ to get all the particulars on the offers as she does a great job explaining the process. I had looked at these offers in the past, but was scared off by the money put into the offers, but Carrie explains in detail the best way to go about keeping your original output low. I have kept on with a couple of the offers like Doubleday Book Club and Holsted Jewelers. I figure to use some of the product for Christmas or birthday gifts. I can't wait to do another offer now! I'm hoping to buy most of my Christams through the products and use of the gift cards I can get this way.

Sorry it's been so long since my last post, but it gets crazy around our house this time of year. Since my husband and I both teach, things are winding down with the end of year activities. He is the senior sponsor, so he deals with the senior trip and has to get things ready for graduation. Not to mention he coaches the track team.

I was planning on doing another online offer. This time through either Netblue or Nuitech, but so far I haven't found an offer that works for me. With Nuitech, you have to keep all but 2 of the offers for at least 60 days and some of their offers are very expensive. Maybe I'll just wait awhile and see if something else comes along that works out better.

I have still been doing surveys and am anxious to see how that all pans out. I have tried 2 bank offers and so far they both seem great. I've even done a little bit of Christmas shopping through cashbaq.com and at scholastic.com on recommendation of Carrie. Check out their sales and 75% off sections. You never know what you'll find. I did get my $50 rebate back from Verizon Wireless on my new cell phone. I'll put that in with my secret stash and save it for a rainy day.

I've been checking out several sites for taking surveys. Some of the sites that seem to be pretty good are:
Vindale Research - They claim to pay between $5 - 75 for each survey you complete. I made $5.00 today for doing research on a credit check company. It was pretty interesting. When you do these types of activities you have to make sure to mark down the date you need to cancel by if you are joining something.

I get a lot of opportunities to do surveys for Survey Spot. I'm not sure how good the pay out is on it. I'll let you know when I get rewarded in the future. Another site is zoompanel.com. On this site, you get points for surveys and then cash out for products.

Send earnings is another site that you may do surveys, but you can also earn money by reading emails and playing games. Check it out by clicking on the send earnings icon on the sidebar of my blog. This pays out at $30.00.

Next time I'll discuss the affiliates that can be added to your blog for another way to make money. Keep on using those coupons and hitting those sales to save money also. With the economy the way it is we can use every bit of savings we can find!

Today is Easter Sunday and we had a great service this morning. Our church is really trying to reach out to those in need of a church in our community. We had a special service held in the high school cafetoium. There were 300 people present which is about twice the number we usually have. The place was pretty full. We would have never been able to get that many people in our church building or even to find parking places for everyone. It was an awesome service.

The praise band did a great job and Shawn, our preacher, always has a fantastic sermon. Today was different though because of the cardboard testimonies that were given after the sermon. It was just so touching. I had tears rolling down my cheeks most of the time during this part. It just brings to your attention how God works in other peoples' lives. The young people who gave their testimonies were brave and sincere in sharing their struggles. It was just a great service. All the glory to God!