Frugality - Week 1 - January 9, 2011

Let's start at the beginning.  My lifestyle has never been one of opulence.  When I was dismissed two years ago, it was not that I needed to fire a staff of people to help me live my life. Remember, I am a single mom.

Yes, at the time, I was enjoying the rewards of my career in such things as dinner at great Chicago restaurants.  Sometimes, I ever bought full-priced clothing.  My shoe collection was growing, but with $65 pairs of shoes, not "Carrie Bradshaw" shoes. But I needed to shave as much as possible expenditures from the budget.  There was no budget!

 Ending up here has been a process and lots of lessons learned.  This I brought my lunch every single day.  None of the "Gee, I am too tired to make my lunch.  I can buy lunch this one day."  The only money I spent was $70.  The money went for gas in my car and a birthday present for Saucy. 

Instead of going out to lunch on Saturday, CareBear and I met at my house for lunch and a visit.  The other benefit, I had to clean the house for company.

This week was not painful.  Will next week be painful?


Mercenary MOM

20-11 will be Heaven - Happy New Year!!!

You heard it here first, "20-11 will be Heaven."  For a description of heaven, please refer back to my September 29, 2010 blog entry.  In other words, heaven is description as your place of bliss and happiness.

While you heard my catchy saying here first, my word for the year has been copied.  On new year's day, I mentioned to Neptune and Hercules that my word for 2011 would be frugal, it seems a few others are thinking the same thought.

This morning while perusing the " Chicago Tribune", I came across two scenarios with MY word - frugal.  In first was a columnist with a self-description as "frugalista."  The second time, I saw my word "frugal" used was by Target in their Sunday ad.  They had a section called, "Fantastically Frugal Finds."

Is it possible, that I could be that in-tuned with the world?  Has the Great Recession truly had a deep behavior changing impact on America's spending habits?  Will the frugality kick last?  If so, will it help the economic state of the country and our personal bank accounts?  Time will tell.......

Personally, during January 2011, I will be offering 31 days of frugality.  Like everything else in life, it's attitude.  Let's make it fun and inventive.  Yes, everything can be a game.

1. Saturday, January 1 - dollars spent - $0.  Saucy and I brought in the new year with a tea party.  So, for breakfast on the first day of the day, we had a breakfast tea party.  We dressed in party clothes and celebrated the day.
2. Sunday, January 2 - dollars spent - $0.  Spent the day at my favorite place - Talbots - working and no shopping.
3. Monday, January 3 - dollars spent - $0 - many dollars saved.  Cancelled my Netflix subscription.  No $8.99 is not going to send me to the poor house.  But the interest accruing on the $8.99 each month plus the high balance is deepening debt.  So until my Visa is reduced by 80% - no more interest accruing $8.99 per month.

YUMM! Part 3

This a third in a series of a few - maybe many about good food. 

Now I really don't consider myself a "foodie."  Being a size 10, obviously I enjoy eating good food. 
When I plan a vacation or trip, I do a have checklist of restaurants I would like to visit.  When Monkey come home for a visit, I plan meals around her favorite foods. 

ALERT!!!! Name change......Coco is now Saucy!

During my visits with Neptune and Saucy, I definitely try to make their favorite dishes.  In fact, upon waking in the morning, Saucy asks for eggs with cheese or as we call them - cheesy eggs.

To the point of the story.  For years, Darling, JaclynSmith and I have been meeting throughout the year at restaurants for dinner and girl chat.  When I say years, it has been 20+ years we have meeting for girl time.   During the past few years, due to lifestyle changes and economic times we have started to meet more often at Darling's house.  (It's centrally located.) 

This last week we gathered at Darling's house again.  The combined efforts of the three us prepared a dinner no restaurant could compare to on taste or price.  We have done this many times.  The food is amazing and so is the company.  It is more relaxed and we have the opportunity to spend more time together. 

Will people start cooking and entertaining more often to enjoy their company in a more relaxed environment?  Or, to save on the high cost of restaurant bills?  Not that we are so trendy,  but could this be another old - new development result of the Great Recession?

Bon Apetitte - Mom

Chicago

As Frank Sinatra sang, "Chicago is my kind of town.  Chicago is my home town."  In my case, no truer words were ever sang.

Chicago is my home town.   Personally, I feel it is my personal city and background.  I feel privileged to have grown up in the city.  Even with moving to the suburbs in my mid-30's, for the most part, I worked and socialized in the city.  My children and I made the trek into the city for every holiday season, plays, museums, special exhibits, etc.

