Bluenecks

Hey, everybody. Happy Friday!! It's cold outside, and the leaves have mostly been blasted off of the trees by the frigid gusts this morning.

So...let's have a little chuckle, yeah?

I know there are groups that we all love to make fun of - blonds, celebrity moms, "they"...and rednecks.

Now, if you know me...you know that I come from awful proud redneck stock, thankyewverymuch.

However, I grew up in the Pacific Northwest. It's hard to get any further from Alabama than Puget Sound...unless you move to Alaska. (My dad tried it - he said it was cold and full of bears.)

So, when I saw this little beauty pop up into my inbox the other day...I just knew I had to share.


(Received from "The Good Clean Funnies List" (gcfl@gcfl.net))

Bluenecks: Northerners (Opposite of Rednecks)

YOU JUST MIGHT BE A BLUENECK IF...

- Instead of referring to two or more people as "Y'all," you
call them "you guys," even if both of them are women. Guilty

- You think barbecue is a verb meaning "to cook outside." Yup

- You think Heinz Ketchup is REALLY SPICY. BBJ thinks anything sour or hot is "'picy", so yeah

- You would never stop to buy something somebody was cooking
on the side of the road. I'd love to pretend this was wrong...

- You don't have any problems pronouncing "Worcestershire
sauce" correctly. Wor-shteh-shire. What's the problem?

- You don't know what a moon pie is. I know, but I've never eaten a "real" one...

- You've never had an RC Cola. 'fraid not

- You've never, ever eaten okra -- fried, boiled, or
pickled. I have...just never outside of Alabama!

- You eat fried chicken with a knife and fork. Too fussy for me...I'm all about getting dirty!

- You've never seen a live chicken, and the only cows you've
seen are on road trips. Oh, come ON! That's just silly. Unless you're from California?

- You have no idea what a polecat is. Ok, no...I don't know what a polecat is. I just know they're skinny.

- You don't see anything wrong with putting a sweater on
your dog. If dogs are as difficult to dress as squirmy baby boys, then...yeah. I see a problem!

- You don't have bangs. Does sideswept hair count?

- You would rather have your son become a lawyer than grow
up to get his own TV fishing show. Well, if the show brought in the money...then bring it on!

- You've never eaten and don't know how to make a tomato
sandwich. Oh, but I LOVE me a good tomato sandwich.

- You think more money should go to important scientific
research at your university than to pay the salary of the
head football coach. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA *sniff* Sorry.

- You don't even have one can of WD-40 somewhere around the
house. I think I have one somewhere..Dad would be disappointed if I didn't!

- You don't have any hats in your closet that advertise feed
stores. Umm, no.

- You don't know anyone with at least two first names (i.e.,
Joe Bob, Faye Ellen, Billy Ray, Mary Jo, Bubba Dean, Joe
Dan, Mary Alice) Heh BBJ = Bubba Jyu

- You don't know any women with male names (i.e., Tommie,
Bobbie, Johnnie, Jimmie) Myrnie, not a WORD. You too, Lo Gung.

- None of your fur coats are homemade. *snort*

Received from Laugh & Lift.

So...how'd y'all do? *smile* Happy Friday!

Break My Heart

So, I suppose I'm not really doing the whole NaBloPoMo thing this year. Seeing as I've only posted once this week.

Oh well.

The balance was off, and now I'm getting my groove back. I can't promise Oodles of Blog Posts...but I can promise that my home is a happier place to be right now.

Which is much more important.

What I really wanted to say today, though, was that I really don't like this New Economy.

Have you noticed?

It's been so odd in our little town. The mall parking lot is packed, every weekend. It's been packed, every weekend, since we moved here 18 months ago.

Recession? What recession?! I see no recession!

But it's so obvious, in the details. I'm surrounded by empty houses, where tenants left because the house was either condemned*, repossessed or they found a new job, closer to family. (*Remember I live on a street that was originally populated with Summer Lake Homes...not Sturdy Winter Homes. Things fall apart or into disrepair sometimes when subjected to purposes they were not intended for.)

We have gardeners that come to mow our lawn every other week during the summer. They're great guys, extremely honest, quick, hardworking. (When we moved in, our landlord informed us that hiring gardeners wasn't optional - the lawn is nearly impossible to mow without a 4' wide professional mower. The hill is simply too steep. As evidenced by the nice ride-on mower stuck at the bottom of the hill.) (If anyone local is looking for a great yard service, I highly recommend these guys! Contact me for their contact info. Oh, and they hired a guy who speaks fluent English this fall. It helped with communication a LOT, as my Portuguese is a big N-O.)

They came by a few weeks ago, and quoted us a price for "winterizing" our yard - clean the gutters, blow and bag the leaves, give the lawn a final trim. The price they gave us was high, we thought, and they wanted to come twice.

