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Rustic Metal
Insect Ornaments
$6.99

Wire Votive Holders
Price: $10.00

Tin Coffee Pot
Votive Holders
Price: $19.00

Primitive Word Shelf Sitters
Price: $12.00

Primitive Star Wash Tub Candleholder
Price: $6.25
Out of Stock

Primitive Country Candle Pan
Price: $5.55
Out of Stock

Primitive Tin Pie
Plate Candleholder
Price: $4.50

Primitive Tin Heart Candle Dish
Price: $3.50/$4.50
Out of Stock

Primitive Metal Hanging Stars
Price: $2.75
Out of Stock

White Metal Heart Ornaments
Price: $6.00

Spice Label Wall Hooks
$8.00

Curly Wire Words
$17.50

Curly Wire Letters
$14.00

Architectural Star Hook
$17.00

Rusted Metal Wall
Hooks - Moose/Bears
$11 - $21

Maple Leaf Branch
& Wall Hook
$11 - $31

Flower Baskets
$22

Snowflake Planter Set
$45.99

Red Wire Baskets
Set of 3 - $85
Footed Bowl - $55

Hammered Tin Planters
$13 - $21

Tin Herb Planters
White or Green
$10

Metal Thermometer
$15.99

Paperwhites Tin Planters
$13.99 - $29.99

Watering Can
Wall Planter
$39.99

Hydrangea Planters
$18.99 - $65.99

Rusted Tin Sleigh
$17.99

Rusted Tin
Tealight Holders

Star Candle Pan
Price - $31.00

Heart Candle Pan
Price - $33.50

Votive Candlelight
Price - $31.00

Crimped Candle Pan
Price - $6.00

Metal Leaf Votive Holder
$19.00

Wire Watering Can Votive Holder
$21.00

Wire Wheelbarrow Votive Holder
$30.00

Candle Holder
$14

Wire Heart
Votive Holder
$11

Rusty Tin Garland
$8.00-$15.00

Rusty Tin
Heart & Star Pails
$12.75

Rusty Tin Welcome
$40.99

Wire Heart
Plate Holder
$9.00

Paper Towel Holder
$18.00

Calendar Hook
$13/$18.10

Wooden Pig
Price: $12.00

Wooden Rooster & Hen
Price: $25.00

Antique Spool Angel
Price: $16.00

Wood Beehive Sitter
Price: $6.00

Wood Heart Home
Sweet Home Sitter
Price: $10.00

Jointed Wooden Bear
Price: $10.00

Wood Block
Perpetual Calendar
Price: $22.00

Wood Blocks
by Mary Engelbreit
$18.75

Bark Vase
$30

Merry Christmas Plaque
$15

Wooden Key Shelves
by Deb Strain
Price: $22

House & Hive
Key Holder
$14.00

Tic Tac Toe Game
$135

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Newsletter - June 23, 2008

Printable version of newsletter.

Hope you are getting the chance to enjoy some fabulous summer weather!

Everything on Canadian Country Gifts is still half price.

During this sale we're charging actual shipping on orders. Place your order and we'll email you the cost of shipping.

Your credit card is NOT charged when the order is placed. We put the charge through when we ship the order. And if you choose you can approve shipping before the order is processed.
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Newsletter Index

What's New

- Painted rusty tin birdhouse
- some unique wooden items - pig, roosters, perpetual calendars, shelf sitters, wooden paper towel holders
- Antique Bobbin Angels
- Punched Tin Duck & Rabbit Tealight Holders
- Susan Branch recipe box & cards
- Susan Branch baby's first tooth & hair (we've also got a shoe box which will be online soon)
- Susan Branch photo frames
- Mary Engelbreit teacup monthly candles
- Debbie Mumm Sunny Day Angel wallhanging & runner
- Old Friend pillow by Teresa Kogut
- Berry Pie Lifter
- Wine Bottle Tuxes

All Half Price!
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CELEBRATE YOU!

