Today's Quote of the Day comes from Sharron Angle, an American Politician from Nevada. I like this quote because I believe it's true. You may not know your purpose or plan, but there's one for you no matter what situation you're in. Be patient, be determined and pursue it!
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Mother's Day is on Sunday, May 8th. Here are some gift ideas:

Send her a Personalized Gift
Send her a PersonalizedKit from Wantable
Give her a Wine Membership from Club W

Make the gift as unique as your Mother!


* Note: These are Affiliate Links
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We’ve all seen the viral videos of Cochlear Implant activations all over the Internet. The person or their family breaks down into tears when they realize they’re hearing sounds.

​But these “inspiration porn” videos, as I call them, doesn’t show is what happens once the camera turns off.

Here’s the reality of Cochlear Implants that many people, including many in the medical community, don’t realize 

It’s not an “Instant Fix”:

We can’t just slap it on our head and instantly hear and understand everything. It takes a lot of time and adjustment for our brains to learn to translate the electronic signals into sounds that we may recognize.

We have to go through a lot of technical adjustments (mappings) to adjust how we’re hearing. Pitches and loudness have to be adjusted every time.

I’ve had one C.I. for 10 years until an internal failure (long story). I was reimplanted with the newest version in November 2015 and even though I’ve learned to hear well with the first one, I’m having to relearn everything all over again.

It’s not a cure for deafness:

Once we take the external part (the Processor) off we are deaf again. We’re deaf when we sleep, shower, swim (unless we have the waterproof case), or any other time we take it off.

We’re also deaf when our battery dies, there are instances where we’ve forgotten our replacement batteries and have had to go without the C.I.

​I was born prelingually deaf, so I’ve pretty much missed the window for speech discrimination (0-3 years old). People expect that since I have a C.I., that I’d be able to understand them clearly without lipreading. With my first C.I., I was able to understand my husband and my kids without lipreading….sometimes. Now with the new one, I struggle to hear them even when I’m looking at them straight on, but hey, it’s only been 4 months.

It will never match natural hearing:

It is electronically produced hearing. As great as this technology is and it’s improving all the time, it will never match the complexity and range of natural hearing.

For those of us prelingually deaf, we will never know what true hearing is. For those late deafened, they never will be hearing like they used to again.

Even though it’s electronic hearing, after much training and adjusting, people can get pretty close to how they were hearing before.

It takes a lot of training:

Even some C.I. users wonder why they’re not hearing well. It takes a lot of training to hear.

You don’t need to attend aural therapy sessions by a specialist to train to hear. Play the radio or TV in the background while you go about your normal routine. Get an audiobook and print version of the same book and read along with the voice to learn different speech patterns. You can also turn on Speech option in the Accessibility menu of your tablet or phone and it can read out loud any text you highlight. Have someone read the newspaper or magazine out loud next to you. All in all, the saying “you only get out what you put in” stands true here.

You also need a lot of patience, it may take months and months, or even years before your old brain “clicks” and you finally realize that weird high pitched sound is actually a bird singing outside your window.
 

So there you have it, the reality of a C.I. It’s the same as any other medical restoration. You don’t expect that patient who just had knee replacement surgery to suddenly jump up and start tap dancing after their stitches are out do you?

To new C.I. users: Be patient; enjoy the little “a-ha” moments; practice listening wherever you are; don’t forget to escape to the quietness of silence when things get overwhelming; and enjoy your “new ear”.

To everyone else: Be patient, help with identifying sounds; have realistic expectations; and enjoy their hearing “progressions”.

If anyone wants to know more, .

Tracy,
​ ​​"One finds limits by pushing them" ~ Herbert Simon

Are you considering giving your bathroom a slight makeover? When it comes to redecorating, the bathroom is the most obvious place to start. But if you fear how this project might reflect on your wallet, it is wise to consider some low-budget ideas. Contrary to what you might think, a bathroom renovation does not necessarily require a professional interior designer or an over-the-top budget planning.

So if you have made up your mind and want to get started remember that all you need is just a bit of creativity, effort, and perhaps a helping hand. 

Walls and Floors

One of the most obvious ways to refresh your bathroom is to give it another coat of paint. Repainting the walls in some warm neutrals will surely give your bathroom a new vibe and best of all – you can easily do it yourself with a small amount of money.

This also goes for cabinets and lockers in the room. There is no need for purchasing brand new bathroom furniture when a simple repaint or a new layer of lacquer can do the job just as good. When it comes to floors, simply clean the grout and coat it with a grout sealer. You will be surprised how much difference a deep scrub can have on the bathroom tiles.

