The Midlife Woman

Online Insurance Quotes Frustrating You too?

Midlife today is unquestionably different from those of our parents. The digital era provides us with new resources for just about everything. Nowadays we do business online, communicate with family and friends, and even purchase car insurance online. Prior to the digital era, shopping for insurance meant phone calls to multiple companies. Frustration no doubt settled in after hours were spent with varying, vague results. Do you remember a parent on the phone with an insurance company? Not a good memory as I recall. Shopping for insurance rates is not easy to begin with and the resulting quotes can vary quite extensively from company to company. With online car insurance quotes, the documents are immediately available for review. This relieves those extensive phone conversations and the chance for jotting down information incorrectly. Or perhaps not being able to read your own hand written insurance notes. How many times does that happen, right? Being a midlife geek type mom and...

Everyone claims to be a tad bit Irish on St. Patrick’s Day right? Being truly part Irish, a member of Verybestbaking.com, and a huge chocolate fan, sharing this easy mint pie recipe was almost obligatory! Mix It Up with Jenny is a twice-monthly column featuring quick and easy-to prepare recipes and baking tips. Jenny Harper is Consumer Test Kitchen Project Manager for the Nestlé Test Kitchens and VeryBestBaking.com. This month Jenny Harper suggests celebrating all things Irish with these simple ideas: –For the table, have the kids make some shamrock napkin rings and Irish flag placemats out of construction paper. Sprinkle some green confetti on the table and use a potted shamrock plant as a centerpiece. –Have a traditional Irish dinner with Irish stew and Soda Bread, a Shepherd’s Pie or, of course, Corned Beef and Cabbage. –For dessert, try this festive “Lucky You” Mint Pie. The creamy combination of mint and chocolate is so good that it’s bound...

Entering into midlife brings about a completely new set of life issues. One concern is elderly parents and their lack of understanding. Medicare can be a confusing conglomerate of health care insurance coverages. That comes to no surprise, as this is generally the case with most government programs. For seniors, making insurance decisions and sorting through Medicare coverage can be an overwhelming experience. This simplified outline will give a better understanding of the basic Medicare structure. Medical Parts Defined Medicare Part A is hospital insurance that deals with inpatient care, hospice, nursing homes, and home health care. Generally, those who have worked and paid into the fund receive this coverage without owing additional premiums. Medicare B is medical insurance to help cover medically necessary items such as doctor visits, outpatient care, home health services, and some preventative services. This coverage requires a standard premium for most people. Medicare Part C is also known as Medicare Advantage Plan. Oftentimes these...

Merely one third of American women are meeting their fruit and vegetable intake recommendations, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Along with vitamins, minerals and fiber, fruits and vegetables contain a type of phytonutrient called carotenoids, compounds that give fruits and vegetables their vibrant colors. Research suggests these colorful fruits and vegetables may offer breast, ovarian and other health benefits for women. The skin is most definitely a benefactor. Choosing to increase the amount of the fruit and vegetables richest in carotenoids is important for long-term preventative health among women as well as improving their skin. Where skin conditions exist, especially acne prone skin, the use of topical acne products may be necessary along with a fruit and vegetable rich diet. A few of these easy substitutions will “power up” your plate and add new flavors to your meal plan: Green: A serving of cooked kale provides triple the amount of lutein/zeaxanthin as a serving of raw spinach. Red:...

Money Saving Home Office Supply Tips

Saving a few dollars every week adds up fast. Spending just $40.00 per month on office supplies computes to $480.00 per year. What could you do with $240.00? 1. Do you have a beautiful or favorite wall calendar? How much did it cost? The average wall calendar starts around $6.99. Instead of buying a new one, print each month on plain paper and clip it to the lower half. That is almost 25% of the savings example. 2. Tri-fold brochures can be rather expensive. Consider buying double-sided rack card printing instead. Not only will they be a heavier paper stock than a brochure oftentimes a gloss finish is included. These can serve multiple purposes such as a brochure, rack card, or perhaps even a door hanger. The difference in price here is at least $20.00. 3. Keep a file of used printed pages next to the printer. Print on the blank sides of previously, unwanted plain paper...

