Wave jumping and boogie boarding were big hits as was making a sand castle. Sand Key also has a huge amount of smaller shells (less than an inch). You can practically scoop them up by the bucketfuls. There was also evidence of larger shells but they were almost always broken. The south part of the beach seems to be better for the larger shells. My guess is that low tide would be a great time to look for shells.

There are more events and fun outings listed at Family Fun Life for those of you who live in Clearwater, Florida or any of the surrounding areas.

Whether you realise it or not, you are looked upon as a role model both by children and by other adults.

You don’t think so?

Well, the office junior fresh from school looks up to you; the kids next door have a respect for you, even that colleague who just nods as you walk past thinks that you ‘know your stuff’.

It’s irrelevant whether you actually do ‘know your stuff’ or not. These people lookup to you because of who are (or appear to be), and because of your position at work, or your job in society.

Well, okay, so now what? Regardless of how many people look up to you, most of us could improve things to some degree. For instance, what’s the one thing you can do today to improve the impression you give?

Often it’s the little things that make the difference. Smartly ironed clothes. Getting in on time. Not taking long lunches. Producitng great products without supervision. Not taking part in office gossip. Thanking a friend.

You can improve the impression that you give quite dramatically – just by working on a small thing until you’ve got it right – and then moving onto the next one.

Award winning scientist Shane Ellison talks about the inner workings of corporate drug making (and dealing). My most important lesson: Not all drugs are bad. Some are really bad. Take the so-called antidepressant Prozac as an example.

My friend, Tina Turbin, will be on two LIVE radios interviews on Wednesday, August 5, 2009.

Tina Turbin is a published children’s author, writer, humanitarian and researcher. Besides Tina’s “Danny the Dragon” series, Tina has strong interest working and writing on topics relating to family, children, the role of parenting and its importance. She is quite involved with child nutrition and education, research and writing on gluten-free sensitivity and eating as well as Celiac Disease, an auto immune disease.

1:00PM EST on Lynn Serafinn’s Garden of the Soul at BlogTalkRadio.com

She addresses community leaders and others who are actively making a positive and inspirational impact upon the world.

She will be discussing children’s literature, our responsibility as parents and leaders and will offer a tip-sheet for anyone with goals in writing children’s books.

Then at 6:00PM EST this same day the “Single Again! Now What?” Talk Radio Show- www.SingleAgainNowWhatRadio.com.

She covers many issues to help others and this title is misleading, as it is not just for single parents.

In the interview she will be talking about children’s literacy, children’s literature, schools and family.

She will be offering a different tip-sheet for this show.

Her new book series, “Danny the Dragon” will be a topic in both of these shows!

Again, these  two “Live” shows will take place on Wednesday, August 5, 2009 @ 1:00PM and 6:00PM EST.

If you listen to them, write a comment or send me an e-mail and let me know what you thought.

When it comes to kids and ill-mannered behavior, who is to blame? Is it the family, school or is it them. I recently had my eyes opened to another look at this while attending a library reading given by Tina Turbin on her new “Danny the Dragon” (http://DannyTheDragon.com) series of children’s books. Tina Turbin is not only a children’s author (she also wrote “Show Biz Kids”, http://ShowBizKids.com), but is also a researcher and humanitarian. While listening to her read to many local school children and home-schooled children, I realized that there is a good solution to raising well-mannered and responsible children.

This children’s author, Tina Turbin, got my attention while I sat amongst the other 96 attendees at her reading. After getting familiar with the large audience of kids, she conducted a remarkable questions and answer period. Her responses were honest and she addressed these young children with respect and honor. At one point, she also spoke to the parents. It’s what she said to the parents that really impressed me. This woman may just be onto something.

One child asked her when she had started writing children’s literature. To be honest, I was in the back and could not hear that reply, but then she started addressing us adults a bit after this point. Speaking louder to the back of the room, she stated what the importance of a parent or adult is to a child. She said that we should treat a child with respect, listen to the child’s goals at an early age and nurture these goals. She went on to say that children could possibly change their minds a few times but so do us adults. She also pointed out that many adults are not really living their dreams and asked if this is what we want for our children.

I realized then that she may be onto something. If a child is on his or her own goal and given some simple support and guidance, as Tina mentioned briefly, I can only assume that that child would be less distracted by peer pressure, feel more loved and have his or her own thrust in life. The result would be a happier child and most definitely a happier stable adult in later years.

The adults and children alike were fixed on her story to the end while Tina read her book, “Danny the Dragon Meets Jimmy” with all the life, charm and imagination that her book imparts. Not only does her book convey acts of kindness in the subtlest of manner to children, Tina Turbin’s approach to writing as a children’s author and to her audience was a sheer pleasure for us all.

After the reading, she conducted an exciting activity time for the kids. I had the pleasure to meet Tina and ask a bit more about her interests and background. She is very pleasant, with a sincere care for children and families and a love for writing. She is going strong at her goal in these areas.

I am sure we shall see and hear much more about this woman. I can see through her efforts why she is deemed a humanitarian as well as a popular children’s author already. She uses her knowledge and background to help those around her through her research and she writes in a manner that easily speaks to both the young and young at heart.

