June 2009 housing market report for Metro Phoenix

Lost our home pet foundation addoptions

What:  Adopt dogs and cats left behind by families who could no longer afford their homes

When: Noon – 4:pm. Sundays in Tempe; 11:00am – 4:00pm every other Sunday in Phoenix

Where: PetSmart, 1300 E. Rio Salado parkway (Tempe Marketplace), 21001 N. Tautum Blvd (Desert Ridge Marketplace) Phoenix

Cost: Dogs are $125, puppies $150, cats $75, kittens $95

Details  480-782–7727  www.lostourhome.org

Bananas contain three natural sugars – sucrose, fructose and glucose combined with fiber gives an instant, sustained & substantial boost of energy. Research has proven that just 2 bananas provide enough energy for a strenuous 90-minute workout, making it the number one fruit with the world’s leading athletes. But energy isn’t the only way a banana can help us keep fit. It can also help overcome or prevent a substantial number of illnesses & conditions, making it a must to add to our daily diet.

Depression:
According to a recent survey undertaken by MIND amongst people suffering from depression, many felt much better after eating a banana. This is because bananas contain tryptophan, a type of protein that the body converts into serotonin, known to make you relax, improve your mood and generally make you feel happier.
PMS:
Forget the pills – eat a banana. The vitamin B6 it contains regulates blood glucose levels, which can affect your mood.
Anemia:
High in iron, bananas stimulate the production of hemoglobin in the blood and so helps in cases of anemia.
Blood pressure:
This unique tropical fruit is extremely high in potassium yet low in salt, making it the perfect way to beat blood pressure. So much so, the US Food and Drug Administration has just allowed the banana industry to make official claims for the fruit’s ability to reduce the risk of blood pressure and stroke.
Brain Power:
200 students at a Twickenham school were helped through their exams this year by eating bananas at breakfast, break & lunch in a bid to boost their brain power. Research has shown that the potassium-packed fruit can assist learning by making pupils more alert.
Constipation:
High in fiber, including bananas in the diet can help restore normal bowel action, helping to overcome the problem without resorting to laxatives.
Hangovers:
One of the quickest ways of curing a hangover is to make a banana milkshake, sweetened with honey. The banana calms the stomach & with the honey, builds up depleted blood sugar levels, while milk soothes & re-hydrates your system.
Heartburn:
Bananas have a natural antacid effect in the body, so if you suffer from heartburn, try eating a banana for soothing relief.
Morning Sickness:
Snacking on bananas between meals helps to keep blood sugar levels up and avoid morning sickness.
Mosquito bites:
Before reaching for the insect bite cream, try rubbing the affected area with the inside of a banana skin. many people find it amazingly successful at reducing swelling and irritation.
Nerves:
Bananas are high in B vitamins that help calm the nervous system.
Overweight and at work?
Studies at the Institute of Psychology in Austria found pressure at work leads to gorging on comfort food like chocolate and chips. Looking at 5000 hospital patients, researchers found that the most obese were more likely to be in high pressure jobs. The report concluded that, to avoid panic induced food cravings, we need to control our blood sugar by snacking on high carbohydrate foods every two hours to keep levels steady.
Ulcers:
The banana is used as the dietary food against intestinal disorders because of it’s soft texture and smoothness. It is the only raw fruit that can be eaten without distress in over chronicler cases.   It also neutralizes over acidity and reduces irritation by coating the lining of the stomach.
Temperature control:
Many other cultures see bananas as a cooling fruit that can lower both the physical and emotional temperatures of expectant mothers. In Thailand for example, pregnant women eat bananas to ensure their baby is born with a cool temperature.
Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
Bananas can help SAD sufferers because they contain the natural mood enhancer Tryptophan.
Smoking:
Bananas can also help people trying to give up smoking. The B6, B12 they contain, as well as the potassium and magnesium found in them, help the body recover from the effects of nicotine withdrawal.
Stress:
Potassium is a vital mineral, which helps normalize the heartbeat, sends oxygen to the brain and regulates your body’s water balance. When we are stressed, our metabolic rate rises, thereby reducing our potassium levels. These can be re-balanced with the help of a high-potassium banana snack.
Strokes:
According to research in “the New England Journal of Medicine,” eating bananas as part of a regular diet can cut the risk of death by strokes by as much as 40%.

So a banana really is a natural remedy for many ills. When you compare it to an apple, it has four times the protein, twice the carbohydrates, three times the phosphorus, five times the vitamin A and Iron, and twice the other vitamins and minerals. It is also rich in potassium and is one of the best value foods around. So maybe it’s time to change that well known phrase so that we say ” a banana a day keeps the doctor away!”

Sharon Hunnicutt – Storytime

Here’s a question for you: How can a person be both comfortable and miserable at the same time? Think about this for a moment. We actually see this condition in the faces of so many people we meet every day, and perhaps even the person we see in the mirror each morning.

