Annie, when you start using your walking stick try to switch arms to an equal amount of arm strokes on each side. I used a tall walking stick in my old neighborhood that had miles of trails. You will be surprised at how you can do some serious upper body toning with a light weight stick over time. If you donâÂÂt switch back and forth your upper muscles will become imbalanced and you will become noticeably more toned on one side. Also, try to gripe the stick in a way that disassociates your trapezoids for a nicer look. Unless you have a very long neck over developed trapes donâÂÂt look great on a women in my opinion. It gives more of a head sitting on shoulders look. If you practice with where you are griping you can tone your arms but also tone your back in a way that will give an illusion of a smaller waist. You can also go between using short strokes and very long strokes and use different muscle fibers. . And, of course you already know that you will burn many more calories this way. This post was edited by jterrilynn on Tue, Dec 23, 14 at 12:20

$5 a gal is around the corner again, when diesel goes over $4.25 everything will increase in price due to increased fuel surcharges. in 2008 every shipper got their surcharge increase and most (including us) will not raise freight till diesel goes over its' high in 2008. that said we all knew this day would come, so i don't know why everyone isn't prepared? i downsized my grand cherokee 2 yrs ago to a ford escape even thou i only want a range rover. my next suv is an Audi Q7 super diesel, much better for the environment and gas mileage is high too. i only drive m-f & some sat's 8 mi each way for work and on my way home i pass every imaginable store and multiples of them even, to run errands. if it's not on my route home it doesn't get done, it's a time & efficiancy issue for me. my DH would like to move next to acreage(were are orlando burbs), not a priority for me at all, i want city life but i don't need to worry too much because he also refuses to commute to much LOL. the people who would not be happy about gas costs are those outside of city living or those where public transportation is non-existant or poor. orlando burbs have poor bus service, my 8 mi drive is 45-60 min on the bus LOL. the gov just killed the lilght rail train and will probably go after the commuter rail next. when that happens we will probably ditch this place for something w/ a better future. w/o great public transportation, any area is doomed to fail in the future due to our dependence on oil. there are few rails in FL and that adds costs significantly to simple things like groceries, look up zipcode 32779 an orlando burbs at our local grocery store Publix and look at costs LOL. even when i am in downtown chicago or zionsville IN both upscale places to live, groceries, especially meats, are alot cheaper there than orlando ~ liz

Don't most people do it the other way? Don't they refinance to pull out some cash and do the remodeling? My investments are sensitive to interest rates in a different way. I make money when they fluctuate. This past 10 years has been awful locked to one interest rate and worse locked in at such a low interest rate. Hindsight being what it is I should have changed, but I thought the economy would get back to normal long ago.

Fun! Anxious to see you, It looks like more fun than my day getting ready ... I finished laundry, packed, cleaned bathrooms, washed floors and vacuumed carpets and took the dog for a walk. But I am ready to go to the airport after my shower - WOOHOO!!!