Karen’s View

Not very long ago, my mom was silly enough to book a flight that departed at six o’clock in the morning.  If you figure that you’re supposed to be there two hours before the flight leaves (though I don’t know why, at that time of the morning), that meant that she would need to be there around four o’clock, which would require leaving the house at three o’clock.

Usually when my mom flies anywhere, she has my dad drive her to the bus station, where she catches a bus out to the airport.  This is basically because they are too cheap to either pay for parking, or pay for the gas for my dad to drop her off.  But there aren’t any busses that run that early in the morning, so my mom decided to take the bus out to the airport the night before, and wait all night at the terminal.

I found this an incredibly DUMB idea.  For one thing, it just doesn’t seem safe, waiting at the airport overnight.  I know there’s security and all that, but… still.  Also, she wasn’t likely to sleep much sitting in the chairs at the terminal, and therefore she would be exhausted the following day.

If you accidentally book a flight that is too early, and you live a long ways from the airport, I think the best thing is to stay at a hotel near the airport.  Most airports have hotels nearby, if not in the airport itself.  For instance, there is the Phoenix airport hotel.

I think this sounds way better than sitting in the terminal all night, don’t you?  I mean, those chairs are hardly even comfortable over a several hour wait, let alone all night long!

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When my husband and I got engaged, my parents gave us only a limited amount of money toward the wedding and honeymoon.  That left the decision of the size and expense of the wedding up to us — if we wanted a bigger, costlier wedding, we would just have to pay for the difference ourselves.

We decided, therefore, to have a small, inexpensive wedding.  For those of you who want to do the same, I have a few tips to share on how to get married on a budget.

• Decide where you are willing to cut costs, and where you aren’t.  This is probably the first and most important decision you should make.  For instance, I was fine with making our own invitations and stuff like that, but I still paid a thousand dollars for the perfect wedding dress!
• Cut costs everywhere you can.  It may just be ten dollars here and twenty dollars there, but it all adds up — trust me.  For example, you could shop around to find a small-time seamstress who makes inexpensive custom veils, or even get a free veil by entering this contest.
• Eliminate the unnecessary stuff.  How important are the various parts of a wedding?  If you eliminate all the stuff you don’t strongly feel that you need — whether that’s a fancy bridal hairpin set, professionaal invitations, or those extra 30 guests you don’t really know very well — you can save a ton of money on things that you’ll hardly notice if they’re missing.

There are a hundred ways to save money on a wedding — you can plan it yourself instead of hiring a wedding planner, make invitations and favors yourself, etc.  Which ways you decide to cut money simply depends on you and what your priorities are.

Technorati Tags: bridal hairpin, budget wedding, custom veils, free veil

The Washington Post and ABC News recently did a poll that shows that most people actually do want health reform, despite the mixed responses to the bills that have been put forth in Congress.

I was  browsing Google tonight when I saw the headline.  It’s encouraging to me, as I support health care reform quite adamantly.  As a type 1 diabetic, I know exactly how hard it can be to find good Florida individual health insurance.  And I can only imagine how difficult it will be to find Medicare supplements in Florida as I get older!

I hope that something good really does come of all this deliberating.  I think two things need to happen: The high costs of health care need to be curtailed, and those who can’t afford or can’t get health insurance on their own need to be covered under a government-sponsored plan.

I favor plans that only have some sort of government-provided coverage as a backup plan, enabling you to continue using your employer-sponsored plan if you prefer.  That way, people who can afford it can still get better health care, and people who can’t will still be covered.

I guess we’ll see what  happens.  It sounds as though there is overwhelming support for some kind of health reform — the only thing left is to see exactly what shape that reform takes!

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The Fiji Islands are one of the most romantic destinations in the entire world. Sunny weather, gorgeous beaches and the peacefulness of island life are all conducive to romance. That’s why it’s a terrific place to go with a new spouse.

There are three key times when you and your new spouse could go to Fiji together:

1. For the wedding. Destination weddings are still popular with a lot of people in spite of the problems caused by the recession. A Fiji wedding would be a treat for you and your spouse but it would also be a treat for your guests.
2. For the honeymoon. Maybe you don’t want everyone else that you know interfering with the romance of Fiji. Have a wedding at home and then go on a Fiji honeymoon.
3. For your first anniversary. A lot of people just can’t afford a wedding and a honeymoon at the same time. Splurge on the wedding now. Save up to go to Fiji for your first anniversary together.

And for those of you who aren’t yet at the wedding stage, Fiji could be the destination for the type of romantic getaway that will put you one step closer to getting married!

Technorati Tags: Fiji honeymoon, Fiji wedding

There are a lot of great things about being pregnant. For some women, it’s the best time of their lives. One of the less special benefits (but a perk nonetheless) is that you can use the pregnancy to make excuses for things that you don’t want to do.

For example, if you’ve always hated your husband’s business dinners then you can get out of them during the pregnancy. Tell him that you can’t find an appropriate maternity dress to wear to the event. He won’t know about all of the cute professional pregnancy dresses there are. Or simply tell him that you’re feeling too sick.

You can get out of a lot of other social obligations this way. And you can also get out of doing a lot of work. Go down to part-time at the office and spend that time relaxing with the baby that you’re carrying.

What you may discover is that there are a lot of things in your life that you don’t enjoy doing that much. Use the pregnancy to reflect upon these things. When the baby is born, you may find that you don’t want to resume those obligations. That’s okay; now you have an infant to use as an excuse!

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