MAKE A NOTE!! -- May 1st, 1999

CIRCULATION 2,161

A Free Twice Monthly Newsletter with (Hopefully) Useful Information on a Wide Variety of Topics

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In This Issue:

NOTE: Each entry has a suggested place to "POST IT...", the information provided. If you print, cut out, & post the entry you find helpful in the appropriate place, then you are more likely to use it & not forget it.

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ARTHRITIS HELPS

This article has already generated some email from people who were ready to read about it BEFORE this issue came out. There has been much in the news lately (Dateline NBC, New York Times, among others) regarding the use of Glucosamine Chondroitin for osteoarthritis. In fact some doctors say that often if you have rheumatoid arthritis, you also are affected by osteoarthritis, & so you might even find some symptoms alleviated. Your body already produces these substances. To explain in a very basic way, Glucosamine helps to build up your joints, the chondroitin helps to lubricate the joints. This sounds like a simple thing, but the results have been amazing. The doctor who runs the Arthritis Center at Johns Hopkins has taken the supplements and states that 75% of the patients he suggests the supplement to have been happy with them. He also believes that surgeons & rheumatologists should try it as a first line therapy. It has been used in Europe for a long time, & even in the states for pets with great success (so if your dog has arthritis aches & pains maybe he could benefit too!). In some people it can take 60-90 days of being on it before you notice a difference, but some notice a difference almost right away. For me personally, I felt a difference the first week, even though I was expecting to have to take it longer before I noticed anything. I have had trouble with a hip for over 2 years now, that the doctors said was probably the beginning of osteoarthritis. At times I limped, and it was very painful in the morning when I first got up, it was hard to sleep at night, and while I was still active, the pain was almost constant. Well, within the first few days of taking it, I could get up in the morning with a LOT less pain. I felt almost normal. Had almost forgotten what that felt like. It has continued to improve and I am no longer giving myself ulcers with all the pain medication I was taking. Now not everyone will have the same results as everyone else, but with your doctor's OK, it doesn't hurt to try. But if you have tried this product with no success you might try switching brands.  The doctor who wrote a book about it, "The Arthritis Cure" by Dr. Jason Theodosakis, has investigated brands & only found 3 so far that actually have a pure enough product to actually help. Fortunately one of those brands are one of the cheapest ones AND available at Wal-Mart , Kmart, and US military exchanges. It is Osteo-Bi-Flex Glucosamine Chondroitin by Sundown (brand) and if you buy the maximum strength it works out to about 77 cents a day, a lot cheaper than many prescription medications. For more information, get the book listed above, or check out his web site at http://www.drtheo.com/  He also has a section on the new super-aspirins coming out for those of you with rheumatoid arthritis. And as always with any health problem, CHECK WITH YOUR DOCTOR. POST IT...on your shopping list.

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COLLEGE FINANCIAL AID

For those of you with children heading off to college or starting off yourself, here is a web site for you. http://www.collegeispossible.org/ This web page has links to all kinds of sites to get more info on what you might be eligible for in the way of aid or scholarships. For those of you not able to get to web sites it has a list of books that can also be helpful, that you might get another friend online to print out for you.  POST IT...by your computer.

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SEX EDUCATION BOOKS FOR KIDS

A few readers have asked me about this subject and I highly recommend the age specific Concordia Press series "Learning About Sex". They have the books divided into ages 3-5, 6-8, 8-11, 11-14, and 14 & up. We have gone through the first 4 so far and have been very pleased. They also have videos available, however, I am biased in favor of books in this area, it is so much easier to take it slow & answer questions as they come up. The information is presented with a Christian viewpoint focusing on good old fashioned values, with a message that our sexuality is a good gift from God and should be respected as such. You can purchase them from Christian Book Distributors for a very low price at http://www.christianbook.com/ or by calling them at (978)977-5000. They can help you with the appropriate title for the age you need. It is a sad statistic that most kids say they learn about sex BEFORE their parents tell them. Let's make sure they get the right message. POST IT...on your shopping list.

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FINDING OLD CLASSMATES

This is a great site for anyone who attended high school or college in the US or Canada. You can go to this site and put in your info and then you can see for FREE who is already registered from your class. If you see someone you would like to get in touch with, then you can pay the $25 fee (think that entitles you to a year or two of info) and get info on how to contact them by email, snail mail, or phone. Now when I put my info in, I decided to just provide my name and email address for safety reasons, which you might also want to do. So it is FREE to see who you COULD contact, $25 to get the info to contact them. Go to http://www.classmates.com/ And be sure to let me know if you find that long lost love or best friend. :) POST IT...by your computer.

