KatalinaMau.com

I have been with PayPerPost since January, and until recently I could find 5 or 6 opportunities a week to write about. But now, something has changed. It has been 30 days and counting since there have been any opportunities available for me. I think I know why. A few weeks back I accepted an opportunity. The description was a little vague, but I can make most topics work with this blog. It is only after I accept the job that I find out I am supposed to blog about a para-military gun accessory site! There is no way I can make that fit into this blog! So I didn’t write the post and now I am not getting any more offers. So I am saying goodbye to all paid posting services. Goodbye to Smorty, goodbye to Blogvertise, and especially goodbye to PayPerPost. Goodbye to writing posts that no one really wants to read. goodbye to $5 for 30 minutes worth of work. And, hopefully, goodbye to PageRank 0.

Now, I know it wasn’t all that long ago I wrote PR0 and Proud of It. In that post I wrote that I wasn’t going to let Google tell me what I can or can’t do with MY blog. And that is still true. I think what is happening here is I am evolving as a blogger. I am finding that you can’t depend on other people/companies/websites to help you make money or succeed as a blogger. If you do you have to play by their rules. I am not that kind of person. I like to make my own rules. So now I am putting into play what I always knew was true.

This blog is about me and what I want. I just need to decide what that is.

I’d like to hear about your experiences with Paid Posting. Good or Bad.

I love Blogging contests, because it is so easy to win prizes. Earlier I blogged about the Hochstadt’s Party Contest. I got lots of entries just for writing a blog post about the contest, and for commenting on the blog. Well, I just found out that I won 3 prizes! Woo Hoo!

I won a One Buck Wiki pages from Max at SiteHoppin. My page is Webmaster-Blog, more about that later!
Plus I won a signed book by Robert G Allan from Leisa Watkins at Dream Act Plan Believe. (The book is in the mail, I can’t wait to read it! And, from Martin Russell at Word of Mouth Marketing I won an account with 10 cards from SendOutCards.com. (I’ll be sending one to you Mom!)

This is the second time in as many months that I have won prizes in blog contests. Last month I won $10, so you know I’ll be posting about more contests as they come up.

Cheers!

Several years ago I was talking to my Pastor. We were talking about education and I was bemoaning the fact that I wasn’t going to be able to get a college degree. I had married young and had children. I was running a very successful business, I had an active family and social life. “With everything I have going on I could only take a class or two a year.” I said to him. “It would take me 10 years just to get my AA (2 year) degree!

“That is true” he answered,”But ten years are going to go by no matter what. And in 10 years either you will have that college degree or you won’t”.

Well, it only took 6 years, but last night I took my last final and I have now completed all the requirements for an AA degree in Accounting, and an AA in Business Administration!

Why is it, that people, including myself, think that just because something will take a long time, it isn’t worth doing? I do a lot of financial counseling with people and they are always saying things like, “I have so much credit card debt, it will take years to pay off, so why even try?” Or conversely, “It would take forever to save up the money for that vacation, so I’ll just put it on the credit card.” By thinking this way people find themselves 5, 10, 20 years later in the same spot they are now AND, they are missing out on the joy of delayed gratification.

Yes, I said the JOY of delayed gratification. Today everybody seems to want everything right now, and they are willing to take on outstanding amounts of debt to do that. So once the fun of the impulse purchase is over, all you are left with is the stress of trying to pay the debt.

For our 25th wedding anniversary (no I’m not that old, I told you I married young!) my husband and I wanted to take a fabulous vacation. First class all the way. We could have used the credit cards, or taken out a loan to pay for the vacation, after all, we deserved it! Staying together for 25 years isn’t easy! But instead we decided to save up for our vacation.

For 2 years I planned and saved and saved an planned. I had a great time researching where we would go and what we would do. It was exciting to see our savings grow. And it was easy to bypass all those little extras, so the money could go towards our vacation. I had a great time planning the vacation. In some ways, the anticipation was more fun than the actual trip itself!

While I was researching, planning and saving for our vacation, my husband was doing the same for a great camera to take with us. We ended up with a great deal on a fabulous camera.

In the end we spent 2 marvelous weeks in Belize. A country I didn’t even know existed before I started my research. And the best part is, when we came home there were no bills to pay. I don’t even have any credit card bills to remind me of my vacation, all I have are some wonderful photos!

So the next time you think you aren’t going to do something because it will take too long, just remember, the time is going to go by anyway! 10 years from now will you still be bemoaning the fact that you don’t have a college degree, or your credit cards paid off or…?

Today while I was blog surfing it seemed like every blog I stopped at had pictures of food.  It seemed like today was  a good day to go along with the crowd.

What you are looking at are two great presents that I got last week while my parents were visiting.  My Dad brought fresh peas from his garden, and my Mom bought me the bamboo steamer that I have been wanting forever!

The steamer is fun because it cooks the peas quickly while retaining their good flavor and nutrition.  It came with two baskets so I can cook two different things at once.  Previously I steamed chicken and cabbage potstickers in one basket and some leftover pork roast in the other. A full meal was ready in no time , and the steaming helped keep the pork moist.

Tonight I steamed some red snapper and that also worked well.  If you are thinking of steaming fish, here is a tip I learned from the  Cook’s Magazine that my Mom bought to go with the steamer.  Take slices of lemon or lime and put them on the bottom of the steamer. Then set your fish on top of the slices. The lemon/lime slices keep the fish from sticking to the steamer, and the steam carries the flavor of the fruit into the fish.  I used lime slices tonight and it was very good!

Do you have a steamer?  Any good steamer recipes you would like to share?

Last week I found out that I won not one, but two prizes on The University Kid’s Blog Contest. Now I think I could become a contest addict. Entering an online contest is easy, and your chances of winning a prize (or two!) are pretty good. So in the last contest I entered I won $15 and a One Buck Wiki page. With this contest all the prizes are great, and of course I wouldn’t turn down the $50 in cash, but I think I would really like one of the signed Robert G. Allan books. That would be cool.

If you would like to enter the contest click on the banner at the top of the post and you’ll find all the rules there! But first, check out this list of cool prizes.

Without further ado, let’s get to the “Party Contest Meat”—or in other words, what YOU can WIN at this Hochstadt.com Party Contest!

NOTE: This is none of those Internet Marketing niche contests… The Hochstadt.com Party Contest features prizes from a broad range of industries and categories. Meaning, there is something for EVERYONE:

Men’s Interest, Women’s Interest, Sports, Internet Marketing, Make Money Online, Technology, Hobbies, Marketing, Self Improvement, Computers and Internet, Art, Environment, Finance and Investing, Web Development, News and Media, Entertainment, Graphic Design, Religion and Spirituality, Blogging Resources, Parenting and Family, Technology, Mixed Bag, Home and Garden, Health and Medicine, Trends, Personal Diary, and Writing and Literature!

Now, take a look at these amazing and unbelievable contributions… the Who’s Who of Entrecard and other friends of mine:

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