Reunited Once Again!!

I was finally reunited last evening with my favorite "end of the summer" place to be... The Minnesota State Fair. My niece and I were joined by a long time friend, Jeanine on our trip. We took the bus to the fairgrounds, which by the way, I owe a BIG thank you to my friend Lowanda. She was the Bus - Money taker (for lack of better words) at the mall.. and she let us on for FREE (normally $5 round trip to the fair).. so Thank You Lowanda!!

Our first stop was the "Miracle of Life Birthing Center".. which was awesome. There was a cow in labor right in the middle of the place.. but when the "vet" stuck her arm (and I mean her whole arm) in the uterus, they declared it would be another 2 hours before birth! Disappointing!! However, there were some very cute calf's that were born a day or 2 ago that I was able to photograph. Also, we did see some little piglets be born.. on the tv monitor. It's so crowded in this "barn-building" that they have tv screens all over so you can watch diff animals be born.
(BTW: my camera was acting all funky indoors.. hence the visible lines through the pics...dmit)

Then we kind of made our way to find some food bc I was super hungry by this point. I had some yogurt and watermelon for lunch yesterday, saving my appetite for the fair, of course. So we ate some fried up, greasy sliced potatoes with cheese on them.. (sounded good at the time.. but after... not really). Then of course, my niece wanted to get her "FAIR-DO".. which everyone and their grandma had goin on.. so we headed over to that stand. Check out the fair-do! It's awesome!! They were non-stop busy there and the cost: $13 (for 2 colors & sparkles).

Along the way we saw Don Shelby, who works for WCCO-Channel 4. He is a local news anchor on my favorite channel... so it was fun to see him out and about.. reporting for the news. Ive never seen him in person. He looks the same as on tv!! lol

So, out and about, around the fairgrounds, I spotted a few food items that I thought, "who in the hell would eat that?" Yup.. people actually do eat these things.. I don't know why. I wouldn't eat this stuff.. unless it was a bet and was paid at least $100. lol... You check it out.. ICK!

I told you.. you can get almost anything on a frickin stick at the fair.. even some ostrich if you choose!!
How about some deep fried alligator? Oh yummy!! Only if your a shark! And.. what is it about frozen grapes that even sounds remotely tasty? That's disgusting. To me anyway.

Next to these 2 stands is one of my favorite stands at the fair... The Corn Roast. So naturally, we each had an ear of corn, which was very yummy!

We made our way through some of the buildings where we ran into the Gedney pickle dude and had to have our pic taken! After the pic, my niece stated that she could see the person inside the pickle! lol... They just sold merchandise here.. like t-shirts, bags, etc. There was one shirt in particular that I wanted to purchase, but it was too expensive... duh. The shirt said "Get Pickled"... now were speaking my language!

Made my way over to the MN Twins tent.. where of course I HAD to pose with a T-shirt and say #1.. although were not in 1st place right now. And also posed with MN's fav players, Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau.. pardon the pic.. I wasn't actually touching them.. just covering them up!! lol...
Also, I did this more for my buddy, JS in Chicago.. because #1). He claims he "resembles" Joe Mauer, which perhaps he does, I dont know... and #2). Our teams are fighting for 1st place and im hoping we come out on top!

I was kind of disappointed because I didn't spot too many freaks at the fair this year. Everyone, including me of course, appeared quite normal. I did capture one guy though.. not sure why he felt compelled to wear his skirt to the fair, but none-the-less, he did. Not sure I would have walked along side of him, but his lady friend did. Jeanines face was in the pic because I was pretending to take a pic of her.. didn't want to be too obvious..lol.. although im sure if I would have walked up to him and asked to pose with him, he probably would have said yes in a Scottish accent! :)

One of the main food items.. I'm guessing one of the top sellers at the fair is the Cheese Curds!! Nothing but grease, grease, grease.. and SO GOOD!!! You cant go to the fair and not get some.. so naturally we did! I only had a couple because I was sooooo full at this point.

We took a ride on the Sky Ride.. from one end of the fairgrounds to the other.. which was nice. But this time my back was starting to really hurt.. my feet were sore and all I wanted to do was sit down for a little bit. We hopped on there.. it takes approx 4 mins to get to the other end. By now its dark.. were all a little tired. But we had to walk by the midway, where all the rides sit. Just a few pics to end my post today of our last sights of the fair before we boarded the bus for home.

Over all, it was a good time. We were all kind of tired when we got out there.. so we were just off in la-la land for a little while. Kelsie has never been to the fair before.. so she really liked it. I wont make it out there again this year, as it closes on Monday. But I will be looking forward to 2009 fair. AND.. if you've never been to the MN State Fair, I would highly recommend it!

Have a great Labor Day weekend.. I know I will. Be safe!!

~PEACE

All about you, JS!

Good Morning,

Well, I finally decided to share my blog with my favorite email buddy in Chicago, JS. He checked out my blog yesterday and said he's not feeling the "love" because I dont talk about him. So, in honor of JS, I am going to talk about him today.. well, he will get a paragraph anyway!! How about that for "love"?

I dont know a whole lot about JS.. other than he works in the same business that I do in downtown Chicago, he lives in the 'burbs, is a huge White Sox fan and has a girlfriend that lives in St. Louis that he's crazy about. For the most part, that's about it. He went to visit his girl a few weeks ago in STL and since he's come back, he doesnt like to email with me anymore!! lol.. He says he's busy at work.. (what?) but I think it's something else!! lol... So I told him that since we dont talk that much anymore, I dont have anything to say about him in my blog. Sorry, JS!! OH.. here is the one thing that I will make public knowledge about JS...

(a pic of JS.. although it's so small you can hardly see him.. 1st stud on the Left, is what he would say!! lol)

**Back at the end of July his White Sox were playing my MN Twins in a 4-game series. Since my Twins whopped his Sox's ass in the first game, I thought it would be fun to make a little bet. At first we were going to bet some $$, but then decided to bet a pan of brownies. Well, guess what? JS LOST that bet.. so guess what? JS owes me some BROWNIES! And you guessed it.. he hasnt made them yet. He has all the excuses in the book to not make these brownies.. "I dont know how to work my oven... I will eat all the mix b4 I can make them... blah, blah, blah... cry me a freakin river, JS! If I lost that bet, you would already have your brownies.. and a bet is a bet. So, get your punk ass in gear.. and make me some brownies already.