CELEBRATE YOU! It is no exaggeration to say you are a GIFT to the world.

Many years ago, US Congressman Tribble of Georgia told a story about teaching his daughter that she was her own person. Wherever she went, the little girl was constantly associated with her father. "Oh, you must be Congressman Tribble's daughter," well-intentioned adults would coo.

She explained to her parents that she wanted to be herself, not simply known as Congressman Tribble's little girl. Her father told her not to worry about it. Her mother, who perhaps understood the problem better, suggested, "The next time that happens, just stand right up and say,'I am Constance Tribble!'"

The opportunity arose just a few days later. A group of people met her and when they heard her name, they said, "Why, Congressman Tribble must be your father!" Constance looked right back at them and said, "Oh, no! That's not what my mother says!"

We can be sure than Congressman Tribble was her father, but that fact was only a part of who Constance Tribble was. She rightly believed herself to be unique, and she wanted to be known as her own person.

You are unique. Do you value that which makes you different? For nobody in the world has quite the mix of your perspective, your sense of humor, your skills and abilities and your potential. No one can be YOU as well as you can be you. You are an original, the likes of which the world has never before seen.

Writer Robert Zend quips, "People have one thing in common -- they are all different." And it's the difference that makes a difference!

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Steve Goodier's books & newsletter: http://LifeSupportSystem.com.
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5 Way to Enjoy Your Summer At Home

"Summertime and the livin' is easy...." It's time to kick back, relax, have fun and enjoy the simple pleasures of summer. But because of gas prices and other expenses, many people have decided not to travel this year. This is an old but a very new concept to many. There are a multitude of local programs and summer camps for the kids, but what can all the adult children do to make this summer special? How can you alter your daily routine and turn your home into a restful vacation place? Here are five simple guidelines:

1. Enjoy as many meals as possible outside: Instead of rushing through your meals mindlessly, savor the time to enjoy the summer air and greenery. Sit with your morning cup of coffee on your porch or in your backyard. Listen to the birds and feel the morning sun warming the day. At lunch time to, step out of the box, sit in an outdoor café or take a bagged lunch to the park. For dinner, cook outside, set the table on your deck, or grab a blanket a go for a picnic. You will find that once you have the necessary supplies in place, any of these possibilities can be effortless. Imagine how different your life would feel if you had just one meal outside every day?

2. Schedule a play day: Set aside one day a week, or at the very least an afternoon or morning, when you don't do any errands, you don't turn on the computer or do chores, and you just have fun. Perhaps something you used to do when you were younger and just haven't found the time for lately. It could be hiking or biking, playing badminton or croquet. It could be doing something creative with watercolors or photography. The only pre requisite is that you are doing it because you want to and it makes you happy. Make a list of all the activities you enjoy. Post it somewhere visible to you everyday, and have fun checking the items off one by one or several times each.

3. Create a summer reading list: Those wonderful long summer novels don't need to be read on the beach or in a vacation home. Create a cozy inviting reading space indoors or out and visit it regularly. All the television programs are repeats so turn the darn box off and cuddle up with a good book.

4. Explore your own state or region: Often there are museums, historic places, amusement parks, national parks, gardens, and arboretums in your local area that you have never visited. Just google "Things to do in (your state), "and have fun exploring.

5. Post your summer hours: To assure that this summer at home just doesn't drift by unattended, you really have to firmly establish times each day an each week that are devoted to renewal, fun, and relaxation. Create space in your daily calendar for each of the activities listed above and block off those times in permanent read ink. Let your family, co-workers and friends know that these are your priorities for the upcoming months. Who knows you might start a trend!

Have a wonderful summer finding adventure, fun, and quiet in your own backyard!

