Most of the time, it's simply that the task is unpleasant, or we're not good at it, or it's boring. We get less out of the task than we put into it. Or at least it feels that way.So instead of berating ourselves about our laziness or procrastination, let's take that energy and use it to figure out how to make that chore more pleasant or rewarding. (Chocolate usually works for me.) Sometimes it's as simple as pulling out a pair of rubber gloves before you tackle the fridge, or brewing a special pot of coffee to sip while you struggle with the taxes. The most effective thing to do is to change your feelings about the chore.

Find something positive about it and focus on that. Be glad you have a refrigerator with food in it. Appreciate the fact that you have sufficient income to pay taxes.Here are a few more suggestions about how to handle the chore you hate.

• Can you make the chore more pleasant? Maybe you could light a candle or some incense, play your favorite music, sip a special brew of tea or coffee, if that's your thing. My daughter does her ironing in front of the television.
• Break a big task down into smaller pieces.

  Don't clean out the entire refrigerator; just do one shelf. Don't attack all your filing at once, just do ten pieces a day.

• Set a timer, and work on that task for just ten minutes, then quit for the day. You can do anything for just ten minutes. Often, however, once you get started, you want to keep going.

  That's fine too.

• Get others involved. When we had to clean out the storage area in our basement, we got the entire family involved. We set aside a Saturday afternoon, and with all of us going at it, making jokes about what we found, the job went smoothly and quickly.
• Attack that chore first thing in the morning, before you've had time to start dreading it. Then you'll feel good, and proud of what you've accomplished, for the rest of the day.
• Focus on how good it will feel to have that task done.

  Visualize a clean, shiny refrigerator or an empty "To File" box.

• If you can carve out the time, schedule one day when that nasty chore is the only thing you have to do. For example, on my bookkeeping mornings, I don't have to do the filing or work on my marketing plan.
• Give yourself a reward for completion. Celebrate that you've got it done!
• Finally, is this something that you, and only you, have s do? What would happen if you didn't do it, or delegated it to someone else, or even hired someone to do it for you? Will the world come apart at the seams if your spouse did the laundry instead of you? Will your business grind to a halt if you don't get everything filed away? Sometimes just letting go of the "have to" removes enough stress to make the chore bearable.

2. Candy is for humans and not for their furry friends. 3. Chocolate is toxic to animals. It can make them very sick.

Make sure that the "after Halloween" candy is put away so your pet can't get it--especially the chocolate. We hear from owners every year of pets they had to take to the emergency room because they managed to find the candy and eat it. Give them a pet treat instead. 4. If you know or suspect your pet has eaten some Halloween candy contact your veterinarian IMMEDIATELY.

Some candies, especially chocolate, can be life threatening. If you can't reach your veterinarian you can call the ASPCA's Poison Control Center 24 hours a day, 365 days a year at (888) 426- 4435. Caution: A $50 consultation fee may be applied to your credit card. 5. Costumes may look strange to people, but just imagine what they look like to a dog or cat.

Animals aren't used to seeing that kind of thing, and it could frighten them. So, it's best not take them trick or treating. 6. If your pet isn't good with strangers, it's best to put him in a separate room away from the door, so he won't be bothered by the presence of strangers. 7.

If your pet is going to be free in the house, with the door being opened repeatedly, there is more of a chance that your pet can get outside. So, remember to make sure he is wearing his license tags. That way, if he does get away, there is a better chance of getting him back home sooner..

Here are some tips to help you stick to a healthy diet throughout your pregnancy:Avoid skipping meals. If you have a habit of skipping breakfast, you'll find that you are not only more fatigued but ravenous during your pregnancy, which will result in overeating. Be sure that you eat each meal every day.Try eating several mini meals throughout the ay. This will not only help you feel fuller longer, it will help minimize the nausea often experienced during the first trimester.Satisfy your cravings with nutritious snacks. Have a variety of healthy things to snack on readily available so you avoid overindulging in foods that are too decadent.

