Another Round of Product Reviews

Here are some more items that I have had the pleasure of trying recently. These listed below made enough of an impression with me that I think they might make a good gift or spark some inspiration for those who are difficult to buy for.


A Gift of a Quiet Night: Anti-Bark Collars (Not to be used on the kids no matter how tempted I am.)


I can't tell you how many times something would sneak across the street (usually a stray cat) and get my dogs riled up for several hours of barking. I am a pretty light sleeper, and that would be all that it would take for me to get little to no sleep and revert back to the zombie like state that had previously only been induced  by having a newborn needing to eat every few hours.

I have a really large Golden Retriever/Lab/Chow mix. He is an adult dog that we "inherited" from a family member. He did not have any structured training in his formative years and as such has fully resisted several months of attentive training methods that worked for my Beagle/Boxer mix.

If I lived out in the country, his barking would not be an issue, but I live in an older well developed and otherwise quiet neighborhood. My neighbors know me and have been exceedingly patient with us and our large dog, but I can tell that their patience is starting to wear a little thin especially as I see the bags and dark circles under their eyes become more pronounced like mine.

For me training collars are the absolute last resort. I started off with the collar on the default setting, since he is a larger breed. At first, it did not phase him at all. I have since increased the level once and I am starting to notice a difference. My dog still barks, but it is less frequent and doesn't last as long. I will probably leave it at this level (5) as long as he continues to show progress. Hopefully in a few weeks we can try just setting it at the audible *reminder* setting.

A Gift of Relaxation: Calming Ocean Waves CD and Wine Aerator

Ryan Judd has composed a beautiful and relaxing soundtrack that will take you to the beach. 


The CD is exactly 1 hour long and offers consistent sounds of waves. There are no jarring noises like seagulls squawking to make you jump and get your adrenaline going while you are trying to relax. The CD comes in a thick envelope-type sleeve and not in a jewel case, which is no big deal to me but I thought I would mention it.

I use this CD for my meditation as well as for white noise to help my toddler fall asleep at nap time.





And when meditation fails to bring me calm and inner peace a nice glass of red will. Although I find that with a lot of affordable reds out there you have to let them breath for quite a while in order to get rid of that harsh tastes.

I found an explanation of this at the site Wonder-How-To: Food Hacks.

When wine is aerated, many volatile compounds like sulfides become oxidized and then turn into vapor. This means they don't end up in your mouth, where they can make the wine taste sour, tannic, or otherwise nasty. Ever sipped a glass of wine that has the taste of rubbing alcohol? That would be ethanol, another volatile compound. Exposing your wine to a lot of air reduces that harsh note as well.

So the longer wine is exposed to air, the more harsh flavors and notes begin to mellow out and blend together. If you have a very delicate older wine, you probably don't want it to aerate for too long or its singular aromas might literally turn into thin air. More recent vintages and very tannic wines (like Cabernet and Syrah) tend to be harsher and more concentrated. These can stand long periods of aeration and be better for it.

Since I usually don't have the patience to sit there and wait for a glass of wine to be ready, I like to lend a little hand to the breathing process. (No, I don't sit there an blow on the wine...anymore.)

I have graduated to using wine aerators. These little devices add air bubbles to the stream of wine as it is poured.

This was actually the second wine aerator I had purchased. While I love the one I originally purchased, it was awfully clumsy to use with out someone lending me an extra set of hands. You literally need three hands with my first aerator (one to hold the bottle, one to hold the aerator, and one to hold the glass.) It is not that big of a deal if you are pouring for others, but pouring for yourself will be a lesson in juggling.

This aerator by Vino Aria. It has a rubber collar on the small end that you shove into the wine bottle for a hands-free aeration. When I first opened up the packaging for the aerator and examined it, I was quite a bit disappointed as it is terribly light. My first aerator is heavy as it is made of hand-blown glass. As I got to thinking about it, the hardened plastic material suits me just fine. Out of all my wine accessories, do I really need another one that will shatter if accidentally dropped? With this one made from the hardened plastic, I feel comfortable carrying it with me and a bottle of wine over to my friend's house for a girls' night in.

A Gift of time: for those who are always late (and by that I mean a watch).

Topaz makes some surprisingly nice watches. The watch face is very nice. It was slightly larger than expected, but that makes sense as it it listed as a unisex watch. It is larger than watches listed as women's but smaller than a lot of watches tailored towards men. The numbers are easy to read and even though I have only had it a few days it appears to keep time well.