Most natural sleep remedies are generally safe, having few to no side effect. As a result, consumers take them with confidence. Natural sleep aids are capable of relaxing tense muscles, soothe nerves, and decrease feelings of restlessness and anxiety, enabling one to fall asleep faster. Dr Sharon Plank, with the University of Pittsburgh Medical School Center for Integrative Medicine, advised WebMd valerian and melatonin have good scientific evidence backing them up. Because there are few adverse effects from valerian, it is a safe sleep aid endeavor, says Plank. To help to relax, the doctor also advises 100 to 400 milligrams of magnesium. “I don’t know of studies of magnesium for sleep, but in my experience it helps,” she tells WebMD. Melatonin is a natural hormone that helps regulate the sleep cycle. With advancing age oftentimes, natural melatonin levels are reduced. Stress is an immense upset to the body’s natural clock. Melatonin is a primary factor in keeping natural sleep...

The recent Google update prompted an outbreak of opinions from reputable bloggers on this issue of search results. Growmap.com has posted extensive information and strong opinions on the subject. Big money and content farms (aka spam web sites) are making search a dangerous endeavor for the unfamiliar user. Netaccountant.net shared a fabulous technical study with me in a comment - Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 12(3), article 3. Have you ever conducted a search for something like diet pills? My aunt used to be a diet pill user. Thankfully, the internet was non-existent then. The search phrase “diet pill” returns one or two reputable websites. The search returned about the same results on Google and Yahoo; however, the AOL search returned nothing but rubbish. Google search when limited to the last month, returned results similar to AOL. How could this possibly be helpful to the industry or the internet consumer? Moreover, where does that leave the not so perceptive user? I mean,...

There is no doubt the willow tree presents inspiration. This particular photo is breathtaking. Weeping willow trees always remind me of home. Growing up in the suburbs of Philadelphia, there was no lacking of trees. Our neighbors planted a willow tree along the shared drive. Long weeping branches and beautiful deep blue-green leaves, it was a site to behold. During World War I, Claude Monet painted a series of weeping willow trees honoring the French fallen soldiers. In addition to his son Michel serving in the army, Monet’s friendship and admiration for Clemenceau the leader of France at the time, resulted in these beautiful paintings. In 1923, he underwent two cataract operations. Rumor has it that the surgery allowed for viewing ultraviolet wavelengths of light normally excluded by the lens of the eye, thus affecting his color perceptions. It is also said that repainting occurred after his operations. Willow trees are native to China and very common in the Northeastern US. There...

Success is attainable for everyone. Rocawear was established in 1999 upon the dramatic success of rapper and co-founder Shawn “Jay Z” Carter. The apparel collection was designed to fit an urban lifestyle, and quickly became a target brand for street-savvy hip-hop consumers. Roc-A-Fella Records served as the initial launch pad to what is now an international brand of clothing. I am a Motown fan, an old skool r & b girl. Break dancing came about in my time. Raising children at the onset of the hip-hop phenomena, I cannot and did not support a lifestyle that endorses hate, the degrading of others, or the abuse of verbal freedom that SOME rappers engage in. Passing judgment, especially publically, would also be wrong. I digress. The Jay Z success story is truly amazing and worth sharing, an inspiration the hip-hop community can embrace. This Brooklyn born young man, raised in the projects by a single mom, achieved what many would classify as...

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Online Insurance Quotes Frustrating You too?

St. Patrick’s Day | Family Food Fun

Midlife Issues – Understanding Medicare

Vibrant Veggies Improve Womens Health

Money Saving Home Office Supply Tips

Natural Remedies – Melatonin Lavender

First Place Search – No Blue Ribbon

Childhood Weeping Willows

Success – Oh Yes You Can!

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