I don’t normally give myself a birthday gift and I don’t suppose you can really qualify this as a gift, but in my opinion it’s the best gift I could have ever given myself. As of February 1, my birthday, my student loans, accumulated over five years of college, are officially paid off. I am not kidding when I say that tears are forming in my eyes as I type this. Twelve years removed from receiving a degree, I am finally out of debt to the Department of Education. I could not be more overjoyed!
My parents did me a solid on two accounts: first, they made me pay for my own education and second, they helped me procure loans in my own name through the Department of Education. For those who may not know, the interest rates for the government loans are a whole heck of a lot cheaper than those you may get from a bank or credit union.
I’d like to address that first point a little further. My dad paid for his own college education by working and perhaps securing loans, I honestly don’t know if he got a loan or not but I do know he paid for it all on his own. He also paid for his high school education at a private school. As a result, I suppose he felt like his kids needed to pay for their own education as well
So, when I headed off to Tuscaloosa in the fall of 1995 as a wild eyed freshman, I went in knowing that I would be paying the way. I did earn a small scholarship or two that first year and my last and fifth year was paid for by my GA position in the athletic department. I can’t remember for sure, but I think my parents may have paid for my place to stay freshman and sophomore years and I did receive the occasional spending money from them and other family members; but, for the most part I was on my own. I worked at the library at University for spending money during the school year and in the summers, I held down at least two part-times jobs and sometimes additional babysitting or whatnot to pay for my sorority, books, and additional spending money.
Now, here I am 12 years after graduation and I am finally paying off those pesky student loans. To me, having to pay my way through school definitely made me appreciate my education a lot more than I think I would if someone had just written a check on my behalf. I’m so proud of myself for doing it on my own; I wouldn’t want it any other way… now. At the time, I probably thought it was unfair. I went through periods of deferment because I was unemployed, or really poor, but in the end, it’s all paid off and it’s the best gift I could have ever given myself.
I really get annoyed when I hear about or see storylines in shows about parents who go into an immense amount of debt to pay for their child’s education. If you have the money, well, that’s one thing, but if the parent has to take out a loan that’s another. I don’t think any parent should go into debt for their child’s education. The parents have earned the right to kick the kid out and enjoy their lives without going into debt while their kid is boozing it up at State U. I just personally think that the child should find a way to pay and if that means loans, so be it. If all goes according to plan, the child can spend the next 12 years paying off the loan rather than the mom and dad. I could go on, but this is kind of a soap box issue with me and I think I’ll shut up for now. I may get some hateful comments on the subject, but this is my blog and this is how I feel – make your kid pay for their own education.
All this to say, thanks Mother and Daddy for making me get my own loans and thanks Mother for filling out all the paperwork to get those loans while I was off boozing it up in Tuscaloosa (I don’t think this comment has really come as a shock to anyone). Without your having made me pay my own way, I don’t think I would appreciate my education as much as I do and I just really couldn’t be more grateful!
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Monday, January 30, 2012
It Seems the Weekend Revolved Around Eating
Hope you all had a nice weekend, even those of you who didn’t win a cookbook. Sorry, wish I could give everyone a copy, but you know, money doesn’t grow on trees and all that jazz. My weekend was busy and not all that exciting all wrapped into one. Here are all the gory details:
On Friday after work, I stopped by the mall (a place I really loathe to visit). The reason for stopping by was to go to Buckle and get some jeans hemmed. I recently bought a new pair of jeans from Gap and they are always too long and I always take them to Buckle where they pin them up and send them off to their wonderful seamstress who does an amazing job! Well, I went into a dressing room, tried on my pants, had them pinned, took them to the register to pay the $8 that they charge for the hemming of the jean only to be told that they don’t do jeans unless they were bought at Buckle – HUH?! I guess this is some sort of ridiculous new policy they have because I’ve had jeans hemmed there as recently as last year. Needless to say, I was ticked because, well, it was the only reason I stopped by the dreaded mall. I have since gotten the name of my friend Candy’s seamstress and I plan to give her a call and a try otherwise my jeans will be dragging the ground.