For more holiday gift ideas, check out Amazon's list of top toys for the season.



I had mentioned shipping deadlines in my last post.
Here is an update for shipping Christmas presents this year.

These are the published deadlines from the major shipping services.





USPS: December 15 is the last day the USPS recommends you use standard shipping if you want delivery on time; December 19 is the last day for First Class mail; December 21 for Priority Mail, and December 23 for Priority Mail Express.





 




UPS: December 18 is the last day to ship UPS 3 Day Select — if you want packages to be delivered before Christmas Day; December 22 is the last day for 2 Day Air, and December 23 is the deadline for overnight packages to arrive on the 24th.








 
FedEx: December 16 is the last day to ship FedEx Ground if you want delivery by Christmas Day: December 21 is the deadline for Express Saver, and December 22 is the deadline for 2 Day Air. The 23rd is the last day to send overnight packages for arrival on the 24th.



As always feedback, questions, comments, and suggestions are always welcome. Please remember to follow the blog and register your email address at the top of the page to have new posts delivered right to your email inbox and never miss an update.

Disclaimer: please be aware that any item mentioned in this blog may have been received for free or at a discount in exchange for a fair and honest review. The opinions expressed in this blog are my own regardless of how the items were acquired.

Celebrating 500!!

Hello World!

I know things have been quiet the last few days. Things at my day job have picked up and that means lots of overtime had to be worked. Hello 60 hour work week!

On top of that, I had a switch in my medication for my depression. Since I have been managing my anxiety really well lately, I am going back to Celexa from Lexapro. Don't get me wrong the Lexapro is great and really helps, but it also makes me feel sleepy all the time. Without anxiety attacks I can go back to the Celexa which keeps me feeling happy without feeling sleepy. And that was definitely needed for this really long week at work.

Now in spite of the few days' absence, I am delighted to share that this blog has just crossed the 500 lifetime views. I just wanted to say thank you. Because of you guys stopping by and reading these posts, this blog has grown so much faster than I ever expected it to. Knowing that you are out there waiting for updates, keeps me writing. It keeps me going. All of you are great, and I truly appreciate everyone of you.

Hopefully, I am fulfilling my promise to each and every one of you to provide you with amusing and entertaining anecdotes and honest product reviews. I am trying to follow the advice outlined in Halden Zimmermann's Guide to High Impact Blogs to ensure that I am providing focused and quality content. Which if any of you ever decide to start a blog of your own, this book provides you with valuable information without being too burdensome. It is a short read; I had it completely read within a day. It goes over the basics for building and outlining a blog and provides strategies for managing it as it grows to insure sustained growth. You can read more about the author Halden Zimmermann on his website  http://haldenzimmermann.com/  or on his author page on Amazon.com.
http://reviewingwhirlwind.blogspot.com/2015/12/celebrating-500.html


Sorry for that digression.  I just wanted to show my appreciation for all of you.

I will post another round of product reviews for holiday gift ideas within the next 24 hours.

Remember, if you are ordering from Amazon.com we are now less than two weeks away for the Christmas order deadline for most of the items on the site that are shipped by Amazon. For orders to be delivered before Christmas with two day shipping, the order needs to be placed no later than 1pm Tuesday, December 22. Always check the order confirmation email for the most accurate estimated delivery day. That will be the one that takes into account where your items are coming from as well as where they are being delivered. Also, please bear in mind that the Prime two-day shipping will generally guarantee that the item will only be in transit for two days and does not cover the amount of time the fulfillment center may need to put the order together. The shipping guarantee means that if Amazon and the carrier are not able to get the item to you by the date in your confirmation email, then any extra you paid for that faster shipping can be refunded. Last but not least, try to be nice to any customer service representative you may need to reach out to for help. Most of the time, they will try to do everything in their power to make the situation right, and they really do understand the frustrations you are experiencing. Just please, try not to take it out on them.

'Tis the Season for the Sniffles

This time of year always ushers in dread as cold fronts bring with them biting winds that drive everyone in doors. With the minions all going to school (the youngest in daycare), these little petri dishes manage to bring home every cold, stomach bug, and flu out there. Thank goodness they have been vaccinated against antique diseases, otherwise we probably would have lost minion Number 2 to pneumonia all Oregon Trail style after attempting to ford a river.

