I can't believe it. All the snow from the *big* snowstorm yesterday is GONE. All gone. Everything is green again!

***

We saw the movie Courageous. GREAT movie! But it was a real tearjerker. I can't stand crying my eyes out when I watch a movie, especially when we watch a movie during dinner. I had no idea what to expect. So here's a tip: See Courageous but DON'T watch it during dinnertime.

***

My sons have been playing guitars for four years now! Both are very good. One boy plays "regular" guitar (acoustic, electric) and the other plays bass guitar. It's SO easy to buy gifts for them, as guitars come with a zillion accessories. We recently got them some snazzy new guitar straps. One is embossed leather and the other is tweedy material with American flags on it. Very nice quality. And buying new straps every year is way cheaper than buying new guitars every year.

***
Being self-employed has its pros and cons. The worst aspect always rears its ugly head at this time of the year-- tax time. *sigh* I cannot believe the mounds of paperwork that is required. And then, after all that work, I get to pay twice as much in taxes as the "company" employed worker does! Very, very unfair.

***

No travel plans these days. I am too busy doing paperwork :( plus we usually don't do anything until March or April. I have a trip slated for NYC in a few months. It will be good to get away then.

***

I hope to get to Lake Placid and Whiteface Mountain this spring! I am pretty excited about that. I love the high peaks and I hope to get in some great photos AND videos this time. The last time we were up there, I tried taking videos from the car with the iPhone. Uh, NOT. They came out awful. This time, I'm bringing my camcorder.

***

If they ever decided to hold the Winter Olympics in Lake Placid again, I'd go.

***

Well, enough chatter from me. I have paperwork to do. :(

I'm sure the numbers have changed since I last looked in early 2010. I had read a report that of all activities done online, 80 percent of expected travelers did some investigating and shopping online for their trips. Eighty percent! That was a phenomenal number to me. But then again, I do ALL my travel planning online. Oh, I may call a hotel directly or make a reservation through telephone, but I always do all my research online, and I always look for reviews. Most of all, i always check for any promotions.

Finding promotions, however, is a little more difficult than booking an accommodation reservation. Some companies seem to bury their promotions. I have no idea why they do this-- these businesses may save a few bucks by charging full price, but more people would flock to the business if they knew there was a sale. I know, because I am one of them. I often base my travel plans on discounts and sales.

Well, if you are like me and are always looking to save money, check out the travelocity.com specials at FrugalDad.com. Have you heard of this site? It's been mentioned by The New Yorker, BusinessWeek, The New York Times, Kiplingers and others. The site is touted as a great place for financial tips and other advice. I love it! But there's also a special part of the site set aside for coupons and deals. FrugalDad.com has a HUGE list of retailers where you can find discounts, deals, coupons, and more. It's definitely worth looking into BEFORE you make that big hotel reservation or airline ticket.

I have not yet tried Travelocity, though. They are one of the best "budget" travel planner sites I know. Travelocity is something akin to a travel search engine. You "input" exactly what you are looking for and Travelocity searches all the possible vendors and displays all the options, highlighting the best deals. Some of my pals say they have saved quite a bit of money, using Travelocity. I had no idea Travelocity offered coupons and deals from time to time. That must be a deal on top of a deal, right?!

So why pay more than you have to? Why not take a few extra minutes and look for discounts and deals online? It costs you absolutely nothing to use the services and you can very easily save a bundle of money. And, like me, you may decide to take an unexpected holiday simply because the prices are irresistible. :)

Upstate New York finally got some snow! It's beautiful! It covers all the dingy brown and gray we've had almost all winter. It's been one of the mildest winters that I can ever recall-- up to this point, the Mohawk Valley has had a whopping 6 or 7 inches of snow, total, this winter. We usually get 40 inches or so!

But one shocker-- the cold! Brrrrrr. I didn't realize how much I was enjoying the balmy 30 and 40 degree temperatures until the thermometer dipped into the single digits.

But the shock won't last long. We in Upstate New York know how to handle cold: Damart! Damart is a very, very popular apparel name brand here. We've had a few outlet factories in the area. Damart manufactures Thermolactyl apparel. Thermolactyl is a special manufactured fiber designed to absorb body heat and release moisture from the skin. Other fabrics collect the body's evaporation, making the cloth wet and, once frozen by the stiff winter winds, very uncomfortable or downright dangerous in extreme weather. I know a number of winter campers who wear ONLY Thermolactyl clothing. The fabric is lightweight, therefore hikers carry less weight. My kids love Damart long johns, polo neck inserts, undershirts. The clothing is so soft and it's not restrictive like other "winter" clothing. Perfect clothing for shoveling, too!

