You think you have it all together… no major appliances have broken down… (“What about back in December when the A/C broke?” Mama sez, “I be callin’ that major.”  “Mama, that was in December, and it was the aircon and the furnace that broke, but December in Texas is not hot and we had a fireplace for that one chilly night,” I replied, “Now can I please finish my story???” “Harrumphf,” sez Mama.)

Now, where was I… right.. no major appliciance have broken down, the none of the kids are sick for a change… you actually got back a small refund from the IRS… you can sit back and enjoy that cuppa coffee or that adult beverage without guilt…

Then BOOM.. some one starts yelling about the sky is falling and you are yanked back to reality… wa-a-a-a-ay too fast for comfort… I had to sell my electric car because its range is only 90 miles and my husband was moved to a veterans home 200 miles away… and renting a car to go see him was costing ridiculous amounts of money. I bought the electric car when gas prices were high and they immediately dropped… So I traded my electric car for a hybrid to be able to use electric around town, and then gas on the long distances… And gas prices immediately jump… Apparently MY choice of car directly affects the price of gas…. sheesh…

Then I figured the price of “coin” had fallen pretty low so I bought some at the lower price…. BOOM.. drops even furtther… sheesh…. Apparently anything I purchase affects prices of “coin” also…

But you know what? No buyer’s remorse on anything. Not getting out of this life with my money intact, I’m enjoying the ride of both the hybrid and the “coins” and there is always tomorrow… the sky may fall today… but probably not tomorrow….

So, for now… K.I.S.S… and be good to each other….

Y’know… when we were young and stupid (“Don’t be sayin’ stupid, that be rude!!! “You’re right, Mama… sorry… I’ll rephrase that…) When we were young and inexperienced, we viewed our future, our love life, our family, our golden years through rose-colored glasses…

We would find our one true love, have a wonderful life (possibly with children), watch them grow up, have successful careers and families of their own… while we would grow old gracefully and, at some point, pass into whatever state you believe that follows one’s life.

But, as most of us have learned, nothing follows our original plans… We find that our Prince Charming is not our shining knight in armor.. not all our kids grow up to be successful, no matter how hard we try…our chosen careers downsize and leave us looking for work when we should be getting ready to retire… old age and sickness steal the joy from our Golden Years..

So, like when your computer freezes, you must reboot and try again… No one ever said life was easy and sometimes life seems to be downright impossible… Ok… so you didn’t really want to retire and “motorhome” throughout the entire country, stopping when you wanted and going where the road might lead you…  Finding new solutions to increasing age and illness and financial issues is now your biggest challenge… and that can be overwhelming to many people… You have to stop and take stock of your pluses and minuses and remap your future. Throwing up your hands and sobbing into the nearest pillow is NOT an option…. so I have been rebooting my personal life and seeking new solutions.. it’s not easy but then not much of life IS easy…

Like the most recent upheaval in online businesses is the suspending of Payza, then the renewal of PayPal’s attack against online businesses less than a year from the last attack that forced many TEs out of business.. STP is still not licensed everywhere… Dwolla, Skrill, Serve and a bunch of other payment options are not available around the world… and face it.. if we are running international businesses we NEED something available internationally…

We must branch out… we must find options that are good everywhere… that cross country borders and multiple languages… we must NOT put all our eggs in one basket ever again… but for now, I’m still liking crypto-coins… Still hesitant and not sure? You really needs to educate yourself…. there is no easier place to do that than https://bitcoinbully.io/texaspepper

Yes, that is my reflink and yes, you need to check it out… it is FREE and simply the easiest way to learn cryptocoins. Many easy-to-follow videos take you step by step to learn, earn and make use of this newest wrinkle in payments… Don’t think about it… just DO IT!

So, for now… K.I.S.S… and be good to each other….

You know there is more than one way to make meatloaf, right? (“Tain’t but one way to make GOOD meatloaf,” Mama grumbles. “Hush, Mama, different recipes for different folks…”) There is also more than one way to make money online… the newest rage is cryto-coins…

I know some of you have heard of  bitcoin and litecoin and so on…. some think that crypto is another flash in the pan so to speak, like the internet was being viewed back in the 90s.. Guess what? Crypto coins been around for at least three years that I have been saving it.

It’s NOT a scam, at least if you go with the good sites, and you CAN make money. I was just doing drips and figured I had about $100 without doing anything…. well, I went in to check and, after the BTC fork a few months back… I discovered I had more than $1,000.. yeah ONE followed by THREE zeros… awesome right? And all I did was CLAIM at some sites!!