Recently I learned, that it is not the cold itself that makes us sick; as my grandmother told me (yours probably told you too) "You'll catch your death of cold!"

But from what I have learned the cold temperature itself does not make you sick. Germs make you sick. Cold temperatures can make things a little more difficult for your body's immune system to respond and fight off those invaders, but for the average person in decent health (not the really young, really old, or those with otherwise already compromised immune systems) the affect of colder temperatures on the body remains negligible. The more likely behavior that explains why winter heralds in as the season of sickness is that people spend more time indoors. It is too cold to go outside. There aren't as many daylight hours in the days surrounding the winter solstice. This increases our proximity to other carriers *ahem* I mean, family members which increases our changes of contracting a pathogen our bodies have not yet had.

Here is a fun and informative video from ASAP Science explaining the same concepts above in more detail.

I remember my first winter in college. I was the sickest I had ever been. I don't even remember what it was that I had. I just remember running a really high fever for several days. The fever was so high that my eyes would water and the tears would feel almost boiling hot. I was concerned with how high the fever was to the point that I would only sleep with someone in the room to watch me ( I was afraid it would get to the point that I was delirious. I would tell you the exact temperature however, my college dorm kit did not include a thermometer. I only remember when I finally went to the clinic on campus after missing a full week of classes, and they took my temperature there, the nurse exclaimed in surprise, "Oh my, you are running a fever of 102."

I looked at her and said "Oh really? That's concerning, considering this is the best I have felt all week."

I firmly believe that if a thermometer had been included in my "off to college" kit, I would have checked my temperature at least once and my room mate would have forced me to go to the campus clinic much sooner. Since I try to make sure that there is always at least one thermometer in the house, whether or not I can find it is a different story as my minions find taking their temperature amusing.

A thermometer is just a thermometer. They are all the same and just measure your body temperature.

At least I used to think so. That was before I had my first child and before he ran his first fever. I have learned the value of quick read thermometers, especially when you have a sick non-cooperative toddler who does not believe you when you say that you need to take their temperature to figure out how sick they are.

FamFave has created a quick read thermometer and one of the best features about it (other than the speed which provides results in about 10-25 seconds) is the large and well lit display. Now low light in a room you have designated as the sick bay is no longer an issue as the green back light allows you to quickly retrieve the measured temperature. FamFave had definitely won over this mom of three with this thermometer.

FamFave has created a special offer for Reviewing Whirlwind readers. 

Click on the picture to the left, add the item to your shopping cart and then enter the promotional code T53OFF4U at checkout to receive the item for the promotional price of $7.97. That is a 53% discount off the regular price of $16.97. And remember, Prime members get free shipping items shipped from Amazon. Satisfaction guaranteed - 100% money back guarantee - no-hassle refund available, just contact Amazon if you are unsatisfied for any reason.

As always, comments, questions, suggestions, and feedback are always welcome. Please remember to follow the blog and register your email address at the top of the page to have updates sent directly to your email inbox so you never miss a post.

Disclaimer: Any product mentioned in this blog may have been received for free or at a discount in exchange for a fair and honest review. The opinions expressed above are my own regardless of how the item was acquired.

Adulting is Hard to Do

A friend of mine is just starting out her own blog and this first real post (after the introductory post) is an honest and vulnerable monologue about the insecurities of making friends once you enter adulthood.

If any of you were the first in your group of friend to get married or have kids, you can relate. It is almost as if as soon as one of those life events happen you are jettisoned to a different "planet" for that phase of life. All of a sudden your group of friends don't want to hang out because the spouse wants to be included, or they think you might (and rightly so) be too busy with your kids. Next thing you know, you are left to go it alone until your friends can "catch up".

I often times think to myself "How come no one ever told me making good friends after reaching adulthood would be so hard?"

And so without further ado, here is

Things that Clog the Mind from Clarity of Mind and Life.

