Call me yuppie snob

Today I'm grateful for .......

bottled water.

In my office, we have a water cooler with Ice Mountain. At home I have a Britta water filter. Often when it's on sale I'll buy a 24 pack of bottled water. My favorites are

Dasani
Ice Mountain
Aquafina.

I do not like Dannon.

Now, I know some (many) people that say that it's just water and all water is the same. Well maybe and that's fine (and cheaper) for them if they think so. Personally I don't agree. I happened to grow up in the Chicago area (and live here) and I can tell you that the water gets a certain -- scent :} in the summer. So I'm glad for the bottled water, and I drink it even when I'm not in a different country.

I figure that when I compare the amount of money I spend on bottled water to what the rest of my family spends on soda (which instead of having no nutritional value actually has a negative nutritional value).

And not only am I grateful for bottled water, I'm also grateful that I'm caught up and now only have to worry about one a day.

Still being ungrateful

Okay -- if I don't do two today, then I'll just write off Thursday as an ungrateful day.

Today I'm grateful for

Space heaters.

I work in a retail type building in a strip mall. I rarely see the sun, and the ceiling is way too high. Somedays this place seem to not be able to warm up. A couple of years ago I bought my bookkeeper/manager/goto gal and myself small portable space heaters.

It gets me through the day, and I don't have to warm up the entire 1300 sq. ft. if i'm sitting here alone at my little desk.

And there are days honey - oh there are days I need the extra heat.

Hopefully I can come up with something later.

Ungrateful???

I noticed I didn't do a post on what I'm grateful for for yesterday, so I guess I'll have to come up with two today.

And I have at least one.

I am grateful for ...

Domino's Pizza.

Okay, so go figure -- pizza. Well, let me explain. I own and run a tax business, so the time frame between Jan. and Apr. I spend a *LOT* of time at and near work. I mean a lot of time. In my strip mall is a Domino's pizza. Close enough that unless it's below zero I don't need to toss on a coat to go there.

Their pizza is not the greatest, the other dishes (wings, buffalo kickers) are passable, the sweets, well I'll admit to having a particular weakness for the cinnamon sticks.

But all in all, the convenience factor tops the charts.

So - between Jan. and Apr. I know I can count on having more than my share of Domino's pizza.

And between May and Dec., well heck I live in the Chicago area -- I can find *GOOD* pizza then

Life's lessons

We all have a concept of what "school" is -- it's where we go and learn and get educated. Well, education comes from many sources other than school. Sometimes I like to use quotes, I have a couple of links on my google home page, and I'll find some of the most obscure things. (Hmmm maybe I can start adding quote lines to my blog -- I hope my dear readers wouldn't get mad if the quote did not necessarily go with the entry.

Once in a while though - I can come up with a zinger myself.

This week's (month's? year's? geez I hope it doesn't take that long for me to say something pithy) winner

The school of hard knocks has a very high tuition.
-- Mary Allison Wu

Also found, when looking to see if I had manage to use a quote that I remembered from somewhere (instead of having an original idea)

The school of hard knocks is an accelerated curriculum.
Menander (342 BC - 292 BC)

Guess the esteemed institution of the "school of hard knocks" has been around for a LONG time.

Things you might not know

Following along the tag of Alto2 and Sock Girl ....

5 things you might not know about me.

1) I don't color my hair -- never have. I've always felt lucky that I like the color. Let's hope it stays that way as I age.

2) I run cold. I always feel like I can't get warm enough - no matter how many layers I stick on.

3) I'm trying to grow my hair out to 10 inches for Locks of Love. I can't seem to get past about 7-8 inches.

4) My dream is to spend some quality time with a Saint. Preferably in February, preferably on a nude beach. (I'm thinking St. Lucia, St. Bart, you know -- one of THOSE Sts.)

5) Either I'm incredibly boring, and have nothing else to share, or I'm planning to run for office and want to keep my skeltons buried cause there is no number 5.

Gals are pals

Today I'm grateful for ...

mll at Are We There Yet. I've met her a few times and she's a great lady.

We've roomed together at our moms group reunion and she's fun to chat with (but she's not a late night person.

She has a good head on her shoulder -- especially when it comes to this entire mom gig.

She's very open -- a refreshingly honest person.