Moving on.. Im hoping that today is a good day. First, I have been arguing back and forth with a coworker who cant control his emotions as of lately. So the past couple days I left work feeling crabby. Although I do try to keep this stuff at work, sometimes my emotions get the best of me too.. and carry over. Which brings me to another thing.. I had "bus anxiety" again yesterday. I was feeling very anxious before I got on the bus and I couldnt figure out why. I think it's because I have been p.o'd at this coworker when I leave work, which makes me anxious and perhaps that's why I was feeling the bus anxiety. hmmmmm..... Anywhoo, yesterday afternoon, he was speaking to me in a condesending way.. angry way.. and I looked at him and asked him not to talk to me.. he was crabby all day and I didnt like the way he was talking to me. Then he said something.. I dont remember because I had steam coming out my ears at this point.. and I turned and said.. "Youre really being an A**HOLE".. to which he laughed... as well as everyone around us.. lol.. He treats people with NO respect, thinks he can say whatever he wants to whomever he wants and it's all ok. Well, it's not ok with me! And if things dont change soon, there will be issues to take up with HR. I dont treat people like that and I certainly dont expect to be treated like sht either. Enough said.

(Kelsie, my neice)

Also, hoping today is a good day is because im taking my 9yr old neice to the Great Minnesota Get-Together (MN State Fair) today after work! Im super excited.. and so is she. This is probably the only time I will go this year.. usually make it a couple times a year for sure. But im trying to go out of town this weekend and the fair ends on Monday. I will make the most of it tonight and hoping the rain holds out. I have my camera all charged up and ready to roll so I can report back to you tomorrow. We are going to go to the "Miracle Birthing Center".. run by the Univ of MN.. where animals are giving birth, eat all kind of greasy food, visit local tv stations who broadcast from out there and much more. Very exciting!

Well, I think that's it for today. I have to get to the bank and get my $150 (whoopie!!) and buy my discounted fair tickets ($8 through my bank... $11 at the gate of the fair) and get down to the trading floor. I hope you all have a great Thursday.. only one day after today and a 3 day weekend!! Horray for holidays that land on Mondays!!

~Peace

Green Tip: The weight in your rear. If you’re carrying excess pounds in your trunk (no pun intended), get rid of it. Weight contributes to your gas mileage too, you know.

Driving efficiently so you can save money at the gas station is great incentive to be more mindful when you drive. But more importantly it's a very easy and cheap way to contribute to saving our environment. (FYI: I just cleaned out the back of my Durango.. and it really does seem to help on my gas mileage)

Opinions are like... you know!

When I went home last night from work, I was thinking about yesterdays blog.. wondering if I said everything I had to say. Of course I didnt because I have a lot to say! :)

First, I forgot to mention Basia's beer bust last Saturday. As I mentioned in a previous blog, my friend Basia is walking the 3-day walk for Breast Cancer here in Minneapolis at the end of September. She needs to raise $2200 in order to walk and was $900 shy of that goal at the start of her beer bust. The beer bust went pretty well. I dont think it attracted the amount of people that she would have liked to see. One of the downfalls was that it started at 12noon. That's very early for some people.. even me. It was $10 for all you can drink beer from 12-2pm.. or until the keg was gone. Well, it ended up being until the keg was gone. At one point I remember about 5 pitchers sitting on our table.. all full of course. It was a long day there. And no I didnt drive home. However, I believe Basia raised approx half of her $900. Im hoping that she's able to raise the remainder of the balance at some point before the walk! Click here to learn more about Basia and the 3-day walk in the Twin Cities.

Ive gotten a few comments on my "financial" situation here. It's hard. I have never lived on a budget before.. so this is all new to me. I figured it would be frustrating at points but I guess mentally I wasnt prepared to deal with it. Im used to just paying my bills (not the ones that are behind though) and spending the rest of it on what ever I want. I would throw a little into the savings account.. and when I ran low in the checking, there was always the savings! DUH! The funny thing is, is that im NOT a shopper. I havent been to a store (other than Target to get my reg stuff.. shampoo, etc...) in I dont know how long. My money was spent going out. I really need to stew over this for a while and think about how im going to make this work and still feel like I get to live life.. and most importantly.. not feel bad or guilty about it.

So, let's talk about going out. To protect the innocent (or guilty) im not going to mention any real names in my blog.. not today anyway. The people will know who they are when they read it. Let's start by saying this... Im 36 (37 on Sept 14th), single, no kids, no boyfriends/no husbands, no major responsibilities... other than taking care of PAULA. As we all know, I pay my bills (or have a plan in place to pay them) and I work 40 hours a week and a job that Ive had for 2 1/2 years. I am responsible and dependable when I have to be and I spend a lot of time with my family and friends. I also try to enjoy my life and live a good life. So, im having a discussion with my friend "Betty" about last weekend and she told me that "shes worried about me". She's worried about me because I like to go out and "party".. or whatever it is that I do. Sometimes I just go and have a couple beers somewhere with a friend and go home. Sometimes like last Saturday, I "partied" with some friends at the bar for the beer bust.. and went home.. didnt drive. I DONT go out every night... as a matter a fact, my friend offered to pay for me to go and have a couple beers with her last night and I said NO. I said no for 2 reasons: 1). because I had NO money and im NOT going to let her pay for me... and 2). I had things to do at home that took priority over drinking beer with a friend. I asked my friend if we could get together later this week.. which was fine.

My friend Betty, thinks I drink too much maybe? I dont know. Im thinking that she believes that's all I do is go out and drink all the time. Im single.. I can go out with my friends and have a couple beers anytime I want to. I dont have to check with my husband/boyfriend, I dont have to get a babysitter, I dont have a million projects to do around the house (because I dont own a house)... I have this freedom to go and do what I want. I dont miss work because of drinking (although I have called in sick due to hang overs before... just as BETTY has too).. but I dont miss work on a regular basis and I dont drink every night of the week. I dont drink at home... jesus, now im starting to make myself sound like a freakin drunk. OK.. im NOT a drunk.. I like beer. Sorry, but non-alcoholic beer just doesnt taste the same as regular beer... I love beer.. It's a total social thing for me. I dont go to the bars alone either. So, as my friend, Betty is talking to me, saying that she's worried about me, I ask her if I can share my opinion with her? She, of course says NO. Now she has to suffer the wrath of being blogged about!! hahaha... I have an opinion about my life. Im a good person, I live a good life, Im good to my friends and family and im NOT a drunk! Betty and I live different lives, that's all. OR.. maybe she's JEALOUS? lol.. Let's see what the def of being an alcoholic means.... you be the judge.