Since I have this great affinity for the city of Chicago, at a moment's notice, I am happy to visit the city or give personal guided tours to my friends and visitors.  Early this summer, my friend, Darling, and her daughter, Niceness, no strangers to the city, decided to spend the day in the Lincoln Park for a day of fun.  FUN it was.  We strolled and enjoyed the shops along Armitage Avenue just west of Halsted.  There are two things that are very special about this neighborhood.  The first is the buildings and homes along the side streets.  Secretly, or not so secretly, even as a child, this is the neighborhood where I wanted to live.

Even with the economic straits of limited funds, my friends and I have enjoyed the city at this best.  This summer, my friend, CareBear, and her sister and family wanted to rekindle some memories of a Chicago visit they had taken when they were young.  With five full-size adults, we crammed into my Jeep Limited and drove to the Lincoln area and found a great FREE parking spot for the day.  On this memory catching visit, we were only 3 blocks away from our first destination, Lincoln Park Zoo.  The zoo has free admission.  It's the parking that costs big bucks.  The second memory was a city beach on Lake Michigan. We walked through Lincoln Park, crossed Lake Shore Drive on the sky walk and landed at North Avenue Beach.  Everyone was thrilled and the pleasant memories were recreated.

My most recent tour was yesterday.  Monkey is dating a gentleman we will name, GingerBear.  He is a Yooper - Yah! sure.   GingerBear has never been to the city of Chicago.  He chose the visit the Shedd Aquarium.  To tell the truth, I have not been there since the Oceanarium for first opened.  If I remember correctly, Bill Kurtis was still a celebrity in Chicago.  We had a great time.  Then we walked back downtown via Milliners Park to see the BEAN.

It's mid-November, of course, we went to view the windows at Macy's.  They sucked.  Yes, I am one of those Chicagoans who will not give up anger of Macy buying Marshall Fields. The Walnut Room Tree was beautiful.  As tradition has it, Monkey bought two small boxes of Frango Mints for the train ride room.

.....my kind of town - Chicago

Happy Trails to you

"... all the lonely people." - Eleanor Rigby

The song, Eleanor Rigby, was written by Paul McCartney and released in 1966.  As the chorus of the song goes, "Ah, all the lonely people," it's a song about lonely people.  These people live among us each and every day.  They go about their lives and business.  Sometimes, the isolation is a matter of circumstances: fear of rejection, illness, geography, lack of social skills, etc.  Whatever the reason, I look at all the lonely people.


Which brings me to social networking.  Is social networking making us any less lonely? Or, is social networking isolating individuals from people even more?  Why is it called social networking?  Facebook, Plaxo, Linkedin, etc. are not really very social.  The conversation is in sound bytes and one-way.  Yes, there is an acceptance to an invitation, but no face-to-face conversation.  Updates are more akin to shouting and announcing to the network, "Hey LOOK AT ME!  I DID SOMETHING."   While this may be a conversation starts, it's not a conversation.  It grabs attention for a moment.  Then, the network goes about their business. 

Recently,  while working at the store, I have come across quite a few lonely people.  Every week, we see some of the same patrons.  They spend their time shopping, mingling with the salespeople and other patrons.  They buy things.  The next week, these same people arrive at the store to return 90% of their previous purchase.  The cycle continues with the same behavior.  At first, I thought these people were not decisive.  But the more I observed their patterns and behavior, the more I realized these sad people are lonely.  They visit the store for company and interaction with other people.

Wouldn't be great if we could somehow (without pointing fingers) form an actual social group or club.  These ladies could gather at the store to shop, lunch and develop a real relationship, and most importantly, make less returns to the store.  They could encourage each other and enjoy each others' company.

I could make a page, "All the lonely people, meet in the Missy concept for social interaction."

YUM! YUM!

The YUM! subject deserves a second blog report. 

By dear granddaughter, Coco, inspires this story.  As I mentioned earlier this week, she is now 2.5 years and a fabulous toddler.  I love toddlers.  They utter the most precious things.  A toddler is the most honest human alive.  

Of course Coco's immediate family think she is the smartest and most clever child alive.  This includes her Mimi, me.  Coco truly enjoys cake with lots of frosting.  To say the least, it's one of her comfort foods.  When you mention cake, her eyes light up.