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INTERNET SERVICE PROVIDER WITH HEART

Now my husband loves his CompuServe and WorldNet, BUT I highly recommend an ISP called Rated-G that our church & other friends have recently moved to.  Their computers work overnight to search for key words that may indicate that a site has porn, violence, crude humor, substance abuse, hate crime material, etc. In the morning their employees go to work to make sure that the site is bad, & if it is, then it is rendered inaccessible to ANYONE using the Rated-G service. This is so much better than filters which can screen out good sites because of a certain word used in an appropriate way (I once had a submission rejected by a server because I used the word "pudding" !). Some of the filters even screen out pro-family sites because of discussions of particular social issues. You can read more about the company at http://www.rated-g.com/ They charge about $25 for basically unlimited access. There is also a $25 set up fee. You can email them at info@rated-g.com or call them at 1-888-711-6381. From what I understand they will also donate a percentage of your payment back to your church. Everything I have read about this company is good so far. It has 56K lines, and the people who use it say it is fast and they have no trouble logging on. It is available in most parts of the US & I think they may have plans to expand into Canada eventually. If you have kids this is one you ought to take a close look at. Many kids say they have found ways to get around the filtering software, but this is something they couldn't get around. Either way, make sure you know what your child is doing online. POST IT...by your computer or phone.

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CAROLINA TRIVIA/GIFT BASKET

This one is just for fun. If you would like to learn a little more about Carolina agriculture, this site has a weekly trivia question you can answer. You also leave your snail mail address and if you answer correctly, your name goes into a drawing for a basket of North Carolina goodies. And believe me, they do have some yummy ones. You can be from out of state or out of the country also, for our international readers. Check it out at http://www.southernfarmer.com/triviaentry.html POST IT...by your computer.

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MUCKY DUCK KEY LIME (OR LEMON) PIE

Now that the weather is starting to warm up (for some of you :)), here is a great recipe that weatherman Willard Scott related one day on the air. Beat 3 egg whites until stiff, add 1/2 C lime (or lemon) juice & beat well. Add an 8 oz can (or 1C) of sweetened condensed milk & beat well. Pour into a 9" graham cracker crust (store bought or make your own) and freeze until frozen. Thaw for about 15 min before cutting. I prefer the lemon myself, and it is VERY yummy. For garnish do lemon or lime slices or twists. POST IT...in your recipe box.

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JOKE (FROM VERENA R.)

A little boy opened the big & old family Bible with fascination, and looked at the old pages as he turned them. Suddenly, something fell out of the Bible, & he picked it up & looked at it closely. It was an old leaf from a tree that had been pressed in between the pages. "Momma, look what I found," the boy called out. "What have you got there, dear?" his mother asked. With astonishment in the young boy's voice, he answered, "I think it's Adam's suit!" :)

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QUOTE

"The basis of our Bill of Rights comes from the teachings we get from Exodus and St. Matthew, from Isaiah and St. Paul. I don't think we emphasize that enough these days. If we don't have a proper fundamental moral background, we will finally end up with a...government which does not believe in rights for anybody except the State!"

----President Harry S. Truman

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FEEDBACK-FEEDBACK-FEEDBACK

Due to the huge amount of feedback we received this month, I am having to do a summary of some of the emails I received.

Re: Home schooling Costs

Robin S., Lorrie, & others wrote to tell me of how much LESS money they spend that the $500 average I quoted. While the $500 is an AVERAGE, I should have pointed out that very wise people can get by spending a lot less for home schooling materials and still provide their children with a high quality education.

Re: Research

In the last issue I suggested trying to just type in the web site that sounds like it might be valid to find a site. The example given was www.NEA.org. Angie R. wrote & said that sometimes that can turn up unsavory web sites, so it is something you must be cautious about and she is absolutely right.

Re: Saving Money on Medical/Dental

Robyn wrote to say you can save a lot by going to Dental or Orthodontic colleges where they usually have free or low cost services where their students can practice. She has been very pleased with the quality of the care she has received. This is also true for veterinary colleges. Thanks Robyn.

Re: Saving on Education

Janice L. from Florida writes: "My husband & I looked at all the options out there for schooling; home schooling, public & private. We decided against home schooling because we both work, , so we opted for public. After all, we both went to public. After a year of kindergarten and 1/2 a year of first grade we took (our daughter) out of public and put her in private. The cost is not so wonderful, but what we have seen in her is. In just three months we saw her reading & math skills skyrocket. Not to mention her manners & general attitude. We look at it this way; it's an investment in our children's future. It's like the old saying goes: 'Sometimes you get what you pay for!'"

EDITOR'S NOTE: Regarding the education savings article. From that one paragraph I had some people who thought I was anti-home school, anti-private school, OR anti-public! :)Well, for the record, we do home school, but I do not believe that one method works for everyone. Different things work for different people as Janice stated so well in her letter. The entry was strictly regarding savings.

Re: The Make a Note in General

From Amy J.: "You definitely need to take that 'hopefully' part out!! (Editor's Note: See line under Make a Note header at top of newsletter) I don't think there has been one issue where I haven't gotten something out of it. I really enjoy the newsletter A LOT! ! !"

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Thanks Amy, I hope you all get something out of the newsletter every month.  Let me know what you would like to read about and remember to forward this on to anyone else you think might be interested.

God bless,

Sharon ^i^

Make-A-Note@worldnet.att.net

Editor, Make a Note

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