Gimme A Break

I have to admit I’m absolutely clueless when it comes to gold prices but I have a friend who’s always up to date when it comes to financial information such as the price of gold. I guess it’s all a matter of interest.

Even from our college days, this friend of mine has always been most interested in financials (runs in the family, it seems) and she’s always wowed us with her natural ability to spot gold investment opportunities and profited from them. That’s how she earned herself the nickname of the gold spot among our group of friends.

Lately the group of us met up for dinner and she graciously told us that if anyone of us needs to know the gold price or anything related to financial investments, we could always call on her for advice. She obviously is driving a nice expensive car while the rest of us, well, we’re still chugging along in our 10 year old vehicles .

• her daughter’s graduation
• weighing your options
• golden earfuls
• glimpses of doggie year
• fight or flee, that is the question

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Recently a friend of ours was persuaded by one of his friends to recommend him to an online sports betting site. The two guys and their friends have really been into the recent World Cup and I guess the momentum was just keeping them going.

Now they want to try their hand at other kinds of sports besides soccer. Like with anything else, it’s always best to do your homework so they’re off to read up more about baseball betting and others.

Our friend is, of course, into this for the sheer fun of it. He doesn’t bet very big and is happy with whatever he wins. His friend too gather over a beer and most times, drink as they discuss the odds. It’s all for fun on the weekends.

• where to find sports gear for your kids
• generous strangers
• book sales but
• the odds
• what’s up on The Tennis Channel?

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This is a sponsored guest post written by Memphis Travel on behalf of Memphis CVB. Post powered by Sponzai.

More than just the home of the blues and barbeque, Memphis gives you plenty of ways to play around, with fun things to do no matter who you are or what you like. Of course, if you’re into Elvis, rock-and-roll and mouth-watering ribs, you’ve got to check out Graceland, Sun Studios, and the Rendezvous. But Memphis has much more to offer than this holy trinity of southern culture, with enough to see, do and eat to make it the perfect location for your next long weekend getaway.

The families out there (or the wild at heart) should be sure to check out the Memphis Zoo, one of only four U.S. zoos with giant pandas. Recently ranked the #1 zoo in the U.S. by TripAdvisor.com, the Memphis Zoo lets you get up close and personal with the animal kingdom. And with the recent addition the Northwest Passage, home to Polar bears in a see-through underwater exhibit, and the zoo’s newest section, Teton Trek, kids and adults alike are certain to have a blast.

Don’t let your midtown experience stop at the zoo; the Cooper-Young and Overton Square neighborhoods are just down the street. Ask a local Memphian where to find a tasty bite to eat, great local music and ice cold beer, and they will probably direct you here. Speaking of beer … the environmentally conscious visitor can enjoy a locally brewed beer by Ghost River Brewing or walk through the natural landscape and educational facilities at the Lichterman Nature Center.

Memphis has museums for just about everything. From the Civil Rights Museum, Cotton Museum and Fire Museum in downtown to the Brooks Museum, Children’s Museum of Memphis and the Pink Palace Museum further east, the number of places to have fun while you learn are as bountiful as the barbeque restaurants. Families, friends, sports fans, history buffs, self-proclaimed food critics – Memphis has everything you need to keep everyone happy.

So when you visit Memphis, stay a few extra days. Even the locals don’t run out of things to do. And to make it easy, memphistravel.com is launching a new travel guide to help you plan your next vacation. Simply choose from a list of interests and you’ll be given a sample itinerary with lots of great ideas. You can also register for a chance to win one of twelve trip packages that include tours, gift certificates to Memphis’ favorite restaurants, hotel stays and more. Go to itinerary.memphistravel.com to get started.

• when the travel bug bites
• tongues on fire
• just in case
• my handy travel tips
• so who wants to go where again?

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We have another wedding to go to this weekend. Yes, it’s another cousin who is in his thirties and has endured much teasing in the family for still being single at this ripe old age! I know he was pretty peeved but he tried to put up with it all in good humor.

I think those relatives who laughed at him and teased him should be giving him gold coins as wedding gifts as a sort of compensation . I mean, the poor guy! It’s not like he wasn’t looking, he just hadn’t met the right girl yet. I’m so glad for him that he finally is getting married.

• is it like in the movies?
• food, favors and fun
• look who’s meaner now
• it’s all in the heart
• taking the headache out of gift-shopping

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Woot, the weekend is finally here again. So happy I got my groceries done early this week and managed to avoid the weekend rush. The only problem with shopping on a Friday though is that much of the produce has not been stocked yet and I couldn’t even find a decent potato as the baskets were empty. Can you believe that! Finally I left without getting everything I needed. What a bummer!

• pasta and potato week
• have a good weekend
• home more
• night laptop is out
• fever and flu

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In view of the current state of the economy, you will probably need a mortgage if you’re thinking of investing in a new home. I read that property prices in many areas are very low right now obviously compounded by the fact that some people may no longer be able to afford to continue making payments on their homes and are looking to sell.

So this is as good a time as any to pick up on these affordable prices on homes. This is exactly what I hear an acquaintance, who is a real estate agent, is trying to do. Since he’s an agent himself, he’s privy to some good properties which he himself then buys up, remodels and then resells them.

I hear from a mutual friend that he and his wife making some really good returns just by doing this. He has all the time in the world to be pursuing property all over the city since his children are grown and have careers of his own. So between him and his wife, they are buying up cheap property from people who default on their payment and then reselling them. A very enterprising couple in their retirement age, I would say.

• city living has its attractions
• got my house plan picked out but…
• celebrating family and good food
• train a happy dog in 15 minutes
• she brags like there’s no tomorrow

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The prices of everything have risen yet again and with that the crime rate. I walk by the jewelry stores and these days, they’re practically deserted when they used to be thronging before. I guess people are just wary about wearing gold and other jewelry as it’s rather unsafe to walk around wearing so much that glitters.

Now gold coins, on the other hand, are really good to have. You’re not walking around wearing them around your neck but they’re quietly sitting there as a very stable form of investment for you. It’s like growing money under your pillow and no one needs to know .

• weighing your options
• hopefully soon
• is it like in the movies?
• the necklace
• golden earfuls

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Almost all of the homes in my neighborhood seem to have wall mounted mailboxes. I never noticed until I decided our wall mount mailbox needed a coat of new paint. I can be such a dum-dum about noticing things sometimes .

At any rate, I looked around to see what kind of house mailboxes my neighbors have and I think wall mount mailboxes are definitely more lasting than the free-standing ones since we’re so prone to getting freaky electric storms! If the winds and rain can topple a tree, you can just imagine what might happen to that skinny pole.

Speaking of mailboxes,  I have a friend who simply loves walking out to her mailbox to find it crammed full of snail mail. If I’d known that earlier, I would’ve sent her those regular old cards instead of e-cards.

• classic mailboxes
• the sign-up dilemma
• do you accept credit cards?
• brandishing power tools
• big time party

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