A few weeks ago after a family dinner, we were playing flash cards with Coco.  A for apple. B for bee.  When we got to C, Coco shouts, "CAKE!  I LOVE IT!"  Needless to say, everyone was smiling.


So, this weekend, Coco and I will be baking cupcakes with lots of frosting.  I LOVE CUPCAKES!

YUM!

Comfort Food - This phrase was included into the Webster Dictionary in 1977.  Comfort food is loosely described as food which brings an individual comfort and well-being.  It says nothing about guilt.

YUM! Brands is the name of the ex-trinity of PepsiCo Foods:  KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell.  Personally, these are not my comfort foods.  But they must be comfort foods for millions, maybe billions of people.   YUM! Brands is doing quite nicely even through the great recession.

Once upon on a time, I worked with a very young woman.  We worked in an office building downtown. Her comfort food was fried rice.  But it had to be from China town.  So she would send her boyfriend of the moment to China town to bring back an order of fried rice.  (Did I mention that she was quite attractive?)

Last evening, I had dinner with some friends, CareBear and Mikey.  As we were enjoying our dinner, we were discussing comfort foods and past combinations from our childhood.   One was dill pickles and peanut butter.  Another favorite was white bread with butter and sugar sprinkled on top. Quite a few of these concoctions were tossed around with comments.

There was a time during my preteen years when I sneak into the kitchen to make a butter and sugar sandwich as a snack.  (Did I mention that I was a chubby child?)  It has been a long time since I craved or ate a slice of white bread with butter and sugar.  At this point in my life, the thought does not appeal to me.  

We all crave those foods that bring us good memories or a positive feeling about life.  To tell the truth, my comfort foods have not changed all that much.  Currently, my list would include:

• Chicago pizza - sans pepperoni - a true Chicagoan does not eat pepperoni - it's sawsage
• Macaroni and Cheese 
• Cheeseburgers - pub style - medium rare
• A well-made cosmopolitan with grey goose vodka

What are some of your comfort foods?  We would all be interested.  Just check the pencil in the lower left corner and share - please.

Yummy, Yummy

Choo-Choo Charlie

Again for a moment or two, let's go back to early television.  Do you remember the candy called, Good n' Plenty?  It's still around.  It was not my personal favorite candy.  Good n' Plenty is licorice in candy coated shells of pink and white.  You can still find it in a Walgreens in the $1boxes of candy.  Yes, it was only 5 cents when I was a child (a million years ago).

Now that you are trying to picture the candy, stretch your memory to remember the commercial.  It was a black and white cartoon.  The only color in the commercial was the pink and white candy pellets.  The main character was Choo-Choo Charlie who closely resembled Charlie Brown. Well, Choo-Choo Charlie was engineer who shook his box of Good N' Plenty to make the sound of a train chugging down the tracks.

As a child and still as a mature adult, when I think about trains, picture the commercial as well as hear the song in my head.  Skip ahead two generations to the present.  My Coco is now 2.5 years of age. Her frame of reference for trains is the series of Thomas the Train. Can you believe that until Coco came along I never heard of Thomas and his train crew?  (Guess television was my babysitter.)

Coco is quite familiar with this entire train crew:  Gordon, Percy, and Thomas, etc.  Every time she sees a train pass by, she points, smiles and says "Thomas"!  So as a potty training reward,  on a bright sunny Saturday morning, the entire family boarded Thomas and rode the train to another suburb approximately 30 minutes away.  As we passed trains, in complete awe, Coco called out the names of the other train crew members.  Her face held great awe and wonder.

Those moments held great awe, wonder and joy for me as well.



Choo-Choo Charlie & Thomas the Train

The Secret Word

It's the beginning of October and the beginning of my fourth week with Talbots.  Even though my dogs (feet) are barking and howling some days, I am having fun.

Most of us will not remember this early television show with Goucho Marx. It had something to do with a "secret" word.  After the contestant chatted with Groucho, the guest would need to guess a secret word. Of course, Groucho would look into the camera, raise his bushy eyebrows, cigar in mouth and say, "What's the secret word"?   I digest (even more) for a moment.  It's a trivia moment.

Remember this was early television when there were censors.   Here's the true story of how Groucho was banned from his show and no longer on television.  While chatting with a couple (contestants), the couple mentioned that they had 9 children.  Groucho, of course, looks at the camera ready for the punchline and says, "Name, I like my cigar too, but I take it out once in awhile." 

