Maybe YOU can be the one to give someone that lift.

The new year and decade can be a fresh beginning for personal goals, priorities and ways to make a difference in the world.

The movie and book, Every Monday Matters, puts into action the idea of making a difference by offering one activity for each of the 52 Mondays. Watch this 3 minute movie to get inspired about how to be involved in making a positive impact in the lives of those around you and the world!

So take a minute to watch… no, take 3 minutes.

Here’s to a fantastic 2010!

Thanks go to Angie for this one:

It’s said that you can never have too many friends, but Christmas was just a week away and I had five people left to shop for on my Christmas list and only three dollars to my name. How do you tell you mother, brother, and three friends that you can only spend sixty cent on each of them?
“Let’s set a price limit on our gifts this year,” I suggested to my best friend, Joanie.
“That’s a good idea,” Joanie agreed. “How about nothing over five dollars?”
“How about nothing over sixty cents?” I felt like the biggest cheapskate in the world.
“I guess this is where I’m supposed to say it’s not the gift, it’s the thought that counts,” Joanie smiled. “But don’t blame me if all you get is a stick of gum!”
It is almost impossible to buy anything for under sixty cents, so it was going to have to be very small gifts with very big thoughts. I’d  never spent so much time or effort trying to come up with the right gift for the right person. Finally, Christmas day arrived, and I was worried how people would feel about my “cheap” gifts.
I gave my mother a scented candle with a note that said, “You are the brightest light in my life.” Shoe almost cried when she read the note.
I gave my brother a wooden ruler. On the back of it I’d painted. “No brother in the world could measure up to you.” He gave me a bag of sugar and had written on i t “You’re sweet.” He’d never said anything like that to me before.
For Joanie, I painted an old pair of shoes gold and stuck flowers in them with a note that said, “No one could ever fill your shoes.” She gave me a feather and a Band Aid. She said I always tickled her funny bone and made her laugh until her sides ached.
To my other two friends, I gave one a paper fan and wrote on it, “I’m your biggest fan.” To the other, I gave a calculator that cost one dollar and I painted a message on  the back, “You can always count on me.” They gave me a rusty horseshoe for luck and a bundle of sticks tied with a red ribbon because “friends stick together.”
I don’t remember all the other gifts that I got from people last Christmas, but I remember every one of the “cheap” gifts.
My brother thinks I am sweet. My mother knows she is the most important person in my life. Joanie thinks I’m funny and I made her laugh, which is important because her dad moved away last year and she misses him and is sad sometimes.
I was worried I wouldn’t have enough money for Christmas gift, but I gave to five people and still had twenty cents left over. We all still talk about our “cheap” gifts and how much fun it was to come up with a gift that cost pennies but told someone how we really felt about them.

On my bookshelf, I still have a bag of sugar, a feather, a horseshoe, and a bundle of sticks. . . and they are priceless.

Ed McMahon died this week.
He was a great entertainer, but prior to his stage accomplishments
he was a distinguished Marine Corps fighter pilot in
WWII earning six Air Medals and attaining the rank of
Colonel. He was discharged in 1946 and was later
promoted to the rank of Brigadier General in the CA
Air National Guard.

Farrah Fawcett died this week after a long career in
Hollywood as an actress.  After she was
diagnosed with cancer, she became an activist for cancer
treatment and devoted her last remaining years encouraging
people to seek treatment.  She documented her plight on film
and used it to encourage others to stay positive and upbeat
despite their diagnosis and suffering.

Michael Jackson died this week.  He was perhaps one of the
greatest singers of modern time.  He will also be remembered
for his eccentric lifestyle that included sleeping with a
chimpanzee, living in a carnival-like atmosphere at
Neverland, his fascination with Peter Pan, and his numerous masks and costumes.  He also admitted to finding pleasure sleeping with young boys and paying out millions of dollars in settlements to the families of these boys despite being acquitted by a court on one                         allegation of sexual molestation.

QUESTION – Which of the above did
the House of Representatives declare a moment of
silence for today?  (Hint – It wasn’t the first two.)

QUESTION – Which of the above family received a
personal note of condolence from President Obama?
(Hint – It wasn’t the first two.)

That lineman working on putting things back together in Lincoln county was my son Chad. They’ve been there since Friday, trying to get power back to the people. But… when they get one line fixed, the ice pulls down another!