I really do love my job and I enjoy the students that I work with.  I get to be there to see the looks on their faces when they suddenly “get it” and the whole subject hits home.  It is glorious and sometimes I have a bit of a hard time not getting all choked up about it.  (Don’t tell my students that, they think I am tougher than that!) 

I get to take a student that “sucks at math” or “hates writing” and turn that around and see the look of pride when those statements are no longer truths for that student.  I consider it a privilege that when my students see me at church or at Starbucks, they don’t avoid me or merely wave and go on their own way.  They actually sit down with me for a while and we have wonderful conversations about everything from religion to soccer.  (This, according to some of my students, is pretty much the same thing.) 

So I don’t think that teaching high school students is tough, I think it’s amazing.  I also think my Washburn students are amazing.

Washburn Academy can be reached at 727-647-1668.

Seems to me that he had what was coming to him. Seems to me that they should be commending her for the fact that she wasn’t going to tolerate the crack smoking punk. Maybe if the penalty for smoking crack was being brained with a toilet seat, fewer people would do it. (Okay, I really doubt that, but it SOUNDS good, doesn’t it?) I hope like hell they gave her a standing ovation when they booked her.

The cat ate ravenously, drank some offered water and promptly hurled on the bricks and began eating again. This time we only let him have a little and drink as much water as he cared to. We decided to put him up in the garage for the night with a bit of food and some water. I said to my dad, “You know he’s here to stay.” To which he replied, “Yeah, I know.” We already had a cat and I didn’t figure that he would be too interested in having another one.

Of course he stayed. Now began the task of naming a nearly full grown cat. He was very affectionate and appreciative. In fact, within a very short time he began eliminating the rat population in our garage. (We figured that this was pretty good exchange for room and board.) We thought about naming him Damn Cat II. We thought about naming him Lucky Bastard. We thought about giving him a myriad of other names. He didn’t really seem to care what he was called so long as there was food and people. We finally settled on Killer as it soon became apparent that he was proficient in this area.

It should be noted that this cat probably DOES have nine lives and that by the time he adopted us, he had used at least one of them. Our backyard virtually opened into a vast wilderness called Angeles National Forest. Bobcat and coyotes frequented our yard, as well as racoons and owls. The fact that he avoided starvation and being eaten was pretty amazing, all things considered.

His next mishap was getting closed in the garage door. Face out, ass in. Yep, picture a yellow tabby cat protruding from the front of your garage. That would be him. Opening the garage door seemed the only logical way to get him out and as soon as he was free he sauntered off, unharmed. (Perhaps his dignity was bruised, but that was all.)

He also has a penchant for fighting. So each Spring that he has resided with us he gets carted off to the vet to stave off some infection that has left him lethargic, wounded and sick.

When we moved from L.A. to Florida he was no where to be found when it came time to put him in a crate and cart him off to LAX for the trip. At the last moment, literally as I am closing the car door, he saunters across the street. I pack him up and the next thing he knows he is on a plane to God knows where.

I have to give this cat a lot of credit for adjusting. I attempted to make him an indoor cat once we moved to Florida, but Chloe, my decidedly indoor cat, objected strongly and Killer is perhaps the whiniest beast I have ever encountered when he doesn’t get his way. He wanted OUT! Now he enjoys the best of both worlds, at his whim. And he thanked us for his freedom by decimating the rat population in our new garage. I had to ask him nicely not to bring us any cute animals such as squirrels and bunnies as token of his undying love and appreciation. He seems to have gotten the point, but not until after he had made a minor dent in these populations.

Perhaps the quirkiest thing about this cat is his habit of lying in the middle of the street or behind my car. Or worse yet, when he sees me coming down the street, he goes and lays in the middle of the driveway. He seems to know that all of this makes me crazy. You see a cat that I had previously was hit while crossing the street to greet me when I came home from work. So to ensure my peace of mind, I get out of the car and chase Killer out of my parking space, out of the middle of the street or out from behind my car. And sometimes, he promptly comes right back and plops down in the same spot, usually about the time that I have gotten back into my car. I am pretty sure that he knows exactly what he is doing.

I am happy that he chose us. I think he did well to do so. He seems pretty pleased with the arrangement. Did I mention that he drools? Well, I will save that for another time…

The social worker behind the counter said, “Your timing is excellent. We just got a job opening from a very wealthy old man who wants a chauffeur and bodyguard for his beautiful daughter.”

“You’ll have to drive around in his 2007 Mercedes-Benz CL, and he will supply all of your clothes. Because of the long hours, meals will be provided. You’ll also be expected to escort the daughter on her overseas holiday trips.”

“This is rather awkward to say but you will also have as part of your job assignment to satisfy her sexual urges as the daughter is in her mid-20’s and has a rather strong sex drive,” she added.

“A two-bedroom loft type apartment with plasma TV, stereo, bar, etc., located above the garage will be designated for your sole use and the salary is $200,000 a year,” she continued.

The guy, just plain wide-eyed said, “You’re bullshittin’ me!”

The social worker said, “Yeah, well, you started it.”

You can find the full article here:
http://www.thestreet.com/story/10417905/2/six-tips-for-marketing-to-parents.html