(yummy.. this looks delicious!!)
OK.. so this brings me to another point. About dating.. Ive met a few dudes at the bars before. Nothing special.. nothing Im interested in, that's for sure. I met one dude, we will call him MK and to make a long story short, we went out last week to the horse track and it ended up being quite the story. He got drunk as hell.. I stayed sober, thank you.. he gambled until 130am knowing that I had to get up at 6am the next morning to go to work, he got cut off from drinking.. lol... etc... Well, I was telling Betty this story and her FIRST comment was "Well, where did you meet him?" Yes, I met him at the bar. We had a conversation sitting at the bar one night.. etc.. exchanged phone numbers.. harmless. Here's the deal... ALL of my friends are either married or have significant others.. and have kids. Im pretty much the only single person I can think of. And apparently none of these friends of mine know single people to set me up with. I have tried the on-line dating shit.. it sucks. OH yeah.. ive tried sitting back and waiting for Mr. Right to come along.. that's not working either. There is nothing wrong with meeting someone at the bar, is there??? Am I missing something? Because if I met MK at church one day before he went to the bar.. is he a different person at church than the bar? I dont know? We had a harmless conversations about sports.. nothing else.

(a view from my deck)

Well, I took some pics last night at my house. I live on a lake in the northern suburbs.. approx 15 mins north of downtown Mpls.. and the evenings have been absolutely gorgeous lately.. and last night was no exception. I wanted to include some pics here of the lake and of course, my new BFF, Gus. He's the dog of the house that I live in. I have adopted him as MINE though. I always call him my dog. There are a couple cool things about Gus:

(this is Gus.. and his chewie)
1). He loves me! He cries everytime I walk in the door from work.. he gets so excited to see me. I must say.. Im happy to see him too because I love him a lot too!!!

2). He's very well trained. I dont have to put him on a leash when we walk (although I bring one with and only when it's just the 2 of us walking)

3). You can let him out in the morning and he stays in the yard.. just walks around, does his business and waits for me to let him in.

4). He sleeps at the foot of my bed most nights.. on the floor of course.

5). He lets me take his chewies away from him and doesnt bite me! lol... the reason I can do that? See #1.

I have a cat too, Socks.. shes my cat.. I brought her with me when I moved. She HATES Gus.. she hisses at him everytime he looks at her wrong.. which is all the time. Its hilarious. But I think Gus has a secret love for her. He wants to know her but she will have nothing to do with it. I guess it's fair to say that Im a total animal lover!!

In closing.. Im going to try to attach a video from the opening of our market today! It was a good opening.. and this is just a sample!! More about my job later! Enjoy the video.. it's only 1 minute.

~Peace

Comments & Complaints

It's Monday! Im not a huge fan of Mondays.. although im not sure why. I think I just trained myself NOT to like Mondays because it's the beginning of another week! I still have to come to work for another 4 days.. and that does not excite me.

Because it's Monday, I have some comments and complaints on a little platter, waiting to be shared.

Im going to start with the dreadful BUDGET. I thought it was getting better, but now it's getting worse. For the past couple weeks, I have started my Monday (another reason to hate Monday) with about $9 - $10 in my pocket to last me until Thursday.. and frankly this SUCKS! Im sick of this budget already... I want to scream. I thought I was doing good.. and then I went on a spending tangent last weekend (not this past weekend) and over spent. Then I really tried to behave myself this past weekend & even stayed in Friday night.. (I know.. it's hard to believe, but true). I only spent $15 on Saturday - minus a $25 donation to my friend for her cancer walk and spent $52 yesterday (on groceries). Here is what's killing my budget: GAS & GROCERIES! With only $150 a week to spend, those two things alone are taking most of my money.. approx $100. What about the rest of the things I need to take care of? My friend says that I need to get another job.. but I say FOOEY on that. My finances are finally starting to get under control.. so I may have to look at a little more spending money. I have $9 today.. and that has to go to my gas tank.. not that im going to get a whole hell of a lot of gas... maybe up to 1/4 tank if im super lucky. I need to rethink this.... because im really starting to hate it and it's for sure making me pissed off.

Moving on... Im really glad the Olympics are over. I love the Olympics.. but they were keeping me up at night sometimes until midnight... esp when gymnastics was on. Which brings me to a couple questions/comments: Why do the Chinese gymnasts wear so many ugly hair accessories? And why do they all look like they are 10? The hair decorations are hideous. Is there a requirement to get into gymnastcis in China or something? The more barettes you throw in your doo the better your chances of getting in? YIKES! I dont recommend this look for anyone. I was looking for a pic, but cant find a good one... I will keep searching.

My injuries are beginning to heal, however my lower back doesnt feel so hot. It actually feels "bloated" or something. Maybe like I have some loose organs floating around in there. My toe is getting better.. been letting it dry out at night..(lol, that sounds funny). I was hoping that I would be a lot better by now... but still gimping around. I wanted to go and walk the dog tonight.. maybe I will try. I still have yet to get to the state fair sometime this week... but have been holding off just because of my toe. My sister and nephew were out there this weekend and some other friends were there also. I cant wait to go.

So, I went and did something I said I would never do. I joined FACEBOOK. I will put a link on my blog for you to check out. I wanted to look at some pics of a friend that were attached to Facebook.. but I couldnt see them unless I was "logged in". So, I signed up for it and left it at that. Well, now I have people coming out of the woodwork asking me to be their "friend". I actually IM'd a friend from High School this morning.. Rob Davis! It was awesome. But, Im wondering what these websites are for? Are they just for reconnecting with old friends? When I started blogging, someone asked me what's the point of blogging? I explained that for me, it's like an online journal.. my friends & family can read it and keep up with what im doing.. etc. It's fun for me because I like to share my life with others and also like to write. But myspace? Facebook? I dont really get it. I guess I will soon enough. hmmmm....

Well, it's that time. I need to leave plenty of time so I can hobble down to the bus.
More later this week!! PS..Thank you Laury for your green tips!!!
~Peace!!

GREEN TIP: Gas Efficient Driving
Do you ever wonder why you don’t seem to get the gas mileage that is advertised as the EPA rating for your car? Those tests are conducted under ideal conditions (weather, traffic, car condition) driven by an ideal driver.

Pump up your tires. Fuel economy.gov states that keeping tires inflated to the recommended pressure can improve fuel economy by up to 5%.

By anticipating stops and accelerating moderately, Edmunds.com found that you can get up to 37% in gas savings. This also saves you from having to replace your brake pads too often.

The Great Minnesota Get Together Now In Session

Happy First day of the Minnesota State Fair!! Today marks a great day for Minnesotans and also the beginning to the end of summer. We love, love, love our state fair.. ok, well, I do anyway. I look forward to these 12 days all year long and cant wait to get out there. Unfortunately, with a messed up toe, I wont be going until sometime next week. I usually take the bus out there (the BEST way to get there) on a nice evening and eat my way through that place in about 3 hours. The fairgrounds are huge, which requires a lot of walking.

Some interesting things about MN State Fair:

1). Attracted just over 1.6 million people in 2007

2). One of the first annual attractions was the sculpture made of butter. Each year, a new Princess Kay of the Milky Way is crowned to promote the dairy industry. Part of her job is to sit in a large cooler and have a 90 lb block of butter carved into a head of her likeness. It's pretty cool!

