To you my faithful readers - you are in the right place.  I decided to do a little "remodeling" so to speak.  My posts have not nor will not change.  I will continue to write about the things that interest me.

If you haven't gathered by now, I have an eclectic personality.  I have many interests so that will come through in my writing.  The one thing that is steady and true is that I write mainly for women.  That is not to say that men could not/would not find what I write about entertaining or informative; in fact, men could benefit greatly by many things I write about.

However, my target audience is women.  I am a woman, a mother, a wife, a daughter, work at home mom and much more.  I wear many hats... therefore, I write about those things.  I sometimes write about hot topics in the news or a movie or TV show I like; or whatever is going on in my life or what's on my mind.

It has been just over six months now since I started Blog by Donna and through blogging I've come to realize that writing is one of my passions.

My content hasn't changed.  Just the look of my blog.  If you are just stopping by for the first time... I hope you find what I write about helpful or at the least entertaining.  And for those of you that are regulars - thank you for making these past six months such a joy!

Care.com the premier source of trustworthy family care options, has announced a new feature that helps parents calculate an appropriate pay rate for their babysitter.

The pay calculator allows parents to determine an hourly rate for to pay a babysitter  on where they live, how many children they have and the sitter's level of experience.  Go to  www.care.com to try it out.

In addition to the Babysitter Pay Calculator, Care.com provides child care listings for babysitters, nannies and day care centers across the country.  Launched in May 2007, Care.com helps families to find babysitters, nannies, pet sitters, senior caregivers, housekeepers and tutors through a national network of trusted caregivers. 

All caregiver profiles are pre-screened by experienced moms, and members can run free background checks, listen to recorded references and view caregiver ratings.  These aspects of the service provide users an added layer of confidence and security when making important decisions regarding family care needs.

If you need a babysitter or if you want to make sure you are paying your babysitter appropriately (because if you have a trusted babysitter, you want to keep them), check out Care.com.

 eLearners.com, along with five online institutions, are making back-to-school possible for working moms.

With the launch of Project Working Mom 2, eLearners.com is again partnering with U.S. colleges and universities to tap a motivated pool of degree seekers by offering $2 million in full-ride scholarships to online degree programs, just in time for the fall semester.

From Project Working Mom 2:

Have you ever tried to go back to school, but didn't have enough time, money or confidence? You're not alone.

Women unable to pursue education because of life circumstances often become trapped in a cycle of underemployment.

eLearners.com established Project Working Mom, to lead the way in providing resources to moms everywhere.

To help finance a college degree, in addition to the full-ride scholarships provided through 'Project Working Mom 2', eLearners.com provides a database with $15 billion in scholarship opportunities. Web site visitors will also find a comprehensive interactive web site with online education resources, profiles of working moms going to school online and a community of women sharing their experiences.

The deadline to apply at www.projectworkingmom.com is August 31, 2008 and recipients will be announced in September.

If you are a working mom or know a working mom, that would like to go back to school or continue their education, go check out Project Working Mom.  There is still time to apply for a scholarship so go check them out today!

The kids meals at your favorite restaurants are loaded with too many calories and not healthy calories either, according to a report released Monday by a nonprofit public health group.

Some of the restaurants in the study were Chilis, KFC, Taco Bell, Sonic, Jack in the Box and Chick-Fil-A, as well as McDonalds and Wendys.  It says that these restaurant's kids meals are way too high in calories.

Some of the calories in one single kids meal has the recommended amount of calories for an entire day for an adult. 

It is recommended that a 4 to 8 year old get no more than 430 calories (this is based on children who are sedentary) in a single meal.  However, every restaurant in the study had more than the 430 calories, with the exception of Subway.  Your child can eat a very healthy meal at Subway, and Subways is the only restaurant to NOT offer a soft drink with their kids meals.

Most restaurants do have healthy (at least healthier) choices on their menus, it is up to us as parents to teach our children to make healthy food choices.   Teaching our children to make healthy food choices is important to controlling their weight.  Many parents use food as a reward for their kids or as a bribe to get them to do things.  I know it could be an easy trap to fall into, but it is important we don't do this.

Our children are growing bigger and bigger (childhood obesity), and it is up to us as parents to teach our children what is healthy...and we have to do this by example.  If our kids see us eat healthy foods and we only bring healthy food choices into our homes--they will eat healthy as well.

When I was young, eating out was a special occasion, but now it's a lifestyle.  So with so many kids eating out so often, it can only be a contributing factor to the childhood obesity epidemic. 

So let's take responsibility for what our children put into their mouths!  I know it is much harder to control what our teens are eating when they are away from us...but if we have taught them when they were young good healthy eating habits, maybe...just maybe, they will make healthy choices as they get older. 

I do also believe that all restaurants should have to list nutritional information for all foods on their kids menu.

We would love to hear your opinion on this!  Hope to hear from you.

 Actress Christina Applegate has reportedly been diagnosed with an early form of breast cancer and is currently undergoing treatment.

From the Boston Globe -- Ame Van Iden, the 36-year-old Applegate's publicist, released this statement:

"Christina Applegate was diagnosed with an early form of breast cancer. Benefiting from early detection through a doctor ordered MRI, the cancer is not life threatening. Christina is following the recommended treatment of her doctors and will have a full recovery."

Most recently Christina can be seen on her sitcom ABC's Samantha Who?, which she has earned a Golden Globe and Emmy nomination for her role.

Applegate began her career as Kelly Bundy on Married ... with Children on the Fox network in 1987.  On the raunchy comedy, that lasted 11 seasons, she played a sexy, yet ditzy teenager. 