As human beings, we naturally gravitate towards things that are known, comfortable and well-worn as it were. Of course that’s just another way of describing a rut. Staying in your “comfort zone” is akin to keeping yourself in jail. Then again at least you have a cot to sleep on, three square meals a day and interesting conversation with your “roommate” to help pass the time. That is often not nearly as scary as flinging open that jail cell door and striking out into unfamiliar territory…

Most people prefer the certainty of their misery rather than risk the misery of uncertainty.*

Mr. Internet

Global Properties 2009 list of the world’s most expensive  real estate markets shows that Monte Carlo is number 1 at $45,000 per square meter ( a square meter equals .8361 of a square yard) following Monte Carlo were:

Central Moscow, @20,653 per square meter

London, $20,756

Tokyo, $17,998

Hong Kong, $16,125

New York, $14,898

Paris, $12,122

Singapore, $9,701

Rome, $9,166

Mumbai, India, $9,163

For more information, you can visit: www.globalpropertyguide.com

The optimist sees the best in the world, while a pessimist sees only the worst. An optimist finds the positive in the negative, and a pessimist can find only the negative in the positive.

For example, an avid duck hunter was in the market for a new bird dog. His search ended when he found a dog that actually could walk on water to retrieve a duck. Shocked by his find , he was sure none of his friends would ever believe him.

He decided to start with a friend, a pessimist by nature, and invited the friend to hunt with him and his new dog. As they walked by the shore, a flock of ducks flew by. they fired , and a duck fell. The dog responded and jumped into the water.  The dog however did not sink, but instead walked across the water to retrieve the bird, never getting more than his paws wet.  This continued all day long, each time a duck fell the dog walked across the surface of the water to retrieve it.

The pessimist watched carefully, saw everything, but did not say a single word. On the drive home the hunter asked his friend ” did you not notice anything unusual about my new dog?” “I sure dis,” responded the pessimist. “he can’t swim.” — anonymous

We all know about the original Ten Commandments, but have you ever heard of the Second Ten Commandments?  I don’t remember who sent them to me — these pearls of wisdom have been often attributed to one Elodie Armstrong — but I sure would like to thank him or her for sharing this wisdom. Here they are with my spin on them:

1.  Thou shall not worry, for worry is the most unproductive of all human activities.  A day of worry is more exhausting than a day of work.  People get so busy worrying about yesterday or tomorrow, they forget about today.  And today is what you have to work with.

2.  Though shall not be fearful, for most of the things we fear never come to pass.  Every crisis we face is multiplied when we act out of fear.  When we fear something, we empower it.  If we refuse to concede to our fear, there is nothing to fear.

3.  Thou shall not cross bridges before you come to them, for no one yet has succeeded in accomplishing this.  Tomorrow’s problems may not even be problems when tomorrow comes. 

4.  Thou shall face each problem as it comes.  You can only handle one at a time anyway.  In one of my favorite “Peanuts” comic strips, Linus says to Charlie Brown, “There is no problem so big it cannot be run away from.”  I chuckle every time I think about it, because it sounds like such a simple solution.  Problem solving is not easy, so don’t make it harder than it is.

5.  Thou shall not take problems to bed with you, for they make very poor bedfellows.  If I wake up thinking of a problem, I tell myself that it will seem lighter in the morning, and it always is.

6.  Thou shall not borrow other people’s problems.  They can better care for them than you can.  I confess that I have broken this commandment because I wanted to help someone, without being asked, or I thought I was more equipped to handle a situation.  But I wouldn’t have to deal with the consequences, either.

7.  Thou shall not try to relive yesterday.  For good or ill, it is forever gone.  Concentrate on what is happening in your life and be happy now.  We convince ourselves that life will be better after we get a better job, make more money, get married, have a baby, buy a bigger house and so on.  Yet the accomplishment of any of these events may not make any difference at all.  The Declaration of Independence says we are endowed “with certain unalienable rights that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.  You are responsible for your own happiness.

8.  Thou shall be a good listener, for only when you listen do you hear ideas different from your own.  You can win more friends with ears than with your mouth.  Hearing is one to the body’s five senses, but listening is an art.  Your success could hinge on whether you have mastered the skill of listening.  Most people won’t listen to what you’re saying unless they already feel that you have listened to them.  When we feel we are being listened to, it makes us feel as if we are being taken seriously and what we say really matters.

9.  Thou shall not become bogged down by frustration, for 90 percent of it is rooted in self-pity and will only interfere with positive action. Seriously, has frustration ever improved a situation?  Better to take a break, collect your thoughts, and redirect your attention to a positive first stop.  Then, go on from there.

10.  Thou shall count thy blessing, never overlooking the small ones, for a lot of small blessing add up to a big one.  We all have something to be grateful for, even on the worst days.  Hey, you’re still on the green side of the grass, aren’t you?

Makay’s moral:  These may not be chiseled in stone, but try them; they make your life less rocky

Harvey Mackay – can be reached through his Web site, www.harveymackay.com.

 ”It’s lucky that cat has nine lives”.

Have you ever wondered about the origin of this phrase?

The “nine lives” term is thought to come from ancient times when nine was considered a lucky number because it is the “trinity of trinities”. Because cats seem to be lucky in their death escapes, this number was well suited for the cat.

Another theory is that the cat-headed goddess of Egypt was blessed with nine lives, and all other cats followed in her fortune. 


While cats are amazing creatures that seem to be able to get themselves into trouble and emerge unharmed, they do not have nine lives.

Although they are resilient, and their athleticism is often in their favor when running from a dog, dodging a car or jumping from a high level, they can often be injured and die from their injuries.