Thursday, August 11, 2011

High Five Friday




High Five Friday
Is here again.
Yeah, we made it through another week
and Friday is finally here!


The week days are enough work, so let's
make it simple.

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Most of all, have fun and a wonderfully blessed weekend!







Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Silly Sasha Kitty



Sasha Kitty has her language and a her own way of communicating with us. She sits there and stares at the door like she is trying to will the door to open or until someone sees her sitting there staring at the door. If that doesn't work, she meows and points to the door knob. I think she gets aggravated she can't open the doors to go outside, because she can open almost all the doors in the house by either pushing them open by pouncing on them or pulling them open with her paw.

Still Sleepless In Michigan

As I wrote on the Comfort Zone, I am totally sleepless. I recently ran into some problems with hives from and allergic reaction and I was prescribed some medication that causes you to have trouble sleeping. But, at this point I will take sleepless over itching anytime. I can always catch up on my sleep later.

The funny thing about having problems sleeping is that it seems like your mind goes off into places you wouldn't normally go, the thoughts flow seamlessly and you find yourself eating cold fried chicken at three in the morning. The funny thing about eating cold fried chicken is it always reminds me of my mother. It's one of those funny little habits I picked up from her. Along with the crazy little things I say to my kids, biscuits and gravy on Sunday mornings, right down to insisting the family eat dinner together at the table for dinner, big dinners on the holidays and trying to make Christmas and Easter perfect for the children. Both of my parents worked hard to make the holidays fun. My father was always the one who would go outside when the kids were little and ring bells and yell Ho,Ho,Ho Merry Christmas. The tradition got passed on to my husband who now sneaks outside on Christmas Eve to be Santa Clause flying through the air.

Now, my father on the other hand is the prankster of the family, I got that trait from him. I sure my husband and children love that qaulity that got passed onto me as they are walking out of the bathroom or are sitting there quietly watching the television when I jump out and scare them. I even startled the dog once, but I scared the poor thing so bad he peed. The cat would have to be one of my favorite ones to startle, she jumps straight up into the air. But, she always manages to get her revenge on me by pouncing on me in the middle of the night after a bathroom run. The prankster gene got passed onto my son. He spends his money on mints that taste like fish, itching powder and the modern day trinkets that make the same sounds as the whoopee cushions we had when we were children. When he came home with the toy that makes noises that sounds like someone burping or passing gas. I told my husband, "that is something my father would buy."

I also got the love of barbecues and cooking on the grill from my father. Family barbecues are one of my favorite things to do. There is nothing better than getting family and friends together and having a big barbecue with more food than you can eat, a fire going in the fire pit with the kids sitting around the fire roasting marsh mellows and letting off fireworks in the air. I always try to make it fun for the kids, because those are the memories they will always remember and remind them of home.

 Some how those funny little traits gets passed onto our children. It's funny how we can see those traits in our children that are just like our parents or our sisters and brothers. We all get those funny little habbits from our parents that we didn't even realize until we are grown and have children of our own and we find ourselves sitting in the kitchen eating cold chicken thinking of our parents.

Monday, August 8, 2011

The Foreclosure Rate Is Killing Home Owners




The recession has really hit Michigan hard. Almost every neighborhood you drive through there are homes up for forclosure. When I briefly did some work for a real estate agent, I realized that 95% of the homes they had for sale, were foreclosure homes. They had several homes listed for under $20,000. I was shocked to see a home sell for $1,900. During my time there, I found out that the banks get a kick back from the United States government when they foreclose on a home. Making it profitable for them to foreclose on homes. That is one of the reasons some of banks are getting in trouble for foreclosing on homes that shouldn't have been foreclosed on. They are quick to foreclose on homes to get government money. It almost makes you feel betrayed by the government. The put all this talk out there about how they are trying to help Americans get back to work, but it's all a smoke screan. They are making it more difficult for Americans to survive during a recession. They raise our taxes, cut unemployment benefits, give the banks kick backs for foreclosures, the states have cut funding on non-profit organizations helping the needy, cut school funding, and God only knows what else they have done that we don't know about yet.

Melvindale is one of the cities that has been hit really hard. Friday, I was really disappointed when I tried to find  new home owners insurance for my home. I quickly found out that either the insurance companies refused to give me insurance or the insurance was twice as much for my home than it was for my car. My home value had dropped by almost half in the past ten years. When I did a refinance in 2004 my home was valued at $120,000, now it is only valued at 63,500. I know owe more on my home than it is worth.

Not only are home owners being stuck with not being able to sell their home, because their value of their home is less than they owe, they can't even get new home owners insurance because the value of their home is worth less than what they owe on their home. The recession is exhausting, I'm beginning to feel like things are not going to get better anytime soon or in the near future. I am beginning to think this is a new way of life in America.



Saturday, August 6, 2011

My Great Find For The Weekend



I am so proud of the great find I found at the local Salvation Army today for $49. I get more excited about finding a old dresser in great shape than going out and buying a new dresser. I was really dreading having to have to go out and buy a new dresser in the store. When ever I buy a new dresser, I always worry about how long it will hold up without falling apart. Even if you buy a new one and pay a lot of money for one, it seems like they don't last very long. I bought an Ikea closet unit with a built in dresser about 3 1/2 years ago and we have had to have the doors fixed already and one of drawers broke and I paid $600 for the closet unit. But, the old dressers stay around for years and years without a worry.

The dresser is in great shape with just a few small marks on it. It's made of real SOLID wood and is very heavy with it's original finish. Who ever had it before took great care of it and it was very clean. When you open the drawers, the smell of wood goes in the air. Two men struggled to get it in and out of the truck and had to slide the dresser through the house on a blanket. It's probably been around for about 30 or 40 years and as heavy as it is, will be around a while longer. I love old furniture, it has character.

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