Since I was at the mall, I decided to go ahead and peruse the shoe section at Belk, a store I am not a fan of by the way; I figured they would probably have some shoes on sale and y’all I am in DESPERATE need of some new brown shoes. I will probably devote a whole post to this problem of mine. Anyway, on the way down to Belk, I passed Kay Jewelers and realized I had a watch in my purse that needed a new battery. This particular watch battery can’t be replaced in the store because of how the band is made; instead, it has to be sent out for a couple of weeks. (Update – as I was typing this I got a call that it was ready – that was fast!) So, I dropped it off and went on down to Belk. No big surprise here – I found no brown shoes that I liked.
I then went down to Great American cookie and got a free slice, which was one of the coupons I got for my birthday. I mentioned this last week. If you like free stuff on your birthday, check out this list and sign up. You will eat free for a week at least. After the mall, I went to Publix and did my weekly grocery shopping and then stopped in at Jason’s Deli for a soup and salad combo for $5 with…wait for it… my birthday coupon!
The rest of Friday evening was spent cleaning, eating, watching TV and generally doing nothing of great importance. I did put together a breakfast casserole for the next day because on Saturday morning I attended my sorority alumnae founder’s day brunch. The brunch was slated to start at 10:00. I got there a few minutes before and it was 10:30 before everyone arrived and we got started. Now, listen, if there’s one thing I hate, it is people who are not on time. I cannot stand to be late – it makes me a ball of nerves! Plus, if you are supposed to be at an event that starts at 10:00 then why in heaven’s name are you going to show up at 10:30? I don’t get it. I could go on, but I will stop.
Anyway, at 10:30 or 10:40 whenever it finally was, we got started… with our founder’s day program… not with eating as one might expect. I seriously thought we were going to eat first because that was the order of events last year, eat and then meet; therefore, I did not eat anything before I left the house that morning and I think it goes without saying that I was more than hungry by the time we finally did eat … at noon! I hate to be a complainer because it’s a great group, but no matter what group this had been I would be writing about my complaints because I was more than a little perturbed with the situation. I also had other things to do on Saturday and didn’t want to be late in getting those things accomplished. Plus my lower back was in some crazy immense pain on Saturday. I thought I might burst into tears while I was standing around talking with people. Thankfully I didn’t.
After the brunch, I made a run by Target to pick up some paper plates, etc. for a gathering of folks on Sunday night. I then went by Mr. Donut, because it goes without saying Mr. Donut is the best EVER and who wouldn’t want to stop by there? Then I dropped off the paper goods at my parents’ house because the gathering was at their homestead. I had grand plans to go to the Bob Jones at Lee basketball game on Saturday at 5:00 but I didn’t have anyone to go with me and I also took a nap and didn’t wake up until 4:30 so that was scratched from the agenda. Instead, I made some food for Sunday night.
Sunday morning was church and afterwards I went to Moe’s to get my free birthday entrée. Y’all seriously have to sign up for the birthday foods! Then I stopped by Publix to get some fruit because one of the families for the Sunday night shin dig backed out and I am always paranoid that there will never be enough food for the masses. I napped on Sunday afternoon, went to church again Sunday night and then headed to my parents’ hacienda for the gathering of friends. It was a good time.
I got home at close to 10:00, posted the winner of the cookbook and went to bed; and that, folks, was my weekend in a little over 1,000 words. Man, I’m long winded! Hope you are still awake after reading all of that. It was a nice weekend, just not long enough as they never are. Whoever invented the weekend should have made it three days.
On Friday after work, I stopped by the mall (a place I really loathe to visit). The reason for stopping by was to go to Buckle and get some jeans hemmed. I recently bought a new pair of jeans from Gap and they are always too long and I always take them to Buckle where they pin them up and send them off to their wonderful seamstress who does an amazing job! Well, I went into a dressing room, tried on my pants, had them pinned, took them to the register to pay the $8 that they charge for the hemming of the jean only to be told that they don’t do jeans unless they were bought at Buckle – HUH?! I guess this is some sort of ridiculous new policy they have because I’ve had jeans hemmed there as recently as last year. Needless to say, I was ticked because, well, it was the only reason I stopped by the dreaded mall. I have since gotten the name of my friend Candy’s seamstress and I plan to give her a call and a try otherwise my jeans will be dragging the ground.
