As most of you know, I complete online surveys and product tests to earn a little extra cash…
Anyway, I was just working on one… and this question gave me a laugh.
In the next 12 months, do you plan to
1. Buy a car
2. Travel for leisure
3. Go to a sporting event
4. Refinance a mortgage
5. Buy a tractor
Wow. I wonder how many respondents plan to buy a tractor. That’s one choice I have never seen in any survey.
I just found it humorous – hope you did, too.
Happy Friday!
Those of you who know my husband, Steven… know that this is his favorite saying during this time of year…
The old year is gone, oh how time does fly…
to you and your family… I hope you all ___.
And like I said… those of you who know him well, know how to fill in the last blank. And he wonders to this day why Hallmark hasn’t picked it up for a card yet. Who knows?! Maybe someday…
2011 was a pretty good year… some good times, and of course, some bad times… (here, though… the bad times aren’t worth mentioning anymore)
We had more crazy weather in January, at one point, we measured just over 5″ of snow here in Georgia. As in the past, we ‘hiked’ up and down our hill… and luckily, had several good friends that were willing to brave the snow and ice to give us rides to the bar store. 
We were lucky enough to be able to accomplish several home improvements this year… from painting, to some new light fixtures, and even a completely rebuilt chimney! Wow. There’s so much more we want to do… hopefully 2012 will give us even more opportunities to do so.
In March, SB and I celebrated our 5th anniversary – we were among our favorite friends, and Steven even bought an awesome chocolate cake to celebrate. Also, in March, we bought a new car… we were looking for something more gas-efficient with less repairs.
In May, we traveled to New York City for Memorial Day weekend. Neither of us had been to NYC in many years, and were excited to go together! We saw so many things- Rockefeller Center, Times Square, Ground Zero, Brooklyn, Coney Island, Little Italy… I saw my first Broadway Play, “Born Yesterday” … and even had the chance to take a private tour of FoxNews Channel. Our guide, weekend host Clayton Morris, was wonderful – we saw so many things that most people never get to see… and even got to sit on the Fox and Friends “curvy couch.”
In June, my parents and sister came to visit… as always, it was a nice time. SB grilled out for them one night, and the next we enjoyed dinner at our favorite Italian restaurant, Alfredo’s.
Also in June, we finally broke down and entered the world of the SmartPhone. I resisted for so long… and when my old phone began to die… I decided to jump in. Quickly I got addicted to Angry Birds -which sometimes is a relief for SB, because it keeps me quiet for a while!
The last week in August, SB and I embarked on another cruise… this time, we flew to Miami… and traveled on the Majesty of the Seas to Nassau, CocoCay and Key West. I hadn’t been to Key West in 16 years, so it was nice to visit again.
In September, Steven’s grandmother turned 90, and we had a 90-person party for her! How amazing – she is truly a special woman.
In October, my parents and sister visited again for my Dad’s birthday. Dad, never willing to stop working, helped us install a new garage door opener and a new ceiling fan…
On that same weekend, we were excited to show them our pond waterfall, and let them see how our fish had thrived and grown. Alas, upon returning home from work – Steven found our largest fish, Copernicus, floating. And the goldfish and another koi were ‘missing.’ Only one live fish remained that afternoon… we are certain a circling heron enjoyed them for a mid-afternoon snack. By Saturday, the lone koi had also disappeared. We miss them, but have decided that we will not replenish the pond until Spring.
In November, we celebrated Thanksgiving with Steven’s family – we had a large crowd, since many cousins came in to visit from out of town – we also had two babies with us that weren’t there last year. I think the final count was 26 people.
In December, I began some de-cluttering of the house… and managed to sell a good bit of my clutter on eBay! Our holidays were very low-key… we spent time with some family, and of course, all of our friends. I also enjoyed some well-deserved time off work- mental health days, you could say.
Today is New Year’s Eve – the weather is amazing… I could definitely get used to these 60+ degree days!
This evening we will enjoy dinner out with some friends… and eventually retire to our place for drinks… we’re looking forward to being with our friends – and welcoming 2012 all together!
To all of our family and friends… we wish you all the best for the new year! Bring it on!
For my computer nerd friends…
The reasons our computers at work are slow-
You might have a virus!
Did you do a disk cleanup?
There are too many icons on your desktop!
Did you clear your cookies?
Have you defragmented lately?
The real reason-
Most computers here at work are 512 MB Ram, with a 256 MB here and there…
running on a 512 mB server.
Hmmmm. You think?!
Have you ever known someone who, if you took them out to eat, and they knew YOU were paying for their meal… they would order something different than they would if they were paying for their own? (Does that make sense? That feels like a really big run-on sentence.)
Anyway, I’m not sure I’ve ever known someone like this… but it makes you wonder sometimes.
Now, my father-in-law always says You should always order what you want. And yes, I agree. You should eat what you like. But… let’s say you are at McDonald’s – and you love, love, love their $1 cheeseburger… but on this particular day – someone has offered to treat you for lunch – so you order a Big Mac value meal upsized. This is obviously going to cost quite a bit more than that $1 cheeseburger that you would normally eat.
Let’s just imagine there are people in this world that would change their normal order because someone else is paying – real nice. Pig.
On a semi-unrelated note… but kind of…
A few months ago, at work… our boss offered to buy the staff some snacks. He said that way, we’d always have a little something to eat in the afternoons… and it would give us more energy to continue working.
(Side note –> I do have to throw in, that a few years ago… we all agreed to take a small percentage pay cut in order to help out the company – and contribute to paying for supplies, utilities, etc… whatever… we, of course, didn’t really willing agree – but I suppose there’s really nothing we can do about it.)
Okay – the office kitchen is always stocked with Cokes, Bottled Water and Coffee for our employees. And then the snacks… at first, it was some individual bags of crackers or cookies… maybe some popcorn… just nice little pick-me-up snacks.
Lately, it’s becoming somewhat ridiculous, in my opinion – as we now have popcorn, cookies, chips, dip, cracker jacks, fruit snacks, donuts, grits, oatmeal, candy bars, crackers, peanuts, cashews… the list goes on….
I understand that us employees, in a roundabout way, are paying for these snacks – but when does it end? And of course, there are some employees who have maybe one snack a day – maybe one snack every other day… but there are other employees who have a snack every hour – just because it’s there.
They are turning into little piglets, who have to eat all the time. (And of course, some little piglets eat all the “good” snacks first… and the crumbs, or “unpopular” snacks are left for weeks.) I am truly surprised that they boss hasn’t put a stop to this – or at least put a limit on the amount of purchases every week.
I know I’m (mostly) wrong on my opinion… but I feel like taking advantage of someone is not cool. We are here to work – make a living – not to eat.
(By the way – the boss doesn’t personally make these snack purchases – they are made by a trusted source with the company credit card.)
File this under: I’m Just Saying