If you are craving something sweet, consider having some mini chocolates near by or opt for a cup of hot chocolate. Both are far better for you than an entire candy bar or piece of cake.Exercise during your pregnancy. The act of exercising in and of itself will be plenty to motivate you to stick to a healthy diet. You'll feel better about yourself and find that you have more energy throughout the day.Avoid high calorie beverages. Soda pop (which isn't good for you anyway, particularly during pregnancy), juices and other flavored drinks often contain a good 100-300 calories per serving.

Stick to water or flavored water during your pregnancy.Drink lots of water. You may think you are hungry when in fact you are actually thirsty at many points during your pregnancy. In fact, the brains hunger and thirst centers often get mixed up, so people often feel hungry when they are in fact dehydrated. The better hydrated you are, the les likely you are to overeat..

The tour starts at the Visitor Center at Pioneer Courthouse Square (under the Starbucks at SW Broadway & Morrison). The price for Adults, Seniors and Youth is $59.00 per person, with group discounts beginning at 9 people. The price includes all food, drink, and Portland Streetcar access. Tour maximum is 15 walkers, so while advanced ticketing is not required, it is strongly recommended. We expect this walking tour to regularly sell out, so book in advance.About Portland Walking ToursPortland Walking Tours offers guided tours exploring the food, history, art, architecture, fountains, parks, and unique places in the City of Roses and surrounding areas.

The company also provides private tours, school field trips, step-on guide services, airport greeter services, and speaker services to the meeting industry. The 24 hour information and ticketing line is (503) 774-4522. Additional information and online ticketing are available at www.portlandwalkingtours.com. Portland Walking Tours is a member of the Portland Oregon Visitors Association, the International Culinary Tourism Association, LifeBalance, and is an AAA "Show Your Card and Save" partner.For more information, contact: David Schargel, Portland Walking Tours voice: (503) 774-4522email: e-mail protected from spam botswebsite: www.portlandwalkingtours.com.

Instead of having to join clubs and organizations and receive their newsletters via email at their convenience you can now have control over what you receive. Having to search through millions of blogs to find the few you like has now become an obsolete task. The new system is called an RSS Reader: ?Rich site summary' or ?really simple syndication' are the common definitions of this software. The process begins by signing up to receive automatic updates from blogs and other Web sites that distribute summaries of their latest postings to your reader. You then find which ones you like and delete the rest.

You can keep adding new sites until you have literally hundreds of informative connections in your areas of specific interest.Another great aspect of the RSS Reader program is the fact that you can put in key words of interest and the computer will surf the Web for you and add new blogs and web sites to your list, rating them according to the terms you have selected. You then scan over these and add the ones you feel are relevant, deleting the detritus. Eventually you will have an email-style formatted file where you can search through all your favourite writers, news, and topics' latest information. Then you also have functions such as ?comment' so you can automatically share your input with your fellow humans. Or, you can reply to the ?messages' and actually communicate with the producers of the ideas.This will really help to decentralise the information sharing processes of the current top-down mass communication systems like the media.

We can hear multiple opinions on an issue and give our own views, instead of being told one story that is heavily affected by the company's personal perspective of the situation.So, you can see this has the potential for something quite big. Less time wasted, finding all the knowledge you're looking for, and sharing your opinion and meeting others similar to yourself has never been so easy. The RSS Reader is a knife cutting away all the useless packaging, revealing the true content of the gift of the Internet..

"Now anyone can go online and order the same products we've been making with the same recipes for three generations."The new website features eighteen different assortments of Zaro's most popular fresh baked goods. Most assortments are carefully packaged in a sturdy, reusable, "taxi cab yellow" gift box with cartoon sketches of New York City Landmarks on it. They can be shipped overnight to almost anywhere in the world, making it a perfect gift for someone you love, or just to have a real taste of New York for yourself. Some of the more popular items available at Zaro's New York Bakery (http://www.zaro.com) include:New York BagelsRugelachChallah BreadBiscottiBlack and White CookiesBabkaChocolate Chip CookiesKrispy TreatsBirthday CakesApple Pies, Cherry Pies & Pecan PiesRye Bread, Raisin Walnut Bread & Whole Wheat BreadPistachio CrispsAbout Zaro's New York BakeryThe family opened their first store in 1927 when Joseph Zaro arrived at Ellis Island from Eastern Europe. By 1976 his sons, Phil and William had built the business to a 20 store chain in the most critical and competitive market in the world.

