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By subscription only! Welcome to another issue of:

                "THE BALANCED WOMAN".

Thanks to all of you who have encouraged your friends to subscribe!  You are important to us.  So rest assured we will NEVER sell or give away your email addresses to anyone!!

We realize that not all of the email programs available can accommodate our size.  So you can also find this issue of The Balanced Woman at: http://angelfire.com/sd/BalancedWoman/issue16.html

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              IN THIS ISSUE
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       => Welcome
       => Feature Article: "You CAN Make a Difference"
       => Household Tip
       => Column: "Working with No Faces"
       => Parenting Tip
       => Classified Ads
       => Guest Column:"An Organized Shopping List
             Makes All the Difference"
       => Pampering Yourself
       => Can You Help this Reader?
       => Help Others without Spending a Dime!
       => Subscribe/Un subscribe information

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                       WELCOME
 

With "Back to School" almost here I wanted to tell you about a new ebook I recently had the privelege of reading.  It's called "Time to Tell 'Em Off! A Pocket Guide to Overcoming Peer Ridicule"  Most self-help books on bullying are either simple picture books for very young kids or advice books for parents.  This ebook is for older kids and teens (about 5th through 12th grade), who are usually the ones dealing with the really nasty jeering.  If you have children in this age range I strongly encourage you to get this book for them!  It will help!  The price is right too.  At $3.95 you can't go wrong.  It's available at Booklocker.com  http://www.booklocker.com/bookpages/dmiller.html

Many thanks to those of you who responded to our reader's question last month about how to "unstick" china glasses.  You can find all of YOUR wonderful responses and helpful hints at: http://angelfire.com/sd/BalancedWoman/glasses.html

Quick site updates for you…

Please visit our message boards!! We haven't yet changed the question because we're waiting for more of you to add your voice!  You can find the message board at: http://www.betweenfriends.org

Please stop by and cast your vote at the site poll, if you haven't yet.  It's been changed!  This month's site poll asks what area of self improvement you're the most interested in.  While there, you'll also find the results of the previous poll at http://www.betweenfriends.org/poll.html Remember, we don't ask for your name, email address or any other personal data--just your opinion!

This month's recipe is, again, from Minute Meals.com  I always try all the recipes I recommend, before I recommend them and once again, Minute Meals has a winner.  Like all the rest, it's quick, easy, and delicious!  You can find it at: http://www.betweenfriends.org/househol.htm

Well, that's it for this month.  I hope you enjoy this issue!
jackie

PS:  Please visit our website often at: http://www.betweenfriends.org It's full of articles, tips and links to help you bring more balance into your life.
 

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               This Month's Sponsors!
 
 
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Feature Article: You CAN Make a Difference!
By:  Jacqueline McLaughlin Hale
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I was watching the news the other day while they were reporting on the Middle East peace talks.  Israeli and Palestinian leaders were on camera, smiling, shaking hands and pledging their commitment to the peace process.  At first I couldn't help but think what a farce this whole scene was.  Sure, THEY seemed to be willing to work something out but meanwhile, back at home, their supporters were killing each other.  It seemed a bit hypocritical and frankly it disgusted me.  And then, in the midst of my disgust I realized that there might be more going on than the hypocrisy I had assumed.

Many people throughout the ages have been called leaders.  But being named a leader or inheriting a leadership position does not necessarily a leader make.  True leaders dare to take stands to do what is right regardless of the consequences to themselves.  True leaders lead by setting examples and daring to dream.  They affect those around them in a positive manner and create change through "good".  True leaders make a difference.

These Israeli and Palestinian men, whose faces and names were all over the news, are leaders all right.  By negotiating for peace and trying to end hundreds of years of war and destruction, they are setting an example for their supporters and the whole world to see.  They are daring to dream of a better life yet unknown.  They are making a difference--- and they are no different from you or I.

When it comes right down to it these men are nothing more than men. They may lead thousands of people, but you lead people too.  You lead those within your own sphere of influence.  Every day, whether you realize it or not, you impact dozens: your partner, your children, your friends, your neighbors, your children's friends, those you work with, the checker in the grocery store, the teller in the bank and many more.  The question is: are you making a difference?

As women and mothers, WE have an exceptionally strong desire for peace and love.  We are sick of the violence in our schools; we are tired of hate crimes; we are fed up with ALL crimes and we know that this rampant negativity that runs freely through our societies today, must come to an end!!  Every time we see yet another senseless act of violence on the news, we wonder what it will take to stop it, what we can do to help, and how we can make a difference.

Sometimes, making a difference can seem so overwhelming.  Maybe you're not comfortable with protesting or joining things.  Maybe you just can't squeeze any more time into your day to be involved.  But you still wonder how your quieter, subtler voice can be heard all the same.  You wonder IF it can be heard?

YES, your voice CAN be heard!  Peace begins one person at a time and you don't have to protest or march.  All you have to do is SET AN EXAMPLE!