I've had to travel to near her town on business a couple of times, and while there I've had to hang out with TAX people. It's refreshing to be able to spend some time away from the tax (work) folks and hang out with real people (and I love the restaurant we met at last time).

But MOSTLY today (actually yesterday) I was grateful because she is one of the queens of the Internet bargain.

A week or so ago Coldwater Creek was having a sale -- if you looked at their website they said "60% off everything" but a woman from my mom's group pointed out that actually it was 70% off, and mll gave us the secret code.

The day before yesterday the big box arrived.

Yesterday I went out to lunch and there was an accident requiring me to run home and change clothes before going back to work.

Ah yes -- I was appreciating mll at that point in time. (Share a room - saves me money -- points out sales - saves me money)

See, now you know what it takes to win my gratitude. It's not "show me the money, honey" it's "save me the money, honey."

The finer things in life.

Yesterday I mentioned lobster (just in passing) so today I'll go to the other end of the food spectrum.

Today I'm grateful for ...

Hot dogs -- not just hot dogs but CHICAGO style hot dogs. A hot dog with a salad on top. The following is from Wikipedia ...

A Chicago-style hot dog– as served in the U.S. city of Chicago, Illinois and its surrounding suburbs– is a steamed or boiled all-beef, natural-casing hot dog on a poppy seed bun. It is topped with mustard, onion, sweet pickle relish, a dill pickle spear, tomato slices or wedges, sport peppers, and a dash of celery salt[1]; but not ketchup.

NEVER ketchup. Now, unlike the picture above, I like to place my sport peppers at each end of the bun, so I don't inadvertently chomp into both at once.

Mind you I don't mind an occasional Cincinnati style (chili and cheese), and New York is fine (sauerkraut and mustard - after a dirty water bath).

And I LOVE a Maxwell Street Polish (polish sausage, mustard, and grilled onions -- YUM) but not on days when you I to interact with lots of folk.

Sometimes, the best things in life are *not necessarily* what some would consider the "finer" things in life.

[DARN -- it's my friend's birthday today and I'm taking her to lunch -- since it's the beginning of the season and I've got new people working for me I'll be at a favorite place very close to my office -- but it's CHINESE. Guess at least I know what's for lunch tomorrow. ]

Crem de la Creme

If you know my latest theme (gratitude), and if you've known me a while you knew this was coming sooner or later

Today I'm grateful for ...

Crem - my best friend (and pseudo kid brother)

Crem is one of those kind of friends that everyone needs, and hopefully a lot of us have. One of those people that you can text, email, or call anytime with any issue, large or small. And, like a "true" friend (as opposed to an agreeable pal) he tells it like it is, and not how I want to hear it (which I complain about to no end but I still keep going there so I do know the value).

Some of the things I appreciate (with expanded explanations below)

1) He knows how to, and is willing to fix things.*

2) Of all our friends, he's the only one that drives a pickup truck.**

3) He has power tools.***

4) He'll babysit. For FREE****

5) He'll let me vent, and he'll tell me when I'm off base about it.*****

There are things in this world that go together (chicken broth and noodles) (ice cream and chocolate :} ) (must be lunchtime) and things in this world that seem incompatible. When I look at Crem, and I look at myself, I think "what the"?? Okay - I've gotten over the fact that he was born with an unfortunate chromosomal abnormality (he's got one of those "y" chromosome things -- poor kid), and he's a bit younger but when you hit the "adult" years that's not so important. But then he's single and doesn't have kids. I sometimes think "we have nothing in common."

But then I take a moment and look past all that at the really important things.
A) He can FIX things (unlike Spouse or myself) B) He has a pickup (the only person we know that does) c) He has POWER TOOLS!!! D) He appreciates a well poured Guinness

And when you get there, you just stop looking further.


* It's a fact, I'm really really GOOD at taking things apart. Hand me a screwdriver or two and I'll get anything into pieces. Some of my readers were with me the last time I had lobster -- you know I got all that I needed out of that shell. I'm not, however, the best "putter togetherer" in the world. And Spouse -- while not incompetent he's NO Norm Abrams.