All of my life I have had random thoughts and feelings of inferiority.   I’ve never felt quite good enough.  Never felt I had enough to offer people.  Always missing… something.  Lately this evil lil minion of self doubt has been prancing around the living space in my head.
I’m older.  I’ve learned that as I age, the friends in my life have dwindled. A lot.  I try to make new friends.. and it never seems to work.  I have people in my life that I love, dearly.  But, they are so so far away.  Life just does that, ya know?  Moves you and others around and around in a whirlwind of events that can leave us all misplaced. We set our roots when we finally land… and the people who were there along the way end up wayyyy over there.  Its just life.  And I accept that.
I feel that this ebb and flow is constantly fighting against me. I miss having friends.  I miss having a social life.  I have moments when I am reminded of its like to be social.  And I miss it.  Life’s obligations, family, work, dishes, laundry.. everything.. its drains me and I’ve lost myself along the way.  I miss having a strong sense of who I am and loving myself.
It feels like I annoy those around me.  Like, right now, I’m at work and there are people all around me.  I’m usually quite friendly, but lately it feels like I’m just getting on peoples nerves.  I have tried over the past year to pay close attention to how I am perceived by others.  Trying to pick apart how I come off.. how people react to me being based on my mood.  I often wonder if I try too hard? Or expect too much from others?  All I want is to make friends, and I seem to just bug people.  How do you get past that?  I miss the days when I didn’t care about the opinion of others, but this seems to be a pattern.  I make a friend, start incorporating them into my life, only for the friend to suddenly disappear.  Is it me? Or is it just that ebb and flow?
Days like this I wish I didn’t think so much.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As always, comments, questions, feedback, and suggestions are always welcome. Please remember to follow the blog and register your email at the top of the page to have new posts delivered directly to your email inbox and never miss an update.

Also please check out the new blog by my friend, Clarity of Mind and Life. She gives herself a hard time but she is actually a decent writer and one of the most 'real' people out there. :)

Chirstmas is Coming Fast!!

It is now December and that means we are about 3 weeks away from Christmas. Time to get those presents is quickly flying by. I have found two more items that are going to be added as great gifts.

The first one is a set of toy dinosaurs. Minion Number 3 is hard to shop for. At 20 months he doesn't have the communication skills to just tell me what he wants. So I took him with me when I went to Toy'R'Us in search for their new diapers. (You can read about how I feel about them after using them here.)

While we were at Toys'R'Us we happened to walk by a set of dinosaurs and the reaction that he gave was just too cute to ignore. He pointed to the dinosaurs, looked at me and said "rawr". In that moment I knew I had to get him some dinosaurs for Christmas. I have found two different brands of dinosaurs that are made out of the traditional hard rubber/plastic material of the figurines that I remember growing up with. Both the Kids Imaginative and the Oriental Trading Company have great sets. Both sets feature 12 different dinosaurs without any duplicates. They are both between 5-7 inches in length and are brightly colored. There is a nice mix of both herbivores and carnivores. As an added bonus, minions Number 1 and 2 also like the figurines and all three will play together with them. Easily the best purchase I have made in a long time. I will definitely be looking into expanding their collection this holiday season.

The second item that I have found is for my hard to shop for husband. I ask him what he would like and he either shrugs and says "I don't know" or states "some peace and quiet would be nice." Since the latter will not happen until minion Number 3 is much, much older I have settled to getting him a beautiful copper Moscow Mule Mug.

This Moscow Mule Mug comes as a gift set with its own box and wooden coaster. I know this is probably going to sound weird but I like the smell of the wood used to make the box and the coaster. It smells like it is made from a premium hardwood and it reminds me of log cabins. The mug itself is bright and shiney polished copper. The handle is soldered on to the body of the mug for an attachment that does not mar the design with an obtrusive screw. I can't wait to see the look on my husband's face when I present this gift to him.



As always comments, questions, feedback, and suggestions are always welcome. Also, please remember to follow my blog and register your email address at the top of the page to have updates sent directly to your inbox so you never miss a post.

Disclaimer: and product mentioned in this blog may have been received for free or at a discount in exchange for a fair and honest review. The opinions expressed above are my own regardless of how the item was acquired.

Toys'R'Us Diaper Performance Review

 So big corporation Toys'R'Us and more specifically their brand line that caters to maternity and babies, Babies'R'Us (BRU), is now doing more than just stocking major brand name diapers for us to purchase. They have designed their own line of diapers.

Thanks to Influenster, I was recruited to try a pack and write a review. It was with a little hesitation that I accepted this assignment remembering back to the catastrophe from our household's pre-Huggies days.  You can read all about that funny/terrible experience here.

Influenster sent me a coupon to where I would be trying them for free. So I thought, 'Why not? They can't be as bad as Luv's and we have survived that.'

