Free groceries?

Wouldn't that be nice? Especially with inflation the way it is. Yesterday evening a family got that. Well I should say I assume they got them free because I don't want to accuse anyone of anything. Being the lazy mother that I tend to be when I'm busy, I had no plans for supper last night. We decided on a frozen pizza(only b/c it was late and I didn't have the stuff to make our own), so we head off to the store. We get our pizza and a few other unplanned items. You know how that goes right? We pay and walk out the door $25 poorer and 4 or 5 items. We get in the car to go and I happened to look over at the store to see a man run out of the store to a car off the side of the store. I didn't think much of it until I saw him push the hand basket of groceries in the car. My child said something and I turned around to see what she wanted. Then I saw the car drive by. Really not even speeding. It took a few minutes for my mind to process what had happened. I looked at my husband and told him " I think they just stole groceries". It saddened me really. From outward appearances, it appeared that it was a poor family who didn't have the money to feed the child in the backseat. But whats even more sad is nowadays you can't assume that's the case.
I guess there's really no point to this post. Just to make me more thankful for what I have. And I'm thankful that I have family and friends I know I could always go to if I needed money to buy food for my child.

You know you're a redneck.........

when you wait at the bus stop for your child on a 4 wheeler. On the first full day of Autumn with no inclement weather. And you're on a paved public road. Hmmmm go figure!

Ice cream truck

Ahh the awaited sound of summer. You know the tune that gets stuck in your head once you hear it 50,000 times as the truck is driving around the neighborhood? (do your ears hang low can you toss them to and fro? can you tie them in a knot, can you tie them in a bow? can you toss them over your shoulder like a continental soldier? do your ears hang low?) Well my child has waited all summer for the anticipated truck to drive down our road. We could hear it in different parts of the neighborhood but it never showed up. Finally we heard it about a little while ago. We got up and looked out the window to see it drive by. So we got outside and see it parked at the end of the road. What do we do? We get out flip-flops and start walking. $2 and a snow cone later we are walking back up the street, but not before the driver calls up back and asks us how to get out of the neighborhood. Shouldn't the directions been at least worth a dollar off? Oh well, at least my child is happy she finally got ice cream from the ice cream truck!

Soapbox Saturday

Sounds pretty catchy. Maybe I'll keep it up weekly, maybe I won't. If I don't I'm sure it won't be for lack of a topic. I have 2 for today.
#1) Birthday parties
It's great to celebrate your child's birthday. But do we have to invite every child in the class? And expect them to attend and bring a gift? Here's the way it usually goes for us. We get an invitation. If we decide to go, we go get a gift. I usually limit it to $10 a gift. I think that's fair and you can get a decent gift for that, cheaper if you find something on sale. We go to the party, my child has fun, but I know no one there usually. It's all fun and games. Then it's time for my child's birthday party. Now I could care less if she gets lots of presents, but in today's society it is expected. But do all the kids whose parties she attended show up? Usually not and that's half the fun, celebrating with your friends. Then to top it off, most of the presents you get in return have no thought put into it. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining about presents. Here's my thing. Times are tight. I pay for a bday party for my child for her to have fun with friends. To me that is the present. I know it's not to her but I am trying to teach her that. Most people nowadays focus on the principle of "more kids, more presents". Not everyone can afford to buy a gift and sometimes don't come to the party or buy something that's "cheap" for that very reason. Most will spend $5 on this "cheap" gift, so why not get a gift card for that? A few $5 add up and it's better than something that breaks the first time they play with it. Why can't we get back to the way things used to be where you had a good ole birthday party at your house with cake and ice cream and played pin the tail on the donkey? And if you didn't have the money to buy a gift you made a card and put a few dollars in it? If you didn't have that, you just brought a card. I know some of you may not understand where I am coming from but oh well, it's my blog! I hope to teach my child to understand it's not all about the party and what you get from it. Hopefully I will succeed in that. So now we are off to a birthday party for a kid in her class. I'm hoping I know at least one parent there. I"ll try to post on soapbox #2 tonight!

New furniture

I"m so excited!! With the economy going down the drain, stores are having great deals on expensive items. Last weekend being Labor Day, the sales got even better. Our furniture is still in good shape, but it's what my hubby had bought years before we were married. In other words, it's not what I would have picked out. It's over 10 years old but doesn't look it. Most of the furniture stores around our areas were having great sales for Labor Day. We decided to go look and if we found something, great! If not it wouldn't be a big deal. We made our way to the Lazy Boy Gallery. Now the only dilemma of course was we disagreed on what to get. We have a reclining couch and rocker now. I don't care too much about the recliners because most of them are poofy on top. I want the more traditional look. Hubby didn't. He wanted recliners. So we went out in search for traditional looking furniture that reclined. I expected a long search. In total we went to 3 stores. We found our compromise at Lazy Boy. We settled on a sectional that is more traditional looking but we have 3 recliners on it. Plus we got a rocker/recliner and 2 new tables. The rocker is leather, but we had the sectional covered in a fabric that looks and feels like leather. It's beautiful!! (as a child, I never thought I would be excited about furniture lol) Now I'm sure most of you are thinking new furniture with a 5 y/o, are you crazy?!?!? Well they had "insurance" in the form of a lifetime guarantee and a stain guard they would put on the fabric(for an extra charge of course). But with a 5 y/o it's worth the money. It was a reasonable cost. It prevents any stains by beading up any liquid that is spilled on it and the lifetime guarantee is for rips and tears. If it ever gets a stain we can't wipe off, or a tear or burn or anything, it will be replaced for FREE for LIFE! Isn't that great. I only have 5-7 more weeks to wait for it!

I'm not lost

I'm still here. I've just been busy spending time with my family and haven't been spending as much time on the computer. I really shouldn't be on here now. I should be cleaning up the house but true to myself I'm procrastinating. 8o)