Being a good Steward of your money is very important. I personally feel that we 'vote' with our money. We make value judgments based on products we buy. That's why people boycott companies whose practice they cannot abide. They don't want their money going to help causes/ people who believe in things that they don't believe.

Being frugal allows us to better live within our means. Is it a perfect means? Not always but it is smarter than always paying full price for everything without even thinking. That way lies madness.

Being a good Steward of our money also means generously giving it away. It may seem oxymoronic that giving away your money is good for you but it truly is. Not only will it make you feel better, but it's better for the community at large and that's a good enough reason for me to donate my money when I can.

Here's where Being a Good Steward of Your Money and Donation go hand in hand. Know the people to whom you donate or at least do some research. Give to your local church or faith community. Go through the Unitied Way or even a small non-profit that you have personal contact with. Don't hand out money to people who call you over the phone. That's not being responsible with your money. That's being taken for a ride.

Money is the way that budgets are made for organizations and this time of the year is extremely important as non-profits struggle to make ends meet between the rock and a hard place - more people are in need and they have fewer dollars in which to help them. In this climate of economic downturn I don't know anyone who isn't being cautious and that's a smart plan. But if you can, please make some provision for a donation to a non-profit in your area. There are so many programs that will not be available in the New Year because of a lack of funds. Then there is the trickle down - those programs are led by people. Those people won't have jobs, etc., etc., etc.,

The Stewardship conversation may start with our money but it's not going to stop here. We'll continue to talk about ways in which we can give back to our community, take care of what we have and be Good Stewards. This is definitely a Cool Idea!

Odds are that if you belong to community organization, church, or other faith community you've heard the word stewardship lately and probably in the context of the organization as it comes together to create its budget for next year. People in churches laugh at the euphemism and sometimes joke that attendance drops so that people can protect their wallet when 'Stewardship Sunday' roles around.

It's unfortunate that Stewardship has taken on the connotation of revolving around money. It's true that stewardship of money is important and definitely part of the conversation, but it's not the whole conversation and it's not the only conversation.

Over the next several days we'll be looking at what it means to be a good Steward. How we can be a better Steward of that which has been entrusted to us and what this means going forward.

It's a Cool Idea. I promise. Really.

I've been a subscriber to Mary Hunt's Everyday Cheapskate e-newsletter for quite a while now. I enjoy getting it in my inbox everyday. Most days it reminds me of good ways to cut costs and reduce our debt. Other days it provides helpful hints for around the house - some of which I definitely would never have though of.

Recently, Erin of $5 Dinners has been added to these emails. I already subscribe to Erin's emails but I enjoy seeing her in this new space, too. It's a great forum and great recipes, too.

I hope you'll head on over see the most recent recipe and go ahead and subscribe to the Everyday Cheapskate. I promise you'll get a lot out of the emails. It's definitely a Cool Idea!

I don't know how you guys do this but I'm still having trouble merging real life with our school life. I think I had more time to get things done before Comfort and Joy were in school. Or maybe I'm just trying to get so much more packed into so little time that my frustration is bubbling over.

Perhaps, the key is to manage my expectations and not presume that I can keep the house picked up, do the grocery shopping, find a well paying job, write the great American novel, and solve world peace when I only have 2 uninterupted hours a day in which to work. But, I say to myself - I have 5 days a week x 2 hours - shouldn't that account for something?

A ten hour a week job is barely even part-time, I remind myself. I'm trying to jam a LOT of stuf into a very small timeframe. Probably I should be glad that it's working at all but mostly I'm still trying to keep my head above water.

The only saving grace is that because the girls are dead dog tired they don't fight going to bed at 7:30pm and then I have the evenings to get back to work without guilt. Of course, I'm missing television and stuff like that but that's what Netflix and retirement are for. Right now I need to keep pushing on and see what I can create, produce, and make for dinner and hopefully at some point I can acknowledge that some of it will have been a Cool Idea!

