Have you ever noticed that when children play they are practicing for real life? This evening it really hit me.
The girls set up a small town in our play room. It included houses, a bank and a store. I remember doing this as a kid, but their play scenarios worked out differently that what we did when I was young.
After they cleaned up, my 7 year old (Maggie) came to me and told me I should be so proud of her. “Why Maggie?” She responded that she did not get into debt! Her big sister was in charge of the bank and her cousin was the store cashier. They were encouraging Maggie to buy more stuff and Bethany was trying to get her to take loans from the bank so she’d have money for the cashier. Then the banker (Bethany) was going to make Maggie work for her to pay off the debt!
I asked Bethany if she enjoyed playing “store” (that’s what we used to call it). She responded, “We were not playing store. We were playing economy.”
Today we went to the Houston Ballet to see The Nutcracker. I started taking Bethany when she was 2 years old (now nine) and we’ve been ever your since. The performance was really good this year. And I was encouraged to see a packed house, especially when the cheapest tickets are $75 each. And I think the audience applause was much greater this year. Maybe we’re just appreciating life a little more nowadays.
Each year we go with our friend Kate. This year my niece Kristin joined us. She is the beautiful girl in the black dress. Tonight Kate is sleeping over and all five girls are upstairs playing store. I love that ages 4 to 11 can play like children. We make them grow up so fast these days, so to watch them just being kids is a good thing.
I have to complete 15 hours of continuing legal education each year to keep my attorney license. I absolutely HATE CLE. It is sooooo boring. It is due each year at the end of November, so I’ve been needing to get it done.
I was never a good at sitting still and listening. It is amazing I went to law school b/c I had to spend so many hours sitting in a classroom. I don’t even like going to the movie b/c I have to sit still too long. I rarely sit down and watch TV for longer than 15 minutes.
To ease the pain of listening to online CLE classes, today I set my computer up in my closet and cleaned out clothes while I listened to these lectures. That is double boring. But both needed to be done and I knocked out two things at once. And I actually learned more b/c I was moving around while listening. I retain more if I’m busy while learning.
I can see this trait in my daughters also, especially Maggie. Since we homeschool, I let her get a drawing pad and do her art assignment while she listens to a lecture on her laptop. She doesn’t look like she is paying attention, but I’ll quiz her and am amazed what she learned. If I made her sit up and have her eyes on the lecturer, she would zone out and not listen.
For Christmas, the girls are getting a large trampoline for outside and a smaller exercise on for inside. I’m going to try doing school while they are jumping. We’ll knock out PE and math flashcards at the same time!
This has also been a factor in my spiritual growth. I’ve started having my quiet time in the morning while I put on my makeup. I tried getting in a chair with a cup of coffee and being “still” with the Lord. I still do it sometimes, but get more out of my new way of spending time in the Word. Now I listen to online Bible reading, sermons, etc. every morning while drinking coffee and getting ready. It works great. It is how I think. It doesn’t fit the mold of what many in the church advocate, but I’m getting more out of my time than I was before.
My point today is that we learn differently. If you are a person (or have a child) who does not do well sitting still, try learning other ways. With technology today, the sky is the limit.
All this stuff without coupons and sales would have been about $116. I checked out three times. The first time I used a $25 gift card we rec’d from a transfer prescription promo. Then I used ECBs to pay for the next two checkouts. I left with $37.50 in ECBs for my next trip. So if you count the gift card as cash, I made a profit of $12.50! If you want to see the details of how to do this deal, see this post at moneysavingmom.
I purchased: 2 boxes of toothpaste, 2 bottles of shampoo, 2 revlon lip pencils, 2 revlon mascaras, 1 box tampons, 2 packs of hair ties, one bottle lotion, 2 bottles of foundation, 1 pressed powder, 2 lip gloss tubes, 1 pack of face cleansing clothes, 1 nail polish, and one large choc bar!
Gerald Celente predicted on Fox News that we’ll be wanting food for 2012 Christmas, not presents. Future economic failure. See the Fox News interview.