3). In 1901, then vice president, Teddy Roosevelt visited the fair and once said "Speak softly and carry a big stick".

4). Most foods come on a freakin stick.

Speaking of food on a stick, there are several new food items on the list each year that are introduced at the fair. If you would like to rent a booth at the fair, you must apply and have the best sounding food item in town in order to get in... otherwise youre put on a waiting list.. which is indefinitely long. In 2006, the big chow on the list was "HOTDISH ON-A-STICK" and in 2007 they introduced "Spaghetti on-a-stick". I didnt try the spaghetti, but I did try the hotdish because you know us Minnesotans LOVE our hotdishes!!

So, let's check out some of the cuisines on a stick....

Deep Fried Candy bar, walleye, cheese, chicken, pork chops, rueben, pronto pup/corn dog, salmon, tater tot hotdish, deep fried smores, scotch eggs, sausage, corned beef & cabbage, taffy, lamb chop, key lime pie dipped in chocolate, steak, alligator, pizza, fish, chips & shrimp, turkey... just to name a few! And keep in mind.. most of these items are DEEP FRIED and are sooooo good!!!

My personal favorite things at the fair are cheese curds (of course), corn on the cob, deep fried veggies, Sweet Marthas Chocolate Chip Cookies, the beer gardens (haha), the huge ass turkey legs and unfortunately that's all I can think of. That's sad considering how much food is out there. It's my goal to try something this year that I havent tried before.

Also, let me tell you some of the great things about the fair:

The University of MN has a live birthing center for farm animals. It's the most amazing thing I have seen. It's a pretty new facility and think it's only been open for a couple years. They actually post schedules when animals are going to give birth, they have bleachers to sit in to watch these births too. Although I have never seen a live birth there, those little babies are the cutest little things I have ever seen. The negative thing: It's elbow to elbow people in there.

GREAT people watching takes place here! There are some intersting characters out there and I will be sure to capture some of them on camera this year! It will make for some great blogging!

We attract big names in music. This year, we have 3 Doors Down w/ Stained & Hinder, Brad Paisley w/ Jewel, Backstreeet Boys, Johny Lang & Buddy Guy w/ Big Head Todd, Gnarls Barkley, The Black Crowes and Toby Keith. I have been to several concerts at the fair. They are fairly decent prices, however, the seating kind of sucks. The concerts are held in the grandstand and part of the seats are covered with a huge over hang.. and parts arent. The lines for beer are usually 5 days long. I wont be seeing any concerts this year because I have spent my money on other concerts already.

You can take the bus (metro transit) to the fair from shopping centers around the twin cities for $5 roundtrip. It drops you off at the front door and picks you up there also. There is no dickin around with parking (which sucks) and walking 40 miles from your parking spot to the front gate.

There are so many things to see.. like.. Livestock buildings (sheep, cows, pigs) and the horse shows, the Education building where you can meet reps from colleges all over the 5 state area, the fine arts building where you can see what local artists have stirred this year (knitting, crocheting, woodworking, clothing, quilting, paintings, drawings.. etc...), which are all entered into contests.. machinery hill (which is lame for me) where they have the latest and greatest in farming equipment, Agriculture and Horticulture building where you can see the pretty flowers, the U of M building where you can get merchandise and schedules, MIDWAY.. where you can go on all the carnie rides..lol. where all the toothless wonders work, but have some fun rides. There are soooo many places to visit and im quite positive you can purchase just about ANYTHING at the fair that your heart desires.

If you havent been to the Great Minnesota Get-Together, I would highly suggest it. Its ranked the 3rd best state fair in the country. I have lived in Florida & Colorado.. and they must be ranked at the bottom for state fairs...just horrible.

Moving on.. I want to acknowledge my friend, Basia Elmore who is walking the 3-day walk for Breast Cancer in September, here in Minneapolis. She is having a Beer Bust this Saturday at Boulevards Bar & Grill in Brooklyn Center from 12-2pm. The cost is $10 for all-you-can-drink beer (yes, I will be there) and will also have some food (probably not on a stick) and other items available for purchase. She needs to raise $900 more to make her goal of $2200. Go Basia. Click HERE to find out more about her and the 3-Day Walk for Breast Cancer.

GREEN-TIP: A Simple Recipe for Unclogging Drains

Remove all water from the sink or tub and pour about 1 cup baking soda down the drain.
Then pour 1 cup vinegar down the drain, plugging it immediately (if you’re unclogging a double sink, plug both drains). When the bubbles have died down (about 30 minutes), chase them down the drain with some hot water.

Nothing but blue skies out here today, 80 degrees & sunny!! A picture perfect day for the start of the Minnesota State Fair! Enjoy!

~Peace

Something Borrowed, Something GREEN!

Good morning,
To make up for the lack of Green-ness yesterday, I have some ground to cover. I like the green tips that I run across now and then. I hope you enjoy them and try to incorporate some of these things into your life, if you havent already. This particular tip is brought to you by Laury Anderson. If anyone has a tip that they find interesting, please forward it to me and I will post it.
What do you think about bottled water?

Here are some simple facts to consider when purchasing your bottled water:

1). Less than 20% of the 28 BILLION single-serving water bottles that are purchased in the US each year are recycled.

2). Tap water is cleaner than most bottled water.

3). Tap water is delivered to your home for $0.002 a gallon, bottled water is 1,000 times more expensive.

4). If you think your tap water tastes funny, consider a water filter such as, PUR or Brita.

5). Consider purchasing reusable water containers.

6). If you do purchase bottled water, please recycle the bottles. Better yet, please recycle all plastic bottles that you purchase.

7). Don't reuse single-serving water bottles. This can expose you to bacterial build-up and carcinogens leached from the plastic.

I can say that I have adopted this into my life. I was a bottled water buying junkie. I had water bottles all over my house. Usually I wouldnt finish all the water.. maybe half of it.. and I would dump the rest out. What a waste. Sometimes I would get lazy and not recycle the bottle. Approx. 2 months ago, I signed something saying that I would no longer purchase water in the bottle form. And im proud to say, that I now drink the tap water at home and I have a big plastic cup for drinking water at work... (Oh, and this FREE water plan fits into my budget nicely too).
There are many interesting sites out there on bottled water. Here is one that I found. You can read more about the bottled water boycotts in your local area. Im not here to preach to you or to make you change your life. Im here to offer you information to help make better choices for the future of our EARTH.

Have a great Wednesday!
~Peace

The Weekend Warrior!!

Good afternoon,

*** Sorry it took so long to post this.. I know some of you have been waiting***

I believe on Friday, I stated that when I have no set weekend plans, crazy things happen. Well, this weekend did NOT let me down. As a matter a fact, I didnt come in to work yesterday because of my injuries from All day saturday FUN (despite the injuries). And there are plenty of pics to document all the fun.

