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Jul 26, 2012    |       3 comments

A Convertible Kinda Week!

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I’ve been all over South Texas this week and had to rent two separate rental cars.  My company negotiates a rental car rate for standard vehicles.  I usually get a Taurus or an Impala–standard fare…maybe a Jetta.  On occasion I will get a free upgrade bc there aren’t any standard cars available. On Monday the pickings were slim due to a large convention in town so I could choose something too small for my comfort level or… a bright red Jeep Wrangler…with a canvas top…hardly what I would consider an upgrade.  I drove the 2.5 hours to Corpus Christi in that noisy, bumpy, non-mini-van ride and like an idiot wore a dress that day. I looked ridiculous no doubt. Then on the drive back I spot a State Trooper in my rear view mirror.  :-(. I wasn’t speeding but I knew immediately that darn bright red Jeep was a target!  Well that and I’m sure I looked so out of place in it, he probably wondered if it was stolen!  He followed me for about a mile and darn it if those overhead lights didn’t go on!  My immediate thought was $$$$!  I don’t want to pay a ticket!

I was pulled over for doing 80 in a 75.  Ahem. Insert withheld commentary here.  Thankfully he issued a warning and sent me on my way.  Whew.  I kept it right at 75 the rest of the way home even though I was very ready to get out of that very loud vehicle!

Fast forward to this morning.  I flew out of SA at 7 am and arrived in South Texas at 8 am.  I went to the rental car counter and got my keys and walked the long walk out to the rental car lot.  If you’ve ever been to the Harlingen airport you know what I am talking about.  As I get close I see my car for the day…a convertible red mustang!  I likely looked like a lunatic as I looked around the empty parking lot and laughed really loud at this funny week of cars!  As I got closer I began to say quietly under my breath “I will do the speed limit…I will do the speed limit…”  Good news! I did the speed limit and had a fun work day in fun car!  Hey this travel is not fun so I welcome the fun that comes my way!

 

Jul 25, 2012    |       8 comments

Back To School Shopping

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Make it stop!  The back-to-school push of consumerism is in full swing.  You can’t go in a store without seeing the sale ads, signs and special areas dedicated to school supplies.  I guess I am just so much more aware of this now that I am seeing things so differently.  The early arrival has always bugged me but I didn’t recognize the all out assault to buy more crap like I do now.

I can’t say that we went overboard in years past because of the ads.  I feel like we got what was on the list and not a lot more.  I was pleasantly surprised last year with the public school list because it was a fraction of what they asked for at the private school.  I am sure you can all share stories of something new and wacky on your list.  Our old school had added hand sanitizer and then reams of copy paper–two reams!  Then by December we were receiving requests for replacement items.

My approach this year is to get a few items each week for the next 5 weeks.  That spreads the financial burden nicely.   Oh and the public school actually returned a few things that the kids didn’t use!  So thanks to being more mindful and organized, I won’t be buying double or triple the items.  In the past, I would not have even thought about saving last year’s supplies for this year.  So wasteful!

Clothing is always challenging for us b/c the kids wore uniforms for so long.  I avoided the consumerism on clothing for the most part.  I find things at the resale shop on occasion but I anticipated having to spend some $ to get DD set for school.  DS wears uniforms at his public middle school. This past weekend a friend was telling me that two of her neighbors use her house as the drop off for hand-me-downs from their only daughters (who are a year or two older than my friend’s daughter).  She offered to open up her garage for me to take some of the girls’ clothing off of her hands as it is much too much for her only daughter to wear.  We are going to make it a fun girls’ day for us and our daughters.  What a blessing!

I plan on keeping a close eye on my back-to-school spending…but I admit…I truly LOVE school supplies!  I always have! 🙂

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