Since I was at the mall, I decided to go ahead and peruse the shoe section at Belk, a store I am not a fan of by the way; I figured they would probably have some shoes on sale and y’all I am in DESPERATE need of some new brown shoes. I will probably devote a whole post to this problem of mine. Anyway, on the way down to Belk, I passed Kay Jewelers and realized I had a watch in my purse that needed a new battery. This particular watch battery can’t be replaced in the store because of how the band is made; instead, it has to be sent out for a couple of weeks. (Update – as I was typing this I got a call that it was ready – that was fast!) So, I dropped it off and went on down to Belk. No big surprise here – I found no brown shoes that I liked.
I then went down to Great American cookie and got a free slice, which was one of the coupons I got for my birthday. I mentioned this last week. If you like free stuff on your birthday, check out this list and sign up. You will eat free for a week at least. After the mall, I went to Publix and did my weekly grocery shopping and then stopped in at Jason’s Deli for a soup and salad combo for $5 with…wait for it… my birthday coupon!
The rest of Friday evening was spent cleaning, eating, watching TV and generally doing nothing of great importance. I did put together a breakfast casserole for the next day because on Saturday morning I attended my sorority alumnae founder’s day brunch. The brunch was slated to start at 10:00. I got there a few minutes before and it was 10:30 before everyone arrived and we got started. Now, listen, if there’s one thing I hate, it is people who are not on time. I cannot stand to be late – it makes me a ball of nerves! Plus, if you are supposed to be at an event that starts at 10:00 then why in heaven’s name are you going to show up at 10:30? I don’t get it. I could go on, but I will stop.
Anyway, at 10:30 or 10:40 whenever it finally was, we got started… with our founder’s day program… not with eating as one might expect. I seriously thought we were going to eat first because that was the order of events last year, eat and then meet; therefore, I did not eat anything before I left the house that morning and I think it goes without saying that I was more than hungry by the time we finally did eat … at noon! I hate to be a complainer because it’s a great group, but no matter what group this had been I would be writing about my complaints because I was more than a little perturbed with the situation. I also had other things to do on Saturday and didn’t want to be late in getting those things accomplished. Plus my lower back was in some crazy immense pain on Saturday. I thought I might burst into tears while I was standing around talking with people. Thankfully I didn’t.
After the brunch, I made a run by Target to pick up some paper plates, etc. for a gathering of folks on Sunday night. I then went by Mr. Donut, because it goes without saying Mr. Donut is the best EVER and who wouldn’t want to stop by there? Then I dropped off the paper goods at my parents’ house because the gathering was at their homestead. I had grand plans to go to the Bob Jones at Lee basketball game on Saturday at 5:00 but I didn’t have anyone to go with me and I also took a nap and didn’t wake up until 4:30 so that was scratched from the agenda. Instead, I made some food for Sunday night.
Sunday morning was church and afterwards I went to Moe’s to get my free birthday entrée. Y’all seriously have to sign up for the birthday foods! Then I stopped by Publix to get some fruit because one of the families for the Sunday night shin dig backed out and I am always paranoid that there will never be enough food for the masses. I napped on Sunday afternoon, went to church again Sunday night and then headed to my parents’ hacienda for the gathering of friends. It was a good time.
I got home at close to 10:00, posted the winner of the cookbook and went to bed; and that, folks, was my weekend in a little over 1,000 words. Man, I’m long winded! Hope you are still awake after reading all of that. It was a nice weekend, just not long enough as they never are. Whoever invented the weekend should have made it three days.
Sunday, January 29, 2012
And the Winner Is…
Thanks to all who entered the third blogiversary giveaway! There were a total of eight comments – one was thrown out because Jackie commented twice; so only her first one counted. Also, Candy said not to enter her since she had won a few things as well plus according to her time stamp she was past the deadline of 9:00 p.m. but then I don’t know if the time stamp may actually be Eastern Time. At any rate, I honored her request and didn’t enter her – so that left six.
So, I used random.org and the random generator came up with #4…Alison! Congrats girlfriend! I will arrange to get your new cookbook to you when it arrives in March! I had grand plans of putting up proof that is was #4, but I cannot seem to get that whole process to work correctly. I always seem to have problems with that and it’s late and I’m ready to go to bed, so, y’all will just have to trust me.