(Friday night @ The Lee residence.. Me, my sister Spacey and John Lee)

Starting out on Friday after work, I had all intentions of behaving myself. By the end of the work day, I had made plans with my friend Laury to go tubing down the Apple River in Wisconsin on Saturday. I met some friends from work on Friday night at the Little Wagon, drank a few beeres with them & caught the 6pm bus out of downtown to go home. I took a little nap when I got home, went to the Liquor store to get some beer for tubing, and headed over to my friends house to drink a few of these beers on the deck. Some how I ended up meeting one of my friends at the bar and had a few more beers there... and the rest of the evening is down the drain...

Saturday morning I meet Laury, she drives us to the Apple River (about an hour East from Mpls).. get our tubes, get the beer cooler in the tube, get in the freezing water, crack a beer (about noonish) and start our 3 hour journey down the river. The Apple River is a known party place and seriously, it's nothing but a bunch of drunks floating down this river. There are stops along the way where people "socialize" and it's a place to get out of the tube, stretch your legs, chat with other floaters, etc. These stops are in the very shallow parts of the river...

(a stop in the river for "social time"...)

The weather was absoslutely beautiful and the river wasnt too packed with people, so it was a perfect day to tube. We were about 3/4 of the way down the river when we met some people in a big group (this is how people usually tube.. in large groups.. tie the tubes together.. and party) and they invited Laury and I to tie in with them, which we accepted the invite. This group was from the western part of MN.. Willmar. They were soooo cool! So, we partied with them for the remaining 1/4 of the river. The funny thing, there was someone else named Paula tubing with us.. so everytime I heard "PAULA", I would turn around.. and realize that they werent talking to me. haha.. Since we were having so much fun...we all decided to get some food, reload the beer and go down the river again.

(This is hot mama Laury.. looking good in that tube)

Second time down the river was a little less nutty. We got started about 5pm and didnt get off the river until 7:30pm.. so it was a little colder, less people but still good beer drinkin.

Seamore the Sea Monster.. the name I gave him.

We think this guy.. Elijah.. woke up the next day with a nasty rash on his lower area for stuffing all this seaweed and crap down his drawers!!! ICK!

People camp along the river.. sit in the water and drink with the tubers!

The mishap of the trip down the river happened at the very end of the second trip.. and of course it was ME. It happened at the Rapids (which the first time down, I thought they were lame). But, of course, as we start going through the rapids, a very large rock cracked me right in the lower back and flipped me out of my tube. The other people that I was with kept on floating right down, which you have to do... you dont want to jump off your tube unless someone is drowning or badly hurt. The water is very fast over these rapids bc the river was quite low. So here I am.. in this large mess of large rocks.. the water is flowing so fast, im trying to stop myself because im totally getting beat up by these rocks.. and trying to figure out the best place to exit the river and how am I going to get there. Then I look down the river at my friends and see my new BEST FRIEND making his way up to help me. I was soooo relieved that someone was coming back for me!!! It's my friend, TONY!

(Tony wearing his nasty, warm blanket of seaweed!!)

So this is when I tell Tony how much I appreciate his help!

My dear friend Tony, Thank you very much for sacrificing the danger (and the drunkeness) of hiking back up the river to save my beaten up bones. Just when I thought I would have to endure this mess that damn rock got me into.. you came to save me!!! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!! Seriously, I appreciate you coming back for me & helping me!!

Once Tony helped me out of the river, we assessed the damage. This is what I initally realized:

My toe (the one closest to my big toe, right foot) had been gashed open, scrapes on the side of Right leg, scrape on my Left knee. Once we packed away the river experience for the day, here is a list of the injuries:

(OUCH.. my toe.. doesnt look too bad.. but a huge, deep gash on the second toe)

1).Toe, gashed open, but ok. No stitches needed.. just cleaned it up and wrapped it.

2). Deep bruising all across my lower back.. and it HURTS like an M-Effer!

3). Bruised right ankle.

4). Scraped up knee & bruising, scraped up leg.

5). My face and hands didnt get hurt!! lol.....

Tony, Paula & other Paula (**Take notice to the beads.. we know how she got those!!)

Also, I should mention.. I endured all these injuries while saving our plastic bag with my camera, some money & Laury's CAR KEYS! We would have been screwed if we lost that bag. I was pretty proud of myself.

Tony & wife Shelly!

So, all in all, it was a SUPER day! I had so much fun with Laury, meeting new people and tubing the river. Yes, I will go back again, however, not this year. The tubing season is coming to an end.. the Great Minnesota Get Together starts this Thursday (Minnesota State Fair), which marks the end of summer for Minnesotans.

My Sunday was spent with my dad to celebrate his birthday. Some beer drinking, sulking in my misery of the injuries (hurting pretty bad) & some food. Im still very sore. My toe is getting better, thanks to my mom. My back is the worst part.. the black & blue keeps appearing everywhere. Im going to make it though. Good memories!!!

Thanks to: Jason & Christina, Shelly & Tony, Paula & Troy and Sara (Tony's sister). We had a blast with you and hopefully we can keep in contact! If you read this (I gave them my blog site to check out the pics), please leave me a comment so I know you were here!! You can also send me an email to: pklarson914@gmail.com

I have to gimp to my bus now.. so peace out. Sorry no green tip today because im running late as usual!

~Peace!

Going For Green

Good Friday Morning,

First things first... Even though my dad doesnt read my blog... He may someday!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY BIG DADDY! Big John is 61 today.. and still acts like he's 6. :)



Ive had some very interesting bus rides to work this week. One morning, this older woman was sitting directly across from me and she was literally sleeping.. arms folded in front of her and leaning on this younger girl next to her.. It was so funny. The poor girl.. she looked like a smooshed sardine and she kept leaning the other way to get the old bag off her. As im looking around the bus on this particular morning, I look to my left.. a couple rows back and here is a black girl with her big ear muff head phones on... singing away, but not out loud. Her head was leaned back and moving slowly in a circle (like she was in concert) and she was mouthing the words to her music. My day was getting better! My stop was coming up, so I pulled the rope by the window so the bus driver would stop at the next intersection... and apparently he wasnt paying attention because he missed my stop.. not only my stop, but several others too. He was more concerned about taking a right at the corner.. and how he was going to get this gigantic bus around that corner. I said.. excuse me.. I think you missed my stop. He got around the corner.. honking the horn mind you at on coming traffic... and immediately stopped in the middle of the block.. lol... and apologized. I take the express bus to and from work everyday bc it's fast.. hence being called the Express route. I dont get a lot of the weirdos on my route.. so I wont get to share good stories on a daily basis.. but when I do, I will share them.

