New Name for a New Year

As promised, we are changing the name of this space to reflect the broader nature of the blog going forward. We will still include money saving tips and ideas for reducing debt, but we'll have a lot more about budgeting, growing vegetables, preparing for the future, etc. I think it will be a lot more fun. Updates will normally be weekly, with some extras thrown in. I hope to include more photos this year. I fully expect 2009 to be a fantastic year for everyone involved in the Revolution.

Happy New Year one and All.

Shopping Spree

One of my favorite things about being debt free is being able to save up and go shopping while on vacation.

We are in Florida visiting family and are having a most relaxing time. We've also done some serious shopping. And because it's not charged but IS planned, it's totally guilt free.

Last night I hit an outlet mall and bought Brittan a nice piece of Le Crucet cookware and some Royal Riviera pears (from Harry and David). This morning we're taking our second trip to the Earth Box Center to buy some more gardening supplies for our 2009 vegetable gardening. I love that place. It's like a farmers market, botanical garden and garden center all in one. We have a fun time and can buy our supplies direct from the center and save shipping costs. That's a WIN!

Later, we're going to meet up with my sisters and have dinner together. I'm looking forward to it. That means in the last month we will have visited with our children, grandchildren, Brittan's Parents, grandparents, her brother and my siblings and their families. Not a bad run if you ask me.

Merry Christmas

I'm sitting in the my in-laws living room, listening to the clocks ticking and waiting for the coffee to be ready. After some life giving caffeine hits my blood stream I will be able to properly celebrate Jesus' Birthday. He is still, and always will be, the Reason for the Season.

We are on vacation in Florida for a few days. I'm finally starting to feel a little better so I hope to get this little space moving properly again next week.

Many blessings to you this wonderful Christmas Day. I bring you 'good tidings of great joy, which shall be for all the people. For unto you is born this day, in the city of David, a savior, which is Christ, the Lord."

Emmanuel.

One of the reasons I love Georgia

This morning, I looked at the weather forecast on weather.com as I do each day as a part of my morning ritual. The only difference is that on weekends I'm about an hour later than on weekdays. At 7 a.m. today, it was 47 degrees. In Limestone, Maine from where we moved in January, it was -23 and with windchill it was -42. Ok, some say, yes, but the temps will be falling all day in North Ga and it will be very cold overnight and will only be in the mid 30s on Monday. To which I say, my former home is in a blizzard warning beginning 6 p.m. this evening. Besides, by Wednesday, it will be in the 60s again here. Yep, I love Georgia in the winter. Now.... if I could only build up some immunities so that I'm not allergic to everything living in this State.................

Lost Sense of Smell and Taste....

... and it's kind of scary.

Background: I've had allergy issues since B and I moved to Georgia last January. And for the last three weeks I've been fighting a cold and sinus infection. I went to the doctor and ran through a course of antibiotics. I've been chugging cold medicine like crazy.

So.... last night about 7 p.m. I had a couple big sneezes. I didn't think too much about it because I've been doing that a lot lately. About a half hour later, Brittan brought me a big glass of Egg Nog. Egg Nog is one of my favorite parts of Christmas. I took a big drink and.....nothing. No taste at all. I asked her if she'd added milk to it. She said, "No", so I sniffed at it and couldn't smell anything. I had a glass of iced tea and a glass of cranberry/blueberry juice. They tasted the same except the juice was sweeter. It's been 24 hours and still no sense of smell or taste. I've had bland food, spicy food, creamy food. No smell or taste. Brittan baked cookies today. I couldn't smell a thing.

I hope this goes away soon. I will see a doctor if it doesn't clear up soon. It's creepy.

Genius or Folly?

I recently solved a puzzle with an idea that just might be brilliant. It might also be moronic. Time will tell.

Brittan and I are dog lovers. We have had as many as 15 back in our dog mushing days. Now, we have a mere three. One of them is an ancient collie. She is content to sleep the day away in my recliner. The other two are younger and more energetic. Especially troublesome is our Belgian Sheepdog, Guinness. He is a beautiful dog, who is incredibly loving and eager to please. He is, however, highly energetic and needs more exercise than he gets. Walking doesn't help. I'm old, fat and out of shape. I get exhausted and come home after 20 minutes or half and hour and G is not even warmed up yet. But what can I do to get him more exercise. I considered taking him out to run along while I ride my bike. But our neighborhood is very hilly and I'm too out of shape to ride very far. Sad, but true. I thought about an electric scooter, but they don't have a very long range. I considered an ATV. But they are too expensive. After weeks of pondering my conundrum, I had an epiphany:




It is an electric tricycle. It has a range of 35 miles. It is a hybrid, using either pedal or electric power. It is about the same price as a good electric scooter and allows me to get some exercise myself but turn to the electric motor to take a breather. It has a top speed of 20 mph so it's faster than I need. Also, I could use it to run to the store for small items.

Yep, it looks pretty stupid. But it's practical and efficient. Guinness should get all the exercise he needs now. And I might even get fit myself. Ok, maybe that's a stretch, but miracles happen.

Sick Again

I've neglected the heck out of this blog. I'm such a goof. It's just that work has been crazy lately. Now I'm sick again. My cold and sinus infection started to get better then yesterday has morphed into some kind of upper respiratory thing. My chest is full, I have a drainage sore throat, body aches and zero energy. Eventually I will get better. Until then, blogging neglect is likely to continue.

Swamped

Between work load and getting ready for the Holidays, I'm tonsil deep, with no time to blog. What a loser!

I am thinking about changing the name of the blog to "Recession Proof Living" and relaunching in January. Just thought I'd share.

Still Sick and Unmotivated

I just don't have the energy to write. I missed some work and finally went to the Dr but not much relief. In fact, she made me stop taking cold medicine and decongestants because it was making my blood pressure spike. BP was 178/115. Pretty impressive, really.

As a result of not being able to mask the symptoms, I actually feel worse.

I've had very little sleep the past two nights and I suspect that will continue tonight. But this too shall pass. It always does.

Back from Vacation, Sick as a Dog

What does that mean, BTW, sick as a dog? Just thinking out loud.

B and I got in about 9 p.m. only about 4 hours behind schedule. That's pretty good considering all the snowed in airports around the country. Kansas City airport wasn't bad, there were only a couple inches of snow and none to speak of on the roads or runways. Milwaukee was a different story. They shut the airport down every half hour all day in order to plow the runways. Not a good sign. But not only were they having issues, but so were a variety of other airports that were providing the planes we were to fly on. But in the end, we touched down in chilly, but dry Atlanta.

We had an excellent time visiting with our kids and grand kids. It's always sad to leave them. I wish we lived closer to each other. But considering the winters in Nebraska, I wish the closer was them living in Georgia!

Brittan and I picked up some virus or other bug out there and we have been 'knocked for six', to use a cricket expression.

Impacted sinuses, fever, raw, sore throats, ear ache. Not good. Not good at all. And we probably spread it to hundreds of people we contacted in Nebraska, Kansas City, Milwaukee and Atlanta. We are bad citizens.

But we're home now. It's time to take cold medicine and go to bed and sleep it off. Nothing like rest to beat a thing like this. I'll probably stay home from work tomorrow and work from here to avoid spreading this to my team. While I have a lot to do, I really can't risk infecting my whole sales force. That would be a bad thing indeed.