Thanks again for checking in each day/week/month or however often you stop by and here’s to hoping life will bring a lot of interesting things to tell you about in the years to come! Congrats again Alison!
So, I used random.org and the random generator came up with #4…Alison! Congrats girlfriend! I will arrange to get your new cookbook to you when it arrives in March! I had grand plans of putting up proof that is was #4, but I cannot seem to get that whole process to work correctly. I always seem to have problems with that and it’s late and I’m ready to go to bed, so, y’all will just have to trust me.
Thanks again for checking in each day/week/month or however often you stop by and here’s to hoping life will bring a lot of interesting things to tell you about in the years to come! Congrats again Alison!
Thursday, January 26, 2012
My Third Blogiversary...And A Giveaway - Woot!
~~ This Giveaway Is Now Closed ~~
The blog has actually been a good outlet for me and when I am 90 years old and living beside Jackie and Erika at the retirement home, we will be able to look back on ye ole Internet and remember all the interesting adventures I had... and they had because they are often a part of said adventures. Anyway, it's been fun and I'm glad I did it and I thank you for reading because let's face it, I don't always have the most interesting things to say.
On the occasion of this third blogiversary, I am having a giveaway (try to refrain from screaming out in excitement). I've hosted a giveaway on my blogiversary each year and each year the giveaway has been some sort of book by The Pioneer Woman (y'all know I love her!). Well, this year is no exception in that regard. In honor of my third blogiversary, I am giving away a copy of The Pioneer Woman's new cookbook which comes out in March. Let me emphasize this point once more...the book comes out in March. So, whoever the winner is will have to wait for about six weeks before they reap the rewards of their winnings. The book is set to be released on March 13 (voting day here in Alabama) and I have pre-ordered a copy for the winner. So, once the book arrives at my home, I will promptly ship it or deliver it to the winner. Remember, this will be in March. I only emphasize this over and over again because I don't want the winner to be disappointed when he/she doesn't receive a gift right away.
So, here are the rules - leave a comment! That's pretty simple, huh? As always for the blogiversary giveaway, just leave a comment letting me know what type of posts you would like to see this year or what type of posts you have enjoyed, or what you hate about my random ramblings, or you know, just something. By leaving a comment you will be entered for the contest. This contest will run through the weekend and I will announce the winner on Sunday night. No entries after 9:00 p.m. Central time on Sunday evening, At that time, I'll collect all the names/numbers and use random.org to determine the winner; then I will announce the winner on ye old blog and then in March I will ship the winner his/her winnings. OK, any questions? Good luck everyone and thank you a million times over for stopping by!
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
In Keeping With This Week's Theme
1. You may know that my birthday is next week and you may also know that I love coupons and freebies. Well, starting today, I have gotten a plethora of emails for free sandwiches, burgers, ice cream and various and sundry other birthday treats. Basically, I won't have to cook for myself next week because I will be eating for free thanks to my turning another year older. If you have any interest in receiving free and discounted treats on your birthday, then you must check out this link from Hey It's Free and you too can eat for free the week of your birthday.
2. I have an unexplained pain in my back. (This originally said pan, thanks to my college roomie for helping me see the mistake!) It's been there for a couple of days now and it if doesn't go away soon, I may have to seek some expert advice. It's not normal back pain either. I assure you, I know about normal back pain. I have that all the time and go to the chiropractor once a week for my normal back pain. This is on the left side and is sharp pain; so strange. I have the oddest ailments.
3. Speaking of ailments, have I mentioned that I'm really sick of the rain - just kidding, I know I did. Seriously though, if we don't get a break soon I may not be able to walk much longer. These fronts that have been moving through have been causing the arthritis in my knees to flare up and they have been quite painful, especially my left knee which pops everytime I straighten it out. Getting older is awesome, people; just awesome! That is as long as you keep a jumbo size Bio Freeze in your medicine cabinet.
4. I wore a new pair of sandals to work today. Well, actually I wore my rain boots to work, but I brought along a pair of sandals to wear inside the building; it was after all 67 degrees outside today. I bought these shoes a few weeks ago from Joe's New Balance Outlet. New Balance makes a brand of sandals called Aravon and they are better for your feet than the average sandal, or so says the doctor. The Aravon shoes and sandals are all $100 or more. This pair had been reduced to $17.95 and I got another 20% off of that; they had originally been about $130 so I'd say it was a pretty good deal. I like them. They are comfortable and look nice. They do, however remind me of something I would see my grandmother, Opal wearing. What do you think?