So know you know the secret to our success, how we endure such long and cold winters. It's not the snowplow nor the grossly thick, lined parkas-- it's Damart Thermolactyl! :)

We shall know soon enough. The beautiful little village of Hammondsport, NY, is in the race for America's Coolest Town, contending with other towns such as Damascus, VA, Jerome, AZ, Nashville, IN, and even Cape May, NJ.

:O Seriously, NEW JERSEY?! Cape May?! We can do better than that. If Cape May comes in before Hammondsport, I will be so ashamed as a New Yorker. ;) I am from the Finger Lakes area so of course I'm rooting for my roots. :)

Go vote for Hammondsport. Not only does the winner get loads of national kudos, the region will get a big economic boost from the honor.

Last I checked, Hammondsport was neck and neck with Beaufort in North Carolina. Go VOTE for Hammondsport! It doesn't cost you a dime and you don't have to submit your email or anything. Go to the Budget Travel America's Coolest Small Towns 2012 and vote.

Good luck, Hammondsport!

Despite a few new inches of snow in Upstate New York, we still have a "snow drought" and skiing is a little tough on some areas. The larger skiing businesses make their own snow, but I know that some prefer the "real" stuff.

So if you have been absolutely starved of snow and need a ski break, check out Whistler ski holidays. You can get some great prices on
discount whistler lift tickets all around the world! Hotspots include Japan, France, Switzerland, Canada and right here in the good old U.S.A.

One of the skiing highlights for North Americans is Canada's Whistler Mountain, rising to 5,020 feet and making it the second highest vertical rise on the continent. There are plenty of slopes for beginner, intermediate and advanced skiers and snowboarders. You can even make a full-fledged holiday of it. Spring Break is right around the corner, so book your Whistler ski accommodation now!

The website has some great information on Whistler (and other skiing paradises). Watch videos, read reviews, check out events, get information on discounts and even on childcare! The site has a very nice trail map and a good listing of places to stay and things to do. Very cool!

"There's nothing to do." "I'm bored." Oh, how I remember constantly saying those things as a kid. Of course, I'm shocked-- SHOCKED -- to hear these same words coming from the lips of my own little darlings. Bored?! With all the TVs, DVDs, iPods, doodads, and thingamabobs?! When I was a kid...

Talk about payback, ooo! >.<

Well, if you live in Upstate New York, where children seem to moan the loudest about "being bored" (so it seems), check out this neat resource I found! It's a concise map and listing of things to do in Upstate communities. It's not 100% comprehensive-- I've yet to find anything that is 100% comprehensive. (I hope to make it myself, someday). But this is pretty good. It includes things to do during the long winters as well as the summer. The Year-Round Fun in the Neighborhood is a PDF file and is made by the New York Power Authority. It's a good one to bookmark for ALL those "boring" days.

HGTV House Hunters

This guest post from Mickey Garza

I have decided to dedicate an entire post to House Hunters. I like to watch this show because I am a complete house junkie and I love to look inside houses. House Hunters comes on HGTV on expertsatellite.com. If you haven’t seen it here is how it works. A person or more usually a couple is out searching for a home to buy. They are with a realtor who takes them to three houses and they always end up buying one of these houses. The couple will give the agent a list of things they want in a house. Usually this list is highly ridiculous for their budget but the agent being the good real estate sales person that they are never lets on that their list is laughable. The show follows the people walking through house number one and the couple will point out completely obvious things for the camera’s sake. Here is an example of the dialog that happens: Agent: here we have the living room which flows in to the open plan kitchen. House Buyer: I like the open plan kitchen. I don’t like color of the walls. Agent: Well the wall color can always be changed. Let’s look at the bones of the house. House Buyer: Yeah but painting is a lot of work! I’m not sure we have enough time to paint this room. Let’s take a time out here. This is why I think this show is so entertaining. First of all the House Buyer always makes a big deal about the wall color. As if it is a permanent choice that they will never be able to cover with a couple of cans of latex from the local home improvement store. If you are old enough to purchase a home then you should be old enough to know that paint color is not a house buying deal breaker.