I also wanted to add a little something to my blog. Im all about Global Warming and conserving energy. So, Im going to add something Green to my blog. Im going to add a "green tip-of-the- day". Im sure most of you know the ways to conserve energy, but a little refresher course wont hurt. Im all about saving the environment.. saving the Earth... so, this is a good way for me to share some information with you, my friends. I like reading and learning about the environment and went to an excellent conference about a year ago on Global Warming. It's called the Nobel Conference and it's held at Gustavus Adolphus College every year in St. Peter, MN. It's obviously a science related conference and they choose a diff topic each year. This year the topic is: Who were the first Humans? If youre interested in knowing about this, click here to read more about it.

It's FRIDAY! No plans for the weekend, really, but now that I have learned a few things about my camera (which I found by the way) and downloading pics.. and learned how to link things to my blog.. (VERY EXCITING)... I will be sure to have more up to date posts with pics and all. When I dont have plans for my weekends, I usually do some crazy shit... so we shall see when Monday comes around.. also looking forward to Sunday Funday!!!
Have a great weekend..
~Peace

GREEN TIP OF THE DAY: Wash your clothes in COLD water. Did you know that 90% of the energy consumed by washing machines is to heat the water when washing in warm or hot water?

Nobody Likes to do it.....

I thought today I would talk about one of my PHOBIAS. I think everyone has a fear of something, whether it's dying, spiders, flying... well, mine is a rare one and Ive done a little investigation into it. Since I think Im a self-healing doctor (only in practice for myself), I have diagnosed myself with Emetophobia: Fear of Vomiting or of being around others who are vomiting.
The reason I talk about this today, is because I was riding the bus home from work on Monday and all of a sudden I felt like I was going to puke. I felt fine all day long.. no sick feelings, no headaches, no signs of feeling crappy at all.. so I was bewildered. Seriously, I was sitting there, and I had that feeling in my stomach.. and the bus was full of passengers because it was rush hour and I got EXTREMELY anxious. I was squirming in my seat and desperately trying hard not to think about puking. I opened my bag to see if I had a plastic bag with me just in case it started coming up and I did. The ONLY thing going through my head was: please dont puke, please dont puke.. omg.. please... Then my phone rang (it was a sign that I wasnt going to puke) and it was my friend. I hate talking on the phone while riding the bus because it's rude and uncomfortable to the other passengers. My friend asked if I was on the bus and I said yes.. but it's ok. I told her that I didnt feel good and was fighting the urge to puke so this would hopefully take my mind off it. It eased my stomach a little bit, but was a lot better once I got off the bus.

WTF? Once I was talking to someone at work and told them that the only thing Im afraid of is puking! So, all of a sudden a link to "fear or vomiting" appeared in my email inbox. lol..
People think this is funny, but to me.. it's far from funny (although I laugh at it). I have NO idea why I have this anxiety towards puking... nothing traumatic happened to me when I was younger.. I didnt get puked on or anything. So, im not sure where this comes from, other than the fact that it's extremely disgusting to me. I would rather see your guts hang out.. torn off limb (im being extreme here) or something like that than to see you puke. And yes, I know.. nobody likes to puke.. it's just one of those things that we cant help.. a natural bodily function.

I have not puked in 18 years, although I have been close many times. It's really weird to me. I dont avoid going out to eat, or eating certain types of food (however, I have thrown away food or avoided food in the past bc I thought it would give me food poisoning and then I would puke). I dont lock myself in the closet and hide from the world. I feel normal.. although sitting here talking about this, my heart is beating very fast.. im anxious just talking about it. UGH. I thought I was the only person who had this.. then I learned that there are other people out there that suffer from this at an extreme level, where they dont go out to eat for fear of eating something that would make them puke, etc...

OK.. so everyone that knows me, knows that I have this fear of puking. Yes, I get teased.. esp by my sister and now her kids bc they know I hate it. To them, it's just part of life (not that I disagree) and with her having kids... well, it's unavoidable. My little brother was sick on Christmas this past year.. so he runs to the bathroom, shouting: "Move, Im going to throw up". So, im running away from the bathroom with my fingers jammed in my ears so I cant hear him and my sisters kids are running TO the bathroom so they can see it!! WHAT?????
When I dont feel good, my mom (#1 puker of all time) will suggest to me that I stick my finger down my throat and make myself puke!! WHAT?? Are you fucking serious?? I would rather stick my hand in a garbage disposal, than make myself puke.

Since I work downtown & close to the Metrodome (where the Twins & Vikings play), I cant count the number of times ive seen puke on the sidewalk.. I ruins my day when I see this. I get that "watery mouth" feeling and everything inside turns upside down. Then I take a few deep breaths and try not to think about it.. and Im usually able to calm myself down. I have also realized that I could never be bulimic (not that I would want to.. that's disgusting too).. but how do those people do that? We wont go there bc that's a whole 'nother issue.. but it's the act of doing it that makes me ill.

Why do I have this??? I hate it. Im fine with dog & cat excretions (puke and shit).. but not with human. And why do they have such gross names for it? Barfing, puking, hurling, vomiting, etc... there are so many.. im sure you can add to this list too.. It drives me nuts. Now, when I get on the bus, I get anxious and look for a seat in the back. I hope this feeling subsides. So, now everyone knows that this isnt a joke to me.. I dont think it's funny when you "pretend" that you are going to puke in front of me, pretend that someone threw up on MY pillow on their road trip to Chicago (STACY.. no, I havent forgotten about that), or pretend anything about puking. I will not hold your hair back or rub your back while you puke.. I will run, run, run far away from you if you tell me youre going to barf. I will get extremely anxious if you tell me you dont feel well and feel like youre going to puke. I actually have many stories that I remember about this.. things that dont go away from my head.

One story and then I will close. I joined a "family" field trip with my niece and nephew for a boy scout outing. My sister couldnt go, so she asked me if I would like join them, to which I said yes. We are having a good day and evening. We are playing flash-light tag in the dark around the cabin that everyone was staying in.. when all of a sudden some kid yells from out of the cabin that "someone puked in the cabin"... and my heart beat skyrocketed because I just KNEW that it was my niece. Im sitting by the fire now and she comes walking over to me, stands in between my chair and another chair (my ex-boyfriends chair).. and bends over and pukes some more. Ive NEVER jumped out of a chair and ran so fast in my life. Jeff, (my ex) comes over to me and says, "what are you doing? She's sick and she cant help it". So I told him that I cant deal with it and asked him if he would help her? He said "NO.. you get over there and help her". And I realized that he was right. I had to suck it up because she was my niece and I had to help her. I slowly walked back to her and asked her if she was ok and if she felt like she was going to puke some more. She said no, she thought she was done (which she was.. thank god) and we walked around for a few minutes. Then I realized that I had to clean up the barf in the cabin.. OMG... I knew I couldnt do it. It took a lot of courage for me to face my neice and help her.. but I knew there was NO WAY I could clean it up. When I got to the cabin, the head scout guy was already cleaning it up. I thanked him and thanked him and told him that I dont do puke. He said he's used to it bc he has kids. We ended cutting our weekend short and bringing Kelsie home so she didnt get anyone else sick.. It was quite the experience for me.