So minion Number 3 and I packed down to the Babies'R'Us store. I used this time to stroll through the aisles of toys to see what grabbed his attention for ideas as to what to get him for Christmas. We finally located the diapers with all the others. Their display area was no more or less than the other name brand diapers. It was refreshing to see that the store was not 'pushing' their brand harder than the others.

Minion Number 3 and I checked out and headed home.

 After getting home, I opened the pack to check them out and compare them to the Huggies that we normally use. In comparison, the BRU diapers feel thinner than the Huggies and the outer material feel like thin paper. The outside of the pack boasted that they could stand up to 12 hour protection, but just from my initial inspection I was highly skeptical.  Furthermore, the shape of the diapers did not look like they would be very form fitting. However the elastic at the back and around the legs provided a decent fit.The designs on the diaper are generic but light and whimsical. To be honest, I don't particularly care which cartoon face they put on the diaper as it goes in the trash a few hours later.

With Huggies, it takes a lot of liquid before they start to look a little saggy. After a few hours minion Number 3's diaper had already begun to sag almost to his knees. 

 I decided to give the BRU diapers the benefit of the doubt and blame the older minions for giving Number 3 extra cups of water, milk, and juice. So I changed his diaper. But much to my surprise, he had barely peed the diaper. With these kinds of results, there is no way I am going to have him wear these through out the night. 

Now here is a concerning note. We have been trying these diapers off and on for about two weeks now, and minion Number 3 has broke out in a really bad diaper rash. It is so bad that he is going to have to spend tomorrow without a diaper to let his abused skin air out a bit. I am not saying that this is due to the BRU diapers, but to be honest, minion Number 3 hasn't had diaper rash this bad since Luv's. I suspect that the absorbent material of the diaper does not have a barrier to keep the moisture away from minion Number 3's skin. 

The bottom (heheh, you see what I did there?) line: While the BRU diapers are not good enough to win me over from my brand loyalty to Huggies, I think they are better than Luv's.

Kitchen Tools Thanksgiving Round Up Edition

Who doesn't eat on Thanksgiving?

The Turkey, because he is always stuffed!!

As I cleaned up from our Thanksgiving meal, I realized that the whole ordeal would have been a lot more difficult without some of the tools I have in my kitchen. 

While my knives and my pots and pans along with my KitchenAid mixer are my favorites (and most likely always will be), I have found some new kitchen tools that also helped make the dinner a success. 

I have recently tried out products from a company called Sunsella and since then have become a big fan of theirs. Their products are practical multi-tasking tools that in my experience are well made and take care of a wide variety of tasks.

The Sunsella dough cutter and scraper proved invaluable out on the Thanksgiving field this year. This dough scraper has a sharpened edge than can cut through almost anything. While it will not replace my knives it is great for cutting through small vegetables and more importantly dough for those delicious dinner rolls. The stainless steel blade is stamped with inch measurements so I can be better about making all my rolls roughly the same size. The handle is made out of a durable rubber material that is shaped to fit comfortably in my hand. It is definitely a contender for MVP in my kitchen!!




The  vegetable steamer that Sunsella makes is useful for more than just vegetables. This Thanksgiving when stove top space is at as much a premium as a well located apartment in down town New York, turn over has to be completed quickly and efficiently. This steamer aided in that especially while I was hard boiling a dozen eggs for my deviled eggs tray. The steamer allowed me to pull all of the eggs at once and get them into their ice bath in a fraction of the time it would have taken me to pull them individually. This freed up that space on the stove top for other dishes to begin cooking.  Like Sunsella's other products this steamer basket is 100% stainless steel and the flanges of the basket are a little thicker than other steamer baskets I have seen making this one more durable. Probably the best part is how small it is when it collapses down. It really does save space.



The next big challenge after cooking a Thanksgiving meal is storing the left overs. In the past I have stored each dish in its own container and then some of the left overs would get eaten quickly while others would linger in the fridge until eventually I would have to throw them out. This year, I decided to take a different approach. I decided to try Sunsella's bento-style buddy boxes. These containers have three compartments allowing me to store a full meal in each one.

Each compartment seals individually preventing food from one compartment from spilling over into the others and "contaminating" them (words from my picky eater who cannot stand to have food touching). These boxes have made packing lunches for work a breeze as now all I have to do is grab one and go and I know that it is a full meal all in one go. 