According to the news, there are 32 crews there – that’s 128 men, all working 16 hour days – but Mother Nature remains in charge.

So… even though our beautiful sunshine left us today, we have nothing to complain about. Our fog isn’t settled around us, forming ice on power lines, poles, fences, shrubs – or us!

Have gratitude!

The first scam: Bogus collection agencies calling to say they’ve got your bad check and you can save your credit by payng them NOW.

Do not respond to this kind of message – not even to tell them they’re crazy – until you Google them, then check the Better Business Bureau. They could be a fake agency out to get either your money or your identity.

The second scam: Someone takes a check you’ve written, and using the information, prints new checks. Then using a fake ID that says they’re you, starts writing checks. Some of these folks use a bogus account number so the money never comes out of your account, but if they’ve got enough of your info, it will still go on your credit report as a black mark. And the person who took the check will still turn it over for collection.

The solution: Never put your SS # on your checks, for starters. Then always balance your bank statement immediately when it comes in. If you see checks you didn’t write, get busy! Actually, you can go on line to your bank and check your account every few days – that’s the safest.

If it happens to you, immediately contact your bank, the collection agency, and the retailer who took the check… and then file an identity theft report with local law enforcement and the FTC. Then contact a credit bureau and put a fraud alert on your file.

For protection: Keep a close eye on your credit report. Your thief may have used your bank account numbers and/ or Social security number with a different address and phone number – you could have collections piling up that would take your score down to the bottom of the pit.

Get your free credit report and information on protecting yourself at www.allcreditscoresnow.com. Don’t wait until tomorrow – do it today!

It all started when a lady began researching her ancestors. Here’s what she learned about one of them:

‘Remus Reid, horse  thief, sent to   Montana Territorial Prison 1885,  escaped 1887, robbed the Montana Flyer six  times.  Caught by Pinkerton detectives, convicted and hanged in   1889.’

Since Remus Reid is also related to a well-known Congressman, the lady wrote to the congressman to see if she could get any further information. Here’s what she got back:

‘Remus Reid was a  famous cowboy in the Montana Territory . His business empire  grew to include  acquisition of valuable equestrian  assets and intimate dealings with the   Montana  railroad. Beginning in 1883, he devoted several years of his  life to government service, finally taking leave to resume  his dealings with the railroad. In 1887, he was a  key player in a vital  investigation run by the  renowned Pinkerton Detective Agency. In 1889, Remus passed away during an important civic function held in his  honor when the platform upon which he was standing  collapsed.’

Now I wouldn’t advocate lying in your marketing, or in your letters to a friend for that matter. But this sure is a good example of how to put a positive light on a negative story!

“There are two ways to live your life – one is as though
nothing is a miracle, the other is as though everything is a
miracle”
Albert Einstein

The action for the day was to take an inventory of things you are grateful for… which is one of the steps in learning to use the Secret and the Law of Attraction.

Right now the tendancy all over the U.S. is to grouse about what’s wrong – the economy tops the list, but here in Priest River snow comes in a close second. Everyone is sick of moving the stuff out of the way, trying to drive on slick roads, and worrying about roofs that will cave in if they aren’t shoveled off.

The weather has also had plenty of people complaining about power outages, closed airports, lack of public transportation, late mail, and on and on.

But in spite of all that – we all do have plenty to be grateful for. If we’re using our computers it means we have a roof over our heads, we’re probably warm enough and have food on the table. We have brains that are working well enough to let us navigate around the web. And if we make the effort, the web offers opportunities to add to our incomes.

But… if we keep whining, the Law of Attraction says we’ll get more of what we’re whining about. It has to happen, because we’re giving our attention to the negatives.

To counter that negative influence, click the comment button right now and share the first three things that pop into your head on the gratitude side of the scale. C’mon – I dare you!

I’ll start:

1. A family I love, who loves me back – and all are safe and healthy
2. Three dogs who keep me laughing
3. My new wood stove that keeps me warm even when the temperature drops and the wind howls

Your turn…

“It’s time to take a reflective look at the core beliefs of a culture that values home, family, country, and God.

If I had to stand before a dozen terrorists who threaten my life, I’d choose a half dozen or so rednecks to back me up. Tire irons, squirrel guns and grit –that’s what rednecks are made of. I hope I am one of those.”

You might be a redneck if:
You’ve never protested about seeing the 10 Commandments posted in public places.

