Changing Priorities.....

It's funny (not in a ha-ha way, more like in an ironic way) how random, seemingly unconnected things can work together to make me change how I look at my priorities.

A couple of weeks ago, I was disappointed that I couldn't order my new bicycle yet. I have saved up and stashed away cash for many months, and I decided to spend it on a new bicycle. A bicycle that costs about the same as my first new CAR cost back in 1978. The only thing that kept me from ordering the bicycle is that there are no more 2010's, and the 2011's haven't come out yet.

I was also determined that this time next year I would have season football tickets. That means a minimum of $2000 in donations, PLUS the cost of the tickets, and even then you aren't guaranteed to get the tickets. (They will grudgingly refund your donations in that case if you make a stink about it.) Three years ago the MINIMUM contribution to get first-time season tickets was $10,000. That's TEN THOUSAND dollars. But then the economy went south, the football team disappointed, and folks gave up their tickets. Two years ago the minimum was $4,500, last year it fell to $1,500. I decided I could sock away all the money I earn in my part-time virtual job, thus justifying the expense. At least in my own mind.

I don't know why I stubbornly cling to the idea that I need to have season tickets. I love the games, but they are almost all on television, and going to them in person isn't worth the hassle. Well, it hasn't been, but now we have an RV, so it could be a different story..... Still, I think the IDEA of having tickets is more appealing to me than actually going every week.

Then "we" got this harebrained innovative idea to turn our 3-bedroom house into a 2-bedroom house, and "we" instituted a new rule that we have to get rid of two things for every new thing we bring into the house. No fair counting all the junk we've already disposed of either.

And THEN I had a heart-stopping job scare last week, thinking I may be out of my teaching job in May, or possibly even December, and my priorities changed considerably.

That part-time money suddenly took on a larger significance. I even began to regret venting to one of my online bosses when I ran into her at the "Y" in our town last week. (What are the odds that we would have teachers and administrators all over the state, a couple who live out of state, and at least one who lives in a different COUNTRY, and I would have a membership at the same "Y" as one of the administrators?)

I knew it was serious when I threw away my Land's End catalog at school the other day without ordering a single thing.

I got my regular email from Amazon letting me know the 10 best deals in electronics this week. Gadgets are likely my greatest weakness. (Is that an oxymoron?) I deleted the email without reading it.

So I'm feeling all proud of myself for getting rid of a lot of unnecessary stuff and saving money (even if it's only in my head for right now).

The bicycle?

Yeah, I'm still planning to get that. I'll only be reasonable up to a point.

An Enigma Wrapped in a Mystery.......

I may never fully understand Hubby. I realize that his being male, while a particular feature of his that I appreciate, may preclude my ever really knowing him.

I was preparing dinner when I heard Gus barking furiously and heard Hubby conversing with someone outside the front door. I thought it was our neighbor across the street, so I didn't pay much attention.

Then Hubby came in and said, "Would you like to buy some frozen steaks and chicken?"

Not even a moment's thought or hesitation.

"No."

I didn't give him my reasons, which include:

• I don't trust people who have to sell meat door-to-door from a pickup truck. So what if it had a nice logo on the side, it's still a pickup truck. Not even a refrigerated van.
• Having a seemingly endless supply of meat on hand prevents me from being able to say on any given night, "We'll have to order a pizza. There's nothing to cook."
• That's what grocery stores are for.

He came back in pretty quickly, and I said, "Did you send him on his way?"

No. Oh no. Hubby proceeded to write a check for $160 for a variety of sirloin steaks, ribeye steaks, strip steaks, t-bone steaks, and hamburger patties. My preference for dinner meat is chicken. Guess how much of that he bought?

Zero. None.

It really is a good bargain, and the meat is guaranteed for up to a year (!) from freezer burn. And we did actually have room for it all, since I don't keep much food on hand just in case I might be expected to cook it.

I cook a maximum of five nights a week (less if I can get away with it), and dinner one of those is usually a pizza. Frozen or delivery. So this quantity of meat that we just purchased may outlast its guarantee.

About a month ago, one of the grocery stores on Hubby's route had a deal on window cleaner where the cleaner wound up being like a quarter a bottle. Or fifty cents or something like that. So he bought some window cleaner. A case of it. Guess what everyone is getting for Christmas this year?