Gerald Celente has a solid track record. He has predicted everything from the 1987 stock market crash and the demise of the Soviet Union to green marketing and corporate downsizing.— The Detroit News
Tonight we had a really good dinner and it only cost about $5 to make… so I thought I’d share. We had hamburger chili steak, gravy, smothered potatoes and green beans. Yes, I grew up in East Texas. Anything “smothered” with a little grease sounds good to me.
When Kroger’s had angus ground beef 1/2 off ($1.99/lb), I made a few steak patties. I put half in the freezer and gave some to a friend for burgers. Take 2 pounds of ground beef. Add 1/4 cup chopped onion, one tablespoon of steak seasoning, one egg and 1/2 bottle of Heinz Chili Sauce. I purchased the sauce on sale with a coupon a while back. Form into large patties. At least 24 hours before cooking, place in your fridge to thaw if you had these in the freezer. These are excellent for make ahead meals.
To cook, I placed on my stove top grill pan and cooked like a hamburger. Then I removed and placed on a paper towel. To make the gravy, add 1/4 cup of flour to the pan I used for your burgers and cook with the leftover drippings. Add 1 1/2 cups of milk and press out lumps of flour with a fork. Heat until thickened. If too thick, add more milk. Salt and pepper to taste.
If you’re having smothered potatoes with this, start them before you start the meat. This dish would also be good with rice. I use one potato for every person. I usually get bags of potatoes on the mark down section of my Krogers for $1. I bring them home and toss any that are bad. I place the rest in my fridge. You’re really not supposed to refrigerate potatoes (I’ve heard), but it works for me and keeps them longer. Last time I found the produce manager clearing out all the shelves and putting out a fresh batch. There was nothing wrong with these and I got 20 pounds of russet potatoes for $2.
Slice the potatoes into large fries. I used a cast iron pot, heated and put about 1/2 cup of veg oil in the bottom. You want enough to coat the potatoes, but not to fry them. When this is hot, add the potatoes. I also added 1/2 of an onion. sliced. Once they get to cooking, stir so both sides cook evenly. Then cover and let them “smother” while you make your hamburger steak. Turn the temp to low. By the time your meat is done, these will be soft and delicious. I added garlic salt and pepper.
I served with the frozen green beans I bought last week (or two?). So they were about $.50.
This meal was about $1 per person. We were all full and happy.
Groceries in Houston are still remarkably low. If you shop sales and cook from scratch, it is amazing how low your food cost can be. Today I shopped at Foodarama. I’ve heard several folks who refuse to shop at this store, but I don’t understand why. It is clean and carries name brand products. Granted it is not a flagship Randalls, but Pillsbury Cream Cheese is the same at both stores…. except for the price. If you hit some of the less prestigious stores and shop their sales, you can sale a ton without even using manufacturer coupons. I did not have one manufacturer coupon for this trip. It was $31.87 dollars. I only need milk, cheese and another meat product for this to feed our family for one week.
I am for the ability to be an open homosexual in our country without persecution. If a person loses his or her right for sexual preference, then I lose my right to speak my mind about issues that are controversial and not politically correct.
When I mean without persecution, I mean they should not be harassed. If they think my man/woman lifestyle is wrong, they should have the right to say so. I in turn, should also have the ability to speak my opinion on the culture in our country. If either of us loses this, we are all in trouble.
I get very frustrated, however, when a group of people try to force another group of people to cater to their lifestyle. In New Jersey, (see the story here) a homosexual sued EHarmony because they would not matchmake for this guy since he wanted another guy, not a woman. This is a private business that has a Christian foundation. They should have the right to do business in a way that lines up with their values. This guy is forcing his values on them. He is being very “intolerant”.
What if someone walks in and wants to be set up with a farm animal? Does EHarmony have to comply? Maybe this person has a “thing” for certain animals and is fine with this lifestyle. If EHarmony cannot choose who they “set up” where does it end? I know this is extreme, but the logic follows to extreme cases.
The article in my link talks about food. We would never force a Jew to sell pork in his Kosher grocery store or a Muslim business to sell alcohol. Or what if Christians walked into a Muslim bookstore and demanded they carry Bibles? Muslims should have the right to exclude the Bible from their bookstores.
We are in a time where the rights of many are being curtailed for a few. I believe this hurts all Americans, even those fighting for this change.
Posted by Kris 
Posted by Kris 
Posted by Kris 