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About the Author:

Karin Marcus, Certified Life Coach / Retreat Leader "Let the beauty of what you love, be what you do" Rumi Karin@Steppingoutcoaching.com 610-667-5247 www.SteppingOutCoaching.com Download your complimentary "Walking with Intention: A Self-Guided Mini Retreat" www.SteppingOutCoaching.com/newsletter.html
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Self Massage Therapy Techniques For Headaches

Chances are if you are like most Americans you have had a headache, as a matter of fact when it comes to the rate of chronic headaches in America, studies have shown that roughly 45 million Americans suffer from them each year. While I would suggest that seeking the service of a professional massage therapist, many times you can utilize self massage techniques, which may speak to men more than females. The reason being, men still have a lower rate of seeking massage therapy services than women do. But these techniques will for everyone.

With men suffering slightly more than females, 25 million men on average, while female average about 20 million that experience chronic headaches. This represents a statistic of chronic headaches that is roughly 1 out of every 6 Americans. Here are some more startling statistics that might be alarming to you.

Headache statistics according to the American Headache Society:

• Every 10 seconds, someone in the United States goes to the emergency room with a headache or migraine.

• More than $1 billion is spent on over-the-counter medications to treat headaches and Migraines.

• The lost work due to migraine disease costs more than $13 billion every year in the U.S.

Follow these self massage techniques that are listed here and you will diffuse the severity of your headache or migraine.

1. Drink plenty of water before and after doing these massage techniques (most important)

2. Take your thumbs and press them firmly into the bridge of your nose, just underneath your forehead. Direction of pressure is in towards one another, pressure is firm but not causing pain. Hold for 7 – 10 seconds, breathy deeply. Repeat 2 -4 times

3. Take your thumbs and now place them just underneath your forehead, with the pads of your thumb very close to the bridge of your nose. But this time you will press firmly upwards towards your forehead, again not causing pain but utilizing firm steady pressure. Taking deep breathes while holding this pressure. Hold for 7 – 10 seconds and repeat if necessary.

4. Take both hands and pinch and then pull your skin tissue just below you eyebrows and hold. Direction of and pressure of pinch is away from face and pressure is firm, with a hold of about 5 -7 seconds and repeat.

5. Take your thumbs or your middle 3 fingers and press them firmly into the sides of your temple. You can add a slight circular motion here as well, this is very effective. Hold for 7 – 10 seconds using form but steady pressure.

6. Sinus suffers can press into the sides of their nose and move fingers firmly away from their nose towards their cheekbones. Working both sides at once and working multiple points along the ridge of your nose. Direction of pressure is in towards your face and moving away towards your cheekbones.

7. Optional: If you have something that is foam in nature or hard plastic protected with some padding, the goal here is to get something that you can put behind your head and lay the back of your head on just underneath your skull (sub occipital area)

I have tried these massage therapy techniques many times in the past with great results; most times headaches disappear almost immediately. If you have any other techniques I would love to hear about it, thank you.

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About The Author: Robert C. Vignoli has been a massage therapist for 10 years with cutting edge massage therapy techniques. He currently co-owns Roman Paradigm Massage, but now he is helping to improve the massage industry by building a "hands off" massage business model. learn more @ www.think-diagonal.com
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Some recipes from a Book # 2 in the 'For The Breasts of Friends' series. These books are written in Saskatchewan and the proceeds go to Breast Cancer research. If you'd like to support them go to www.breastfriends.ca

~ Peanut Butter Crisps ~

1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup corn syrup
2 cups cornflakes
1 cup rice krispies

Combine first 3 ingredients. Heat. Add cereal. Remove from heat. Drop from teaspoon onto wax paper.

He remembers them made with rice krispies only. I can't make these too often since we eat them all in 1 day!!!

~ Fruit Crisp ~

6 cups fruit, peeled and sliced
1 tbsp lemon juice
3/4 cup rolled oats
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt

Place fruit in a buttered 8" square pan. Sprinkle lemon juice on top. Mix rolled oats, brown sugar, flour, butter, cinnamon and salt, using pastry blender. Sprinkle crumbled mixture over fruit and pat down lightly.