In 1977, the company opened its Grand Central Station store which paved the way for a store in Pennsylvania Station, the Port Authority Bus Terminal and many others. Over 1.5 million people pass by a Zaro's store each day, making Zaro's a household name in the New York Metropolitan area. The company manufactures all of its own products at a large plant in the Bronx..

As the dog goes into ?play/prey' drive, his sensitivity to your corrections goes WAY DOWN. In other words, you're giving him a $2 ticket and he needs a $200 ticket.Here's the easiest way to communicate to your dog (with this exercise) that you are serious:Buy a remote electronic training collar. I recommend Innotek or Dogtra.Here's how to use it to fix your dog problem:Follow the directions on matching the e-collar (remote electronic training collar) to your dog's temperament.Next, place a dumbbell on the opposite side of the room?straight in front of the dog-- and also place a distraction toy? off to the right.Send the dog to retrieve the dumbbell. Let him wear a long line, also.As he starts to veer to the right to go after the toy, say, "No!" in a loud, forceful tone and then immediately stimulate him with the e-collar. Re-issue the "Bring" or "Fetch" command and use the long line to redirect him back on course, as he may be confused.

When the dog starts to go toward the dumbbell again, immediately begin loud verbal praise, "Good dog, Good dog."There you go. Now just repeat this same exercise by altering the training location and the type of distractions. After a few times you'll be able to eliminate the long line. And after a few set-ups, the problem will be fixed.To read more of my dog training ramblings, read about my book (click below):http://tinyurl.com/4efaq.

• colored sugars or natural sugars such as pearl sugar
• jimmies, non-pareils, silver and gold drag?es, and other sprinkles
• raisins and dried fruits such as cranberries
• nuts

The paint will dry while baking and give the cookie a colorful, glazed appearance. This is a fun activity for kids! A bit of trompe l'oeilThe folks at Better Homes and Gardens have a creative recipe for Colored Cream Dough ( http://www.bhg.com/bhg/story.jhtml?page=2&storyid=%2Ftemplatedata%2Fbhg%2Fstory%2Fdata%2F11429.xml&catref=SC1407 ) which is a dough of frosting consistency that can be piped onto cookies with a pastry bag fitted with a writing or star tip, and then baked. The result is a cookie that looks like it has been frosted but the frosting is baked on and hard. DECORATING COOKIES AFTER BAKINGDecorating cookies after baking them requires that you apply some kind of liquid-based substance that will adhere to the baked cookie, or that will act as a glue to attach other items. Usually, this takes the form of frosting, icing, or melted chocolate.Frosting vs.

IcingThere is a big difference between frosting and icing. Frosting is thick and holds shapes like rosettes and shells like those you see piped around the edges of a birthday cake. It remains soft to the touch and has a creamy texture, and most people think it tastes better because of the creamy buttery flavor. Icing, on the other hand, is a thinner, more liquid substance, and as it dries it thins out, becomes very smooth across the surface of your cookie, and hardens. This is the icing to use for the most beautiful, professional results.Working with frostingYou can use frosting in two ways.

One way is to simply use a knife or rubber spatula to spread the frosting across the whole surface of your cookie. The other way is to place the frosting in a pastry or decorating bag fitted with a small tip and piping out thin lines or rosettes of icing onto the cookie. Either way, once the frosting has been applied to the cookie you can then further embellish it by using colored sugars, non-pareils, or any of the decorating items mentioned in the Decorating Before Baking section above. Christmas-Cookies.com has a delicious recipe for Buttercream Frosting at http://www.christmas-cookies.com/recipes/recipe.php?recid=306. See detailed instructions on piping frosting from Better Homes and Gardens at http://www.bhg.com/bhg/story.jhtml?page=3&storyid=%2Ftemplatedata%2Fbhg%2Fstory%2Fdata%2F11430.xml&catref=SC1407Working with icingIcing is a little more difficult to work with but its smooth surface produces the most beautiful results! Icing should always be piped onto a cookie because it will run off the edges if spread with a knife.

