Hasta La Gadget!

Last month, during a third continuous night of insomnia, I realized that my constant screen time was impacting my ability to sleep and relax. So, I decided that the next day, I would turn off my cell phone, TV, laptop and iPad and leave it all at home. My only “screen time” would be via my Canon camera, so I could document my 36 hours of being totally unplugged.

I’ll admit, my first thought when I woke up that morning was: Oh crap. Why did I do this to myself?

“Mommy, can you make me breakfast?” was my sweet, pre-dawn wake-up call. I immediately felt simultaneous pangs of regret and morning sickness (I recently found out I’m newly pregnant) as I begrudgingly crawled out of bed. I knew that today, rather than throwing some cereal in a bowl, turning on Octonauts and dozing back to sleep, I’d actually have to converse with my child before 7 a.m.

Gulp. Don’t give up. And don’t throw up, either.

“Sweetheart, just so you know, we’re not going to be watching any TV programs today. We’re just going to play.”

I braced for an all-out tantrum. Surely, my child must be just as addicted to constant stimulation as me.

“OK,” he said with a smile as he got out his pirate hat and started talking pirate.

Well, that was easy. He actually seems happy and relieved.

We lay on the couch and cuddled. Played. Talked about what his favorite toys are and why he loves the zoo. There wasn’t much to do. But, we were filling the void, left by ignoring the emails, texts and Facebook notifications, by just being a mother and son. It was surprisingly easy, and it just felt really pure and really good.

I saw the pink haze out our back doors and suggested we go into the backyard to watch the sunrise. (I mean, seriously, when is the last time you did that?) He brought out his bug collection and sat on a lawn chair next to me. We pointed at airplanes in the sky and named the colors in the sunrise.

Later, I snuck back to my bedroom to steal a few moments back in bed. This nausea better pass soon. A few minutes later, our toddler came into the room and climbed into bed with me. With the absence of the usual Disney channel on the TV, he looked around for something to do.

“Bible,” he said as he pulled my husband’s Bible off his nightstand.

I didn’t even know that he knew that word.

He left the room and carried the heavy book to my husband, who was sitting on the couch with the baby.

“Daddy, read it?”

As I could hear what was happening, no amount of nausea could keep me in bed. I stumbled to the doorway to witness one of the most beautiful things I’d ever seen. My husband, reading the Bible aloud, as our two boys looked at him with wide, hopeful eyes.

Beautiful and unprompted.

Something we’ve never done before, even though we go to church every week.

Luckily, we had a full day of activities that would save us from our TV-free home today. As part of the free toddler playgroup I organize, we’d planned to meet our friends at a park I’d never been to before. (Earlier in the morning, I’d asked my husband to turn on his cell phone to get directions for me. It’s too bad we don’t have a Thomas Guide because I would have totally used it!)

My husband dictated, and I wrote the turn-by-turn down in my white reporter’s notebook, but about 40 minutes later, I found myself lost amidst skyscrapers and one-way streets. Since I had no cell phone to rescue me, I parked (illegally) in the valet driveway at the Marriott in downtown Tampa, ran inside and got quick directions from the front desk. The ladies at the desk were Latina and had the most warm, authentic and hilarious way of communicating. They made me smile from the inside out.

Their directions weren’t totally right, but I eventually found the park. We were 40 minutes late, but no one really cared.

And then, as we were at the playground, something really crazy happened. I just talked to my friends. That was it. I was just simply, really in the moment. Out of habit, I kept looking in my bag, thinking: There’s something I should be checking. Then, I’d smile to myself as I realized I was relieved of the burden of a cell phone today. I was starting to really like this.

From the park, we drove to a friend’s house for lunch. Without GPS in an unfamiliar part of town, it took me a little longer to get there, but we made it about 10 minutes late. Again, there was nothing to distract me from laughing with my good friend. We just talked and had nothing else on our minds, aside from our sons occasionally hitting each other with toy swords.

When we got home, it was naptime for the boys, and I was rejoicing because the upset stomach and nausea hadn’t let up all day. After three nights of insomnia, I was utterly exhausted. But usually, during the boys’ naptime, my mind is too distracted to fall asleep. Not today. I lay in my bed, and I don’t even remember falling asleep. (Anyone who has trouble sleeping knows that this is basically a miracle!)

