A Potato and One Random act of Kindness

Today I was suddenly inspired to make Brunswick stew. I bought a pork roast last week and I a lot left over after making BBQ sandwhiches last night.
After going over the list of ingredients I needed one thing to make the stew, and that was 1lb of diced potatoes. Today being busy with trying to finish the last of my college education I decided to wait until I picked my middle child up from school this afternoon. Its also the end of the week for grocery shopping so we had no money in that account. My only resolve was to scrap up a dollar in change and buy a can of potatoes.
I had also hoped to have enough change for a can of evaporated milk to use as coffee creamer until Saturday when our shopping week started over again.
I went down the isle where the the canned potatoes were, with my handful of change only get to get sticker shock .99 cent for a can of potatoes. I had a $1 in change and a few pennies, plus there was no chance of my coffee creamer.
I head off to the produce department. I found the fresh potatoes, they were only .89 cent/lb. I got the largest one there and weighed it. It was just at a pound. I could live that, I could at least avoid the embarrassment of not having enough money for a SINGLE can of potatoes.
I went straight to the cashier. There was a lady in line in front of me. She glanced back at me and looked at the counter. I had a single potato, and all I could think was how I couldn't get the milk I wanted too. The cashier rings up the lady's order, and the lady says "Get her's too." I nearly fell over. I realize this potato was less than a dollar but wow.
Its not every day people go out of their way for someone else, and when they do it might just have a HUGE impact.
The Cashier was floored. She couldn't believe it, and wanted to know if we were friends. We both told her, "No" and she began to cry. She told both the lady (at this point i got her name) that she'd restored her faith in humans.
I just wanted to share this most moving gesture with everyone. I told her I couldn't thank her enough and I'd certainly pass it on and I wouldn't forget.

What if??

The crush of the Economy is being felt in my house as it is in EVERY home in America. At this point we are middle middle class Americans. I stay home, DP works 40 hours for the local government. We do what we can and sometimes we simply have to put things off for many months. Unexpected expenses really strain our budget and often things are re prioritized. I know there's millions of middle middle class Americans out there in a similar situation. We don't make enough money to have a cushy savings, yet we aren't poor enough to qualify for social assistance.
Recently a Deer jumped out in front of the van and broke one of the headlights. For some families its as simple as loading up the Credit card, or just going and paying cash out of the Emergency fund for a new light, others might actually carry full coverage on their 10 year old vehicle. We however don't have that luxury at the current moment, but it did get me thinking. What if there was a small fund that everyone in my community contributed to..willingly of course, where expenses such as a broken head light could be easily remedied, if someone needed to pay for a prescription their insurance doesn't cover, maybe this spring your funds are short and paying for your child to play Baseball would mean making sacrifices on food. This fund as I see it would help.

I realize there's plenty of Charities out there and social programs for low income families but the beauty of my idea is that its for those who do in fact live above poverty, but simply have to put off the little things in order to make the big ones happen (college, paying off debt, mortgage ect). In my head this "Fund" would be localized within a small community and would be aimed at costs that are under $500, and the demographics to support are those who live above poverty.

I was just thinking WHAT IF???

The Scale Demon must leave

I have been trying to lose weight for a little over a year. Being overweight has plagued me for most of my life. I was bigger than other kids when I was a kid, and as a Teen I was in the "too fat to be pretty." club.
I spent from age 12 until about 17 coming up with CRAZY crash diets to drop four or five pounds only to gain them back and then some. I will not post the details of some of the "Diets"...lets simply say they didn't work for the long term.
Last year after several attempts to make weight loss stick after having my son, I finally decided to go with a "eat anything you want, but keep the portions under control" life style. I don't count it as a diet, I simply decided to stop eating a side of beef with a two liter of soda. I also took a bit from my house keeping guru "THE FLYLADY". I have taken weight loss and a healthier life style in baby steps. I want to lose weight, but I want to be healthy for the rest of my life. I can only achieve both through education and behavior modification.
In the past year I have learned some things that might help the rest of the world and hopefully will help me learn more to keep the weight off for good.
1. Skip the Mayonnaise. I realize you can weigh mayonnaise and keep the portions under control but at nearly 100 calories per serving its simply not worth it.

2. Smaller Portions are filling. I think too often we've been served ENORMOUS portions of food and think to ourselves "No way is a Cup of Cereal and Banana going to get me going for Breakfast." and surely it does and then some!

3. 20 minutes can be the difference between Binge, and satisfaction. When I am hungry or my blood sugar drops to where I feel like I might pass out I tend to over eat. A while back I decided to wait twenty minutes after a reasonably sized portion of food (that is weighed on scale) before getting seconds or desert. This rule has helped me realize my body doesn't need to be over stuffed, it needs time to catch up.

4. Working out probably will not help you lose weight, but it will certainly help the shape of the flabby body. This was a hard realization for me. Yes, you do burn calories, but more than likely those Carole's are eaten back. However, where my legs used to be flabby they have some sort of definition and my arms are actually toned. I can actually RUN.

5. Real weight loss and fitness does not happen in 30 days as many diet and exercise gadgets claim. Yes, you can lose weight and get shape fairly quickly, but if you do not learn the skills to maintain the lifestyle for a healthy body in that time then you've done it all for nothing. Its going to take several more years for me to learn everything I need to know to maintain my current life style.

6. You have to have mini goals. Big goals are wonderful but without some small mile stones along the way those larger goals can be nearly impossible to reach. In the past my mini goals have been "Run a Full Mile", "Lose 4lbs before summer," "Work out Three days a week". Each of these goals have gotten me further along in the over all idea. I cannot run a 5K without running a Mile, I cannot lose 40lbs without losing 4 more pounds, my over all fitness and stamina will suffer without working out.


Right now I have been trying to get 5 to 10lbs to move before summer getss here. Its just 25 days a way. No i want havea bikini body or even a swim suit body, but I'll be 5 to 10lbs lighter than I was last summer. I really need the scale to move as its been stuck on the same number for the past 3 weeks.