found it friday- the cellphone AKA going postal

every friday, i will treat you to a story about finding something and what i did with it.

up this week, i found a cellphone at target in the bathroom on that big old tissue dispenser. beforei could turn it in, i got a call on on it. i explained that i had found it and was turning it in.

1 live 15.6 miles from target ( clocked it the other day), door-to-hanicap-parking-space. yeah, i get to park up front- i guess having severe arthritis does have it's own weird little advantages.

the friend of the owner of the phone asked me not to turn it in, because her friend would have to drive through my town to get to target and it would save her 20 miles to go to my house instead of all the way back to target. i spoke with the owner of the phone and got her address. she said she would send ma a few bucks for postage.

i forgot to mail it. it was sent very late. but i sent it.

Last night i was getting ready to go eat with a friend. some pld hillbilly man came to the door. they had called him about the cellphone because he had the same last name as me and um, i guess they googled him somehow.

he was really hilarious. he was suspicious because it involved cell phones. i guess that one episode of miami vice he was watched back in 1985 convinced him that only drug dealers have cell phones.

"Naw, now look her. i don't wanna get mixed up in no mess about a CELL PHONE. they just called me and i don't want NO trouble, naw, no trouble, not because of no CELL PHONE!"

i got the feeling he was afraid a gang of thugs would show up and beat him about the head and face. i had to assure him he was in trouble and the CELL PHONE was on it's way to the proper owner.

then he gave me this look, like he had hoped i would give him some kind of monetary tip for coming to my house. i just said "BYE!" and closed the door.

anywho.

so today, i check my mailbox and there is no mail.

but the cell phone i mailed out it there, without an envelope or any covring. my guess is that some gang of roving rural thugs stole it from the mailbox and realized it wasn't an iphone. then they brought it back to screw with my brain.

i found a padded envelope, some packing tape, a stack of napkins to protect the screen.  tomorrow it will be mailed with insurance and delivery confirmation.

let's hope it makes it there.

if i had a smartcar, i could have just driven it to her that day!

truth or dare thursday

today i found a really nice purse in the basket of the cart i was going to use. the gentleman seated near the carts was staring at it. he said he didn't know whose it was, so i turned it into customer service without even looking inside it.

have you ever been tempted to keep something you found, knowing it didn't belong to you?

leave your answer in the comments

OR

i dare you to eat a boiled egg, while wearing only your underwear. at the kitchen table.

let me know who you did!

yes, even as broke as i am, i was not even tempted to see if there was any money in the ourse.

karma, if you can hear me, please take note.

send me a smartcar! or two! or just a lottery jackpot if a smartcar is too much trouble.

show me that smile again!

the grandparent's day program was fun. i couldn't see my granddaughter because they were seated in chairs and not on the bleachers where i was looking. but when they stood and she saw me, she gave me the biggest smile. she was so happy to see me. that smile is worth any amount of crap i have to put up with from her mother.

i don't have anything else to say. it's cold. i bought a few groceries but nothing major. we will have sandwiches and soup. cereal and milk. tortilla pizzas and salad. i have a pound of ground beef i have yet to decide how to prepare.

seeing that it's tv tuesday, we must discuss the gosselin situation. i miss them being on tv. i just wish that all their tabloid crap had been played out on the show. talk about a soap opera!

but i feel sorry for the 8.

i read somewhere that kate is getting a new show in april, in which she will have to do a variety of jobs. can-do kate? thankfully, her children are not involved. i don't know if i will watch it.

if i do, i will do it to ensure she earns enough money to take care of her kids.

but please, don't spend any money on hair extensions. i know tlc was paying for the last ones, but it proves one thing:

FREE IS NOT ALWAYS GOOD!

never thought i would say that, but have you seen her hair?!?!?

however, a free smartcar would be a wonderful thing. stupendously wonderful!

glamming it up

i found a set of barbie shoes on ebay- well, fashion dolls shoes. kind of like knock-off jimmy choos that are an inch long. i got a set of a dozen shoes, a wedding dress (every barbie should have a wedding dress!) and 8 regular doll clothes- no choice. but i only paid $11 for all of it. it's new, probably made by 3rd graders.