The next thing I knew, the baby was crying, and it was 4:05 p.m. We had a birthday party to get to, and it had started 5 minutes ago.

We arrived 35 minutes late, but again, no one cared. It was a great time of seeing friends, laughing with them about the ugly pajamas we wear to bed and telling our kids they couldn’t have three cupcakes. I couldn’t help but smile when, at the end of the party, I realized my diaper bag was at least 15 feet away from where we were sitting. And I’d never once had the urge to dig through it to check a device.

During this day, I realized how much the Internet is a crutch for my to-do list. My calendar is on my laptop, emails are the language of business, Facebook is central to my social life and Pinterest is my hub for dinner recipes. It felt rewarding to find ways around that dependence.

Instead of consulting my Google Calendar, I had to handwrite my to-do list in my notebook.

For dinner, I opened up my old cookbooks, the same ones I’d used when we were first married. A rush of warm memories came flooding back as I turned the wrinkled, stained pages. I remembered my history. I didn’t have to wipe a screen with a wet hand or refresh the page, and then be distracted by an email that just pinged in. It was just the paper. And I was just making dinner. Everything seemed so one-dimensional in such a great way.

After dinner, the lack of TV was noticeable. We played outside.

We played puzzles with the boys. We read books. And then something awesome happened. Our “baby” (he’s actually 17 months) started talking. A lot. He’s said a few words here and there, but tonight, as my husband was reading to him from our UCLA book, we heard “ball,” “doggie” and several other words all at once. It was like he wanted to say them every night but he was too enthralled in whatever TV program we had on that he couldn’t hear this own voice. And neither could we.

It was beautiful. The void of time, created by turning off our devices, had actually created space for new memories and new experiences. And new voices.

As I laid my head on my pillow that night, it felt different. Unlike the last three nights, there was no muscle twitch in my back, pulsing with each review of the long to-do list in my head. My eyes weren’t sore from hours on the TV, iPad and cell phone. My whole body felt loose, warm, soft and ready for sleep. I had no problems falling asleep and staying asleep all night.

The whole day, my main fear had been the next day. I pictured the dread in my gut, as I turned my devices back on to find countless messages and texts that needed immediate response. As it turned out, I did have a lot of notifications (33 emails, 10 text messages and 448 Facebook notifications from four different accounts), but it only took me about 15 dedicated minutes to go through them all, and respond to the ones that needed response. After I was done, I realized how much more efficient I had been, compared to days when I’d waste a few seconds checking my phone every three minutes, only to see an unnecessary notification or junk email.

I also learned that my kids are really well-behaved when they’re not constantly being ignored or told to go away. Since I had nothing else to do, I ended up playing with my kids more and having conversations with them, and they thrived. There wasn’t a picture of them playing Legos for me to take and post on Instagram. There wasn’t an email pinging in that I had to stop our race car game to check. There wasn’t a text that I had to glance at, while simultaneously reading a book to the boys, and trying to act like I wasn’t missing a word.

There was nothing to do but be with them.

And on this day, I really was.

My husband asked me if I ever plan to do this again, and I said, “Absolutely!” I am going to try to start doing this every Sunday, calling it screen-free Sunday (#screenfreeSunday), so that I can really focus on making that day about church and family. It’s time to breathe. And enjoy every moment. Not every email.

Formerly an Emmy-nominated TV news reporter, Janie Porter is the creator of SheJustGlows.com and (often-unshowered) stay-at-home mama to two boys under 3 years old. Follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for more posts about less-than-perfect parenting, juice and smoothie recipes and tips on finding your inner glow.

On Thursday, Cincinnati Bengals player Devon Still was given a surprise gift by his friend Lauren Hill, a college freshman who plays basketball for Mount Saint Joseph University in Ohio.

Nineteen-year-old Hill, who has terminal brain cancer, presented the football star with the jersey from her first college basketball game, which she played Nov. 2. She scored four points. Hill isn’t expected to live past December.

(Story continues below).

