Tip of the Day

I have a friend who is almost famous for her tips, so I thought I would share this one. I was watching a special on tv with Suzy Orman and she said your finances would never be in order until your wallet was in order. I thought this is the craziest thing I ever heard, but I decided to give it a try. I would put money anywhere in my purse, wallet, side pockets and would never really know how much I had or how much I had spent. Now, I'm not talking hundreds of dollars, I'm talking what's kept from my check every Friday. It was amazing to me that now I seem to have enough cash to get me to the following Friday and don't have to hit the ATM.
I seemed like such a small thing to do, but it's one I think I'll keep doing.

Last Year's Sunflowers

I promised the photos of some giant sunflowers from last year. Here they are.

The Birthday Gift

This weekend my daughter, grandson Jacob and I are going to visit our dear friends B & H. It' s H's birthday and every year since Jacob has been old enough, he has been the one to pick out H's very special birthday gift. They are not your run of the mill birthday gifts. Each one is hand picked with love by Jacob who is 5 years old and loves H more than anyone deserves to be loved...just kidding.

This year is no different. We already have one picked out, it's just making certain we can get it this time of year. So, the other day I said to Jacob, what are you thinking about H's birthday gift. He thought for a moment and said...I know. I think he needs more soap. Well, I thought it was something to do with washing their hands, but no. It's much more scientific than that. Last year in their garden deer were eating some of the vegetables, and as a deterrent H would hang a bar of soap and hopefully save the veggies. Jacob remembered this and thought soap for H's birthday would be right on target. Now I just need to know the brand, cause I don't want to come empty-handed, or with Ivory when it should have been Dove.

Political Talk Show Hosts

Who is this Rachel Madow or Maddow person? and, how did she get her own talk show, and why does she have her own talk show. She talks out of the side of her mouth. and she has a disgusting little laugh. And, in her eyes the new president is the second coming, and in case things don't go his way she will most likely blame a republican. All of this slightly amusing til last night and she jumps on Eric Cantor's case. Then it gets personal. He's one of the few people i actually voted for this election.

Changes...they are a-coming

Wow, so much going on I don't even know where to start. The partnership here has dissolved, there's a new "silent" partner (with megabucks), we are moving to a new location. Our hours have been cut back, but hopefully that won't last too long. That's it in a nutshell, but that's nothing compared to what's going on in my insides. My grandson Jacob has a hard time with change, and if I was a five year old I think I would be kicking and screaming now too. I don't do that because I have learned how to bury everything inside and instead of kicking and screaming I have headaches and neck aches and stomach pains-all socially acceptable.

Merry Christmas and Thank You Bek.....

This is my brand new stove. It arrived yesterday morning, a Christmas gift from my daughter. My old one gave out about a month and a half ago, so I've been cooking with my microwave and crock pot and George Foreman grill. It really hasn't been terrible except there was no baking for the holidays which I usually do. All my major cooking for Thanksgiving and Christmas was done at my daughter's house. I don't know how to thank her. I've already said it, but it doesn't seem to be enough..not for me anyway. So many times she has just taken care of what I needed and never complained.

I love her and that crazy kid of hers with or without the stove. Thank you Bek. I love you more than you can imagine. Mom

The Big Bailout

First there was the Wall St. bailout, then the Main St. bailout, now the auto industry bailout. Well, how about My Bailout. I think I speak for millions of us who get up everyday and go to work (thank God) and try to do the right thing. We pay our mortgages and car payments and credit card bills on time, we pay our share of taxes and then some. But all these billions of dollars are not going to help me or people like me if our little company goes under. Who is going to say here is your share of the bailout money? We want your company to succeed.

The owners were talking this morning, and if we don't get just a little more business I honestly don't know where we'll be this time next month. And, to tell you the truth I don't think I can go through this again. In two months I will be 60 years old. Who in their right mind would hire a 60 year old woman. I don't believe I have the emotional, physical or financial strength to start over one more time. I just don't have the heart for it. I know it would mean I could file for foreclosure and bankruptcy all in the same day.

I'm not ordinarily a complainer, but everyday on the news they talk more money than I can even imagine and I wonder when and if some of that will filter down to those of us who really need it to survive. Tonight my prayer will be for the strength to know that God will get me through this as always.