Love and Logic

One of the million and twenty reasons I love my husband is that he not only has the ability to dream, but he believes that he deserves good things, and that good things are coming his way. 

I can tell you that I don't know what on earth he loves me for, but he told me that he fell in love with me on the night we met because I was able to close my eyes and imagine that the cars that were zipping by the little al fresco pub were actually ocean waves.  (Every so often a tractor-trailer would plow by and ruin the illusion, but on the whole, it works.)

But in defining myself, the first word that comes to mind is logical.  I pride myself on being practical.  People ask me for advice, and they usually appreciate my point of view.

So it would only stand to reason that Practical Patty and Dreamer Dan would not always see eye-to-eye.  One such moment was this morning, when he wanted to imagine life with the 100 million dollars that he believes we will win in the Mega-millions lottery.  I probably rolled my eyes, and immediately dismissed him.  I hurt his feelings, and he didn't want to talk any longer.

We have dreamed this dream together a hundred times, and Practical Patty was tired of it.  We will not get out of our inadequate little house.  We will not get new clothes.  We will not get a mansion and a yacht.  Practical Patty was logical, and mean.
At what cost?
Dreamer Dan was hurt.  How much energy would it really have taken to entertain his musings?  I didn't even really have to participate, just react positively.

I think I need to go sit by the highway and listen to the waves.

GIVEAWAY!!

Over At Second Street.

I've been godsmacked!

                                                                             

This morning I left my house with exactly enough time to drive through Dunkin Donuts and then make it to work.  I was pleasantly surprised that there was not a long line at the drive through.  The parking lot there is a little nutty, because the access road is actually behind the building, so you have to drive around to get to the place where you can get in line.  UNLESS you enter in the back where there is clearly marked "Do not enter"-then you can just jump in right at the speaker if the timing is right.
Well, because I am a stickler for the rules, (and also because in my Lucy Ricardo life if anyone is ever going to get a ticket for doing something that everyone else does all the time it would be me) I drove around the right way.  And as I got to the drive-thru, there was a big ol' Xterra that came in through the back (the WRONG, illegal, way!)  In righteous indignation I gestured (not THAT gesture!) and mouthed "didn't you see the sign???"  Then I glared at the woman driver with my best evil eye.
Almost immediately, what came to mind was the sermon I'd heard on Sunday morning about forgiveness.  How we should forgive someone, even if they don't know we're forgiving them.  So I took a deep breath, and I asked God to help me with this. I decided to let it go.  She was probably in a hurry, just like me.
So I ordered my coffee, and added a Coffee Roll, because I hadn't had time to eat breakfast.  The guy who took my order said, "ok, that'll be $1.60"
 "Did you get the coffee roll?" I asked, irritated, because I knew it should've cost more.
"Yes, the woman in front of you paid for your coffee."
S M A C K !
Oh yes, I felt it.  I was humbled this morning.
And that woman, who for a brief moment was the target for my daggers of contempt, was used by God to turn me around in my tracks.

I looked in my rear view mirror just in time to see the look of surprise on the face of the man behind me when the cashier told him that I'd paid for his coffee.  I hope it made his day, too.

The Irony of (no) Time Management

I love my weekends.  Well, I love the idea of a weekend, anyway.  I imagine Saturdays spent with my 7 yr old at the wonderful park across the street: me with a riveting novel, he playing with his friends on the playground.  I imagine Sunday afternoons much like those of my childhood-coming home after church, eating "dinner" and then relaxing, maybe even napping before heading back for evening services.
Of course, all this depends on the imaginary upkeep of my house during the week, allowing for the leisure time.

Welcome, welcome, welcome!!!

A big, fat, heart-felt welcome to my very first follower here: Jolyn from Budgets Are The New Black.  Thank you for signing on.

Cathie

I'm a Lucky Girl!!

On Friday, I went to Goodwill at lunchtime and found a few or four summer shirts for my boy-child.  That would be lucky enough for me, normally.  But a local radio station was there doing a promo, and giving away scratch off lottery tickets.  I grabbed a ticket (I said "thank you!") and headed back to work.  I sat at my desk, and scratched my ticket, and I won $10!  That was, by the way, more than I'd spent by about $6!  But it gets better!  I checked my email, and found out from OAMM that I won the Seventh Generation giveaway!  I'm walking on air!  And I'm excited to be getting paper towels, since I don't usually buy them.

A little more about me:
We moved into an old, small house about a year ago.  Our bigger, newer home became too expensive, and we'd lost our construction business, all of this due to the current economic mess.  Our current home is about 1/2 the size of our old home.  We got rid of tons of stuff before and during our move, but we still seem to have tons of stuff.  It is suffocating.  My husband is a smart guy, and he isn't really optimistic about the immediate future, as far as the US dollar is concerned.  We had originally planned on living here for only a year, to regroup, but now it seems that we will be stuck living here awhile longer.
So.  I am going to go room by room and purge and fix.  Don't have a schedule yet.  But I am going to post pictures, even though it may be humiliating. Also, I will be looking to unload our storage unit.  At this moment in time, what we've paid for storage hasn't surpassed the value of items we are storing, but it's just a matter of time.  I did get a great deal, and we are only paying about 1/2 of the going rate.   This will take some time, folks, but I'd love for you to join me and motivate me!

In The Beginning......

I have been following several personal finance, organization, cooking, and home decor blogs for quite awhile now, and many times I've thought, "I could do that...." because hey, I've been doing that for a long time now.
About me:
I am a 50 year old mom of 6. Five grown children and one growing boy, aged 7. I'm married to the most wonderful man. It took a long time for him to find me, though. While I was waiting I was a single (divorced) mother making ends meet by waiting tables and clipping coupons. I had a full time job and a part time job, and I was a full time college student. I did not receive any child support, but that is a different story, and I don't want to be negative.
I am a Christian who spent some time away from church, and after marrying Mr. Right, who is Jewish, and at his insistence, we made our way back. To my delight, he was baptized not too long ago. It's funny how God works. You could say mysterious.
So I invite you to join me. I may not always have time to post, and I may not always be exciting, but I'm gonna give it a shot. Welcome!