WOMEN...you'll get this one!! LOL

Last week, myself and two of my friends decided to go out for a lite lunch. We'd all been having a hectic time lately and AMAZINGLY we actually found a day that we were all free and able to step out for a bit.
So we chose a nice lil place w/outdoor seating, ordered some beautiful salads, delicious homemade bread and a nice bottle of light white table wine. And as women do, we all began to share our most recent conquests....frustrations....anxieties....experiences. Quite the enjoyable afternoon.
Before we knew it, 3 hours had flown by and it was - regrettably - the end of our 'play date' and time to get back to the grind that is our lives -LOL.
But before we all headed out to our cars, we of course paid the bill and then did yet another "as women do" thing...we all made a pitstop at the Ladies Room before departing.
Ok...now as I pointed out earlier, we had just spent the last 3 hours talking about pretty much EVERYthing and ANYthing that crossed our minds.....save one topic:

As I was standing at the mirror, primping, (for WHAT I don't know, afterall I was only going home to full dirty laundry basket to greet me at that time of day-LOL!) suddenly I heard that all to familiar-yet personally irritating to all women - sound of a plastic wrapper being ripped open:

KSSSHHHHHTTTTT!!!!

My one friend in the stall sort of giggled 'knowingly' and said, "You too huh?" My other friend didn't find it QUITE so funny, sounding more annoyed w/the whole process, replying with, "UGH---Why don't these things just come w/a big FOGHORN attached to it! That way EVERYBODY will REALLY know your personal business!!"

It's not so bad if your w/friends, I mean hey-all women go thru it. But my hubby works in a place where they actually have co-ed bathrooms...I can't even IMAGINE being a woman who needed to take care of things, and while there's THREE men in there ..... KSSSHHHHHTTTTTTT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO thanks!!!

We all laughed about it, but if you think about it, she's right though!! WHY can't they wrap those things in something a little more "paper" like?? Similar to a heavy-ply 'paper towel' type thing? Or maybe similar to what they make coffee filters out of? It would be more eco-friendly too!
If nothing else, just a little more discretion would be nice!! Is that too much to ask??

Please feel free to share your stories/thoughts on this one!! LOL

Makin Ends Meet----

To try to combat this crazy economy, my hubby and I are doing whatever we can to cut back our expenses. Which isn't easy when you have a family!!

We actually started "trimming the fat" a few years ago and have REALLY SEEN the difference!!

1-Cell Phone/Hell Phone!
we got rid of our 'contract' cell phones and went with the Tracfones....a decision we DON'T regret! What USED to run us almost $60-80/month EACH - is now maybe $30/month TOTAL for BOTH! Even if the economy gets better, we'll still stick w/our Tracfones. Actually getting RID of our 'bigger' cell phone bills enabled us to actually purchase a THIRD phone for my daughter.
(If you want any info on just how Tracfones work as far as expenses and other, don't hesitate to ask! I think I'm an 'unpaid' salesman for them! I've converted 5 of my friends/family to Tracfones and they absolutely LUV them!)

2-Talk, Talk, Talk....do "WE" ever shut up?!
we elimintated almost 1/2 of our total home phone bill amt by cutting back the extras. Who really NEEDS all that stuff anyway?? We signed up for a long distance plan that you ONLY pay for the LD calls you make, no charges/fees for having the abililty of making LD calls. Got rid of call waiting---hey, if you call and the line's busy...if it's THAT important they'll HANG UP AND CALL AGAIN. Three-way?? Now really....sometimes I dont even wanna hear what the ONE person on the other end is telling me! LOL And last, the voice mail...you can get a digital answering machine for a one time charge of what $10 bucks? It's really a shame of how "IN TOUCH" we have come to think we all need to be. If I'm not home, I'm not home...isn't that what all the features/functions of a cell phone is for? Why do we need all that crap on our home phone too??
Hell, I remember when they still sold phones that didn't even have TOUCH TONE capabilities!
And I'm only in my early 30's!!!

3-Frivilous Utility:
We scaled down our "ALL ACCESS" cable that practicly let us watch what happened on the moon to simple, yet sufficient, Basic cable. We usually only really watch the news or our local sporting events, which we can still do. And my daughter still gets mtv and teen disney so she's happy. Plus there's still a movie channel or 2. Normally, when we ALL sit down together to watch anything, it's usually a DVD anyway.
So now our near $120 cable bill (including internet) is now only $53(including internet!)

4-Select your Electric (usage)
-We keep the doors of rooms not being used thru the day closed to cut down on how hard we run the AC. The Bathroom, our bedroom, laundry room, and when my daughter isn't here-her bedroom.
-We put up a clothes line and I no longer use my dryer if it's even the LEAST bit nice outside. If it's rainy and I HAVE to dry clothes, here's a tip to cut down on the 'in the dryer' time. Once your wash has gone thru the spin cycle, move the clothes around to 'loosen' them back up from being smooshed against the sides--then run the spin cycle again. The MORE water you can get out of the load, the less time it'll take in the dryer, therefore saving a bit of usage. ANYTHING that pulls heat uses a LOT of electric. The spin cycle of your washer won't use nearly as much electric as a large dryer load w/heat.

