Back to school....time for smiles or sorrows????

Another school year approaches and another summer comes to an end.......

I am responsible once again for getting the kids ready for another school year. I thought I would share some of my tips for being ready to hit the ground running:

1. Start the school schedule early. Break the summer sleep-in/stay-up late mode. Begin the morning and evening school routine at least two weeks before school actually starts. Don’t expect that you child will be able to make the adjustment to getting up for school quickly or easily without a break in period. Take the full two weeks to work into the routine slowly by adjusting the bedtime and wakeup time a few minutes everyday until the desired time is reached. Your goal is to have the schedule set prior to the first day of school.

2. Create a positive attitude about going back to school. Talk to your children about being able to see their friends, meet their new teacher and all the opportunities that being at school provides. Focus on your child’s area of interest and emphasize all the ways in which school helps to enhance that topic. When your child speaks negatively, redirect him into the positive.

3. Visit the school. Reacquaint your child with the school. During the summer classrooms change, teachers transfer to new buildings, principals are reassigned, and new playground equipment gets installed. Don’t wait for orientation day to get reacquainted. Go to the school and play on the play ground, meet the new principal or office personnel, talk to the janitor.

4. Set goals for the upcoming school year. Help your children create realistic expectations for themselves about school. Talk about what they want to accomplish this school year, not what you want them to accomplish. Remember not all of school is about grades. Making new friends, speaking out in class, standing up for oneself, staying organized, and managing behavior are all crucial skills for a successful school year.

5. Model learning. Create a time in your home when everyone is involved in learning related activities such as reading, playing with numbers, telling family stories, journaling, or quiet reflection. Turn off the television and video games and have a set time for the whole family to feed their brain. In fact, model learning year round, even through the summer months. This will set the stage for homework. A study time can be a logical extension of the learning time you have in your home.

Give your kids every opportunity to be ready for school this year. Head to the mall or department store with your list of needed items and remember to add to your list the suggestions above. By doing so you give your kids what they really need to begin this school year---structure, energy, enthusiasm, and a positive attitude.

Good Luck and have a great School YEAR!!!!!

How can you "Survive" everyday stress..........

Everyday we all feel STRESS..... It may come from our kids, finances, yard work, relationship woes, etc.....

What do you do to relieve STRESS???? I will share a couple things that help me, but please comment or email me with things that help you beat STRESS.........

1. Spend some time in the silence every day. In our high-tech world, we are surrounded by and immersed in information—streaming in via television, e-mail, voice mail, fax machines and pagers. Information overload can become a detriment to your health, knocking you off balance and creating a sort of artificial dependence upon these stimulations. So make time for yourself, and take a break from the info-stream every day.

2. Don't buy into the cultural definition of "news." Andrew Weil, M.D., recommends taking a voluntary "news blackout" on a regular basis—stop reading the newspaper and watching television for one day, a week or longer. A constant supply of "bad news" isn't healthy for our bodies—our cells are designed to take in joy, not disaster!

3. Pursue your passion. Activities that absorb you completely will slow your brain waves and put you into that "zone" in which internal chatter is stilled. It could be bird-watching, cooking, hiking, biking or riding, painting, writing, sewing, gardening, photography, working with animals. Physical movement is important—it opens the chest, lifts your mood, curbs food cravings and lowers blood pressure. You'll also sleep better at night.

4. Treat yourself to a massage or other type of bodywork. Doing so on a regular basis can help to lower your heart rate and blood pressure and promote muscle relaxation and emotional release. According to Stephen Sinatra, M.D., author of Heart Sense for Women, "It's not uncommon for the release of long-held sadness to occur as a result of bodywork."

5. Let the tears flow. Crying can be very therapeutic. According to Sinatra, "Crying is one of the most cleansing experiences you can go through." Here's why: Deep sobs open the chest and diaphragm, releasing bound-up energy. This helps to free your heart of muscular tension. A good cry also enhances oxygen delivery to the cells and stimulates release of specific neurochemicals in the brain that promote relaxation.

6. Laugh. Rent a classic comedy film, or tune in to "Nick at Nite" or the Comedy Channel. Rent a tape of your favorite comedian. Read some of those Internet joke lists that you've been archiving to "read later." Dig out your old "Far Side" cartoon collections. Clip a cartoon and post it on the refrigerator or fax it to a friend, to double the effect.

