Financing Your Kitchen Improvement Goal

Remodeling your kitchen can be a hectic task and a huge project by itself. First of all draw up a list of things to buy and put a budget in place. You can then monitor all your purchases to ensure you do not exceed the budget. The other best thing to do would be to ensure you buy each individual item yourself after understanding the basics and comparing the pros and cons with others. Things like buying granite tops etc will need thorough understanding of the product.Granites are not very cheap and come in very many verities and designs too. Only when you have understood more about it will you be able to make the correct and right choice on the particular type, shade as well as size required for yourself. This way you will pay the right price and do not end up spending more than intended.How do you calculate the cost of granite countertops? Read through the article given below.You will first need to choose the right quality granite that would fit into your overall budget and is of good quality. Keeping this as a base specification, get samples and quotes for the same specs from three to four other suppliers too. Now you have comparative quotes for the same product on hand.You have the unit price of the tile on hand. Next thing to do is to arrive at the total cost. For this you will first estimate the total area and size of your counter top and calculate the number of tiles you will require. Next add a ten percentage wastage factor to the total numbers. Now take the unit price of the tile and multiply with the total quantity of tiles required and you will arrive at the total cost.There are two ways of fixing the granite top. Either you can do it yourself personally if you know how to do such things, or get a professional to do the job for you. You will need additional materials, tools and implements including sealant, grout etc. You can get a list of things required as well as the prices from the local hardware shop keeper.Now all you need to do is to get a quote from a reliable and known contractor for cost plus basis. Negotiate and settle a deal with him for executing the work alone and you buy the granite directly from the supplier and get it so that he can fix it.Now you have complete control over the price and quality of granite that you are buying directly from the supplier and can avoid paying unnecessary overheads.

Could Child Trauma Begin Before Conception?

This is a much more complicated question than one might think. One of the factors that complicate the question is that there exists no set, clear and well defined definition of what is traumatic. There exist a tremendous latitude to what can be traumatic, based on the individual’s resiliency and mental architecture, however this doesn’t mean that it is unknowable, merely difficult to say with any certainty that this or that WILL lead to trauma when you are dealing with children or families. An additional complicating factor has recently become even more confounding. In the field of biology we are becoming more aware of the epigenetic effects that can lead to changes in people. Epigenetic change occurs because of interactions with an environment, rather than a shifting of DNA material in the genes. These changes appear to be permanent and inheritable for at least several generations.The range and possibilities for environmental interactions are infinite and in many ways incalculable in nature. In this article we will examine the effects how anything that interrupts or interferes with the normal psychological, social or emotional development of a person can lead to epigenetic expressions in their offspring.For the purposes of this article a focus on developmental trauma will be used to discuss the answer to “when can trauma begin?” Micah Leshem and Alice Shachar-Dadon of the University of Haifa and Jay Schulkin of the Georgetown University School of Medicine recently published an article that has reset psychological thinking about when trauma can begin. Their research is also supported by Adele Diamond, Professor of Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience at the University of British Columbia who claims that trauma experienced by a mother prior to pregnancy can increase the likelihood of an epigenetic influence her offspring’s behavior. Together these findings suggest that trauma may begin for a child before they are even conceived, based on the life experiences and stress levels in the life of the mother. This is a vital point to understand: That the trauma or stress experienced by the mother can create an environmental press of an epigenetic nature or create an atmosphere that can negatively impact as yet un-conceived child.Bruce D. Perry, M.D., Ph.D. of the Child Trauma Academy has long established that exposure to stress, accident, poor neonatal care, or maternal substance abuse can have severe impact on the developing fetus and create novel brain patterns and sensitivities that later can be manifested in odd or ineffective child behaviors. Perry’s research coupled with that of Micah Leshem; Alice Shachar-Dadon; Jay Schulkin and Adele Diamond would clearly warn that trauma can begin through the creation of stressors that are significant in the life of the future mother, or the family functioning and future mom’s ability to cope with stressors.An additional factor that complicates the question of when trauma begins is found in individual resilience and adaptability on the part of the mother. Not all experiences are created equal, different people experience the same situations in an idiosyncratic or unique way which challenges the ability to be definitive or absolute in stating at what specific point trauma was initiated. While the specific moment may be unrecognizable there are elements that can exacerbate the impact of trauma on the mother and increase the likelihood of trauma. These are sometimes considered the primary factors of acuity. Those acuity factors are INTENSITY, DURATION, and FREQUENCY. These factors would be the same for the mother as for the fetus or newborn child.In an effort to understand the beginning of trauma, one would want to understand how the mother perceives the intensity of the stressors she is experiencing. Many researchers feel hesitant to use such an ambiguous measure, because it is a challenge to create good statistical analysis when each person possesses a highly personalized and unique view of what intensity is like for them. Duration, or the length of time between the beginning and end of an episode is a little easier to grasp and quantify, but even that is somewhat personalized by the perceptions of the individual experiencing the stressor. Frequency being the final factor is simply how often a thing occurs that is stressful or distressing to the one experiencing it.How INTENSITY, DURATION, and FREQUENCY interact collectively becomes vitally important. One can have a low level of intensity, but if it lasts for long periods of time, or occurs quite often this combination can begin to generate stress that potentially may overwhelm the future mom’s ability to adapt or cope. If one had high intensity, long durations and frequent occurrences, it would be easy to significantly devastate the emotional, psychological and even to some extent the physical reserves of the future mother.So when can trauma begin? It is possible for it to begin to manifest itself in the life of the mother, sometime before conception. This would suggest that creating more stable environments that are within a tolerable range of stress prior to conception, and maybe significantly before conception might be an important factor to support healthy emotional and psychological development in children. It is also likely that adolescent mothers might be at greater risk of generating epigenetic trauma effects in their offspring, because of the natural instability of adolescence.A cautionary note must be sounded as well; some readers may misinterpret the thrust of the writer’s thought process herein. For clarity it must be declared that in no way is the writer blaming child problems on the mother, it is a simple recognition that a highly stressed future mother that is being subjected to an environment that overwhelms her ability to adapt can engender epigenetic activation of trauma for the child.In summary, one possible answer to the question of when can trauma begin can be answered by the life and environment of the mother before she gets pregnant, the level of stress during pregnancy, and the distress in the environment postnatally. This should create a thought process about how collectively a society that is stable and supportive can be created and maintained to give as yet unborn children greater opportunity to thrive and prosper.

