"Ten Dollars, Please"

I have been saying this phrase recently & boy does this make me happy!!! Less than $40.00 to fill the van...a road trip North is far more desirable...whether it be to CritterLiz's place in the Catskills or to visit with my mom in Syracuse.

Remember, years ago, we could say this at the gas station & not have to be back in a day or two?

I remember putting $5.00 in my Mom's car when I was growing up & would get well over 1/2 a tank of gas. And we drove a 2 door -man, those doors HEAVY :-) - Pontiac gas guzzler at that time. As a matter of fact, one of my sisters would always scooch down in the back seat while we were in town so none of her friends would see her in this car. Me, never mattered much to me..I was "in town"!

Anyhow - I can now afford to DRIVE to the grocery store...I just can't afford the groceries!! Go figure!

Although, I do wonder, with gas being so cheap again - will we still use public transporation, bike, do many errands while we are out, etc, etc. like we did when gas was almost 3 times this rate? I sure do hope so....

"Junk In The Trunk"

The "Junk In MLR's Trunk"

Our, (my place of work), annual "Holiday Party" was last week. My hubby & I really look forward to it every year. We are quite fortunate we are allowed to bring spouses. Some of my co-workers spouses are just some of the sweetest people & I only see them once a year.

We go the Meadow Lands Race Track for the evening!! We eat, drink - whiskey sours for me - and bet on the ponies for the evening. My boss gives everyone $20 to play with. So, that is $2 bet for every race, if you don't want to use your own money. Very generous of them, I think! The first year we went we made enough to pay the baby sitter!! Havent been so lucky in the past few years, though :-).



We especially enjoy this party because no one talks shop. We always talk about the ponies, "Did you bet?", "Did you win?", "Explain Daily Double?", etc. etc. "Why did you pick that horse?". Great conversation starters.

Someone asked me why I picked so & so horse the other night...my response...cause the Jockey's last name matched neighbors of mine as a kid... silly stuff like that. For a $2 bet who cares???

I spoke of meeting spouses earlier...you never know what one will learn from those spouses...for example...I met a girl whose Grand Dad used to play the horn to get the races started at a race track in the area & another spouse told me one can bet on the child's card game of War at a casino in CT... What the heck? "WAR?"



Well, in the first race there was was horse named "Junk In the Trunk". Anyone who knows me, knew I just had to bet on this horse! And gosh darn it and wouldn't you I doubled my money on her!!! BTW...I did bet more than $2 on her *wink wink*.

Never won another race til the last one & hubby & I made almost $40 on that race. But you know it's not about the money..we just have lots of laughs for the entire evening & any money won is just a pleasant side effect!



Now regarding the picture. That is the "Junk In The Trunk" of my vehicle. Yes, indeed, you are looking at pumpkins -crazy huh-. Bought them to make all different kinds of flavored pumpkin seeds...& you can see how well that went!!! LOL The frisbees we keep in the car for frisbee golf. The helmets are Christmas gifts for the boys. All in all my trunk looks pretty good for me! I think there are some Lock in Locks back there for a spur of the moment hide for a letterbox & some bark in case the hidey place needs some help. Some oil - the ole van is getting up there - but shhhhh dont tell her that ;-) - some window washer fluid. No sporting gear -shin guard, soccer ball, basket ball, ....or clothing - sox, goalie glove, jacket, shirts, etc...that is AMAZING -*patting self on back & nodding*



So, if you are looking for an enjoyable evening out with people you dont know very well... try the race tracks!!! But please remember it is all for FUN!!!



Public Service Announcement..."If you have a Gambling Problem...call 1-800-522-4700"

Yarning...Things Created, Things Learned

My newest project is pictured above. I had made them for my oldest son to wear as he walks to the bus, but he really did not like them. He wanted fingerless GLOVES!!! Fingerless Gloves are a little more complicated than the easy fingerless MITTENS pictured above. So the middle son has happily adopted these!

They did not take long to make, but I did make a terrible mistake very close to the end & had to wait to fix it til I saw my mom. I normally would just rip out the whole thing & begin again, but gosh darn it, I had 2/3 of it done when I made the error. So I took it with me when we visited Mom over Thanksgiving weekend. I was, of course, hoping she would fix it & off I would continue, but NO NO NO. She made me fix it my self. YUCK. Those mothers...do they ever run out of lessons? :-).

Now, whilst knitting the 2nd mitten, I was trying to watch TV. But soon discovered there was nothing on the 600 channels available to us that was keeping my interest. How can that be??? 600 channels & nothing to watch??? Is me or is it the Cable Company???

So, I resorted to other entertainment while knitting. I FORCED my 2 youngest boys to read some of the book, 39 Clues, aloud to me. I have heard good things about the series & picked it up while we were visiting Mom...figuring we'd need something to do on the 4 hour ride home ...which BTW turned into a 7 hour ride. Guess where I got to sit? Back seat...in the MIDDLE...had to keep the peace...OMG!!!! (Did not read the book as Dad picked up a DVD player & 2 movies for the ride home while we were in Syracuse).

Well, the youngest read first. My...that boy reads with passion! Stumbles over words he probably shouldn't, though, at his age. But the enthusiasm made up for that, at least in my eyes.

The other reader, read every word perfectly, but in m o n o t o n e. Now, I did take him away from computer game. Maybe that had something to do with the enthusiasm or lack of :-)

Funny, isn't it? The things that can be discovered while knitting a simple pair of mittens!!!

Reminds me of boxing & the adventures I always have whether it is a simple drive by (although if you Box with CritterLiz or Chef Lulu there really is no such thing as a "simple" drive by..LOL) or a 3 hour hike... all allowing me to spend time with some of the best people on earth!