Bake at 375F for 30 - 40 minutes until fruit is tender and topping is lightly brown.

You can use apples, peaches, nectarines, blueberries, rhubarb or a combination.

Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.

~ Hot Artichoke Dip ~

1 10 ounce can artichokes, drained
4.5 ounce can pimentos, drained
2 green onions
1 jalapeno pepper
1 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
3 cups mozzarella cheese, grated
1/2 tsp garlic powder

Place artichokes, onions, and pepper in food processor and blend until chopped finely. Mix remainder of ingredients with blended mixture and place in a small cookie sheet or round 10 or 12" baking dish.

Bake at 350F for 15 - 20 minutes.

Broil for a few additional minutes and serve with crackers.

~ Ham & Pasta Salad ~

3 cups shell macaroni, cooked and drained
2 cups cooked ham, diced
1 cup green pepper, chopped
1 cup tomatoes, chopped
1/4 cup green onion, chopped Dressing: 1/2 cup mayonnaise 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated 2 tbsp milk 1/4 tsp salt sprinkle Parmesan cheese

Toss cooled macaroni with ham, green papper, tomatoes and onion in a large bowl. Combine mayonnaise, cheese, milk and salt in a small bowl; pour over pasta mixture, stirring to coat.

Cover and chill.

Sprinkle with additional Parmesan cheese before serving. Serves 4 to 6

~ Szechwan Beef ~

1 pound top round or sirloin steak

Marinade:
2 tbsp gingerroot, finely chopped or grated
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1/2 tsp Chinese five-spice powder
1/4 tsp crushed chilies
3 tbsp soya sauce
3 tbsp sherry
1 tbsp canola oil

1 tsp canola oil
2 cups carrots, thinly sliced
1 cup celery, thinly sliced
8 green onions, cut in 2" pieces and quartered lengthwise
2 tsp cornstarch
2 tsp cold water

Cut beef into 1/4" slices across the grain and then cut each strip into 2" strips. Combine the 7 marinade ingredients in a jar. Cover and shake well.

Pour marinade over beef strips. Marinade for 1 hour at room temperature. Heat the 2nd amount of oil in a non-stick skillet or wok until hot. Stir fry carrots, celery and green onions for 4 minutes or until just tender crisp. Add beef with marinade. Stir fry for 3 minutes or until beef is no longer pink. Stir cornstarch and water together and add to the beef mixture, stirring until thickened. Serve with rice or noodles. Serves 4.
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Fun Fruit Snacks For Kids

It is so important that our kids eat healthy, nutritious snacks, but what do we feed them and how do we keep them fun and exciting so that the kids will actually want to eat them? Fruit is a good choice for kids snacks that allows for variety in many ways.

There are tons of ways that you can incorporate fruits into the snacks your kids are already eating or you can create new snacks that are sure to be a hit with your kids.

Some fun and easy snack ideas that you can incorporate into your kids current snack time include: fruit juice pops, create fruit pops by freezing your child's favorite flavor fruit juice in Popsicle molds in your freezer. They can eat this fun snack along with their favorite cookie or sandwich for a great after school or after play snack.

Another fun addition to your child's snack would be a fruit smoothie. These are fun and easy to make at home and tastes great. Mix a container of yogurt; a small amount of milk and your child's favorite fruit in your blender and you will have a smooth, nutritious drink to enjoy.

If your kid's like Jello, you can add fruit to any flavor to create an even healthier snack for them to enjoy. Simple chop up the fruit into the Jell-O mix as you mix it or open a can of fruit cocktail or your child's favorite fruit, drain and stir into the Jell-O.

Some more creative fruit snack ideas include creating your own fruit kabobs with skewers and diced fruit. Alternate the fruits and even roll them in sugar for a fun treat. You can also create fruit pizzas using sugar cookie dough, your favorite fruits and some cream cheese. Bake the cookies per directions, frost them with cream cheese, and pile on the fruit.