Just was surprised after practice by a really good friend, Lauren Hill, and she brought he… http://t.co/7BEtykDM35 pic.twitter.com/didaVQXIPW

— Devon Still (@Dev_Still71) November 20, 2014

Hill and Still first connected in October. Still’s 4-year-old daughter, Leah, is also battling brain cancer.

“She’s a fighter. As a parent, you always expect your child to look up to you. But honestly, since June 2, I’ve really been looking up to my daughter,” Still said in an interview with NBC’s “Today” in October. “She’s way stronger than I ever have been. For her to be able to continue to smile through all this, and continue to still have that same personality, it’s amazing. And it’s definitely inspiring to me.”

Still has been similarly inspired by Hill. He called her strength “beyond inspirational” when they met in October.

Had the honor and the pleasure to meet Lauren Hill today at her bball practice..this jersey swap is the most memorable that I will ever have…her strength is beyond inspirational…if you haven’t heard her story please don’t scroll pass this post without copying this link and watching her story http://youtu.be/hsU24D42PgQ #BeatCancer

A photo posted by Devon Still (@man_of_still75) on Oct 10, 2014 at 5:36am PDT

A huge amount of money has been raised in Hill’s honor. According to Indystar, Hill has helped bring in $324,000 for cancer research, with funds going to the International DIPG Registry at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center.

By Gerri Detweiler, Credit.com

As a kid, Austin Netzley remembered being enthralled with the concept of money and promising himself that one day he’d be wealthy. And now, at 28, by most people’s measure, he is. He’s been an athlete, student, engineer and entrepreneur. And now, with his book “Make Money, Live Weathy,” he’s also an author and speaker. And at this point in his life, he considers himself “retired.”

Not bad for someone who, in 2008, had a brand-new bachelor’s degree, $72,000 in student loans, and a used Honda with a $9,000 auto loan. He had attended a good but expensive college in Ohio where he had played football. His degree was in mechanical engineering, so he had a leg up on finding a job that paid well, which certainly helps when you’re trying to dig out of a financial hole.

He went to work for an oil company in Houston, bringing in six figures the first year but carefully tracking his spending. As an engineer, Netzley tends to think in terms of numbers. He knew housing and transportation take up about half of a typical household budget, so he worked to keep those low. You will save much more by finding inexpensive housing than by clipping coupons, he notes. His used Honda and low housing costs — he bought a foreclosure with a friend — kept those costs far below that. He lived frugally but not abstemiously, meeting friends for drinks rather than dinner but also continuing to travel and to attend sports events and concerts. He kept his expenses as low as $32,000 a year, which made it easier to repay the debt.

Building Wealth, Destroying Debt

But debt payoff wasn’t his sole goal. He was also looking to create wealth, and he understood time was on his side, meaning the sooner he could invest, the more time the money would have to grow. He signed up immediately for a 401(k) at work, first putting away 12 percent of his salary, then 16 percent. He didn’t exactly attack his debt methodically. Sometimes he would pay the minimums, preferring to invest. But then he “just got tired of having the debt” and focused on getting it paid off. So, two years and 10 months after he graduated from college, he paid off the $81,000.

And now he is a retiree, if you can really call it that. Netzley says there are four ways to retire:

• to have enough money in savings to stop working
• to have financial freedom by having more passive income than you spend
• to be able to do what you love when you want to do it
• a combination of the above

Crucial to his way of thinking is that you see money as a tool rather than a goal. Because a rich life isn’t a direct result of money. People who have a high net worth tend to measure wealth in terms of experiences, relationships, family and health, he says. So for Netzley, being retired means money has bought him the freedom to do what he wants. And now, his next couple of priorities are to “retire my parents” and to donate $1 million to charity.

He believes any of us can repay massive debt, and in his book he profiles people who have. But he looks toward making more than you spend rather than spending less than you make. They sound like pretty much the same thing, but Netzley said he has never operated out of fear of being poor but rather in pursuit of wealth. And you get ahead by shedding debt — which he describes as “a burden holding you back” — and investing.

He said the very first step in getting rid of debts is to make a commitment to doing it and get serious about attacking it. Because he has a bent toward numbers, that came easily to him. His advice to the rest of us: Get clear on debts — get a credit report (you can get a free credit report from each of the three major credit reporting agencies annually; you can also get your credit scores for free every month from Credit.com) — and define who every debt is with, the interest rate and the balance. He chose to pay his off by paying off the highest-interest debt first, explaining that “I’m an engineer and I like to listen to the numbers.”