Now, there are some risks, of course, but if you don’t bet the farm on your investment you CAN make some money… and most of the faucets don’t even ASK for an investment… that’s FREE money….

Want to learn more? Just click on that bitcoinbully banner and you can sign up for free… training is free… nothing to lose and so much to gain!

Well… what are you waiting for? Check it out!!!

So, for now… K.I.S.S… and be good to each other….

Was Santa Claus good to you this year? (“Since when ISN’T Santa good to you…” “Hush, Mama, that was a rhetorical question… Just let me finish!”)

Did you get a new cell phone or tablet for Christmas? So you’re looking at the new one and the old one looks pretty shabby but it still works…. Did you know you can DONATE that old cellphone or tablet, in working order or not, and get a tax credit? That sure would be better than trashing it or selling it for $20 somewhere.

There is an awesome non-profit group called “Cellphones for Soldiers” that will take old cellphones and tablets and turn them into phones, tablets and minutes for our soldiers!

There are easy directions right on the site with the necessary shipping labels to print out.. Just pay postage (that’s tax deductible also) and drop it in the mail.

Cell Phones For Soldiers began in 2004 as the idea of two patriotic kids who wanted to give back to the men and women who dedicate their lives to protecting us each and every day. To date the charity has provided more than 300 million Minutes That Matter to our troops serving around the world, and it continues Helping Heroes Home via emergency funds that so far has assisted more than 3,100 veterans and their families.

You can get details on their main website or go to their Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/JoinCellPhonesForSoldiers.

For tweeters, you can find them on Twitter at https://twitter.com/CPFSOfficial

It’s another feel-good organization….

So, for now… K.I.S.S… and be good to each other….

It’s that time of the year… Christmas is over and New Year’s is coming and you’re so busy you’ve almost lost track of what day it is… (“Bless yer heart,” Mama sez, “jus’ look at the date on the newspaper!” “I know, Mama, it is just a figure of speech.” “I didn’t figure y’all been that fur round the bend..” “Mama!!!”)

Ok, now as I was thinking before I was so rudely interrupted…. You probably all saw the meme on Facebook… but it’s true. It’s the holidays… the kids are out of school… distant relatives are here for a visit and the days all jumble together…

It’s true if you think about it… we are over-fed, over-partied and over tired… at least I know I am. Urged to make New Year Resolutions by advertising, I just want to kick back and not think about anything of importance.

But not everyone around the world has that luxury… in most countries, there is no time to party, overeat or just plain goof off… you don’t work, you don’t eat. And in some countries, even working 12 hours a day or more is still no guarantee that you can feed yourself and your family or keep clothes on your back or a roof over your head…

But there is a group where I have been loaning to individuals for several years now that can make a huge difference in their lives. No, you aren’t assigned someone, you get to chose where you want the loan to go and to whom. Maybe it is a woman in the Philippines who makes her living on a fishing boat and her story touches your heart… BAM…you send her $25 and, with others who have chosen her also, she reaches her goal and is able to buy new nets. This is just one example of the people you can help directly. Hard-working people who labor from dawn (sometimes before) until dusk and can barely make ends meet… not for lack of trying but for lack of resources or opportunities.

Instead of making some silly resolution for New Year’s, resolve now to get one less pizza delivered to your home and give someone somewhere around the world… a HAND UP, not a handout… You can use my reflink….

Then on New Year’s Day, you can know that you have already made a difference in the world… you can’t save the whole world… but if we all do our part, we can save a huge chunk of it….

So, for now… K.I.S.S… and be good to each other….

I’ve always cooked for my family… good wholesome nutritious food, mostly from scratch, and I have a reputation for being an excellent cook. I was the head cook at a Meals on Wheels program for a while, 80 main meals and 80 lunches and another 40 lunches for an adult day care program… five days a week with frozen dinners we made, going out on Fridays for the weekends.

The recipe “book” was a bunch of recipes, heavy on salt, margarine, roux and other not-so-good for you stuff… My first task was to rewrite the recipes, using their amounts as I had never cooked for 80 at a time before, into more nutritious meals for the mostly senior shut-ins, many with medical issues… (“Most y’all ever cooked fer wuz eight… leastwise y’all didn’t be makin’ the cookin’ times multiplied by ten!” Mama joked. “Hush Mama, I may have been born at night, but it wasn’t LAST night. I know how to multiply recipes! Can I finish?”)

