Sunday is a Fun Day (in the Snow)

This picture represents our Sunday, yesterday here at home... this is what made our Sunday a fun day. We tackled the back yard on this day... and watching Sampson eat as much snow as he can successfully get into his mouth and trying to get the football from us is most entertaining. Maybe we will be blessed with more snow this winter...

Fried Chicken Is The Fifth Food Group?

Friday I spent the day with my grandmother… doctor’s appointment first… we were there almost TWO hours! We kept sitting there waiting for them to call her name and she just kept on saying over and over, “how much longer?” and “what is taking so long?” and “I am ready to go eat”…it is like having a 79 year old child with no way to shush her to keep quiet. Finally, after a good report from the doctor, we went to lunch.
My grandmother LOVES this hole-in-the-wall restaurant just up the road from where she lives that serves nothing but good ol’ southern food. One of those “meat and three veggies” places… you know what I am talking about… Well, pretty much ALL of these type places almost ALWAYS has fried chicken on the line as a back-up meat (just in case you don’t prefer meatloaf or Salisbury steak or beef tips-n-gravy- which I think ALL of these are made from some sorta “mystery” meat myself!). Well this particular day they only had fried fish, baked chicken and some kind of beef concoction so we both opted for the fried chicken. Well, she prefers white meat and I like the dark. Of course, for some reason (which I have NEVER understood) all restaurants think that white meat does not qualify for a child’s plate. And my grandmother always wants a child’s plate portion meal but with WHITE meat. I tried to sway her from the subject by over-dramatizing how good the sweet potato soufflé looked today (that is her FAVORITE side of ALL time and thank the Lord it was on the buffet today!)… but, when we got up to the register and they rang up two adult priced plates she started getting antsy and asking me if they charged for a child’s plate… she is hitting my arm while I am trying to get the cash out of my pocket and into the lady’s hand as quickly as possible… and she is just a talking and carrying on behind me about the price… I hated to do it but, I finally turned around and shushed her to get her to stop. It is so hard to juggle a tray with two plates of food, pay for the meal, and listen to her nagging all the while sweating profusely because the heat must be on 80 degrees in this place. I could not get the tray and her to a table fast enough! Now she just sits there quietly and I explain that a chicken breast from some odd reason qualifies as an adult portion and that of course turns into the main subject for the entire meal…. How do I get myself into these situations??
After lunch, we cruise to the beauty shop so she can get her weekly hair curling/setting/whatcha-ma-callit… Nothing like hanging out at the beauty shop with the geriatrics crowd… I tried to pass my time doing Sudoku puzzles but one older gentleman just on kept talking about his wife of 57 years and how his cell phone only gets him in trouble. I finally spoke up after listening to him for 10 minutes and only when my cell phone rang and said, “well my husband of 16 months is calling so I better answer”. His reply was that I had a long ways to catch up with him! And I am thinking to myself, “buddy, there is NO way I will make it to 57 years of marriage at my age and the rate at which I am aging these days…”
We finally make it back to her home and I leave for Marietta just in the nick of time to sit in Friday afternoon traffic… I did find out the results of my MRI on the way home that day. I have a “mild asymmetric thickening of the extradural soft tissues in my right lateral spinal canal at C5-6” which in slang terms means an enlarged disc in my neck. I knew that the nerves in question were my C5-6 because those are the nerves that run from my neck to my index and middle fingers. And those two fingers of mine go numb all of the time! So this week I have to go back to my doctor and set up an appointment with a neurologist… now that sounds about as fun as eating gravel… But, it would be nice to get the feeling back in the tip of my middle finger on my left hand…it seems to have permanently gone numb for the past couple of weeks now… I know…weird, very weird…

Snow Day 2008

Today brought us a nice layer of snow to play in... it started mid-morning and snowed pretty much most of the day. We finally made it outside to play after lunch. Sampson had a ball! He kept jumping and running and trying to EAT the snow!! Yes, if you throw snowballs, he eats them! He just keep biting at the snow the ground- it is really odd in my opinion... I took a LOT of pics- if you interested go to my Picasa photo site under the Snow album. I suppose we will be iced in tomorrow... fun, fun...



Yes, Sampson played with the football too!


Sampson taking a break from eating the snow!

