I always have my camera with me when I visit my local home improvement centers. You never know what cool stuff you'll see or if you need to take a quick photo to capture dimensions, prices, etc. Today was no exception and I'm glad I had my camera. Why?

They had a misting patio umbrella on display in the garden department. It's summer. I'm in Georgia. You had better believe that I made a bee-line towards it to cool off. What will they think of next??!!

Want to see more of it?

No offense intended...butt...put the fork down and read up.

We were browsing in one of the big box home improvement stores recently and noticed that Crane Plumbing has answered nature's call by designing a "comfort width" toilet for those looking for a wider parking space in their lavatory.

I had a very rewarding experience today. How? I volunteered my Saturday to work with Atlanta Habitat For Humanity and Team Clark Howard. What an honor it is to be given the opportunity to help disadvantaged people realize the dream of becoming a homeowner in such a fulfilling manner.

I learned a lot, I came away with a healthy respect for many dedicated individuals and I'll be volunteering again and again. It was an interesting homebuilding experience and a lot of fun...all for a very worthwhile cause!

Have you ever heard of a Zink digital photo printer? If not, you soon will, especially if you own a digital camera or own a camera phone.

Assuming that production stays on schedule, it promises to be one of the hottest consumer electronics items available for Christmas '07.

Here's why...

We were out enjoying the fall foliage in northeastern Paulding County, Georgia the other day and passed by a subdivision with home sites offering miles of spectacular views of the surrounding area. I posted an article on Celestial Breeze a few months ago and it appears that a different developer has moved forward on the property and it is showing signs of life. The name has changed to Celestial Ridge and is being developed by J. Bryan Homes and Gemini Properties.

At the time I posted the article back in July of this year it was a subdivision in the making. Today...it's a subdivision with new ownership and with homes in the making.

I welcome you to see what a difference four months can make and possibly increase property values for this subdivision with a view.

Paulding County, Georgia has an ample amount of beautiful acreage. Case in point: Celestial Breeze Subdivision offered by Virtual Properties Realty in north-central Paulding. We were on one of our home touring excursions recently and were literally just going where the little realty signs on the side of the road were taking us...through the high country of Paulding County. This is about as good as it gets here in our little part of the world...home touring-wise.

If you've got an RV or motorhome these days, you've spent a pretty penny on all of the things needed that go along with hitting the road in your RV. Petro is expensive (Update: gas was around $2/gal when I wrote this...now in June '08 gas is over $4/gal and rising!!!), campsite reservations aren't cheap, not to mention the time and energy you've put into organizing a trip. When you've made your way back to your "stick home" you'll need somewhere to park your motorhome or RV.

Maybe you park your RV in a storage facility due to neighborhood by-laws, city ordinances or space constraints. Maybe you are able to keep your RV on your driveway or property. Consider yourself lucky. Some folks even go so far as to build a house that has a custom built garage for an RV or motorhome of their dreams.

Here's a great example of a custom built home with an RV garage located near Aiken, South Carolina.

Here are some of my thoughts that came to mind when I saw it.