Curiously Awesome

With this present economy, it sure is helpful to find ways to make a little extra money to supplement stressed household budgets. Our budget is more than a little strained lately because we’ve had some unforeseen events that have set us back.

This is why I decided to go searching for opportunities that would allow me to make an income while at home caring for my family. I was so happy to learn that I can actually get paid for blogging! Imagine that…doing something that I love to do and getting paid for it – all the while being at home taking care of the family and household responsibilities that I have.

There are many blogging sites out there, and I’m excited to announce that this is my first paid post for “Paying Post.” I hope that this is the beginning of a great relationship!

Orange essential oils can inhibit the activity of salmonella.

Various citrus essential oils will function as a natural preservative by inhibiting the activity of fungi and bacteria. Researchers exposed 11 different strains of salmonella to seven different orange essential oils.

The most effective essential oil was orange essence terpenes. The researchers examined the chemical makeup of the essential oils. They found that d-limonene composed 94 percent of the oils, with myrcene composing another 3 percent.

Researchers found that oils from grapefruit, orange, lemon and mandarin all inhibited the activity of the common food molds. Citrus essential oils might be considered suitable alternatives to chemical additives for use in the food industry. Food manufacturers have been looking for alternatives to synthetic preservatives.

It used to be a lot easier to find good quality and affordable eyeglasses for my kids – especially when they were a little younger. They weren’t quite so ummmmmm…selective…about their eyeglasses. I used to be able to steer them easily to the less expensive ones and those would be fine for them and fine for me. It worked pretty well back then.

Now that they are getting older and more discerning, purchasing eyeglasses for them has gotten to be much more difficult and painful for my pocketbook. This is why I was so happy to find Zenni Optical.

ZenniOptical is a leader in quality, low cost prescription eyeglasses that make it easy for just about anyone to find the eyeglasses they want at prices they can afford. I wondered how one earth they can afford to sell their quality eyeglasses for $8. I found out that they sell only their own manufactured frames directly to their customers with no middlemen. They also have a very low advertising budget. So…that explains that! They know how to do smart business!

These glasses are just exactly the kind of glasses my almost-12-year-old daughter would love! I so know where we are shopping for glasses next time!

They have some great looking frames that just recently arrived…so if you haven’t looked at their site lately, you really should!

The level of nicotine in a woman’s toenails is an accurate indicator of heart disease risk.

Smoking is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease but doctors cannot always obtain accurate data about a patient’s smoking history by just asking. Toenails grow very slowly so their nicotine concentration gives a more accurate picture of long-term exposure – including second-hand smoke.

Researchers examined toenail clippings from 62,500 nurses and found that those who had heart disease had approximately twice as much nicotine in their toenails as healthy women. Women with high nicotine concentrations were more likely to have high blood pressure, diabetes, to drink heavily, to have a family history of smoking and to be thinner than those with less nicotine.

While nicotine itself does not cause heart disease, it functions as a measure of overall tobacco exposure.

People who smoke are two times as likely to suffer a heart attack in their life time as those who don’t. Quitting smoking is one of the most effective ways to reduce this risk.