My web browser homepage has been Yahoo for years. I’ve lost track of how many years – at least 15 years, maybe longer. So maybe it is time for a change?

Google has a homepage that is fully customizable with widgets in three columns. They have a selection of themes and skins, and I was attracted to the new comics themes. I have an edgey sense of humor and was very surprised to see one of my favorite comics was actually included in the collection of themes. So I clicked on it and gave it a go. I really like it.

Congrats to our next President, Barack Obama! How exciting to think that America has our first black President. We will have a totally different adminstration now, with hope for lots of changes and a whole new approach to solving the many serious problems facing our Country. I think Obama has a lot of great ideas and can make good things happen. What an historic time for America. I’m looking forward to a time of peace and prosperity again for us all.

Stopped at the corner market this afternoon on the way home to fill up the car at $3.09 per gallon. That’s pretty much the cost of gas anywhere in the Nashville area this week. They were having a problem with the pumps taking credit and debit cards, so I had to go inside to pay for the gas and get my receipt.

While standing in line I noticed a display in a little cooler with two unusual new flavors of sodas. One is Sunkist Float and the other is A & W Float. They come in glass bottles, which is also unusual. There was no price anywhere, but I’m sure they are in the $1.50 to $2.00 range, as all the other sodas are in that range.

The Sunkist Float is supposed to taste like a Dreamsicle and the A & W is supposed to be a typical root beet float. I didn’t succumb to temptation this time, but I suppose when the weather gets warmer and they are ice cold in a cooler that I will try one or both of them.

Have you seen Paula Deen’s cooking show? She is a wonderful cooking show hostess – a great personality and charming in a totally Southern Belle way. I’ve bought two of her cookbooks and one of her magazines. I think I’m going to just subscribe to her magazine – I love the recipes and the photographs that show me what the finished dish is supposed to look like.

Paula has raised up two gorgeous hunks of men and her sons cook, too. They have a couple of cookbooks out on their own. I bought one last weekend and will go back for the other one next week. I bought the one called “Recipes from the Road,” which features the local recipes from famous eateries on their road trip across America.

Two of my favorite words are “passive income.” That loosely means money you make without having to work for it. Almost everyone understands the concept of interest bearing savings accounts. That’s a good example of passive income, although in today’s world you aren’t going to make much money on a regular bank savings account. The next baby step to earn interest on your money is to buy a CD, which has lots of rules about how long you have to keep it, penalties if you cash in early, etc. Most people understand that, too, and it’s a great introduction to investments.

So if you understand those basics and come into a windfall of cash, you are suddenly faced with a lot of other investment options. That’s when you need to find a good investment counselor and have a professional go over your whole financial picture with you and plan out a future based on risk levels, comfort levels, time you have to oversee your investments, how quickly you can get it if you need it, and market conditions.

A relatively new investment tool for real estate, called Tenants In Common, or TIC. This is similar to a Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) that become quite the fad about 10 years ago. REITS are formed when a group of investors pool their money together to buy commercial properties as investments. The money they put in becomes shares of stock and as their property makes money the investors get paid dividends on their shares. A lot of community shopping centers are owned by REITS.

A TIC is also a way to pool your money together with other people, but you don’t get shares of stock, you own a share of the deed on the real property that you buy. Of course there are rules about buying and selling TIC property, and you have tax benefits and financial risks, just like other investments, but this might be an attractive investment option for you. If you are interested in learning more about TIC, check out this web site by Cardea Commercial and talk it over with your financial planner.