Lo Gung and I discussed it, took a look at the yard, and decided that we could do the leaves ourselves. The backyard, we thought, wasn't so thickly covered that a mower couldn't just mulch the leaves in, and the part of the front yard that needed the real work wasn't so big that we couldn't take care of it in an hour or so.

So we did. The kids and I went out 4 times over the past four weeks and raked and pushed and pulled the leaves down the hill to a heap, where we've left them. (I've begun to add my kitchen scraps to the heap, a'la Fraggle Rock Trash Heap, but I think something is carrying off "treasures" during the night. Oh well - at least my trash can doesn't smell like rotting veg any more. That much less for the landfill, right?)

Then, this week, the gardeners came back. They stopped by to see if we were ready to have them clear up the leaves...and were surprised to see the leaves raked. They were disappointed.

And it broke my heart. (Lo Gung, don't laugh.)

I asked them to leave the leaves in the front yard where they were (I left leaves along the edges of the yard, to try and protect the dry, crumbly soil there) and to also not bag the clippings in the back yard when they mowed. (He thought I was nuts, but agreed to leave the leaf mulch on the lawn as I requested.) They'll come back this weekend and mow.

This economy is affecting different parts of the community so differently. The Top Dogs are being cut. The Fluff People are being cut. People are cutting back, Doing It Themselves, or just making do without. And the people who make their living Doing It For You are feeling the pinch.

It doesn't change the fact that I can't (don't want to?) afford to pay $500 for someone to rake up my yard, bag my leaves, clean my gutters and mow my lawn. (My landlord told me that's a Very Fair Price, and Totally Worth It.) Of course they could do a better job than me. Of course it would look fantastic.

But you're talking to the woman who spent 15 minutes this morning giving her daughter a hair cut. Because if I can do it for myself...I will.

NaBloPoMo: Day 11 - WFMW: Balloons Away!

(Oy - my titles are getting really long!!)

(This is my offering for Works for Me Wednesday this week. Enjoy!)
On Tuesday, Daddy happened to be working from home, so as soon as Siu Jeun went down for his morning nap, I threw BBJ into the car and ran out to do some baby-free erranding with the Big Girl. One of our stops took us Trader Joe's, as they have the only inexpensive Tofu in town. ($1.50, as opposed to $3 at our "normal" grocery store.) BBJ's favorite, part of course, is the balloon that the checker usually offers her on the way out. The balloon presents a quandary, though. On the one hand - balloon! Yea! On the other hand...there is the distinct possibility that the balloon will slip from her grasp and float away. Forever.

Chilling.

Seeing as that's the case, she wouldn't agree to touch the balloon until we were home, and it was firmly tied to a chair.

(You know where this is going, right?)

After a few minutes of happily bopping the balloon, firmly tied to the chair, we suddenly hear a shriek. It was desperate, it was loud...and did I mention it was desperate? It was the sound of a girl who had just lost her balloon.

She had bopped the balloon, buffetted the balloon...and bonked it right out of its ribbon. We found it floating somewhere up near the skylights...at least 20 feet up.

We thought fast, and came up with a great solution: Tape on a stick!

A really, really, really, really, really long stick. (We bought it when we lived in our first house, and I wanted to clean the windows above the front door...also 20 feet off the floor.)

Our hero!

(Lo Gung and had a small, heated discussion over who got to be the Hero and get the balloon down. He won.)

(To spell it out: Get a looooooooooong stick, take a circle of packing tape, and stick it on the end. Poke the sticky end up to the balloon, and watch the grins pour in!)

That Works for Me!

For more great tips, hints and tricks, head over to We Are That Family.

Family Time

(Kids, I've got to be honest - this NaBloPoMo thing is kickin' my trash. I think I'm going to bow out. Thoughts?)

I really intended to do this whole NaBloPoMo thing this year, but it's become a stress, instead of something fun. Instead of blogging, I find myself trying to get a handle on the Christmas gifts, take care of two kids (one with a cold...which actually leaves me with MORE free time, as he's s sleeping a LOT during the day) and a new found preoccupation with geneology.

If you need me, I'll be here...looking for Great, great, great, great, great great great Uncle Aaron. Because someone else said his name was Anthony. And it's messing with my mind.

(PS - Any great free geneology resources? Besides www.familysearch.org? Has anybody used a paid membership to www.Ancestry.com? Is it worth it?)

NBPM: Day 7 - Halloween Clearance

Ok, if anyone knows me...they know that Saturday is shopping day for the LoLo clan. Today was no different...Destination: Target.

Did you know all the Halloween stuff is on clearance right now, 90% off? Striped pants for $1, packs of miniature Jones soda for $.15 (Candy Corn soda anyone??), and candy dishes for $.60.

Not bad!

You're welcome.

NBPM: Day 6

What's on your to-do list today?

(I raked last weekend, and this is what it looked like the next morning. It hasn't changed much all week.)