I'm on a roll. My friend Ellen at Bad Word Mama! has again honored me with an award, specifically the Liebster Award. That's two she's passed on to me. Before this I've barely received two awards in my life. WooHoo! Thanks Ellen!
You know how this works....I have to answer her questions, then pass on some of my own:
1. How do you feel about PDA (Public Display of Affection)? It doesn't bother me as long as they don't get too grab ass about it.
2. Have you ever dumped someone on a holiday? Big time. Sadly, my ex and I split around Thanksgiving many years ago.
3. Have you ever locked yourself in another room to eat a snack you didn't want to share with your kids? Not to avoid the kids, but the dog. He's a beggar.
4. Do you know what a Shart is? Have you ever done it? Never heard of it, but I'm pretty sure it has something to do with farm animals and sex. Nope, I'll pass.
5. Do you embarrass easily? Not easily, but when I finally do I turn red as a firetruck.
6. Do you laugh when someone falls down? You mean like on America's Funniest Video's? Yes, always! In real life, sure, as long as they aren't hurt.
7. If you could change something about yourself what would it be? I wish I could be more tech savvy.
8. Do you pee in the shower? No. I save it all up for my neighbor's pool.
9. Have you ever read someones text messages on their phone without them knowing? No.
10. What is your guilty pleasure? Spending money on some expensive luxury I don't need. Cars come immediately to mind. :)
11. Do you hate answering these stupid ass questions? No, but frankly I enjoy READING them more than answering them. Haha!
OK, now I get to have some fun, too. My friend Joe at Cranky Old Man and I are having a back and forth right now, so I'd like to pass the Liebster Award on to him, but first he has to answer my delicately posed questions:
1. You say you're an award whore. What would you be willing to do for a Nobel Prize (Literature)?
2. Have you ever been in a public setting...the train going to work or a meeting for example, then noticed your fly was open?
3. Have you ever pulled the old "car trouble" or "out of gas" trick in a quiet place with a date?
4. Ginger or Mary Ann?
5. If you could go back in a time machine to another era, which era would you choose?
6. What was the worst car you ever owned?
7. From your personal experience, what is the most comfortable brand of adult diaper?
8. Do you play any musical instruments?
9. When talking with an attractive woman have you ever been caught looking where you shouldn't be looking?
10. If money were no object, where would you like to own a vacation home?
11. How many US states have you been to?
Thanks again for the Liebster Award, Ellen. You're up Joe.
S
*Your picture here*
Okay, I've already made fun of New Year's resolutions saying nobody ever follows through, but I'm having second thoughts about the subject. For the past year my friend Pixel has been updating us on her "54 by 54" project....54 things she wants to do/try before her 54th birthday. Now Bug wants to do something similar and has listed a few things on her blog. One of them struck a nerve with me: She wants to pay off a considerable chunk of her debt.
K and I need to do the same. I say "need", which isn't true. We can easily afford our lifestyle and service our debt, but still, it's debt. Ewwww! If we didn't have that debt we could perhaps take some of those exotic vacations we've dreamed of. Other than that I don't really want for anything.
K, on the other hand, has dropped hints recently about us buying/building a home. I have no burning desire for one, but I'm not opposed, either. I've had many homes over the past 35 years and what I remember most is the work that comes with them. All K sees is decorating it just the way she wants, with all the features she's seen on Pintrest (?) and in magazines. If I could find a suitable property I could probably build one for what we're paying now in monthly rent, so financially it makes sense. And of course I want her to be happy....a pretty powerful argument.
Still, that debt (much of it medical related) complicates either travel or a new home. Our big vices are dining out and buying books/magazines. As things are now we can't walk out our apartment door without dropping $20-$40. It would be quite a shock to stay in more and eat "Helper", but it would probably be a good exercise in self-control. I think we need to do this.
Resolution.
S
I read where there is a fledgling movement underway in North Dakota to entirely do away with property taxes. 'Course, the pesky 'ol issue of how to replace the loss of revenue remains (and no, they haven't found THAT much oil!). One quote I heard did make sense, however. A guy said. "Even if my house were paid for, I'd still have those taxes. We're always renters, never homeowners."
Interesting... Case in point, my brother has a large house, a true McMansion, and his monthly taxes are more than my rent. True, he and his wife have 5-times the space to ramble around in than K and I do, but so what? How much space to you need to eat, sleep, read the paper, and watch TV? I can understand a bit larger home during those years you're raising a family, but those years do have an expiration date.
We as a society seem intent on living in larger and larger houses, I guess because we need the space for the more and more stuff we buy. It's just a vicious circle. And if we one day decide we'll "downsize", that's when we realize all that stuff we've spent a lifetime collecting will have to be discarded, something most of us are unwilling to do.
My advice? Learn early on to buck the trend and live modest. Instead of impressing your friends with your "stuff", impress them with photos of your world travels for example. Travels you could afford because you didn't buy all that "stuff".
You'll now excuse me while I leave my Apple computer, turn off my big screen TV, and go sit in my overstuffed leather chair and read my Kindle. Have a good day everyone. ;)
S
It never really dawned on me until now how much my holiday plans revolved around my dearly departed dog, Emma Belle. Every major holiday....that would be the Big Three: Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas....K and I drove the 75 miles to spend the day with her parents. We timed things so that we could make the round-trip drive and visit and still be back home within 6, maybe 7 hours. I just didn't want to make Emma "hold it" longer than that. Now we no longer have that time constraint. It feels weird.
This evening my family will assemble at my daughter Erica's home to have our Christmas. With married daughters come dual families (in-laws) for them to spend time with, so I just get in line and take my turn. I'm not real picky.
For that matter, and I write about this every year, I'm not a "Christmas" person. I'm just not. It's just weeks and weeks of going to places I don't want to go to, seeing people I don't want to see, doing things I don't want to do....but of course I do it anyway because it's "Christmas". With my family we agreed years ago to just have gifts for the kids, but not the adults. We're all relatively affluent and can just go out and buy what we want/need, so please, spare me another shirt. As for K and I, she's getting a new Kindle Fire and I'm inheriting her almost-new old-style Kindle. Fine with me. (It's OK, it's not a secret.)
Shame we can't just all sit down and think about why we celebrate Christmas and forget about all the hoopla that its become. And personally, I'll think about how blessed I am and about my late Emma Belle and how much fun she made my life for all those years.
Merry Christmas, everyone, and Happy Birthday Jesus. And a special Merry Christmas to you, too, Miss Belle.
S
