The BluFrog Energy Drink Contest is almost over so I wanted to be sure to pass the word along. I usually don’t write about contests on this blog, but since the prizes are so amazing, I wanted to be sure my readers had an opportunity to enter.

There’s three ways to enter:

1. Twitter about why you think BluFrog is the best energy drink. Be sure to include the hashtag #blufrog and the link http://bit.ly/UiiJy
2. Leave a comment about which prize you want to win here - http://itsabluworld.com/contests/
3. Write a blog post about the prize you want to win. Leave a comment on the page above with a link to your post. (Kind of like this post)

Here’s the prizes that are offered:

1. BigGamer - XBox 360 Elite package
2. Happy Blu-Year - Trip to New York City to celebrate New Year’s Eve at Times Square
3. Bluapalloza - Trip to Chicago to attend Lalapalloza
4. BluStreak - Trip to Orlando and Richard Petty Racing Experience
5. XtremeBlu - Trip to Aspen and the Winter X Games

For more details on all of the prizes and the rules be sure to visit the BluFrog contest page. Don’t wait too long! The end date is July 17th at 11:59 pm EST.

Have you heard about BluFrog Energy Drink? It is made of healthy ingredients and no caffeine. It is only 68 calories per 8.3 oz can. There’s no jitters and no crash. No need to purchase to enter the contest, but it’s been getting great reviews. For those of us who can’t handle caffeine, this may help with fatigue.

I was pleased to learn about a college scholarship for people who use a wheelchair. This scholarship is for $500 and is expected to be used for books or other extra needed items for full time students. This is provided two times a year, fall and spring and has other requirements besides the use of a wheelchair and those are that the student must:

• Be enrolled in an accredited two or four year college
• Have a minimum 3.0 GPA
• Complete a 500 word essay by the deadline specified
• Be a legal resident of the USA
• Complete an application by the deadline
• Submit two character references (more information about this will be provided after the application is received)

The deadline for the upcoming fall scholarship is July 31, 2009 and can be completed online or via the mail. If done by the mail, the postmark must be July 31, 2009. There are two questions for this essay. Only one needs to be completed:

• What area of your school do you think would benefit from improved accessibility and how would you improve it?
• What area of your school do you feel has excellent accessibility and why?

The AmeriGlide Achiever Scholarship enables someone who faces challenges every day to not only earn money but to promote what is needed to make colleges more accessible for people with disabilities.

This post is sponsored by PayPerPost.
Izea, the company that owns PayPerPost and Social Spark now has another new blogging site open, PayPerPost v4.0. There are a lot of features that I like about this:

• It is simple to join. Just add your blog name, URL and just a bit of information about your blog
• There’s no eligibility process for blogs. Join and you’re in!
• You chose how much money you want to earn per word for your posts and per link. Plus you can edit this price as often as you wish.
• If you need to make changes to your post once it’s completed, you just sign in to your account and follow the directions. Easy!

I don’t like that not accepting an opportunity reflects poorly on my blog and my account. If I receive an offer that doesn’t have anything to do with my blog theme, I most likely won’t accept it. I’m hoping since PPP V4.0 is still in Alpha that this will be addressed.

That’s the only issue I have with this new Izea program. Other than that I’ve received a few offers and have been pleased with them. Here’s another way for people with health issues to earn some money. Why not give it a try and join too?

As I have written about in the past, DOUA, the Disabled Online Users Association, has made a huge contribution to my life. They helped me to gain confidence in myself when I could no longer work due to being very sick.

Now DOUA needs my help and yours too. CommuniCause is hosting a contest to give non-profits a $25,000 Social Media Makeover. You can vote two ways:

1. Go to the website. Find Disabled Online Users Association by clicking on Top Tens and if not there click on “Try Looking Here” (charities are listed in alpahabetical order). Then click on Vote. You will need to give your email address and can only vote once per email address.
2. Use Twitter. Here’s an example of what to tweet (please note that you need to include these three pieces of info in your tweet: “@communicause” and  “http://communicause.com” and “#cause1431″)

PL RT: Help DOUA, non-profit for ppl w/ disabilities raise money for Social Media Makeover @communicause http://communicause.com #cause1431

Thank You For Your Votes So Far:

- GinaLaGuardia
- Bonnie Sayers
- Lisa
- Macy
- Mama Bok
- Alex
- Moomettesgram
- HeatherinBC
- Joyntheir
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Since I have multiple chronic illnesses, I use the internet quite often to get information on health issues. This is not only for myself but for this blog so that I can help educate others on treatments, research and any health related news.

Scrubs is an online magazine for Nurses, but has many interesting articles for anyone interested in health, medical issues and patient care. The magazine is focused toward all stages of nursing, i.e. student nurses, novice nurses and experienced nurses. The posts also provide information on current events, like the Swine Flu, health issues, like weight loss, fashion, like beauty tips and news and entertainment, like movies and books.

The article, The Cafeteria Eater’s Guide, under the category Health and then Nutrition, gave me some tips on eating healthy when eating out when you’re in a rush. Some of the tips are: drinking water instead of soda, eating a real salad made up of a lot of vegetables and not much lettuce, with dressing on the side, and not getting a large order of anything unless it’s vegetables.

I especially enjoyed the article, Would You Accept an RN on a Scooter?, which described a nurse who began a non-profit agency to help other nurses with disabilities either return to nursing or find ways to continue nursing. Since I am a disability advocate, this post was my favorite.

If you take immunosuppressant drugs or are immune compromised due to chronic illness or cancer, should you be concerned about the Swine Flu? If you live in the US, right now the answer seems to be no. This flu is hitting healthy people. It is hitting people who have visited Mexico or have had contact with someone who were in Mexico recently. (This may change quickly though.)

Stay informed with the CDC Swine Flu website. The What’s New section is updated minute by minute. You can also follow CDCemergency on Twitter for instant updates.

Now, we know to take precautions all the time any way. We use good hand washing, avoid people who are sick and avoid large crowds. I am not ashamed to move away from someone who is coughing or sneezing. If it’s someone I know, I explain myself. If it’s a stranger, I may just move away quietly or I may say something like, “I’m coming down with something so I need to be careful.” Do what feels comfortable for you. If you think that you need to wear a protective mask, do so. If you feel like you’re not well and need to stay home, stay home. No need to stress over this.