The earthquake in Chile was a magnitude of 8.8 and will cause tsunamis in Hawaii, New Zealand and Australia, among other places. I didn’t sleep well last night and heard about the earthquake live. I watched a bit of CNN and dreamed about it for the rest of the morning.

When I awoke I again turned to CNN and was glued to the TV. It’s hard to tell what is exactly going on in Chile. Of course there is destruction and loss of life, but it seems that it is not as damaging as it is in Haiti, probably due to the better construction of buildings and roads. I pray that this is true.

Since traveling to the Big Island, my heart belongs to Hawaii. We fell in love with the people, the culture and the beauty of the place. Right now I’m watching CNN about the Tsunami that is currently hitting Kilo and praying that there is no damage and that no one gets hurt.

Super Bowl Sunday is often associated with getting buzzed when you party. But remember that buzzed driving is drunk driving. According to the Ad Council and the National Safety Transportation Safety Administration, 1,179 people in other vehicles were killed in 2008 in crashes involving alcohol-impaired drivers during Super Bowl Sunday.

This is an issue that is important to me as I’ve written about it before for New Year’s Eve.

If you are going to drink during the Big Game, have a plan in place:

• Get a designated driver to get you home
• Keep the phone number of a taxi company available
• Learn about the bus or train routes nearby where you’ll be

If you are holding a party:

• Have designated drivers available
• Provide places for your party goers to sleep for the night
• Take the car keys of your friends before they start drinking
• Call a taxi company in advance to be sure they can drive your guests home
• Drive your friends yourself

If you’re driving that day drive defensively and wear your seat belt.

To get answers, learn more about how you can help and keep updated, follow Buzzed Driving on Twitter and Buzzed Driving on Facebook.

I received information about this post from Global Influence.

Instead of advertising during the Super Bowl, Pepsi decided to put their money to use with their Pepsi Refresh Project which provides grants to individuals, small groups, companies and organizations each month. Starting today, February 1st, you can vote on the top submissions received.  The grants range from $5000 to $25,000. I promise that you will be inspired by what you see and that it won’t be easy to choose from the amazing ideas.

You can also submit an idea of how to improve your community beginning today. (Submissions end February 28th.) You must be 13 or older and a US resident. If your child wants to get involved they can, but you or their teacher, for example must help and submit on their behalf.

According to Lauren Hobart, Mom and CMO of Sparking Brands at Pepsi, within the first week of submissions, over 1000 were received. This is a very popular outreach from Pepsi. She was also asked and replied:

What is your advice for moms that have ideas about refreshing their communities? What level of grant is idea? How should they craft their submissions?
First figure out the size and scope of the idea. Most individuals should opt for the $5000 grant, but it really depends on the idea and who you’ll be working with to bring it to action. People should also remember that winning comes with the responsibility to bringing you idea to life. If you need inspiration, there are example ideas on the Pepsi Refresh website to help get you started as well as a toolkit that guides you through the application process.

My community could use help with transportation. We have a large elderly population, many rural areas and only a small bus service that runs on the main roads for a short time during the week. That’s one idea for a submission. Of course I could think of at least 10 more ideas. Look around you and think of what your community needs. Get together with other moms and talk it over. We all know we can make the world a better place if we just had the funds to do it. Now’s your opportunity!

The submissions need to have a lot of thought put into them because it’s not just an idea. If you win the grant you are to put into action. To help out, there is a Toolkit to assist with the submission process. Of course there’s the Official Guidelines to follow. You can also follow the Pepsi Refresh Project on Facebook to connect and learn from other people and follow Pepsi on Twitter for updates.

Thanks Pepsi for considering how important real people, their community and their ideas are. You won me over as a fan.

I wrote this review while participating in a blog campaign by Mom Central on behalf of Pepsi Refresh. Mom Central sent me a gift card to thank me for taking the time to participate.

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Coldwell Banker. All opinions are 100% mine.

I’m pleased that my daughter, Alicia, learned about the homebuyer tax credits at the end of last year. After she was married, she and my son-in-law began considering buying a new home. Both have good paying jobs, money in savings and are thinking seriously about their future now. They were considering joining the Peace Corps, which I am proud of, but which also had me worried. Since learning that both of their careers they were hoping to start after grad school do not look promising, they nixed the idea of doing anything that will keep them from attending school full time or from looking for work in their fields.

With the poor economy, Alicia will probably have to get a second Masters Degree in order to become a school librarian or Media Center Specialist. Scott is also considering going into teaching. Their plans have changed dramatically. This means they are going to stay put in Kansas.

Instead of paying rent and not getting any tax breaks for a mortgage, they are looking at homes for sale. Since the 2010 Homebuyer Tax Credits have been extended from last year and end on April 30th with a closing date of June 30th, 201 they are trying to get their act into gear. They really want to get up to the $8000 credit for first time home buyers. Income limits are now $125,000 for singles, $225,000 for married couples with a $20,000 phase-out of the credit for both. We’re back to sharing photos over the internet. This time instead of wedding dresses and flowers, it’s homes. I hope they find something they like before the tax credit time runs out.