$100 Hole in my Pocket

I’ve had $100 to spend on ME for over two months now.  That may not sound like much… but for me, that is a pretty sum…. because it doesn’t have to be spent on underwear, or socks, or dish towels, or anything else “needed” at the moment.  I’ve spent much time in contemplation for my deepest heart’s desire at the moment.  I need clothes desperately, but I’m still losing pounds, so I don’t want to buy “in between” clothes with my precious $100.  (And BTW, I just passed 50 pounds GONE!)  I’m a jewelry hound by heredity, but I would love my new jewelry to match my new clothes that I will buy in a few months.  And there is a $100 hole in my pocket RIGHT NOW!  I’ve never been a patient girl… going through the adoption process proved that to me in a glaring way.

This morning I had one of those epiphany moments… when you think of something so logical and cannot believe that it took you this long to come to this realization.  Well, since ‘epiphany’ means a sudden, intuitive perception of the essential meaning of life… usually religious, this wasn’t exactly an epiphany.  It was not religious in this instance.  I’m buying dinner plates.  Ta da!  That’s it!

One of the suggestions on the healthy eating plan that I’m buying into currently, is to replace your 11″ dinner plates with 9″ ones.  I get it.  Less food fits on the 9″ plate.  At first I balked at the idea… I mean seriously… couldn’t you simply remember to put less food on the plate?  Apparently not.  I’ve had 45 years of training in filling my plate.  My husband’s life philosophy regarding restaurants is the most amount of food for the least amount of moolah.  See what I’m up against?

Thankfully we use Fiesta Ware dishes.  I can buy individual pieces that match with ease.  And there is a 9″ plate that is exclusive to Kohl’s stores.  It is called the buffet plate… and they are on sale this weekend…. and there is a 30% off coupon on top of that.  See how the stars aligned for this moment and my $100 hole???  Maybe this was an epiphany!

dis-obey: to fail to obey

If you’ve been reading MySistersJar for several years, you will remember my story about the trips to the dump when the road was closed.  (https://mysistersjar.wordpress.com/2008/04/04/frazzled-mother-goes-ballistic-at-city-dump/) That road is Dixileta.  That short-cut, albeit crazy-bumpy, has been used in our digs for several years.  It’s right near my parent’s home and is the quickest way onto the freeway heading into Phoenix.  Nora refers to it as “la avenida de montaña” …the mountain avenue!  The drop on that crazy pavement is rollercoaster worthy if you are speeding!

A few weeks back, the city put up signs telling all of us who use that road, that if we weren’t driving a truck we were breaking the law.  WHAT?  How can they do that?  Easy.  Slap up a few signs… and post a policeman.

With my mother in the car, I disobeyed (that’s what the ticket said!) and took the shortcut anyway.  Not a good idea with the nice officer of the law waiting for me.  He did kindly explain the reason for the signs.  Seems the road does not belong to the city.  It is owned by the gravel company that is located just east of the signs.  It was put in for the gravel trucks, which is good because then they don’t rumble down through our neighborhood.  The city told the gravel company to do some repairs on their road.  They replied, “No, get your traffic off our road.”  And up went the signs.

So, because of my glowing flawless violation record I had the option of choosing traffic school.  yippee…..  BUT, things have improved over the years and I was able to take it online… in my pjs… while wrapping gifts, folding laundry, washing dishes and feeding the fish.  ALSO, I found one that is called Improv Driving School.  Yes, you read that right… IMPROV!  All that means is that they added sarcastic comments after the real rules of the road… and they offer 5-10 minute videos of traffic jokes at the beginning of each lesson… that aren’t required.  I thought the videos were dumb at first (well, I still do) but each of the ten lessons is timed.  They are approximately 23 minutes each… WAY more time than is necessary to read the information and answer the three questions EVEN if you are only in grade four at the present time.  So I skipped the videos, read the info, did the review and clicked on ‘take the test.’  It told me that I didn’t spend enough time reading the material… there is a clock that counts down for you.  Good grief.  If I read the whole chapter S L O W L Y, pronouncing every syllable from 25 feet with one eye covered, I would still have to wait for the clock.  This IS just the same as wasting my time in a class, except for the fact that I can go get things crossed off my to-do list while I wait for the clock to count down.  Sheesh.

Did you hear the one about the driver who died from being hit in the head by a kleenex box? (Seriously, that was on there!)