How to Plan a Wedding on a Budget

Today we were invited to my sister Laurie's house for my niece Cassandra's engagement party. Cassandra is my first niece or nephew to get married.  I was so excited to hear about her wedding plans.  She knows how to find a deal!  It would be so easy to spend $10,000 and up on a wedding. However, if you shop around like my niece, you can get a lot more for less.  Here are ten suggestions:

1.  Get married in the off season and save hundreds or even thousands of dollars (November to April).

2.  Get married on a Friday or Sunday rather than Saturday.

3.  Get married at a location that hasn't renovated recently.  Rob and I had our wedding reception at the Dundas Valley Golf & Curling Club.  They hadn't renovated in about 25 years, so the prices were reasonable, but it was still neat and clean.  The food was excellent and the view magnificent (it sat on the escarpment overlooking the city of Hamilton).

4.  Cut the guest list.  You save on food, drinks, invitations and even centrepieces.

5.  Buy flowers in season.  Stick to one or two types.

6.  Offer beer and wine rather than a full bar.

7.  Serve a one or two tiered cake and then supplement it with a sheet cake (hidden in the kitchen).

8.  Order single page wedding invitations to save on paper.

9.  E-mail your invitations.

10.  Make your wedding cake the favours.

11.  Serve comfort foods like barbecue chicken or mac and cheese which are often cheaper.

12.  Have bigger tables which require less centrepieces and table cloths.

thelakeview.com

Professional Blogging for Dummies

At Ollie's Discount Store in Niagara Falls, New York, I bought a copy of Professional Blogging for Dummies for only $6.99 (regular $29.99).  While I have had a blog for three and a half years, I thought it was about time I learned how to be a professional blogger, to make money at my blog.

I was happy to learn that I am already doing some things right.  I post regularly and frequently.  If I can't post, then I save the date and catch up later on.  I always include photographs or pictures in my posts.  Another thing I have been doing lately is listing previous posts which connect with a current post, almost like cross references.  I also have my five most popular posts listed on my home page. Recently, I started including tags in my posts to encourage backlinks.

Here are some things I can do to expand my reader audience.  Firstly, I can provide a link to other blogs, called a blogroll.  That way, I will get fellow bloggers aware of my blog and hopefully invite reader comments.  I can become a regular follower of other blogs and make comments on their posts. I can also link to Youtube for a sound bite occasionally.

I like the author's suggestion of categorizing my blogposts.  It makes it more reader friendly.  That way, I increase the likelihood of a reader reading more than just the current post.  

Of course, to make money, I can sign up with Google Adsense which I am in the process of doing. There are also freelance writing opportunities online for bloggers like Hubpages.

The author, Susan Getgood, also mentions how to monitor and measure the success of your blog, called Google analytics or metrics:  how many people read your blog (page views); how engaged they are with your blog ex. read one post, read multiple posts; how people find your site ex. search keywords; which are your most popular posts.  As the author states:

"Understand though that even a little bit of attention to your metrics can reap big rewards.  Just keep the importance of your metrics in perspective.  After all, you're a blogger, not a calculator."

So, look out fellow professional bloggers, here I come!

To read author Susan Getgood's blog "Marketing Roadmaps" visit:
http://getgood.com/roadmaps/

To order a book, visit:
http://www.amazon.ca/Professional-Blogging-Dummies-Susan-Getgood/dp/0470601795

http://www.amazon.ca/Professional-Blogging-Dummies-Susan-Getgood/dp/0470601795

Foods of the World

Jacqueline's class had a Foods of the World dinner yesterday.  Since her background is half German, she asked me to make schnitzel.  For her British half, she wanted me to bake butter tarts.  Easier said than done.  I have eaten schnitzel several times at the Black Forest Inn in Hamilton, but I've never made it myself.  I went to Zehrs and purchased the porkloin.  When I got it home I realized the due date on it was Sunday and the dinner wasn't until Wednesday.  As Jacqueline said, "We wouldn't want to poison her class!"  So, I cooked it on Sunday night.  Normally, I don't cook with oil because it is fattening.  But that is what was recommended.  So I poured about a half inch of oil into the pan. My friend said make sure the oil is hot.  I waited a couple of minutes and then put in the schnitzel. After eight minutes, it was done.  Perfect!  I packed it in Thomas and Jacqueline's lunches.