my plan is to glam it up with beads and gold sequins and crap like that. by the time i trim those little suits out, her dolls wil be trendsetters.

she's only 6. i am going to her school for grandparent's day. yes, i am considered a grandmother. she recently enrolled at a new private school. i can't wait to see her cute uniforms.

when i was in 10th grade, my best friend transferred toa catholic school. she was looking forward to the uniform. i guess that would have been a good thing for me, given that in 5th grade, someone gave  my mom a box of 10 identical t-shirts. my mom decided it would be a good idea for me to wear them instead of buying me school clothes. i ended up getting the teacher writing on the t-shirt, to number them from 1-10. the kids in my class had been teasing me. i went to a very poor school, seriously in the ghetto. those ghetto kids felt superior to me because they had more than 1 shirt to wear..if that's what it took for them to feel better about their situation, then by god, let me be the one to help them.

i think my mom making me wear the same shirts every day killed any fashion sense i might have possibly developed. when i shop now, i tend to buy multiples of the same things, but in different colors or patterns. i'd rather shop on-line because it's so much easier. i try to always get promo codes and discounts from the internet before i buy anything. getting free shipping can be a big deal.

i found someone's cellphone monday. she called it and i told her i would send it to her. so i packed it up for the mail. i just looked over at the bookcase and i see that i never put it in the mailbox for pick up. the postal service would work for me if i let them, you know, actually put things in the mailbox and stick up the flag.

i hope karma doesn't kick me in the ass for that. i really had good intentions. as soon as i finish here, i will walk down the hill to get the mail.

i am trying to come up with something fun for my blog.if i could get a few more readers. i am thinking of having certain subjects i write about each day:

• mellow monday- SERENITY NOW! 'nuff said
• tv tuesday- where i bemoan the lack of "j&k+8" on a weekly basis.
• way back wednesday- tales of jordache, jontue and painful heartbreak in the disco era
• truth-or-dare thursday- spill your guts or do my bidding
• foodie friday- ummmm, recipes
• something something saturday- just something extra
• funday sunday- i will start doing something fun every sunday

or i may have a giveaway. i have a garage full of THINGS! back from the old days. things i have moved twice in 1-year and never unpacked. if i haven't used it in 2 years, i evidently don't need it.

actually, this entire thing is not to get a lot of readers, but to keep me from thinking about the money situation. the numbers are still running through my head. i have a reproduction chroome dinette set i am going to pull out and try to sell on craigslist. that would probably pay a car note.i really only have 2 weeks until my finances are looking better, whther my husband works full-time or not. he's supposed to be back at full hours in a month, but dang, these two weeks are killing me!

last night for dinner, i cranked up the oven and threw the contents of all those tiny bags in the freezer on a baking tray. we had tater tots, chicken strips and fish sticks. i also grilled 2 chicken breasts and made some bacon. i ended up with a chicken, bacon and honey mustard panini, and a bit of tots. i got some ribs out to make later this week and i have ground beef for dinner. i have freezer space! i think tomorrow i am going to a different store than i normaly would shop. i have heard they have a lot of cheap meat and i can get my coupons doubled.

not to be cliche, but i miss living near a taco bell. i have to drive either 13 or 15 miles to get to a taco bell. so i make a lot of taco meat at home. i have also learned to make burger sliders- the nearest krystal is 22 miles away. you get a dozen for about $5 doing it my way. that was what i made for my sister and her fmaily for our annual christmas dinner. oh, and we had cheesy tots!

of course, if i had a smartcar, i would drive there. hey smartcar people, if you are reading, give me a car! i promise to tell everybody how cool it is!

putting on my steppin' out shoes

my granddaughter's birthday is in february, but i have been shopping for it since the after-christmas sales. i have managed to score her a "christmas carol" barbie named eden starling, and a set of "high school musical" dolls. they are all barbie size and barbie quality- look for the Mattel logo!