5. When someone comes over and sits in "The Tide's chair", they get the stink eye. Case in point:
6. I have fat calves. I can thank my mother for this; it is from her that I inherited these monstrous legs. Actually, I wouldn't really call them fat, they are rather muscular; but, the problem with having large calves is that I cannot find boots to wear. I had this conversation with Erika on Monday night. She brought over a pair of boots that the cobbler had stretched out for her; but, alas, they were not stretched out enough for me. I measured my calves last year - they are a circumference of 18.5 inches. Most boots come in a 16 inch circumference; so, you can see how I have a problem finding boots. Erika, God bless her, found a web site and sent it to me, where you can order boots based on your foot size and the circumference of your calves. I was so excited I might cry and then I saw the price and I did shed a tear. Suffice it to say, I will be saving up some monies so that I can buy myself a pair of these boots before next winter and when they arrive, those boots may be the only thing that adorn my feet for the next six months.
7. Without giving away any details, you will probably want to stop back by tomorrow.
2. I have an unexplained pain in my back. (This originally said pan, thanks to my college roomie for helping me see the mistake!) It's been there for a couple of days now and it if doesn't go away soon, I may have to seek some expert advice. It's not normal back pain either. I assure you, I know about normal back pain. I have that all the time and go to the chiropractor once a week for my normal back pain. This is on the left side and is sharp pain; so strange. I have the oddest ailments.
3. Speaking of ailments, have I mentioned that I'm really sick of the rain - just kidding, I know I did. Seriously though, if we don't get a break soon I may not be able to walk much longer. These fronts that have been moving through have been causing the arthritis in my knees to flare up and they have been quite painful, especially my left knee which pops everytime I straighten it out. Getting older is awesome, people; just awesome! That is as long as you keep a jumbo size Bio Freeze in your medicine cabinet.
4. I wore a new pair of sandals to work today. Well, actually I wore my rain boots to work, but I brought along a pair of sandals to wear inside the building; it was after all 67 degrees outside today. I bought these shoes a few weeks ago from Joe's New Balance Outlet. New Balance makes a brand of sandals called Aravon and they are better for your feet than the average sandal, or so says the doctor. The Aravon shoes and sandals are all $100 or more. This pair had been reduced to $17.95 and I got another 20% off of that; they had originally been about $130 so I'd say it was a pretty good deal. I like them. They are comfortable and look nice. They do, however remind me of something I would see my grandmother, Opal wearing. What do you think?
5. When someone comes over and sits in "The Tide's chair", they get the stink eye. Case in point:
6. I have fat calves. I can thank my mother for this; it is from her that I inherited these monstrous legs. Actually, I wouldn't really call them fat, they are rather muscular; but, the problem with having large calves is that I cannot find boots to wear. I had this conversation with Erika on Monday night. She brought over a pair of boots that the cobbler had stretched out for her; but, alas, they were not stretched out enough for me. I measured my calves last year - they are a circumference of 18.5 inches. Most boots come in a 16 inch circumference; so, you can see how I have a problem finding boots. Erika, God bless her, found a web site and sent it to me, where you can order boots based on your foot size and the circumference of your calves. I was so excited I might cry and then I saw the price and I did shed a tear. Suffice it to say, I will be saving up some monies so that I can buy myself a pair of these boots before next winter and when they arrive, those boots may be the only thing that adorn my feet for the next six months.
7. Without giving away any details, you will probably want to stop back by tomorrow.
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Seven More Notes of Interest...Or Not
1. There's a new doughnut shop in Hampton Cove and I cannot believe I didn't mention this yesterday. It's called Mr. Donut and it is located behind the Exxon station where (for those of you who live in the area) Cafe Domain used to be. My dad stopped in not long after they opened and bought eight doughnuts (a weird number, I know). From what he told me, my mom ate two and he ate the other six, even though she asked him to save another one for her. He has been back a time or two since that first visit as well. I went over to my parents' house for breakfast on Saturday morning after going to the gym and there were some of these doughnuts out on the counter in a box. I tasted one and I am here to tell you, these are the best doughnuts I have ever put in my mouth! After I left my parents' house on Saturday morning, I made a detour by Mr. Donut to get a few of these for myself. If you live out that way, or are visiting out that way, stop by and pick some up. They are open from 4:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. They serves sandwiches as well and a friend of mother's said they were good. The doughnuts, I'm here to tell you, are to die for!