So I went from cooking for four (two adults and two children) to cooking for 80 with only a baker to help. She made all the cakes, cookies, biscuits, muffins and pies from scratch, while I did the rest. I created the menus and many of the recipes, ordered the food, stored it when the shoppers brought it and prepared it. Our volunteers delivered it so every client had a hot meal by noon and a sandwich meal for later.

When we moved, I had to go from cooking for masses, back to cooking for four and later for two. But I still kept the same recipes, although pared down, and found ways to vary them. Except for my chocolate cake cravings…

Fast forward to this past year… my life has been a little crazed and I woke up one Sunday, realizing that I had promised a chocolate cake for a church luncheon… I had this new recipe I hadn’t tried yet and I had the ingredients… made it up, put it in to bake while I had breakfast and a shower.. and it was ready to go when I was… totally new recipe, untried… lol.. but it would get a good test!!

EASY PEASY SHEET CAKE

1 box cake mix (chocolate fudge)

1 can pie filling (cherry)

3 eggs

Combine the three ingredients well, pour into 9″ X 13″ glass dish and bake at 350 degrees F. for 30 minutes.

Dude, that cake disappeared like Grant took Richmond (historical reference meaning it went FAST!)

No need to frost/ice it but you can if you wish…. you can also do any combination of cake mix and pie filling flavors… e.g. vanilla cake mix and apple pie filling or blueberry pie filling. Nothing can be easier or simpler… (“Unless y’all had stopped at the store and bought one of them ready-made jobs… ” “Hush, Mama, you’re missing the point!”)

The point is you don’t always have to do a lot of extra work if you can find a shortcut! For example, do you want to know how to make the best of your time online without doing the trial and error method? Try the lesson plans at ClickTrackProfit  or learn how to make lists that pay for themselves in a few short weeks at TE ListBuilder. If you still need help, you can get it at the NetMarketingForum free to join with all kinds of help available!! I’ve been around for a few years and I am STILL learning on a daily basis!

So, for now… K.I.S.S… and be good to each other….

The REAL work begins….

There is always a big dog and pony show when a site or program launches…. Everyone jumps on board, reacting to the enthusiasm of site or program owners… It’s always the biggest… best… newest… most wonderful thing since sliced bread… (All y’all be needing is a nice sharp knife to slice bread…. Hush, Mama, it is just an expression… Hurumpf! Don’t make no sense to me… Ok, Mama, please give me a chance to explain!!)

But every once in a while, something new and good DOES come along.. and after the original furor (and dust) settles, you begin to see the value of this newest “big deal”…

For example, this TE ListBuilder… Blain has been working on for “years”, but it recently came into fruition.. Sure it exploded on the TE scene with all the customary celebration.. Many people joined immediately, joined teams and started advertising and heaping praise on it… But, as the dust settles, some people are finding the concept difficult.. others are not willing to put in the work it takes… and others, not making a million in the first week, have lost interest…

Seriously? Did you learn to talk in a couple of weeks… or how about learn to walk in a couple of weeks… learn a new language in a couple of weeks??? Nope, not unless you are some kind of freaky genius…

Do you want to be a “penny clicker” all your life, or are you serious about actually making some money, paying some bills, following some dreams?

The TE ListBuilder is a site to join. Blain has a ton of videos to teach you ALL you need to know in simple little bursts, TASKS, if you will, to learn at your own pace… It’s NOT rocket science… you don’t need a degree in computer technology… you just have to follow the path that Blain has set for you….

Well, what are you waiting for… get off the fence, go sign up and learn to use TEs the way they are supposed to be used!!!

So, for now… K.I.S.S… and be good to each other….

It’s true…. show Mama a “hard sell” and she’ll turn the channel… (“Yup, don’t nobody pushes Mama to buy ANYthing…” Hush, Mama, I’ll tell them….)

But even Mama likes to do things the easy way… and what could be easier than following a list? And when that list is almost handed to you on a silver platter, what could be easier… maybe an “easy button” like the old Staples “easy button”? You got it…Sign up is a breeze and it won’t cost you a thin dime or even a fat nickel… it is THAT easy to learn to build your lists and actually make more than dimes or nickels with traffic exchanges… well, maybe all y’all need more than an easy button… how about a YES button…

So there ya be…. that was easy enough… Wait? You want to know what you just signed up for, even if it is free?