Making Known Our Best Four – Learn Italian Language Courses & Software Products

For someone who has never attempted to learn Italian language before, the decision to learn a new language may bring them into strange territories. While there is a specific part of your brain that is dedicated to the growth of languages, it is still hard to learn especially when you lack the time required by the regular classes to learn Italian language courses. Learning a new language could be a challenging task. But with the use of some helpful Italian language learning software programs, you may shy away from your fears of finally learning a new language.Top Language SoftwareLanguage instructors agree that total immersion in the language is the key to effectively learning Italian. Constantly working on some vocabulary and grammar activities, listening to a tape or CD featuring native Italian speakers and by conversing with a native Italian speaker presents the most effective way of learning Italian. In this age of technology, CD ROM learning is seen as one of the most effective solution in providing people with quick, flexible and affordable language learning programs. On such basis, this article discusses the 4 top learn Italian language courses that are conveniently available in the market today.Rocket Italian. This learn Italian language courses pack offers to teach Italian language with its 7 components; interactive audio courses, premium grammar and culture lessons, MegaVocab, MegaAudio, MegaVerbs software learning games, and 24/7 Italian learner’s forum with lifetime program updates.Lingo Italian. Lingo basic Italian is designed to teach you to speak and understand Italian from scratch. It basically offers the fundamentals or basic elements of the Italian language. Hence, for those who are finding difficulties learning a new language, this could be your pick as it will give you a great foundation to speaking fluent Italian.Pimsleur. The Pimsleur approach to learning Italian presents a quick, fun and easy way of learning the language. It offers different learning levels, from starter to advanced levels. Instead of wasting your time absorbing hundreds of Italian words, it immediately immerses you in an Italian conversation, as its way of exposing and teaching its user to the syntax or structure of the language.Fluenz Italian. With up to 110 hours of interactive and video discussions, Fluenz Italian hopes to teach its users to speak Italian fluently by recreating the elements of one-on-one tutoring. In using computer language education, it presents simplistic methods or naturally and passively learning Italian, treating adult learning like kids by applying picture-word-associations for better retention.ComparisonsIn terms of value, Rocket Italian and Lingo Basic Italian offer better deals than Pimsleur and Fluenz Italian. In this economy, any computer software that costs more than $250 seems to be an indulgence. At cost under $150, Rocket Italian and Lingo Italian gives you the fundamentals of the Italian language minus the big price tag. In terms of teaching features, Fluenz and Pimsler gives you the value of your money’s worth in providing thorough discussions on the syntax, grammar and speech aspects of the Italian language. However, Pimsleur does not include written transcripts to its audio courses while the cheaper Rocket learn Italian language courses does. Pimsleur is definitely one of the great Italian courses but it sometimes requires you to buy supplemental textbooks and learning materials for further studying.Unlike Pimsleur, Rocket Italian, Lingo Basic learn Italian language courses and Fluenz Italian provide all the materials needed for you to learn this new language. But while Rocket Italian and Lingo Basic costs around $100, Fluenz is has a whopping $323 value. Do the math.