2. I'm getting a Kindle for my birthday. I feel like I've already told you about this but perhaps not. If so, and this is a repeat, move on to number three. I love to read, but have run out of nooks and crannies to store my books. So, I've decided to join the 21st century, so to speak, and therefore asked for a Kindle. I have a love hate relationship with this modern technology we use to read books. While it's great in that it allows us to buy books at a lower cost, gives us a world of books at the touch of a button, and even provides us with a number of free books, I'm afraid that these new fangled gadgets will eventually make bookstores a thing of the past and that makes me quite sad. I've loved to peruse the shelves of the bookstore ever since I was a wee lass and cannot imagine not being able to do so or have my (hopefully someday) children enjoy going to the bookstore. Hopefully, the Kindle, Nook, iPad, whatever else they come up with won't make bookstores extinct; if it does, I guess you can say I contributed to the downfall of the bookstore.
3.I like to drink hot tea in the afternoons. When I was a kid my mom made this tea concoction called Russian Tea, Why it's called that I have no idea because the ingredients (Tang, Instant Tea, Lemonade, Cinnamon and Cloves) are anything but Russian, but nonetheless, it was dubbed Russian Tea. I made a batch at Christmas time (it's a powder form) and have been drinking a class in the afternoons. It's a delightful pick me up; only it would be much better if it was cold outside.
4. Tonight (Tuesday) is fish night for dinner. As mentioned yesterday, I eat fish twice a week for dinner - that happens on Tuesdays and Thursdays in case you were wondering. Tonight, I plan to stop by the Schnitzel Ranch and get a cucumber salad to accompany the fish. I usually eat rice and maybe steamed squash with it, but tonight, I'm going for the cucumber salad. The Schnitzel Ranch is on the way home from the gym and the cucumber salads are good and inexpensive. So, that's the plan.
5. I recently ordered le Tour de France 2011 on Blu-Ray. Why, you may ask? Well, I figured since I actually went to le Tour 2011 that it would be a good keepsake to have. Plus, I have two stages hogging up space on the DVR and I can maybe delete those once the Blu-Ray arrives...or not. I am anxious to see how these discs are. It's 12 hours of footage, so clearly not every minute of the race. I can only hope that Phil and Paul are doing the commentating on the discs because if not, well, I might be crushed.
6. I love playing Words With Friends, which is rather odd considering I hate Scrabble (probably because of a guy I once knew who loved to play it all the time; well, actually I wasn't a fan before him but definitely not after). I have never been a strong speller, numbers have always been my strong suit, which is why Scrabble isn't one of my favorite games, but I do love playing Words With Friends. I am not very good and lose most of the time, but it's still fun to play. If you play words with friends, leave your user name in the comments or invite me to play a game. I won't turn you down! I play with a lot of my friends from church and have been playing some random person for a long while. Each time that random person beats me, we always start up another game. I was also playing another random opponent and then forgot to start up another game with them and can't remember all of his/her username to start another game, which makes me sad because we used to chat while playing also. I feel like I've lost a friend. So, if your user name has daddyish in it and you are from Massachusetts, leave your user name in the comments because I miss playing with you!
7. It's supposed to rain again on Wednesday, which is why I will be wearing these:
2. I'm getting a Kindle for my birthday. I feel like I've already told you about this but perhaps not. If so, and this is a repeat, move on to number three. I love to read, but have run out of nooks and crannies to store my books. So, I've decided to join the 21st century, so to speak, and therefore asked for a Kindle. I have a love hate relationship with this modern technology we use to read books. While it's great in that it allows us to buy books at a lower cost, gives us a world of books at the touch of a button, and even provides us with a number of free books, I'm afraid that these new fangled gadgets will eventually make bookstores a thing of the past and that makes me quite sad. I've loved to peruse the shelves of the bookstore ever since I was a wee lass and cannot imagine not being able to do so or have my (hopefully someday) children enjoy going to the bookstore. Hopefully, the Kindle, Nook, iPad, whatever else they come up with won't make bookstores extinct; if it does, I guess you can say I contributed to the downfall of the bookstore.
