AA Blog

This “family” thing is getting to be a lot of work.  I remember in college, car insurance was the only insurance expense I had.  Then after getting married and buying a house, home insurance was added to the mix.  Now, with kids I just had to go and get life insurance.

I don’t know what other insurance I will need to purchase in the next stage of my life. But I’m sure that somewhere, someone will have it available for me to purchase.  In reality though, these are essential investments that are required in the differing stages of our lives.

Lighting……I never ever realized how much this improves a room!!!

So, after we gout our ceiling fan, we were bitten by the “light bug”.  We are now looking into getting some more light fixtures.  My wife likes the Hinkley light fixtures, but I, being a USC fan and alumni, just had to check out the House of Troy lighting.  But, we finally ended up agreeing on the Quoizel lighting fixtures.

I can’t begin to tell you how much more enjoyable and comfortable it is to sit in a room that is well lit.  It has a calming effect and warmth that makes you want to just sit and relax.  I think because of our new lighting reading has become something we do more of…its got to be the lighting!!!

I think after the den, we will redo the lighting in the kids room and then our kitchen.

With all the foreclosures and credit problems on the forefront of the news nowadays, it would seem that investing in real estate is not the thing to do anymore….I however, strongly disagree.  Actually, I feel this is the BEST time to buy real estate as an investment or home!!

Although the conventional ways for purchasing real estate may be a little too risky at the moment, there are still a number of other ways to make these types of investments.  My cousin, a real estate agent, mentioned to me the other day, that there are a number of foreclosed properties that are available in the souther California are that are actually good bargains.  The only stipulation is that you need to have GREAT credit and/or cash.  So if you are like me and have been saving for ther right time…guess what? this is it!!!

California real estate has, and will always be prime for long term investments (and by long term, I mean at a minimum of 5 years).  If you have long term plans for investing in real estate, this is the best time to buy…Interest rates were cut again today!!! I think those who invest now, will be enjoying the returns on their real estate investments in 5 to 7 years from now.

So I am now trying to learn how to play tennis!!!  I think its a good sport to play now that Im no longer in my 30’s.  I need to still stay active and want to a sport where I can really get in a good workout.  So I have signed up for a couple of tennis lessons.

The first thing I needed to do, was to find a tennis store.  I did, and spent a good 3 hours on Saturday looking for things that I may possibly need to play this sport.  It sure wasnt like what I remembered about tennis equipment from when I was in high school.  Just like everything else nowadays, there are so many different make, manufacturers and specialty items to choose from, that it made my head spin.

A couple of things came to mind while I was shopping…..growing up, K Swiss tennis shoes were the brand that the serious tennis players I knew were into.  So, I tried on a pair and they felt really comfortable.  So comfortable in fact that I bought 2 pairs…one for walking around and the other for playing tennis.  After taking care of the shoes, shorts, shirt and balls, one thing (the most important thing) was left…..the RACKET!!!

I needed to get a racket the would feel comfortable in my hand…as I am new to this sport, I just felt that f the racket felt comfortable, I would be able to practice more, hold the racket the correct way and be able to develop a good swing for the game.  After testing out about 3 or 4 different kinds  I picked up on of the Babolat  Rackets.  WOW!!!! this racket felt amazing in my hand.  I was able to get a great natural and comfortable grip and the racket felt really solid in my palm. It was weird, but it seemed as though this racket required less effort to hold than the others…I know…that sounds weird, but it is true!!!

Now I think I have everything I need, so next week I will post  an update as to how my first lesson went!!!

With the craziness going on in the US economy today, many people are being affected in a very bad way. It seems a day does not pass without the news talking about how the number of “bad credit” consumers is growing at an alarming rate. Yet, people still need to have credit to purchase homes, cars and other things.

A website has finally been published which features credit cards, mortgages, loans, and resources for people with bad credit.  This site has companies that offer,Credit Cards, Home Loans, Auto Loans, Personal Loans and other services like Credit Reports and Credit Repair.

So we have decided to go on a family vacation to Italy. My wife has already started planning the trip. We got our plane tickets and are now looking into booking the hotels. We will be traveling throughout Italy and will need to stay in different hotels in each city.

We looked at a lot of hotels in Italy and decided that we need to have a central location that will be close to Venice, The Famous monuments and the Sistine chapel.

We will also be traveling to Rome so we needed to do some research on the hotels in Rome. Again, keeping in mind the fact that we want to visit The Colosseum, the Vatican and the Trevi Fountain we need our accommodations to be in a good location and easily accessible.
And to finish our tour of Italy, we will need to look into hotels in Venice as well as hotels in Milan. In Venice, at a minimum, we plan on going to Piazza San Marco, going on the Gondola Ride and visiting St Mark’s Basilica. And in Milan we will go to the Cathedral of Milan, the Leonardo da Vinci Museum and Castello Sforzesco.
All in all, I think this trip will be FUN!!!! what do you think?

If you love coffee as much as I do and drink it as often as I do, then you will need a one cup coffee maker. I have found this to be the ABSOLUTE BEST way to have a great cup of coffee every time.

I think the fact that you can get a fresh brewed cup of coffee every time you have a cup is well worth the extra wait. Specially if you have a one cup coffee maker. The brewing time is quick and the quality and taste of the coffee you will have is amazing!!!!

Give it a try!!!! Take it from me, I’m a coffee fiend…

Earlier this week I wrote about my having to do some renovation in my home…..I didn’t realize that mailboxes were such a difficult thing to find at the local stores.  So, like a good techie I checked online and found a distributor site that offers both residential mailboxes as well as commercial mailboxes; they even offer curbside decor products.

They had so many items to choose from.  Their site was like a candy store for mailboxes.  I was able to find a mailbox that was very unique and looked cool:

I was even offer free shipment on this product!!! which I took.  I have always been a believer in the fact that DETAIL are what makes the difference….and in this case it was so true.  A small thing like changing the mailbox made such a huge difference in the way my home looks from the outside… My next project will be adding some curbside decor products!!!

So I now have a Mac…..Its cool and I love it…but ever since I switched to the MAC I had not been able to play online poker .

All that changed recently when I stumbled across Mac Poker. This site is a portal that provides News, Links and information on online casino gaming for Macs. They have LOTS of information specific to Online Gaming and Macs. And they have special offers and bonuses if you sign up to sites like PACIFIC POKER, FULLTILT POKER or POKER STARS. In short, Mac Casino provides an index of Mac online casino sites and where to play online casino games for Macintosh OS.

There is a LOT of cool information on this site and the content is always fresh!!!! I spent over 1 hour on the site when I first saw it…..and now I have it bookmarked too!!!

Check out the Multi-Table Poker Tournaments at Mac Poker Online….Its like Mac Vegas in your own home!!!

With the holiday season finally over I now have time to go over my bills and get a full understanding of the damage the “gift giving” season had on my bank account.  As always, I was expecting the worst….but to my surprise the reality is that it wasnt that bad considering the things I purchased.  For example:

1. Purchased a DELL PC for my brother.

2.   Got NBA Gear for my nephew.

3.   A coffee machine for my parents.

4.  NFL Jerseys for my sons.

5.  Purse for my wife … and

6. with the tax season right around the corner, I picked up Turbo Tax for me.

After all that was said and done, the discounts I was able to get from CouponChief really made the difference…and I didnt even have to deal with the craziness of having to go to the malls and stand in line.