9999

We all have seen that horrible Internet Explorer commercial out there, so I think it is safe to say most of us agree dubstep commercials suck. Well YouTube magicians Smosh and Mike Diva teamed up to make this little "behind-the-scenes" at the advertising agencies responsible. However, I will add, dubstep DOES make Santa better.

A salad is a meal. When you are lazy, broke and have a tiny kitchen, why not make the salad really big and add whatever you want? Then you don't have to bother with a main course. The only difference between a big and small salad is a few more chops of the knife.

With salads there are infinite possibilities, but for most salads I use certain core ingredients: lettuce, tomato, cucumber, avocado, croutons, and what I mix together for the dressing. Other favorites include onion, mango, nuts and cranberries or raisins. And of course you can add meat, such as bacon or chicken.

Croutons are just toast. Chop it up into small pieces and throw away the crumbs. Then let it sit at least ten minutes to stiffen up.

For the dressing, I use olive oil, vinegar, lime, salt and pepper. You can also add chili powder - use very little, just a spoonful or so. Mix olive oil and just a little vinegar in a shot glass. Squeeze in a lime or two. Then put a little salt on the avocado and sprinkle pepper everywhere. After that add Parmesan - either the cheap canned powdered stuff or, much better, grate it yourself.

A pimped-out salad is a filling, exciting meal. This recipe serves two - either you and your companion or you twice. There's never a reason to make a one-portion meal, especially if you are alone, because you can eat the leftovers - possibly for days.

Already you have a beautiful salad. To make it more beautiful, add:

MEAT, ETC: chicken, bacon, sausage or hard-boiled egg, all chopped into bite sized pieces or smaller.

FRUIT: Mango, strawberries, mandarin oranges, cranberries or raisins.

NUTS: If you fry them in honey, it will take your salad to another level.

Remember, as long as it tastes good, there’s no wrong way to make a salad.

Cats are clean freaks by nature. They hate dirt. Many love to be petted. Right after we pet them, they must give themselves a complete bath, as if we have germs or something. This is all part of their nature and charm. This is what makes cats unique.  However, no matter how hard they try, they need some human help to complete their grooming tasks.

First, all pet owners should comb their kitties daily. This should be done whether kitty is a long haired cat or a short haired one. The ideal time to comb a cat is between five to 10 minutes. However, this can be done in intervals and it can be done in shorter intervals as kitty learns to like this combing process.

When combing kitty, try to use a metal comb from head to tail. If kitty has long hair, you should also comb her belly and leg areas. Next, you should use a rubber brush to remove any loose hair from kitty. Both long haired kitties and short haired ones will shed. Removing the loose hair will help keep fur balls from forming and help keep your home cleaner, as well.

Should you bathe kitty? This will depend on a few issues. Is kitty’s hair oily or dirty? Does kitty smell? How well does kitty like water?

Most cats hate water. However, there are a strange few who likes water. Of course, the earlier you train a cat to bathe, the easier the act is.

You can bathe a kitty in a mild detergent or a shampoo made for cats. Wash kitty as you would any animal. Wet her fur, apply the shampoo or detergent, work the shampoo or detergent into her hair, and rinse thoroughly. You want to have another family member assist you in this task.

Nail clipping is another grooming chore that should be completed. However, this is something that not every pet owner should try to do. If you clip the nail too short, kitty will have a sore foot. If you clip into the pink area of the nail bleeding can occur. You may wish to have your vet or pet groomer do this chore for you.

My youngest daughter just turned 10 last month. She is at an age where I am beginning to wonder if I should have some type of talk with her. I feel like she is too young for this, but on the other hand, I don’t want her to learn all these things from the wrong sources.

This is just one of those things that, as a parent, you hope you make the right decision about. There are many other subjects in parenting where this happens too. It is one of those things where you think about it, make a decision to do it and then hope that it was the right decision to make.

Knowing when to have “the talk” with a child is not always easy and every child is different. To me, there is no point in doing this until the child begins to approach the age of puberty. If you notice that your child is starting to have changes in his or her body, the time has probably arrived for the talk to happen.

Many parents are nervous about doing this and there are good reasons to be nervous. A parent will wonder what to say, or how much to say. Is it better to offer too much information and detail than not enough? These are all very tough questions that parents must answer themselves.

One thing to keep in mind though is that, as a parent, this is one of your responsibilities. Your children will learn about this subject somewhere. Would you rather it be from unreliable sources or from you?