a long time ago, i gave my niece, and a couple of her friends these packs of 12 pairs of barbie shoes that i got at toys'r'us for only $3.99- a barbie can never have too many shoes! they loved it then, so i thought i would buy one for my granddaughter. she's the same age now they were then.

little did i know, they were only produced by mattel for 1 year- 1998- and are therefore collectible. i found this little pack of shoes on ebay for $40!

i don't pay $40 for MY big old shoes!

i should have bought about a million packs of barbie shoes back in 1998. i'd be rich now!

i wonder what items for sale now are going to skyrocket in 10 years?

just think, if the government had spent the same amount on barbie shoes that they did on space exploration or the war on drugs, we wouldn't need any bail-out programs!

like a ton of bricks

i think the gravity of everything hit me today. i have been anxious and tense. i think i am getting sick again and i am going to the doctor monday to find out what is wrong.

i keep adding up numbers and coming up short. i really don't know how i will pay all my bills on time. i keep trying to convince myself that everything will be okay, but the numbers just keep rolling through my head like a ticker tape.

NOTHING WILL EVER BE OKAY AGAIN! YOU WILL BE HOMELESS AND LIVING IN THE GUTTER!

i need sleep. sleep is cheaper than getting blindingly drunk, so i guess that is my frugal tip for today.

make more out of less

my husband's hours got cut at work. he is concerned that he will be laid off or let go.

i'm trying not to worry.

we spent a year without him working. in fact, he has only been working since july, so it's not like we've been living in the lap of luxury. we will just go back to doing things the way we did before july:

• cutting back on the cable tv options- but not until big love is over for the season
• selling off unneeded possesions on ebay (we have a garage full of junk we have moved twice- long story! i will look for a post i wrote on another blog and post it here by way of explanation)
• i have started entering a lot of giveaways- what i win can be sold or given as gifts ( i am usually a very lucky person)

my car will be paid off in april. the smartcar will have to wait. we do have a second car (which has high miles but gets great mileage- everyone knows you can run a honda into the ground) which needs work and is currently not running. we haven't had it fixed because we don't need a second car at the moment. i can get it fixed and pretend it is a smartcar.

i will think of more ways to economize.

after all, there is always the lottery!

world wide wonderful

my web skillz are very spare, but they are a bit higher than someone who knows nothing about the web at all.

i made a blog for a 2nd person to promote a fishing tournament that's for charity. blogs are simple. the group actually has a big nice web page, that came with a HIGH price. so rather than paying to have it modified, i made them a blog with all the dsetails that links to their real website, as well as linking to paypal so people can pay their registration fees.

the group is very happy with it. i only had to tweak a few things and they were good to go.

my reward?

a big fat steak dinner for me and my husband, donated by someone connected with the group! their dinners run around $45 each, so i made $90 bucks!

and free advertising on their flyers! maybe i can help someone else with their projects.

bartering is good!

anybody got an extra smartcar and a need for a blog?

me and my duesie

i dreamed i won the powerball lottery and won a lot of money. i had a room full of stacks of money , like uncle scrooge mcduck. i bought my husband a black harley-davidson ford pick-up and i had a 1935 deusenberg, with a driver and a rumbleseat.

my dreamer's dictionary says that dreaming of winning is a sign of worrying about money (amen!), it also warrants against unsupported expectations.

is it too much to want a smartcar, not a 1935 duesie?

what will sixty cents buy today?

i have a secret burden i carry around with me:

i don't get along with my daughter-in-law (dil).

we got along fine until the wedding. then it seemed as if she no longer needed to be nice since she had already captured my son.

i did a lot of research on-line. believe it or not, i am not the only one with this problem!

the things i took away are simple:

• 
  
  when they got married, i didn't gain a daughter, i lost a son.
  
  
  
• 
  
  regardless of what she thinks, i'm not trying to control her new family. i simply want to be part of her family. what i see as being a good influence around her, she sees as me trying to usurp her control.
  