Thank you for indulging me.  I love that story.  Back to my short story.  Last week, I learned we have a weekly word.  Of course, my imagination runs wild and I call it a secret word.  Last week, the word was "glamorous."  We are to try and use the word at least once during a conversation with a client/customer.  This week the word is "style."  For me, a person who already speaks in superlatives, this great fun and comes natural.

Upon further reflection, the secret word should always be sincere.  The point of the weekly secret word is to focus on the customer and be positive.

So what is your secret word this week?

Heaven -

/In the past, I have been part of many discussions about heaven.  What's it like?  Where is heaven?  Does time stand still in heaven?  Does time speed ahead?  Is it an alternative universe? 

Let's face it.  It must be darn good.  No one comes back to share its secrets.  They are all too busy enjoying heaven to share. For this blog, I am going to presume that heaven is something different to each and every one of us.  Some people believe it's a place to be reunited with loved ones.  (I pass on that notion.)  Case in point, my Aunt Marie.  She is buried in between both of her two husbands.  Where does she hang in heaven?   Maybe she found a third husband in heaven.  I don't know.  She has not come back to tell me.

This past month I took a part-time job with one of my favorite stores, Talbots.  For the fall line, we (Talbots) is featuring jackets. But not just any jacket.  There are three main categories of jackets.  Each line is named after a fashion icon:  Grace, Jackie and Kate.  One of my duties is showcase the jackets.  What better way to showcase the jackets than to wear them.  So, when I am on the floor, I change jackets every hour or two.  To date, I have worn every jacket item in the fall collection. Some days, I add a piece of jewelry or scarf to accessorize the outfit.  Now in my book, that is a piece of heaven.



My personal choice of jacket is Grace......MOM

Sounds of Silence (Simon & Garfunkel)

Personally, I would rather fixate on happy and cheerful news. But the "sounds of silence" of this (d)recession just need to be spoken.

The latest sword of the Recession hit me and a few of friends quite deeply. Last Sunday evening, my friend, Sunshine, texted me in horror. Our beloved Talbots was closed! There were no signs of there ever being life at the store where I spent a decent size fortune was gone from our lives. "Who will dress me"? was one of my first questions. "Where will I shop"? was the next question.

Then, I personally took the blame. I'm sorry to the Talbot gods. In my current circumstances, I just could not buy enough beautiful clothing to sustain the store. My friend, Sunshine, admitted since her lifestyle had changed, she was not shopping as much at our store.

When I say, my store, I mean it. The tastefully dressed women at Talbots were like family. Candy and Sue would greet me at the door and drop everything to focus on me. Where do you get that type of service from a retailer? Honestly, tell me. I need to know.

After a day or two, we realized that the larger Talbot's stores are still open for business. What relief!

Over the 18 months, we have heard about General Motors, AIG (still paying bonuses), and other huge corporations going bankrupt and whining for money. How many trillions of small businesses and families have gone bankrupt in silence?

MOM - with plenty of clothes for now.

Sweet Dreams (Eurythymics)

Calling all Baby Boomers!

Perhaps this crazy economic time has been a recession for the generations of X and Y. Yes, things are tight. The job market is thin. But in conversations of with members of generations X and Y, they feel there is time to recoop from this economic plunge.

To many of my friends and acquaintances who happen to be baby boomers, this recession disguised a Depression. There I said it. The D word.

Not all, but many baby boomers have lost/spent their life savings and/or retirement money just to survive the last 18 months. Many have lost their homes to foreclosure. How many have lost jobs? Within that number of jobless rates, how many have had to reinvent themselves? How many are working at a fraction of their pre-depression compensation? Where are the opportunities for the baby boomers?

After a few heartfelt conversations, many of us have felt we have gone full-circle in our lives. We are starting from scratch. We are picking up shattered pieces of dreams, hopes, plans, and our lives. This is way too depressing for me.

Let’s focus on the other D word. DREAMS! However you want to name them: new dreams, refocused dreams, minimized dreams, etc. Let’s continue to DREAM. Without dreams, there is no hope. Without hope, there is not success or future.

Trifecta plus One

Through my cursory perusal of the dictionary, I did not find a word for four wins in a row. In some instances, trifecta is used interchangeable with “Hat Trick.” So for this blog today, we will use trifecta plus one.

Last year about this time, we had a blog entitled “Holiday” (Madonna). So you may remember, I love and celebrate every holiday, including Groundhog Day. Celebrating holidays makes life special, in the fabulous sense.