I'm old enough to remember going to see the movie "When Harry Met Sally" in the theatre and hearing "It Had to Be You" and thinking "Wow, that guy sounds great. I wonder who that is." Since then I've followed and enjoyed Connick's music since - of course it doesn't hurt that he has the face of a male model! - and admired the work he's done in his native New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina so when One2One Network gave me the opportunity to review his new album Your Songs I jumped at the chance.

This album includes classic songs that you'll know from other places and by other artists. Like:

• All The Way
• Just the Way You Are
• Can't Help Falling in Love with You
• And I love Her
• Close to You
• Besame Mucho
• The Way You Look Tonight
• First ime Ever I saw Your Face
• Your Song
• Some Enchanted Evening
• And I love You So
• Who Can I Turn To
• Smile
• Mona Lisa

While I appreciated the music and enjoyed Connick's interpretation of these songs I can't say that I thought these were the best versions of these songs I've ever heard or his best work. Sometimes I just think his voice wasn't the best match for the song. However, I think this is a good album and good background music and if you are a die hard Harry Connick, Jr. fan then you'll want to get this album for sure.

As regular readers to this blog know, Menu Planning was one of my New Year's Resolutions and it has been my biggest challenge. I still don't have a reliable plan. In fact, I cannot tell you what we will be having for dinner tonight and it's after 2pm. So, I'm thinking that I might be trying out something like this very soon.

Services like relish! are popping up all around. Some are free and some are subscriptions based. This one is a subscription [at $7 a month] but it it seems that you get to pick your 5 dinners from a list and they guarantee that your weekly dinners will cost less than $85. That includes entrees and sides and the prep is 30 mins or less.

So, if you are menu planning challenged like I am head on over to relish! and check out what they have to offer because it genuinely looks like a really Cool Idea!

Just in case you were not around on one of the many days that I blogged about finding the A Year of Slow Cooking blog or you are not one of the bazillions of people I have emailed the link to the apple butter recipe recently, that's all right. The Crock Pot lady has you covered, so to speak. Stephanie O'Dea's book Make It Fast, Cook It Slow: The Big Book of Everyday Slow Cooking is available October 13th! Woohoo!!

Oh, but it gets better. Stephanie will also be on Good Morning America Tuesday the 13th! So, Check it out!!

Restaurant.com is offering the $25 certificate for $2 again! Use discount code FOUR until Oct. 12th to get this amazing deal.

It's getting to be that time of the year when we need to stock up on inexpensive presents for family, friends, and co-workers. These certificates make great gifts because they are inexpensive to you, offer a great value to the recipient and they don't expire until a year after purchase. [Remember to read the details for each restaurant though.]

Take a look at the restaurant offerings in your area. They can change as the year goes on - some restaurants will come and go from the program - but the price of the certificate is always a wonderful Cool Idea!

I had the opportunity * to try AVEENO's new NOURISH+ hair care products to see what the big deal was. I'm a big fan of products that use natural ingredients to do their work and AVEENO has blended the natural benefits of wheat germ oil and wheat protein into these products to help restore and revitalize hair naturally.

These are words that I love. Truly. I love it when companies use products this way. I wanted to love these products with all of my heart so I took all the other hair care products out of the shower and I only used AVEENO NOURISH+ MOISTURIZE. The information from AVEENO says that after just 3 washes you, and other people, will begin to notice positive changes in your hair.

I got to day 3 and wasn't sure I could do anymore but this is a review and I wanted to make sure I was giving the product a fair shot. I kept going. Seven washes and my hair did feel better. Two weeks now and it's great. Look great. Does anyone else notice? Not sure Comfort and Joy would notice if I wore a clown wig but it does feel better and not as dry as before since my primary reason for selecting the MOISTURIZE Shampoo and Conditioner is that as my hair is graying it is drying out.