  
  
• 
  
  when i offer to do things for her, she interprets that as trying to control her home.i am only offering to make things easier for her, but she seeing it as me trying to take away the functions of her household.
  
  
  
• 
  
  there really is no need for us to argue. i will always do what i feel is right for my family, she will always do what she feels is right for her family. no compromise there.
  
  
  
• 
  
  there is no way of connecting families, and in her mind, no reason to. i invision a big family, she envisions a cozy love nest for she and my son.
  
  
  

to complicate matters, she has two children from a previous marriage who adore me. it's hard when they call and ask me to come over because they want to show me something or play with me. i tell her to ask them and she always says no. when i ask her if i can see the children, she always finds a reason that i need to stay away (such as going somewhere now, needing naps, will call back and never does- you get the gist!). she only manipulates things so that when i do see the kids, she will be sure i am distraught  (usually in tears) and probably come off a bit crazy by the time i am allowed over and see the children.

you see, she is young and stupid. she will have arguments with me and just yell and bitch at me. she has even come into my home and yelled and screamed at me- trust me, that didn't happen twice!

when you hold a grudge someone, you are letting them live rent-free in your head. if you despise them as much as you do, why give them anything?

now i have learned to smile and look agreeable. maybe that's not the best way of doing things, but it will have to work for now.

now i don't offer to do things for her anymore. she doesn't ask. simple solution.

now i don't offer opinions, even when asked. she once told (i.e. YELLED AT) me about how poor they hade been when my son was out of work. maybe he was out of work, but he managed to buy you that $3K worth of diamonds on your finger. don't tell me about eating ramen noodles when i made dinner every night and invited you EVERY NIGHT) while you are gesturing with your hands so that the light sparkles off the diamond just enough to blind me.

CURRENT DRAMA: i was on a cellphone plan my son had (he was previously on MY plan and i didn't even make him pay his bill, i paid it -but when he wanted a new phone, my plan was expiring, so he picked the carrier and plan and phone) and she took over his contract. so now i am endebte to her. if i wanted to piss her off, i could give the phone to her and the bill would be on her ass.

once we argued for 2 hours over the cellphone bill. the end result? i owed her $.60 insted of the $79.00 she said i owed. but now i have my husband give my son the check so i stay out of it 100%!

so now i simply hang up on her, or hand the telephone to someone and walk off or tell the children good-bye and walk to my car and drive away. i try not to think about out her. i EVICT her from my mind so she doesn't live free rent-free in my head.

whenever possible, try to steer clear from marrying succubusses!

where's lee?

i have been away from the computer lately because i have been sick. i have had a good year so far. i was sick for a week back in october (i think it was swine flu, haha) and i haven't been sick since.

this time i didn't get the flu but i got what i guess is called malaise.i just was tired all over. the temperature being so low hasn't helped any either.. i spent my time huddled under a fleece blanket, denim comforter and an old quilt. i kept a space heater by the bed, using the timer function so it would only work for 4 hours at a time.

i have a couple of suggestions for staying well. they may be useful for you:

• wash your hands frequently. i personally don't believe in hand sanitizer because i believe that the body needs to fight some on it's own. hand sanitizer prevents the body from building up immunity. THIS IS MY PERSONAL OPINION, NOT MEDICAL FACT! i only use hand sanitizer when there are no washing facilities available, it's better than nothing.
• eat wholesome food. you can't thrive on a diet of crap. if you can't afford good food, don't be ashamed to apply for food stamps or WIC. it's paid out of tax dollars YOU paid in, so why not get something out of it? don't let selfish pride get in the way of getting the nourishment you need!
• STAY AWAY FROM SICK PEOPLE! 'nuff said.

i have an errand to run right now, so i'll try to come back later and put up another post i have been thinking about.

where is the cash register?

the cash register was a test post. i am doing some web work for a friend and needed to test a button.

i haven't gotten to the point that i need to ask for money. not yet, anyway!