Once iced you can apply silver drag?es, or other sprinkles just as mentioned with the frosting above, before it hardens. Christmas-Cookies.com has an excellent recipe for Royal Icing at http://www.christmas-cookies.com/recipes/recipe.php?recid=42. Better Homes and Gardens also a recipe for Powdered Sugar Icing ( http://www.christmas-cookies.com/recipes/recipe.php?recid=288 ) that dries less hard than Royal Icing and has a shiny surface. Martha Stewart's website features an excellent article on how to pipe icing onto cookies for professional-looking results ( http://www.marthastewart.com/page.jhtml?type=content&id=channel172011&catid=cat258 ).Melted chocolateJust about any cookie can be embellished simply by dipping it in chocolate or drizzling chocolate over it. You can even dress up the everyday chocolate chip cookie for gift-giving or serving at parties.

Melting chocolate is a simple process, but a few rules must be followed in order to make it a success. For Easter, try using white chocolate tinted in pastel shades with food coloring. Use the gel, paste or powdered kind of food color, because the liquid drops may make the chocolate seize up.What you needYou can either use chocolate chips or baking chocolate (the kind that comes in 1-ounce squares) and the same process applies whether you use dark chocolate or white chocolate. A small amount of shortening should be added at the ratio of 2 tablespoons shortening for 1 cup of chocolate chips or chopped up baking chocolate.Double boilerPlace chocolate and shortening in the top half of a double boiler or in a metal bowl that has been placed on top of a saucepan filled with hot water. The water must be very hot, but not boiling, because the steam generated by boiling water could get moisture into the melting chocolate which makes it curdle.

Allow the chocolate to melt over the hot water and stir it occasionally until it has achieved a liquid consistency. MicrowavePlace your chocolate and shortening in a microwave safe bowl and microwave it on medium power for 1 minute. Stir. Continue microwaving 20 seconds, stir again. Keep doing this until the chocolate is almost melted.

Remove it from the microwave and stir it until completely melted.DippingDip one end of your cookie, or half the cookie, or even the whole cookie into the melted chocolate. Set the cookie on a wire rack to let the chocolate harden. If you wish, you can sprinkle chopped nuts, coconut, or non-pareils over the melted chocolate before it hardens. DrizzlingScrape melted chocolate into a ziplock baggie. With a sharp scissors, snip off a very small corner of the baggie.

Drizzle top of cookies with zig-zags of melted chocolate. Cool until chocolate is set. Using these simple techniques will help you produce a variety of beautiful-looking cookies at Christmastime and throughout the year. Copyright 2004 Mimi Cummins. All Rights Reserved..

Ask yourself, are you asking for the business often enough? Are you too busy delivering your product or service this month that you have not been thinking about what business you will bring in next month?If this rings true for you that would be about normal. Being busy is an excuse. The truth is it is easier to stay busy with any project than risk rejection. The biggest reason we do not ask for business, try to close the sale, or insist on taking an order, is because we do not want to be rejected. Especially if what you are selling is you.

Think about it, you can sell 100 raffle tickets for your child's school, sell chocolate bars for your church, or ask people to write a check for a good cause, but when it comes to asking people to give you a check, a big check how do you do?Often we do not ask because we project in our mind that the answer will be no, and for most people our biggest fear is rejection. Sure, it can be scary to get turned down. Here is an important secret though, the more you do it the easier it gets, and the less scary. To be successful we have to embrace rejection, know it is a part of the process of getting what we want, it must not be avoided instead it must be sought out. This is not easy to do, in business there is always plenty to keep us busy or shall I say plenty to distract us from what is one of the most important aspects of business- selling.