Dont tease me!!! :)

A BIG HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY WONDERFUL FRIEND ANDI DUNN IN ATLANTA!! HAVE A GREAT DAY!
~Peace

A Little Bit of Everything.. With Salt & Pepper

For the past two weeks, I have referred to Sunday as "Sunday Funday". I'm trying to understand what is possessing me to drink beer on Sunday evenings. I don't care too much for Mondays so drinking until 2am last week and 10pm this past Sunday makes for a very long Monday at work. I half understand this past Sundays escapade. The weather has been exceptionally beautiful here in Minneapolis this past week. Low 80's, no humidity. The evenings cool off enough for a light sweater.. it's awesome. And Sunday was no exception! It was gorgeous out all day. I spent the day watching my nephew's baseball team playing in a tourney (which I will cover in a bit) and the sun was high in the sky and white girl here soaked up some of those rays. When I got home about 4pm, I was thinking about drinking a beer, however, I didnt have any (Note to self: get some beer to keep in fridge for Sunday evenings), so I called my friend and she was available for some beer drinking time!! SUNDAY FUNDAY, baby!! So, needless to say this isnt my fault.. I will blame it on the beautiful weather!! :)

So, I have also spent the past two weekends watching my nephews baseball team play in tournaments. This weekend was the All-Star Tourney. These are 11-12 year old boys playing and I have to say, I was very impressed with their team. They played for the Championship yesterday afternoon, but sadly lost. After the game, they handed out trophies to 2nd place and to 1st place. I walked over to my nephew to give him a hug and he was "pouting" because they lost. I tried to tell him that it's ok.. someone had to lose.. he played a good tournament.. give him some encouragement. He didnt want anything to do with it.. big booger. I asked him if they won the game, would that make him happy? He said, "YEAH"! I also asked him if it's all about winning?, to which he replied, "Yeah". Apparently winning a baseball game is responsible for happiness as well! haha... I told my nephew that he has a lot of disappointments in his future if he thinks "It's all about winning". His team played very well. And let me tell you, I've hesitated going because I have sat through some of his previous games (when he was younger) and it was horribly boring. I needed a keg of beer to keep myself entertained. Since I wasnt able to make any of his regular season games, I decided to go to these tournaments and Im very glad that I did. I had a lot of fun!!

Now, back to this happiness thing: Since I wrote my last blog on happiness, Ive been searching for what makes me happy. Well, it's been found and Im feeling very happy.. i found an AMAZINGLY awesome BRA! For most of you that read my blog, you know that I dont wear bras because I have NEVER found one (although wasnt really looking) that I liked. I hate bras.. hate them.. hate them. I wear the "sports" bras.. Here is the most silly thing of all... I used to work for Macy's as a bra-fitter! I know, I know... just had it set in my head that I hated them and wont ever wear one again. Until Friday. I went to my sisters 20 year high school reunion and I picked a dress from my closet that I havent worn yet. Needless to say, a "sports bra" wasnt going to cut it. So, my sister came through for me and borrowed me one of hers (thankfully our breasts are the same size.. well, enough that I can wear her bra..haha) and I swear, im NOT giving it back! I love it.. it fits me perfectly and it feels good. This is PURE happiness, if you ask me!

Well, im still plugging away at the budget. Today, Im sitting on a whole $7.. and this will have to last me until Thursday. I had $40 yesterday, but needed gas and some groceries. In the last blog I told you about some of the positive things of the budget therefore, today I will list a few of the negative things:

1). Im starting to feel paranoid

2). I eat like a homeless girl

3). I feel guilty when I spend money on eating out at work.

4). I am sometimes skipping dinner at night because I dont want to run out of food.

My paranoia kicks in on Thursdays when I get my wad of cash from the bank. I begin to think about what I need for the week, what I will be doing for the weekend, who's birthday is it this week, do I need cat food, shampoo... how much money will I be spending? I worry that Im not going to have enough money for the whole week... even though Ive been doing this for almost a month now. Im hoping this paranoia will soon subside ..

Also, when I go to the store to get some food for the week.. I make sure that I dont spend more than $30. So, here is what I got at the store last night: Swiss cheese, bread, yogurt, eggs, lettuce, hamburger (to make some spaghetti)... and I think that's it. This my selection for the week to eat.. I will eat cheese sandwiches, (i also have PB & J at home), eggs and left over spaghetti that I made last night. There is some fruit in the fridge too (peaches and apples).. this is it folks.. no joking around here. Ive decided that the homeless eat better than I do.

I ate out at work last Friday because a). I was running late for work & b). I didnt really have anything to bring for lunch. So, I drove to work because I had to leave early(spent $6 on parking) AND I ate out for lunch (OH, the horror.. another $7). Seriously, I felt guilty.. almost like I was doing something wrong. My coworker reminded me that I havent eaten out in 2 weeks and it wasOK to spend $7 on lunch that day. I used to eat out everyday.. approx $30 a week. I used to drive to work almost everyday (at least 3 times a week) which was $5 for parking and however much in gas. I was spending an INSANE amount of money on this crap. Now, I feel guilty if I eat out and drive to work.. and OMG ..if I do them both in the same day? Mental Breakdown for sure!! :)

And the last thing: Sometimes when im running low on food for the week, I will just skip dinner because I need something for lunch the next day. I would rather have lunch at work than eat dinner. It's silly, but it's hard to sit at work with nothing to eat and watch everyone around you shovel food down their throats. So, I decided that I would rather eat lunch than dinner if it comes down to it.

ONE MORE BUDGET POSITIVE: My friends are starting to adopt my budget in to our plans!! It's awesome. My friend Laury & I made plans to go play bar bingo last Thursday night.. but at the last minute she thought of a better plan.. one that included free beer and sitting outside on a golf course looking at some handsome men!!! Bar Bingo's got nothin on Free Beer!! Thanks Laury!