french buttercream dream

butter cream cake


ingredients:
3 eggs
½ cup sugar
1 cup flour -- sifted
4 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon strong vanilla extract*

directions:
beat the eggs and sugar together for 5 minutes.
add the flour, melted butter and the coffee extract, beating well with each       addition.
pour into a small buttered square pan.
bake in a moderate oven (350ºF.) ½ hour.
when done, invert the pan on a cake rack and let cool.
when the cake is cold cut it into two layers.
spread one with the filling and put the layers together.
spread the rest of the filling over the top. 



french buttercream frosting

ingredients:
1 cup sugar
3 tablespoons corn syrup
1/2 cup water
3 eggs
1 pinch salt
1 pound butter
1 t. strong vanilla extract*

directions:
put sugar, corn syrup and water in a saucepan over high heat.
meanwhile, beat eggs and salt until fluffy.
when all of the sugar is dissolved and the mixture is boiling, pour over beating eggs.
cut butter into cubes.
when the eggs-sugar bowl is lukewarm to the touch, slowly add butter while continuing to beat until fluffy and smooth.
add vanilla and mix 

* i bought a bottle of vanilla pods, which was a bit pricey. i add one to a bottle of cheap vanilla and added a vanilla pod. after letting it sit in the back of the cabinet for a few months, it is just as strong as the good expensive vanilla. you can reuse the pod. right now i have a bottle i am using and a bottle that is "aging" in the back of the cabinet.

hot legs and cold weather

we were supposed to get a lot of snow.

we got a dusting.

i am so immature that i still get excited when it snows, because school is out.

one of my favorite "snow day" activites was making something sweet after lunch. my dear old grandmother, who was 70 years older than me, managed to always allow us to help her cook.  she had the patience of a saint. we usually made fudge or cookies.

my grandmother's fudge was phenomenal! the recipe came out of the bh&g big red plaid cookbook. the recipe she used is no longer published in their cookbook and i have had no luck in finding a copy of it. i probably don't need to make an effort to find it. what an evil thing it would be if i could make fudge on demand.

i stayed home today and didn't go anywhere. i am cooking dinner now because i am bored. i cooked dinner yesterday too. it is so much better to make a real meal rather than try to find bits and bobs to eat.

tonight's dinner is hot legs. hot legs are chicken legs made  like hot wings. it's cheaper and you get a lot more meat.

i fried the chicken with only a dusting of seasoned flour. this partially cooks the chicken and gives the sauce a crust to hold onto. once the chicken has a nice crust, remove it from the oil and put it in a baking dish. don't worry if the chicken isn't done all the way through, we will be baking. make a sauce of 1/2 honey mustard and 1/2 hot sauce. i added some garlic too. pour the sauce over the chicken and bake it on 400 for 45 minutes. be sure to baste it occasionally. when it's done, i put the hot legs on a platter and put the sauce over it.

i am making mashed potatoes and green beans to go with it.

for the rest of the week, i have the following meals to make:
chicken and dressing
spaghetti
steak

we also have sandwich stuff, eggs and cereal/milk to fix.

i have in the refrigerator to serve later:
deer chili
goulash

i may not make it out on my date this friday, but at least i won't go hungry!

if you don't have to go out, DON'T!

if you have to go out,  be sure you have a good battery and at least a half tank of gas. be sure to pack blankets, water, snacks and something to occupy your time, in case you get stuck. my husband has a lunch box full of beef jerky packs, a bag of pretzels, 2 big bottles of water, a couple of juice boxes, and a rubik's cube. he also has a sleeping bag jammed under the seat.

if he ever gets stuck in the smartcar i want, it might look like this:

stay warm!

act smarter, just barter!

i helped my friend get her computer cranking. i only had to remove the cookies, clear the cache and move her wireless card from the back of her computer to the front. something as mundane as that sped it up. i ended up staying over there all afternoon, and helped her set up a blog where she can post photos of the horses she has for sale, along with a description and price. it looked really good, and we were able to get up the ones she has for sale! she is going to find photos and descriptions og the horses she has sold and then we will make some back-dated entries. that will give people a better idea of what she has for sale and show that she handles only healthy quality animals.