Instead of selling people will do just about anything, schedule meetings, organize their desk, respond to emails, take a longer lunch, go to a networking event, even write articles. While all these things are helpful to the success of any business they are less of a priority than the task of selling. Selling, let us define for our purposes as the process of qualifying prospective clients, identifying their needs, presenting our product to them and closing the business. This process must be completed with each potential client for any selling to be successful. To stop anywhere in the process is a waste of time.

Being successful in business is the result of finding enough of the right people and asking them to buy the products and or services they need from you. If you are not asking you can not get agreement to provide them with products or services. If you realize that every no is closer to a yes and you are ready to embrace rejection, here are some things to do to help you start asking more.o Write down or review your annual and quarterly income goals. Break that down further into monthly income goals. o Then decide how many houses, policies, hours or consulting, cars or whatever, you have to sell each month to achieve that goal.

o Decide what is your Prospect to Client Ratio, ie: on average how many people do you have to ask for the business before you get a yes. In most cases depending on your product service and industry you may have to offer the opportunity to between seven to 25 or more people before you someone actually says yes and gives you an order.o Once you know your Prospect to Client Ratio, you can calculate how many qualified prospective clients you have to ask for the business every week to achieve your goals.For example if you need 5 sales a week and you have to ask 25 people on average before one person agrees to buy then you have to ask 25 people 5 days a week to buy. When you do these calculations the number of people you must ask for the business could be up to five times greater than what you are doing currently. Do not be discouraged. Sales is like any business skill and like any muscle in your body, it takes time to develop and strengthen.

If you hold steadfast to your goal and figure out how to generate the necessary number of prospects coming through your sales pipeline, eventually you will find it workable to meet with the number of prospects you need to achieve your goal. Once you are asking enough people every week for the business, the next thing to look at is how are you asking. Are you asking timidly, can your prospects hear fear in your voice or do you convey confidence and enthusiasm when you speak to your potential clients? I hope you do the latter. Even if you are making 100 sales calls a day if you are conveying anger, confusion or frustration in your voice no one will say yes. You must make your calls with enthusiasm and confidence.The only way to meet your goals is to successfully ask for the business as often as you can.

Do not worry about who says no and who says yes, if you ask enough people you will definitely get some yeses. Focus on your goal, making your predetermined number of sales. When someone turns you down do not dwell on it, that depletes your energy and your self-esteem and makes it harder to ask the next time. At one of my recent public speaking workshops a participant gave me a page from a calendar that said on it "Hurrah, I did the thing I feared the most. Excuse me while I cheer.

Now here I stand a stronger soul and all I've lost is fear. " Embrace rejection, remember every no is closer to a yes and you will gain more success for yourself and all you will have lost is fear..

What's more, a National Retail Federation survey concludes that men will spend in excess of three times what women will this lover's holiday, averaging $126. Traditional Valentine's Day gifts like flowers, lingerie and chocolate aren't only non-inspired, they're also expensive. A dozen roses can easily run in the triple digits only to die in less than one week's time. And while the girth candy adds to her hips and waistline might remind her of her romantic partner for several months to come, it won't be in a good way! While written with men in mind, Gentlemen Start Her Engine And Keep It Running isn't just for the male population. Inside, women will also find a wealth of romantic strategies that will ignite their loved one's fire.

If things have stalled in the love department and subtle hints just aren't doing the trick, this book can also give romance the jumpstart it needs to get back on track. Standing silently on the sidelines is no longer necessary. Gentlemen Start Her Engine And Keep It Running: 350 Easy Ways to Forever Supercharge Your Lady's Heart will give him the nudge he needs and, in turn, will afford her the romantic overtures she craves. Gentlemen Start Her Engine And Keep It Running takes a refreshing, non-commercialized and economical approach to Valentine's Day gift-giving. Chock full of ideas, it is designed to help couples really rev-up their relationships so the romance burns rubber long after February 14th has passed.

The book proves the point that when it comes to passion, winning isn't everything; wanting to is.For more information on how you can purchase a copy of Gentlemen Start Her Engine And Keep It Running: 350 Easy Ways to Forever Supercharge Your Lady's Heart in time for Valentine's Day, contact Steven Guerrero toll-free at (800)-270-9844 or via email at e-mail protected from spam bots..