5-Splish Splash
OK, so this one goes without saying...don't run the laundry/dishwasher until you have a full load!
6-Hey, ya gotta eat!
Our most favorite endevour to cutting back is that we put in our own lil garden! We planted some yellow and red onions, roma tomatoes, beefsteak tomatoes, red-green-yellow bell peppers, jalepeneos, banana peppers, summer squash, cucumbers, and an herb garden w/parsley, italian basil, chives, cilantro, rosemary.....here's a pic of some of our fist picks!

We also seem to be utilizing the apple trees and berry bushes in our backyard woods too.

Our local "Shop-n-Save" and "Save A Lot" grocery stores have a "5 for $19.99" meat special all the time. They take meats that are nearing the sale dates and place them in one area of the store, you pick ANY 5 pkgs and pay on 19.99....everything from steaks, hamburger, roasts, ribs, chops, sausage, chicken, ham, kielbasa, hot sausages...you name it! I always stock up and get $40 at a time...bring it home, divide it up into dinner size portions, and freeze it right away. I'VE not YET had ANYTHING be bad and it's usually enough to feed us for almost 2 1/2 weeks~

Don't be afraid of 'discount' groceries! Nonperishables that may be found in the "scratch/dent" clearance buggy or discount grocery stores has nothing wrong w/the contents---it's just the packaging! I can stretch $100 worth of groceries to last for 2 weeks for a family of 3. You just have to be creative! Large bags of potatoes/rice can really add some healthy 'bulk' to your pantry...and can be made SO many diff ways, your family won't feel like they're eating the same thing all the time.

Well..........I suppose this should close out this "installment" of my "Makin Ends Meet----" Perhaps as I come up w/new advice/tips/ideas, I'll come back and post them.......

If YOU have any ideas/tips/suggestions, please post them here!~!

OH---to go back!

My hubby and I had taken a trip to the Smokey Mountains in TN last Sept. It was wonderful!

We found an adoreable lil cabin in the Pigeon Forge area and were only maybe 5-10 min away from Gaitlinburg---a beautiful area!

We stayed for a whole week and didn't want to leave....you know how alot of times when you get back home after a long trip, you always think

"It's nice to get away, but it's also nice to come home."??

Well, we didn't think that!!

So now that we're having to face the fact that....due to the crazy gas prices and therefore, prices of EVERYTHING else....we're going to have to have a STAYcation rather than a VAcation....we find ourselves talking about our lil cabin more and more......

An Outside view of the cabin, the front porch and a couple

"Front Porch Rocker" views

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Entering the front door, your'll find the living/dining/kitchen area...it was SO

quaint and cozy w/all the hard wood, HIGH pitched ceilings and Stone fireplace!

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Off from the living room, was the pool room.

This was the FIRST time I'd EVER shot pool!

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Off from the Bedroom was a covered, screened in porch w/a hot tub

and wicker furniture.

Ahhhhhh---we spent a LOT of time here after all the sight-seeing!!

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There was some TERRIFIC shopping in Gaitlinburg. We spent the ENTIRE day there just walking and checkin out all the great shops.

There's an entire area called "The Village" and its full of "old style" shops, stoney walkways, great coffee shops and food....a must see! It's like an outdoor mall in The Village.

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There's just SO much to see and do!

Even though we were there for a whole week, there's STILL so much we hadn't seen yet.

SO.....although we may not make it back THIS year, we're certainly going to go back eventually!

What to Do when she wants a NEW DO!

Ahhhh------13, what a wonderful age LOL!!

My lovely daughter came to me the other night at almost 11 pm, with wet hair and a wishful look in her eyes..... I looked at her and said "WHAT in the world are you doing up?>>>And WHY is your hair all wet?!"

Then I noticed she had a magazine in her hand...."uh oh", I thought. She then went on to say that she couldn't sleep so she started reading thru some of her old mags.
Apparently, she found a haircut she wanted and washed her hair in the hopes I could magically reproduce the image from the page onto her.

Her hair is like mine, very thick and full of body when cut short. But she had never had her hair cut short---and I've been hoping for SO long that she would want to try it one day. Well, that day had come!
So I looked at the picture, looked back at her and asked, "Are you sure? 'Cause we can't put it back if you change your mind!" She just laughed and gave me that "OH MOM...." wave of the hand.

With my straight scissors, razor scissors and comb in tow...away we went. I cut, and cut, and cut....and cut some more....then a little more. She took a look, smiled and said, "Shorter!" Who am I to argue? So I cut some more!!

And here's the outcome>>>>>>

BEFORE:

This was from her first day of school this PAST school year....so her hair was a LOT longer by the time we cut it! I think in all I cut off 8-9" in base length...plus added some long layers.

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AFTER:

I snapped this one as she was on her way out the door after a shower...so this is the "Wash n Go" look~ LOL~

Now HERE...she's ROCKIN her NEW DO!

LOL!!