she gave me a nice sumbeam mixer she had that someone gave her- shae has a kitchenaid! so i got a nice surprise. i found it online:

Sunbeam Heritage Series. These stand mixers look very retro and have been around for a long time. They are affordable and have enough power for thick cookie doughs and bread kneading. It has a 450 watt 12 speed with 4-1/2 and 2-1/2 quart stainless steel bowls. It comes in white. Price $99.99 .

she ended up staying on her computer until about 2 a.m.

i think she did too much clicking. this morning she had a virus. i went over there, and it seems as if she has been running one of the scammy-spammy fakedy fake spyware removal programs RELIGIOUSLY, like almost everyday. i downloaded mse (aka morro) and started a computer scan. it was taking forever, so i told her i would check in with her later.

before i left, she gave me a huge bowl of chili, enough for 4 servings. so that was a surprise freebie.

bartering is a good thing. the mixer was probably about $100 and the the chili i would say is worth at least $15, so i made about $13 an hour for my skills.

not bad. smartcar, here i come!

living the glamorous life

i spent the day with a friend of mine who is a horse broker. she matches people with the appropriate horse for their needs. she was delivering a horse today ad i went along for the ride. she tends to multi-task while she's driving, so i act as an extra set of hands for her: i takes notes while she drives, i jot down directions she calls out as she talks on her cell phone and i put peanut butter  on rice cakes. in echange for my priceless services, she buys me breakfast, lunch and snacks (usually sonic happy hour 1/2 price drinks! YUM!) and i get to go to a new and glamorous city.

next week we are returning to the amish settlement to get her donkey shod. we will get there early and drop the donkey off. then we are free to gallavant across the area and go to amish houses that have things for sale. last time was the end of harvest and mostly i saw a lot of pumpkins and yellow/orange mums. i hope to score some nice cheese and canned pickled delights.

i consider this to be a frugal thing to do because you not only get to experience new places and things, but you get free food to boot! i mean, if i pay for museum admission, they aren't going to give me a pound of honey nut goat cheese and a jar of pickles! and i get to see real live amish people!

tomorrow i am working on her computer for her. it will be simple. she's NEVER emptied her cache or deleted any cookies off her computer since she bought it in 2000! get rid of that crap and she should go along like nobody's business.

for a surprise, i am setting up a gmail account and blog for her! i have to find a template.

will i be getting a horse? i don't know. it costs $30 a month to feed them. i would need a fence and a lean-to built for a stall. maybe when it gets warmer. but i am not much of a horse person. i would just pet it a lot.

maybe i could teach my dog to ride the pony. then maybe i can sell enough admission tickets to buy that smartcar!

eating in

lots of other bloggers are doing the "eat from your pantry challenge" for january.

being cutting edge, i have to admit i did this for the time from the day after thanksgiving until january 2. i only spent $55 on groceries during this time, buying such "replacables" as milk, eggs, butter, eggs, bread and fresh produce. woohoo!

before thanksgiving, i ransacked the cabinets and gave the food bank anything i knew we wouldn't use. then i pulled all the thanksgiving stuff together in one cabinet. we ate out of the rest of the cabinets.

as we ate the food, we would move the remaining cans together. the pantry looked emptier and emptier. we got a bit creative toward the end, but it worked.

we were stopping it at new year's eve, but squeezed 2 extra days out of it!

this is a great way to clean out the cabinets and be frugal. we used our grocery money to buy christmas gifts instead of food. this year, i am putting a $20 bill in a bank every friday, to be used to buy gifts at holiday time.

i read about the challenge here: http://farmhomelife.blogspot.com/2010/01/eat-from-pantry-challenge-week-1.html.

all i can eat

i ended up eating the chinese buffet for lunch today. it's $4 cheaper for each person at lunch than dinner. we have to always have our weekly date. we have gone out once a week since before we married 27 years ago. before someone tells me that i'm wasting money, remember it keeps our marriage from getting in a rut and it's cheaper than marriage counseling. plus i don't have to do dishes!