Fruit with dips are also fun to create. You can create a chocolate fondue or a sweet fruit whipped cream dip, by mixing Cool Whip, a package of cream cheese and a jar of marshmallow crème together to form a wonderful creamy fruit dip. Kids will go crazy dipping all their favorite fruits in this sweet dip.

Fruit salads can also be fun for kids to create. A great way of making a fruit salad is by chopping or dicing up your favorite fruits and pouring in a sweet pie filling or glaze with it, you can also use a Jell-O mix to create a tasty salad. There are tons of ways to sweeten and jazz up a fruit salad combination.

Fruit can be incorporated into other fun treats, such as pancakes, waffles, and cereals, by piling fruit on top or stirring it into the mix. You can even just eat fruit alone if your child will cooperate. Besides, today's stores sell great fruit options, which are quick, and easy to give your child, these include great applesauce mixes that include other flavors, yogurts with fruit, parfaits and more.

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About The Author: For more information about getting your kids to eat fruit, or eat healthy in general, take a look at www.whatcanimakewithit.com/kids-and-fruit/ and www.menuplanningcentral.com/blog/getting-kids-to-eat-healthy
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Growing Tomatoes--Harvesting History And Health

Spaghetti sauce, ketchup, salsa, and soup—none would be the same without tomatoes. It is hard to imagine a life devoid of this delectable fruit. Fruit? Tomatoes are the reproductive part of the tomato plant, so botanically speaking they are fruits. However, for horticultural and culinary purposes, tomatoes are vegetables because they are most often used in savory dishes. Tomatoes were not always so popular, though. They had a rough history from the mountains of Peru to our dining room tables.

Tomatoes in History

Tomato plants originated in the "New World," or western hemisphere. Most likely originating in Peru, tomatoes were domesticated into the plants we know today in Central America. Hundreds of years of cultivation changed a weedy, seemingly useless plant into a prolific producer of tasty fruit.

Brought to the Mediterranean regions by Spanish Conquistadors, and used widely for centuries, it took much longer for Europeans to embrace the tomato. Tomatoes are part of the plant family "Solanaceae," the potato family. Eggplants, potatoes and tomatoes all share the same genes. The potato family is also the family of deadly nightshade, which contributed to long-held beliefs that tomatoes were poisonous. Tomato plants are similar in appearance to Nightshade plants. Folkloric beliefs relayed that witches used nightshade plants to summon werewolves. The common name for tomatoes was "wolf peach." Linnaeus, upon adopting and applying the modern day system of bionomial nomenclature, named the tomato Lycopersicon esculentum, which translates as "edible wolf peach."

Tomatoes were not widely accepted, cultivated and eaten in European and North American countries until the mid-nineteenth century, when the myth of tomatoes as quick avenues to poisoning were put to rest. In the United States, tomato cultivation took off in 1820, when Colonel Robert Johnson ate a basket full of tomatoes in a public square to put to rest rumors of tomatoes' ill effects. During this time, most people still grew their own vegetables, and eagerly began growing tomatoes in their garden plots. These 19th Century garden plots are where the heirloom varieties of tomatoes, so treasured today, were cultivated, differentiated, and preserved.

Health Benefits of Tomatoes

Once people began growing and harvesting their own tomatoes, there was no stopping the popularity of the vegetable. Tomatoes are great sources of vitamin C and Potassium, each essential nutrients for health. The most celebrated nutrient in tomatoes is Lycopene, the red pigment in tomatoes. Lycopene contributes to health benefits such as reduction in risk of developing many types of cancers. Lutein, another element in tomatoes contributes to health of the retina of the eye, and to heart and vascular health.