A topic of converstaion that has blossomed the past few days is of the Olympics. I LOVE the Olympics and did spend some time this weekend watching a few things. I will pretty much only watch the events that I like which is.. swimming, diving, gymnastics, track & field,volleyball, basketball.. and that might be about it. I did see some of the Women's Badminton.. which was horrible by the way. Are you serious? This is an Olympic sport? This is the game that you play in your backyard on a nice summer evening with a beer in the left hand and a racket in your right. And now it's in the Olympics? It got me thinking of other weird sports and wondered if we will see these in the future of the Olympics:

Croquet, Beer Pong, Blackjack or any of those addictive games, golf (do they have golf in the Olympics?) .. I dont know.. im sure there are others. Here is a game that was suggested by my supervisor: Is this athlete a Man or Woman?? I thought it was pretty funny because seriously, there are some women competing that resemble men. It's scary.

In closing, I will leave you with a few thoughts: I've had conversations with a few friends about commenting on my blog. Some people dont feel comfortable leaving comments on here and some just dont want to comment, although they really DO. I appreciate ANY comments, questions and concerns you may have. Im more or less doing this for me because it's fun, I like to write and like to share my thoughts with my friends and family, however, your comments mean a lot to me as well. If you dont feel comfortable posting a comment on here, please send me an email and let me know what you think. My blog mojo has been running thick lately (thanks to JS being on vacation) so I will be gettin my bloggin on this week.

Have a great Tuesday!

~Peace

Happiness, or something like it....

Ive been emailing with someone in Chicago.. we will call him JS (because those are his initials and to protect his identity). Ive never met JS before, however made contact with him because of a work issue.. and this friendship blossomed (I have that effect on people!:). So, last Friday, JS and I got into a pretty deep conversation about happiness and being happy. He has recently met a woman (we call her STL.. I dont know her name and it's irrevelant anyway) and she makes his heart soar! They, unfortunately live in different cities, so dont get to see eachother all but a couple times a month. But JS shared all his feelings about STL and how happy he is when he's with her or talks to her or what have you.. Well, JS knows that im single & have had issues with men ive dated in the past and says in one of his emails to me "PL (what he calls me) will find this kind of happiness someday, I just know it".





JS opened a huge can of worms for me!!!

Let's talk about this happiness thing. Everyones life goal, it seems is to be happy. Of course, who doesnt want to be happy? It makes one feel good on the inside and out and these people are so easy to recognize. These are the people that walk around with the perma-smile plastered to their faces.. ive seen them before and sometimes it makes me ill! hahaha.. I think we strive for happiness in our lives at one point or another.. like it's our mission to find this happiness.. or something like it.


Everyone measures happiness on different levels. Some people think material things are responsible for their happiness, and some believe having kids, having a significant other, social status, huge ass mansion, as well as many other things are responsible for happiness. So, when JS said this to me, it made me stop to ponder what will make PL happy and why do people think that im NOT happy?

I have never found that special someone for me. Ive had a few long term relationships in the past, even marriage, but that man doesnt seem to exist for me. Maybe he will pop up someday, but im done looking for him. Ive heard all the things people have to say to me about this topic:

1. He will come to you when you least expect it
2. You have to believe in it
3. Youre not looking for him, he's looking for you.
4. You will find him someday...blah, blah, blah
(im sure you can think of some more)

UGH! Ok people, im over it. I get it. Im reminded almost everyday that I dont have that special someone... that everyone else in my life has. Yes, maybe PL is supposed to single? Who made the rules that there is someone for everyone?? Maybe there is no one for PL?? HUH? Who knows. I feel like a freak show sometimes because I dont have a boyfriend or dating anyone in particular. My friends and family are so used to me being single that I think they would stroke out if I did ever find that someone. But when I do go out with some guy, it seems like it's the hot gossip.. everyone wants to know what happened.. who is he..where did you meet him.. where did you go.. did you have sex with him? It drives me insane.

So, for now.. PL is happy! Esp with this Budget thing.. NOT. I dont measure my happiness with material things. For me, things are replaceable. They make you feel happy for a short period of time, until you get bored of that thing.. then it's no longer calculated into your happiness. ( EX: Like a puppy.. they are so cute at first and sweet.. and so dependable on you.. and loving.. everyone loves puppies and they make you happy! BUT THEN.. one day you come home and the puppy crapped all over.. tore up your brand new $500 shoes (that made you happy last week).. and now youre not so hapy anymore. lol... ) For me, true happiness is just something that you feel.. almost hard to explain.. kind of like falling in love for the first time.. or something like that.

I havent posted anything for a week, because this JS dude has been taking up all my time! LOL.. (just kidding JS.). Also, as I was telling JS.. blogging is a way for me to release some of my bottled up feelings or anger.. or what have you. And fortunate for me, JS has been an outlet for me as well.. not only does he read what I send in emails, he responds too.. almost better than blogging. However, I like the blogging because I dont always need feedback. Sometimes I just need to let things out. JS and I have covered a lot of ground in the past couple weeks.. it's so strange. I have seen a pic of him and also shared a pic of myself. But I was thinking.. hmmm.. im not sure that I would ever want to meet JS in person.. not that it's an option.. but just thinking if I ever had the option. The mystery of this whole thing is what keeps me coming back for more (almost an addiction). It's almost like on-line therapy in a strange way. hahaha.. actually, im not sure how to explain it. We get it though and thats all that matters. JS is super cool.. easy to talk to.. and he also shares stuff about his life with me. JS is currently involved with STL, remember.. and after all our "therapy sessions" it will be intersting to see how it all works out. Im routing for JS & STL.. he's really into her. This is something exciting and different for him and Im excited for him! GO JS! Ive told JS that I have a blog and that im blogging about him, but havent shared it with him yet. I dont know if im ready to share it with him... it's so stupid. I need to think about it.. hahaha.. He says im a "tease".

The budget thing.. well, its teaching me ALOT about me. Im pretty resourceful if I want to be. I knew that, but havent tested it for a while. It's always good to put yourself in check once in a while. Here are some of the good things of this lame budget:

1). I ask people to drive me places (when were going to the same place that is), instead of always driving alone.
2). Im staying home more, which has it's rewards.. my bedroom is now clean, my clean clothes are actually put away in my closet instead of sitting in the nice little pile on my chair, the basement is getting cleaner, as well as the bathroom.
3). The dog is getting walked on a daily basis and PL is getting her exercise too.
4). Im cooking at home more.. of course cooking things that will have left overs for lunches and dinners for the next couple days too.
5). Im taking the bus everyday now to and from work. I used to drive a couple times a week, but now since the budget kicked in.. parking money would have to come from those funds and that's one less beer when out having fun!

I suspect that this list will grow to be even longer in the next couple months.. so, it's not so bad after all. I have been very good. Only went over the $150 one time (by $20) otherwise i have stayed with in my limit. I only had $13 yesterday in my purse.. to last me until Thursday. Today, I have $2 in my purse. I have to think very carefully about where im going to spend my money.
Well, my day has been over for a while now here at work. It's nice and quiet in my office, so it's easy to put together some thoughts and not get interrupted while writing. Heres to happiness!
~Peace