Just one more reason to listen to 92.9 Bass Country's Rick and the Redneck Monday thru Friday from 5-10am.....just another shameless plug!!!

Remember however bad things seem, they will get better (only if you want them to)!! Never forget you always have Rick and The Redneck.......

love ya'all like play cousins!!

Mark McGwire - Do we forgive him - YES!!!

Mark McGwire and the Hall of Fame??

After his admission of steriod use the arguement is raging again across
America: Should McGwire be allowed into the hall of fame??

I have only two words for you: Gaylord Perry!!

  Gaylord Perry was a major league pitcher who was a known
"CHEAT", that played in the bigs for 22 years.  Perry was
 mostly known for using the "spitball", an ILLEGAL pitch
using a foriegn substance (spit, snot, vaseline, etc..)on
the ball to make it move more.  IT WORKED!! Everyone knew
when you stepped into the box against Perry, there was a
good chance you would see the spitball.

  One famous incident involving a Reggie Jackson strikeout,
ended with Reggie being thrown out of the game.  Jackson even
tossed gatorade on the field exclaiming, "why don't you use
gatorade on the ball too"!!  Perry even tried to get an
endorsment deal with Vaseline!! Yet Perry was inducted into
the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1991, as a known CHEATER who
tampered with the EQUIPMENT that everyone else had to deal
with.

Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa brought the fans back to baseball
with the home run race when baseball needed it most.  Fans
where giving up on "America's Past-Time" until that incredible
summer of home runs.  I still remember rushing home everyday
to find out if either Sosa or Big Mac had hit a dinger that
day.  It was exciting, everytime he stepped to the plate, you
knew something huge could happen - history could be made!!

  McGwire was St. Louis Cardinal Baseball. He still is!!
McGwire deserves to be in the Hall of Fame!!  Steriods may
help you heal quicker, make you stronger......but that says
nothing about seeing the ball, catching the ball or even more
impressive, hitting the ball.

  I have seen alot of great, exciting baseball in St. Louis...
even a World Series Championship run and nothing....NOTHING
tops the incredible summer we were blessed with when Sosa and
McGwire were going toe-to-toe in the most fascinating
competition of my years as a Cardinal fan.  For that I will
always be grateful and willing to give them both my vote into
the Baseball Hall of Fame....I think everyone else should too...

What do I know, I am just a Cardinals fan!!

2010 is going to be so EXCITING with 92.9 Bass Country

The information included in this blog is TOP SECRET, no-one will know any of this information until it is completely confirmed - except for here.......

I figure if you are a die hard Bass Country fan - you deserve a "behind the scenes" update on promotions we are working on.

WWE - Elimination Chamber "Pay-Per-View" in St. Louis Feb 21st - tickets just might be on the way for us to give away on the air.......you have to keep listening to find out when and if we are going to be lucky enough to offer these tix to our listeners.......stay tuned......

Martina McBride is coming to the Scott Trade Center in St. Louis March 26th, and we might just have your tickets.......More information on this show to come......

Bus Trip to Nashville to take in the Country Music Hall of Fame, Tootsies, Grand Ol Opry and a whole lot more could be happening around the end of the summer......

The Bass Country Bingo Bus - we are currently working out details to take a group of lucky listeners to play bingo FOR FREE!!! $1,000 games and more....details coming soon....

None of these promotions are written in stone, but they are close enogh to mention here, not on the air. You will continue to get this kind of backstage access to all things Bass Country right here on "The World according to the Redneck" Bubba Blog!!! Check back often and tell a friend!!

Love ya'all like play cousins!!!

BUBBA

Today is the first day of the rest of our lives........

Have you ever wondered, "what am I doing to make a difference in the world"?

I always wanted to make a difference in the world, but then felt too small to make a REAL impact......that is when I realized to change the world you have to start with one person at a time.

When individuals change, truly change....it snowballs into local change, which can envoke regional change, national change and hopefully even global change.

Being on a morning radio show with a very supportive company allows me the incredible opportunity to envoke change, making differences on person, family and community at a time.

It is the "pay it forward" attitude of giving, what you have been blessed with. We are all blessed in so many different ways, it is our responibility to share those blessings with others.

My goal is to help whereever help is needed, to provide where there are no provisions and continue to enrich our community with support, caring and understanding.

Thanks for taking the time to read this blog, and I look forward to hearing from all of you!!

Bubba