Right now, we are in the third holiday of a trifecta plus one extravaganza. Yesterday, Sunday, February 14 was a double bonus. It was Valentine’s Day and the Chinese New Year. Both of these great days are celebrated with the color red. Did you wear your red yesterday? This is the year of the tiger.

2010 is the year of Tiger. Some people say 2010 is a Golden Tiger, White Tiger or Metal Tiger year.

Today is President’s Day. If you have the day free from work or school, please celebrate the day with a “President’s Day Sale,” cherry pie or waving the flag.

Tomorrow, Tuesday is FAT Tuesday or Mardi Gras. What a way to end a trifecta plus one in holidays. Please at least wear your mardi gras beads. Coco has a set of beads to wear tomorrow. Personally, I have red beads to wear. Eat whatever you what and do act crazy.
Celebrate and enjoy the holidays - MOM

THINK! (Aretha Frankin)

THINK!

One of the common catch phrases is "Think outside the box."

Another phrase is "Not everything is black or white. Think in shades of gray." Personally, if I thought in shades of gray, I would be horribly depressed. Gray is an awfully dreary color. Yes, I understand the meaning of the saying.

Here's my favorite, "See the big picture. Think big."

No wonder people keep reinterating these phrases. As a society, we are not taught to think beyond the lines.

Case in point. When our children start coloring we are excited. They have learned a new skill. But how often as a parent or adult, does that perfectly bright child hear, "it's beautiful, but you colored outside the lines." But maybe, just maybe, the child views the picture as big. Isn't that what we want This child is thinking outside the lines of confinement.

Lately, Monkey and I have been playing this game. We watch people and try to guess if the colored inside the lines. We play this game because we are very proud of the fact that I encouraged my girls to color outside the lines. My reasoning was to raise creative and open thinkers. While it was not easy raising my free thinkers, it has been quite rewarding. Both Monkey and Neptune color outside the lines and see the big picture. Their viewpoints are so interesting and different.

So again, I am encouraging Coco to color outside the lines so she can THINK!

From outside the box - MOM

Just one word - "Plastics" - (The Graduate)

Do you realize that classic movie was made in 1967? That’s 43 years ago.

Back in 1976, I was employed by the number 2 banking association. This banking association was more of an educational resource to the industry than the number 1 banking association. While pursuing through educational materials, I came across an article entitled, “Cashless Society.” Honestly when reading this article, I could not even imagine something as strange as a cashless society. How would we pay for things?

The zips – 00 – Combine the two thoughts – Plastic and cashless society – What do we have? Credit Cards, ATM cards, debit cards, reward cards, FSA (Flexible Spending Account) cards, insurance cards, I-pass cards and devices. The list is far longer. Who could have imagined? I wonder if those geniuses thought of Identify theft?



Plastics – and not a Barbie Doll - MOM

Car 54, Where are You?

Car 54, Where are you? (1960’s sitcom)

Is it me?

Have local municipalities and government decided on an old-fashioned way to start paying off the deficit?

Through the headlines we keep hearing about bankrupt states and cities. The first line of reaction is usually raising taxes. While it is hard to keep track, Cook County goes back and forth with its bragging rights of having the highest sales tax in the country. California and numerous other states are bankrupt. Recently, in Maryland, the famous “sin” tax on cigarettes had been raised by $1.00 per pack of cigarettes. Because very few smokers will quite due to the high cost of cigarettes, the cigarette “sin” tax is an easy levy on taxes. The “sin” tax has been extended to candy! When they start taxing my vice, like a smoker, I continue to eat candy.

Officials and the legislations are scratching their heads. Where, oh, what can we tax next? Can you guess?

Monday through Friday, I commute 42 miles each way to work or 98 miles a day or very near to 500 miles a week. Over the last 7 months of commuting to and fro, I estimate on the high side of 15,000. In the last two weeks, I have noticed way-more flashing blue & red lights on the side of the road. Currently, every day I notice at least 2-3 pullovers on the road. When you think of it, who does not speed? Come on, tell the truth!

When you think of the high cost of a speeding ticket, doesn’t it make sense to rake in extra revenue through ticketing speeders? The force is out there any way – why not have them collecting additional revenue for their employer?

Why do I know this? On my return trip from Marquette on Tuesday, I was nabbed for speeding – 81 mph. The ticket will cost me $200! Believe me, Officer, I was just keeping up traffic (in Chicago).