3.I like to drink hot tea in the afternoons. When I was a kid my mom made this tea concoction called Russian Tea, Why it's called that I have no idea because the ingredients (Tang, Instant Tea, Lemonade, Cinnamon and Cloves) are anything but Russian, but nonetheless, it was dubbed Russian Tea. I made a batch at Christmas time (it's a powder form) and have been drinking a class in the afternoons. It's a delightful pick me up; only it would be much better if it was cold outside.
4. Tonight (Tuesday) is fish night for dinner. As mentioned yesterday, I eat fish twice a week for dinner - that happens on Tuesdays and Thursdays in case you were wondering. Tonight, I plan to stop by the Schnitzel Ranch and get a cucumber salad to accompany the fish. I usually eat rice and maybe steamed squash with it, but tonight, I'm going for the cucumber salad. The Schnitzel Ranch is on the way home from the gym and the cucumber salads are good and inexpensive. So, that's the plan.
5. I recently ordered le Tour de France 2011 on Blu-Ray. Why, you may ask? Well, I figured since I actually went to le Tour 2011 that it would be a good keepsake to have. Plus, I have two stages hogging up space on the DVR and I can maybe delete those once the Blu-Ray arrives...or not. I am anxious to see how these discs are. It's 12 hours of footage, so clearly not every minute of the race. I can only hope that Phil and Paul are doing the commentating on the discs because if not, well, I might be crushed.
6. I love playing Words With Friends, which is rather odd considering I hate Scrabble (probably because of a guy I once knew who loved to play it all the time; well, actually I wasn't a fan before him but definitely not after). I have never been a strong speller, numbers have always been my strong suit, which is why Scrabble isn't one of my favorite games, but I do love playing Words With Friends. I am not very good and lose most of the time, but it's still fun to play. If you play words with friends, leave your user name in the comments or invite me to play a game. I won't turn you down! I play with a lot of my friends from church and have been playing some random person for a long while. Each time that random person beats me, we always start up another game. I was also playing another random opponent and then forgot to start up another game with them and can't remember all of his/her username to start another game, which makes me sad because we used to chat while playing also. I feel like I've lost a friend. So, if your user name has daddyish in it and you are from Massachusetts, leave your user name in the comments because I miss playing with you!
7. It's supposed to rain again on Wednesday, which is why I will be wearing these:
Monday, January 23, 2012
Seven Unrelated Bullet Points
My Aunt Linda emailed me today and asked me if I was sick – she thought that was my reasoning for not blogging when actually the reason is that January has proven to be a rather boring month as far as my life is concerned and I seriously doubt you all want to read about how I cleaned my house and napped over the weekend… again. So, instead I’m going to tell you about some things you need to know, or something like that.
1. Downton Abbey – HAVE YOU SEEN THIS SHOW? Yes, that’s in all caps because people, this is the best show on television right now…maybe ever! It comes on Masterpiece Classic on PBS each Sunday night. The show is British and airs in England a year ahead of the airing here in the States. In other words, season two is airing on PBS right now while season three will be seen in England sometime later this year. I heard about this show on Twitter and from some other blogs I read and decided I must check it out so I bought season one on iTunes and watched the entire season (only seven episodes) all last week. I had recorded on the DVR the episodes of season two that had aired thus far and Saturday I had a marathon, watching four episodes of season one and two of season two. Y’all, this show is just amazing. It follows the life of Lord Crawley and his family and also the lives of the servants that live and work in the Crawley home. The Crawley’s live at Downtown Abbey. The show starts out in April 1912 and currently the year is 1917. There’s love, scandal, secrets, and many other wonderful storylines in this show. There are evil people, nice people, conniving people, you name it, this show has it. I told Jackie about it and I am not exaggerating when I tell you she watched the first episode one night and the other six the next day. In fact, she’s probably staying up tonight to catch up on the season two episodes on the PBS website. Jackie watched hers through Netflix so if you have Netflix, or iTunes, you can definitely watch this show and I would encourage you to do so. It is incredible! The best thing I’ve seen in a long, long time! I’ve been dreaming about this show at night, which as I’ve mentioned before is a sure sign that I love something. I even catch myself thinking about it during the day – so good people – please go watch it!
