Mariannes Motifs

Happy New Year!

We are celebrating the new year at home and letting the kids stay up.  They are all loopy - it's cute. I am sure that if they make it to midnight they are going to be ready to pass out on even without any memory foam mattress.  We are watching My Cousin Vinny.  We set off some sparklers that were left over from 4th of July.  Some of our redneck neighbors were shooitng off big fireworks, so we went out in the front yard and watched.  :-) Free fireworks.

We did a little toast with some sparking juice Izze soda and we all stated our New Years resolutions.  It was very sweet to hear the kids resolutions.   Hubster and I are drinking Pina Coladas.  (I am having just a taste since I am allergic to pinapple.) Earlier our dinner was meatballs in sweet and sour sauce with rice (one of my fave meals - you know the meatballs in grape jelly and chili sauce) with delish shrimp cocktail from Costco.

Tomorrow my plan is to make Texas Caviar - which is like a bean salsa with black eyed peas.  I didn't even realize when I decided to make it that black eyed peas are the traditional southern food to eat on New Years day for good luck.  I only thought about it when I was picking up the can of peas at the store earlier today.  Funny!  Maybe that means 2011 will be a good luck year for us.  Hubster needs a job so please let it be so.

A nice day off

We spent the day doing some fun stuff.  We took the kids to Monkey Joe's (the bouncy house place) and let them get all their energy out.  Hubster was reading his Kindle and I was knitting.  I got past the gusset part of  my sock and now and doing the foot.  (This is great because the foot is all knit, knit, knit in the round and super mellow easy knitting.) 

We are all watching My Cousin Vinny.  We got Netflix streaming and its actually been really great because for 7.99 a month we can watch as many movies as we want.  Of course they don't have EVERY movie in the streaming plan but they have LOTS, escpecially a lot of kids movies.  We've had the plan since the 18th and we've already watched 19 movies - so a good deal so far.  A lot cheaper that the gold bullion it cost to take 4 people to the movies.  Actually the first month is free, too so even better.

He has amazing logistical skills.

No one can pack a car, fridge, or pantry like Jin can.

See more progress on: A reason a day why I love my husband for the next 365 days

Trololo Cat

I have something very important that I feel I must share with you.

 

Refinancing the Mortgage for 3.5%

Forget saving money on the car insurance rate, (really, forget it - carinsurance is not a good subject around here) but at least we will be saving a pant load of money on our mortgage.   We have a tentative closing date for next week.  The best part - the new mortgage is 15 years so we will be paying off the house faster.  We actually slightly increased our payment but it will be worth it to save tens of thousands of bucks over the life of the loan and have the house payed off about the time the kids are in college.  And really - what can beat this rate?

17 degrees!

That's cold for Atlanta. Brrrr.
Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device

Brisket - Yum!

Yesterday we went to Costco and I bought a package that had two large pieces of brisket for about $21.00.  I trimmed them and froze one and cooked the other.  It was so easy - I just browned it and cooked it in the crock pot with a package of onion soup mix, one onion, pepper, and paprika.

Four humans and one dog loved this dinner.  (Served with egg noodles and green beans)  Plus I packed lunch for tomorrow and have leftovers.  That's a nice home cooked meal for only a little more than 10 bucks.  Time to spend more money on mbt shoes?

Actually, I spent my bloggy money this week on a hank of fancy hand dyed sock yarn from dizzysheep.com.

Resolution

I don’t want to make a long list of resolutions that I will promptly break.  I am not looking for a miracle fat burner or to become the next Tony Robbins.  What I want is to simplify things.  I want an improved quality of life.  But one thing I have learned in my 42 years on Earth is that simple and easy take preparation to pull off.  By putting some work in at the front end of your project you can then enjoy the results in peace at the end.

Therefore, my 2011 resolution is that I will try to work harder to make a peaceful home.  I am planning on accomplishing this by means of menu planning, vegetable chopping, dishes-washing, and clutter reducing.

Did You Get Any Good Black Friday or Cyber Monday Deals?

I was in NY for Black Friday, and did hit the local WalMart.  I got some great $3.77 Egyptian Pima cotton towels.  Heh heh.  We also stocked up on Hanukkah toys for the kids.  We also hit Walgreens, where my favorite deal was $2.50 little WebKinz.  Yeah, I know therese aren't the biggest deals in the universe, but they were things I could use at a great price.

At this point in the holiday season, any additional shopping I need to do is going to be online.  Places like Buy.com's Cyber Monday deals are the way to go.  Get a great price and get it delivered to your door.  No crowds, driving, parking, overly perfumed candle stores, or people spritzing you with perfume.

Being InterestING or Being InteresED?

How to Be Interesting | Copyblogger

This is a good article, as usual, from Jonathan Morrow, of CopyBlogger.com.

I don't usually worry too much about being interesting in my blog. I don't feel guilty boring anyone - they don't have to read it after all. In fact, I don't really worry about being interesting in my real life either. People are interested in all different things, and I am pretty sure I am one of the more boring people around. My favorite hobbies are reading and knitting, and I tend to talk incessantly about my children and husband. Zzzzzzz.

I think blogging, for me, is more about being interestED than interestING. I am always fascinated with what is going on in the world around me, and my blog(s) are an outlet for me to express that wonder.

If someone wants to read it --- that's even more wonderful.

Cheers and thanks for reading!