Replace the Fixtures

Another great way to liven up your bathroom space without spending too much is to replace all the fixtures. Remember that even the smallest change can make a great difference. Simply by switching your existing hardware with brand new shiny ones, you are one step closer towards a completely new bathroom.

From faucets and shower-heads up to the pulls and handles on the cabinets doors, the change of style just might transform your bathroom from modern age up to the Victorian era. While you are ahead, consider investing in water-efficient fixtures, which will not only save you water but money as well.

Illumination Is the Key

The lighting plays a huge role when it comes to setting up an ambient space. This is why it is a good idea to consider switching the illumination in the bathroom area. For instance, if you have a window in the bathroom make sure to make the most out of natural light in the room, as it will make a great difference.

Other than this, ambient lighting can greatly contribute to the atmosphere in the space, so do not hesitate to try out rope lighting. Instead of relying on fluorescent bulbs, perhaps you should switch to LED ones, which are not only energy efficient but also budget efficient.

Focus On the Details

What is the first thing you notice when you enter the bathroom? It is the little things that carry a lot of weight. So make sure to focus on the simple things and add a refreshing vibe to the space. Replace the toilet lid and the shower curtain. Purchase new towels in bright colors and place new bath ensembles. If you really want to add life to your bathroom, consider putting up a few plants as well. Scented candles and incense sticks are a great way to create a spa-like atmosphere in the space.

Another thing that could greatly contribute to your spa resort, according to experts in Engadine that do plumbing, is fixing up a decent hot water system.


Before you give up on the dream of redesigning your bathroom, make sure to try out a few of these frugal ideas that could greatly alter the look of your bathroom space. A redecorating project does not always have to cost a fortune, especially if you know how to cooperate with the artist in you.
 
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Today's Welcome Wednesday is Nyle DiMarco and his Foundation. Y'all pretty much know who Nyle is, if you don't then you've been living under a rock Heh. 

He established a foundation to improve the lives of Deaf children and their families:

If you're a parent, grandparent, or relative of a Deaf child, I encourage you to visit the site and read up on everything to help that Deaf child flourish. 

Tracy,
​ ​​"One finds limits by pushing them" ~ Herbert Simon

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​Email marketing is more than a tool because it is highly influential in the aspect of customer retention. Even the previous buyers are still connected with the company. When new consumers add to the list of brand supporters, there’s no worry that you can’t balance your services to many customers. Thus, many businesses particularly the small ones are implementing email marketing strategy. It helps them not only for the improvement of the business but also for building brand.

Email marketing strategy is the best way in promoting products and services online. On the other hand, it is one of the traditional sources of B2B marketing used by almost everyone in the virtual world. Once you had a well deliberated and efficient email marketing program or campaign, it can aid your business in endorsing the products and services that you offer. Through a planned email marketing technique, your business can have the maximum visibility and recognition online where most people, not just locally, but also globally will notice and see you. With an uninterrupted marketing process, you will start to get immediate response especially when your emails reach the target customers and audience.

Syracuse Web Design Agency can help you in creating effective email marketing strategy. Whether it is to promote sales, spread news of a company or highlight products or services, every company is finding a great value when it comes to email marketing. Here are some ways on how such marketing strategy can help in improving your business:

1. Adding videos to emails - Integrating appropriate videos on the emails can help in increasing the return on investment as well as the monthly revenue.

2. Optimize for mobile devices - Considering that lots of people are using different mobile devices; this is also very much beneficial for marketers to reach their customers. To make your marketing campaign more effective, the best thing to do is to optimize it for mobile devices making accessible anytime and anywhere.

3. Using social media - Adding social media to email marketing is one of the best strategies that can produce a very large campaign results.

4. RSS updates - Tracking of e-mail messages are easier than keeping track of the posts in the different social media sites. But, through RSS updates you can track the posts on social media site every hour, minute and second. In a short span of time, the older post gets harder to find while in e-mail, you can easily find it on your inbox and you can even add the e-mail to your favorites.

5. Send bulk mail campaigns – Email marketing can save your time, effort and money in promoting your business. It’s because you can send bulk mail campaigns in just as short period without spending too much.
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6. Easy to unsubscribe – The best thing that email marketing strategy can help for your business is that you can easily identify from the email list those good leads from the bad.

​Creating a certain email campaign is the best and effective way to attract great number of customers. On the other hand, it is needed to ensure that they are aligned with the business goals and objectives that you have to utilize the necessary strategies and guide content. Technology is indeed beneficial in the different aspect of society and one of the aspects that benefit the most is the business industry. It is now easier for business owners to market their product and services which in turn would benefit the business a lot.