And the MVP award for this Thanksgiving's preparation tool goes to........

The Sunsella Bento-Style Buddy Boxes!!!

The buddy boxes may have made left over storage a little more time intensive but having the ability to just 'grab-and-go' before work has proven invaluable. They also seem to be holding up really well to the abuse of the dishwasher without warping.


As always, comments, feedback, questions and suggestions are welcome. Don't forget to follow the blog and register your email address at the top of the page to have updates sent directly to your inbox so you never miss a  post!


Disclaimer: Items mentioned in this blog may have been received for free or at a discount in exchange for a fair and honest review. The opinions expressed above are my own regardless of how the item was acquired. 

Happy Turkey Day!!

Greetings Everybody! I just wanted to take a moment to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving and safe travels for those who took to the roads to visit family.

Tomorrow begins the mad dash to finish shopping for Christmas gifts for loved ones. If you have a girlie girl like my minion Number 2, or just like nail polish yourself, then I have a great insider tip for you. 

Del Sol, the company who makes the super cool color changing nail polish is launching a HUGE Black Friday sale starting 11/27 and lasting until 11/29!! 

Everything on the site is 50% Off with the exclusive coupon code WHOA.

Del Sol Nail polish make excellent stocking stuffers!! 

They also sell more than just nail polish, Del Sol also sells other color changing apparel and accessories.

Click HERE to visit their site to see their entire selection and don't forget to apply the coupon code WHOA at check out to take advantage of their Black Friday Super Savings!

Newcomer to the Great Diaper Debate

Did you know that Toys'R'Us has started their own line of diapers?

I just found out. I have a pack to try courtesy of Influenster.

Stay Tuned to see how they stack up against the other diaper brands! Updates to come!

A Good Night's Rest

A good night's rest, I don't even know what that is anymore. I don't recall having anything close to a good night's rest since about the 2/3 mark of my pregnancy with Number 1 almost 10 years ago.Every once in a while I can get really close though, but it requires the aid of a few things and quite a bit more preparation than just falling down on the bed (like I could have done before kids).

Things that help me get a good night's rest.

Preparation!

The night before, I set up everything to where the older kids can get up and help out with the younger ones. For example: I will set out the things they may need for breakfast (ie: bowls and cereal from higher shelves, make sure that the milk is in a manageable container for them to pour). Another thing I do as part of the preparation for the kids to be self sufficient when they wake up bright and early is to go ahead and line up quiet entertainment. That usually means cartoons and books for the older two and truck and cars for Number 3.

Over the years I have found a few products that have enhanced my sleeping experience.



I don't know why but great smelling laundry helps me fall asleep faster. I guess it doesn't trigger that ever growing To-Do list and keep me awake. For me the best thing in the world that I have found for keeping the laundry smelling fresh is Downy's Unstoppables. I especially like the Dreams scent. To me to smells like a light mixture between Lavender and Sweet Pea. The scent will keep your bedding smelling fresh in the closet for up to 12 weeks. In my experience, it will keep it smelling fresh on the bed for up to 2 weeks.






Other items that help get a good night's rest, after you have kids, is investing in a good sleep mask. I have tried a few  but Dream Essentials has been my favorite so far.

Dream Essentials Sleep Mask 

This mask and ear plug combo are awesome for blocking out unwanted stimuli while you are trying to get some sleep. The mask itself is soft and completely opaque. The nose form fits my face perfectly and helps to block out any light that tries to creep in from the tent my nose creates in non-formed masks. The elastic on the mask is also top notch. It has a Velcro attachment in the back to make it fully adjustable which is great because I seem to have a head radius that is smaller than average. 

(*Hint Hint* If there is anyone in your house or family that you know could use a little help in getting a few extra Zzzzs, this makes for a great, yet inexpensive gift.)

Disclaimer: Any product mentioned in this blog may have been received for free or at a discount in exchange for a fair and honest review. The opinions expressed above are my own  regardless of how the item was acquired. This post contains Amazon Associate links. The links help connect readers to the product on Amazon.com and a portion of the sales completed through these links are given back to the blog to help support it. 

As always, feedback, comments, questions and suggestions are always welcome. Please remember to follow the blog and register your email address at the top of the page to have new posts emailed directly to you so you never miss an update!