You might be a redneck if:
You still say ‘ Christmas’ instead of ‘Winter Festival.’

You might be a redneck if:
You bow your head when someone prays.

You might be a redneck if:
You stand and place your hand over your heart when they play the National Anthem.

You might be a redneck if:
You treat our armed forces veterans with great respect, and always have
You might be a redneck if:
You’ve never burned an American flag, nor intend to.

You might be a redneck if:
You know what you believe and you aren’t afraid to say so, no matter who is listening.

You might be a redneck if:
You respect your elders and raised your kids to do the same.

You might be a redneck if:
You’d give your last dollar to a friend.

Most people have.

The book rumbling about in your head might be about your childhood, or crazy things that go on at work, or about your kids, or maybe about your hobby or a charity you work for.

Maybe it’s about the history of Priest River, or Priest Lake. Sure, lots of people have written those, but you have a completely different perspective. You may even have tales from your family history that have never been told in those other books.

Maybe your book would be about modern day Priest River – who lives here, why they choose to stay, what they do for a living, and what they do for fun.

So, why haven’t you done it?

Maybe you just couldn’t get it started, or didn’t have the time, or couldn’t think of a plot or had writer’s block, or didn’t think you had anything important to say, or didn’t think you had the writing talent.

If any of those excuses sound familiar, put them away right now.

I’ve just gotten access to a web site that is specially designed to help you write your book faster than you ever thought possible. In fact, there’s information here that will lead you to write your book in 14 days!!

And this isn’t 14 days of sitting at your desk for 8 hours. This is 14 days of working in the evening for 2 or 3 hours.

I purchased this system a couple of years ago after listening to a tele-seminar about it, and have actually shared parts of it with my ezine readers over the years. There’s this fantastic system for starting an exciting sentence…

I have not, so far, had the urge to write anything more than fairly short e-books, but I know that when I decide to write a “real” book I will re-read this material and use it. The writing systems not only make it easy, they make it a lot of FUN. The limbering up exercises you do to get your thoughts flowing can even put you in a fit of laughter.

Right now I use this information to get myself going with the hundreds of articles I write – and to write my e-books.

I know it seems hard to believe, but when Mark Victor Hansen (co-author of Chicken Soup for the Soul and dozens of other books) saw the information, he not only said it was some of the best stuff he’d ever used, he even asked the owner of the website to speak at his next seminar! And Mark is using this information to crank out still more books!

This stuff is so powerful that folks all around the world, even absolute novices, are using these techniques to write books faster than they ever thought possible. So lack of experience is NO excuse!

There’s even a free email course that gets you started FAST! So if writing a book has been  on your mind, get yourself over to Write a Book Now.

Two weeks from now you could be sitting around wishing you were off to a good start on the New Year – or you could be on your way to fame and fortune as a writer.

Which is the better choice on a cold winter’s night?

Sunshine and Priest River snow

With highs today at 14, it would take a dedicated skiier, but I do believe they exist. Snowmobilers are probably also out there zooming around on this sunny Saturday.

For me, staying in and staying warm was fine – except for a quick trip out the door to snap a picture.

One of my followers on Twitter is Ski Idaho – looks like he’s busy keeping people up to date on conditions at ski resorts all over Idaho.

I don’t know his address, but if you come and follow me on Twitter, you’ll find him.

Also… while this really isn’t the prime time of year for house training new puppies, it’s a great time to consider adopting an adult dog (or cat) from a shelter. December is Home for the Holidays month at shelters across the U.S. – a time when all good dogs and cats have only asked Santa for a family to love them.

So… go visit my Doggie Blog. I’ve got a video posted there about Home for the Holidays. You’ll find it in the right hand sidebar.

Oh – one more thing. Now that you’re either a die hard outdoorsman or stuck in the house – it’s a fine time to think about writing that book you’ve been thinking about for the past ten years.

I know, you don’t know where to start, you’re not a great speller, you don’t really have time – all that stuff. That’s why I want to let you in on some good news. There’s a guy named Steve Manning who has written a step by step instruction guide for writing your book in just 14 days – even when you have to get out and go to work every day. I’ve read it, and if I quit writing articles long enough, I’m going to do it.

He helps you develop your ideas so quickly and easily that you’ll wonder why you didn’t think of this yourself. Anyway, he has a report that’s yours just for the asking.  So go here and get it. You have nothing to lose – and perhaps it will result in fame and fortune!