we always cheap out by using coupons or gift cards, ordering the special if it's a good deal, going for lunch instead of dinner and discussing what we are going to order beforehand. we sound like this-

"are you going to get the steak combo? if so, get me  ranch dressing for your salad and i'll give you the fries from my seafood platter. oh? then get an extra order of shrimp on the side and i'll just eat your salad and the extra shrimp. no, don't order the onion rings as an appetizer, order them as an extra vegetable. it's cheaper!"

i made some good food choices. i stuck to eating mostly the lean meat i spooned out of the dishes and also ate a salad. they always have fruit stuck in among the desserts, so i had some cantaloupe. it was hard, but since it's out of season, what did i expect? they also had boiled egg halves sprinkled with parsley with the dessert- i guess because it requires cooling- so i had a boiled egg for dessert too ?!?

i did save a bit more today. i have decided to forego purchasing drinks at  restaurants. i will save $1.50-$2.00 each time  i order water instead of tea or a soda. i can save around $100 a year by doing that each week.  i look at it this way: when i am writing out my budget for the year, would i plan on spending $200 a year on sodas? no, but it does add up. add a bit of lemon and i'm good to go.

plus water is better for you, has no calories and doesn't rot your teeth.

just say no...to the buffet!

i stayed home today. i was planning to eat chinese but instead i made a plate of sausage and scrambled eggs mixed together, with cheese toast. tasty, tasty, tasty!

i have been trying to avoid the dreaded "W" store. i don't even want to write it out. i have been shopping at  a local meat market and trying some of the things they have there.

the sausage was very good and didn't have a lot of fat. in fact, i had to add a bit of oil to cook the eggs. i used a non-stick pan, but added the oil because i wanted a meal, not a mess!

they have really good ground beef that has caused me to swear off the "W" chub of gristle forever. again, not a lot of fat, just a lot of meat! we had chili tuesday and we may have it again this week-end. there is something so comforting about a bowl of good chili with a piece of cheese toast.

the prices at the meat market are a bit higher, but since it doesn't all cook away to grease, i think it is a better value.

i do buy a lot of vegetables and fruits at the "W" but when the temperatures are warmer, i always patronize the old men who park their trucks on the side of the road and sell homegrown fruits and veggies. you have to watch out, sometimes they will try to pass off "W" produce as home grown.

suddenly i have a craving for watermelon!

 

            

happy new year's!

i have a new home to start out the new year.

if you know me, you know i drift around. i plan on staying here for a while.

stop back by, i will be up to my usual passive-agressive subversiveness.

you may see a lot of ads here. the reason: i need lots of money! but if they get unbearable, let m eknow and i'll tune them down.

i need to get rid of the hang-over looming like a dark cloud over my head. anybody up for a run to ihop for pancakes and bacon?

just kidding, no drinking for me tonight! i baked chocolate brownies, ate 2 and slept from 7-11 pm. what an exciting life i lead!

plus i am tryng to be more frugal this year- and alcohol is expensive! also, any ihop runs are out. where i live, a ride to anywhere is a gallon of gas, so i am trying to eat at home and save more money this year. i have a goal in mind: i would like to buy a smartcar (or something small and very economical) at the end of the year. if i can get stable transportation in place, i can rejoin the ymca. so i need like $15K to buy a car. my honda (named tinkerbell) has 160,000 miles on it.it may live another year, but i think tinkerbell's prime is past.

so if you see anything in the ads that legitimately intrigues you, please feel free to click. if it's not something that floats your boat, please don't click! i don't wan't them to cut me off.

i have always been very frugal but now i am tightening my belt a bit more. i plan on documenting my progress toward $15K for a new car. my first report:

previous adsense earnings:     $1.32
current amount to goal: $14,998.64

sad!

i will post this the first of every month. i may even put up a donate butto, haha! because you beautiful people don't have anything better to spend your money on, right? yeah, let's buy me a new car!