On Monday I bought more schnitzel.  Tuesday after supper I poured the oil into the pan and waited.  It didn't seem to be heating up as fast so I waited longer -- too long.  by the time I put the schnitzel in, it burned to a crisp within two minutes.  By now, I was really frustrated!  But Jacqueline had her heart set on schnitzel.  So, back to Zehrs I went for a third purchase at the butcher shop.  Luckily, three porkloin pieces only cost $5.97.  I figured that the only thing I did wrong was the oil.  So, I only waited a minute and a half for the oil to preheat.  In went the schnitzel.  Seven minutes later, it came out perfect!

On to the dessert.  I baked 24 tart shells for 10 minutes.  They came out looking just right.  Then Jacqueline and I mixed the filling.  I made sure I didn't add raisins because most kids don't like them. I didn't add nuts because some kids are allergic to them.  I ladled the filling into the shells.  Into the oven they went for 10 minutes.  The recipe said bake them at 450F.  I thought that was too high.  So, I put them on 425F.  The microwave was going at the same time.  I smelled something burning and I thought it was the microwave food, but it was the butter tarts!  Beep!  Beep!  went the smoke alarm. I removed the smoking tarts from the oven, frustrated once again.  AT least they were salvageable, though, unlike the second batch of schnitzel.

The class loved the schnitzel; every piece was eaten.  And Jacqueline's teacher loved the butter tarts; he said he doesn't like them underdone.  So, it worked out in the end.  Now, I'm ready for the next time...if there is one.

Note:  For a good schnitzel recipe, visit http://www.daringgourmet.com/2014/03/12/traditional-german-pork-schnitzel/.

Let's Burn This B**** Down!

"Let's burn this b**** down!" cried the stepfather of Michael Brown after he heard the not guilty verdict handed down by the grand jury in the killing of his stepson (see the Youtube video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vW2HF5JzK-M).  Others standing in the street took up the chant. By the end of the night, Ferguson was ablaze.

     Martin Luther King Junior would be turning over in his grave.  Take a look at the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950's and 1960's.  I don't remember Martin Luther King Jr. taunting the police when a cross was burned on his front lawn in 1956.  I don't remember Martin Luther King Jr. torching a police car when his house was bombed.  I don't remember Martin Luther King Jr. running away with boxes of donuts when he participated in the sit in at an Atlanta lunch counter in 1960.  I don't remember the civil rights leader lobbing Molotov cocktails into the streets of Selma, Alabama as he marched with hundreds of suit-clad protesters to Montgomery in 1963.  I don't remember the Atlanta native throwing rocks and bottles through Atlanta window fronts as he marched through his hometown.  I don't remember the father of four torching a Montgomery Walgreen's after four young black girls were murdered at the Baptist Church.  I don't remember the pastor running away with a box of tequila from a liquor store, likely owned by blacks, as he protested the lack of voting rights for blacks.  I don't remember the words "Let's burn this b**** down!" being part of the great orator's famous "I have a dream speech" which he delivered from the steps of the Lincoln Monument in Washington.

     But I do remember the 90% of blacks who refused to ride the Montgomery busses after Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat to a white person, an initiative started by King's organization.  I do remember the hundreds of protesters who sat at lunch counters, dignity oozing from every pore, as hooligans showered them with ketchup and mustard.  I do remember the long line of followers who marched with Martin Luther King Jr. from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama.  I remember the pastor's prayer as he languished in a Birmingham Jail cell.  I remember the 200,000 plus protesters who marched through Washington D.C.'s streets and then listened to King deliver his I Have a Dream speech.  I remember President Kennedy's famous civil rights speech.  And a little document called the Civil Rights Act, signed by President Johnson in 1964.

