Disney Helps Moms

Disney is launching a website that will offer tips, resources and information for moms everywhere. The site will be hosted at familyfun.com and will eventually include a "ParentPedia", basically a vault of information both from Disney and users of the site. They must have other plans for this site, though because familyfun.com isn't a very good URL for the focus of their content. Maybe they could have done, Mom911.com or DisneyParents.com or MomsRaisingMouses.com. Then again, what do we know, they built the happiest place on earth. Click here for more information.

One Of A Kind Hotels

Are you planning your summer vacation already? If so, but not sure where to stay, you can always check out this crazy list of hotels ranging from an underwater sea lodge to a London courthouse where John Lennon and Johnny Rotten were both booked when it was in operation. Yes, we did say underwater sea lodge--meaning you have to scuba dive just to ring the door bell. Also in this article is a treehouse hotel (for the six-year-old in you) and a hotel made entirely out of ice (for the James Bond in you). There are many other places listed with links to the hotels websites for more details. Watch out for sharks on your way to your room.

Foreclosures Hit Record High

As we blogged yesterday, the mortgage industry is in serious trouble. So are the tenants. According to the lastest data from the Mortgage Bankers Association, foreclosures in the final quarter of last year were at an all time high. A lot of people saw this coming, right. Scroll down to the bottom of this link (click here) to view a chart of all 50 states listing the percentage of delinquencies. We hope you're not on the list. If you're a buyer, there are some good deals to be had.

The High-Risk Housing Market

You've heard the commercials on TV and radio: low, low "teaser rates" and easy credit. Well, that was then and this is now. According to this article in the The Christian Science Monitor, the housing boom and its creditors have pushed more than 20 companies into bankruptcy and advocates are saying that all the easy credit given over the past six years is on the brink of creating one of the worst mortgage crisis since the 1980s. Why is this happening? Quite simply: people can no longer afford it. Across the nation these teaser rates, which first made the loan possible, have baited people into higher interest rates, thus pushing people into foreclosure. Are you one of these people? Let us know.

Spring Forward This Sunday

Nope, we didn't get the headline wrong, daylight saving time begins three weeks early this year. In 2005, Congress passed the Energy Policy Act, which extended daylight saving time to help conserve more energy. The thought behind this is simple. By moving the clocks an hour ahead, it stays light outside an hour longer and people will wait to turn on their home lights and other appliances. The problem that some have with this shift is that until 2005, all electronics manufacturers had been programming their gadgets on the old calendar, which means your stuff at home including computer, cell phone, etc. may not auto-correct this year. Sounds like Y2K all over again, huh. Check the website of your device/software for updates. You can also read this article for more tips.

Just curious, but if daylight saving time continues to get extended, won't people just change their sleeping habits to accomidate the shift in time? Oh, we should mention that the offiicial time change happens at 2am on Sunday.

Marriage Change & The Ripple Effect

Two professors at Wharton conducted a study and found that marriage rates, divorce rates and birth rates are all on the decline in the U.S. The study also notes how these things are affecting the environment around them and visa versa. For example, the advent of the birth control pill has made it so women can get their careers established before deciding if/when they want kids. Because of this, more romances are started in the workplace.

The rise of labor-saving devices (dishwashers, electric scrubbers, etc.) in the home have also made it so women don't have to spend as much time working on the home as before and can spend more time at the workplace. Not mentioned in this synopsis (click here) is the fact that men are doing more home labor and it's becoming more common for household duties to be divided equally.

The bottom line is that marriage is changing and these changes affect the economy, the work environment and have ripple effects on other social arenas. We always knew marriage was changing, that's why we continue to offer new original content on a regular basis. Did you think your grandmother had to worry about internet infidelity? Didn't think so. We're here for you.

Sleep Stops 1 in 3 Women from Having Sex

This was posted under the breaking news section of E Canada Now. While we find this study interesting, is it really worthy of "breaking news"? Anyway, a poll done by the National Sleep Foundation found that 33% of women say they have stopped having sex with their significant other because they were too tired and didn't have enough sleep. The story goes on to say that women who have kids or pets sleep in their bed also contributed to their lack of sleep. We'd like to add that this will also directly affect your sex life. What do you say ladies? Are 33% of you not having sex because you're not getting enough sleep or is this a poll to sell more squishy matresses?

Materialism, Bad for Marriage

This might seem like a "no, duh" report, but it's worth mentioning. A new report came out saying very materialistic couples had a 40 percent higher risk of having financial problems than other couples--this in turn had an impact on their marital happiness. It comes down to how a couple thinks about money and how they spend money. Some think they don't have a good life/marriage if they aren't able to afford the big vacation. It becomes a major issue in their relationship. Less materialistic couples don't see this as a big problem. For the full story, click here.

Special Delivery

Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction. Franck and Ludivine Larmande had ordered a table that was being delivered through the mail. What they received, however, was a human liver and partial head. It sounds like a bad Hannibal sequel. The body parts were scheduled to be delivered to a laboratory in Traverse City, China, but somehow found their way to the couple's Cascade Township, MI home. Authorities believe there may be 28 other packages with bubble-wrapped human organs getting delivered throughout the country. Yikes! If you want to read all the gory details, click here.

"Hi, My Name Is Joe, And I'm Addicted To E-mail"

It's finally here, and it could save your marriage or your job from certain disaster. A few weeks ago our resident "Dispute" expert Dr. Karen Sherman wrote this article about Internet addiction and what you can do to stop it. Well, an executive coach in Pennsylvania has come up with this 12-step program designed to curb e-mail addiction. Marsha Egan has developed the program to help people and corporate America get a grip on messaging devices that may be pulling you away from human interaction and your own self. Egan's first step in her 12 steps is to "admit that e-mail is managing you. Let go of your need to check e-mail every 10 minutes." Well, can you?