Fair enough… two quiet movers and shakers in the TE industry (Blain Jones and Shane Bost) have put together a new program, evolved from their old TePays, and have named it, TEListBuilder…. You follow their training and tasks, and before you know it.. you will be rocking listbuilding and wondering why you ever thought it was so hard….

There are three levels of membership, so you can grow with your knowledge and lists… Just hit the easy button below and get started now!!

Mama thanks ya… and you will be thanking Mama!!

So, for now… K.I.S.S… and be good to each other….

Murphy’s Law.. anything that CAN go wrong, WILL go wrong… followed by Sadie’s corollary: And it will go wrong at the worst possible moment! (“Y’all can’t just lay that out there like dead rat, you gotta tell ’em what happened…” Okay, Mama, give me a minute.. it’s just a little embarrassing…)

Why is it so hard to admit that you have made a mistake? Does it hurt our self-image that we screwed up? Are we afraid people will think less of us if we admit to making a mistake?

So, this is what happened… Late (probably my first mistake) last night, I went to install a new mod on Pistol-Packing-Mama… Get the Spot… a nice way for y’all to get a banner seen right then and there.. in the middle of the surf window!! Got a new program you want to advertise.. awesome.. BAM.. right in everyone’s face as they surf…

In theory, it is an excellent idea… Each member level gets its own special bonus… view someone else’s banner and get the opportunity buy that spot for themselves…

*sigh* In theory.. one puts in the correct numbers and every one is happy… *sigh* So did I do that??? I wish… one upgrade got 150 banners and $150 for viewing a 10 second ad… Did I realize that? NO… I had some one check it to make sure it worked.. it worked but she was NOT the upgrade level with the mistake… So, I blithely went to bed…

Early this morning before church, I hopped on the computer to check and almost fainted with requests for withdrawals of up to $600!!! Yikes!!! I also found a whole bunch of tickets telling me I had screwed up… lol  Fortunately there were more tickets than withdrawal requests.

Found my mistake immediately and corrected it.. HOW did I miss an OBVIOUS error last night??? So I answered tickets and requests and took myself off to church. Then afterwards, I spent the afternoon fixing all the errors and apologizing to members. Most all of them laughed with/at me and together we got their accounts back to normal.

I swear if I ever install a new mod at 3 a.m. again, Mama will be beating me with a stick…. (“Y’all gots THAT right, Missy” “Hush, Mama, I didn’t do it on purpose!)

Happily my members are not unhappy with me.. well, except for two I haven’t heard from yet… but the rest appreciated my honesty and apology. No one is perfect, they all told me, and mistakes happen… The ancient Romans had a phrase for it… Mea culpa..

Mea culpa, mea culpa… it’s much easier to say the older you get.. lol.. don’t be afraid to do something for fear of making a mistake.. We LEARN from our mistakes and we GROW from our mistakes. Keep learning and keep growing!

So, for now… K.I.S.S… and be good to each other….

Sadly, my Mr. Neato has sucked up his last dust bunny and I have a new resident robot vacuum cleaner. This one must be female though, and prolly a ditzy blonde at that… Have to name this one, it’s a roomba… maybe MizBot…

Whereas Mr. Neato ran in nice neat rows, MizBot runs in ditzy circles all around the room… I keep checking on her to make sure she isn’t missing anything. I will say she is faster and quieter than Mr. Neato was.. (“Typical man,” Mama sez, “always makin’ noise!” “Hush, Mama, that’s rude and we have a lot of male readers!” “Humfph,”  Mama replied but settled down…) And until I can get her synced to my phone so I can set her schedule, I will have to push her buttons, manually… no biggie!!

And I have to learn her language of beeps and bips and tones, she apparently doesn’t understand my language when I tell her, “You got caught under that dresser two minutes ago, so go clean elsewhere”…. Life! Always a learning experience!

But isn’t that true? We are always learning from even before we are born (hearing our mother’s heart beat and tummy rumbles from the inside and being comforted by the sounds) until the day we die! No one starts as an expert, we are all newbies at some point, and if we don’t continue to learn we will stagnate!!!

We all need to learn… many of the TEs have member chats in Skype at no cost that you can sign up for through the individual sites. Most of the TEs have chats activated so you can ask for help while you are surfing… and there are specialized chats for TE owners  and CTP team members and Zubee teams. Never be in the dark about something, find a chat, ask your questions and keep learning!!

So, for now… K.I.S.S… and be good to each other….