     Let's bring back Martin Luther King Jr.'s quiet dignity.  Quiet, but powerful.

March on Washington D.C. courtesy 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/March_on_Washington_for_Jobs_and_Freedom.

Tickets to the Game

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I just received another rejection letter this morning for my chapter book I'm Just Daisy.  I placed it in an enveloppe called "Tickets to the Game" along with the six other tickets.  Why would I call it a ticket when it's a rejection letter?  I read a post online in which the author called her rejection letters "tickets".  Rather than seeing each letter as preventing her from getting published, she saw it as a ticket, bringing her one step closer to the game.

What a great idea!  Since rejection is part and parcel of the writing and publishing world, writers have to get used to it.  Why not see it as a step in the process?  Why not see it as an opportunity rather than a shut out?  As a beginning rather than an ending?  I used one of my rejection letters, which was very detailed and helpful, to write an improved second version of my book.

It's a talent in life to be able to see the good side of something bad.  I could have easily shredded those tickets.  But instead, they are tucked away in an 8 1/2 by 11 envelop.  It's like I'm treasuring them.  They are proof that I've written a book and that I'm getting it out there.  It's like Babe Ruth.  He was the strike out king. of baseball.  But he was also the home run king. I want to be the strike out-home run queen of writing.

So, as I carefully slide my tickets into my envelop, the way Babe Ruth slid into home plate, I am one step closer to the game.  I can actually smell the juicy hotdogs and buttery popcorn.  I can hear the crack of the bat when it hits the ball.  I can feel the rumbling of Yankee Stadium as the fans cheer. Let's play ball!

Yankee Stadium circa 1920's courtesy http://buchholtzsidoramericanstudies.wikispaces.com/The+House+that+Ruth+Built,+Babe+Ruth

Getting a Book Published Through a Sponsor

When My Dad published his book, Meet Me at the Lakeview Casino (http://www.abebooks.com/book-search/title/meet-me-at-the-lakeview-casino/author/tufts-norman-ross/) he did so with money given to him by the Women's Institute of Grand Bend.  They were interested in promoting local history and they had just received a generous donation from an elderly resident named Mrs. McElroy.  My Dad wrote a letter to the Institute president who put it to a vote.  The committee voted in favour of the book, with about a three quarter majority.  Published in 1999, the book sold enough copies in the first two years for the Women's Institute to recoup their initial donation.

I'm thinking maybe this is the route I should pursue for my books.  I looked up Ontario Historical Societies and found a list of almost 400.  My chapter book I'm Just Daisy, based on the life of my British Home Child great-grandma, would be perfect for a British Historical Society.  My chapter book On Prussian Plains, based on my mother-in-law's family, would be suitable for a German Historical Society or cultural club like the Germania Club in Hamilton.  After all, the Germania Club is where Rob's mom met his dad.  It's also where they celebrated their wedding reception and 25th anniversary.

It's time to write letters and make contacts.  Wish me luck!

www.germaniaclub.ca

Sledding Party at the Farm

While I was shopping in Niagara Falls, New York, Jacqueline was at her friend's farm for a sledding party.  She was so excited to go!  All the girls in her class were invited and about half showed up. I can only imagine what happened.  I'm sure they hopped on their sleds and slid down the rolling hills. Then they all piled on one sled and slid down the hill, laughing all the way to the bottom.

I'm sure they spent some time in the barn visiting with the dairy cows, playing with the cats and kittens, and climbing up into the loft.  They likely visited the old portable where the chickens now live.  Maybe they found a brown egg or two to collect.

They might have swung on the old rope tied to the massive tree behind the farmhouse.  Or maybe they jumped on the trampoline.  Inside, they took off their wet hats, mitts and snow pants and warmed their hands by the fire.  Around the table, they sipped on hot chocolate.

Jacqueline came home, her hair damp, her clothes full of burrs, smelling like the barn.  She loved it! There'e nothing like an old fashioned sledding party!

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