** We all know how important the "friend with the truck" is -- I have told him that I don't just love him for his truck, but the value of the truck was noted the day that, at 10:00 at night, we're sitting grabbing a VERY LATE dinner near an Ikea before driving home in the snow. Yeah - a lot of buds will help you out with deliveries - but late at night - in January - in the snow. And THEN he helps bring the king size mattress in and drag it up the stairs. And then there have been the trips to Ikea followed by the furniture putting together (and then the time he pick up the really cool movable shelves and helped me put them together as a Christmas surprise for Mike).

We've been known to buy him dinner. How much does it cost to rent a pickup truck? How much does it cost to hire a mover?

*** And, in my office I have made to order shelves that fit the exact length of my table and fit very nicely over the milk crates -- I mean file boxes.

**** but only in DIRE straights.

*****Sometimes I vent his way about Spouse, we have some issues (let's face it, like 99% of folks that are in a long term relationship and live in the same house and raise kids together have issues - it goes with the territory). I know that some folks (why is a picture of Dr. Phil popping into my head) might tell you if you have issues with your partner, you should talk to your partner. I vent to Crem, sometimes he reminds me it's not worth it. (Thus saving bad feelings between Spouse and myself). Last summer we had the fun of replacing the roof on our 30something house. We managed to get through all the bits, finding the contractor, picking the type and style of roof we wanted, and even figuring out where the money was coming from (okay - so if his folks continue to live, we have to pay them back, and if something happens to them well, we've already spent part of our inheritance :} ). Finally the day came when we had all these guys crawling all over our house. Spouse says "we" (meaning ME) need to stay home. I'm like "I want the heck out - it's too noisy and they're bonded and insured." But instead of venting this to Spouse, I call Crem (who used to be in roofing). He's like "okay you're right BUT this is only one day -- is it worth arguing about -- pour some lemonade, grab a chair in the yard, and enjoy the view." (yeah yeah -- so some of the roofers weren't hard on the eyes, and as they day got warmer the layers of clothing ...).

Then there's also the issues that he reminds me that I can't ignore, and some things are worth pulling up to the surface and examining, no matter how much simpler it is to stick with the status quo.

Occasionally I buy Crem a cup of coffee ($2). How much does a marriage counselor cost???

reflections on reflections ....

I hadn't thought of this before -- but it's a good point. Even those that live under a rock know that the House has a new (first time ever) FEMALE speaker. Now, in addition to being female Nancy is also a mom and a grandma. There is some "on the job" training that comes with being a mom that I now realize will transfer well to her new gig.

Or as my friend, Christina, at Torrey Pines Reflections put it ...

Which is why is about damn time that a woman rose to that position of power!! Who else will be able to handle the bickering of the children...errr..congresspeople better?

See - it doesn't take what you can learn in a management course, it takes good old "stop it or your grounded forever" skills.

(Hmmmm though I have to wonder if she'll be giving the other congresscritters "time outs" if they fight too much).

don't it always seem to go - that you don't know what you've got til it's gone

Today I'm grateful for ...

Something most people have in their home. Something most of us don't think about at all, it's there, it's just there. Always.

The telephone.

Now, normally I wouldn't think about the phone. I might think about my cell phone as something to give a nod to, but my landline. It's always been there ...

up until Thursday. Then AT&T was doing some electrical "upgrades" when, somehow, some cables were cut. Now, a residential area about 2.5 miles long and 1.75 miles wide has all phones serviced by AT&T without phone lines.

It's just WEIRD to not be able to call people. Luckily both Spouse and I have cell phones but yesterday morning we were both going to be out for a while, normally we don't think twice about leaving chip home alone for an hour or so (if you've read this blog you've seen pictures of fuzzybutt -- nobody in their right mind would mess with someone with an 85 pound dog present, and if anyone does well they'll get what they deserve). (We ended up leaving my cell phone home, and Chip having dad's number and the cell phone number of the friend I was having coffee with.)

Even with my cell phone I can't call a lot of people I know, because quite a few people I know are in this area. Just think, if I wanted to talk to a neighbor I'd have to walk over to their house :^).

Luckily, Spouse thought to call (before we knew what happened) and found out we'd be out for a few days and had our landline forwarded to his cell.

It's just sort of weird to not have phone service, and I find it really odd that somehow there's not some more redundancy. I mean really, 3 days and counting and it's still not fixed. Bizarre.