Tomatoes are tremendously versatile, and can be eaten cooked or raw, whole or pureed, in salsas, soups, sauces, and in salads. Health benefits are best realized when tomatoes are cooked with a bit of healthy oil. Cooking helps break the cell walls of the plant, releasing nutrients. Healthy oils such as olive oil aid in absorption of vitamins and nutrients in tomatoes.

From their scraggly, weedy and dubious beginnings, tomatoes have become a staple in cultures all over the world. Prized for their flavor and their health benefits, tomatoes are a fixture of modern cuisine.

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About The Author: Annette Welsford is author and publisher of "How to Grow Juicy Tasty Tomatoes." For more information, visit www.bestjuicytomatoes.com
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Rose Gardening - Common Rose Diseases

Rose diseases and fungi can really destroy your garden. It can be heartbreaking to see all of your beautiful plants and flowers destroyed by a seemingly meaningless disease or fungus. Roses can become weaker during the colder months and they are more susceptible to diseases once the warm months start again.

Even if they get through winter relatively unscathed, their weaker immune systems will be more open to the heat and humidity that the spring rains and summer heat bring. In this way, the roses might contact a fungal infection that destroys them, despite all of your best efforts.

There are a number of common diseases you might encounter with your roses:

Powdery Mildew

Powdery mildew is a fungus. As explained by its name, it produces a bright white powder along the tops and bottoms of the leaves and even along the stems. If you do not treat the mildew right away, the rose will not reach its full potential and the leaves will start to die and fall off the plant.

Rust

Rust on roses looks just like rust on metal will. It appears on the underside of the leaves and quickly spreads to other parts of the plant as well.

Blackspot

Hybrid teas are completely resistant to blackspot, but other roses have been known to get it. If there are circular black spots on the leaves of the plant that are 1/16 to ½ inch in diameter, you might have the disease. Treat the disease right away to avoid destroying your plant's foliage.

Rose Mosaic

Unlike most of the rose diseases that are fungi, the Rose Mosaic disease is a virus. The symptoms of this disease are similar to what you would expect from the name with discolored mosaic patterns of yellow and green.

The only way to stop this from spreading throughout your garden is to remove the plant entirely. You will also need to remove all of the leaves and clippings from the affected plant to ensure that it does not get to your other species. If you cannot stop the effects of this disease, you will need to bring in professional help and ask about commercial treatments that will solve the problem.

How can you avoid giving your plants these diseases? There are a few things you can do. Always water the soil around the rose and not the rose itself. Clean your rose beds regularly to prevent fallen leaves from cluttering underneath. Cut the diseased blooms right away and throw them in your trash can. Prune regularly. And seal all the cuts in the plant with Elmer's glue or another safe glue. Feeding your roses regularly will also give them plenty of strength to fight infections.

Finally, you can choose disease-resistant roses whenever possible to avoid the problem in the first place. Having plants that are naturally resistant to diseases and fungi will help your other plants as well since you will not be harboring any potential problems and threats in your garden.

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About the Author:

Moses Wright loves to work in his garden. He started this site to help fellow rose gardening enthusiast. You can find more free resources on rose gardening on his site: www.homelyfamily.com/roses.htm
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Positive Attitute - What Is It?

What does having a positive attitude then really boil down to, our thoughts, actions, patterns, habits, and behavior have us using, targeting and utilizing our energy and enthusiasm in a particular way. We think, act and do…If you are mainly positive, you will be focused on good things, happy thoughts, and successful outcomes, seeing the glass half-full to an extent. Negatively, you will be focusing on bad things, sad thoughts, unsuccessful outcomes and act and behave negatively too. Your goals and energy will not be focused and purposefully driven towards success, half-hearted at best.

There is an undeniable link between personal performance, confidence and even health and our positive thoughts. Matching, triggering neuro-chemical and physical responses, increased mental alertness and release of physical energy, improved respiration and circulation, boosts our abilities. The reverse is true, triggering the fight or flight response and instinct when we are decisively negative. Which can lead to loss of energy, creativity, motivation and lower self- esteem. You can effectively turn this habit of positive thinking into a powertool boosting not only your life, success and future, but also your health and wellbeing. There are numerous self-help books, products and even training courses that you can take to learn more about endorphins for example and how positive thoughts and can and motivate your day, towards more positive outcomes.