Speedy MOM

On the Road Again (Willie Nelson)

This weekend, I embarked on the 7 hour drive to the Marquette in Upper Peninsula of Michigan. I took advantage of the longer holiday weekend to visit with my Monkey.
For the first part of my drive, I listened to my ipod of tunes. Since I had not updated my ipod selection, I went into think mode. While driving a long distance, think mode is one of my favorite activities while driving.

You may or may not be asking, “What does she think about”? Who knows? This think mode started seconds after I crossed the Illinois-Wisconsin border. It has been a long standing rite (tradition) in my family. Three generations have been practicing this ceremony while driving into various states. It is my deep seated hope that Neptune will pass this tradition onto Coco. My father would always say, “Pick up your feet, we are crossing the border into…..(name your state). You don’t want to trip on the state line.” Even when driving alone, I lift my feet for a few seconds as I cross the state line.

So my mind wandered into the good old days and how road trips have evolved since my childhood. My girls and I were raised on road trips and in the car. There is nothing like a heart-to-heart chat driving at 55-80 mph. As a child, many of my better memories are of going somewhere or the 1960’s event – the Sunday drive after an early dinner. Monkey was only 10 days old when I packed her and Neptune into a car and drove to visit family in another state.
For most of my childhood, my father drove a 1960 Chevrolet Biscayne. Yes, it had the fin! These cars were something akin to a living room on wheels. They were spacious!

Today, we talk about texting while driving. While I am not advocating it, I want you to picture my father driving from Illinois to Minnesota every year with two daughters. This was a time when cars did not have seat belts, car seats, cup holders, CD players, or TV. To this day, I still think my father was the best driver in the world. This car had a bench seat . (When was the last time you rode in a car with a front bench seat?) The stick shift was on the steering column. There was no radio. My sister and I sang show tunes for hours. With no seating restraints, we would hop back and forth between the front and the rear seats. My father was speeding, shifting the car, eating a hamburger or ice cream cone or a sipping a cup of coffee or smoking a cigarette. He was amazing. What concentration!

With all the excitement and fun being sucked out of air travel, it is my feeble prediction that more families will be taking road trips. Have fun! But don’t forget to lift your feet while entering a new state. You don’t want to trip on the state line.

Enjoy the memories……Travelin’ MOM

SLOW RIDE - Take it Easy - (Foghat)

On Christmas Day, I received a slow cooker. Yes, indeed, this item was on my Christmas list. But of course, there was a color stipulation. I wanted my slow cooker to match my other small appliances in the kitchen. The slow cooker needed to be “Target” red. Santa came through with flying colors.

My daughter, Monkey, also asked for a slow cooker. You may be asking yourself what is a slow cooker. Well, we commonly call them crockpots. The brand name of Crock Pot has become one of many generic names.

Many moons ago, when I was in college marketing, generic meant that a brand had become so popular with the consumer, it lost its brand identity. Some examples are: Coke (a type of pop), Kleenex (a brand of tissue), Q-tip (cotton swab), and now Crock Pot (slow cooker). Today, when I “googled” (another generic brand) “generic.” The descriptions are more about generic drugs and no-name brands in stores.

Well, the point of the story is after all these years of cooking, I finally asked for the slow cooker. My first entrée prepared in the slow cooker was a raving success. I made Italian beef using Darling’s recipe. Darling cooks like I do. No real recipes, just a list of ingredients.

Maybe next week, I will make a slow chili.

Slow cookin’ - MOM

12 days of Christmas

Where did Christmas go? The 12 days of Christmas went right to my waist and hips. During these 12 days, I have eaten cheesecake, dark chocolate covered blueberries, French toast with blueberries, various homemade cookies, cream cheese spreads, cheese and sausage, crackers, meatballs, pizza, Chinese food, etc. In short, for the past 12 days, I have lived on party food.

Let’s face reality; I will not make a non-stick resolution to eat better. Once I have recovered from my sugar-carbo-high (approximately January 21), my eating habits hopefully will return to somewhat heart-healthy fare. But in the meantime, I am going through an ugly withdrawal period. Talk to you then.

I Will Survive!

To continue this brief series on the end of 2009 and its entire decade of the ZIP.

How many of us just survived this decade and in particular this year? How many of you are in better shape than you were in 1999? Or, did you just survive? Was your gain ZIP?

Today is the first day of the new decade and 2010.

Happy New Year and may 2010 be the best ever.