Hate doesn't begin all of the sudden.  It begins slowly and it grows.  It starts with words such as: "She's such a b----; he's so demanding; she needs to lose weight; he looks like such a bum; she IS such a bum; those people are so lazy; they just try to rip you off; she'll take advantage of you any chance she gets"

These words are those you might say in anger or even offhandedly, not really thinking too much about them.  However, once spoken they fester, like an open wound.  Your children hear them or their friends hear them or the bank teller hears them.  Regardless of who hears them, you can be sure they are repeated somehow, somewhere and the cycle begins.

Remember the telephone game you used to play as a child?  Everyone lined up in a row and the first person whispered something to the next person.  The next person whispered that same message to the next person and so it continued on down the line until the original message finally arrived at the last person.  That person announced it out loud.  It never ended up the way it began.

Like the telephone game, the negative things you say about others get repeated, sometimes over and over again.  With each repetition they grow worse and worse and they spread faster and faster until they become so distorted they bear no resemblance to your original words.  Along the way they may impact others.  They may stop with one other or they may continue on to many others.  Eventually they may create hate.  Hate ultimately breeds violence.

So you want the world to change?  You want to stop the violence?  You want to make a difference?  Start with yourself!  Acknowledge that you ARE a leader.  Accept that leadership comes with certain responsibilities.  Resolve to use your leadership to make a positive impact on those around you.  Do it by watching your words.  They matter.  Use them for good and you can change the world--one person at a time…

Post Script---Since originally writing this article, a very good friend of mine has spearheaded an effort to help those, who are less fortunate, help themselves.  I urge you to read all about it at: http://angelfire.com/sd/BalancedWoman/africa.html  where I have posted a moving and well written piece from his last newsletter.  It will explain everything, far better than I ever could.  Here's a chance to make a difference...
 

Jacqueline McLaughlin Hale is a CPA and the editor of Between Friends: Living Life Your Way (http://www.betweenfriends.org) Between Friends is a website dedicated to helping women balance their responsibilities so that they can make more time for themselves.  It does this by providing tips, tricks and tools for household hints, parenting, budgeting, self-improvement and more!  It also offers a FREE monthly ezine: The Balanced Woman.  Visit today!

Webmasters and publishers may use this article in their ezine or website, as long as the *entire*
article is used, and the *copyright notice* and *resource box* are left in tact, including this notice

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            HOUSEHOLD HINT OF THE MONTH

Are your tubs and showers filled with soap scum?  Remove it quickly and easily with a laundry stain treatment such as Spray n Wash.  Spray on and wipe scum off.  Works like a charm!

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"Working with No Faces"
By: Mia Cronan
http://www.MainStreetMom.com
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When I first quit my job to be a full-time mommy, I couldn't wait to get away from the rat race.  In fact, whenever I interviewed potential employees for positions, it used to irk me to no end when they would grin and say in a sappy voice, "I just love to work with people."  Oh sure!  If you didn't, you'd be a marine biologist, right?  Come on!  John Q. Public has never been a contender for Most Popular in my book.  (Twelve years in hotel management can make a person feel this way.)
 
Well, three years have come and gone since I left the rat race, and in that time, I've started a small business here in my home.  I've also learned how lonely that can be.  My morning coffee buddy is my computer.  My colleagues are the three little girls crawling around my feet under my desk, leaving Barbie dolls on my keyboard, shoving pop-tarts into my CD-ROM, and making sure my lap is never at a loss for discarded stuffed animals.
 
As much as I used to complain about "people" that I worked with, I miss them!  I miss going to lunch with them, and I miss hearing their goofy weekend stories and tales of their children.  But, I have made an interesting set of friends on the internet, most of whom I've never spoken with and probably never will.  Yet I know them.  I know the tone of their emails, and I can "hear" things in their messages, such as joy, anger, frustration, and victory.  We've offered support, we've shared our successes with each other, and we've helped each other get helpful information.  I've never seen their faces, but I care about them, and I sense they care about me.
 
Can you imagine living 100 years ago, and hearing that this will be the case one day?  I would have said (while madly churning the butter), "Not in my lifetime!"  And that would have been accurate.  My mother always said that when God closes a door, He opens a window.  And I believe that to be the case here.  I've left my other friends behind, but my "net" friends are people, too.  If you have them, enjoy them, and be as good a friend to them as you would if they were in front of your face.
 
Mia Cronan is a married full-time mother of three girls, ages 4, 3, and 1, living in Pennsylvania.  She owns and edits www.MainStreetMom.com, the magazine for modern mothers with traditional values.  Mia can be reached at cronan@a1usa.net

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            PARENTING TIP OF THE MONTH

My child talks back to me. What can I do?

Whenever you're interacting with your child, you need to let your child have a chance to state her opinion. If you allow your child a few sentences now and then, as long as you insist on a respectful tone, you will experience less back-talking. This is a great way to show mutual respect and teach your child how to converse with an adult.