2. I’m sick of rain
3. My parents are going to Florida in April and I am joining them the second week of April for a trip to Disney (three days) and Universal Studios (AKA Harry Potter Land for one day). I wasn’t planning on taking a vacation this year since I have no money but I am going to be saving between now and then to make it happen. My parents are renting a condo or house and so they will have plenty of room and are not charging me for a bed, which is nice. I’ll be flying down on Friday, April 6 and then riding back home in the van with my dad on the 13th/14th. My mom is flying to and fro, but my dad is driving so they will have the handicap accessible van while they are there. I haven’t been to Disney since I was 12 so I am looking forward to it and we will hopefully have a lovely time.
4. My birthday is coming up – Number 35 – Terrifying! I will now have to move to the age 35-44 check box on surveys. I’d really rather stay put. Moving up to a new age group is never fun.
5. The circus is coming in April – looks like April will be a fun month. You know my dad and I love the circus and we force my mom to come along with us! I can’t wait!
6. I’ve been eating fish twice a week for dinner this year. I love Old Bay seasoning.
7. I’ve got some clothes in the dryer that I need to fold and it’s late so I’m going to wrap it up here. Hope you have a great Monday evening or Tuesday morning or whatever day it is you are reading this.
1. Downton Abbey – HAVE YOU SEEN THIS SHOW? Yes, that’s in all caps because people, this is the best show on television right now…maybe ever! It comes on Masterpiece Classic on PBS each Sunday night. The show is British and airs in England a year ahead of the airing here in the States. In other words, season two is airing on PBS right now while season three will be seen in England sometime later this year. I heard about this show on Twitter and from some other blogs I read and decided I must check it out so I bought season one on iTunes and watched the entire season (only seven episodes) all last week. I had recorded on the DVR the episodes of season two that had aired thus far and Saturday I had a marathon, watching four episodes of season one and two of season two. Y’all, this show is just amazing. It follows the life of Lord Crawley and his family and also the lives of the servants that live and work in the Crawley home. The Crawley’s live at Downtown Abbey. The show starts out in April 1912 and currently the year is 1917. There’s love, scandal, secrets, and many other wonderful storylines in this show. There are evil people, nice people, conniving people, you name it, this show has it. I told Jackie about it and I am not exaggerating when I tell you she watched the first episode one night and the other six the next day. In fact, she’s probably staying up tonight to catch up on the season two episodes on the PBS website. Jackie watched hers through Netflix so if you have Netflix, or iTunes, you can definitely watch this show and I would encourage you to do so. It is incredible! The best thing I’ve seen in a long, long time! I’ve been dreaming about this show at night, which as I’ve mentioned before is a sure sign that I love something. I even catch myself thinking about it during the day – so good people – please go watch it!
2. I’m sick of rain
3. My parents are going to Florida in April and I am joining them the second week of April for a trip to Disney (three days) and Universal Studios (AKA Harry Potter Land for one day). I wasn’t planning on taking a vacation this year since I have no money but I am going to be saving between now and then to make it happen. My parents are renting a condo or house and so they will have plenty of room and are not charging me for a bed, which is nice. I’ll be flying down on Friday, April 6 and then riding back home in the van with my dad on the 13th/14th. My mom is flying to and fro, but my dad is driving so they will have the handicap accessible van while they are there. I haven’t been to Disney since I was 12 so I am looking forward to it and we will hopefully have a lovely time.
4. My birthday is coming up – Number 35 – Terrifying! I will now have to move to the age 35-44 check box on surveys. I’d really rather stay put. Moving up to a new age group is never fun.
5. The circus is coming in April – looks like April will be a fun month. You know my dad and I love the circus and we force my mom to come along with us! I can’t wait!
6. I’ve been eating fish twice a week for dinner this year. I love Old Bay seasoning.
7. I’ve got some clothes in the dryer that I need to fold and it’s late so I’m going to wrap it up here. Hope you have a great Monday evening or Tuesday morning or whatever day it is you are reading this.
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