What have you cut back on?

With the economy in a recession , what have you cut back on in your expenses? What have you decided are frivilous purchases?

For us in our house, we are making more homemade dinners and I have been giving LOTS of handmade gifts. We also are becoming more green by making our own laundry detergent and cleaning supplies. It works!

Un BUH lievable Day

UN-BUH lievable Day

I can not believe me today. Seriously I am asking myself "What the hell are you thinking?"
So we are on day 3 of the deployment and my mind is in a haze. I left my oven on last nite. Yup, coulda burned the house down. But that is not what is scary.

Today I had a car accident and didn't even realize it. Yup, I was a hit and run. No I didn't hit a person. I hit another moving vehicle.

One thing you must understand, up here in Alaska when it snows and snows, plows don't use salt to melt the ice. Salt attracts moose. They move as much snow as possible and then lay down gravel for traction. Sometimes you can't even see the pavement. If you are lucky enough to be traveling on the pavement, you are not going to see the lines. They are washed away by all the snow and moisture. So traveling on a 3 lane highway you must stay in the tire tracks- as there are no lines.

So driving 65 mph on a highway, minding my own. Lost in my thoughts, I go to turn on the seat warmer. I hear a smack on the side of the car. I look over and see the side mirror flat on the side of the car. I look down at my hand and assumed I pressed a button to get the mirror to turn in. I press the button to turn it back out.

So I pull up to a stop light and this car pulls up beside me. The driver motions for me to roll down the window and proceeds to bitch me out. WTH??? SHe is screaming because she says I hit her car and drove off. Tells me I was crowding her side of the road. Now she has a freaking old ass Suburban. Her side mirror wasn't even broken. It looked like it was popped out a bit.
Nothing she couldn't pop back in. No scratches, or broken mirror on her cheap plastic mirror- nothing.

So I question wheter we even hit each other. Since I didn't feel anything, clearly it couldn't have been a huge hit, maybe just a clip. I ask if she was the one in my lane because I was following the tire tracks of the person 4 feet in front of me. She told me it was her lane I was driving into. She continued that it was my fault, but she used less intelligent words. She then told me that I knew I was at fault because I continued to drive. I drove like 500 feet after the sound and my thoughts were that I pressed a button. Before I could explain or ask if she lost traction or slipped on some ice and clipped my car, she rolled back up her window and drove off as the light turned green.

Now, if I were at fault, don't you think you would have asked for information?

So I parked at the next exit in an IHOP and checked my car. Perfectly fine. Not even a scratch on the outside paint of my mirror.

Still dunno what happened, but at least my car is fine.

1/2 my heart...

Half my heart is leaving. How can it be so?

Yes, I knew what I was "getting in to". But that doesn't make leaving any easier.

As the troop surge in Afghanistan begins, so does my heartache.

My darling daughter is turning 1 year in a few days. Imagine a whole year of her life missed. She loves her daddy so much and he regretfully is being take away to help another country establish peace.

Its tough times in this house as we prepare to takeoff in our first deployment. Anxiety is high; tears keep flowing; anger and frustration are also thrown into the mix.

Just keep all troops in your minds. 4,000 families from our brigade are going to be deploying. I can't fathom how many solider's family & friends are saddened by this deployment.

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