Excerpted from Emazing.com http://www.emazing.com

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An Organized Shopping List Makes All the Difference
By Monica Resinger
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Why use a grocery list?  A grocery list is an aid in helping you buy only necessities and/or sale items, therefore, a list can help you save money.  It's also an aid in helping you get out of the store quicker as long as the list is organized.

An unorganized grocery list can actually hinder your best efforts of getting out of the store quicker, here's an example:  I used to make my grocery list by writing item number one at the top of the list and working my way down in no particular order.  This created a problem in the grocery store; I'd be in a particular area, read my list over in a hurry and miss one or two items in that section.  I would then have to run back to that section later when I noticed I missed the item.

It seems every time I went shopping I'd spend a good part of the time running back to a particular section to pick up something I missed.  I decided there had to be a better way.

What I came up with is a pre-printed sectioned list made on my computer.  I will explain how I did this later.  The list has headings for each section of the grocery store such as produce, meats, breakfast foods, etc., just like you'd see in a coupon organizer. Now, as I'm making my list, I just go to the proper section on the pre-printed list and write in the item.  Then, when I'm grocery shopping, all I do is look at the proper section on my list and there's all the items I need to get in that section.

Another benefit is that it's very easy to search for coupons since the list headings match the coupon headings.  I made this list by opening up a new document in my Wordpad program.  Any word processing program will work.  Then all I did was type in the following headings three across in a row, then four or five returns down to make the next row of three across.  The returns provide space for you to write in your items later.  These are the headings I used:

PRODUCE
BREAD/BAKERY
CONDIMENTS
BAKING SUPPLIES
PACKAGED MEALS/SOUPS
SNACKS/POP
FROZEN VEG./JUICE
FROZEN MEALS
FROZEN TREATS
MEAT
BREAKFAST ITEMS
CLEANERS
PROCESSED MEAT
PET FOOD
TOILET PAPER/TOILETRIES
MILK/DAIRY

After the list was finished, I printed out a few to keep with my grocery ads in a binder.  When I need more, I'll print more.  I took my list shopping and found out, an organized shopping list does make all the difference.

Monica Resinger is editor/founder of  Creative Home Newsletter; a free, weekly newsletter with articles and tips to help make your home a better place to live. To get this free newsletter, send a blank e-mail to:
CreativeHome-subscribe@egroups.com
 

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             Pampering Yourself

With summer coming to an end this month, you can probably use a break from your family right now :)  There's no better way to pamper yourself than to get a massage, a facial, a manicure or a pedicure!

Think you can't afford it?  Think again!  Both massage and cosmetology schools offer these kinds of services at significantly reduced rates!  It gives the students a chance to practice (don't worry--they're supervised).  So get out your phone book, find a school near you and make an appointment! You'll be glad you did!
 

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          Can You Help this Reader?

My granddaughter spilled gasoline on my couch and carpet.  How do I get it out?

Please send your suggetions to me at jahale95@yahoo.com with "gas" in the subject.

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       HELP OTHERS WITHOUT SPENDING A DIME!

SPONSORS FEED HUNGRY SENIORS FOR FREE!

Meals On Wheels site, www.GiveMeals.com feeds hungry seniors with Advertisers/Sponsors paid donations!  Sponsors pay each time you CLICK, SHOP, JOIN or REGISTER.  Make GiveMeals.com your "Start Page" and never miss a chance to help. Sponsors make the Internet a Life Net to many elderly. Visit
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Please take 15 seconds of your valuable time and stop by The Hunger Site daily.  Every 3.6 seconds, someone dies of hunger on this planet and 3/4 of those deaths are children under 5 years old!  Every time you click their button, food is donated to help feed starving people.  The equivalent of two cups!  That means it takes LOTS OF US to do it.  Daily!  Make them your" Start Page" and it only takes 2 seconds of your time!  Many of us are making lots of money on the net but there are others that need a "life net" so please lend a hand.  Trust me- you'll feel better about yourself all day.  It is supported by sponsors - and costs you NOTHING!  http://www.thehungersite.com
 

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                    Disclaimer

The appearance of advertising in The Balanced Woman should not be interpreted as an endorsement by the editors of the service, product, business, or program being advertised.  We take no responsibility for claims or representations made in any ads.  The Balanced Woman is for informational and entertainment purposes only.  The ideas and information expressed in it have not been approved or authorized by anyone either explicitly or implicitly.  In no event shall Jacqueline McLaughlin Hale be liable for any damages whatsoever resulting from any action arising in connection with the use of this information or its publication, including any action for infringement of copyright or defamation.  The opinions expressed by our columnists are not necessarily the position of The Balanced Woman.
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Copyright 1999, 2000 JA Hale
Editor's Comments: If any of you have any ideas, comments and suggestions on how we can improve this e-zine please let me know.  Just send an email to: jahale95@yahoo.com

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