Practical ways and suggestions to make things better, faster, more positive, by being optimistic, changing your outlook on life and motivate self and others to make the most of life, opportunity, embrace chance, change, process and outcome. Pro-actively, hands-on and first-hand opt to do something, everything a little differently from now on.

Imagine and think the impossible, what you really want, claim it into reality, believe that it will be so and it will most likely be and happen that way. That is the so-called law of attraction. It very much reminds us of a biblical quote and reference, ask and it shall be given unto you, seek and ye shall find… sound familiar, knock and the door shall be opened unto you.

Then ask and answer this question and musing for yourself. How to you see and think about yourself, a success, a failure, disappointment, achiever? How do others see you? Is there a discrepancy between these two perspectives and why? How can you change matters, starting now? Change your thought, patterns, habits and self-talk that is mainly negative, into more positive thoughts, no matter how hard that might be for your inner skeptic and critic to do! See yourself as succeeding and having anything and everything you hope and dream of and then will it into being.

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Ron Huxley is a family therapist and author of the book "Love and Limits: Achieving a Balance in Parenting". Get more great articles, special reports and ecourse today at http://parentingtoolbox.com/join.html
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7 Signs That You Are a Workaholic

While most of us have professional goals and ambitions, the way we go about achieving them differs greatly. For many, the drive to succeed leads them to work long hours, lose sleep, and generally neglect their personal life. Others achieve success by prioritizing, delegating and organization. So, which type of achiever are you? If you suffer from any combination of the following symptoms, you just might be the former, otherwise known as a "workaholic".

1. You work evenings and week-ends in addition to your regular work hours. Determine what impact these extra hours are having on your family life, and decide whether it is really worthwhile for you to be missing out on family and friends.

2. You seldom take vacation and when you do, you work. Everyone needs some time off to recuperate and refresh their mind. In fact most of us work better following a vacation because we feel less stressed and more focussed upon our return.

3. Your thoughts are consumed with work. You can't make it through a school play, or an evening out with friends without checking your email, voicemail or blackberry.

4. You are missing out on the lives of your family and friends. Do you know the name of your child's much-loved teddy-bear, or your spouse's favourite book or television show? When was the last time you had dinner with your best-friend?

5. You don't have any time to relax. When was the last time you took a bubble bath, read a book, or went to a movie? Without taking time for yourself on a regular basis, all you are sure to achieve is burn-out.

6. Relaxing stresses you out. When you do decide to read a book, or see a movie, you find you can't relax because you feel that you should be working.

7. You are having family troubles because of your persistent absences. If your spouse or children resent you because you aren't around, it is time to make some changes.

Workaholics are in reality not more likely to achieve success. They are in actuality much more likely to reach burn-out status before that happens. In fact, experts agree that the vast majority of successful individuals are not workaholics, but that they have learned how to prioritize and delegate. If you are a Workaholic, it's not too late to change. Letting go of some of your lower priority tasks does not mean the end of your work-related ambitions and in fact may just help you to attain the goals that you have been striving to realize.

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About the Author:

Kelly Sims is a Virtual Assistant and Owner of Virtually There VA Services. To find out if you need to simplify your life, please take the "Simplify Your Life" quiz at www.virtuallythereva.com/quiz.html . While you are there, don't forget to register to receive her new free mini e-book, "How to Add 2 Hours to Your Day: Lessons in Efficiency". The Virtually There VA Services can be found on the web at www.virtuallythereva.com .

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"One must ask children and birds how cherries and strawberries taste." ~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.
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Thanks for reading,

Wendy Kennedy
Canadian Country Gifts
wendy@cndcountrygifts.com

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