But he said that method isn’t for everyone. Find the one that works for you and make a commitment to getting rid of debt. (Asked about so-called good debt, like a mortgage or student loan, he said there’s not a lot of debt he considers good. If you think you can earn double the rate you’re paying on a mortgage by investing the money instead of paying the house off quickly, you have his blessing.) But the way to financial freedom, he says, is making more than you spend and investing the difference wisely.

Ironically, he says the way to financial wealth isn’t so much focusing on every dollar but identifying your priorities. What you are doing is moving toward your ideal life — figuring out what you were put on Earth to accomplish and moving toward it, not hitting a certain target. Your most valuable currency is time, and in many cases, money can buy you time. Because life is a journey, not a destination. And a lack of funds can make the journey more stressful. But so can loneliness, little fun or poor health. Richness, he says, lies in finding a balance.

This article originally appeared on Credit.com. Gerri Detweiler is Credit.com’s Director of Consumer Education. She focuses on helping people understand their credit and debt, and writes about those issues, as well as financial legislation, budgeting, debt recovery and savings strategies.

Millions of Americans receive help every year from a federal program they have never heard of: the 340B drug discount program, which allows public and nonprofit safety-net hospitals to better provide both affordable medications and vital services to the underserved.

I helped write the legislation that created this program and worked to expand it in the 2010 Affordable Care Act. The program has been extremely successful in reducing drug costs and helping support the hospitals and clinics that provide care to the uninsured. But now pharmaceutical industry opponents of the law are trying rewrite history and limit 340B program eligibility for hospitals and patients – even as they charge as much as $1,000 for a single pill for some drugs.

The 340B law passed a bipartisan Congress and was signed into law by President George H.W. Bush in 1992. Then as now, safety-net hospitals faced steep increases in drug costs. The program was enacted to help them stretch their resources and serve the uninsured and other needy patients. It was designed to help cut costs for patients and the hospitals that serve them.

Here is how it works. The law requires drug companies to sell discounted medications to healthcare providers that serve high numbers of Medicare and Medicaid patients or are located in rural areas. These safety-net hospitals can use their savings on prescription drugs to cut costs for patients or to provide vital clinical and specialized services for people who cannot afford to pay for care.

We purposefully created the program this way to give safety-net providers an additional tool to enhance their ability to serve poor patients who would otherwise fall through the cracks.

The best part? The 340B program is working as Congress intended to help health care providers improve the lives of indigent patients every day.

At the San Mateo Medical Center in California, for example, 340B savings help fund 12 primary and specialty care clinics that serve the needy. And the savings help offset the cost of providing free medical care for 20,000 patients in the hospital’s indigent program.

It’s important to understand the heavy financial burden these providers shoulder to treat every patient who walks in the door at any time of the day or night.

The need for the 340B program is not going away. The refusal of many governors to take advantage of the Affordable Care Act’s Medicaid expansion has left millions of Americans uninsured. According to the American Hospital Association, 340B hospitals provided over $28 billion worth of uncompensated care in 2012. And drug costs continue to grow – with safety net hospitals forced to pay tens of thousands of dollars for new specialty drugs like Sovaldi, the new Hepatitis C treatment.

But even as drug company profits are soaring, some in the pharmaceutical industry are trying to derail the 340B program so they can charge higher prices for hospitals and clinics. They want to restrict the drugs eligible for discounts, or reduce the number of patients that qualify for the discounted drugs. If the drug industry prevails, underserved patients across the United States will be the losers as safety-net hospitals and other providers are forced to curtail care.

During my time in Congress I have championed numerous health care programs that benefit all Americans, including the less fortunate – and the 340B program is one of the best. Congress should continue to protect this vital drug discount program for years to come.

This year at the 2014 LA Auto Show we’ve been given a good look at the 2015 Nossan Murano. This is a vehicle that was originally showed off (in its earlier form) as the Nissan Resonance Concept at the 2013 Detroit Auto show. Back then we crossed our fingers that this vehicle would eventually see the real showroom floor as … Continue reading