In 2003 she played a guest role as Jennifer Aniston's sister on Friends, where Applegate won an Emmy for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series.  Read about Christina Applegate at Wikipedia.

Applegate is among the celebrities scheduled to appear on the Stand Up To Cancer a television special to be aired simultaneously on ABC, CBS and NBC on September 5, 2008 to raise funds for cancer research.

I am, as well as many others, sending good thoughts and well wishes to you Christina.

Today Show Kathie Lee Gifford and Hoda Kotb gave Sheryl Crow's jeans 'Bootheel Trading' a rave review.  They both said that they were the best fitting and most comfortable jeans you could wear.

The eco-friendly jeans label is headed by Crow and her personal stylist.  Bootheel Trading Co. by Sheryl Crow will include jeans, vintage tees and vests at affordable prices. Jeans are around $62 and tops around $36.  I'm not sure if $62 is affordable for a pair of jeans or not...if they really do fit well and make you look good --then they're affordable.

Sheryl Crow launched her new casual denim clothing line, Bootheel Trading Co. on March 17, 2008.

Crow has battled breast cancer - and won.  She has gone through a public breakup with Lance Armstrong, which coincidentally days before being diagnosed with breast cancer.  She then had some good come into her life with the adoption of her son Wyatt.

Her newest album 'Detours', from CNN Entertainment -- she goes right after the current commander in chief. On "God Bless This Mess," she sings that President Bush after 9/11 "spoke words of comfort with tears in his eyes/Then he led us as a nation into a war all based on lies."

"It was almost like, 'OK, the gauntlet's been thrown. I'm going in,"' Crow says. "I'm not the only one that feels the way I feel. And I don't feel afraid to say the way I feel."

Crow will be on the Today Show tomorrow, Aug. 1, 2008.  You can check it out for the announcement of when and where you can buy her Bootheel Trading Co. jeans.

Katie Couric on the View today, announces that Sept. 5, 2008 a first of its kind telecast where all three major channels, ABC, CBS and NBC will simultaneously carry the celebrity filled Telethon special.  Go to the web site and donate a $1  SU2C ( Stand Up To Cancer ).  The message is' if our government won't fund cancer research we the people must stand up and do it'. 

We all know someone who has battled cancer.  Lets win the war against cancer!  Check out the public service announcement "Stand Up To Cancer", and watch on September 5, 2008 and 'Stand Up'.

Tennessee will be having their next sales tax free holiday this coming weekend, from Friday, August 1 - Sunday, August 3, 2008.

What does this mean?  It means that you can shop for back to school clothing, school supplies and computers before school starts (which is August 11, 2008 for Knox Co., TN) and not have to pay a sales tax.  So we can save a little money!

The quick breakdown is clothing (any one item) $100 or less, school supplies $100 or less and computers $1,500 or less is exempt from a sales tax.

Go here for a complete overview of exempt items.  Happy shopping!

Can Cuil take on Google?  That is what Cuil.com, a new search engine is hoping.  They will be offering an alternative to Google, Yahoo and Ask.

Cuil is pronounced 'cool' and comes from an old Irish word meaning 'knowledge', according to Vnunet.com.

Who is behind Cuil?  Ex-Google engineers, Anna Patterson, her husband, Tom Costello, and two other former Google engineers - Russell Power and Louis Monier. 

From the Associated Press article 'Patterson intends to upstage Google, which she quit in 2006 to develop a more comprehensive and efficient way to scour the Internet'.

Cuil boasts a search index span of 120 billion Web pages.  Patterson believes that's at least three times the size of Google's index, according to the article.  They also state that there is no way of knowing this for certain. 

Of course Google still believes its index is the largest.

You can read the full article here.  But one last thing I found of interest is that Cuil is hoping to attract traffic by promising 'not to retain information about its users' search histories or surfing patterns -- something that Google does, much to the consternation of privacy watchdogs.'

As the article suggest Cuil will probably not keep Google up worrying at night.  I mean everyone relates Google with Internet search.  And others have tried to beat Google and lost.

Will Cuil be the search engine to finally give Google a run for its money?  Only time will tell.  Let us know what you think and chime in on Cuil or Google.  Hope to hear from you!

We are excited in my house about 'shark week'!  My five year old loves sharks and is looking forward to seeing all things shark, starting tonight, July 27, 2008, and lasting all week.  I think it will be an educational experience for all ages!

“Mythbusters: Shark Special” (9 p.m.), begins the first of six shows featuring sharks.  Traditional urban tales about sharks will be discussed and even build a robo-shark with a length of 16 feet.  Go to Discovery Channel and read all about shark week.

Here is a sample of the schedule for the rest of the week:

• "Surviving Sharks" - Monday at 9 p.m., featuring "Survivorman" Les Stroud.
• "Day of the Shark" - Monday at 10 p.m., a program which presents the opinions of specialists concerning the best time of the day to avoid sharks...
• "Dirty Jobs:  Shark Special" - Tuesday, 9 p.m., host Mike Rowe takes a trip to the Arctic Circle in search of the legendary Greenland shark.

As close as I want to get to a shark is on my television; but if my son had his way we would have one in our bathtub.  He is in this phase where he wants everything as a pet.

Check tvguide.com for local listings.

I hope you can tune in to Discovery Channel this week and learn some fascinating things about sharks.  However, if you can't catch some or all of the sharks shows, you can watch Discovery Channel's shark marathon on August 2, 2008.