So what were the drawbacks for me? They weren't the way the product made my hair feel after I got out of the shower. That part was great. The drawback for me was the way my hair felt during the shampoo process. The shampoo lather is great. The smell is a bit funny but I chalked that up to a lack of perfumes added to the product which makes sense if AVEENO is going to keep with the natural thing. But when I rinsed the shampoo from my hair, my hair felt tacky, almost like I'd just put paste in my hair.

I did read through the literature that very explicitly mentions how important it is to use both the shampoo and conditioner and I would agree. Once again, not for how your hair will feel out of the shower, but for how your hair will feel inside the shower. It's a complete process and you need to do it from start to finish. But that's okay because a little of the product goes a long way. I've been using AVEENO NOURISH+ MOISTURIZE shampoo and conditioner everyday for two weeks and it looks like I've barely put a dent in the bottle. I do have short hair but since I don't wear my contacts in the shower I'm not careful about using a 'dime size' portion of anything;) And speaking of not wearing my contacts in the shower I can thank AVEENO for making the tops of the bottles different colors so that even without my contacts, and without the ability to read the bottles, I can tell the shampoo from the conditioner before I make the mistake of trying to lather the wrong one into my hair. Much appreciated!!

AVEENO NOURISH+ has additional products in this line, too. REVITALIZE is made for hair that sustains everyday damage and those who have trouble combing through tangles. VOLUMIZE is made to provide bounce to hair that is fine and flat. SOOTHE is for people with itchy, dry scalp and there's even a CONDITION leave-in treatment or hair that is intensely dry and damaged.

No matter what products we use how we use them can make or break the efficiency of the product. Here are some great reminders from AVEENO:

• Turn down the temperature of your shower and end your shower will cool water. Hot water wicks away moisture leaving hair dry and dull.
• We all know that hair is vulnerable when wet so was it gently. Use your palms to spread the shampoo evenly from the roots to the tip.
• Washing your hair is a 2-step process. Never skip the conditioner.
• Don't brush out tangles. Use a wide-toothed comb and start at the ends of your hair and work your way up to the roots until all the knots are free.
• When you're styling your hair wait until your hair is at least half dry since this limits the damage that heat can do to your hair.
• To boost limp hair flip your head over and blow the hair away from your scalp.
• Only use flat irons and curling irons on dry hair since they will damage damp hair and won't create the effect you wanted anyway.
• Don't fight your hair. Let it go. If it's curly figure out how to work with it. If it's sraight learn to enjoy that.
• ~~ And I'll insert my own motto here: Embrace the Gray!

So, there you go. AVEENO NOUISH+ MOISTURIZE did leave my hair feeling great once I got out of the shower. I would love for you to give it a try and/or joing the conversation about AVEENO NOURISH+. If you'd like a sample of AVEENO MOISTURIZE shampoo and conditioner please leave me a message in the comments and I'll send them out until I have no more. Also, if you'd like to join an online conversation about AVEENO NOURISH+ you can go to ChatThreads.com and enter 101 289 451591

*Disclaimer: I received the products for free to try and I have received samples to give away. No money has given to me and my review has in no way been influenced.

I'm still having a hard time adjusting to the new school year. Today I forgot to pack Comfort's blanket for rest time and for the first time EVER she ate all of her lunch and didn't have anthing to eat for afternoon snack.

So, in the middle of Comfort's homework I panicked that there was not yet a plan or dinner. Here is what I did:
1. Place frozen chicken breast in a pocket of foil.
2. Squirt with 30-minute Marinade. This has been in my pantry for months. I used Teriyaki flavor that I'm pretty sure I got for less than $1.
3. Seal foil pocket and cook in 350 degee oven until they smell done.

I also got the rice cooker going and at the last minute nuked some frozen peas and there we go. Not a great plan but the chicken sure was tasty. I wasn't sure what it would taste like starting with frozen chicken but it worked great.

So, not a plan in the traditional sense but it worked for me today and the girls actually ate a few bites before they went back to the rice and peas.~