The Credit Card Saga Continues

My post earlier this week in regards to my cutting up my Visa cards seems to have really sparked some interest.... So I want to add a few thoughts tonight. First of all, we do pay off the cards pretty much every month... the Am Ex you have to! But, having 3 or 4 cards is just too much... in today's world of identity theft, forgery, etc. I think that each card is just one more target for the thief to hit. I firmly believe that when a person goes shopping with a credit card in their wallet they tend to spend more money because they can use the card and pay it off later whether it takes a month or many months. But, if you go shopping with cash or your debit card, then you tend to be more frugal with your purchases and not "splurge" every time or make a spur-of-the-moment buy when you really did not need it anyway! I have been terrible in the past about seeing something that caught my eye and at that moment I convinced myself that I had to have that item and just whipped ol' Mr. Visa one more time... After a while, if you keep doing it and you are not paying it off each month then the next thing you know your balance is up to thousands of dollars! There was a time in my life when I almost always relied on my tax refund and/or my yearly bonus to pay off my credit card because all year long before those two funds came in I kept the thought in my head that "I will just pay my card off when tax or bonus time arrives". Isn't that insane in the membrane? What would have happened if a) I lost my job or the company did not give out bonuses for some reason or b) I had to pay taxes instead of getting a refund? Then, what would I have done? I sure as heck could not go ask my family for any money... or the bank... I look at it like this: my grandparents raised me in a household that did not have credit cards or credit accounts. We paid cash for EVERY thing... and somehow they managed to raise my father and then me on MINIMAL income (it is almost unbelievable what few wages a hairdresser and a carpenter make) and we did not starve for food or freeze in the winter. We had shelter over our heads and a freezer full of food that we raised ourselves or came from the neighbor's garden up the road. Yes, I never had name-brand clothes or fancy gadgets like I do now... but, my grandparents raised me in a loving home, clothed me and instilled morals and values in me that will last my lifetime. And one of those is not to be greedy. And my having 3 or 4 credit cards makes me greedy. So, when we cash in those 103,000 skymiles in April for our two free plane tickets to Key West, FL for a small beach vacation, the Am Ex is a goner. In the meantime, we are saving, saving, saving for what? A rainy day? A fancy new car? Expensive jewelry? NO! We are saving for retirement... NOW... so we don't have to WORK for the rest of our energetic years. Oh, and kudos to my loving, wonderful husband for AGAIN putting me on the straight and narrow when planning for our future together....
Oh, and one more thing, to the anonymous person who commented on my blog that carrying cash is for OLD people and how disappointed they are in me for cutting up my Visa, you should be ashamed... the other comment was completely the opposite from yours... makes me wonder who you are....

PS
Happy 100th Blog to me! This is officially my 100th blog on the Blogger... kudos to myself.

Snow!

I drove home last night for almost TWO hours in SNOW!! It was like driving through a blizzard from Norcross to Marietta... the interstates were a parking lot so I had to take the side roads... nothing like sitting in a winter wonderland on the road in stop and go traffic... more stop than go!!!

Parting Ways With An Old Friend

I finally did it. I cut up my credit card. I made the decision to part ways with an old friend of mine... me and Mr. Visa have been friends for quite a long time now... but, not any more! One down, one more to go...
My husband is so proud of me at this moment...
And he says that Dave Ramsey is proud of me too....

Those "just in case" days are over. I always kept the cards just in case I needed them. I felt like I had to have them just in case something came up. Just in case an emergency happened and using that card instead of my own money was the answer...
Living life debt-free is mind over matter. Period.

Getting Back To My Roots

Nowadays it seems that we are in Pine Mountain almost every week and the more we are there the more we long to be there MORE... Mike has the itch bad... the itch to be there and away from the traffic and hustle and bustle that surrounds us daily here in Atlanta... the thought of living in a "slower" lifestyle area coupled with living out of eyesight from the neighbors and being one with nature... yadda yadda yadda... this idea just seems to lure him more and more to the idea that we need to move down there sooner than what we agreed on last fall. And I have to agree that the more I think about living there and envisioning what life will be like, it is a little exciting.
During one of our visits back in November, I took a couple of my grandmother's cast iron skillets and brought them home. I really wanted to start cooking with these- just like she used to. One of my fondest childhood memories is "helping" her cook cornbread. Cornbread was a staple in our home... it was served with every meal. My grandfather LOVED it. In the winter, it was especially great because my grandmother would add "cracklins" to it. This is a very southern tradition for those of you who do not know. So along with trying to remember her recipe for perfect cornbread, I went on a quest for cracklins. Well let's just say that NO where in the metro Atlanta area sells them. And where did my Mother finally find them for me? In Pine Mountain of course! So I bought two bags and put them in the freezer. My first attempt at the cracklin cornbread recipe was a little dry... not enough buttermilk. But, the second was PERFECT! She would be so proud of me! Even my husband (who was raised Yankee-style unfortunately) thought it was pretty darn good. So now I am happy to make cornbread any time we have guests over. Of course, I also want to learn how to can veggies and make jams, jellies, perserves, etc.... But, that will not happen until I live down there and have some instruction from the ladies back home.
Needless to say, I could kick myself now for not paying attention to her then and taking the time to learn how to do these things... especially now that I am planning our pilgrimage back to my hometown in a few short years. It is just seems right to carry on the family tradition after we get there... I better start studying her old cookbooks now...